Lemon Olive Oil Cupcakes

Being outside of the U.S. for more than a month now has brought up a number of food cravings for me; I expected to miss authentic Asian food, and while I am in Israel, pork, but lately the American blogs I've been reading have been featuring gorgeous cupcakes that I can't get out of my mind. I find myself desiring a cute, fluffy, frosting-laden cupcake.

Fortunately, there is something I can do about this - especially since I usually prefer my own cupcakes to anything from a professional bakery. Sometimes I think it's good to know how to cook for the sake of knowing how to satisfy one's food cravings in one's own kitchen, but on the other hand I think that the more foods I try, the more cravings I develop. At least the two go hand in hand! This time a longing for cupcakes coincided with a craving for lemon-flavored dessert, and I am completely pleased with the result.

Some of you will be glad to know that this is a vegan cake recipe; others of you will be dubious, but if you've tried this red velvet cake recipe you'll know that vegan baking can make a successful cake. In fact, I find this recipe formula to be much more consistent in providing good texture than almost any scratch cake recipe I've tried, and it is easy! Because the only somewhat perishable item in the recipe is soy milk (well, and the lemons too, but I keep lemon zest and juice in the freezer all the time), you can easily make these out of the normal contents of your kitchen.

And is it horrible that I think that one of the great benefits of vegan baking is the fact that you can eat as much of the batter as you want without worrying about raw eggs? Because I guarantee that you will want to have more than one lick of this batter.

The olive oil is not a strong flavor, but it is a nice compliment to the lemon (much more than it is to chocolate in my opinion!).

Your cupcakes will look much cuter than mine since I had to make do without a proper cupcake pan; some of mine ended up more deformed than others, but they were still much enjoyed. Like I've said before, every recipe I've tried in Israel has had to be adapted, but the changes always add character, and sometimes even improve the result.

Lemon Olive Oil Cupcakes (Vegan)
loosely based on this red velvet cupcake recipe

1 C soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C olive oil
4 tsp lemon juice
1/2 T lemon zest (zest of one medium lemon)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F/180°C.
Add vinegar to soy milk, and set aside to curdle.
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Add olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract to the curdled soy milk, and whisk together.
Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix until just incorporated.
Fill cupcake liners ¾ full; makes about 12 full-size cupcakes and 45 teeny mini cupcakes.
Bake for 20 minutes for full-size cupcakes, 16 minutes for mini cupcakes, or until a toothpick comes clean.


Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese
4 oz butter (room temperature)
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 T lemon zest (zest of one lemon, with a bit set aside for garnish)
2 1/3 C (300 g) powdered sugar

Cream together cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 C at a time until well incorporated. Beat until fluffy, then top cooled cupcakes.

See the red velvet cupcake recipe for a vegan frosting option (it actually tastes pretty good). I also think this would be excellent with a mascarpone frosting that has lemon zest and a little juice added.

I garnished them with a mixture of lemon zest, granulated sugar, and a dash of salt.

Monkey Cupcakes!

I know it's ridiculous, but I seriously can't move on with my life tonight until I post these photos. There's a monkey-themed baby shower tomorrow at work, so for weeks I've been scheming up how to get some cute monkey faces on the cupcakes without too much work (that is, less work than the fondant sculpting involved in this video).

I am so ecstatic that they turned out well with freehand piping; I found instructions on this website, and just went for it with cream cheese frosting on Mom's Carrot Cake (takes 20 minutes to bake the cupcake version). I am never able to execute piping with precision, but in this case that works out well - each face is different, in happy, quirky, childish ways.

Even the mud-colored icing I accidentally made (that kind of stuff always, always happens in cake decorating) came in hand for the eyes and mouths. I'm freezing the rest for the next monkeys...or whatever...that I make.

And here's one for my friend who had a bad day today: I'm going to save this guy for you to eat!

I had a brief moment of panic after making these when I thought "What if the mother thinks that I've tried to put baby faces on the cupcakes, but they just turned out ugly???" But then I remembered that it was the mother who chose the monkey theme...and I decided that I would make a "Monkey Cupcake" sign just to make sure all was understood.

Even if they would make pretty ugly babies, they are CUTE monkeys!

I hope you enjoyed this happy little album of crazy monkeys!

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

Now that my baking mojo is back, I baked the coconut macaroons of my previous post on the same day as these red velvet cupcakes...and a couple batches of Parisian macarons a couple days later, along with chocolate-coated fleur de sel and caramelized white chocolate ganache. Hm, it's been a busy week. Better be careful not to burn out my inner baker again!

So, red velvet. I better choose my words carefully on this topic...I will say that red velvet has always been an enigma to me. What is the cake supposed to taste like? Is it chocolate or not? Why are so many people passionately in love with it?

