#59 Chai Tea Cupcakes

I hope everyone has been enjoying this lovely holiday season. I've been working on a lot of different projects and have finally gotten a chance to whip up a batch of cupcakes. Now I tried out a different chai cupcake recipe before but this one really has a good spicey chai flavor to it. I'm thinking my favorite flavor by Stash did the trick. You'll have to try it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

Chai Tea Cupcakes (courtesy of Baking Confessions)

The Goods
1 3/4 cups cake flour sifted
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour sifted
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 /4 teaspoon salt
4 Chai spice tea bags
1 cup butter, room temp. chopped into little pieces
4 lg eggs room temp.
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

The How To

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small sauce pan bring the milk to simmer. Steep 3 Chai tea bags in milk 10-15 minutes.

Once tea has steeped, squeeze milk from tea bags and discard bags.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, tea-steeped milk, and vanilla then set aside.

Cut open remaining tea bag and grind until fine.I used my rolling pin.

  
In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift together, flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and ground Chai tea; mix to combine.

 Add butter and mix until coated with flour.

 Mixing at medium speed, slowly add in the wet ingredients. Beat the batter until ingredients are thoroughly combined, being careful to not over beat.

Fill each cup about two-thirds full.  Bake for 18-20mins rotating halfway through the bake time. Cool on wire rack and lightly dust the tops with cinnamon.

Creamy Vanilla Bean Frosting
If you don't have a vanilla bean handy then substitute with another 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla extract.

The Goods
16oz cream cheese at room temp

1 stick of butter at room temp

6-7 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean pod sliced down the center

The How To
Cream together butter and cream cheese until well combined on medium speed.

Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add confectioners' sugar until thoroughly incorporated and smooth. Add the extract and scrapped vanilla bean paste.

Now frost away!!!!

Up Next...

Dinoriffic Red Velvet Cupcakes

 

#52 Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!



This is one of those recipes I wished that they would have said WARNING not for the less experienced baker. Don't get me wrong they were creamy, pretty and very tasty but truthfully they were a pain in the A$$!! First off you have to bake the cupcakes in a pan of water. Not clearly thinking this through, I thought I could find a pan big enough to hold my 1 dozen cupcake pan. It was close but the pan came up a little short. So after dumping half my cupcakes into a ill fitting pan, a little bird said "why not use a  half dozen cupcake pan?" and finally I was in business! So about 6hrs later I finished #52 on my list I hope you like it!!!

Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes (courtesy of Martha Stewart)
This was my first attempt at cheesecake :)

The Goods
1 cup ground graham crackers (about 8 sheets)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups plus 5 tablespoons sugar
1 6 oz.fresh raspberries or frozen defrosted raspberries
2 pounds cream cheese room temp
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 lg eggs room temp.

The How To
Preheat the oven to 325. While the oven is preheating start preparing the crust by combine graham crackers, melted butter and 3 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Put about 1 tablespoon of mixture into each muffin cup and press flat. Bake for 5 minutes. Let cool.

While the crust is cooling  puree raspberries until smooth, about 30 seconds. Strain mixture with a sieve, keeping the liquid and discarding the solid parts. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of sugar.

With the mixer on med-high speed beat the cream cheese until fluffy about 3mins.

Add in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar beat until combined.

Turn the mixer down to medium-low speed and add salt and vanilla; beat to combine. Add eggs, one at a time mixing until combined.

Spoon 3 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling over crust in each cup.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of the raspberry sauce. Make a swirl with a toothpick.

Place each tin in a roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into each pan to come halfway up the sides of the cupcake pans. Bake rotating pans halfway through, until filling is set about 27-30mins. Carefully remove tins from water bath and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Refrigerate in tins uncovered for at least 4hrs remove from tins just before serving.

Sorry for my lack of  cooked cupcake pics on this one... Not sure what happened :(

Up Next...
 Lemon Yogurt Raspberry Cupcakes

#49 Margarita Cupcakes

Well this sucks!! I thought I had a posted these right after cinco de mayo and apparently it never made it..... Very sad :(
So anyways here you go. Enjoy! I'll be back with some bacon cupcakes VERY soon promise :)


 

Yeah Yeah I know I am about cinco días libres!

Better Late than Never :)

The best part of this recipe is that you use a box mix for the base which makes cuts the prep time in half making it perfect for a last min party. Just make sure to grab a white cake mix that has NO pudding. If you have some tequila hanging around you can also substitute out 1/4 cup of the margarita mix and that should give it a little extra kick too.

Margarita Cupcakes (courtesy of Food.com)

Feel free to add more lime zest. the lime the better! If you're a lover of box mixes check out my pink lemonade cupcakes.

The Goods

1 (18 1/4oz) box white cake mix with no pudding in the mix

1 (10oz) can frozen margarita mix, thawed (undiluted)

3 egg whites room temp

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon grated lime zest

The How To

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and zest your lime(s)

If you end up with extra zest just freeze it and save for a later time.

In a large bowl combine cake mix, margarita mix, egg whites and vegetablele oil using with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Turn the speed up to medium-high and continue to beat for an additional 2mins.

Stir in lime zest then fill cupcake liners about 2/3 to 3/4 full.

Bake for 18-20mins rotating halfway through the baking time. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 8mins. Then remove cupcakes and let cool completely before frosting.

Lime Cream Cheese Frosting
If you rather use buttercream then use the recipe from the pink lemonade cupcakes and just substitute out the lemon for lime.

The Goods
1 stick of butter room temp
1 (8oz) package of cream cheese room temp
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon of lime zest
4-5cups powdered sugar

The How To
With the mixer on medium-high speed beat the butter and cream cheese until fluffy about 3mins.

Add in the lime juice, powdered sugar and zest. Mix until fulling incorporated. Add a little green food coloring to give it a true margarita feel. Frost cupcake. Now add the "salt" which is white sanding sugar that has been rolled around the bottom edge of the frosting.

Now add some umbrellas, straws, and or lime wedges for some fun finishing touches.

Reminds me of lazy summer days :)
Enjoy!!

Up Next...
Maple Bacon Cupcakes