Neapolitan Cupcakes

neapolitan cupcakesMeet the most adorable cupcakes I’ve ever baked. I wanted to make something challenging today, and I must say: mission accomplished.

These treats are a many bowl, multi-step endeavor, but they are worth it. I adapted this recipe in both ingredients and process from one I originally saw on another blog called Cooking Classy, using vanilla extract instead of scraped seeds from a vanilla bean and a different recipe for the strawberry frosting altogether.

The two batters have very different textures, and you’ll want to make sure you use the “spread with a toothpick” method to get the vanilla layer to fully cover the chocolate layer as I’ve outlined in the instructions below. While I did have some specs of chocolate pop through the top of my vanilla layer, it’s easy to cover those with frosting.

I’ve also included plenty of tips that saved me time (and dishes, being a baker without a dishwasher) throughout the process. I recommend reading through the recipe a few times to get familiar with it, as well as with your ingredients, before you start. You’ll end up with a few extra egg yolks from this, but you can reserve those for another use (mine are destined for lemon curd).

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcake Layer

  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 7 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk (any kind but skim)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 egg whites (reserve one of your yolks for the yolk in the chocolate layer)

Chocolate Cupcake Layer

  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 4 tablespoons melted butter
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 cup flour

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup strawberry puree
  • About 3 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup cupcake tins with paper liners. Good news: this recipe makes exactly 24 cupcakes.

To make the cupcakes, begin by making the chocolate base for your chocolate batter first, then as it is cooling, make your vanilla batter and finish your chocolate batter once your base is cool. This will save time, believe me!

In a small mixing bowl, combine cocoa powder and baking soda. Add boiling water and whisk until smooth; allow to cool while you prepare the vanilla batter.

Prepare the vanilla batter:

In a small bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a glass measuring cup, combine milk, egg whites, and vanilla extract and whisk together until well-combined.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar. Cream together until light and fluffy.

Add the flour mixture and milk mixture alternatively in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. You want to scrape your bowl very, very well and frequently throughout the process. Your vanilla batter will be light and fluffy when it is finished; almost mousse-like. Set vanilla batter aside while you make the chocolate batter.

Prepare the chocolate batter:

In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter, vegetable oil, sugar, and mix until well-combined. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; mix until combined. Add chocolate base, then heavy cream, mixing after each addition. Add flour, beating on low speed until combined.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop chocolate batter into each cupcake well. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can use 2 tablespoons of batter in each well.

Using the 2-inch cookie scoop again, scoop vanilla batter and carefully layer over the chocolate batter. Use a toothpick to gently spread the vanilla batter, which is much lighter and fluffier than the chocolate batter, over the chocolate layer completely. Your wells should be about three-quarters full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven, and remove cupcakes from the pans onto wire racks to cool completely.

Prepare the strawberry buttercream:

If you’ve never made strawberry puree, it is very easy. Place strawberries in a food processor (or blender) and puree until smooth. You can pass the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds if you like, but I leave mine in.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add the first 2 cups of powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until very well-combined.

Add strawberry puree in small batches, mixing well between each addition, then add enough additional powdered sugar – mine took about 1 cup – to make a stable buttercream.

Frost cupcakes using a small offset spatula. You can pipe them if you prefer, but I like the old-fashioned look of a hand-frosted cupcake.

 

Lemon Pound Cake with Poppy Seed Filling

lemonpcwithpoppyYesterday, I wondered: what should I do with a ton of leftover poppy seed filling? I should slather it into a lemon pound cake, that’s what.

This cake calls for lemon extract, and believe me when I tell you that you won’t be able to achieve the necessary level of lemony goodness in it with zest and juice alone. The fine folks at McCormick’s (which Mike always reminds me is a Maryland-based company) make lemon extract that you’ll likely find in the baking aisle at your local grocery store. It is absolutely worth the $5.

If you’d rather not use the poppy seed filling, you can omit it and just serve your cake as-is. I’m a huge fan of poppy seed though, so for me this is pretty close to pound cake heaven. You can serve it warm without glaze, or wait for it to cool and glaze it. Either way, it is delicious.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 1 1/2 cups poppy seed filling
  • 4 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
  • 1 cup 2% milk
  • zest of 1 medium lemon

For the glaze

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • About 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan very well, then dust with flour.

In a small bowl, combine poppy seed filling and 4 teaspoons lemon juice, mixing well; set aside.

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

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla and lemon extracts and mix well.

Add the flour and milk alternatively in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour and mixing until just combined after each addition.

