April showers bring May cupcakes with flowers! Signs of spring are in the air and the trees and plants in the neighbourhood are starting to flower and the world needs a good dose of pretty!! I'm pretty sure these cupcakes were designed to be "Mother's Day" appropriate... but not for my mama. She would 100% go for chocolate or coffee over roses and pink... but these are still fun to make. Also I've never used rosewater before so that was something new and fun. The cupcakes are not overly rose-y flavoured... and to be honest I wish they had more raspberry-rose flavour to them! They are pretty mild. But very nice. I even added a little bit more rosewater than the recipe requires... Which I would recommend BUT IF YOU DO... flavour with caution! As you don't want cupcakes that taste like soap. We're going for floral-garden vibes... not grandma's powder room. Finished off with a dusting of rose petals because they are one of my new favourite garnishes! Not only does it make the cupcakes look pretty, but it lightly perfumes them with a pleasant floral-y scent. Super girly... but sometimes that is just fun, okay?! Raspberry Rose CupcakesRecipe from Food Network Magazine CUPCAKES
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Cupcakes for April!! Of course April, the month of easter, gets a carrot-cake-themed cupcake to celebrate this lovely month. April this year has been unlike any other month the world has ever seen due to COVID-19. We can't have all the big easter family gatherings in quite the same way we are used to. But I sure as heck can make a dozen cupcakes at home and deliver them to my family the next day. My ma and pa loved them... Ma's favourite kind of cake is a carrot cake. I'm partial to this recipe because the cake part contains toasted walnuts and candied ginger folded into the batter! SOLD. The topping is a candied carrot ribbon and a candied walnut. Which is just fun and cute. Rather than a dramatic swirl of frosting, we're keeping it simple with a smooth and elegant blob. I like it. She's a keeper. Carrot-Walnut CupcakesRecipe from Food Network Magazine Cupcakes:
I made these little tea-time-treats to celebrate the last day of Passover this year... now full confession I am not even a little bit Jewish, I do not normally celebrate passover. But I simply love celebrating and any excuse to bake and try a new recipe. And so, voila, thanks to owning a Nigella Lawson cookbook that has an entire chapter dedicated to Passover, I present these tiny flourless pretties. They are soft and sweet and spongey and happen to be gluten free... not that I even intended to make them for that reason either, more for the fact that I have some ground almonds kicking around that need to be loved. I JUST LIKE BAKING OKAY. So... here is a Passover-friendly-gluten-free dessert coming from a gal who is decidedly not Jewish and unassailably loves flour. Whoopsies! They are here because they are dainty and tasty and certainly pretty little things. Flourless Apple-Almond Tea CakesRecipe slightly adapted from Nigella Lawson
Never have I ever actually celebrated valentines with one significant romantically inclined other... The valentines that I have known and loved all my life involves baking cute things and sharing them with my mother, my friends, and my coworkers. This year was no different. However this year for the first time I hosted a bunch of my grand old pals for a "Pal-entines" party. There was a LOT of snacks and wine, lots of laughs, and lots of valentines themed stuff... including these festive cupcakes! What a fabulous treat to make for your pal's during this wonderful month of love! I used these cupcakes as an excuse to eat chocolate covered strawberries... one of my favourite little delicacies that I never ever seem to have, despite them being so incredibly simple! I suppose they take a little bit of effort... but there is something wonderfully festive about setting yourself up to dip a whole basket of bright red berries into a bowl of velvety chocolate. It's like making cookies at christmas. It helps to set the mood if you play some old-school love songs. Gosh I love Valentines!!! Chocolate Strawberry CupcakesRecipe slightly adapted from Food Network Magazine Chocolate Cupcakes
Do I really need to provide you with instructions for chocolate dipped strawberries? Probably not. But here you go.
**for the cupcakes pictured above, I used my favourite chocolate swiss buttercream recipe which you can find in this recipe post... just swap the white chocolate for dark chocolate as necessary. I did this because I had it on hand, so much of it, and it begs to be used, and how silly it would be to not use it! However if you do not have your favourite frosting kicking around in your freezer... maybe try the recipe below. It is the one that comes from Food Network Magazine, though I have not made it. If you do, let me know how it goes!
