Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing

This just may be the best peanut butter icing. Ever. The chocolate cupcake... eh, I've had (and made) better. I think the Guinness cupcake I made from the Irish Car Bomb cupcake recipe would be excellent with this icing. I might have to try that out sometime...

Adapted from: www.BrownEyedBaker.com

INGREDIENTS

CUPCAKE (12 cupcakes)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup (1.5 ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
¾ cup (3.75 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
¾ cup (5.25 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon table salt
½ cup (4 ounces) sour cream

DIRECTIONS
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 350 degrees F. (If you are using a non-stick muffin pan, heat the oven to 325 degrees F.) Line standard-size muffin pan with baking cup liners.
Combine butter, chocolate, and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and combined. (Alternately, you can microwave the mixture at 50% power, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.) Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.
Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder in small bowl to combine.
Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla, and salt until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined, then sift remaining flour mixture over and whisk until batter is homogeneous and thick.
Divide the batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.
Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.


PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream
Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I made these for my husband's birthday back in February and they were delicious! Of course, I'm more of a chocolate fan, but these were really good. I had no idea what went into red velvet (vinegar, really?) so it was a good learning experience for me! The cream cheese frosting was very good also. I've made ones before that were a bit watery, but these were very easy to manage decorating (which I'm getting better at). And look - they match my family room. ;)

Adapted from: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/

Yields: 12 cupcakes
Prep Time: 15 minutes Bake Time: 20 minutes

CUPCAKES
INGREDIENTS
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons red food coloring
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons distilled white vinegar

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
4 ounces butter, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin/cupcake pan with liners.
2. On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
3. In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.
5. Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center of the largest cupcake comes out clean.
7. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove cupcakes from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
8. To make the frosting: Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.

Brandy Alexander Cupcakes

Another dessert for our Mad Men party! Yes, I know cupcakes weren't big in the '60's...but Brandy Alexander drinks were! (Also, I just bought this cute cupcake holder, so I wanted to use it at the party.) Brandy, cream and creme de cacao garnished with nutmeg....yum. I couldn't actually find a recipe for Brandy Alexandre cupcakes, so I altered Martha Stewart's brandy cupcakes which I found on The Cupcake Diary's website. The cupcake itself was wonderful. This must have been from the sweet milk/brandy mixture that the cupcakes soaked in for about one day wrapped in the fridge. I wanted to add creme de cacao in the whipped cream topping but couldn't find a miniature bottle that I could add a tablespoon or two to the mixture. Instead, I had some leftover Kahlua from a previous recipe and added some cocoa powder. I added each of these to taste, so I approximated the measurements in the recipe below. Then I topped off the cupcakes with a dusting of nutmeg.

Adapted from: www.TheCupcakeDiary.com (Originally Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS - Cupcake
6 large eggs, separated, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (1 1/4 cups)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon Brandy
Nutmeg for dusting

1. Preheat over to 325* F. Line regular sized cupcake tins with paper-lined foil liners, you can buy these at most grocery stores. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together egg whites, baking soda and salt until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low. Add yolks and sugar, whisk until completely combined. Fold in melted butter with a flexible spatula. Add flour in four batches, folding until just combined after each.
2. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each half-way. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until light golden brown, the original recipe says about 25 minutes. I checked on the cupcakes at 20 minutes and they looked done so I remove from oven at that point. Immediately poke holes in tops of cupcakes with a wooden skewer or toothpick.
3. Whisk together evaporated milk, condensed milk, heavy cream and Brandy. With cupcakes still in tins, brush milk mixture over cupcakes, repeating until all liquid has been used, this might take several minutes. Allow cupcakes to absorb mixture, at least 30 minutes (or up to 1 day in the refrigerator, wrapped tightly in plastic once completely cool; bring to room temperature before serving).
To finish, dollop or pipe on whipped cream generously onto cupcakes and dust with nutmeg. (The original recipe calls for cinnamon.) Serve immediately.

INGREDIENTS - Frosting
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Cocoa powder - about 2 Tbsp
Kahlua - about 1 1/2 Tbsp


DIRECTIONS
Whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar, and whisk until combined. To create the "Brandy Alexander", I added some cocoa powder and Kahlua since I didn't have any Creme de Cacao. It gave the frosting a nice hint of chocolate. If not using immediately, whipped cream can be refrigerated, covered tightly, up to 3 hours in an airtight container.

