Category: Cakes + Cupcakes

Thanksgiving Cupcakes

Why is pie a classic Thanksgiving dessert? Apparently colonial bakers learned to use pumpkin, which had long been cultivated in North America, in the early days of the United States. Apples are also harvested in fall, making them, along with pumpkins, popular pie choices for this time of year. But what if you’re not a pie person? Maybe you want, for example, a Thanksgiving cupcake.

Don’t get me wrong: I love pumpkin pie. But for this year’s Thanksgiving, spent with people very dear to me, I chose to make cupcakes decorated like Thanksgiving staples: turkeys, mashed potatoes, and pies. Yes, the decoration took a while to do, but the end results were so adorable it was worth every minute. I made two different cupcake batters to offer some variety, so I’ve outlined both below. You could mix and match cupcakes and decorations however you like, and you’ll have some frosting left over for other treats. The next time I make something like this, I’ll make a bit less frosting.

Ingredients

For the chocolate cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 cup water

For the caramel cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled, or 209 grams if measuring by weight)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the chocolate buttercream

  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream

For the vanilla buttercream

  • 1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream

For the decorations

  • Miniature chocolate chips, for turkey eyes
  • Candy corn, for turkey feathers
  • Salted caramel sauce, for mashed potatoes (see notes below)
  • Yellow, red, and brown food coloring
  • Wilton piping tips 1A (large plain), 12 (medium plain), 5 (small plain), 352 (leaf), and 67 (leaf) or small star of your choice (for the pie crust effect)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners; the chocolate batch makes 12-14 and the caramel batch makes 14-16, depending on how full you fill your cupcake wells.

To make chocolate cupcakes: In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil into the wells; add water and mix until the batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble up slightly when you add the water, so just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill cupcake wells about half full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks. Cool completely before frosting.

To make caramel cupcakes: In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add brown sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove from the fridge and add mix in the egg, sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract until completely combined. Stir into the flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into tins and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To frost and decorate, you’ll want to make both batches of frosting first, as you need both chocolate and vanilla buttercream for the turkeys.

For chocolate buttercream, place butter in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and sift in cocoa powder to remove any lumps; you can also sift in both your powdered sugar and cocoa if you like. Beat on low speed until the sugar and cocoa are fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract and beat, then add heavy cream and beat until smooth.

For vanilla buttercream, place butter in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this will take several minutes. Add vanilla extract and beat, then add heavy cream and beat until smooth.

To maximize your vanilla frosting, I recommend going in the following order to tint and decorate your cupcakes.

First, frost your mashed potato cupcakes. Place about 1 cup frosting into a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1A tip and pipe blobs onto the tops of each cupcake. Using a spoon, make a small well in the center of each cupcake and place about 1/2 teaspoon salted caramel sauce into the well, drizzling a bit over the sides. See notes below for caramel tips – mine made quite a mess because I tried to use too much!

If you have vanilla frosting left from your mashed potato cupcakes, return it to your bowl. Fit another piping bag with a small plain tip and place a few tablespoons vanilla frosting inside; set aside to make the turkey faces, as this will be the whites of the turkey eyes.

Take about 1/4 cup vanilla frosting and tint it yellow; place in a piping bag fitted with the 352 leaf tip; set aside to make the turkey beaks.

Divide remaining vanilla into two portions. Tint one red for the pie filling and the other golden brown (using both brown and golden yellow food coloring) for the pie crust. Fit a bag with a small plain tip and set aside; this will be both your turkey wattles and pie filling detail. Fit another bag with another small plain tip for your pie crust lattice.

To make the turkeys, frost the tops of your cupcakes with chocolate buttercream using an offset spatula, then fit a piping bag with a medium plain tip. Pipe a blob of frosting for the turkey’s head, then add the whites of the eyes and miniature chocolate chips for pupils. Pipe on beaks, then wattles. Add candy corn feathers; I used seven pieces per cupcake.

