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You Must Make These Brown-Sugar-Caramel Frosted Cupcakes!

partysugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:00:31 -0800

Love pecan pie, but tired of making the same old Thanksgiving dessert? Then bake these brown-sugar-pecan cupcakes with caramel frosting instead! Seriously, these cupcakes are the best dessert I've tasted in weeks.

The fluffy batter is rich, but light with a distinct browned-butter flavor. Although it requires a little time to make, the caramel frosting is absolutely to die for. It's smooth and creamy with a sweet taste similar to caramel candies. The pecans tie the elements together and provide a breakfast-like texture to the cakes.

When I served these at a recent dinner party, I was shocked at how good they tasted. Everyone was simultaneously saying, "mmmm" and "these are amazing." You simply must make these delicious cupcakes. Get the recipe after the break.

Come Party With Me: All Hallow's Eve - Dessert

partysugar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:15:05 -0700

So you've just decided to host a Halloween party and you've got no time to plan. No matter. On Saturday afternoon, before you put on your costume, you can throw together some festive yet uncomplicated snacks and make these cupcakes. Shhh, don't tell anyone: the recipe uses a boxed yellow cake mix, meaning these mini cakes will be ready to bake in minutes. The addition of pumpkin pie spice and canned pumpkin puree, in combination with the smooth cream cheese frosting, will fool your guests into thinking you slaved for hours on these cupcakes. Garnish with a single piece of candy corn and get ready to celebrate! To check out the easy recipe, read more.

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting
From Real Simple

Ingredients

1 18.5-ounce box yellow cake mix (plus the ingredients called for in the package directions)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
2 8-ounce bars cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
24 pieces candy corn

Directions

Heat oven to 350° F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
Prepare the cake mix as directed but with the following change: Add the pumpkin pie spice and substitute the can of pumpkin puree for the water called for in the package directions.
Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool.
Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Spread on the cupcakes and top each with a piece of candy corn.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

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Cupcakes So Good They'll Make You Hum

partysugar — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:30:10 -0700

Last week my sister hosted a Summer cocktail party that doubled as a birthday celebration for two friends. Since I've been known to make birthday cakes in the past, she asked me if I could do two cakes for the party. Immediately I began to worry: baking and assembling two cakes requires a lot of time. Just as I was starting to panic, I remembered the ingenious invention that is the cupcake! Each birthday girl could get her own minicake topped with a candle. Inspired by our slideshow of unconventional cupcake recipes, I decided to make hummingbird cupcakes. A native to the South, hummingbird cake is a cream cheese-frosted white cake with crushed pineapple, coconut, mashed bananas, and walnuts mixed into the batter. It's sweet, moist, fruity, crunchy, creamy, and divine - quite simply, it's everything you want in a cupcake. Although the pineapple topping is extra work, it's worth it. The cupcakes wouldn't be the same without the feathery juicy dried pineapple. To take a look at the recipe I used, read more.

Hummingbird Cupcakes
From Martha Stewart

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 large)
1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup coconut flakes
Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe below
Dried Pineapple Flowers, recipe below

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, vanilla, and sugar until combined, about 2 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time, incorporating each before adding the next. Beat at medium speed until mixture is pale yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
In a medium bowl, stir together banana, pineapple, walnuts, and coconut. Add to egg mixture, mixing until combined. Stir in flour mixture.
Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with dried pineapple flowers, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and vanilla until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.
With mixer on medium speed, gradually add butter, beating until incorporated.
Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add sugar, beating until incorporated. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before using.

Makes 3 cups.

Dried Pineapple Flowers

2 large or 4 small pineapples, peeled

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line two baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper.
Using a small melon baller, remove and discard all pineapple skin.
Using a sharp knife, cut pineapple crosswise into very thin slices. Transfer slices to baking sheets.
Bake until tops look dried, about 30 minutes. Flip slices; bake until completely dried, 25 to 30 minutes more. Pinch center of each pineapple slice to shape into a cone, and let cool in a clean egg carton to form flowers. Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Makes about 2 dozen.

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Reader Recipe: Red, White, and Blue Cupcakes

YumSugar — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:15:00 -0700

With the presidential race speeding up and the Fourth of July hot on our heels, it seems like a perfect time to make some red, white, and blue cupcakes. (As if any of us needed an excuse to make cupcakes.)

This recipe comes from TeamSugar member HonestMuffin, who put her namesake muffin pans to good use to make these red-velvet cupcakes. To give the treats a patriotic twist, she topped the cream-cheese frosting with blue star sprinkles. To get the recipe and see how she made them, read more.