Add lemon zest and beat until just combined.

Pour about half of the batter into your bundt pan, then spoon in poppy seed filling and gently spread to create a ribbon. Top with remaining batter.

Bake for 60 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then carefully invert the cake onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

When the cake is cool, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice, about a teaspoon at a time, in a large glass measuring cup. You want a very drizzly consistency for your glaze so that it can easily drip down the sides of your cake. Pour over cake and allow to set before serving.

Remember: if you want to serve this cake warm – and it is dee-lish-ous warm – you can leave it unglazed.

Italian Sugar Cookies

IMG_4140Pennsylvania Macaroni Company is my favorite shop in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. If you’ve never been, you simply must go and marvel at the bins of almonds, the shelves of pasta and olive oil and sauces, the room with the cheese counter that rivals any I’ve ever seen.

In the room with the bread and fresh pasta, there are boxes of mixed bakery-style cookies, and in those boxes are cookies like these. Tender, vanilla-scented, covered in just the right amount of icing. The kind of cookies your grandmother made, and you never forgot.

I enjoy recipes with lots of ingredients and advanced techniques for the fun challenge they present, but there is also great comfort in baking something simple. These cookies are easy to prepare and could take on any color icing, making them ideal for holidays and celebrations.

Ingredients

For the cookies

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 cup shortening
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the icing

  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • food coloring, if desired

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

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

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing between each. Dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl when it is the right consistency.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop dough and roll into balls. (You can use a smaller scoop if you like; next time, I’ll probably use a 1-inch scoop.) Place dough on parchment-lined baking sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool before dipping in icing.

To make the icing, in a small bowl, combine milk, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth. Tint with food coloring if desired.

Dip the tops of the cookies in icing; place on wire racks and allow excess to drip off. Let stand until set, then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Orange Almond Cake (gluten-free!)

orange almond cakeWhat exactly is gluten? In simple terms, it is a protein present in wheat, which provides stability to breads, cakes, cookies, and other baked goods. Gluten-free baking relies on other ingredients that can bind together and provide structure, ranging from eggs and nut flours to thickeners like xantham gum.

As a savvy baker, I understand that gluten-free recipes can bring about a number of challenges, and I’ve been sorely disappointed by nut-based, high-egg-volume cake recipes in the past. I baked this as a trial run for our seder, which will take place on the first night of Passover in just a couple of weeks. The recipe came from a food blogger in Australia, hence the use of grams below. The preparation is fascinating, as I think you may agree once you read the directions. I’m happy to say that it turned out very well; my plan for the seder is to add some slices almonds to the top, which will brown nicely during baking.

Ingredients

  • 2 medium oranges
  • 6 eggs, at room temperature
  • 250 grams sugar, processed to super-fine consistency*
  • 250 grams almond meal
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

*To make regular sugar super-fine, place it in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse several times until you get a consistency like sand.

Preparation

Wash the oranges well. Place them in a large cooking pot with plenty of water and bring them to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, and simmer for 2 hours, checking frequently. Remove oranges from the water and allow to cool completely.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment, extending the paper over the sides.

Remove the ends of the oranges, which can be bitter, and place the oranges, skin and all, into a food processor. Pulse to a smooth consistency.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together very well. Add orange puree and whisk together.

Add almond meal and baking powder, stirring with a wooden spoon to blend completely.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Be careful not to over-bake; the sides and bottom of the cake will darken considerably and you do not want them to burn.

Remove from oven and cool in pan for about 10 minutes; remove the cake from the pan, leaving it in the parchment, and place it on a wire rack to cool completely. Remove parchment; store at room temperature.

Note: this cake is very moist, and according to the original recipe it becomes even more so after a few days. Be sure to store in an airtight container.

 

Mint Chocolate Brownies

mintbrowniesMy cousin-in-law Robb recently made a mint chocolate brownie and shared the recipe with me. This is the first time I’ve ever made brownies with chocolate syrup, and it definitely won’t be the last. The brownies themselves are fudgy and cake-like at the same time, a texture I’ve never before achieved.

I can see this recipe getting adapted for raspberry or strawberry buttercream and a semisweet or bittersweet chocolate layer on the top. While the original mint recipe Robb sent to me calls for creme de menthe, I didn’t have any in our liquor cabinet (as I would imagine most people don’t). I did a bit of internet searching and found another recipe that incorporated peppermint instead, so I’ve used that here. I also tweaked the peppermint layer to taste, adding vanilla and milk, to soften the mint flavor slightly. The end result is something like an Andes candy, but way, waaay better.