The Ultimate Black Bottom Cupcake

I was looking through my blog and forgot to post this! I made these Black Bottom Cupcakes for Christmas and they were awesome. There are several recipes out there for this type of cupcake, but apparently this is the ultimate. I don't have another to compare it to, but I would definitely make this recipe again. I even had some left over batter and made a few mini-cupcakes. This way when they were finally cooled, I didn't have to eat an entire cupcake to do a taste test. However, I ate about 3 of the mini-cupcakes....hmm....

Adapted from: http://www.cookiemadness.net/

INGREDIENTS (Yields 18 cupcakes)

FILLING
16-oz cream cheese, cool room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 large egg whites, room temperature
2 tbsp sour cream, room temperature
1/3 cup miniature or regular size chocolate chips – or however many you want (I used regular sized chips, and it was more like 1/2 cup)

CAKE
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (7.9 oz)
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder – Hershey’s Dark
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Beat the cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth. Add the egg whites and stir or beat on low speed just until mixed; stir in the sour cream and chocolate chips. Set aside.
Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl.
In the actual mixing bowl, beat together the oil and sugar. You can do this with a whisk, spoon or hand-held mixer.
Mix together the buttermilk and vanilla. Add the buttermilk/vanilla mixture and the flour alternately to the sugar/oil mixture. Stir until smooth – be careful not to overbeat.
Divide the chocolate batter evenly among the muffin tins. Spoon large tablespoonfuls of cream cheese batter over the chocolate batter. You should have some cream cheese batter leftover.
Bake on center rack for about 25 minutes. Let cool in cupcake pan for 30 minutes and then transfer to the refrigerator to chill.

Snickers Cupcakes

Yum!!! Snickers Cupcakes...I saw this recipe and had to make it. My only problem with it was the chocolate cake itself. I thought it was a little dry. I was surprised about this because the batter was amazing! However, filled with Snickers and topped with caramel icing I thought they were great! Maybe next time I would try a different chocolate cake recipe though. I hate to admit it, but I didn't make the caramel sauce...I used Smucker's Caramel Sauce. I know, I'm horrible. I was pressed for time and had an incident with making a caramel sauce in the past. We'll leave it at that. ;)

Adapted from: www.annies-eats.com

INGREDIENTS (yields 20 cupcakes)

CUPCAKES

½ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa)

½ cup hot water

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. coarse salt

16 tbsp. unsalted butter

1½ cups sugar

2 large eggs plus

1 egg yolk1

¾ tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature

CARAMEL SAUCE

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

FILLING

24 fun-size Snickers bars, chopped (I used less...probably about 18)

FROSTING

16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 lb. confectioners’ sugar

1½ tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 cup caramel sauce

Pinch of coarse salt

2 tbsp. heavy cream

For garnish: 8 fun-size Snickers bars, chopped

DIRECTIONS

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line standard cupcake pans with paper liners. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the butter and the sugar over medium heat. Heat, stirring occasionally to combine, until the butter is melted. Remove the mixture from the heat and transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-low speed, 4-5 minutes, until the mixture is cooled. Mix in the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and then the cocoa mixture and beat until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, beating just until combined.
Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the caramel sauce, melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar begins to foam a bit. It will look and smell like it’s on the verge of burning. Remove from the heat and add the heavy cream. Stir until the sauce is smooth (you may need to return it to the heat to smooth it out), then mix in the vanilla and salt. Let cool. (This can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.)
To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone out of the center of each cupcake with a paring knife.

To make the filling, combine the chopped Snickers bars in a bowl with 1/3-½ cup of the caramel sauce, and mix to coat.

Drop a spoonful of the filling mixture into each cupcake.

To make the frosting, add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed 1 minute until smooth. Blend in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Mix in the vanilla, caramel sauce and salt until incorporated. (Note: the caramel sauce should be just warm enough that it is workable, but not warm enough to melt the butter in the frosting...or room temperature if you're taking the Smucker's Caramel Sauce out of the fridge like I did!) Add the heavy cream and whip on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip. Drizzle the frosted cupcakes with additional caramel sauce and garnish with chopped Snickers bars.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

These were good, but they tasted more like muffins than cupcakes. I liked the cream cheese icing for these much better than the cream cheese icing I made for the Kahlua cupcakes. The consistency was much thicker! I was debating between these and cream cheese swirled pumpkin muffins and I kind of wished I had tried the muffins. However, these were tasty and kicked off the fall baking season!