Easy Red Velvet Cupcakes
www.recipezaar.com

Super simple. Super fast. Big wow factor. Really fun and kid friendly as well!

Ingredients

1 package yellow cake mix
2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
5 large egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 (1 ounce) bottles red food coloring
1 can cream cheese frosting

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 24 regular-size muffin tins with paper or foil liners.

In a large bowl beat the cake mix with baking cocoa, eggs, oil, buttermilk, and food coloring for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl
occasionally.

Spoon the batter evenly between the muffin tins about two-thirds to three-fourths full.

Bake according to package directions.

Remove from the pans immediately and cool on wire racks.

Frost cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

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Reader Recipe: Cream Cheese Stuffed Cupcakes

YumSugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:00:07 -0700

Cupcakes are one of my favorite things, so I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I saw Renees3's recipe. She starts with chocolate cupcakes, stuffs them with a white chocolate filling, ices them with a cream cheese frosting, and tops them off with a drizzling of seedless raspberry sauce. When Renees3 couldn't find an adequate cupcake recipe, she decided to adapt a bunch of different recipes to make her own customized cupcakes. To me, that's one of the true virtues of cooking: You can tailor any recipe to suit your needs, which can result in something even better! To see how her cupcakes came together, read more.

Submitted by TeamSugar member Renees3

Renee's Stuffed Cupcakes
part AllRecipes.com, Part Emeril, Part Curtis from Take Home Chef, part Me!

I made these cupcakes after not being able to find a suitable recipe for them! So I used bits and pieces of other recipes and a little extra me and ta-da AMAZING!

Ingredients

Cupcakes –
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

White Choc. Filling
White Chocolate Filling:
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup milk
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting –
2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspooon vanilla extract

Raspberry Sauce –
1 (6oz) basket fresh raspberries
3 tablespoons powdered sugar (or more or less to taste)

Directions
White Choc. Filling -
In the top of a double boiler, combine the white chocolate and milk. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the chocolate is melted. Let cool to room temperature.

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, and vanilla. Gradually add the cooled chocolate and beat until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours before filling cupcakes. Do next three steps while waiting for this to chill. This will be used to fill the chocolate cupcakes.
Cupcakes –
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Add the dry mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. While cooling make frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting –
In bowl, combine cream cheese and butter until creamy, mix in vanilla then gradually stir in the sifted powdered sugar.

When cupcakes are cooled, cut little plugs out of center.
Once filling has been refrigerated 2 hours, pour into hole then top with plug.

Frost to cover the top.

Raspberry Sauce -
Combine the raspberries and 3 tablespoons/30 g of powdered sugar in a blender and puree until smooth. Push the raspberry puree through a fine sieve and into a small bowl. Discard the seeds.
Drizzle over tops of cupcakes.

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Reader Recipe: Chocolate and Chili Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Frosting

YumSugar — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:18:19 -0800

I was looking for a good dessert to share with you guys, when I came across these Chocolate and Chili Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Frosting by TeamSugar member celebrity_soup. I thought the combination was so intriguing and lovely. I love peanut butter and chocolate, I love chili and chocolate, and yet I've never thought to put the three together. Peanut butter, chili, and chocolate? Sign me up!

Soup says that they're even better than a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, and that they're really fudgy and dangerous. If that has you intrigued then check out her recipe and accompanying pics! To do so, just read more.

Chocolate and Chili Cupcakes With Peanut Butter Frosting
Submitted by TeamSugar member celebrity_soup

Muffin girl has upgraded!
I'm a chocoholic . . . and chocoholics need their FIX!
Today I was day dreaming about those delicious Reese's Peanut Butter Cups while on the treadmill at the gym.
Yes, I always day dream about chocolate while working out, thats how I get around!
I felt so worked up when I finished my work out that I NEEDED a special treat.

Muffins came to mind, but the thought of peanut butter and chocolate muffins wasn't pleasing.
Why not make a peanut butter frosting?
PERFECT!
The thought of making a chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter frosting was born . . . and 20 minutes later I found myself baking up heaven in the kitchen.

I used a Chocolate and Chili cupcake recipe and frosted those babies up with a peanut butter frosting.
THEY TURNED OUT TO BE EVEN BETTER THAN A REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER CUP. duh!
The cupcakes turned out to be so fudgy and chocolaty with the slightest hint of chili.
The frosting is what wraps it all up into something so dangerously GOOD.
Give them a try, you won't be disappointed! I ate up like three in an instant!