Happy February! This sounds like a problem that no one has, ever... but have you ever found yourself with half a bottle of champagne that needs to be used? Perhaps it was from the night before, it was opened and tragically never finished, never realizing it's full destiny? Perhaps you worked as a bartender for your community's annual wine night and they let you take home the opened half-full bottle of sparkling wine that was on offer? This would be exactly the predicament I was in recently, and although this kind of issue is probably not a frequent one, if you ever find yourself in such a predicament, I do have a possible solution. CAKE! Yup, this is a bottle half-full situation my friends, bottle half-full. I could envision these pale cuties at your next gals-night-in party, or a dessert offering at a cocktail party, or just to adorn your mid-winter kitchen counter with some much needed cuteness. These came about because my aunt sent me an article that gives a different cupcake for every month of the year, and this one of course is for January! And wouldn't you know it I was blessed with a (FREE) open bottle of champagne. So, it was meant to be, Wouldn't it be fun if I followed along all year? I'm really awful at following through with these sorts of things however... so the chances are low and certainly no promises. BUT, for now, a toast to January! The month of cold cold weather and leftover alcohol. In the form of tiny cakes. Champagne-Vanilla CupcakesRecipe from Food Network Magazine Cupcakes:
1/2 cups leftover champagne or other sparkling wine 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp kosher salt 6 tbsp butter (3 ounces) at room temp 3/4 cup sugar 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise and seeds scraped out (reserve the pod for the frosting) (OR splash of vanilla extract or paste cuz times are tough and beans be expensive) 1 egg, separated. Preheat your oven to 350˚F Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners. If your champagne is still bubbly, pour it into a bowl and whisk until the bubbles dissapate. Although I might suggest that if it is still bubbly, it would be much more enjoyable to drink, and you should make these cupcakes with the flat-and-forgotten leftover wine. combine 1/2 cup of the champagne with the vanilla extract in a small bowl and set aside. Reserve the remaining champagne for the frosting. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, set aside. Cream the butter and sugar and vanilla seeds until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg yolk and beat until smooth. Reduce mixer speed to low and add in the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the champagne-vanilla mixture, beating until just combined, and no more. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white to stiff peaks, then fold into the batter. Divide the batter among the prepared tin, filling each paper about 2/3 full. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when gently pressed., about 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Champagne Custard Frosting 1 cup champagne 2 tsp gelatin powder 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 tsp kosher salt 4 egg yolks 1/2 cup heavy cream Put about 1 1/2 tbsp of the champagne in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top and leave to sit for 5 minutes to allow the gelatin to soften. Whisk the sugar, salt and yolks in a small saucepan until smooth. Whisk in the remaining champagne (and add the remaining vanilla bean pod if used from the cupcakes) Cook over medium heat, stirring until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3-4 minutes. Pour the hot custard through a fine mesh sieve into a large metal bowl. Discard the vanilla pod if it was used. Add the softened gelatin and stir until dissolved. Refrigerate the custard, stirring every 5 minutes until it is the consistency of soft whipped cream. Whip the cream in a separate bowl until firm peaks form. Fold half of the whipped cream into the custard to lighten, then fold in the remaining whipped cream until fully combined. Chill again if it is too loose, stirring frequently until it is pipeable. (I didn't have to chill it any further) The custard will begin to set at this stage, so get it into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe big dollops of frosting onto each cupcake, and decorate with pearl sprinkles if desired. Allow the frosting to set on the cupcakes in the fridge. Share and enjoy these classy cupcakes. CHEERS! WARNING these cupcakes are dangerously sweet but sometimes you just need that hard core sugar hit. Brown sugar is the star here and when combined with a healthy amount of butter and cream (and most importantly SALT to balance all that sticky sweetness) we have a tasty treat for you. These cupcakes came about when I wanted to make a Harry-Potter-Butterbeer-type of cupcake for the cafe where I work (hence the lightning bolt garnish). I made way too much butterscotch sauce the first go-round so I got to make the cupcakes again for halloween, this time with lil ghosts on top! I giggled a lot while decorating each one with tiny edible googly eyes... which I now want to put on everything. Butterscotch CupcakesThe cupcake recipe makes a delicious brown sugar cupcake all on it's own, if you don't want to go the extra sweet route of filling them with the butterscotch. I've been known to add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter which I think makes them even better! Brown Sugar Cupcakes:
*I hardly use a recipe for cream cheese frosting these days... rather I tend to use a ratio of approximately 2 parts cream cheese to one part butter, and add powdered sugar to taste. A good pinch of salt helps to balance out the super sweet powdered sugar, and vanilla makes it extra tasty. Follow your heart, but a good starting point is:
Butterscotch Sauce: Again, this will probably make more than you need for the cupcakes... the leftover can be used in hot drinks, drizzled on cakes or as a tasty ice cream sundae topping!
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