To make the pies, frost a thin layer of red over the top of each cupcake, leaving about 1/4 inch around the edges. Using the piping bag fitted with the small plain tip, pipe cherry details over the top. Using your golden brown frosting, pipe lattice stripes across the top of each cupcake, then switch tips and add the crust edge detail.

Caramel Notes: I used Smucker’s salted caramel ice cream topping for the gravy of my mashed potato cupcakes and recommend the following:

  • Use room-temperature caramel topping for these cupcakes for the easiest application. Wait to add the caramel until shortly before you’re serving, or keep cool in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
  • You need between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon of caramel sauce per cupcake – be very careful not to over-fill your wells or to drizzle too close to the edges. A few of my cupcakes were a mess because I used too much, as the caramel spilled over the sides.
  • The caramel sauce will absorb into the buttercream after a while, so keep leftovers in the fridge to prevent this from happening.

Below is a detail of Herb, the first turkey I created. I felt bad eating him but he was absolutely delicious. Alternatives to candy corn include M&Ms and Reese’s Pieces, but candy corn is a good choice for folks who can’t have nuts or products manufactured on machines that may have also made nut candies.

Fall Blossom Cake

For the past several weeks I’ve seen these amazing, beautiful cakes and cupcakes across Instagram where you cover the entire top of the cake with different piping shapes. I decided to practice my piping skills and make this fall blossom cake, and I have to say: I’m even impressed. I also loved this bake because I so rarely get to make cakes, but I’ve decided that I can absolutely take full cakes to my office. I even brought little plates and a knife for cutting to encourage folks to dig in.

The recipe of the cake is adapted slightly from A Stay at Home Chef, and it is absolutely delicious. The next time I make it I’m going to add vanilla bean paste to the batter instead of extract to see what happens; I’d also like to make chocolate almond and chocolate orange versions, so stay tuned. And yes – the amount of buttercream you need for this cake (and the mess it makes in your kitchen) is just as unreal as it seems. I say I used about 12 cups of powdered sugar in this…but to be totally honest, I lost count.

Ingredients

For the chocolate cake

  • ▢1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sour milk (see tip below) or buttermilk
  • 3/4 cup warm water (between 100 and 110 degrees)
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the vanilla almond buttercream

  • 2 1/2 cups (yes, really, 4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • About 12 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
  • Red, orange, and green food coloring
  • To decorate: Piping tips of your choice. I used the Wilton M1, 4B, 21, and 16 for the flowers and the 352 leaf tip.

Tip: To make 3/4 cup sour milk, place 2 1/4 teaspoons vinegar or lemon juice in a glass measuring cup. Add enough whole milk to equal 3/4 cup and stir; let stand for 5 minutes before using.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking tin with baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, sour milk, warm water, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and whisk to combine completely, about 2 minutes by hand. Pour into baking tin and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter on medium speed for 1 minute. Add about 5 cups powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this takes several minutes. I place a kitchen towel over my mixer to avoid getting powdered sugar all over the countertop.

Once sugar is fully incorporated, add vanilla extract, almond extract, and 1 tablespoon heavy cream and beat to combine; add remaining powdered sugar about 1 cup at a time, beating well between each addition. You’ll likely need another 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream to achieve a medium consistency that’s pipeable but will hold its shape.

Divide frosting into several bowls and tint as desired. I did a variety of deep yellow, light peach, orange, and pinkish red. Remember to reserve a small portion of your frosting to tint green if you want to add leaf accents.

Pipe as desired; I put a thin layer of white buttercream as a base because I just prefer to do that, but you could pipe directly onto the cake itself if you wanted to. I used various techniques, including the same basic swirled rose I use on most of my cupcakes, star-like flowers, and so forth. You can get as creative as you like here. Add your leaf accents using the leaf tip. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days; this didn’t last two full days in my office.