Ingredients:

150 g unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup warm milk
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. finely chopped chili pepper (or 1 tsp chili powder)
2 sticks butter (200 g)
1-1/2 cups dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Frosting:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream (the fresh kind, double cream, its thick and creamy)

Directions:

Combine chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium sized bowl, add boiling water and warm milk, whisk until smooth, set aside.

Sift flours, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Add the 1 tsp. of chopped chili, set aside.
In a standing mixer, beat butter until creamy.

Add the brown sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

At medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beat well between each.
Add sour cream and vanilla and beat until combined.

Add about a third of the flour mixture, beat briefly until combined.
Add about half of the chocolate mixture, beat briefly until combined.
Repeat, adding flour, chocolate, then flour. Beat until just combined. Scrape down bowl if needed.

Fill cupcake papers about 3/4s full. Bake at 350°F oven for 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
For the frosting, beat in all ingredients, starting with creaming the butter with the peanut butter. Once it's smooth add in the rest of the ingredients.

Let cupcakes completely cool, frost with a piping bag, and sprinkle over with chopped peanuts.
Keep them in the refrigerator.

Finished product:

I added some pieces of chocolate to this one for a mouth watering look. Is it working?
It was calling meeeeee. Eat meeeeeee, it's saying!

These look firmer and less shiny, cause I took this picture after they were refrigerated for a while.
A firmer peanut butter frosting was more pleasing to me.

BTW these make around 36 mini cupcakes, just like the ones pictured above.

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Reader Recipe: Root Beer Float Cupcakes

YumSugar — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:03:31 -0700

This weekend I was checking out the recipes on TeamSugar and noticed that lately, you all have a been a bit cupcake crazy. There's been a bunch of innovative cupcake recipes like: sarahkushner's Red Wine & Chocolate Cupcakes, minko's Pear & Blue Cheese Cupcakes and Lychee Lemon Coconut Cupcakes, as well classics like laurafox's Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese. However since today is National Root Beer Float Day, I thought I'd share TeamSugar member sarahkushner's recipe for Root Beer Float Cupcakes. These babies look fantastic, does anyone else want to lick their screen too?!? To check out the recipe, read more

Root Beer Float Cupcakes submitted by TeamSugar member sarahkushner

EDIT: It would appear that my little cupcake madness has been popping up all over the net! That being said, there are comments and emails GALORE about them, 99% positive and the rest questions and critiques.

So here is my Edit. PLEASE READ BEFORE BAKING:

1. USE LINERS! Yes I know that I don't have them in the photo... but I haven't had a chance to take a new photo. Use foil liners. And no, do not take the liners off.

2. If you can find root beer extract, more power to you, you can replace the vanilla extract with it. I prefer not to include things in recipes that you can't buy at a regular grocery store, as it bugs the heck out of me when I want to try a recipe, but have to order half the ingredients. I bought all the ingredients for these at one store, in one trip.

3. The glaze. Many critics say that its sticky. One person called it tasteless. A) Pour on the glaze while the cupcakes are still slightly warm like I say, it will soak in a bit, and some of the moisture will be taken out of the glaze and into the cupcake... once you let it set up a bit it shouldn't be sticky. B) I still don't know how it could be tasteless with both shnapps and root beer in it... I wanted to eat the stuff with a spoon... I did not add shnapps to the buttercream as thats the "vanilla float" part. If you think it has to do with proportions of wet to sugar... take it up with Paula Dean, as its an adaptation of a glaze she made for Lemon Blossoms.

4. Someone brought up a very good point. I say to fill the liners to the top with the batter, that works for my oven, they puff perfectly. But, I forgot my Alton Brown, and every oven is different... so filling to the top may not work for you... so if you are worried... don't do it, but you will end up with a few more cupcakes.

---------------
Root beer floats are one of those things that my brothers and I loved as kids. I don't know about them, but for me, its still something that I love to have on occasion. That's why I wanted to make a cupcake that tasted like a root beer float. I mean come on, nothing is more fun than a cupcake, or root beer floats… why not combine the two. Now, I did find a couple recipes online, that just added a can or two of root beer to the batter. Not good enough for me… the flavor of the root beer kind of faded away. And I was super picky about the flavor on this one. It's taken several tries at this recipe to get it right…
First round: I tried using spices and ingredients that are used in root beer as well as a can of root beer… but it ended up tasting more like a spice cake… not bad, but not what I wanted.
Second round: I tried reducing a lot of root beer in a sauce pan to make a syrup, and adding a can of root beer… but the flavor wasn't to strong (I think that boiling the root beer made the flavor evaporate), and I didn't use an "old fashioned" root beer, and the flavor didn't bake well.
Third round: Eureka! The only change that I would make is to use cupcake liners, as the cake can easily fall apart during the "tipsy" phase. And here's the recipe!