Adapted from: www.joyofbaking.com

INGREDIENTS

CUPCAKES
1 3/4 cups (225 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

DIRECTIONS

CUPCAKES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in the center of the oven. Line 12 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with a non stick vegetable spray.
In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.
In another large bowl, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Add the sugar and melted butter and whisk until blended. Whisk or stir in the pumpkin, water, and vanilla extract.
Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and stir just until the ingredients are combined. (A few streaks of flour is fine.) Evenly divide the batter among the muffin cups, and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

FROSTING
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and beat until incorporated and smooth. Add the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar and beat until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Pipe or spread the frosting on the cupcakes. Sprinkle with toasted and chopped nuts.

Kahlua Cupcakes

Another Kulisek birthday, another booze cupcake! It was only appropriate for a 21st birthday. ;) My sister-in-law turned 21 and we celebrated on her birthday out in the city with my husband's band as the entertainment. It was lucky he was playing at a great place that night! I made these cupcakes that day - and they were amazing! I didn't want to do a buttercream icing like Annies-Eats' website called for, so I searched for a cream cheese icing recipe which I found at All Recipes. I added Kahlua to this recipe. The icing was a little watery and looked to be running off of the cupcakes, but that was fixed by keeping the cupcakes in the refrigerator. These were extremely rich and wonderful and definitely on my Must Make Again list!

CUPCAKES (makes 20 - 24)

Adapted from: www.annies-eats.com

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp. instant espresso powder (I used a dark roast instant coffee)

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ cups sugar

1½ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. salt

2 large eggs

¾ cup warm water

¾ cup buttermilk

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the brushing: KAHULA LIQUEUR

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line standard cupcake pans with paper liners. In a large mixing bowl combine the cocoa powder, espresso powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk well to blend. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high speed until smooth, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake until the tops spring back when pressed lightly, about 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Poke a few holes in the top of each cupcake with the tines of a fork and brush with Kahlua while still warm. Allow to cool completely.

KAHLUA CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Adapted from: www.allrecipes.com (minus the Kahlua)

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 Tablespoons of Kahlua (to taste)

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Mix in Kahlua. I'm not exactly sure how much Kahlua I mixed in...I started with one tablespoon and keep adding a few more teaspoons until I thought the taste was right. I'm guessing about 4 tablespoons, but that could be altered depending on how strong you want the Kahlua flavor. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Wow, it's been a while since I updated my blog! I apologize! ;) I actually only have this recipe and one other cupcake recipe that I have baked in the past couple of months...it's been a busy summer! That and turning the oven on in our house makes our downstairs feel like 100 degrees....I've been avoiding it as much as possible! These cupcakes I made for a "Beer Around the World" Party. Yes, I did bring beer too! My country was Italy, so I brought a case of Peroni and also baked these Tiramsu Cupcakes to go along with the Italian theme. The icing was the best part of this cupcake! It was outstanding. There was a lot of icing left over and I ended up eating spoonfuls before dumping out the rest. (Which is awful since it consisted of heavy cream, marscapone cheese and powdered sugar!) The cake itself was alright...it seemed a little stiff for my liking if that makes any sense. Next time I may go with a different plain cupcake recipe for that!

Adpated from: http://www.marthastewart.com/

CUPCAKE (makes 18)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup milk
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
3 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Heat milk and vanilla-bean pod and seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat just until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter until melted, and let stand 15 minutes. Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, and discard vanilla-bean pod.
With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and sugar. Set mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk by hand until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. With an electric mixer on high speed, whisk until mixture is fluffy, pale yellow, and thick enough to hold a ribbon on the surface for several seconds when whisk is lifted.
Gently but thoroughly fold flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches; stir 1/2 cup batter into the strained milk mixture to thicken, then fold milk mixture into the remaining batter until just combined.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until centers are completely set and edges are light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.
To finish, brush tops of cupcakes evenly with coffee-marsala syrup; repeat until all syrup has been used. Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid 30 minutes. Dollop frosting onto cupcakes; refrigerate up to overnight in airtight containers. Dust generously with cocoa powder just before serving.



