Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting

What can I say? I like a theme.

To be honest, candy canes aren't really my thing. At least not the peppermint ones. Spearmint? Yes. Berry flavored? Ok. But peppermint? No.

Also chocolate and peppermint. Gag me. I think I'm the only person in America who hates Thin Mint cookies. Seriously, give me any other girl scout cookie, even the boring shortbread ones over Thin Mints any day.

Did I just lose you there? Have you lost all respect for me as a baker? Please don't. I can't help it. I like my chocolate unadulterated. I also like milk chocolate best of all. Not that intensely dark, bitter crap that tastes like chalk. Sorry, but why not get it all out on the table now?

Even though I can't stand it, I know chocolate and peppermint is generally a crowd pleaser, so when I was deciding what to bring to my old office, I thought what better to go with Candy Cane cookies than Candy Cane cupcakes.

Unfortunately, I'm still on the hunt to find the best chocolate cake recipe, and although these cupcakes were good, they weren't quite chocolatey enough for me. The texture was nice and light, but the depth of flavor just wasn't quite there. They almost reminded me more of a chocolate sponge cake than a Devil's Food, and the latter is really what I'm going for.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 2/3 cups cake flour
6 Tbsp plus 1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Peppermint Frosting
Ingredients:
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
7 Tbsp vegetable shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 tsp peppermint extract, or to taste
Crushed candy canes to garnish (optional)

To make the cupcakes-
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cupcake tins with liners and set aside.
2. Sift the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and sour cream. Set both aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. Mix until light. Add the eggs slowly, beating at medium speed until fully incorporated.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides as necessary.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting-
1. Cream the butter with the paddle attachment until soft. Add the shortening and continue to beat on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
2. Gradually add the sugar and beat on medium high speed until very light and fluffy.
3. Add the peppermint extract and mix just to incorporate.
4. Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with crushed candy canes.

Store the frosted cupcakes in the fridge, but serve at room temperature.

Recipe adapted from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home

Fluffernutter Cupcakes

Would you believe me if I told you that up until a few days ago I had never bought marshmallow fluff before?

Well, would you believe me if I told you that yesterday I stood 6 inches away from the president?

Because I hadn't and I DID.

It's hard to decide which was more exciting.

Ok fine, it's not that hard. Seeing President Obama speak for the first time in such a small setting was pretty unreal. Not to mention seeing the back of my head in news footage and photos since we were front and center. My hair is like, sooo famous you guys.

But on to more important things, like cupcakes.

I have to admit, I've never actually had a fluffernutter sandwich. In case your name is Dan you were deprived as a child and don't even know what the heck I'm talking about, a fluffernutter sandwich is made up of three components: white bread, smooth peanut butter, and marshmallow fluff. It's like a PB&J on crack.

And since we don't have any white bread, what better way to experience this flavor combination than in cupcake form?

I think my addiction to peanut butter has been well documented, so can I just ask, why has it taken me this long to make peanut butter cupcakes?? I'm trying to come up with all the different flavor combinations to try, but honestly, all I can think about is chocolate. Wait- peanut butter, marshmallow, and chocolate? I think I've just had a crazy brilliant idea.

Fluffernutter Cupcakes
Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the Peanut Butter Cupcakes
1/4 unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup milk
2/3 cups peanut butter chips

For the Marshmallow Frosting
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
7 Tbsp vegetable shortening
2 cups marshmallow fluff
2 cups powdered sugar
Melted peanut butter to garnish (I microwaved mine for 30 sec)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and peanut butter until smooth and incorporated. There should be no visible pieces of butter.
3. Add the sugar and cream. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add half the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix on low until almost incorporated. Add the milk, continuing to mix. Add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix until almost incorporated.
5. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the peanut butter chips and fully incorporate the flour. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
6. While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and vegetable shortening on medium speed until very smooth and creamy, 3-4 minutes. Add the marshmallow fluff and mix just to combine. Add the powdered sugar and continue to mix on medium to med-high speed until very light and fluffy, another 5-7 minutes.
7. When cupcakes are completely cool, fit a piping bag with a coupler and a small star tip and fill with icing. Push the tip through the top of the cupcake until it's about halfway into the cupcake and fill with frosting. Be careful not to overfill or the cupcake may break. Once all the cupcakes are filled, switch to a larger piping tip (I used just a plain tip) and frost cupcakes as desired. Drizzle with melted peanut butter, if desired. Store in the refrigerator but serve at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