After trying these cupcakes, I think I have an inkling of an answer to these questions.

I have also always wondered how vegan baking works. I've done my share of experimenting with fruit purée, egg-based egg substitute, and margarine in baking, but was convinced that vegan baking still needed to be further developed...until these cupcakes.

You may think I'm overstating my case here, but try making these cupcakes: they are better than most scratch cake recipes that I've tried making, hands down. Not only that, but they are slightly healthier, and you can serve them to anyone!

Moist, well-textured, not too sweet, and just chocolatey enough (I may have added extra cocoa powder to that end...). TRY IT! YOU WILL LIKE IT!

Much thanks to the Facebook friend who generously posted this recipe, sourced from the Mac & Cheese food blog.

I intend to use this recipe as a base for other cupcake flavors, so I'll be sure to post any successes I have.

Here we go:

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
from Mac & Cheese

2 cups soy milk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 ounces liquid red food coloring OR several shakes of powdered red food coloring
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°.
Add vinegar to soy milk, and set aside to curdle (so cool!).
Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Add vegetable oil, food coloring, and vanilla extract to the curdled soy milk, and mix.
Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix.
Fill cupcake liners ¾ full; makes about 22 cupcakes.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean.

Red velvet cake is normally paired with cream cheese frosting, so you can use my cream cheese frosting recipe or this similar, optionally vegan cream cheese frosting. To use the contents of my fridge, I substituted mascarpone in for the Tofutti, and it was really good. I could taste the margarine in the icing, but I still enjoyed the icing on the cupcake.

(Vegan) Cream Cheese Frosting:

½ C margarine, room temperature
½ C Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, room temperature, or mascarpone cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 C powdered sugar

Cream margarine, cream cheese, and vanilla extract.
Slowly mix the confectioner’s sugar into the creamed sugar, and then beat until smooth and fluffy.
Frost cooled cupcakes. Pipe on with a medium round tip from a pastry bag to get the effect of these photos.

Now you're all set...but are you ready for the rave reviews?

Seven-Minute Icing

My mom's been telling me about seven-minute icing for years: how easy it is, how classic it is, how light and fluffy it is, and how CHEAP it is since it doesn't include butter. So, even though I'm very attached to piping buttercream on cakes, last week I took the opportunity to whip some up (hello, obvious pun).

True to its reputation, is was easy and fast. I was really excited to put it on my Oreo fudge cake, since the chocolate cake and its filling of fudge and crushed Oreos is quite rich, and the seven-minute icing was a lighter alternative to buttercream (even though nobody complains about buttercream, trust me!). It also was perfect on Oreo cupcakes - the ones with whole Oreos baked into them! - and good ole white cake with sprinkles. One word of warning: if you're frosting a cake with a moist filling, like the Oreo fudge cake, take care to refrigerate the cake overnight before serving in order to prevent the filling from leaking out and the cake from sliding when transported.



It turns out that seven-minute frosting is basically marshmallow without gelatin and corn or agave syrup, so the process is quite familiar to me. Beat the egg whites, make a syrup, and beat the syrup into the whites. Et voilà!

I have to admit that I was spurred on to make this icing by two friends who separately sent this recipe to me - and who happen to be married to each other, by the way. How could I not make it after that lovely coincidence? This whimsical and pretty treat is a sweet tribute to my friends. Who apparently associate me with cupcakes.



Seven-Minute Icing
from King Arthur Flour

2 large egg whites
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 C water
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare icing once cake or cupcakes are completely cooled and you are ready to frost them.

Beat the egg whites in a stand mixer until they are foamy and thick; they should mound in the bowl without holding a peak. Set aside while you prepare the syrup.

Combine the sugar, cream of tartar, water, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently until the sugar is dissolved.

Begin to beat the egg whites again, immediately pouring the sugar syrup into the mixing bowl in a slow stream while the mixing continues. As you beat, the mixture will thicken. Once all the syrup is added, stir in the vanilla and continue to beat until the icing is thick and will hold a peak.

Immediately spoon the hot icing onto the cooled cake/cupcakes, swirling decoratively (that's the funnest part!). Decorate with sprinkles, cookie crumbs, etc.

One recipe is enough to frost 2 dozen cupcakes.

Lemon White Chocolate Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, I made 36 cupcakes for an event, only to have a mere 6 cupcakes consumed at the event. Needless to say, I ended up eating more of these Lemon White Chocolate affairs than necessary, since boxes of cupcakes on the counter are difficult to avoid (darn you, clear plastic containers!).

The whole thing made me doubt my decorating choice, as an unknowing guest at the event said to me, "What's the deal with that cupcake icing?" I told her crisply that I had made the cupcakes, and thought it would be fun to squirt the frosting on them like funnel cakes. I don't think I'll continue to be in touch with that particular fellow guest.

