Friday, December 18, 2009

December Cupcakes

So here are the recipes for the December cupcakes.  Malt came in as the favorite, just edging out the cherry cordial, sugar cookie, then peppermint.  So I'll give you the recipes in that order.


Malt Cupcakes
I got the recipe from here and made a few adjustments


1 Devil's Food Cake mix
1 pkg Devil's Food Jell-O pudding mix
1/4 c. Carnation malt powder (chocolate or vanilla)
1 Tablespoon Hershey's cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 1/8 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons vanilla
Pinch of salt


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Mix all ingredients to moisten, then scrape sides of the bowl and beat on medium for 1 minute. (Batter will be THICK!) Scoop into cupcake liners or nut cups. Place in oven and immediately drop oven temp to 350 degrees. (If you bake in multiple batches, raise temp back to 400 between batches.) Bake for approximately 28 minutes, or until done. Yields 24-28 cupcakes.


Filling
Put about 1/2 cup Hershey's Chocolate Malt liquid into a bowl and add powdered
sugar until a very thick paste, almost a dough is formed.


After the cupcakes have cooled cut a cone out of the top. Place a whopper sized ball of filling into each hole and replace the cone of cake on top.


Frosting from here
Vanilla Malt Buttercream
Recipe
Ingredients:


2 sticks butter (room temperature)
6 tablespoons malt powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
6 - 8 cups confectioners sugar


Directions:


1. Beat butter on low speed
2. Add in malt powder, vanilla extract, milk, and 4 cups of sugar. Beat on low speed for 1 minute.
3. Add in remaining sugar 1 cup at a time and beat on medium speed for a few minutes.


*To decorate these cupcakes I tinted most of the frosting red and made a swirl, I topped it with a holiday whopper and used the white frosting to make a rim around the bottom of the red swirl to look like a santa hat. I have no pictures because I didn't add more powdered sugar after the coloring so the frosting was too thin and they were a mess. Still the favorite, but not the prettiest! Although the actual cupcakes were amazing! Chocolate and malt and perfect!



Cherry Cordial Cupcakes

I got the recipe from here. It is a popular recipe but I couldn't find any reviews. Turns out they are the best out there. I tried filling these with a real cherry cordial or even a cherry cordial Hershey kiss, but they just sank to the bottom, even if I baked them half way first. Here is a picture of them finished.




Recipe with changes

Ingredients:


1 pkg. (8-oz.) cream cheese, softened
3 eggs, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 (21-oz.) can Comstock® or Wilderness® More Fruit Cherry Fruit Filling, divided
1/2 cup chocolate chips (mini or chop the bigger ones)

1 pkg. (18.25-oz.) chocolate cake mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
confectioners sugar


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In small bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 egg and sugar until smooth. Stir in 1/3 cup cherry fruit filling, liqueur and chocolate chips; chill.
3. In large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, 2 eggs, oil, water and 1 cup cherry fruit filling. Using electric mixer; blend on low speed for 30 seconds until moistened. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Fill paper-lined muffin cups 1/3 full. Top each with 1 Tablespoon of cream cheese mixture. Spoon remaining batter over cream cheese mixture, filling muffin cups 2/3 full. (this takes a little practice, but make sure the liner is not filled more than 2/3 full or it overflows the liners!)

5. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Makes 21 servings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 30 minutes

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup butter or shorting
1/2 cup cocoa or to taste
1/2 cup Merichino cherry juice or more to taste

4-6 cups Powdered sugar


Beat butter and shorting until light and fluffy.  Add in cocoa.  Beat in sugar and merichino cherry juice, alternating between the two and ending with the powdered sugar.


Here is a little tip and take it to heart.  If you ever need to flavor something with cherry DO NOT use cherry extract, at least the cheap stuff.  It tastes like medicine, so always just use the juice from Merichino cherries:)


*To decorate these I just made a swirl using a star tip and topped with a merichino cherry. Classic.