Spider Cake for Halloween

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” Linus waits, undeterred by criticism from the rest of the Peanuts, for the Great Pumpkin to arrive, and it’s that dedication that inspired this cake, with two adorable spiders sitting in a pumpkin patch, holding legs and hoping for a visit from the Great Pumpkin.

The cake itself is vanilla, and it takes a fair amount of buttercream – I used vanilla almond to cover the cake and make most of the decorations, while using chocolate buttercream for the spiders. You’ll need a fair amount of piping tips for this effort, but for me, the end result was well worth it. This also might be one of the longest blog posts I’ve ever written because of the extensive decoration steps!

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • dash of salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 6 tablespoons milk

For the frosting and decoration

For the frosting and decoration

  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 3-4 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • Green, yellow, and red food coloring
  • Chocolate chips (for spider eyes)
  • Note: You’ll need the Wilton piping tips 233 (grass), 22 (star), 12 (medium plain), 5 (small plain), and 352 (leaf)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 6-inch round cake pans, line each with a parchment circle, and lightly grease the parchment.

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

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until very well-blended. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat well to combine, scraping the sides of your bowl a few times.

Add flour and milk alternatively in two batches, beginning and ending with the flour and beating until completely combined.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 18-22 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow cakes to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While cakes cool, make your frosting – you want to begin with a vanilla almond buttercream, then divide your frosting and make a smaller portion of chocolate buttercream from the original batch.

To make vanilla almond buttercream, beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute; add 4 cups powdered sugar and beat on low speed to fully incorporate the sugar into the butter. This takes a long time (several minutes); I cover my mixer with a kitchen towel during the process to avoid a storm of powdered sugar.

Once sugar is fully incorporated, beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes; add vanilla extract, almond extract, 1 tablespoon heavy cream, and remaining powdered sugar and beat on low, then medium speed, to fully combine. You can add another tablespoon of heavy cream if necessary; you want a texture that’s easy to pipe, but can still hold its shape.

Divide your frosting as follows:

Reserve about 1 tablespoon white frosting for spider eyes. Place in a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip; set aside.

Take 1 1/2 cups and sift in 2-3 tablespoons cocoa powder (to taste) and mix in 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Fit a piping bag with a coupler and medium plain tip; fill with chocolate frosting and set aside. You’ll want the coupler to switch to a small plain tip later.

Take about 2 cups frosting and tint light green; I used a combination of green and yellow for my shade. You’ll add more green for the pumpkin leaves, vines, and grass later on.

Take about 1 cup frosting and tint orange for the pumpkins; I used a combination of yellow and red food coloring for this. Fit a piping bag with a medium star tip and place orange frosting inside the bag; set aside.

To decorate, place one cake layer on your cake stand; I put chocolate buttercream in the middle of my cake, but you can put the vanilla almond there if you prefer. Top with another cake layer. Cover the top and sides of the cake completely with light green buttercream.

To make the spiders, pipe one large and one small blob of frosting for the body and the head of each spider, then switch frosting tips to the small plain tip and pipe on the legs. Using the white frosting, pipe circles for eyes, then add chocolate chips for the pupils. You can also use candy eyes, but I find that the pupils on those “bleed” out into the whites…which I guess isn’t terrible for Halloween.

To make the pumpkins on the sides of your cake, pipe orange frosting in an up-and-down motion to create your shapes. To pipe the smaller pumpkins on the top of the cake, hold your piping bag vertically over the cake and pipe directly down, like you’re making a star, but let it fill out into a pumpkin shape.

Take the remaining light green frosting and add more food coloring for a darker shade. Fit a piping bag with a coupler and a grass tip; pipe grass around the bottom of the cake. Switch to a leaf tip and add leaves on your pumpkins, then switch to another small plain tip and add vines, if desired.

Use the remaining chocolate buttercream to finish your pumpkins by piping on their stems. A detail of the pumpkins on the side of the cake is below. Store the finished cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Makes about 6-8 slices.

