Baa Baa, Cupcake, Have You Any Frosting?

Snowy Cupcakes

2011-12-31T12:02:00.000-05:00

Other than one freak snowstorm before Halloween, it hasn't snowed all that much where I am living now (hey, this California girl isn't complaining!) but I decided to get in touch with the winter season by making some winter cupcakes by using edible wafer snowflakes and snowflake mini-cupcake liners.

The cupcake liners are from Wilton. I bought them several years ago and I can't seem to find them for purchase anywhere online. There are some different ones on Etsy for sale here that are very cute as a substitute.

I elected to make mini-cupcakes, because then each sprinkle really stood out. The snowflake sprinkles themselves weren't really that tasty, however. They sort of had a texture like styrofoam.

Stay warm, everyone! If you're looking for something a little more New Year's Eve related, check out my champagne cupcakes.

Gingerbread House Decorating Party

2011-12-11T18:10:00.001-05:00

As much as I love baking cupcakes, sometimes it's nice to try a little something different. My former roommate from medical school came for a visit, so we decided to throw a gingerbread house decorating party. I thought it would be a good idea to use a mold since I had about 16 people RSVP that they were coming. I went with a Paula Deen mold. The mold ensured that the pieces all came out the same side and had cute details that you wouldn't get by just cutting pieces. However, each time you use the mold you only bake half of the house because you have to turn the mold over to make the second half of the house. Also, you have to let the gingerbread cool in the mold for 20 minutes after you bake it! Two molds would have made things faster.

As far as recipes, I used Wilton's everything gingerbread for the house and their royal icing recipe for the "glue" to decorate. The royal icing uses meringue powder, which really makes it very easy to make the icing. Because I didn't have time to make 16 gingerbread houses, we also whipped up some ninja cookies for people to decorate!

All in all, it was a great time. Guests were asked to bring a bag of candy to decorate with an their creativity. The party was two weeks ago and I am still nibbling on the leftover sweets!

Here are a couple of the houses people made:

As wonderful as my house smelled all week.... I certainly won't feel the desire to make gingerbread anytime soon!

Surviving intern year and still baking!

2011-10-19T21:32:00.000-04:00

I know. It's been ages since I last updated. Things have been pretty busy with my residency training but I have been able to do a little baking. One of the more recent things I made were ghost brownies. Last year I found some Reynolds Ghost Baking Cups in the grocery store. They remained stored away, hiding and ready to spook someone at any moment. It's sometimes hard for my to use my cuter cupcake liners, but what better time to make ghost brownies than Halloween! Besides, days on the hospital wards are so long and I thought everyone could use a treat. The brownies themselves are actually vegan and there recipe is from Food.com and can be found here. I elected to make them without nuts.

I then topped the brownies with some regular vanilla frosting with chocolate chips for eyes and mouths (it's hard to be a scary ghost without a face you know).

Ghost being enjoyed by my attending

The brownies went over well, although I actually never tried them since the recipe only made 11 ghosts. It was my first time making vegan brownies.

What's your favorite Halloween treat?

Mango, Orange and Cayenne Pepper Cake

2011-08-07T10:02:00.000-04:00

Things sure have been busy recently, but I have been able to make time for a little fun. Several of us went out on a friend's boat last weekend. It was so nice to spend several hours in the sun relaxing! As a thank you, I brought along a mango, orange, and cayenne pepper cake from the book CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch.I have baked a couple of things from the book before. They are always really delicious but require several trips to the grocery store for unusual items like potato starch and vanilla powder.

I decided to try to try the "Sassy" pound cake from the book because I love mango. Mmmmm.... mango. The first step to the recipe is to make a mango puree from scratch. You could save a little time by buying the mango puree from the grocery store, but it's surprisingly easy to make and quite satisfying to know that everything in your cake is truly from scratch!

Mango Puree - printer friendly

1 mango
1/4 sugar

Slice the mango into small pieces.
Add mango and sugar together in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Strain the fruit and save the syrup for another use (such as in frosting).
Place the fruit in a food processor and puree until smooth.
You can keep the puree in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Now you are ready for the cake! The true version of Sassy includes several different liqueurs and alcohol in it. I decided to omit them (the cake book explains how) but I did keep some extra vanilla extract in the mix.

Mango, Orange, and Cayenne Bunt Cake - Adapted from Cake Love -

2 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon potato starch
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup mango puree
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp orange extract
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups + 2 tablepsoons sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
5 eggs
2 egg yolks

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and orange zest on low speed for 3-4 minutes. If you have a standing mixer use the paddle attachment to do this.
Slowly add the eggs one at a time and mix well at low speed after each addition. Add the egg yolks in this manner as well and mix until well combined. Be sure to periodically scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Combine the flour, potato starch, salt, baking soda and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl and mix the contents with a whisk (the "dry ingredients").
In a separate bowl, add the mango, sour cream, vanilla, and orange extract and mix together with a whisk (the "wet" ingredients).
Alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients to the large bowl with the butter-sugar mixture. Do this in a total of 5 steps (starting and ending with the dry ingredients) and mix after each addition, although the ingredients do not need to be completely mixed after each addition. This entire process should take about 60 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix well on medium speed after the final addition for about 20 seconds.
Spray a 12-cup bunt pan with baking spray or coat with Wilton Cake Release
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a bamboo skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before inverting and allowing the cake to rest on a plate or cooling rack until completely cool.

