PB & J Cupcakes

     My son's most favorite snack/lunch item is a pb & j sandwich (strawberry jam preferred over grape jelly). So of course one day while he was pigging out on a pb & j sandwich, I had an A-HA moment and decided to try it out cupcake form. For this trial I had a baking partner, my friend and neighbor Jen. She was a superstar in the kitchen and the cupcakes, thanks to all her hard work, were mixed, baked, filled and frosted all with in 2 hours. We even got fancy and did a peanutbutter and strawberry buttercream swirl!
     For the cake part, we used a recipe from my favorite book Miette. It is a recipe that was specifically designed for cupcakes. Very yummy and a little different since it has potato starch in it. For the filling we used a seedless strawberry jam and used it also for the  strawberry buttercream. Since peanutbutter is pretty potent, we used it only in the peanutbutter buttercream part and it delievered plenty of peanutbutter tasted for the whole entire cupcake. It was a lot of fun making these and even more so eating them. Here is the recipe:



Yellow Cupcake (From Miette)
(Makes about 18)
Ingredients:
-1 cup of unsalted butter at room temp.
-1/2 cup milk
-3 large eggs at room temp.
-2 tsp vanilla
-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-1 1/3 cups sugar (This was a little too sweet for my liking, I would use only 1 cup)
-1/4 cup of potato starch
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp kosher salt

Directions:
1. Line 18 cupcake cups with liners and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a saucepand over medium low heat, combine the butter and mils and heat stirring until the butter is melted about 3 to 4 minutes. Alternatively, use a microwave at 10 sec intervals while stirring between each interval. Set aside and cool to between 80 and 85 degrees F.
3. In a microwave safe bowl, whisk the eggs with the vanilla and microwave on low for 15 seconds intervals stirring between each interval until mixture reaches between 80-85 degrees F. You can do this over a double boiler fitted with a thermometer as well.
4. Combine flour, sugar, potato starch, baking powder, and salt in the bolw of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Begin mixing on low thenslowly drizzle int he milk mixture. Beat until just combined. With mixer on low, add the egg mixture in three addtions, beating until just incororated between additions. The batter should be silky and smooth and very liquid.
5. Fill each liner 2/3 full with batter. (works well with a 1/4 cup measure; don't scrape it out each time, just drop the batter in.) Bake about 20 to 23 minutes. (Check after 18 minutes with a tester if it looks done.)
Immediately cool on wire racks about 30 minutes.

Peanutbutter and Strawberry Buttercream

Ingredients:
 4 egg whites
1/4 cup of smooth peanutbutter
1/3 cup of seedless strawberry jam
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2tsps raspberry extract
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3 sticks of unsalted butter at room temp.

Directions:
1. In a saucepan fitted with a thermometer, combine sugar and water and bring to boiling. Sugar needs to reach 248 degrees F. Have a heatproof measure nearby to transfer as soon as it reaches 248 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, combine egg whites and cream of tartar on med-high until frothy.
3. Once sugar reaches 248 degrees, transfer to a heatproof measure and start to slowly drizzle into the egg whites with the mixer on med speed. Aim for the side of the bowl and get a steady stream going.  Once all the sugar is in, whip on high speed until the meringue reaches betwee 75-80 degrees.
4. Reduce speed to about med-high and add butter 2 tablespoons at a time. Mixture might deflate and look curdled but just increase speed until buttercream is stiff.
5. Take half of the buttercream and put in a separate mixing bowl and set aside. Add vanilla to the remaining buttercream and the peanutbutter and mix until well combined. Add strawberry jam and strawberry and raspberry extracts to the buttercream in the bowl and mix with a spatula until well combined.

Filling: Seedless strawberry jam

Filling and Decorating:

1. Once cupcakes a completely cooled, take the small end of a melon baller and scoop out the middle. Fill with strawberry jam. I just pipe it in.
2. To get the swirl effect with the frosting: Take plastic wrap and wrap some peanutbutter frosting in it. It should be like a tube. Twist the ends. Do the same with the strawberry frosting.
3. line the tubes of frosting next to eachother and twist the ends together so it can slide through the opening of the piping bag fitted with a coupler. (Use a big piping bag-like an 18 incher or you will have to do this procedure a few times which can get annoying.) Pull the twisted ends through the hole of the piping bag, cut excess plastic and fit the end with a tip and the coupler ring. squeeze out some frosting until the peanutbutter and strawberry buttercreams come out evenly. Pipe onto cupcakes!

