#9 Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes

As soon as the leaves start falling and the days get shorter all I can think about is fall. Apples, pumpkins, and spices oh my!!! Found myself with a few extra apples so I couldn't help but make these lovely appley cupcakes.

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes (courtesy of Martha Stewart)
If these don't make you go run out and buy apples then I don't know what would!!

The Goods
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used cake flour)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups coarsely shredded apples, such as Macintosh (about 1 3/4 pounds)

left my apple pieces on the chunky side

The How To

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; mix in apples. Add flour mixture; mix, scraping down sides of bowl as needed, until just combined.

Divide batter among lined cups and filling halfway.

bake until tops are springy to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove cupcakes from tins; transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

look at those apple chunks!! Yum!!

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting(curtsy of cupcake project)
Now I was debating on what frosting to use. I asked around and found out there are people who don't like cream cheese!!! They seriously don't know what they are missing!! So after pondering on what to use i decided on this delicious recipe check it out.

The Goods

8oz cream cheese at room temp(don't do the low/nonfat kind)
1/4 cup butter at room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (mine were a little over flowing)
2-3cups powdered sugar

The How To

Mix cream cheese and butter well
Add vanilla and cinnamon
Add powdered sugar



MMMM Cinnamon!!!




The frosting turned out perfect!



check out my new apron!! Thanks mom :)


Up Next...
Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

#8 Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

With the last days of summer coming to an end and the gift of free zucchini nothing is better than  this summer squash mixed with chocolate and a little spice!



Had to add at least one picture of Aidan in somewhere!!!


Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes(courtesy of 101cookbooks)
Nothing beats the smell of chocolate and spice!!

The Goods

1 1/2cups brown sugar
1/4cup melted butter
3/4cup vegetable oil
3eggs
1tsp vanilla
1/2 buttermilk (I substituted sour cream)
2cups grated zucchini
1cup chocolate chips
2cups flour
1cup cocoa sifted
1/2tsp salt
2tsp baking soda
1tsp allspice
1 1/2tsp cinnamon

This cheese grater is awesome! I received it at my surprise bridal shower at work. It has a measuring cup on the bottom of the grater.

The How To
One thing I learned from these cupcakes is to not refrigerate unless the recipe states it. The cupcakes straight from the oven were wonderfully moist but after making this mistake a few people found them dry and they were on the crumbly side.

First preheat oven to 350degrees. In a separate bowl mix together the sugar, butter and oil. Beat in eggs, one at a time until well incorporated. Stir in vanilla, buttermilk or sour cream, zucchini and chocolate chips.

Don't worry the batter will look more appetizing in a sec!

In a separate bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients. Add the liquid ingredients and mix until well combined.

much better!

Spoon batter into prepared cupcake tins.

Bake in the center of the oven for about 35mins (I started checking around 20mins then recheck every 3-5mins til done) Cool on a wire rack. Don't overcook them or you will lose the moist goodness or refrigerate in my case.

These smelled so good when they were cooking!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4cup butter
4cups sugar
1/2cup coco powder

Mix cream cheese and butter until will incorporated and fluffy. Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Then add the coco powder. Don't forget to taste test!!

Can you believe there are people who don't like cream cheese? Man they are seriously missing out!!

love the gold foil

Up Next....
Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes

#7 Chocolate Malt Cupcakes with Cherry Filling

My mom and I were testing out cookies a few weekends ago for my up coming bridal shower and we  made these amazing chocolate malt cookies. So with the thought of malt dancing in my head, I of course would want to give malt a try in cupcakes. Unfortunately the cupcakes were a disaster!!! The cupcakes didn't rise, the cherries that I originally picked out had no flavor, you couldn't taste the malt whats so ever, and the original cherry buttercream frosting was a nightmare. But after taking a deep breath I went back to the store and bought cherry preserves to fill around the black pitted cherries (they were seriously disappointing!!) and I found a very tasty chocolate frosting (thanks Rachel Ray!!) that saved the day. So here's the recipe and maybe you'll have a better outcome.

Chocolate Malt Cupcakes(courtesy of Sweetly Adventures)

This was probley the best batter I've ever had!

The Goods
1cup butter room temp
2 1/2 cups sugar
4large eggs room temp
1 1/2cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Then I added 1cup malt (I used chocolate)

My little side kick

The How To

Preheat oven to 375degrees. Beat the butter until it's softened in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy-about 2mins. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until well combined. Measure out the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cocoa powder and malt and sift together.

This is all the dry ingredients sifted together

Measure out the milk and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup and stir to combine.

Aidan mixing the milk and vanilla

On low speed add about one third of the dry ingredients to the butter and vanilla and beat until barely mixed in. Keep doing this until your wet and dry ingredients are gone. The process should only take about 30 seconds. Unfortunately with my love hate relationship that I have with the mixer, some of the dry ingredients went flying everywhere and this process of wet and dry took much longer than 30seconds.