This cake has a nice orange flavor with some subtle mango notes in it. I have to admit, I am not really sure if I tasted the cayenne pepper or not. This bunt cake would be delicious without any sort of frosting, but I decided to add a mango Italian meringue buttercream frosting to give a little more mango flavor. Italian meringue buttercream is a meringue-based frosting that has a very strong butter flavor to it (likely due to the large amounts of butter in it!) but not as sugary as more conventional buttercream. Making this buttercream is a great way to use up some of that last mango puree and mango syrup that came from cooking the mango while making the mango puree. If you don't have any of the syrup, you can try substituting mango juice. The frosting isn't the easiest to make. It requires boiling sugar syrup to a specific temperature with a candy thermometer. This is best made with a standing mixer.

Mango Italian Meringue Buttercream - printer friendly version

5 egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup cold water
4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into tablespoons
2 tablespoons mango puree
2 tablespoons mango syrup

Add the water and 1 cup of sugar to a saucepan and stir. Place the candy thermometer in the saucepan and partially cover the bowl. Put it on medium-high heat.and allow to boil until it reaches 245F (this may also be known as the "firm ball stage").
While you are waiting for the sugar syrup to get that hot, start making the meringue. Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on high speed until you have stiff peaks.
Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar to the meringue while the mixer is still running on high speed. Don't forget to check in on the sugar syrup!
Once the sugar syrup is 245F, slowly pour the syrup into the meringue while the mixer is running on high speed.
After all of the sugar syrup has been added, reduce the speed to medium until the meringue is cooled. Test the temperature of the meringue by touching the bottom of the mixing bowl. This will take several minutes.
Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time to the cooled meringue mixture while on medium speed. Once all of the butter has been added, increase the speed to high and mix for an additional 1-2 minutes or until the butter has been well mixed into the meringue.
Add the mango puree and syrup to taste. Mix well after adding.

I looooove Italian meringue buttercream, mostly because it isn't that sugary. I think that it really complimented the cake well. It's a little unconventional to slice a bunt cake, but they did it in the CakeLove book so I thought I would give it a try. The buttercream recipe made quite a bit, so I made it three layers. A very easy way to make layers is to use a wire leveler.

And there you have it: Mango, Orange, and cayenne pepper bunt cake with mango Italian meringue buttercream!

Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting

2011-07-19T19:49:00.002-04:00

It seems that I am finally settled into my new house and life as an intern. I moved an embarrassing number of boxes with baking supplies (let's just say more than 3, and that doesn't even count my KitchenAid!) I have been working hard as *Dr. Carly* (it's still so strange to introduce myself to people as doctor!) for the past couple of weeks. Fortunately, I have had a little time to do some baking. One of my co-interns doesn't eat eggs, so I have been baking a lot with my Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook. It's been a nice opportunity to check out recipes I have been wanting to try for a long time.

You may recall that I have made chai cupcakes in the past. Honestly, these are far superior. No one will even guess that they are made without eggs. They really taste like chai tea. I topped them off with some cinnamon frosting that really compliments them well. I used Irish Breakfast tea as my black tea of choice due to its strong flavor. Don't let the long list of ingredients scare you - these cuppies are well worth it!

Also, I have finally figured out how to make printer-friendly versions of my recipes!!! Printer friendly version here.

Chai Cupcakes - Adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World - Makes 4 dozen mini

1 1/4 cup milk
5 black tea bags
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F. Line mini cupcake tin with paper liners
Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to boil. Add the tea bags and cover. Remove from heat and leave covered for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, squeeze the remaining milk out of the tea bags. Remeasure the milk and save one cup of it (drink the extra as a mid-baking pick-me-up!)
In a large mixing bowl, add the oil, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla into a mixing bowl and mix until well combined.
Add the tea mixture and mix until well combined.
In a medium bowl, add the baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, and pepper. Mix with a whisk.
Add the dry ingredients into the large mixing bowl. Mix until well combined.
Fill paper liners 2/3 full of batter. Bake for 13-16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

You'll want to eat them hot out of the oven, but try to wait and eat them with some of this delicious cinnamon frosting.

Cinnamon Frosting - Enough to cover 4 dozen mini cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2-3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Beat butter until light and fluffy.
Slowly add the confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you have added 2 cups. Mix well after each addition.
Once you have added 2 cups of confectioner's sugar, add the milk and vanilla. Mix well.
Add the cinnamon, mix well.
Add remaining confectioner's sugar to achieve desired consistency. If you accidentally add too much sugar and the frosting becomes dry, add a little more milk.

