Chocolate Banana Coconut Kiss Cupcakes

Have you ever watched Cupcake Wars?  If you haven't, you should.  It's a fun show, where four bakers compete against each other for $10,000 dollars.  During the first round, they each have to bake a cupcake that showcases several unusual flavors.  Each flavor has to be distinguishable from the others, and they still must all work well together and be tasty. 

I decided that it was high time to use up the almost over-ripe bananas that were sitting on top of my microwave and bake some cupcakes.  And what goes better with banana than chocolate?

Not much.

So here's what you'll need:

1 very ripe banana (1/2 C.)
1/3 C. canola oil
1/2 C. evaporated milk
1 t. vanilla extract
1/8 t. rum extract
1 C. flour
3/4 C. sugar
1/3 C. cocoa powder
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. cinnamon
12 coconut creme Hershey's kisses

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Put liners in muffin pan.

Mash the banana in a bowl with a fork, then whisk in milk, vanilla and rum extracts, and oil until smooth.

Sift together the dry ingredients, then make a well in the center.  Pour the banana mixture into the well and stir to combine, just until smooth. Be careful not to over-mix!

Take about 3 tablespoons of batter and put in each muffin cup.  This only makes 12 cupcakes, so be careful not to put too much batter in each cup.  Once filled, take the coconut kisses and push lightly into each cupcake.  If you don't want to use them, or if you want to use another flavor, go ahead.  I just love banana, chocolate and coconut together.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted in cupcake comes out clean.  Be sure to test away from the kiss! The melted chocolate will stick to the toothpick and make it look like they aren't done.  Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
(I forgot to take any pictures of this!)
4 oz softened cream cheese
4 oz softened butter
2 C. sifted powdered sugar
1/4 C. cocoa powder

Mix together the cream cheese and butter until creamy.  Add the powdered sugar 1/2 C. at a time, beating well after each addition to combine well.  Add the cocoa powder and mix until combined.  Pipe onto cooled cupcakes. 

Remember what I said earlier about being able to taste the different flavors? Yeah? Good.  Because you can taste the chocolate and the banana in these.  They are so yummy and moist!  Give them a try soon!

Love,
Liz

Rainbow Cookie Inspired Cupcakes

Ever since I began experimenting with cupcakes, I’ve been wanting to make these. Now, some of you already know about my love of Rainbow Cookies. Seriously, I could eat an entire package of them in one sitting. It’s kind of disgusting.

For those of you who don’t know, Rainbow Cookies originated in Italian communities in the continental U.S. during the 1900’s in homage to their heritage. Their colors represent the Flag of Italy in a very neon, funky kind of way. -- Who knew you’d get a little history lesson here? Are there anymore questions? There are? Well tough, google it; I want to get on with this recipe.

Now, I’ll admit, I was a little nervous to try them in cupcake form, mainly because baking frightens me though. But luckily, I’ve been working through my issues with a little help from Liz and a lot of caffeine. Don’t let these cupcakes intimidate you. If I can make them, you can. I promise. Alright, enough of this talky talky….on with the noms.

The music: I had my iTunes library on shuffle so I was listening to all sorts of faboosh music.
The drink: OMG…ready for this shocker? I was drinking…COFFEE! I should really broaden my choice of beverages here.

Your building blocks for the sweetness:

½ c. softened butter

¾ c. sugar

2 eggs

3 t. almond extract

1 ½ c. all-purpose flour

½ t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

2/3 c. milk

½ can of apricot filling

½ c. raspberry spread or jam

Neon food coloring: pink, green, and yellow

(Please forgive the multiple pictures, I kept forgetting to put things in lol)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and set up your muffin/cupcake tin with liners.

Mix together the dry ingredients using a whisk or fork to sift them all together. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth, then add the eggs one at a time, making sure they’re mixed in before adding the other. Add the almond flavoring and stir.

Alternating between the dry mixture and the milk, add to the butter mixture until all pretty and creamy and smooth. Basically until you want to stick your face in it and kiss it into submission.

Now divide the batter into three bowls and add the food coloring. These need to be BRIGHT. Like, shut the curtains and put on some sunglasses bright.

Ok, here we go with the time consuming part. Spoon some of the pink batter into the bottom of the cupcake wrappers. You could do the green first, I could never really find a clear answer on which one should go first, so I did a little of both…just as long as the yellow is in the middle.

Spoon a little apricot filling onto the first layer, spreading it out a little. (Ignore the crappy lighting here)

Now add the yellow layer and spoon the raspberry spread on top of that. Finish with the green/pink batter.

Bake for 18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before adding the topping.

Usually Rainbow Cookies are covered on all sides with chocolate and then topped with chocolate sprinkles. While as tempting as it was to roll the cupcakes around in chocolate, I held back and decided that a frigging delicious chocolate ganache would be perfect.

Ingredients for a naughty naughty chocolate ganache, I borrowed from Ina Garten. But I promise not to say “good” before every ingredient like she does. You can use the crappy stuff…I won’t tell.

½ c. heavy cream

8 oz. dark chocolate chips (you could use semisweet if you prefer)

1t. instant espresso grounds

Why espresso grounds do you ask? No, it’s not for the caffeine, even though that’s an added bonus to a caffeine addict such as myself. It’s because the coffee helps bring out the full flavor of the chocolate. Look at that! History and random chocolate knowledge in one blog post! I better pace myself, don’t wanna peak too early.

Cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Dip the top of each cupcake into the ganache and top with chocolate sprinkles.

Now “ooo” and “ahhh” over these because that are freaking fantastic! A little messy but it’s so worth it. I hope you love these as much as I do!

Love, Sarah

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Alright, I’m warning everyone right here, right now. Liz and I…are addicted to Cupcake Wars. And as a result, we are constantly texting each other about new cupcake ideas. Soooo….if you see a few hundred cupcake recipes in this blog, you now know why.

I’ve been thinking about making these particular cupcakes for about a week now and finally decided to give them a whirl. It took a lot of going back and forth and asking other people what they thought. I don’t usually bake so this is all new to me. I’m shocked that I even want to try.

But these cupcakes are by far the best one’s I’ve ever made. I really hope you all like them.

The music: A lil’ bit of Dave Matthews Band, thank you very much.
The drink: Some yummy blackberry wine. Yeah, I drank while making these. I was childless! Don’t judge me! Stop it, right now!!

I decided to try and find a different cupcake recipe considering mine keep coming out quite dense. So after some searching, I found this one:

2c. flour
½ t. salt
2 t. baking powder
½ c. butter, softened
¾ c. sugar
2 eggs
1c. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

Allow me to give credit where credit is due: Simple Vanilla Cupcakes
Follow the instructions, right down to the 20 minutes. This recipe says it makes 20-25 cupcakes. I got 12. Who knows?

Now, I added about 3 tablespoons of melted white chocolate to the batter on a whim. I’m not exactly sure if it made a difference, but hey, why not?

Cool on a wire rack, then dig out little holes in the center of the cupcake.

Filling:
1 pint of fresh raspberries
¼ c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 container of mascarpone cheese, softened

Wash raspberries and put them into a pot with sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, smushing the raspberries a little until they form a yummy raspberry liquid. Add the vanilla then remove from heat. In a separate bowl mix together the mascarpone and raspberry liquid. Stick it in the fridge until you’re ready to fill the cupcakes. (which I forgot to take a picture of)

Frosting:
½ c. butter
1-8oz. package of cream cheese; softened
2 ½ c. confectioners sugar
1t. vanilla extract
¾ c. melted white chocolate

In a mixer, cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add vanilla and mix. Slowly add the sugar, little bits at a time until it’s sweet enough for you.

Make your own double boiler by filling a pot about half way and set a bowl over it (the bowl should not touch the water). Turn on the heat, bringing the water to a boil. The steam from the water will melt the chocolate. Do this slowly otherwise the chocolate will burn. Once it’s melted, add to the frosting.

Put the filling into a pastry bag (if you’ve got one) and fill up the holes you made in the cupcakes. Then do them up with some frosting. Top with a little bit of sugar to make it sparkle and one raspberry.

Aren't they pretty?!?!

Love,

Sarah

Chocolate Chili Cupcakes

I was feeling adventurous and thought I’d try another type of cupcake. Yes, more baking. And yes, I lived to tell the tale, aren’t you impressed? You should be. Anyway, this one was made while my children were tugging at my pant legs, “Mom, are they done yet? How about now? Are they done? Can we have one when they’re done? Mommmmm, are they DONE!?!!?!?” Yeah…that was enjoyable. No matter how many times I tried to tell them that they may not like this particular cupcake, they wouldn’t listen.

And after making a huge chocolaty mess, a few failed attempts at making pretty chocolate curls, and a very messy Kitchen-Aid, much to my surprise, the kids actually loved them! These cupcakes aren’t for everyone. Some people don’t like the little “kick” they have to them. But I think regardless whether or not you think they’re weird…they’re worth a shot.

One thing I will say, this is a very dense cupcake.  A couple of my coworkers really liked it, saying that it was so rich and chocolaty, and that they almost felt like the had a cheesecake consistency. It doesn’t have a light and fluffy texture. So if you’re looking for a cupcake like that, just click that lovely little X in the top right hand corner.

The music: Shockingly enough, The Gaslight Anthem. No song in particular this time, just…all of them.
The drink: Coffeeeeeee for this zombie momma.

Basically for this batter, I used the same one that I did for my Somewhere Over the Rainbow Cupcakes, only I added:
3/4c. Cocoa powder
3/4t. Cayenne pepper
½ t. Cinnamon
1c. + an extra splash of milk

Follow the instructions from the Somewhere Over the Rainbow Cupcakes, just making sure that you add the extra ingredients. If you want to start out with smaller amounts of the cayenne pepper and cinnamon, that’s fine; you can always add more. Doesn’t that look yummy? I kind of want to stick my face in that….anyway….

Fill up the lined cupcake tin and bake for about 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Frosting:
3/4c. Butter, softened
3-3 ½ c. confectioners’ sugar
¼ c. vanilla extract
1c. Cocoa powder
½ c. milk
2T. Grated dark chocolate

Do it all up in a mixer, adding the milk gradually. Yup…that’s it. - Quick note, this makes way more frosting than you need.  So if you wanna eat a spoonful or five...go ahead...I won't judge...too harshly.

After the cupcakes have cooled completely, just put that beautiful frosting with a kick on top and sprinkle with grated dark chocolate.

And there you have it, Chocolate Chili Cupcakes....

Love,

Sarah