Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

This is prize-winning frosting, my friends. Literally. I used it on strawberry lemonade cupcakes last summer and won first prize in the baking contest at the Soergel Orchards strawberry festival.

Unlike my raspberry buttercream, this recipe requires fresh strawberries that are pureed and incorporated into the mixture. Farmer’s market strawberries, which are usually small and more pink than red, are preferable to the super market kind that are vibrant red, large, and definitely not as flavorful.

Bring all of your ingredients to room temperature before preparing this frosting; it yields the best results. The recipe below frosted 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Scant ¼ cup strawberry puree, at room temperature

Preparation

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and lemon juice on low speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Gradually add powdered sugar, in half-cup increments, beating until fully incorporated.

Add strawberry puree, mixing until completely incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.

Using a small cookie scoop, scoop frosting onto tops of cupcakes and spread with an offset spatula. Frosting can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days; refrigerate cupcakes after they are filled and frosted for up to 3 days.

Note: you can adjust the sweetness or tartness of this frosting very easily by adding more lemon juice or puree; you’ll just need to add more sifted powdered sugar so the frosting isn’t too runny.

Peppermint Buttercream

So, it was Christmas, and I wanted to make a dark chocolate yule log with peppermint frosting. While the yule log didn’t quite work out, I did end up making a dark chocolate cake and frosting it with the recipe below…and it was delicious.

Peppermint buttercream could pair with vanilla, white, or peppermint cake or cupcakes, but my preference would certainly be dark chocolate cake or cupcakes, reminiscent of a York Peppermint Pattie.

The crushed-up peppermint candies are certainly optional; some peppermint buttercream recipes call for mixing crushed candies right into the frosting, rather than using them as a garnish, so you could do that if you prefer. Peppermint Patties might make a fun addition to this frosting if you cut them into wedges and placed them along the outside of your cake, or just on top of each cupcake.

This recipe yields enough for one 9 x 13 sheet cake.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
red and white peppermint candies, crushed (optional)

Preparation

Place butter in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for 1 minute using a paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated; this will take several minutes. I cover my mixer with a kitchen towel to prevent a powdered sugar storm.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and add peppermint extract, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Beat until well combined, scraping sides of the bowl frequently; beat in additional tablespoon of heavy cream and continue beating for 1-2 minutes for a smooth, even consistency.

Frost the cake and sprinkle the edges with crushed peppermint candies if desired.

Vegan Vanilla Frosting

Vegan frosting? Yes, it does exist. And this version is delicious.

Okay, so most folks who are vegan are probably more health-conscious than I am and might be appalled to see one full cup of vegetable shortening in this recipe, but trust me, it’s the only way to go. I got this recipe from my cousin Barb, who has a friend whose children have various food allergies, including dairy and egg allergies. The friend actually got this recipe from her grandmother, who called it something like “Depression frosting,” likely because during the Depression dairy and eggs were scarce. It remind me a great deal of my grandma Zella’s frosting, which includes egg whites.

Just a caveat: you really do need to take the full 10 minutes to whip this frosting, or the ingredients won’t come together properly. You could also certainly cut the recipe in half for a smaller yield; this frosted 36 cupcakes very generously, with just a bit left over.

Ingredients

1 cup shortening
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
8 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, combine shortening, 1 teaspoon vanilla, water, and 4 cups powdered sugar. Mix on low speed, then increase to medium-high and beat for 10 minutes, until smooth. Add remaining powdered sugar and additional teaspoons of vanilla extract, beating until smooth.

Frost cupcakes as desired; you can add food coloring for tint if you like, once frosting is fully mixed.

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

This frosting is one of my favorites ever. It has a smooth texture and delightful maple flavor that can, I promise, only be achieved if you’re using real maple syrup. Please, please, please don’t use maple flavoring or, heaven forbid, pancake syrup…it will just not be the same. Trust me.

I originally created this frosting based on a few other recipes that I saw online, then tweaked it reach the consistency and flavor that I wanted. It is an excellent complement to spice cupcakes, but could also pair well with pumpkin or cinnamon cake or cupcakes; I can also imagine it as a nice pairing with brown sugar bundt or pound cake.

The recipe below yields a fairly large quantity, enough for 24 regular-sized cupcakes and 16 miniature cupcakes.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
5 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Preparation

In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese for 2-3 minutes, until very smooth and well-blended.

Add one cup powdered sugar, beating until combined, followed by 2 tablespoons maple syrup, again beating until well-combined. Add additional cups powdered sugar and remaining tablespoons of maple syrup alternatively, beating until frosting is very smooth.