And there you have it! Chai tea in a cupcake.

Brains, Microphones, and a Wedding

2011-06-28T22:04:00.000-04:00

Do you remember Jess and Dan? You know, the engagement cupcakes that I made way back when? They were happily married in May. Jess is going to be a neurologist and Dan does sports broadcasting. As a result, their cupcakes were ... wait for it.... half brains and half microphones! (see my prior post on brain cupcakes here)

All packed up and ready to go!

I made 300 of these babies in my home kitchen in California. I thought it would be no big deal as I have made 300 cupcakes for a wedding before in my single oven in Michigan. For some reason, this time was more stressful. It probably had something to do with me not having my Kitchen-Aid mixer and fashioning 150 fondant microphones by hand. In the end, I finished just in the nick of time before I had to pack them up and get them to the wedding!

There are dozens of more cupcakes under the table... shhhhh

All about 3 cupcakes made it safely. It took about 40 minutes to set all of them up. It took a lot of effort to make pretty patterns that fit on the massive cupcake stand. The 36 hours of stress that led to the finished product was so worth it to see them all sitting happily on the cupcake stand waiting for the party.

Me with the bride and groom

It was such a beautiful wedding and Dan and Jess seemed happy with the way the cupcakes turned out. I think that the guests enjoyed them, too:

At the end of the night, there were plenty of left overs which we were going to save....

But sadly the container wasn't all that sturdy and eager hands caused the cupcakes to fall to their sad, smooshed frosting demise:

Poor cuppies. Oh well - It was a fantastic time!

Thanks to Dan and Jess for letting me be such a big part of your special day :) And you two can think of it as special edition cuppies - who knows when I will be able to make cupcakes for a wedding now that intern year has started.....

Coconut Cupcakes

2011-06-08T11:55:00.000-04:00

I made these chocolate coconut cupcakes several weeks ago to bring to dinner at a friend's new house. It seemed like a lot of work to gather all of the ingredients: coconut oil, coconut extract, coconut milk, shredded coconut. Okay, it really wasn't that much work, because I already had everything save the coconut extract. I haven't really done much baking with coconut flavors other than adding toasted coconut as decoration.

The recipe is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I thought that the slight hint of coconut in the cupcake was really nicely balanced with the chocolate. I attempted to make a chocolate coconut frosting, but I haphazardly just added some coconut extract. Gross - coconut extract smells like artificial coconut (think Malibu rum) and too much of it has a chemical taste. I should have just added some coconut milk! Oh well, lesson learned.

After sadly throwing away 4 cups of frosting, I made some vanilla buttercream and then topped the cupcakes with toasted coconut. Deeeeeelish. I wonder if it is possible to bake cake in half of a coconut shell.....

Cupcakes on an Island in the Sun

2011-05-26T18:56:00.000-04:00

I was delighted when Ming (whose hands are so elegantly displayed in my Bollywood cupcake post) invited me to her small destination wedding in the US Virgin Islands. I was inexpressibly touched and honored when she asked if I would make the cupcakes for her wedding.

Ahhhhhh.... St. John

Numerous e-mail exchanges, Google Documents, and cupcake tastings later, we had all of the details worked out. Chocolate cupcakes with Nutella filling and rosewater pistachio cupcakes. Eight inch lemon cutting cake with raspberry filling. Coral and teal frosting. That all seemed easy enough. The true challenge was getting everything to the USVI. Luckily, Ming and Travis were generous enough to rent a villa for their friends so I would have access to a kitchen. I didn't want to take any chances with not having the proper baking equipment there, so I checked two very heavy suitcases full of cupcake and cake tins, cooling racks, measuring cups, hand mixer (sadly, I could not take my standing mixer!), frosting tips, and plasticware to transport the baked goods. Oh, and did I mention that food is very costly on a resort island? I also took many pounds worth of sugar, flour, extracts, powdered sugar, spices, and more with me. I basically was traveling with a makeshift kitchen. I should have taken a picture of all the stuff that I dragged onto the airplane, but sadly I did not. Just imagine me and my roommate with the largest suitcases your have ever seen on a ferry.

I used a special recipe from Wilton that is supposed to be for high humidity (found here). What was great about the heat in the USVI was that it took a matter of minutes for butter to go from solid and cold to room temperature and soft. I did work up quite a sweat in the kitchen trying to even out the icing on the cake. In the end, it wasn't so bad not having my stand mixer, but not knowing where everything was and having a dozen people also trying to cook in the kitchen was a little stressful.

Ming made this sign for me!

The wedding was beautiful (not even torrential rain downpour could have ruined the happy moment) and once the ceremony was over it was my job to set up the cupcakes. Ming is quite crafty and made several of the cupcake stands. Travis is also crafty - he made these adorable penguin cake toppers himself!

I liked the simplicity of the layout that Ming used for her cupcakes. It fit really well with the intimacy of the entire event.