PB & J Cupcakes
(Strawberry Jam Filling and Peanutbutter + Strawberry Swirl Buttercream)

More Dabbling With Cookies

     Okay, so I keep getting requests for cookies more than cupcakes so I've accepted the fact that I need to get my butt in gear and really practice my cookie skills. I always get super inspired to try new tecniques with cookies but when it comes down to actually doing it, I totally chicken out for some reason.
     But no more chickening out! My first "project" with my new found determination was dinosaur cookies for my son's class. They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. Individually packaged with a cute tag that said: "Summer Playdate? Call: NL" and a phone number, the finished product was quite adorable. It was a cute way to say happy summer to his classmates and open the door to hanging out with friends this summer.
    I've also posted some pics below of an order I had for a similar purpose. The client wanted rice krispies treats instead of cookies shaped like dinosaurs for her son and flowers and butterflies for her daughter. They turned out well but it was A LOT of work! I had to coat all the pieces in chocolate to keep them from getting stale since I was going to decorate with royal icing which would require them to be left out to set and dry overnight. It was a messy job. The coating also helped even out the bumpy surface of the rice krispies treats. I don't think I'll take on rice krispies treats again any time soon. Especially for an order so big! Anyway, all this to say that my cookie decorating skills are slowly but surely getting better. I practiced a lot of the "wet-on-wet" tecnique where RI is piped onto already piped icing while it is still wet. The piped icing sinks into the first layer of icing creating a flat surface appearance rather than raised. Looks cool and you can swirl designs with a toothpick to give it a marbled look.

Rice krispy treat Dinos

 

 

Just Peachy!

     One sad day, about 10 years ago, I found out that I had become allergic to fresh peaches. It truly was one of the saddest days of my life. My reaction was nothing too serious but about 2 minutes after I took a bite of a peach, my lips swelled and my tongue, throat and ears became very itchy. It was a good hour or so beforeI got back to normal. (I get this way with fresh figs too. I know, poor me.) So come every Spring/Summer, I face a momentous struggle. Whenever I see a fruit stand displaying mounds of sweet smelling, fresh, juicy, ripe peaches, it takes almost everything in me to keep myself from just grabbing one and devouring it right then and there; allergic reaction or not. Luckily, there is a silver lining in this unfortunate situation: as long as any fruits I am allergic to are cooked or processed, I am fine eating as much as I want. 

    So, how did I get inspired to bake ginger peach cupcakes? The darnest thing really. I was grocery shopping a couple of weeks ago and as soon as I entered the produce isle, I caught a whiff of an enticingly sweet and fruity aroma. So naturally, I followed my nose and it led me all the way to a giant display of yellow and white peaches. My new mission as of that moment: make peach cupcakes. Ultimately, I came up with a ginger & peach cupcake recipe for which there are two reasons;   1. I adore ginger. And 2. while I was coming up with a peach cake recipe, a can of Ginger Peach Tea by The Republic of Tea was staring at me from across the table. The extra umph to take it over the top: a peach cream cheese filling and peach buttercream frosting. Beautiful. GJW.

Ginger Peach Cupcake

Ingredients:

-2 2/3 cup flour

-1/2 cup butter (unsalted and at room temp)

-1/2 cup of veg. oil

-2 1/2 tsp baking powder

-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 2/3 cup sugar
-3 eggs
-1 tablespoon ground ginger
-1 cup buttermilk
-1 tsp vanilla
-1/4 tsp nutmeg
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger root
-opt: candied ginger for garnish

*preheat oven to 350F, line baking pans

Directions:
1. Sift the flour, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powerder and baking soda in bowl and set aside.
2. Cream butter, oil and sugar until lighter in color and fluffly on med-high in a stand mixer.
3. Add eggs, beating well after each one. Scrape down sides w/ a spatula. Add vanilla and grated ginger.
4. Add flour mixture alternating with buttermilk with mixer on low. After all the flour and buttermilk is added, raise speed to med-high and beat until mixture is just combined, scraping down the sides. Do not over mix!
5. Scoop batter into prepared cupcake pans and bake about 18 min to 20 min. Check for doneness at 18 min. Over baking will dry out the cupcakes.
6. Cool completely. Scoop out center with the smaller end of a melon baller to make room for filling.