• If you don't want to use a piping bag to fill the cupcakes, use a small knife to cut out some of the center of the cupcake from the top (don't worry, the hole will be hidden with frosting). Spoon some frosting into the hole and frost the top.
• You can choose to just frost the cupcakes without filling them. They will still be delicious!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes Recipe from How Sweet Eats

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cupcakes

The other day, thanks to a 50% off coupon to Michael's, I finally broke down and bought a master set of Wilton pastry tips. It has something like 56 different tips and small tools inside, most of which I had no clue what to do with, so I decided to spend some time just playing around with them. And what better medium to do that on than cupcakes?

I tried out maybe five or six tips in different patterns and designs and these were my three favorites.

This was my take on a Hydrangea cupcake. I used a Wilton 2D, which is a large closed star tip, and made loose stars around the edge of the cupcakes and then filled in the middle. I actually used two different shades of pink to make them look a little more realistic, but I don't think the picture quite does them justice.

For these (the ones on the left), I used a Wilton #104 tip. With the wider end facing out, I made each petal, pulling the tip in toward the center of the cupcake. I started with the outer ring and worked my way in to the center.

These might be my favorite: the Rose cupcake. Using the same 2D tip as before, I started in the center of the cupcake and swirled around toward the outside, doing maybe 1 1/2 or two revolutions until I reached the outer edge of the cupcake.

As for the cupcakes themselves, I'm still in search of my go-to chocolate cake recipe, and this Hershey's recipe was one I hadn't tried yet. I sampled a plain cupcake after it had cooled, but I wasn't impressed. The texture was OK but it just tasted...off. I took a few bites, added some frosting (which improved it a little) and then threw it away. Yeah, I said it. I threw a cupcake away. It's not that it tasted like trash, it just wasn't quite good enough to be worth the calories to finish.

And yet strangely, after dinner, I found myself going to the fridge to get a cupcake for dessert. Sometimes I'm just committed to eating what I've made. And sometimes, I just need dessert. Kind of like I NEED Diet Coke at least once a day.

And surprisingly, this cupcake was better. I don't know if it was all the frosting on top or the extra hours it rested in the fridge, but whatever tasted "off" about it earlier had disappeared and what was left was a perfectly satisfying chocolate cupcake. Thankfully there are still a few left in the fridge, so I'll be able to do some more "research" and get back to you.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Hersehy's cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup boiling water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together sugar and oil.
4. Add first egg and mix to incorporate before adding the second egg and vanilla extract.
5. Add half the flour mixture and mix on low speed until almost incorporate. Add half the milk and continue to mix. With the mixer on low, add half the remaining flour, then the remaining milk, and end with the remaining flour. Finally, add the boiling water. Mix until just incorporated. The batter will be thin.
6. Fill muffin cups about 3/4ths full. Bake at 350 for about 22 minutes or until the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean, rotating pans halfway through. Cool completely before frosting.

Recipe Notes

• I kept the ingredients exactly the same but altered the directions a little. If you want the classic recipe, just look on the back of your cocoa box
• Since the batter is very thin, I transferred it to a measuring cup to make it easier to pour into the muffin liners.
• For a layered cake, divide the batter into three 8'' or two 9'' greased and floured pans. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

Six things this Saturday.

1. I hate fresh blueberries. I hate the texture, and I even hate the flavor. They're like gross little balls of mush. But I love cooked blueberries. Blueberry muffins, blueberry cobbler, peach blueberry pie. Even blueberry yogurt. Bring. it. on. Just not with the fresh blueberries.