Finish by using a spatula to gently fold the batter to make sure everything is well mixed and the bottom isn't un-mixed. Scoop the batter into cupcake tins lined with cups about 2/3's full.



Bake cupcakes for about 25mins, until the cake tester comes out clean. I started checking after 15mins.

Not bad but you can tell they don't have the usual dome top too them.

After the cupcakes have cooled down I cut the center of the cupcakes out to make room for the cherries and preserves.

Then I added the cherries- this is when I realized the cherries sucked and I added the preserves the next morning before I had a chance to frost them.

with the preserves added.

Next the frosting (attempt one)...

Cherry-Vanilla Buttercream(courtesy of recipe.com)
So everything was going fine with the frosting until I added the black pitted cherries and realized that the frosting really didn't have a distinct cherry taste so I added cherry preserves the next morning. After adding the preserves the frosting took on this shiny texture and the frosting looked like it separated (almost lumpy). Not sure what happened but here is the frosting and I will have to give this a try another day.

The Goods
4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 1/2cups unsalted butter room temp.
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2/3cups cherry preserves (I used the pitted cherries then later added the preserves...)


The How To
Beat confectioners sugar and butter on medium-low speed until well blended. Add vanilla and heavy cream beat for 2mins until light and fluffy. Beat in cherry preserves until well combined.


This was before I added the preserves the next morning. Unfortunately I was in a hurry that morning and I didn't get a chance to get a picture of what it looked like afterwards.

Frosting attempt two....

Chocolate Buttercream(courtesy of Rachel Ray)
Now the outcome of this frosting was much better than the first and really easy to make.

The Goods
4oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2pound unsalted butter room temp
4cups confectioners sugar
4tablespoons milk
3teaspoons vanilla

The How To

Melt chocolate in microwave, checking after each 30 second interval to make sure you don't burn the chocolate. Stir and let cool. Next beat the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Add 2cups of sugar and 2tablespoons of the milk. Cream these ingredients until well blended. Add the rest of the sugar and milk and combine. Add the vanilla and mix in.

You would never know that this had been a total disaster!!!

Then add the optional sprinkles....

I was also trying out my new frosting tip but I think that's still a work in progress.

And of course it's approved by Taste Tester Aidan!

Up Next.....
Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

#1 S'mores with Chocolate Ganache

When i think of summertime one of the first things that come to mind is camping. Taking off for the weekend and heading to Mt. Baker sounds like a perfect short term getaway. So with camping the first thoughts that come to mind is swimming, hiking, tents, campfires, drinks (can't camp without some good beer!!) and of course s'mores. It's not a camping trip without these little late night delights. So when i found this recipe I couldnt wait to test things out.

Like my washer in the background? It's my counter space when I'm cooking!

The Goods

2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking power
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 lg eggs
1cup milk (i used 1%)
1/2cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water (don't cheat and use hot water from the tap actually boil it!!)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 18-20 squares extra its ok you will use it later)
1/3cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

The How To

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners
2. In a large bowl add 2cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix with a whisk. Set aside for later.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla on medium speed with an electric mixer
4. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed until well combine.
5. add boiling water and stir. Set the batter aside
6. Place graham crackers crumbs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and melted butter in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined-it will kinda look like wet sand.
7. Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared cupcake cup. Use a small glass (something about the same size of the cupcake tin) to pack down the graham cracker stuff at he bottom of the cupcake liner.

8. Cover the graham cracker layer with chocolate chips.
9. Place cupcake tins in the oven and bake for about 5mins. The graham cracker crust should be nice and golden.
10. Remove from oven and fill the liners 3/4 full with bather. Return the tins to the oven and bake for 18-20mins (i checked mine at 15 and they were done) check with a toothpick-stick it in the center and if it comes out clean then it's done
11. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the tin placed on a wire rack for about 10 mins. Then remove the cupcakes from the tin and allow them to completely cool on the wire rack. Make sure you do this because if you forget to remove them I've noticed that the cupcakes get a little sweating on the bottom.

For the Ganache

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (I used chips)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2cup butter

Heat the butter and cream on the stove. Heat until just before it boils. Remove and pour over chocolate. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Pour or spoon over cupcakes. I added mini marshmallows to the top of the cupcakes before i drizzled the chocolate. Then I used the left over gram cracker crumbs and sprinkled them on top. And I have to say I wouldn't have been able to get this done if it wasn't with the help of my mom :) Thanks a bunch for the help!

They turned out pretty good!!

Up next ....
Orange Cranberry Lime Surprise with Lime Buttercream Frosting