Sugar Cookie cupcakes

  These cupcakes really do taste like a sugar cookie.  They have a harder crust on top which gives them a lovely chew and texture that remind you of a cookie.  The bottom of the cupcake is moist and has the texture of a cupcake.  I chose to decorate these to look like a Christmas tree.  The lights and star are cookies made with the recipe from my previous post found here.






I got the recipe from here
Sugar Cookie Vanilla Cake
Ingredients

    * 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp.
      2 cups cake flour
      1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
      2 tsp. baking powder
      3 1/4 cups sugar
      3/4 tsp. salt
      1 Tbs. vanilla
      1 cup large eeg whites ( about 8) 1/2 cup milk, room temp.

Instructions

   1. Preheat oven to 325 Butter a 9×13 cake pan and line bottom w/parchment paper.
   2. Sift together flours and baking powder.
   3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
   4. Add salt and vanilla, beating until combined.
   5. Gradually add egg whites on low speed of mixer.
   6. Add flour mixture in two parts alternating with the milk.
   7. Mix until combined; increase speed to high for 20 seconds.
   8. Pour into lined muffin tin and bake for 15-20 min until a toothpick comes out clean.
   9. Let cool

To Decorate:
Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup butter or shorting
1/2 cup milk or whipping cream
4-6 cups powdered sugar
green food coloring

Whip the butter and shorting until light and fluffy.  Add in extract to taste.  Add in sugar and milk, alternating and ending with the powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached.  Add in green food coloring and more powdered sugar if needed.  Using a large star I made stars all over the top of the cupcakes and added a cookie to the top.  Arrange the cupcake to look like a Christmas tree.  Everyone really seemed to enjoy these cupcakes!




Peppermint cupcakes
These cupcakes turned out beautiful.  The peppermint aroma was heavenly but the taste was not too powerful. If you plan on topping with a candy cane, do so at the last moment as the moisture from the cupcakes will make them sticky and the color will start to drip. 

I found the recipe here
Pretty-in-Pink Peppermint Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
3 egg whites
2 T veg. oil (or melted butter)
1/2 t. peppermint extract
3-4 drops red food coloring

-Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with baking cups
-Beat cake mix, water, egg whites, oil, and peppermint extract with mixer for 30 seconds on low. Then beat at medium for 2 min.


*My change*  Take out half the batter and place into a different bowl.  Add food coloring to one bowl.  Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full with both the red and white batters and swirl together.

-Bake 20-22 min. Take out and let cool.



Filling
Mix together about 2 blocks of Vanilla Almond Bark and melt in the microwave, stirring occasionally.  Add in peppermint extract.  Add in about 1/4 cup oil.  Now add in powdered sugar until it forms a dough.  Let cool.  This should still be pliable when cooled, if it is not, heat until pliable and add more oil and powdered sugar if needed.  It should taste similar to a candy cane flavored Hershey Kiss but softer and without the little crunchy pieces.  


After the cupcakes have cooled cut a cone out of the top and into the middle.  Place a whopper sized ball of the filling in the middle and replace the cake cone on top.  


Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup butter or shorting
1/2 cup milk or whipping cream
4-6 cups powdered sugar

peppermint extract to taste
red food coloring
crushed candy cane flavored Hershey Kisses (optional)
Small candy canes (optional)



Whip the butter and shorting until light and fluffy.  Add in extract to taste.  Add in sugar and milk, alternating and ending with the powdered sugar.  Seperate out about a heaping cup and tint red with the food coloring and add more powdered sugar if needed.


To frost the cupcakes place the red frosting along the side of a ziplock freezer bag.  Add in the rest of the white frosting trying to not let them mix too much. Cut off a small piece of the bottom corner of the side that has the red on it.  Make a swirl on the cupcake. Top with crushed Hershey Kisses and place candy cane on top.


These cupcakes had a lovely swirled look down to the cake themselves. 


Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with wonderfully yummy cupcakes!!

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