Cinnamon Orange Cupcakes

As always, I’m fascinated by whoever thought, hmm…I’m going to combine cinnamon with orange and it’s going to be delicious. But here we are, with absolutely delicious cinnamon orange cupcakes. Not unlike the combination of chocolate and orange, this flavor pairing is a surprisingly good one, and it made for popular cupcakes at the office a few weeks back.

The one thing I didn’t love about this recipe was the frosting color – the cinnamon in the buttercream tints it the color of oatmeal, which isn’t always the most appetizing shade. The next time I make these, I might experiment with a subtle color for the icing and add a few drops of orange food coloring to see what happens – I suspect the end result would be a pumpkin-like shade, so we’ll see.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled; this is also 209 grams, for those baking by weight)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon Vietnamese cinnamon*
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Scant 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
  • Zest of 1 medium  orange

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Scant 1/4 teaspoon orange extract, to taste
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • Zest of 1/2 medium orange
  • 3/4 teaspoon Vietnamese cinnamon

*You can use regular cinnamon if you like, but it’s not as flavorful as the Vietnamese variety – I buy mine at Penzeys, a spice shop based in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, but you can also find it at King Arthur Baking and at various other places online. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 17 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, orange extract, and orange zest. Stir into the flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into tins and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract, orange extract, orange juice, orange zest, and cinnamon and beat to combine completely.  Fit a large piping bag with a large star tip (I use the Wilton M1) and pipe swirls of frosting using a back-and-forth motion onto cupcakes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Halloween Cupcakes

I’m not a creepy Halloween kind of woman. Give me Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin, adorable monsters that could either be Muppets or something you’d encounter in a Disney movie, cute bats, adorable spiders with googly eyes…I’m all for that. But the sinister side of Halloween, with psycho clowns and vengeful undead creatures and sinister yard displays? No, thanks.

These cupcakes – a simple caramel cupcake with vanilla buttercream – were inspired by the cuter side of this spooky holiday, including monsters that could indeed be Muppets or something you’d encounter in a Disney movie, shy mummies, and pumpkins made easily by simply piping with a star tip. I really wanted to make some cute bats and adorable spiders too, but maybe next time.

Ingredients

Caramel cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream and Decorations

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • Green, brown, and either orange or yellow and red food coloring*
  • Candy eyes
  • Note: You’ll need the Wilton piping tips 47 (basketweave), 233 (grass), 21 (star), 5 (plain), and 352 (leaf) tips for decoration 

*I think Wilton’s gel food coloring is the best, even if the little jars aren’t as convenient as squeeze bottles. The colors are richer and don’t cause my buttercream to start to break down, which has happened with other brands. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; this makes about 21 cupcakes. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar and melted butter, whisking until no lumps remain. Whisk in egg, sour cream, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Slowly whisk in flour mixture until batter is completely smooth; it will be fairly thick.

Using a two-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of batter into prepared cupcake pans, filling about half-full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and remove from pans immediately; cool completely before frosting.

To make your frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is completely incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract and milk and beat to completely combine. 

To decorate, begin with your mummies’ it’s easier to start with white, then tint your frosting as you go along – just reserve enough white to make your green, orange, and brown for the remaining cupcakes. Frost a thin layer of white on each cupcake; add small/medium candy eyes. Fit a piping bag with a Wilton 47 basketweave tip and pip strips across the cupcake.

For monsters, tint a portion of frosting green and place a thin layer of green on each cupcake. Fit a piping bag with the Wilton 233 grass tip. Pipe fur onto each cupcake; add large, medium, or small candy eyes, whatever you prefer. 

For pumpkins, tint frosting orange and place in a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 22 star tip (note: my tip is more of a closed star, but when I searched online the 22 is now more of an open star – you can use either an open or closed star tip for this). Hold the bag directly above the cupcake and pipe up and down to make the pumpkin shape. Tint a very small amount of frosting brown and place in a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 5 plain tip; pipe the pumpkin stem. Replace the Wilton 233 on your bag of green frosting with the 352 leaf tip and pipe on leaves.