Ingredients

For the brownie layer

  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 1 16-ounce can chocolate syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup flour

For the mint layer

  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon peppermint extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 tablespoons milk
  • green liquid food coloring

For the chocolate layer

  • 6 ounces milk chocolate chips
  • 6 tablespoons butter

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan or spray with baking spray.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs, chocolate syrup, and vanilla and beat on low, then medium speed, until combined. Add flour and beat until combined. Batter will be quite thin. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 30 minutes; the top will look shiny and wet, but a cake tester should come out clean.

Cool brownies completely in the pan before adding the mint and chocolate layers.

To make the mint layer, beat butter and powdered sugar on low, then medium speed, until fully incorporated. Add peppermint extract, vanilla, and milk; add green food coloring to tint to a light green color.

Spread evenly over brownies.

To make the chocolate layer, melt chocolate chips and butter together on a very low flame. Cool to room temperature, then pour over mint layer, spreading with an offset spatula to cover completely.

Allow chocolate layer to set before serving.

 

 

Shortbread Spiral Cookies

shortbread spiralsAlthough I’ve seen many a spiral cookie in my baking travels, I’ve never made them until today. This easy recipe will make a handy addition to my arsenal, as I can see tinting the dough all manner of colors for various holidays or incorporating cocoa into the dough for a chocolate and vanilla spiral.

I’d also love to experiment with shapes, like the amazing baker at Eugenie Kitchen did with this remarkable heart cookie. Perhaps next year for St. Patrick’s Day, I’ll create a clover cookie not unlike the rainbow heart, with different shades of green – but that will take some practice.

These treats are destined for my goddaughter, Maureen, and her family for St. Patrick’s Day.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
  • green food coloring

Preparation

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add egg, vanilla, and almond and beat well – your batter will become slightly clumpy, but once you add the flour mixture, the texture will even out.

Add flour mixture in three batches, beating well between each.

Divide dough in half and tint one half green. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and chill for about 1 hour.

Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for just a few minutes.

Lightly dust your counter top with flour and roll out the plain half of the dough first; you will want to create a square that is about 8 x 8. Roll out your green dough next, then place it on top of your plain dough. If your dough isn’t completely square, that’s okay; you can cut the edges to make a square and roll the scraps together to make marble cookies*.

Gently press the two layers together by lightly rolling with your rolling pin. Carefully roll up your dough to create a log, pressing gently to tighten the roll as you go. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and chill for about 10-15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line three baking sheets with parchment or foil.

Remove the log from the fridge and unwrap. Slice into 1/2 inch cookies, turning the log every few slices to keep it round. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges are just beginning to turn golden. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 1-2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

*If you had to trim your dough to make a square, take your scraps and knead them together gently, creating a marbled ball of dough. Roll into a log, then chill, slice, and bake as above.

 

Chai Tea Cupcakes

chaiteacupcakesThe Better Homes & Gardens Baking Book – an awesome Christmas gift from Mike – bills these treats at chai tea muffins, but their ingredients and preparation method are much more cupcake-like to me. I debated about calling these “cuffins,” or perhaps “muffcakes,” because I’m still on the fence. And besides, it’s fun to make up words.

So, what’s the difference between a cupcake and a muffin? To me, the simple answer is: the kind of fat you use, and how you mix your ingredients. Cupcakes tend to employ butter and a creaming method, where you blend sugar into the butter, then add your other wet and dry ingredients, sometimes alternatively. Most muffins involve vegetable oil, and a process of combining dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another, then mixing the wet into the dry. As you’ll see below, these treats use the creaming method and butter – and are in my opinion more cupcake than muffin.

Regardless of what you call them, these treats smell delicious! Were it not for my current No Sweets for Lent endeavor, I would have eaten one the moment my chai nutmeg drizzle had set.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 4 chai tea bags
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 11/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Chai Nutmeg Drizzle

  • 3/4 to 1 cup powdered sugar
  • About 5 teaspoons chai tea
  • Dash of nutmeg

Preparation

Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it simmers. Add chai tea bags and steep for 5 minutes. Remove the bags, pressing to release as much tea as you can. Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners; you will likely need an additional 6 liners, as my batch yielded 30.

Combine flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, ginger, and salt; set aside.

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

Add flour mixture and milk mixture alternatively in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour and beating until just combined.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop dough into muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until tops are light golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in muffin pans for about 1 minute, then remove to wire racks to cool completely before drizzling.