COFFEE-MARSALA SYRUP

INGREDIENTS

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly brewed very strong coffee (or espresso)
1 ounce marsala
1/4 cup sugar

DIRECTIONS

Stir together coffee, marsala, and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Let cool.



MARSCAPONE FROSTING

INGREDIENTS

1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

DIRECTIONS
With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat, or cream will be grainy). In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gently fold whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated. Use immediately.

Chocolate Whiskey & Beer Cupcakes

What could be more appropriate for a Kulisek birthday than cupcakes made with whiskey and Guinness? Okay, okay...if I had actually had the Bailey's for the frosting then it would've been perfect! They didn't have the shooters of Bailey's at the liquor store so I opted to make the frosting without it and added some caramel ice cream topping instead - still delicious! My decoration looks a little sad, but I attribute that to the heat in our house! It melted my frosting. :( The cupcakes themselves were very rich and you couldn't taste (or I couldn't taste) the alcohol in them at all. Not even the Glenlivet 18 that I had to use (a half of a teaspoon, that's all!) for the filling. Mike appreciates it, I'm sure. ;)

Adapted from: www.smittenkitchen.com

Makes 20 to 24 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
GUINNESS CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
1 cup stout (such as Guinness)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

GANACHE FILLING

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

BAILEY'S FROSTING

3 to 4 cups confections sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperate

3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

DIRECTIONS

Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once front to back if your oven bakes unevenly, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.
Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). Meanwhile, using your 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way. A slim spoon or grapefruit knife will help you get the center out. Those are your “tasters”. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.
Ice and decorate the cupcakes.
Do ahead: You can bake the cupcakes a week or two in advance and store them, well wrapped, in the freezer. You can also fill them before you freeze them. They also keep filled — or filled and frosted — in the fridge for a day. (Longer, they will start to get stale.)

Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcakes

These were delicious! Next time I will make them with more cookie dough filling. I ended up with extra (and taking spoonfuls myself...) but they could've been put to use in the cupcakes. I just bought icing bags so that I can start to make my cupcakes more presentable! I'm not a master yet, but they definitely look better than spooning icing on top!


Adapted from: http://www.annies-eats.com/


Yield:24 cupcakes


INGREDIENTS

CUPCAKES
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)


FILLING
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

FROSTING
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract


For decoration:Tiny chocolate chip cookies (I didn't have time to make these!)



DIRECTIONS

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour. (I'm impatient and only did this for about 20 minutes and it was fine.) To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture. To make the frosting, beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.Frost the filled cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with mini chocolate chip cookies for decoration.

Vanilla Nutella-Swirl Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from: Pursing Domestic Goddess-ness http://wamozart12cooks.blogspot.com/



Since I had that Nutella left over from the Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake, I tried some Nutella cupcakes. They were very sweet, but good. I brought them to my father-in-law's for his birthday and he really enjoyed them. Now most of my Nutella is gone, but maybe I can find a small batch recipe to make!



CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS

10 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 & 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt


FROSTING INGREDIENTS
Softened nutella (3 - 6 tsp)
8 Tbsp butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup half & half or whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Softened Nutella (1/4 cup)

DIRECTIONS

Cream butter (room temperature) and sugar until light, about 2 min. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in vanilla (the batter will look a little clumpy, this is ok), then sift together flour, baking powder and salt and mix in. It's almost like a soft cookie dough. Soften some nutella (in the microwave for 20 sec or so), and add about 1/2-1t to the top of each cupcake cup of batter. Swirl the nutella around with a toothpick,then back at 325oF for about 20 minutes. Once the cupcakes are cool, they're ready to frost. Beat softened butter with 3 cups of powdered sugar (add 1 cup at a time). Beat in half&half or whole milk and vanilla. Add 1/2 cup more powdered sugar and beat on high for a few minutes, until it's fluffy. Soften nutella (in the microwave again) and beat into the frosting. If the frosting's not stiff enough, add another 1/2cup powdered sugar. Frost the cupcakes!

