Hello again!
It has been a looong time since I last posted a recipe, so I'm going to share a couple of fun ones that I tried out for a stock the bar party I baked for a few weeks ago. I had never been asked to make anything for an event like that before, so I thought I would get creative with the mini cupcakes!
First, I wanted to make something feminine, so I tweaked a strawberry cake recipe to be a strawberry champagne cake recipe, and topped it with strawberry champagne buttercream. To die for! I loved this cake! It's very moist and the flavor is incredible!
For the guys, I decided to go with chocolate cake, the recipe my grandmother always uses, and top it with almond buttercream and homemade Maker's Mark caramel sauce. I was really surprised at how much I liked the flavor combination of these, as well!
Strawberry Champagne Mini Cupcakes
10 ounces of strawberry puree (from thawed frozen strawberries, no sugar)
1/2 cup champagne of choice (I used Barefoot Pink Moscato Champagne)
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3.4 oz strawberry creme Jell-o pudding mix
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line your mini cupcake tin with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine 6 ounces strawberry puree, champagne, eggs, and vanilla, then set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pudding mix, and sugar, then slowly add the butter, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Once the butter is completely incorporated, set your mixer to a low speed and gradually add the wet ingredients. Mix until the batter is smooth, then fill the paper liners and bake for about 12-15 minutes, checking with a toothpick as necessary. Set out to cool when they have finished baking.
Strawberry Champagne Frosting
6 cups powdered sugar
8 Tbsp butter, room temperature, cubes
1/4 cup champagne (or to taste)
4 ounces strawberry puree
1 Tbsp heavy cream
Here's the thing with me and frosting: I never follow the recipe. I start with a general recipe, but then I always add more powdered sugar, more butter, more liquid, etc., in order to get the texture just right. Throw some stuff in your mixing bowl and see what works. That's what I always do.
I topped the cupcakes with some of the frosting, then added some golden sugar sprinkles. Yum!
Chocolate Mini Cupcakes
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
3.4 oz chocolate Jell-o pudding mix
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
The recipe that I always use for homemade chocolate cake is the recipe that my grandmother has always used. It's an old Betty Crocker recipe called Black Midnight Cake. The only thing I did differently, which I always do when I make cakes, is add the pudding mix. I've found that it makes a big difference in the moistness of the cake. It's a personal preference, I suppose.
Anyway, this recipe is easy. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line your mini cupcake pan just as before. Throw all of the ingredients into a large mixing bowl, and mix at medium speed, scraping as needed, until all ingredients are incorporated. Bake 12-15 minutes, checking periodically.
For the frosting, I didn't really measure any ingredients. I started making just a typical buttercream, and added some almond extract instead of vanilla extract.
Maker's Mark Caramel Sauce
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp Maker's Mark
Cook sugar in a nonstick pan over very low heat. Don't use a spoon to stir the sugar, just kind of shake or swirl the pan every now and then. Continue this until the sugar is melted and it is a pale golden color. Once it has melted, continue cooking the caramel, swirling occasionally, for about 10 minutes. The caramel will reach a deeper golden color. Remove the pan from heat, and pour in the cream, stirring constantly. Return to heat and simmer, while stirring, until the hardened caramel has been made smooth. Add the butter and stir until melted and incorporated. Remove from heat and stir in the Maker's Mark.
Drizzle over the chocolate cupcakes, and store the rest in a jar in the fridge.
I ended up making about one hundred mini cupcakes, and then making 12 regular-sized cupcakes with the leftover batter. So... I snacked a bit ;)
Something else pretty cool that happened this past Saturday...
I graduated cum laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham!
So now, the job hunt begins! Hopefully I will have good news on that front in the next few weeks!
Happy baking!
Andrea
