#36 Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of this heart felt holiday and because it's also that time of month for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club I decided to kill two birds with one stone and did the chosen flavor chocolate chip cupcakes and topped them off with over sized conversation hearts made from pound cake. I have to say that they turned out pretty good. I was a little skeptical of the chocolate chips sinking but with the help of the flour coding they stayed in place perfectly. The dark chocolate frosting was amazing!!!! A perfect V-day pick. So grab your special Valentine and whip up a batch you wont be disappointed!

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes(courtesy of Martha Stewart)

This is the cupcake version of the cookies for sure! Coating the chocolate with flour really prevents the chips from sinking.

The Goods

3 1/4 cups plus 1tablespoon sifted cake flour

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temp

1 3/4 cups sugar

5 lg egg whites room temp

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used the mini ones)

The How To

Preheat oven to 350degrees. Whisk together 31/4 cups flour, baking powder, and salt then sit aside.

Stir together the milk and vanilla and sit aside.

Cream the butter in medium speed until smooth.

Add the sugar to the butter in a steady stream and beat until pale and fluffy.

Reduce speed to low and the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of the milk mixture, and beating until just combined. I totally forgot to take a picture of this step so on to the next step!!


In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Fold one-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. The gently fold the remaining whites until just combined.

Looks like big blobs of marshmallows!! And FYI this isn't combined yet just wanted to show off the egg whites :)

Toss the chocolate chips with the remaining tablespoon of flour and gently fold into batter.

Had help from my little valentine

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick comes out clean about 17-20mins. transfer to wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

Make sure it's taste tested too!!!

While the cupcakes are cooling move onto the frosting.

Dark Chocolate Frosting

The Goods

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (I subed the 2 tablespoons with the black chocolate powder I bought from King Aurthur's Flour)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temp

1/2 cup powder sugar

1lb semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Pinch of salt

The How To

Mix the boiled water and cocoa powder and set aside to cool.

Melt the chocolate chips using a double boiler and set aside to cool.

After the chocolate has had time to cool mix together the butter, sugar and salt on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.

Reduce speed to low and add the melted/cooled chocolate, beating until combined.

Looking good but not done yet

Beat in cocoa mixture.

MMMMM!!!

I found my frosting a little on the runny side so I put it in the fridge to thicken up a bit.

Now for the conversation hearts I baked up some pound cake. If you have time I would suggest doing this the day before.

yes I got a little lazy and used a box mix.

It reminded me of corn bread but without the corn ;)

After the cake has had time to cool cut out the heart shapes with a cookie cutter

Now you can either use store bought or homemade vanilla frosting. I used homemade and split it between 4 microwave safe bowls. Color the frosting I used pink, purple, and yellow. The red is for the lettering and will not be melted down.

Choose one bowl and microwave on defrost for 30seconds. The butter will look a little separated but stirring it a little will mix it back together. Don't over microwave it either or the top layer of the pound cake will come off while your dipping it. Be prepared for a mess but the outcome is worth it!!

Make sure to setup a wire rack over a cookie sheet.

After all the hearts have been dipped place in the fridge until the frosting has hardened  up. Once the frosting has hardened take the red frosting and pipe on the writing.

Now pull out the chocolate frosting and put a thick layer on top of the cooled cupcakes.

Now add the hearts to the top.

Now hand them out to your favorite valentine.

With the extras I topped them with hearts and chocolate sprinkles.

Enjoy!!
xoxo

Up Next...
Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

#35 Banana Cupcakes

Oh Banana...... You are tasty and slightly sweet but why did you give me such a hard time? I didn't just bake these once but 3 times! My out come was to have a cupcake that was light and airy not dense like a muffin. My first attempt I used a frozen banana and switched out the Crisco for butter. While I was mixing the butter and sugar together it seemed to me like it needed more butter. So channeling my inner Paul Dean I tossed another stick into the bowl. The batter was really thick but amazing! It had the perfect banana flavor. The outcome wasn't too pretty. They over flowed and were just a huge mess. Not to be discouraged I pulled out my Martha cookbook and went with the baked banana recipe. And yes you bake the bananas. I personally didn't think it made a difference. This recipe called for 3 bananas, cake flour, and whipped egg whites. The batter reminded me of banana pudding. So I did have high hope for these ones. The texture was interesting... Almost sponge like. Not what I was going for at all. So on to round 3. I'm starting to think that I will never have the perfect banana cupcake. This time I went back to the original recipe I started with and used the darn Crisco and a fresh banana. The batter was similar to  my first attempt but I noticed that the banana flavor wasn't as prominent. With many volunteer taste testers on hand, I and many others have decided that my first attempt was the best, butter and all. If I ever go on another banana baking rampage I will go with a recipe my grandma used to make and with that I am guaranteed banana goodness. So here's my first attempt your going to either like it or love it. If your going with fresh bananas my suggestion is to add another banana or two.

Banana Cupcakes (courtesy of All Recipes)
This is the original recipe so it's your choice if you want to sub out the butter. I noticed that the ones made with the Crisco held up better after a couple days than the ones made with butter.

The Goods

1/2 cup shortening (or butter)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup buttermilk room temp

2 cups flour sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

The How To
Preheat oven to 350degrees. Mash your bananas and set aside. If your using frozen banana make sure to take them out early enough so they have time to defrost. In another bowl combine sifted flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Set aside.

In case you've never seen roasted banana's here is my before

and after. Wasn't hard just bake at 400degrees for 15mins.

In the bowl of a stand up mixer cream shortening (or butter) and sugar on medium speed for about 3mins or until it looks fluffy and combined.

Add the eggs, vanilla, bananas and buttermilk.

eggs



vanilla



bananas-frozen in my case

Add the flour mixture then the mashed bananas. Fill 18 paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.

Bake  for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

 
Cinnamon Honey Cream Cheese Frosting
This is some amazing stuff! If your looking for something a little more low key, I would go with a vanilla cream cheese frosting. Martha makes a good one :)

The Goods
1/2 cup butter room temp
4oz cream cheese room temp
1 heaping tablespoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
2-4cups powdered sugar
1-2tablespoons milk

The How To
In the bowl of a stand up mixer cream the butter until light and fluffy about 3mins.

Add the cream cheese and beat for another 2mins

Add the honey and cinnamon.

Gradually add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. I did 3 cups it just depends on how thick you like it. Add the milk only if needed! I used 1 tablespoon.

Now frost those little gems up and take a bite!!!

I got a huge set of frosting tips for Christmas so I decided to experiment a little...

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Chocolate Chip Cupcakes