Store cupcakes at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days. 

 

Spice Bundt Cake

Once again, my reliable Bundt cake recipe came through with a delicious result. Last fall I made a cinnamon version, and I wanted to mix in some additional autumn spices for this recipe. The mix below is technically pumpkin spice, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, but you could go with whatever blend you choose. Apple pie spice (which includes cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice) would be a good option as well.

For the icing, I went with apple cider as my liquid, and I’m not sure it made much of a difference. You could easily substitute with water or milk if you prefer.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon cloves
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract

For the icing

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
  • 3-4 tablespoons apple cider

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and butter extract. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients to completely combine.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in tin for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract, butter extract, and 1 tablespoon cider; add enough additional cider to make a thick but pourable icing. Pour over cake and allow to drip down the sides. Allow icing to set before serving.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several days; this cake stays moist for a very long time.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

So, I turned 48 this year. I’ve been baking for probably 40 or so of those years, and in all that time I’d never made a cookie cake. This summer I’ve made three, and let me tell you, they’re delicious.

You can buy special cookie cake tins that yield the traditional 1/4 inch thickness of a grocery store or shopping mall cookie cake, but I used a standard 8-inch round cake pan instead. While the edges get very, very brown (read: almost burnt), the end result is still delicious.  This recipe comes from Sally’s Baking and she recommends a glass pie dish, which I’d like to try next time. I tweaked her recipe by adding more vanilla (as I always do) and going with vanilla buttercream for the decoration instead of chocolate, and it turned out really well.

Ingredients

For the cookie dough

  • 12 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips, plus about 1 tablespoon to sprinkle over the top

For the vanilla buttercream & decoration

  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Multicolored sprinkles

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch round cake tin with baking spray and set aside.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and beat to combine. Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and beat until just combined; be careful to not over-mix the dough. Stir in chocolate chips.

Press dough evenly into the baking tin; cover loosely with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. You can remove the foil for the last 5 minutes or so of baking, but be very careful about your edges! Cool completely in the tin, then turn out onto your serving plate.

While the cookie cake cools, make your buttercream: Beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is completely incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract and beat to completely combine. Fit a piping bag with a large plain tip (I use the Wilton M1) and pipe a star border around the edge of the cake; I also piped my 48 in the center. Add sprinkles if desired.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days; this treat holds its moisture pretty well. Makes about 9 servings.

Creamsicle Layer Cake

Creamsicle – that amazing combination of orange and vanilla – is one of my absolute favorites. I’ve made many treats in this classic flavor, including creamsicle cupcakes, creamsicle cut-out cookies, and creamsicle pound cake, all with rave reviews.

This creamsicle layer cake is a twist on a lemon blackberry cake I made many years ago, and it was delicious. I’m only sorry I didn’t take a photo of the top before I cut it, because I piped on some lovely orange flowers that sort of reminded me vaguely of the truffula trees from The Lorax.  Just one thing to note: the method of mixing the cake might seem odd, but it’s a real technique called “reverse creaming,” where you combine the dry ingredients first, then slowly mix in the butter before adding the wet ingredients. The goal is to create a more tender crumb, which this cake definitely has. 

Ingredients

For the cake 

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 orange juice
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • zest of 2 cara cara oranges
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di sicilia (or 1/4 teaspoon orange extract)
  • 12 tablespoons butter, slightly softened but still cool, cut into pats 

For the frosting

  • 1 1/4 cups (20 tablespoons, or 2 1/2 sticks) butter, at room temperature 
  • 4 1/2 – 5 cups powdered sugar 
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2-3 tablespoons orange juice
  • scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di sicilia
  • Orange and green food coloring

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment, then grease the parchment and lightly flour the pans.