And of course, I have to include a picture of the newlyweds:

So, all in all, making cupcakes for a wedding away from home wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Congratulations, Ming and Travis!

Baby Shower Cupcakes

2011-04-24T11:10:00.000-04:00

I made these baby shower cupcakes a couple of weeks ago. Half were dulce de leche and half were chocolate.

The cupcake liners and toppers were from a Baby Safari Animals cupake kit. So cute! The only bad thing about them was that they turned translucent after being baked.

These pre-made cupcake kits are so popular now. It does make the whole selection of wrappers and topper easier :)

Passover Cake - Almond with Cardamom

2011-04-20T13:49:00.000-04:00

It's Passover, which is not exactly a holiday known for its delicious dessert due to the fact that no flour or leavening products can be used. I had success with two different cake recipes this year and many people could not believe how good they were despite the use of matzo meal. I decided not to go with cupcakes just to change things up a bit.

The first recipe is from the New York Times and their article on Persian Jews' celebration of Passover. I made it twice. The first time was just with powdered sugar on top and the second time was with a raspberry glaze. To keep it Kosher for Passover, you need to use powdered sugar that does not have corn starch in it to prevent clumping (sometimes organic powdered sugar does not have any corn starch). I was able to turn this recipe into two 8" cakes that were not as tall as one 8" cake would have been with the same amount of batter.

Almond Cake with Cardamom - From the NY Times - Makes one generous 8" round cake or one 9" square cake

7 eggs, separated
3 cups almonds
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon matzo meal
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 tablespoon almond extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil the cake pan (I like to use Wilton cake release).
In a standing mixer, whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together.
In a large food processor, grind almonds until finely ground. You may need to stir them a couple of times to ensure that it doesn't become a sticky paste.
Add the ground almonds, matzo meal and cardamom in to the large bowl and mix well.
Add the almond extract and oil and beat until well combined.
Fold in the egg whites until just combined.
Pour the batter into the pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You'll be able to smell the almonds when it is getting close to being done. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

So, during my first attempt at this cake, I didn't notice that one of the eggs had rolled away and so I made it with 6 eggs instead of 7. It was still good! It tastes a little bit like marzipan and is very sweet. It doesn't require any frosting or glaze, but if you want to give it some color it worked well with the following:

Raspberry Glaze - enough for two 8" cakes

10 ounces frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Allow raspberries to thaw
Combine ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree.
If desired, you may use a fine mesh sleeve to remove seeds.

Even though the seders are over, this is a great treat during the entire holiday and any time of year!

Cupcakes at Tiffany's

2011-04-03T20:03:00.000-04:00

Wedding season will soon be upon us (and hopefully spring, too). I made these cupcakes for a Breakfast at Tiffany's themed bridal shower. Half were plain vanilla and half were my rosewater pistachio cupcakes.

Although I liked the idea of making the frosting Tiffany's teal for all of the cupcakes, I thought that it would be a weird choice for the rosewater cuppies (sort of like green ketchup - a poor pairing of color and flavor). For the rosewater pistachio, I used a small daisy fondant cutter to put small matching teal fondant flowers on top of the cupcakes that had been covered in sparkling sugar.

The most time consuming part of the cupcakes was the bows. I made them the day before and left them out overnight to harden. To make them, I first rolled out strips of fondant that were 1" wide and 4" long (I used the Wilton fondant mat to help with the measurements). I then used a small dab of water on either end and folded the ends into the center to make the bow. Be sure not to roll the fondant too thin or else it won't hold its shape. If the bow loops still won't hold, you can always use a small piece of paper towel to hold them up while the fondant hardens. I then rolled a small 1/2" strip of fondant to put in the center to make it look like a tied bow.

These were so fun to make! It's such an honor to be part of such a special time in my friends' lives. There will be more wedding-related cupcake posts in the future as May gets closer.

Lolly Cake

2011-03-21T20:41:00.000-04:00

Good news! I am back stateside and ready to get back into my full-size kitchen and bake again. I brought back some goodies from New Zealand and decided to make Lolly Cake for my friends here in Michigan. Kiwis call candy "lolly" and this actually isn't what I would consider a cake. However, it is very sweet and yummy and I saw it all over the place in NZ.

First, you need malt biscuits (AKA cookies). I brought these Griffin's biscuits back from New Zealand. You also need lolly for inside of the "cake." In New Zealand, they use lollies called Eskimos or Fruit Puffs. They are basically fruity circus peanut candy.

I don't know about you, but I think that they sort of look like mummies:

If you aren't about to buy Griffin's or Eskimos, just use malt cookies and some other circus peanut type candy.

Lolly Cake

1 stick plus 1 T unsalted butter
3/4 cup condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
250g malt biscuit
1 bag fruit puff candy
shredded coconut

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter
Add condensed milk to the butter and mix with a spoon. If the condensed milk does not mix well with the butter, heat for 30 seconds on high in the microwave and stir well.
Stir in the vanilla.
Use a food processor to crumb the cookies. Combine the melted butter mixture and the cookies into a large bowl and stir well.
Chop the puff candy into small pieces and add to the large bowl and stir well.
Press the mixture into a small square pan so that the cake is approximately 1.5-2" thick.
Cover with coconut (you may lightly press the coconut into the cake, but do not press too hard).
Allow the lolly cake to harden in the fridge covered for at least one hour. Cut into squares before serving.