Enjoy!

Root Beer Float Cakes

Cake Ingredients

1 cup root beer schnapps
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned style root beer (like A&W or Dads)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Root Beer Glaze

4 cups confectioners sugar
1/3 cup root beer
3 Tbs. root beer schnapps*
3 Tbs. vegetable oil

*for a more kid friendly version, replace schnapps with more root beer

You will also need some extra root beer schnapps (1 Tbs. per cupcake)
Or for the kiddies use root beer (again 1 Tbs. per cupcake)
You will also need some basic Vanilla buttercream ( there are many recipes online to try J)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a bowl, mix together root beer schnapps, root beer, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, mix until smooth
5. Sift in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
6. Mix with hand mixer on low, while slowly pouring in root beer mixture.
7. Mix until smooth and lump free.
8. Pour into lined cupcake pan. (Use foil cupcake liners to avoid "leakage" later.) Fill nearly to the top, you may think its over-filled, but it puffs up perfectly this way. Don't be tempted to use more than 24 cupcake cups... trust me.
9. Bake for 15- 20 minutes, until golden brown and cake springs back when touched.
10. While cupcakes are baking, prepare your butter cream and root beer glaze. For glaze, put all ingredients into a bowl and mix with a wisk until smooth and lump free.
11. To assemble, start by letting cupcakes cool, still in the pan.
12. While still slightly warm, pour 1 Tbs. of root beer schnapps over each cupcake. Pour on slowly to allow schnapps ( or regular root beer for the kiddies) to soak in.
13. Once the schnapps has soaked in and let sit for a few minutes, pour a couple tablespoons of glaze over each cupcake.
14. When the glaze sets up a bit and isn't too runny, put a "scoop" of buttercream atop each. For an added touch, you can even place a root beer barrel candy on each one.

Makes 2 dozen cupcakes

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Mother's Day Gift Guide: Personalized Recipe Box, French Wine & Rose Cupcakes

YumSugar — Wed, 09 May 2007 15:45:32 -0700

Yesterday I brought you the first part of our Mother's Day gift guide and today I'm finishing it off with a few more great ideas. This first one is for the mom with all the recipes in her head. Don't you think it would be a nice gift for her (and you) if you helped her get them put on paper? The personalized recipe gift set from William-Sonoma will help you do that in a classy and personal way. The set comes with a personalized wood box and embosser ("Kitchen of Mom's Name") as well as 100 cards (the box holds 500). It'll be lovely now, but can you imagine it getting passed down through the generations? Available for $69.

Two more gift ideas (including a great wine set and a cute cupcake idea), so read more

If your mom dreams of visiting the French countryside, but you can't yet afford to fly her out there, why don't you bring the countryside to her? The Tour of Provence Wine Set contains three must-have selections from the South of France, as well as Patricia Wells' At Home in Provence Cookbook. Available for $49.99.

If mom is a baker (or if you are) surprise her with a dozen cupcake roses. This Rose Bundt Cupcake pan from Nordic Ware allows you to create a dozen roses. I'm imagining strawberry cupcakes with lemon icing, talk about a cute gift! Available for $31.95.

Yummy Links: From Recipes Gone Wrong to Pucco Cupcakes

partysugar — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:45:32 -0700

What to do when a recipe goes wrong. - The Kitchn
Quickly catch up on Slow Food Nation. - Chow
Meet the biggest Chinese restaurant in the world. - Serious Eats
The latest news of the food crisis: the number of food scientists is on the decline. - Slashfood
How to travel on a doddering dollar. - The Epi-Log
A crazy coincidence: Smitten Kitchen makes Yum's key lime meltaways on the exact same day. - Smitten Kitchen
Does your grocery list say something about your personality? - SavvySugar
Looking for a decadent dessert? How about raspberry chocolate bundt cake? - Baking Bites
How cute are these Pucco cupcakes?! - Hostess With the Mostess

Source

Yummy Link: Cute Cupcake Recipe Cards

partysugar — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 05:01:31 -0800

How adorable are these downloadable recipe cards? They come in three colors - pink, blue, and red- with different frosting styles. I think they would make a perfect party favor, especially when paired with a homemade cupcake. - Never Bashful With Butter