Cookies-N-Cream Cupcakes

My husband said these definitely have to make it on the "Make These Again" list. They were so yummy! The oreo on the bottom gave it a nice touch. (Though at first my brother-in-law thought that I burnt the bottom and was nice enough not to say anything until he bit into it and realized it was a cookie!) The icing was fabulous as well. It wasn't your typical cake icing and I think that's why I liked it so much. The amount of icing I made was much more than I needed to top the cupcakes, so my dad was dipping pieces of bread in the icing bowl! I guess he liked the contrasting tastes...

Cupcake Recipe adapted from: http://www.beantownbaker.com/

INGREDIENTS

24 paper liners for cupcake pans

30 Oreo cookies

1 pkg plain white cake mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 350 and line the pans with paper liners. Count out 12 Oreos and separate the top and bottom wafers. Make sure each half has some icing on it. Place one wafer, icing side up, in the bottom of each paper liner. (I had a hard time opening them and getting frosting on both sides, so I just put the side with frosting in the cupcake paper and put the other side in a bowl to crush and put in the batter). Crush the remaining Oreos by any means you like. I put them in a Ziplock and smash them. Set the crumbs aside. Place the cake mix, oil, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and beat again on medium about 1.5 minutes more. Measure out 1 1/2 cups crushed Oreos and fold these into the batter. Set the rest of the crumbs aside for garnish. Fill your liners 3/4 full with batter and place the pans in the oven. Bake the cupcakes for about 18 minutes until they are golden and spring back when lightly touched with your finger. Cool in the pan on wire racks for about 5 minutes and then remove cakes from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Icing recipe adapted from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

COOL WHIPPED FROSTING with Oreos

INGREDIENTS
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crushed oreos (I couldn't tell you how much, I just used whatever I had left over!)

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix with milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Gently fold in whipped topping until no streaks remain. Add crushed oreos. Spread evenly over cupcakes.

Creme Brulee Cupcakes

I can't believe how good these were! Even though I didn't have a torch to caramelize the brown sugar on the top, these cupcakes were fantastic and did taste like creme brulee. They look a little sloppy (my frosting method has not been perfected). I also didn't have cupcake liners - I bought them at Target because I knew I was going to bake cupcakes and they were in the bag that the cashier never gave me! :( Oh well. When I make them again, they will look better!

Adapted from: www.BeantownBaker.com

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch for the egg whites
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons caramel syrup - I used Smuckers ice cream topping
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Alternately beat in dry ingredients and milk. Add caramel syrup and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Gently fold whites into batter. Spoon batter into cupcake papers, filling cups about 2/3 full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool.

BROWN SUGAR SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM INGREDIENTS
1 cup light brown sugar
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

Put sugar, egg whites and salt into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees). Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes total.Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and continue beating 1 minute to reduce air bubbles.To assemble cupcakes, remove center of cupcake using a knife. Fill cupcake with buttercream. Sprinkle brown sugar on top and caramelize with creme brulee torch - which I did not have, so my cupcake was not caramelized. :(

Banana Caramel Cupcakes

So I had an extra banana laying around and if I didn't use it, it would go bad. So what do I do? Look up a banana cupcake recipe and bake with it! (I could've just eaten the banana and saved myself a ton of calories...). These were really good, but didn't exactly taste like cupcakes. They were more dense. I also didn't have cupcake liners, so that's another reason they look weird. Next time I'll pick them up and spend a little more time on the decorative portion - they look a bit sloppy! But I was not bringing them anywhere so that was fine with me. :)

Adapted from: http://www.annie-eats.com/

Yields 24+ cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
For the cupcakes:
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana

For the caramel:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup packed light brown sugar

For the frosting:
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbsp. pieces, at room temperature

DIRECTIONS
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. (I do not have a stand mixer, so I used a hand mixer.) Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in 1 the mashed banana until well combined. With the mixer on low speed alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing only until just incorporated.
Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 to ¾ full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the caramel sauce, combine the butter, heavy cream and brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Once it reaches a boil, lower the heat to medium and continue to boil until the mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat the mixture, whisking very frequently, until the sugar is completely dissolved and reaches 160° F on an instant read thermometer. Transfer the mixture to the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Reduce the speed to medium low, add in the salt and begin adding the butter one piece at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in ½ cup of the cooled caramel sauce until well blended.

Frost the cooled cupcakes with the caramel buttercream, and drizzle with the remaining caramel sauce. (If the caramel has cooled too much to be easily drizzled, heat for 10 seconds in the microwave and stir well to thin it a bit.)