Fresh Cherry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Fresh cherries on sale for $1.99 at Safeway? I grabbed a couple of bags at first thinking that they are bad either taste wise or they were moldy, but when I got home and ate a handful, they were sweet and tangy and actually really good. The next time the boy went to Safeway, I asked him to pick me up a couple of bags again so I could bake with fresh cherries.

Damn, was that a good idea or what? I sat down and pitted all those cherries. Actually, my boyfriend did. He used a straw from Starbucks and just pitted them. It probably wasn't the most efficient way to do it, but it did pit the cherries pretty well, better than if we tried to cut them and pit them. Definitely cheaper than a cherry pitter.

The cupcake itself is a bit dense, but out of the oven, it's soft and delicious. It's not too sweet, but the cherries running through the batter provide a great little point of sweetness. I decided to top these with a cream cheese frosting - it's my favorite type! I found a great little recipe that makes just enough for about 12-15 cupcakes.

Recipe:
Fresh Cherry Cupcakes
(adapted from How Sweet It Is)
makes 12-15 cupcakes
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped cherries
1-2 tablespoons milk, if needed


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add flour, baking powder and salt with the mixer on low speed, then gradually increase speed. Add in chopped cherries and mix until combined. At this point, the cherries most likely have enough liquid that you don’t need to add any milk to the batter. If you batter seems dry and is not like typical cake batter, then add milk 1-2 tablespoons at a time, beating until incorporated.

Pour into cupcake liners, approximately 2 heaping tablespoons worth, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake is set. Let cool, then frost.


Cream Cheese Frosting:
(from Food Network)

4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract.

To put the whole cupcake together, pipe the frosting onto the cupcake after it has cooled. I used a 1M frosting tip from Wilton, but any will do. Afterwards, decorate using some whole cherries with their stem still on.

Blackberry Champagne Cupcakes

This is the first post in the series of posts that make GREAT Valentine's Day or romantic desserts. I know my boyfriend just revealed that he doesn't love cupcakes (WHAT HORROR), but I still decided to make these anyways.

Instead of making these for a romantic reason, I made them for a friend's party. I asked her what she wanted and she had mentioned raspberries and champagne. Although it's not the best thing to bake with, I thought I would give it a try. I didn't have fresh raspberries, but I did have fresh blackberries. It's not the same, but it's still amazing! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAIL!!!

The cupcakes turned out surprisingly very well. Everyone really enjoyed them. I ran into some difficulties with the frosting, but since everyone was drinking, no one noticed! The cupcake was moist, even though I thought it would be quite dense and dry. Delicious new addition to my arsenal. Alcoholic cupcakes are great for birthdays!

Recipe (adapted from Love Cupcake):
Makes about 24 cupcakes
Soaked Blackberries:
1 1/2 cup champagne
2 containers of blackberries (about 70 of them)


1. Place the blackberries in the champagne in a container overnight, or at least 4 hours.


Cupcakes: 
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup champagne (from soaking the blackberries)


1. Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a mixer cream butter and sugar until well mixed and airy. Add eggs one at a time making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding the next. Slowly add in flour mixture. Stir in vanilla and champagne.
3. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full. Insert one blackberry into each cupcake. Cover with enough batter to cover the berry. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.


Champagne Frosting:
1 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 cup champagne


Cream butter until smooth. Slowly add sifted powdered sugar. Mixture will bery thick, keep adding champagne to get the consistency you want. Frost cupcakes and top with a blackberry (soaked ones).

Mint Filled Brownies [MSCC]

A very quick post. I just make these yesterday - 1/3 of the recipe, had to do some math, but it turned out pretty simple. I actually ended up with 5 cupcakes and they made great brownies to eat with ice cream!

Delicious choice! It was simple to get those mini peppermint patties, now I just need to find more uses for them! Boyfriend loved them as a nice addition to our dinner together. Very minty, but the brownie was still soft and fudgy.

PS. Great choice by MSCC and Rebecca!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Brown Butter Frosting

This cupcake was definitely a nice fall dessert since it had pumpkin which was super easy. It's an easy dessert - just throw everything together basically and bam, it's done!

(maybe) Better than Sex Cupcakes

So I know, I haven't been keeping up with baking, but I'm trying to get back into. These were made for the Kiwanis Takeover. They were sold for $40! YAY!

It's based on this recipe, but I replaced the mousse with pudding because it was easier to buy. I also used devil's food mix instead of making it from scratch. I'm being lazy, I know! It was delicious regardless!

I called them (maybe) Better than Sex Cupcakes because...well I don't want to promise anything. What if it wasn't better than sex, that would just not be good.

Look at that delicious inside!

Coconut Pecan Frosting with Devils Food Cupcakes [sms]

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick, Coconut Pecan Frosting, was chosen by a great friend, Eliana of A Chica Bakes.

I remember when I was travelling to New York, Eliana gave me some great tips and pointers for going there. I'm super sorry that we were not able to meet up anything, but I'll be back in New York in March with my best friend for Spring Break. We'll be partying it up and eating some delicious foods.