Peach Cream Cheese Filling:
-1 8 oz pkg of cream cheese at room temp
-2 ripe peaches pureed
-1/2 cup powdered sugar
-1/4 cup of milk (any kind higher that 1%  milk fat)

1. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
2. Pipe into prepped cupcakes. (I use a squeeze bottle for this part)

Peach Buttercream Frosting
-4 egg whites
-1 tsp cream of tartar
-1 1/4 cup sugar
-1/4 cup + 1 tbsp of water
-3 sticks of unsalted butter
-1 tsp of natural peach extract
*opt: a little dab of peach food coloring (if you dont have peach, just mix a little orange and a tiny dab of red)

Directions
1. In a saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer, combine sugar and water and bring to boil. Have a heat proof measure nearby.
2. While sugar is heating, in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, combine egg whites and cream of tartar and  whisk until frothy.
3. As soon as sugar mixture gets to 248 degrees F, pour into heat proof measure.
4. With mixer on med, slowly pour sugar mixture aiming for side of bowl. Once you establish a steady stream, raise the speed to med-high and continue to add the rest of the sugar mixture.
5. Once all of it is added raise speed to high and mix until the meringue cools to between 75- 70 degrees F.
6. Once it is cooled down, add butter, a few pats at a time with the mixer on med-high. If it starts to deflate and look curdled, just raise the speed back up and continue to whisk. Once all the butter is added, add the extract (& food coloring if using) and mix some more scraping down the sides of bowl.
7. Pipe over filled cupcakes.

                                                          
                                                     

Grapefruit Champagne Cupcakes

    The end of May is always a busy time for my family. There is Memorial Day, my father-in-law's birthday and my sister's birthday all in one weekend. For my father-in-law's birthday this year, I decided to make champagne cupcakes. It was kinda hard to think of a flavor that would go well with champagne cake that wouldn't take away too much from the champagne flavor. I usually use fresh fruit and vanilla mousse  to pair w/ champagne cake but this time I wanted to try something a little different and actually bake the flavor into the cupcake.  I decided that grapefruit would compliment the champagne flavor nicely. The first batch I made, I folded whipped egg whites into the cake batter aiming for a light and fluffy cake. For some reason, the texture of the cake turned out to be a bit rubbery. It might have been that I over mixed it somehow despite being careful and folding in the egg whites by hand. The second time around I didn't even bother and just added the egg whites plain into the creamed butter mixture. Turned out way better! Did the same the 3rd time and same great texture. I used a moscato pink champagne which is very sweet. As a result I only used 1 cup of sugar. If using dry champagne, I'd use at least 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups of sugar.  I also used fresh grapefruit for everything. I only needed 2 large ones for the whole recipe including the buttercream. 

     Speaking of buttercream...for these cupcakes, I thought I would change it up a bit and make a french buttercream (use yolks instead of whites). EPIC failure. I don't know where I went wrong and honestly, I don't care because I will not try it ever again... or for a very LONG time. I just couldn't get the yolks to thicken properly and of course once I added the grapefruit juice, it was all downhill from there. It looked like it was turning out OK at first but once I started to pipe it, it literally began turning back into liquid form right before my eyes! The flavor wasn't "grapefruity" enough either. (It's very hard to make grapefruit flavor stand out in baking!) I had to scrap it all (what a waste of butter!) and start over again using my usual Italian buttercream recipe. Overall, it turned out so-so. The cake part is GJW so it's all good. I think the next time I make these cupcakes, I will try a traditional buttercream recipe, one that uses powdered sugar and butter. I think the grapefruit flavor will carry through a lot better. ANYways, here is the recipe for the cake part only because that was the only thing that came out consistently yummy.

Grapefruit Champagne Cupcakes

Ingredients:

-3 cups flour
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder

-3/4 tsp baking soda

-3/4 tsp salt

-1/2 cup veg. oil
-1/3 cup of unsalted butter room temp.
-1 cup sugar

-6 egg whites

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1 1/2 cups moscato champagne
-1/2 cup fresh grapefruit juice
-1 tbsp grapefruit zest

*opt: a dab of red food coloring for pink hue

 Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Sift flour, baking powder and soda, salt and set aside
2. mix juice and champagne and set aside.
3.Cream butter sugar and oil until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix well.
4 Add egg whites little at a time and mix well
5. Alternating, add flour mixture and champagne mixture beginning and ending w/ flour. Scrape down sides and mix just until incorporated.
6. Bake and check for doneness at 15 minutes with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, cupcakes are done.
Cool completely before frosting.



I used little gold stars for garnish. (Wilton)