Here's a little confession: I never tried lolly cake in NZ! I did try it this time and I thought it was quite good (let's be honest, what has condensed milk as an ingredient and isn't tasty) although I didn't care for the candy inside. I served it to some friends who all liked it much more than pavlova, although they were about 50/50 on whether they liked the lolly in the lolly cake. It was just nice to be able to share a culinary aspect of my trip with my friends and to make something that didn't take all that much time at all :)

Pavlova

2011-02-17T02:29:00.000-05:00

The travels have not ended, friends in blogger land. I am currently in Auckland, New Zealand completing an international elective in family medicine. For four weeks, I get to learn all about a completely different healthcare system, Maori and Pacific Islander culture, and how wonderful it is to spend time in the southern hemisphere while it snows in Michigan. I have been very lucky to get to work with fabulous doctors, nurses, and staff who are all very keen on me (and my two classmates who are also here with me) learning a lot and enjoying myself as well.

Moreover, I get to work with Kiwi medical students! Karina, who is also in her last year of medical school, also loves to bake and when I mentioned that I was having baking withdrawl, she invited us over to teach us how to make pavlova, a classic Kiwi dessert (oh, and don't let anyone tell you that is from Australia!). Pavlova consists of a large meringue "cake" with a crunchy crust but soft center with cream and some sort of fruit on top. According to my guide book, it was originally made to honor Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.

I happen to love passion fruit, which is a flavor that is hard to find in the US. I purchased some passion fruit curd with we decided would be a perfect topping for the pav, as Karina called it for short.

Pavlova - serves approximately 12

4 egg whites (or approximately 1/2 cup)
1/4 tsp of salt
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup castor (baking) sugar
300 mL cream
sliced fruit, fruit drizzle, or fruit curd for topping

1. Preheat oven to 275 F (140 C). Place a baking sheet onto a cookie sheet. Use a plate to draw the outline of a circle onto the sheet (about 8" diameter).
2. In a large, clean bowl beat the egg whites and salt until soft, but not stiff, peaks form. Karina said that you know that it is ready when you can turn the bowl upside down without it falling out, as she so bravely demonstrated:

3. While continuously beating the egg whites, add the sugar one spoonful at a time and mix well.
4. Next, add the cornflour, vinegar, and vanilla. It will be nice marshmallow fluffy texture.
5. Spoon out the fluffy yet sticky white mixture into the circle that you have drawn on the baking sheet. You want to shape it like a cake. It actually is not as hard as I thought it would be.

6. Bake in the oven for about 75 minutes. Allow the meringue to dry out in the oven for at least a couple of hours, although overnight is best. It will be very fragile when it is done! It is normal for the pavlova to sink in the center.

7. To make the fresh whipping cream, simply whip the cream until peaks form. If you like, you can add a little confectioner's sugar to add a touch of sweetness (although your pav will be quite sweet without it!)

8. Generously top the meringue with the cream and add your fruit topping. Serve immediately.

I was a sort of curious girl and I couldn't help but touch the top of the finished meringue and it immediately sank in the middle before I could take a picture of it. It still looked (and tasted) great, but I felt terrible even though Karina assured me that it would have fallen eventually.

Maggie gracefully adding the cream

I used Pollock as my inspiration for adding the passion fruit curd:

The pavlova was divine! The crunchy crust is quite sweet (like a meringue cookie) but the center is as delightful the top of a lemon meringue pie. The passion fruit was my favorite part, however. So tangy!

The different layers of the pavlova

Thanks again to Karina for teaching us the secrets of the pav! I am sure that a mini, more cupcake like version will be made as soon as I am back stateside :)

Israeli Cupcake

2011-01-11T10:04:00.000-05:00

I just returned from a fabulous trip to Israel. I haven't done any baking for a while, but I wanted to share a picture of the cupcake that I had in Jerusalem. It was really more like a muffin, but I did get very, very excited when I saw that the package had "cup cake" written on it.

What's the most exciting place that you have enjoyed a cupcake?

Tank Cake

2010-12-21T21:56:00.000-05:00

Remember when I made those toy soldier cupcakes? Well I also agreed to make a tank cake for my friend Karen's wedding rehearal dinner. I have made thousands of cupcakes, but the number of cakes that I have baked I could count on my fingers. It didn't seem like it could possibly be THAT hard to make a tank cake. To make things a little bit more stressful (besides the fact that it was for a rehearsal dinner), I was out of town for residency interviews until the night before the cake needed to be completed. That gave me about 14 hours to make 3 dozen cupcakes and the tank cake.