I do want to apologize to everyone for not posting for a while. School and recruiting has been taking over my life lately, but I have some extra time this weekend because I don't have midterms until next week. I had a date this weekend, one of many since my ex and I broke up. He decided to cook me dinner while I made him these cupcakes with this topping. He loved it. I made the Devil's Food cupcakes from a mix, but doctored it up. I used this recipe for Chocolate Rum Cake because I had some Malibu lying around...well because my friend Elan is awesome and bought me some when I was super depressed.

Anyways, back to my blog, I've been trying to get myself back into baking, and I'll attempt to make something weekly. Wish me luck!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes [msc]

YAY! It's my month to host.

It's been super busy month, so I apologize for not getting this up earlier. I've just been working on school and getting everything done before they're due or needed. This semester so far has been about heartbreak, meeting new people, finding a job, doing well in school, and most of school, staying healthy.

This recipe was super easy to make and although there are still a few in the house, I've been controlling myself and not eating as much. My neighbors and roommate however, have been slightly worse at controlling themselves. It's okay though, the more they eat, the less I have to.

I really enjoyed the creaminess of the cheesecake on top, but the nice crunch of the oreo at the bottom and throughout the cake. I do wish that I could make them perfect by somehow making the Oreo cover the entire bottom of the cheesecake, that would have made it even better!

The recipe for this month's Cupcake Club is found on page 104-105 of Martha Stewart's Cupcake book.

Triple Citrus Cupcakes [msc]

I made these cupcakes at the beginning of the month for a friend, Mimi, who had a great birthday party. I decided to make these because she said she like light flavors and something just overall light. I thought these would have been perfect.

First I made 2/3 of the recipe. 9 eggs was just way too many. I just made it with 6 eggs - which I thought was still a lot. I used grapefruit instead of orange...well because that's what I had in the house. In addition, I decided to add a bit of citrus alcohol in it since the batter was not cupcake consistency.

After baking it, it had a muffin-like consistency therefore I just decided to add a center of lemon yogurt to it. This way, it is less muffin like, but more moist as well. I also topped it with a lime buttercream. Since I didn't have time to place it into the fridge to set up more, I just kinda scooped it on and topped it with sprinkles.

Everyone loved them which is great. Happy [way] Belated Birthday, Mimi.

The recipe for this month's Cupcake Club is found on page 64 of Martha Stewart's Cupcake book or here.Thanks to Marthe from Culinairy Delights for choosing this.

ps. I apologize to everyone for commenting on their blogs a bit later. I will be in New York this week. If you have any suggestions on what to do or where to eat, please email me! I would love to have a great supply of places to eat.

Pomegranate Cupcake with Lime Frosting

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY DMITRIY!

I know that I've posted about Dmitriy before; I must have. He's one of my closest guy friends and I just really enjoy being around him. He really makes me sane sometimes when I'm going insane and he's a great friend that I've made at Cal.

Today is his 21st birthday. I was going to make him alcoholic cupcakes, but thought that making a cupcake with alcohol isn't too hard, but making a cupcake for a friend with one of his favorite fruits is harder. Pomegranates are not only not in season, they're kinda too strong for me.

I made a simple white chocolate pomegranate cupcake that I found and then added a little bit of pomegranate juice boiled with a bit of sugar mixture to put into the middle. Also, I topped it with a bit of lime frosting because I've seen so many commercials from Dove that have the two together.

It was simple, delicious and I know he really enjoyed it. Enjoy your 21st and have some fun. I'm super sad that I can't be there, but I know that you'll enjoy it loads!



ps. sorry for the really mess background. I was at my desk, rushing because I had to leave in a couple of minutes to come back home.

Kiwi Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

This was a week-late birthday present for my friend Phuoc. He's turned...30-something, I forgot. He's our Golden Gate Regional Advisor, but he's a great Kiwanian and person. He used to be in Circle K as well so he's got stories for us about when the club started once again and became what it is now - a powerhouse!

Anyways, back to the cupcakes, I made these late Monday night. I got them out of the oven and my roommate, Kimberly, and I each tried one that night and the chunks of kiwi were the only parts that had lots of kiwi flavor, the rest of the cupcake was pretty lemon-y. The next day, although, after the cupcake was allowed to rest, the kiwi flavor was apparent in the cupcake as well. As a suggestion though, I would puree the kiwi and put it into the cupcake instead of chopping it up. It seems like this way, the kiwi flavor will be there more.

I topped these cupcakes off with some cream cheese frosting. I used ones out of the can, but that is only because I still had lots of it left and I was being lazy. In addition, I don't have cream cheese around typically so it was just a lot easier. I topped them off with a bit of sprinkles because everything is better with sprinkles!