2. A cupcake without the frosting is really a muffin! Which means you can totally eat these for breakfast. Although, the icing has cream cheese in it. Breakfast food- bonus!

3. I found a lost dog yesterday morning. Well, actually, she found me. Then we found her owners. But not before she got to have a playdate with our dogs. She was sweet.

4. There is a mixing bowl full of this icing sitting in my fridge. I'm not really sure what to do with it or how to dispose of it. So there it sits. Taunting me.

5. I was going to bring these to our neighbors as a thank you for helping us move in...2 1/2 months ago. But since they didn't turn out exactly as I'd planned, they're getting brownies. More specifically, Ina's Outrageous Brownies. I hope they're not disappointed.

6.  It will seem like there is a lot of sugar in this frosting. That's because there is. Don't fight it. The fruit in the cake totally makes up for it.

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
Yields 16 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:
¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, divided
¾ cup cake flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
Zest of  1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp lemon juice
½ cup milk, at room temperature
1 cup fresh blueberries

For the icing:
8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 1 large lemon
1 lb confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the ¾ cup all-purpose flour, the cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice.
4. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix on Low speed until almost incorporated. Add the milk. Add the remaining dry ingredients, beating until almost incorporated.
5. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Using a spatula gently fold the berries into the cake batter, fully incorporating all the dry ingredients.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the blueberries, lemon juice, and zest. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired* and store in the refrigerator.

*This icing is a little thin, so it's not the best for piping. I simply smoothed mine on with an offset spatula and garnished with an extra blueberry.

Source: Annie's Eats

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

For some reason this weekend, I was in the mood to bake. Maybe it's because since school ended, I'm only work two days a week and that urge to cook and bake just isn't being satisfied like it was when I was in the kitchen 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. Maybe it's because I had baked brownies the day before with my cousin, and they just hadn't turned out quite like I would have liked. Whatever it was, I turned to my roommate Shaun and said, "What do you want?"

He quickly directed me to foodgawker.com (think porn for foodies) and gasped at the sight of what appeared to be chocolate chip cupcakes. Frankly, I've never really gotten into sites like foodgawker. I prefer trusted blogs that I've followed for months and months, where I'm familiar with the person who is testing the recipe. But, as luck would have it, when I followed the link for the picture, it led me to a blog, which actually linked to the recipe on a blog I DO follow, Annie's Eats. Oh the blogosphere, so big, and yet so small.

I reviewed the recipe and decided it looked pretty promising and I only needed 6 items from the store (well, four really since I actually had enough vanilla extract and powdered sugar, but I didn't know that at the time). Bonus! So I made my shopping list and called it a night.

The next morning I got up, made a quick trip to the small market just across the street, and Shaun queued up Sex and the City. There are three elements that go into making these cupcakes, which may sound daunting and time consuming, but from start to finish, the whole process only took about 2 hours.

First up was making the batter and baking the cupcakes. Here's the recipe (which I halved) for just the cake portion, adapted from Annie's Eats:

Ingredients
Yield: 24 cupcakes
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature (or softened in the microwave for just 15 seconds)
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Procedure
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners (24 total).
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating each completely before adding the next, and scraping down the bowls as needed.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. With the mixer on low, alternated the dry and wet ingredients, beginning with a third of the dry ingredients, followed by half the milk, mixing until almost completely incorporated. Add half of the remaining dry ingredients and the rest of the milk. Finish with the remaining 1/3 of the dry ingredients, but stop the mixer before completely incorporated.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand, finishing the incorporation of the dry ingredients.
7. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. It will fill the cups almost completely. Place in preheated oven and bake 20-21 minutes, until the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Tasting just the batter (think of it as research for my craft), I was satisfied with the chocolate chip cookie flavor. Over the years, I've found that the key to a good chocolate chip cookie is brown sugar. And butter. So the use of solely brown sugar instead of granulated in this recipe was a good sign. The batter tasted very similarly to chocolate chip cookie dough, but a little thinner of course, and not quite as molasses-y (which is the "brown" in brown sugar).