I found this great tutorial online on how to make a tank cake. I think it was meant for people with more cake experience, because it estimated the amount of time to make a tank cake as a mere 45 minutes and then you finish up with airbrushing. At any rate, it was a good start. I made two 13"x9" yellow cakes.

First, I frosted one:

Then I put the second one on top and cut it a little to give a more "tank-like" shape. I decided what was "tank-like" not based on any experience with tanks, but thanks to Google Images.

And frosted that:

If I did it again, I would spend a little more time to go over the frosting and smooth things out. I did a little bit, but not enough.

And then the fondant. This was only the second time that I had worked with fondant. I used Wilton moss green gel food coloring for the color. It was my first time working with the Duff (of Charm City Cakes) Fondant that they sell at Michaels. I didn't like that you had to heat it in the microwave to get it to a workable consistence.

OK, so not the smoothest cake.... but I was still happy with it :)

I made the cannon by covering a pourette cookie in fondant. I just sort of made little decdorations to give the tank some character, which were loosly based on pictures of tanks online and my imagination. And voila! Tank cake:

It wasn't perfect, but overall a success.

Carlene, posing with the cake and cupcakes

Congratulations to Karen and Owen!

Toy Soldier Cupcakes

2010-12-20T19:30:00.000-05:00

When my friend, Karen, asked me if I would make cupcakes for her wedding rehearal dinner, I excitedly said yes. Her fiancee, Owen, attended West Point. She wanted to surprise him with cupcakes with toy soldiers on them and a cutting cake that looked like a tank.

The cupcake part was easy. Owen's favorite cake is yellow (it has always seemed weird to me that a flavor is a color) so I picked out Martha Stewart's Yellow Butter Cupcake recipe. It had some yummy ingredients (namely butter) and also makes the perfect number of cupcakes that Karen requested (36).

The cupcakes were topped with vanilla buttercream frosting. I used crushed pirouette cookies to make it look like the soldiers were on dirt. It also made the cupcakes a little crunchy. The toy soldiers were from a local dollar store and washed in warm soapy water before placed on each cupcake.

The cupcakes were a cinch to make (especially compared to the tank cake - great pictures of that to come) and well received by a surprised groom. I feel so lucky to have been part of such an important event :)

Happy Thanksgiving and Mini Cornbread

2010-11-25T14:26:00.000-05:00

I know, it's been a while since I've posted. The worst part is I haven't baked in a month! I have been on the road steadily since Halloween interviewing for residency programs all over the place. Maybe program directors would like cupcakes?

At any rate, I am home for an entire week! I don't cook at all, so my contribution for Thanksgiving today includes mini-cornbread and baby chocolate pumpkin cheesecakes (to be posted later).

Mini-Cornbread - Adapted from Dave Lieberamn's Young & Hungry - Makes 6 dozen minis

1 1/2 cups yellow corn meal
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
5 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups milk
2 large eggs
7 ounces no salt added whole kernel corn, drained

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line mini cupcake pans with paper liners
Add the corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients with a whisk.
Add the melted butter, milk and eggs and beat on medium speed with an electric mixer until well combined and the batter is smooth.
Add the canned corn and stir with a spoon until combined.
Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full of batter and bake for 13-14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yummy! I like how this recipe uses whole corn in it. Makes for a little crunchy surprise inside.

I hope that everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!

There's a Fracture, I Need to Fix It Cupcakes

2010-10-21T10:38:00.002-04:00

I'm on outpatient orthopedic surgery this month, and I knew that I had to make appropriate cupcakes to bring into conference and clinic. It's not too difficult to find bone-related items given that Halloween is just around the corner. I found a perfect skeleton bones chocolate mold.

I took some of these to musculoskeletal clinic where most patients have knee or hip complaints. Unfortunately, the mold didn't include either of those joints! I suppose we can't fault a cake and candy company for not being anatomically correct.

The title of these cupcakes is from this little video:

I must say, I like that my friends going into ortho and some of the orthopods joke about the video. Besides, it makes me laugh every time I watch it (it might not be all that amusing to individuals not involved in health care).

Medical cupcakes are so fun to create. My next clinical rotation at the hospital here is anesthesia. Maybe I'll make fondant ET tubes or something.

Pie Surprise Cupcakes

2010-10-16T09:57:00.000-04:00

The cupcake pictured above may look like an ordinary cupcake to you. It has a cupcake wrapper, frosting, and sprinkles to boot. However, if you were to pick it up, you would immediately notice that something was, well, different. For one thing, it's heavy.

Go ahead, take a bite.

Yes, ladies and gentleman. That is a tiny pumpkin pie INSIDE of the cupcake!

I got the idea from this blog post. Sara is a pie baker. I am a cupcake baker. It seemed like a concept we couldn't pass up.