Kiwi Cupcakes

[adapted from couture cupcakes]
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
1 ¼ cup SR flour
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 cup sour cream
2 kiwi fruit finely diced

1. Preheat oven to 180 (350).
2. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners.
3. Cream butter, lemon zest and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Beat in the flour until just combined, add the sour cream and lemon juice and beat until well incorporated.
6. Fold in the finely diced kiwi fruit.
7. Evenly divide the batter into cupcake liners and bake for 20 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes [msc]

I had made these cupcakes soon after the June cupcake. My friends and I were getting together for a sleepover. One of our guy friends had never painted his nails before and we decided one weekend would be nice and we would just talk and paint nails and get facials - normal sleepover stuff. This bond we had was formed over a long car talk around probably 4-5 hours. It was wow. We talked about everything. This sleepover's conversation was mostly about relationships, but I feel like most conversations I have are about relationships.

I decided that since I just got my new place, we could use that place since it will be empty. It would be great since we could just all sit there or be in our sleeping bags and just talk. So we ate some food and hung out and ate my flourless cupcakes. They were pretty good, but they never got the shells like they were on Martha's book. They were a dense little cake of chocolately goodness. The ice cream on top was wonderful as well.

The recipe for this month's Cupcake Club is found on page 146 of Martha Stewart's Cupcake book or here. Thanks to Lauryn of Bella Baker for choosing this.

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes

As I start to clean my new apartment, I realize that I have loads of food that I brought up when I started summer school. Mostly my mom made me bring apples up. I also bought a whole bunch of fruit recently, too. I'm also trying to make room for my roommate who is going to be moving in soon. With all that, the next couple of non-group posts should be able random fruit that I have in the fridge.

Like I said before, I had loads of apples, I thought that I could make some apple related items. Last year, I made some mini apple pies and this apple dapple cake that were both well received. This time I decided to make some cupcakes with it.

I found this recipe off of Tracey's blog. She's a great blogger and I just love all of her wonderful recipes. She had made this in the fall which makes sense since it does have some wonderful fall flavors, but the weather in Northern California has been fall-like so it just made sense.

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes
[adapted from Everyday Food]

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup [half a stick] butter, melted
1/4 cup natural (unsweetened) applesauce
3/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of cubed apple [I'm not sure what type of apple I used, but it was pretty good]

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners (or butter the pan).

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, combine butter, applesauce, brown sugar, and eggs. Whisk until smooth.

Gradually whisk in dry ingredients just until combined (do not overmix). Using a rubber spatula, fold in cubed apple.

Spoon approximately 3 tablespoons in each cupcake. Bake until a tester inserted in cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 15 minutes; remove cupcakes from pan. Enjoy!

Blueberry Cupcakes

These blueberry cupcakes were a wonderful summer cupcake to make. I found a wonderful recipe on a wonderful blog and I decided to make it for some friends.

These were a great cupcake and delicious. The blueberries were really cheap and since I got a whole lot of them, I decided to make some cupcakes with it.

Blueberry Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup [1 stick] unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk or yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Insert liners into a regular muffin pan.
Cream sugar and butter together.
Add eggs one at a time to the mixture and beat well.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add flour mixture in portions alternating with yogurt/milk.
Fold in vanilla extract and blueberries.
Fill cupcake liner with about 2 Tablespoons of batter.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool cupcakes in pan.

Strawberry Cupcakes [msc]

It's been a while since I've really baked but that's due to the fact that my parents don't really like it when I bake at home. Therefore, I've been baking out of a box. Recently, since I came back up to Berkeley, I'm baking from scratch again. This time I was taking on Martha Stewart's Strawberry Cupcakes.

I had halved the recipe and made about 20. They were delicious, although a bit muffin like as always. In this case, I also subbed the milk for strawberry yogurt. In addition, instead of the buttercream, I decided to make some whipped cream to make it a bit lighter. They were gone very soon and it was delicious!

The recipe for this month's Cupcake Club is found on page 146 of Martha Stewart's Cupcake book or here. Thanks to Sherry of Sherry Starts Cooking for choosing this.

Phish Food Cupcakes

This is my last ice cream cupcake that I have made. So this is marking the end of the annual Ice Cream Cupcake competition by Cupcake Project and Scoopalicious. This is inspired by the wonderful Ben and Jerry's flavor Phish Food. It's one of my boyfriend's favorite ice cream flavors and I love the combination of chocolate, marshmallow, and caramel.

I started out with a chocolate cupcake. I used the Martha Stewart 1 Bowl Chocolate Cupcake Recipe. It's super simple and easy to clean afterward baking.

I topped the cupcakes with some marshmallow fluff to imitate the marshmallow in the ice cream.

I then added some caramel flavored ice cream on top. I would have made my own, but alas, I have no ice cream maker. In addition, I found this place near my house that sells a scoop of ice cream for a dollar and they're also homemade.

I topped the ice cream with some homemade marshmallow fluff frosting. I took some of the extra marshmallow fluff and made Marshmallow Fluff Frosting. It's super delicious!

To recreate the fish that are IN the ice cream. I piped some melted chocolate onto some parchment paper in the shape of fish. When they set, they made the perfect topping to the cupcake.

I had a super fun time making, creating, and eating all these ice cream cupcakes.

ps. feel free to look at my other creations that I didn't end up entering.