Upon filling my cupcake tin, I was a little concerned that the cups were too full. I was halving the recipe, but I felt like I had enough batter for 18 cupcakes instead of 12. I thought about throwing away what seemed to be excess or baking 12 and then baking 6 more, but instead I decided to trust the recipe and just filled the cups almost to the top. I figured it was better to have conehead cupcakes than sad little flat ones. And I was glad I followed the recipe. They all came out the perfect size and shape.

Halfway through baking

As the cupcakes baked and cooled, I worked on the cookie dough filling. Here's that recipe:

Ingredients
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 Tbsp light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
7 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Procedure
1. Cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add the flour and salt, and mix on low until partially incorporated.
3. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract. Mix until almost completely incorporated.
4. Fold in chocolate chips by hand, incorporating all remaining ingredients. The dough will be dense, so this may be easiest to do by hand.
5. Wrap dough well and chill until firm, about 1 hour.

I have to confess, although I halved the batter and frosting, I made the full amount of cookie dough filling. Since there are no eggs in the recipe, it's safe to eat without cooking, and who doesn't want salmonella-free cookie dough just hanging out in their fridge? I also added a good pinch of salt to the recipe, which wasn't originally included because I think chocolate chip cookies desperately need a little nugget of salt in each one. Please, I beg of you, don't forget the salt. But when I tasted the filling before putting it in the fridge, I was a little disappointed. It was too sweet and the flavor of the condensed milk was too strong. There was a subtle chocolate chip cookie dough flavor, and the texture was right, but I wasn't wowed.

The last thing to make was the icing. In the original picture of these on foodgawker, the cupcakes were topped with chocolate icing. At first this seemed like a good idea, but Shaun and I agreed that the original icing for this recipe sounded better. Plus, it included flour as one of the ingredients which was intriguing. Only in one other frosting recipe have I seen flour listed, and that was in a roux-based frosting, another anomaly I had never heard of. But since a roux is basically just a thickening agent, I could imagine it working in a frosting recipe where a lot of sugar is added and the roux is beaten until light and fluffy. In this recipe however, the flour is simply added raw, and I was a little concerned it would impart that raw flour flavor that isn't exactly pleasant. Here's the recipe. I'll leave you hanging about the results (for now).

Ingredients
3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp milk
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until nice and fluffy (3 minutes). Add the brown sugar and continue to beat for another minute.
2. Mix in the confectioner's sugar until smooth.
3. Beat in the flour and salt.
4. Slowly add the milk and vanilla extract.
5. Continue to beat on medium-high speed until very light and fluffy (5 minutes or more).

Again, you'll notice the inclusion of brown sugar in the frosting in addition to the confectioner's sugar. I can't stress this enough, but the brown sugar flavor is essential to getting that chocolate chip cookie taste. Tasting the frosting on its own, I had a similar impression as I did with the filling: close, but not exactly cookie dough. But thankfully, the flour was nicely camouflaged.

By now, the cupcakes were cool so I needed to hollow them out to make room for the filling. I did this using a #5 star tip, hollowing them out from the top. But I found that if I pushed the star tip in too far, the whole cupcake would start to split, so it was butter to push it in a little and sort of slowly dig out a valley for the filling to go into. Be sure to save the cupcake scraps to munch on! And there's no need to worry about the hole in the top of the cupcake since it will just be covered up with the frosting.

Once all the cupcakes were hollowed out, it was time to re-fill them! I got the filling from the fridge which had firmed up slightly but was still nice and workable. I tried another little sample and was pleasantly surprised that it tasted much more authentic after chilling for an hour. Perhaps it gave all the flavors an opportunity to meld a little bit more. I pinched off a portion of the filling, molded it slightly with my fingers, and pushed it into the channel in the cupcakes, making sure to fill each one up to the very top. I packed in the filling pretty tightly with no real fear it would burst through the bottom of the cupcake since the liner was there for added structure, and they all held up perfectly well.