First, Sara made mini-pumpkin pies from scratch. Even the crust was from scratch, mostly because she is crazy. You want to use a mini-cupcake pan that is sprayed with some non-stick spray for the pies. Use whatever pumpkin pie recipe you want, or just use some canned pumpkin pie mix. Bake the mini-pies for about 17 minutes on 375 F, or long enough until the pie is set and the crust is cooked. It's not a science and the pies will bake more inside of the cupcake so don't stress about it too much.

So you can see how small the pies are!

Next, whip up some cupcake batter. I used my signature vanilla cake recipe. Stop after step 6.

Baa Baa Vanilla Cupcakes - makes approximately 30 cupcakes

1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces at room temperature
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners
In a medium sized bowl, combine the two flours and the baking powder. Stir to ensure that the ingredients are mixed.
Cream butter in a large bowl on medium speed with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes.
Add the sugar to the butter, mixing well after each cup.
Add each egg separately, mixing well with the mixer after each addition.
Add the vanilla to the milk. Alternate adding the dry mixture and the milk to the egg-sugar-butter mix. Mix well after each addition on medium speed so that the mixture is uniform.
Fill the cupcake liners with 1/2 - 3/4 of batter. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Now it's time for the assembly!

Put about a tablespoon of batter in each cupcake liner. You want enough batter so that the entire bottom of the liner is covered. Next, put a cooled pumpkin pie on top of the batter. Scoop enough batter over the pie so that it is completely covered. Bake at 350F for about 23 minutes. The tops of the cupcakes should spring back when you press on them. Don't put a toothpick in the middle - you'll just stab the little pie!

Frost as desired and enjoy. They were actually quite tasty! Plus, it's an easy way to impress your friends :)

Baby Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes

2010-10-15T01:58:00.002-04:00

I am still unsure if mini-cheesecakes count as cupcakes, but whatever these are, they were scrumptious. I made them for the fall party we had a couple of weeks ago. What's nice about these "chuppies" (cheesecake + cuppy - just go with it) is that they are covered with marshmallow fluff, which covers up the inevitable sinking that occurs in the center of the cheesecake. If you make this, making half of the recipe. I tossed out a bunch of the batter because I knew that I couldn't get rid of the dozens of cheesecakes that it made. I stopped at 2 or 3 dozen. You will need to plan ahead as the cheesecakes need to be refrigerated overnight. Use a gingersnap cookie for the crust - tasty and simple!

Baby Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes - Adapted from Gourmet - Makes more than 3 dozen

32 ounces cream cheese
2 cups sugar
15 ounces pumpkin
5 large eggs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons vanilla
Gingersnap cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with paper liner. Add one gingersnap cookie to each liner.
Beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until well mixed and nice and fluffy. This should take a couple of minutes
Add the pumpkin and mix well.
While on low speed, add the eggs at a time.
In a separate bowl, add the flour, spices, and salt. Mix together with a wire whisk.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the cheese-pumpkin mixture until just combined.
Add the vanilla.
Scoop the batter into the paper liners until 2/3 full. Bake for about 20-22 minutes, or until the top of the cheesecake is set and the edges just start to crack. Allow the cheesecakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate the cheesecakes overnight.

For the topping, scoop some marshmallow fluff into a plastic pastry bag and heat in the microwave for about 25 seconds, or until it becomes a little warm (be careful - the bag will be hot when you take it out of the microwave!). Snip the bottom of the bag off and then squeeze a nice circle of marshmallow deliciousness on top of each cupcake.

For a little added cuteness, Erin and I rolled out some fondant and cut out shapes using the Wilton Leaves and Acorns cookie cutter set. Just roll a couple of colors together and don't knead them together too much to get a marbled look like on some of the cutouts.

I just love making (and eating!) pumpkin-flavored treats :)

My First Fondant Cake

2010-10-06T19:11:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to share this pumpkin spice cake covered in fondant that I made for a fall party my roommates and I had. The problem with making something like this is that no one seems to want to cut it. The orthopedists in joint clinic seemed to have no problem eating it, however. You don't want to know how long it took me to make those calla lilies....

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

2010-10-05T00:31:00.000-04:00

The leaves are changing colors and the air is crisp. Fall is here. My roommates and I decided to celebrate by having a fall-themed party over the weekend. I, not so surprisingly, was in charge of the cake desserts. I somewhat feel pressured to never repeat the same recipe at parties, so I tried Stephani Pollack of the Cupcake Project's Caramel Apple recipe. I selected it not only because her recipes always turn out delish, but also because I like that it included apple butter. I decided to give it a go.

You can check out her recipe here. If you plan on making mini-cupcakes, it will make over 4 dozen and the baking time will be closer to 14 minutes. It is a great apple cake recipe. Next time I might even add more fresh apples to the mix.

To make them caramel apple cupcakes, I devised a caramel frosting recipe with the help of Erin, my taste tester and fabulous baking helper.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups (approximately 1 pound) confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping

Cream the butter until pale and fluffy.
Add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time to the confectioner's sugar. Mix on high speed for about 15 seconds after each addition to keep the frosting nice and fluffy.
Add the caramel ice cream topping to the frosting and mix well. Once completely combined, mix on high speed for 20-30 seconds to aerate the frosting and keep it fluffy.