Transfer frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip and pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Store in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Raspberry Buttercream

There are many recipes out there for raspberry buttercream that require fresh raspberries. Since it’s winter and raspberries aren’t in season, I searched out a recipe that could use raspberry jam instead and found one very similar to the recipe below, which I adapted in quantities to reach both the consistency and flavor I wanted.

The great thing about this frosting is that it is so easy to make, with just three ingredients; just be sure you use seedless raspberry jam. Pairing-wise, this frosting is a great match for dark chocolate, but it would also complement regular chocolate, white, almond, or lemon cake or cupcakes very well.

If you’re after a more brilliant pink shade, just add a few drops of red food coloring or a bit of pink gel paste food coloring to help it along; just be careful not to thin the frosting too much with liquid food coloring or it’ll be too thin to pipe well.

The recipe below frosted 24 miniature and 10 regular-sized cupcakes, so it would probably be enough for 24 regular-sized cupcakes, depending on how much frosting you like per treat.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and jam until very well-combined, about two minutes; the mixture will be lumpy, but that’s okay.

Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating for about 2 minutes between each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Continue to beat until frosting is very smooth.

Transfer frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe onto cupcakes. Store frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Cocoa Frosting

Recently, I searched for a chocolate frosting that wasn’t buttercream, but rather a richer, more complex flavor. I found this recipe on the Hershey’s website and adapted it slightly to incorporate a greater amount of vanilla extract (as always) and a bit more powdered sugar for texture purposes.

This frosting smells delicious, very like a cup of hot cocoa. I paired it with vanilla cupcakes but I can see it as a good match for almond, white, chocolate, or strawberry cupcakes. It is very easy to pipe and has a smooth texture, so you can use star tips or plain tips, whatever your decorative sensibilities may be.

The recipe below yielded enough frosting for 12 miniature cupcakes and 11 regular-sized cupcakes, so I’d recommend increasing the ingredients by half to accommodate 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine melted butter and cocoa powder. Beat on low speed for about 1 minute, then increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more.

Add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat on low speed, then add about half of the milk, continuing to beat on low speed, until combined. Follow with another cup powdered sugar and remainder of milk, beating on low until combined. Add remaining powdered sugar, then vanilla, beating until frosting is creamy and spreadable, but not too thin. You may need to add just a bit more powdered sugar if your frosting is too thin to be piped easily through a piping bag.

Fit a piping bag with a medium star tip and pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Store in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Cream Cheese Frosting II

This is an updated version of cream cheese frosting that produces a very smooth texture ideal for piping.

Cream cheese frosting is a good complement to red velvet cake and carrot cake, but its possibilities are truly endless. Regular cream cheese frosting is great on its own, but it can be enhanced with a range of flavors to complement any number of cake or cupcake flavors.

Fruity flavors like raspberry or lemon are great for spring and summer cupcakes, or treats for bridal or baby showers or Mother’s Day. Maple, cinnamon, and orange are good for fall and winter in complement to spice cakes. Add in some cocoa powder for a chocolate cream cheese frosting or spike it up with some whiskey for a complementary frosting to stout cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, or spice cupcakes.

This recipe is also easy to adapt to smaller or larger batches. The ratios below are ideal for a batch of 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 to 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese for 1-2 minutes, until combined. Add vanilla and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes.

Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. If you’d like your frosting to be a bit sweeter, add the remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.

Fit a piping bag with a large plain tip and pipe frosting onto cupcakes.

Store in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Stout Cupcakes

Happy (almost) St. Patrick’s Day! Most Americans probably celebrate this holiday with no sense of who he was. If you’re curious, check out the History Channel for some interesting information about St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. My Irish-American Catholic mother, Genny O’Donnell Kozusko, would like to remind you that St. Patrick’s Day is a Catholic feast day, so instead of drinking green beer you should really just go to mass. And say a few rosaries while you’re at it. Anyway…

I’m not sure how priests would feel about the aroma of Guinness, melted butter, and chocolate, but it smelled pretty heavenly to me. This is the first time I’ve ever baked with alcohol, and the process was not nearly as intimidating as I’d thought. The batter for these cupcakes is very thin at first, almost the consistency of honey; after it begins to cool a bit it’s a bit more viscous.

Note: this is a big recipe! The original recipe, which is from the Authentic Suburban Gourmet, was written as yielding 24 regular-sized cupcakes. My batch yielded nearly twice that, resulting in 24 regular-sized cupcakes and 24 miniature cupcakes.