In your stand mixer, combine the sugar, cake flour, baking powder, and salt; beat for 30 seconds to combine. 

In a glass measuring cup, combine eggs, milk, vegetable oil,  orange juice, orange zest, vanilla extract, and fiori di sicilia. Whisk to combine; set aside while you add your butter in the next step.

 With the mixer running on low, add butter to the dry ingredients one pat at a time, until the mixture looks like coarse sand. 

Add half the egg mixture and beat on medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes, then scrape down the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating for about 30 seconds after each.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons orange juice, and fiori di Sicilia, beating to combine completely. If necessary, add another tablespoon of orange juice – you want the consistency to be pipable, so not too soft or too stiff.

Reserve about 1/2 cup of frosting and tint it orange; reserve another 1/4 cup and tint it green. The rest of the frosting can remain white. 

To assemble and frost your cake, place one cake layer on your serving plate. Frost the cake to just shy of the edges so your frosting doesn’t squish out when you place the second layer on top. Top with the second layer and frost the top and sides of the cake to create as smooth a surface as you can. 

To make my design, I used the Wilton 5 small plain tip to pipe flower stems of various heights, then used the Wilton 21 medium star tip to pipe various sizes of flowers. I used the Wilton 352 leaf tip to add leaves and grass. I also piped a border of flowers around the bottom of the cake and added a leaf every few inches. 

Once frosted, store your cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. Makes about 9 servings, depending on how thick your slices are. 

Almond Bundt Cake

The latest adaptation of my amazing poppy seed cake comes in a simple almond version, but it’s incredibly delicious. I’ve made this recipe in so many flavors, but neglected almond (one of my faves) until now, and it turned out very well.

The next time I make this, I plan to pair it with a fudgy chocolate icing like on this vanilla version; I feel like that would make a great flavor combination, because chocolate and almond are good flavor friends. Stay tuned!

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon butter extract
For the icing
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract
  • 2-3 tablespoons water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt tin.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and extracts. Stir in flour in three batches, mixing to combine completely.

Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in tin for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, combine powdered sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, and 1 tablespoon water; add enough additional water to make a thick but pourable icing. Pour over cake and allow to drip down the sides. Allow icing to set before serving.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several days; this cake stays moist for at least a few days.

Creamsicle Cupcakes

These are some of the most popular cupcakes I’ve ever baked. Seriously, people raved not just about the flavor (which can transport you back to your childhood summers in one bite) but the texture as well. I say a good recipe goes a very long way, and this is based on one I found at Sally’s Baking and have adapted into multiple different flavor combinations – but this might be the best one yet.

If you don’t have fiori di Sicilia, that’s okay – you can use orange extract for a similar flavor. But I highly recommend visiting King Arthur Baking to buy some – it goes a long way in the flavor department and lasts a while because you only need a few drops, or at most about 1/8 of a teaspoon, at a time. Also, I prefer Cara Cara oranges for most baking, but you can use regular navel oranges if they’re not available.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 2/3 cups flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Zest of 1 medium Cara Cara orange
  • Scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di Sicilia (sub in 1/2 teaspoon orange extract if necessary)

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Scant 1/8 teaspoon fiori di Sicilia (sub in 1/2 teaspoon orange extract if necessary)
  • 2-3 teaspoons orange juice
  • 2-3 drops yellow and red food coloring for orange tint

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; my batch made 17 cupcakes.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter, then add sugar and stir to combine; mixture will be grainy. Refrigerate for 1 minute, then remove and add egg, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, orange zest, and fiori di Sicilia. Stir into the flour mixture until no lumps remain.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into tins and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and place cupcakes on wire racks to cool completely.

To make frosting, beat butter and powdered sugar on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla extract, fiori di Sicilia, and orange juice and beat to combine completely. Add yellow and red food coloring one drop at a time, mixing to reach your desired tint. Fit a large piping bag with a large star tip (I use the Wilton M1) and pipe swirls of frosting onto cupcakes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.