The frosting and cupcake combination was a success. We added some fall sprinkles because sprinkles make everything more fun.

While making these cupcakes, I couldn't help but think back to my first year of medical school when Sara and I made apple pie. I had never made apple pie before, and I didn't know that apple pie required cinnamon. Sara was in shock at my lack of knowledge of the blissful union of apples and cinnamon. Reflecting on these cupcakes, that 1 tsp of cinnamon is pretty important :)

Pomegranate Molasses Cupcakes

2010-10-03T23:22:00.000-04:00

I was in the syrup and molasses section in the grocery store the other day and found a bottle of pomegranate molasses. I happen to love pomegranates, so I picked up the bottle to inspect it closer. The product I found is from Lebanon. A quick search on pomegranate molasses brought up a cake recipe from the New York Times. Apparently, pomegranate molasses is a very common ingredient in Middle Eastern dishes. It's so exciting to use exotic or unusual ingredients, so I decided to give it a go.

I tasted a bit of the dark, viscous liquid from the bottle and it's quite sour (I can only imagine what sort of attractive pucker face I made). However, it adds a nice dimension to cake that was absent in the other pomegranate cupcakes that I made. I added some slivered almonds, but you could just as easily leave them out.

Pomegranate Molasses Cupcakes - Adapted from the NY Times - Makes 4 dozen mini-cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 T pomegranate molasses
1/3 cup slivered almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix together with a whisk and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and well-mixed.
Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure that it's all getting mixed.
Alternate adding the flour and the milk to the mixture in the large bowl.
Add in the molasses and mix well.
If desired, stir in the almonds.
Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full of batter and bake for 13-16 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. For regular-sized cupcakes, the baking time will be increased. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I decided to top these with a vanilla buttercream. I thought that it would be too overwhelming to have the molasses in the frosting as well.

Vanilla Buttercream

2 sticks butter, room temperature
4 cups (approximately 1 lb) confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 T milk

In a medium bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy.
Add the confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup at a time to the butter. Beat until combined, and then mix on high speed for 15 seconds to keep the frosting nice and fluffy.
Once all of the sugar has been mixed into the butter, add the vanilla. Mix until well combined.
Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you achieve a desired consistency for spreading.

Lastly, I thought that it would be fun to put some pomegranate molasses on the almonds with some sugar as a little topping for the cupcakes. It was easy to make, but the final product can get sort of sticky.

Pomegranate Molasses Almonds

1/3 cup slivered almonds
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
4 tsp sugar

In a small skillet on medium heat, add the almonds, molasses, and sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon until the molasses and sugar coats the almonds. Keep stirring until the sugar melts. This should only take a couple of minutes.
Remove from heat and allow the almonds to cool on a plate or cookie sheet.

I kept the almonds in a tupperware container until right before the cupcakes were served and then put a couple on each cupcake. A nice tangy treat to top off the sweetness of the frosting.

I highly recommend giving these cupcakes a try if you can get your hands on some pomegranate molasses. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the rest of the bottle....

Amaretto and Espresso

2010-09-30T14:48:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times had an article about how Chef Chole and her vegan cupcakes beat out the competition on Cupcake Wars. I must admit, I love my Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World book - the recipes are delicious and no one eats them and says "are these vegan?" Personally, I think that vegan cupcakes tend to be a lot more moist and flavorful.

At any rate, I decided to give one of Chef Chloe's recipes a whirl. She posted her winning recipe, raspberry tiramisu cupcakes, on her blog. I was pretty excited about it, until the cake part came out dense like rocks. I'm really not too sure what happened. I threw them out and made the cake from Martha Stewart's tiramisu cupcakes (online here). That cake comes out nice and spongy, perfect for drizzling the amaretto-espresso soaking syrup.

The recipe is a lot of work, but I would definitely recommend checking it out here. I topped them with some homemade chocolate hearts. I don't drink coffee, so I didn't think that the cupcakes tasted great, but they were a huge hit with everyone else that ate them :)

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

2010-09-27T09:16:00.001-04:00

I have been dying to use my kitchen torch since making the Baked Alaska cupcakes over the summer with Allie. I decided to give it a go with Martha Stewart's lemon meringue cupcake recipe. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to make lemon curd from scratch, so I used some from the grocery store.

Before browning with the torch

I made them bite sized (bake for about 13-16 minutes in a mini-cupcake pan) for a fondue party that I attended. Instead of coring out a portion of the cupcake and filling it with the lemon curd, I just spread it over the top with an offset spatula and put the meringue on top. If you don't own a kitchen torch, you can place the cupcakes on the top rack with the oven on broil. It will only take seconds for the meringue to brown so be sure to watch them carefully.

The duck cupcake liners are from Wilton and you can purchase them from their website here.

The lemon curd really stole the show, and that was the only part of the cupcake that I didn't make! Oh well, at least they were still enjoyed :)