Category: Cakes + Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting

My mom gave me the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book in 1999, just a few months before Mike and I got married.  It’s the most useful cookbook I own, complete with fun tips about ingredient substitutions, how to enhance cake batter, and the benefits of baking with butter versus margarine.

This peanut butter cupcake recipe came from the “All Time Favorites” section of the BHG New Cook Book and was originally published in 1953.  It pairs very well with my favorite fudge frosting, which has been featured previously on this blog, but these could easily be frosted with peanut butter or dusted with powdered sugar.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup shortening
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat peanut butter, shortening, and vanilla on medium speed until combined.

Add brown sugar and beat until fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl several times.

Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined.

Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beating until combined.  The batter will be thick and fluffy.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling halfway full.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting.

 

 

 

 

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yesterday was Mike’s birthday, and he requested a carrot cake (with raisins and walnuts) for his birthday cake.  I don’t really believe in mixing vegetables with dessert, but who am I to refuse my husband’s cake wishes on his birthday?

Cream cheese frosting is incredibly rich and sweet, so I chose to frost only the top of this cake.  Carrot cake isn’t complete without something indicating that it is, in fact, carrot cake, so I’ve chosen simplicity and gone with one single frosting-piped carrot in the center.

Carrot Cake

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups peeled raw carrots, shredded
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.

Peel and grate carrots; set aside.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs together until light and fluffy.

Add canola oil and vanilla, beating well.

Add flour mixture and beat until combined.

Stir in grated carrot, raisins, and walnuts.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cake is firm.

Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Orange and green food coloring, if carrot decorations will be included

In a mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter.

Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating after each addition.

Add vanilla and beat well.

Frost top of cake, adding carrot decorations if desired.

Store cake in refrigerator to be on the safe side.  We are talking about cream cheese, after all.

 

Bundt Cake with Lemon Vanilla Glaze

I wanted to bake a King Cake yesterday in preparation for Mardi Gras, but I didn’t have the patience to make brioche.  Since bundt cakes are similar in shape to King Cakes, I decided to bake this one and decorate it with a lemon vanilla glaze and some fun green, yellow, and purple colored sugar.

This was a very quick and easy recipe, yielding a rich, dense, almost pound cake-like texture that goes well with coffee or tea.  Though the recipe calls for lemon juice, the lemon flavor bakes out; for a true lemon bundt, I’d look for a recipe with lemon extract or lemon pudding mix in the batter.

Bundt Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, slightly softened
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • 5 eggs
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Generously grease and flour your bundt pan.  I use Wondra flour, which is a superfine flour used for gravies and sauces; it coats grooved pans much better than all-purpose flour.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add lemon juice and beat until combined.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beating until combined.

Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan.

Bake for 50 minutes.

Lemon Vanilla Glaze

Ingredients

  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2-4 tablespoons water

Preparation

Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons water in a large, 4-cup glass measuring cup.  Continue adding water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency; glaze should be drizzly, but not too thin.  If you make the glaze too thin, just add a few tablespoons of powdered sugar to thicken it.  Pour over cake, allowing glaze to drip down the sides.

Sprinkle with green yellow, and purple sugars if desired.

Almond Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting

I love opposite flavors in baking; if I have a chocolate cupcake, I want vanilla frosting, and if I have a vanilla, yellow, or almond cupcake, I want chocolate frosting.  This cupcake has a very rich almond flavor, but if you prefer something milder, omit the bitter almond oil and just use ½ teaspoon of almond and vanilla extracts each.  The fudge frosting has been adapted in measurement to frost 24 cupcakes; look for the full recipe in another post!

Almond Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup shortening
  • 1 ¾ cups sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract
  • ¼ teaspoon bitter almond oil
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 1/3 cups sour milk (see how to make this below!)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two muffin tins with paper liners.

Make sour milk; place1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice in a glass measuring cup and add enough milk to equal 1 1/3 cups of liquid total.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Beat shortening in a mixing bowl for 30 seconds.

Add sugar and flavorings, beating until combined.

Add flour and sour milk, alternatively, until just combined.

Fill liners halfway and bake for 21-23 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting

Fudge Frosting

Ingredients

  • 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ cup butter, softened
  • 1/6 cup boiling water (just under 2 oz. in a glass measuring cup)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Combine powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

Add butter, boiling water, and vanilla.

Beat on low speed until ingredients are just combined, then increase speed to medium and beat for 1 minute.

Go Giants! New York Style Cheesecake

The Super Bowl is tomorrow, and because we’re rooting for the Giants in our house, I’ve prepared a New York style cheesecake to celebrate.  I’m not sure what makes a cheesecake “New York style,” but this was fairly easy to prepare, except for the crust.  This was my first graham cracker crust, and I definitely improvised and deviated from the original recipe to get the consistency and amount I needed, but it turned out just fine.  The true test will be if it tastes good, but we won’t know until tomorrow, as cheesecake must be refrigerated overnight before serving.  We’ll add some fresh whipped cream, blueberries, and strawberries tomorrow.

Graham Cracker Crust

Ingredients

  • 18 graham crackers
  • 12 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter in a saucepan or microwave.

Break graham crackers into smaller pieces and place in a food processor, then process to crumbs, with no large pieces remaining.

Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar together, then stir in butter until the mixture is evenly moistened.

Press crust mix up the sides and along the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.  I used my hands and the bottom of a glass to get the crust as flat as possible.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Cool completely on a wire rack before adding filling.

Cheesecake Filling

Ingredients

  • 3 packages cream cheese, 8 ounces each, softened
  • ¾ cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • ¼ cup milk

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese and sugar, beating until fluffy.

Add flour and vanilla, beating until well combined.

Reduce speed to low and beat in eggs and yolk, one at a time, until well combined.

Add milk and beat until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared crust and bake for 55-60 minutes, until set but slightly jiggly in the center.

Cool completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate overnight before serving.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

My friend Alex wants chocolate raspberry cake for her wedding – not a chocolate cake with raspberry filling, but a literal chocolate with raspberry flavoring in the batter.  Several bakers have told her this isn’t possible, so I decided to prove them otherwise.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Ingredients

10 tablespoons butter, slightly softened

1 ¼ cups sugar

4 eggs

¼ teaspoon almond extract

2-3 teaspoons raspberry extract (depending on your preference)

1 ½ cups flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup milk minus about 2 teaspoons (depending on how much raspberry extract you use)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two muffin tins with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Mix in eggs, almond extract, and raspberry extract.

Add flour mixture alternatively with milk, beating until just combined.

Using a cookie scoop for even portions, scoop batter into muffin tins.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until tops spring back when lightly pressed.

Cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

3 to 3 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted

¼ teaspoon salt

1 to 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

Preparation

Place butter in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment.

Add 3 cups powdered sugar.  With your mixer on low, incorporate the powdered sugar into the butter.  (Hint: I find that placing a kitchen towel over the mixer during this stage prevents a powdered sugar blizzard.)

Increase speed and add 1 tablespoon vanilla, salt, and milk.

Beat for 3 minutes, then taste.  If you’d like a stronger vanilla flavor, add the second tablespoon of vanilla, along with the additional ¼ cup of powdered sugar.  Beat until combined.

For thinner buttercream, add additional milk, one tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.