Using a #7 star tip, I topped off each cupcake with the frosting (of which I had just enough!) and then sprinkled on more mini chocolate chips. And voila!

After a photo shoot with Shaun's spiffy camera and homemade light box, it was time for the taste test.
Shaun tasted first and declared them delicious. I asked if they tasted like chocolate chip cookie dough, and with his mouth full, he confirmed that they did.

Next, it was my turn. For me, the dough filling was a little overkill, but that is what really makes these chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. I actually preferred just the icing (which upon tasting a second time, I actually really enjoyed) and cake, which together tasted just like a chocolate chip cookie, thanks mostly to the icing, not to be confused with a chocolate chip cupcake which is just a vanilla cupcake with chocolate chips inside. Very confusing and technical, I know. But after tasting the cake with the frosting, I was really happy I hadn't substituted with chocolate frosting instead since this frosting really has the flavor of chocolate chip cookies. I would suggest, if you like the idea of a chocolate chip cookie cupcake but don't want to go through all the steps, just make the cupcakes and frosting and call it a day. You'll be more than satisfied.

Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with all that leftover sweetened condensed milk. Any ideas?

Black Bottom Cupcakes

My second request at work was for cheesecake.

Cheesecake...Hmm. Granted, she was sort of kidding when she asked for it because she knew it would be a hassle to bring in due to the transport and storage problems, and yes, I could probably manage to get it there and keep it in the fridge, but it's a lot easier to bring individual treats that people can just grab on their way in or out of the break room than to have to cut a whole slice. I thought about it for a minute, considered making mini cheesecakes in a mini cupcake pan, and then remembered a recipe I've been wanting to make for a few weeks. So I emailed her back and asked if she would accept cheesecake-filled chocolate cupcakes instead. The reply: a resounding yes. 

Cheesecake is something I came to love slowly. For years, I wouldn't go near it. It was way too cheesy and not the right kind of sweet. I preferred my cream cheese schmeared on a nice fresh (non-toasted!) bagel thankyouverymuch. Thinking back on it, I think everything changed a few years ago when my mom made cheesecake for my stepdad. If he's lucky, she makes it once a year for a special occasion, and that year, she had been talking it up, and I didn't want to slight her by not trying a piece. I figured I would just take a few bites, squash it around on my plate for a while, and leave the mangled mess in an unappetizing heap. So I took the first bite. And then I took another. And another. And then I basically inhaled the whole thing and licked the plate. Don't be so judgey. I couldn't help it; it was SO good. Ever since then I've been more willing to give it a try, usually if someone else orders it or if it's offered as a small petit four. I think my favorite part is still the graham cracker crust, and I really don't like it to be topped with any kind of syrupy fruit, but add a little vanilla bean or maybe a hint of chocolate, and that is just damn near irresistible.  

I get to work at 9 a.m. By 10, almost half of these were gone. I had to hide one in my desk just to save it until after I ate lunch. When I finally took a bite, I was impressed. The chocolate cake had a rich chocolate flavor and was moist, dense, and tender. The whole thing was a bit crumbly, but I take that as a good sign that it clearly wasn't too tough. All that being said, these were a bit...fudgey. The kind of cupcake you really need a glass of milk to wash down.

Flavorwise, chocolate definitely played the part of the cocky lead singer who gets all the girls, while the cheesecake center was more like the quiet and mysterious emo bass player who mumbles something deceptively deep every once in a while. I think I was hoping for a more pronounced cheesecake flavor, but for what they were, I'm rating them a success.

Black-Bottom Cupcakes
Yield: 12 Cupcakes

For the Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t baking soda
1/4 t kosher salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 t vanilla extract

Make the Filling: Beat together all the ingredients for the filling except for the chocolate, and beat until smooth. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Set aside.

Make the cupcakes:
1. Adjust a rack to the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin, or line with paper muffin cups.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl mix together the water, oil, and vanilla.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring just until smooth. Stir any longer and you will over mix the batter and end up with less-than-tender cupcakes.