To make the chai nutmeg drizzle, prepare a cup of chai tea with water and allow it to cool.

In a small bowl, place 3/4 cup powdered sugar and add tea, 1 teaspoon at a time, mixing until you reach your desired drizzling consistency. Add a dash of nutmeg to taste.

Fit a small pastry bag with a plain tip and pipe over cupcakes. Allow to set before serving.

 

Black Bottom Cupcakes

blackbottomcupcakesYears ago, before I began a serious baker, I marveled at the Starbucks black bottom cupcake. I had no idea what was in it – I simply knew it was delicious, and that it was the only cupcake in existence that didn’t need frosting. How could one achieve such a thing? What was that spongy, chocolate chip-studded white layer? This remained a mystery, until today.

The black bottom cupcake is surprisingly simple to make, requiring basics that you likely have in your pantry. The batter could certainly hold its own without the cream cheese/sugar/egg/chocolate chip filling, but that would defeat the entire black bottom purpose. Although it’s Lent and I’m refraining from sweets at present, this will be on the top of my list to make once Easter arrives. Next time, I might increase my filling quantity, perhaps even doubling it, so that I can add more filling to each cupcake.

Ingredients

Filling

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • dash of salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

Cupcakes

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

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; my recipe yielded 33 cupcakes, just shy of three dozen.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar; beat until well combined. Add egg and salt and beat until very well combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

In a large bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add water, vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract and mix very well.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop batter into cupcake wells, filling just over half full. Drop a heaping teaspoon of the cream cheese filling mixture into the middle of each.

Bake for 20 minutes; remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Anise Biscotti

anise biscottiAnise is used in cooking, baking, and if you can believe it, medicine throughout the world. It can be found in everything from cookies to tea, and it’s one of my favorite flavors, particularly for biscotti.

My grandma Zella, despite being Hungarian and not at all Italian, used anise for pizzelles. Because of this, I always think of anise as an Italian flavor, and I make sure I get a few plain anise and anise almond biscotti when I visit Enrico Biscotti in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.

Almonds would be a great addition to this recipe, but it is delicious plain as well. As far as biscotti recipes go, I’d say this was among the easiest and most successful I’ve ever tried.

Ingredients

  • 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon anise extract
  • 3 eggs

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

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

In a mixing bowl, combine vegetable oil, sugar, anise extract, and eggs and beat on medium speed until combined.

Add flour all at once; beat until combined. Dough will be very thick.

Divide dough in half and roll into logs as long as your baking sheet. Press dough down to about 1/2 inch thickness.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Line a second baking sheet with parchment.

Slice each log into 1-inch slices, then place slices on baking sheets and return to the oven and bake for another 6 minutes on each side.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Heart Sugar Cut-Outs

heartEvery baker needs a simple, tasty sugar cut-out in her arsenal. I think of sugar cookies as a perennial treat, good for any occasion or no occasion at all. Cookie cutters are available in so many shapes and sizes, and you can make them as simple or as elaborate as you like. I find that keeping a range of food colorings, both the gel and liquid kind, is very helpful for sugar cut-out decoration.

The recipe below includes simple ingredients that you probably have in your fridge and pantry. It’s a modification of my earlier sugar cut-out post, because when I baked these yesterday I used a lot more vanilla than my original post included and I liked both the texture and the flavor of this dough better.

For the frosting, you can go as simple or as fancy as you wish. I tinted mine pink and red, to keep it simple, but you can add sprinkles or colored sugar or piped elements – whatever your heart desires.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 recipe Zella’s icing, plus red gel and red liquid food coloring

Preparation

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

In a mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Add egg and 2 teaspoons vanilla, then beat until well-combined.

Add flour mixture in two batches, beating well between each addition.

Add remaining vanilla and beat until dough comes together; it may be a bit crumbly, but that’s okay.

Turn out onto a lightly floured counter top and knead very gently to bring the dough together. Divide in half; shape into balls, then flatten into discs. Refrigerate for about 20-30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with foil.

Remove dough from fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for a few minutes.

On a lightly floured counter top, roll dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into heart shapes and place on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 9 minutes, until edges are just golden. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

When cookies are completely cool, prepare icing.

Divide in half; use a few drops of red liquid food coloring for pink icing and red gel for red icing.

Frost cookies as desired; you can add sprinkles, chocolate chips, or piped elements for decoration if you like, but I just left mine plain.

Allow frosting to set before storing cookies; store between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container.