Stout Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup Guinness
1 cup salted butter, cut into chunks
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium saucepan, combine Guinness and butter and bring to a simmer until butter is completely melted. Add cocoa powder and whisk until blended; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, sour cream, and eggs and beat on medium speed until combined. With the mixer running on low, slowly pour the Guinness mixture into the sugar mixture and beat until smooth. Add baking soda and salt, beating until combined. Add flour, one cup at a time, beating mixture for about 1 minute. Batter will be warm and very thin; it will thicken slightly as it cools.

Using a quarter-cup measuring cup, scoop batter into regular-sized cupcake pans, filling about three-quarters full; for the miniature cupcakes, I used a tablespoon measuring spoon and also filled the liners about three-quarters full. Regular-sized cupcakes bake for 17-20 minutes and miniatures bake for 8-10, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pans for about 1 minute, then remove to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

Devil’s Cut Frosting

Ingredients

12 ounces cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons Devil’s Cut whiskey

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter until very well-combined.

Add powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, beating until well-combined, then add cocoa powder and beat until smooth. Add whiskey and continue to beat for 3-4 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently, until frosting is very smooth and ingredients are completely incorporated.

Fit a piping bag with a large plain tip and pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Store in the refrigerator.

Red Velvet Cupcakes II

One glimpse at the photo in this post will tell you everything you need to know: these are indeed brilliant red velvet cupcakes. This is my second try at red velvet, because my first batch turned out far less red and far more dry than I’d been expecting. My first recipe called for butter, 3/4 cup of Dutch-process cocoa, and apple cider vinegar, while this recipe uses oil, one teaspoon of regular unsweetened cocoa, and regular white vinegar. I also suspect that my first batch sat in the cupcake pans too long after cooling, but whether it’s the ingredients or the process, I’ll probably never be sure.

This recipe, which is adapted from Christy Jordan’s Southern Plate “Phenomenal Red Velvet” recipe, is certainly my preference. Not only are these cupcakes a vibrant red, they’re very moist. I suspect that the vegetable oil, not butter, in the recipe gives them an extra boost of liquid, and it certainly helped that I pulled them from their pans immediately after baking. These are certainly another recipe I wish I could eat, but until late April, the Sugar Fast will remain in effect!

Note: this recipe yielded 24 miniature cupcakes and 7 regular-sized cupcakes.

Red Velvet Cupcakes II

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup flour
1 heaping teaspoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 ounce red liquid food coloring (just use have of the 1-ounce bottle)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg, and vinegar. Beat on low, then medium speed, until combined.

Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined.

Add vanilla and red food coloring, beating until combined; the batter will be on the thinner side, which is fine.

Fill cupcake liners about three-quarters full; I used a 1-inch cookie scoop to fill the miniature cupcake liners and a two-inch cookie scoop to fill the regular-sized ones. Bake miniature cupcakes for 8-10 minutes and regular-sized cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks almost immediately after baking; I let mine sit in the pans for just about 30 seconds to a minute. Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting II (adapted for a smaller batch)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter, softened
4 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese for 1-2 minutes, until well-combined. Add vanilla and beat until combined.

Add powdered sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, beating well until incorporated.

Fit a piping bag with a large star tip and pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes. Store in the refrigerator.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cocoa Frosting

Baking trials continue! These cupcakes are yet another rehearsal for the gig I have next weekend, although those vanilla cupcakes will feature a salted caramel frosting, rather than the cocoa frosting I made tonight.

The batter on these little beauties is very, very thick…thicker than pound cake batter, even. Scooping proved to be a bit of a challenge, so go easy. You can always add a bit more to each cupcake well if necessary, but it’s much harder to remove batter once it’s already been scooped.

According to Mike, these cupcakes are a classic mix of chocolate and vanilla. I wish I could eat them and was seriously tempted, but my Lenten Sugar Fast continues.

Note: this recipe made 12 miniature cupcakes and 11 regular-sized cupcakes; I suspect it would actually make 12 regular-sized cupcakes if a few of the miniatures and regular-sized ones had been just a bit smaller.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bowl frequently.

Add vanilla and beat to combine.

With the mixer running on the lowest speed, add flour mixture and milk alternatively, starting and ending with the flour and beating until just combined. Scrape sides of the bowl to incorporate any flour that gets tossed up.

Fill cupcake liners about half to three-quarters full; again, batter will be very thick. Bake miniature cupcakes for 8-10 minutes or regular-sized cupcakes for 18-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pans for about 1 minute, then remove from pans and place on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cocoa Frosting

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Fit a piping bag with a medium star tip and pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Store in the refrigerator, but bring to room temperature before serving.

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