4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly (I used a cookie scoop, one that has a handle-triggered release). This will fill the cups almost completely, which is fine.

5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown and the cupcakes feel springy when gently pressed.

These moist treats will keep unrefrigerated for 2 to 3 days if stored in an airtight container.

Adapted from The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz

Given that it's the end of June, you may be thinking to yourself, "Hey didn't she say something a few posts ago about participating in some Daring cooking something or other? Whatever happened to that?" Or maybe you've completely forgotten about it in which case I've just pointed out my complete lack of follow-through when I totally could have gotten away with it.

What can I say? I'm a rebel. Just ask my mom. And if she hems and haws, remind her about the tattoos...

I just couldn't bring myself to make what was chosen this month. It was something very similar to this and I think we all remember how (badly) that turned out. *Shudder* The one promising thing about the challenge recipe was that it was made with lots of chocolate (yay!), but alas, still a meringue (booo!). Frankly, I don't think I'll be baking any more meringue until I'm faced with it in class. Public humiliation that will also be judged by a professional and my (if there anything like me) perfectionist peers?! Can't wait! 

Next Indulgence: Ina's Outrageous Brownies

Carrot Cake

On Sunday, Dan got up at 5:30 in the morning. 

Was he on rescue or fire duty at the station? No. 

Did he have a flight to catch? No. 

Was he slaving away over the stove to make me a fabulous breakfast consisting of pancakes, crispy bacon, and freshly squeezed orange juice? Sadly, no.

He got up that early in the morning for MEAT

That, dear readers, is 14 pounds of pork shoulder, being slow smoked to a delicious, tender, juicy crisp, which Dan lovingly looked after for about 11 hours, literally on his hands and knees. We enjoyed it in the backyard, along with homemade barbeque sauce, perfect spring weather, and a group of his friends from college.

so proud

And you know what's better a close second to fresh, homemade barbeque? Using the leftover barbeque for nachoes. Because there's cheese. Mmmmm.

Now, let's talk about Carrot Cake. I know I've professed my love affair with chocolate to you all before, but I'm also a big fan of Carrot Cake. And Red Velvet Cake. Ok fine, most cake. But Carrot Cake is certainly up there. So, to continue my celebration that Passover had ended, I chose to make this next. 

Ingredients:

whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut, muscovado (aka brown) sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, raisins

I started by sifting the wheat flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a small bowl. Once done, I stirred in the coconut a little a time to mitigate clumpage. 

Using my electric mixer, I beat the eggs, brown sugar, and oil until pale and doubled in volume.

I combined the dry and wet ingredients by slowly folding them together, so as not to lose volume.

At this point, it was time to add the grated carrots and raisins. 

If you haven't read my mom's comment on my last post, (or on any of my other posts) you should (look for the longest post by Anonymous). She's witty, and funny, and, I'll warn you, is a tough act to follow. But her last comment was particularly ironic, specifically this part:

"Let me begin my noting that several of the photos depict tools that I have given Morgan over time, the sifter, kitchen Aid mixer (you may remember from a previous blog how we went through the "I did give you the whisk attachment, I can't find it (typical)and then finally I found it (also typical). It is only right that I shared these tools with her as she and I made her 1st batch of chocolate chip cookies when she was probably 2 using the Nestle Tollhouse bag recipe."

Not mentioned in that list of hand-me-downs are the two 30-year-old cuisinart food processors my mom gave me when she got her fancy schmancy new one this year. She gave me her mini one and also a larger one, which came with all kinds of accessories for grating and slicing, and which was perfect for making pie dough. The reason we've kept them all these years is because they've never let us down; they're reliable, useful, simple to use, and still get the job done every single time.

The larger processor has survived decades of use, hundreds of washes in the dishwasher, and numerous moves...

only to be felled by a single baby carrot.

Let me back up a little. When I shopped for these ingredients, I bought the full-sized carrots pictured above, knowing that if they weren't quite enough, I also had some already shredded carrot at home. Of course, all of these carrots combined still weren't enough for this recipe, which led to me rooting through the fridge looking for more. All I found were 4 baby carrots. 

(I may or may not have announced to Dan as I was rooting through the fridge, "We have orange juice!" as if that could help in someway. His response: "Uh..we're looking for carrots." Right, the coincidence that both are orange must have confused me....)

We were about 50 grams short, but there wasn't much we could do, so I tasked Dan with grating the whole carrots. Given my trusty cuisinart, complete with handy grating blade, this wasn't that difficult of a task.

You see where this is going right?


I hear a hard *snap* and the soft whir of a motor that's obviously not doing any work and turn around to find this

RIP Cuisinart

You'll notice that not just the end of the grating attachment is broken off, but also the center piece of the bowl, an integral part of the whole machine, rendering it useless. And of course, since the machine is so old, I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to find a replacement. 

You may be wondering how far along we were in the grating process when this happened. One baby carrot. One. Leaving the 5 full sized carrots and 3 other baby carrots still whole. Sadly, we then had to switch to this:

See how tiny those holes are? And sadly, it was not the sharpest tool in the shed drawer.

Please note that I in no way blame Dan for the cuisinart Incident. He was using it correctly and I'm sure 30 years of wear and tear had the most to do with it. That, and the baby carrot from hell. Plus, he then grated, by hand, almost all of the rest of the carrots, leaving just one for me to do, and that one was a bitch, so I can't even imagine what it would have been like to do all 5. 


Once all the carrot was finally grated, and I had stopped weeping over my lost appliance (ok, not really. I may cry over sandwiches, but appliances are where I draw the line. I make no promises though should my kitchenaid mixer suddenly bite the dust DEAR GOD NO), I added the carrot and raisin to the batter and folded them in as well.

Is it just me, or does it sort of look like somebody already ate this? Oh, I'm sorry, were you eating just now...

I scooped the batter into lined cupcake tins and put them in the oven for 15 minutes.

Please note the very prominent, rather too large, pre-shredded carrot I poorly chose to use

I made this recipe into cupcakes due to resources, or lack thereof. I don't have the correctly sized springform pan needed to make a full cake, but Clark only provides a modification for mini cakes, which yields about 30. I do have a mini muffin tin, but only 1 with the capacity to make only 12 cakes at a time. Full-sized cupcakes were really my only option, so I had to improvise on the timing. The full cake bakes for 40 minutes, and the mini cupcakes bake for 10-12, so I timed mine for 15 minutes at first. They weren't quite done so I checked them at 2 minute intervals after that until a toothpick tested in a few of the cakes came out clean, about 20-22 minutes.

While the cakes were baking, I made the frosting.

 cream cheese, butter, vanilla, confectioners sugar

This was very simple. I just put all the ingredients in my mixer and beat until creamy.

There is no "before" picture, because all you would have seen is a big pile of powdered sugar. And that would have been boring.

One of the nice things about making these into cupcakes is the size. They didn't rise too high, so that even with a good helping of icing, you could still take the perfect bite that included a good ratio of cake and icing, without getting any frosting on your nose. The recipe made 23 cupcakes, but some were a little too small. I made the full batch of icing, although I suspected I wouldn't need all of it, and only used about 2/3.

These were very moist thanks to all the coconut and carrot, and were nicely spiced from the cinnamon and nutmeg. The icing was particularly good; not your typical cream cheese variety, but sweeter, which paired much more nicely with the carrot cake, I thought. They were also very filling, so they didn't leave you wanting to eat another one. Or two. At least not right away.

I brought most of these to work (saving the saddest littlest ones for Dan and me), and they were very well received. I didn't get quite the response I did with the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, but those have become that which we measure everything else against. If they were a 10 out of 10, this Carrot Cake was probably a 7 or 7.5. Very respectable. And very satisfying.

Next Indulgence: Chocolate Eclairs