Even after this cut to my confidence, I can't deny that the cupcakes themselves taste fabulous. After forcing my relatives to eat the leftovers (one of whom was licking her plate), I received an order for these cupcakes for a non-profit fundraiser. Take that, guests who didn't eat my cupcakes! Your loss.

Really, these are very nice, and follow my preferred principle of doctoring boxed cake mixes. The result is very light, very moist cake, poignantly lemony, and ever so slightly white chocolaty. It makes a beautiful layer cake, or 24 cupcakes (which you may decorate any way you like!). You can even eliminate the white chocolate if you just want a lemon cake, or replace the cream cheese frosting with buttercream. Trader Joe's has fabulous lemon curd and decent white chocolate chips.

Lemon White Chocolate Cake

6 oz white chocolate chips
1 box white cake mix (use butter cake mix for a richer cake)
2/3 C water
1/3 C oil
3 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 C store-bought lemon curd (half of a 10 oz jar)

Grease and line 2 nine inch pans or line 24 cupcake molds. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt white chocolate in glass bowl in microwave for one minute on high. Stir with rubber scrapper until melted and smooth.

Place mix, water, oil, eggs, egg whites, lemon juice, and zest into large mixing bowl. Pour in slightly cooled white chocolate. Blend with electric mixer 1 minute . Scrape bowl and mix for 2 minutes at medium speed. Divide batter into the two pans or cupcake tins. Bake until golden brown and it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, about 28-32 minutes. Cool on wire racks and then remove from pans to cool on racks until completely cool.

Spread lemon curd between layers or on top of each cupcake. Frost with buttercream frosting (add 1 T lemon juice and 1 tsp zest for more lemony flavor) or Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

6 oz white chocolate chips
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 T (1/2 cube) butter, room temperature
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3 C powdered sugar, sifted

Melt white chocolate in microwave on High for 1 minute. Stir with rubber scraper until melted and smooth.

Beat cream cheese and butter until well combined using electric mixer on low for about 30 seconds. Add lemon juice and zest and melted chocolate, beat on low just until combined, about 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar and blend on low until incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy, 1 more minute.

Cupcake Couture

I like to make cupcakes mainly because they provide many mini opportunities to get creative, but I actually enjoy eating normal cake more than eating cupcakes (the chance to cut extra slivers off a whole cake is irresistable!). I have yet to go crazy for the cupcake couture that has swept the middle/upper classes of our nation; every time I hear someone raving about one of the famous shops, their ecstasies focus on the icing of the cupcakes. Great icing is simple to make at home (see my buttercream, dark chocolate buttercream, and cream cheese frosting recipes), but good cake is difficult to make from scratch consistently (see my comments at the end of this post).

Judging by the fancy cupcakes I've tasted, the couture shops also struggle with producing good cakes from scratch, as my tastings have ranged from bread-like cake with mediocre texture to very nicely flavored, moist cake. I have also noticed that people often comment about the sweetness of a cupcake when gauging the quality of the cake; in my book, good cake is more a product of flavor and texture than the level of sweetness. Sweetness is a personal preference that often ranges widely according to cultural upbringing or just individual taste.

In the end, however, I am not avoiding cupcake bakeries (or any bakeries, for that matter!), and have enjoyed the majority of cupcakes that I've tried. I'm not criticizing my friends who love these cupcakes, I'm just saying that my love for food requires me to honestly speak my mind and expect the best from well-renowned and even award-winning bakeries. I would love to learn from their clean decoration designs, flavor combinations, and, yes, their quality recipes. So here are some samples!


Vanilla Bake Shop: one of Martha Stewart's favorite cupcake shops in the country, found at Wilshire and 5th in Santa Monica. These cupcakes were NOT disappointing! They had mini cupcake versions of their full-sized cupcakes (a brilliant idea for those of us who want to try different kinds), pictured in the two photos above: coconut, bittersweet chocolate, chocolate with vanilla icing (top photo), and mocha, mint chip, and black berry (lower photo), amongst other flavors. It was also notable that they had a small selection of Parisian macarons; the pistachio macaron (top photo) was just the right consistency with natural flavor, but this strawberry one was the worst macaron I've ever had - see the stiff outer layer and the crumbled interior? Despite the strawberry macaron (whose demise I will chock up to seasonal un-tested recipes), I very much enjoyed Vanilla's cupcakes, especially the blackberry cupcake that was filled with a light custard reminiscent of fruit tarts. Well done.


Dots, in Pasadena, has mixed reviews online, but I found their mini cupcakes to be nice. The cake did not amaze me, but it wasn't bad. They are cute, have a variety of flavors, and were a nice treat when brought to a party.


Plus the box was really cute!


I would also like to mention Miette, which I visited at the Ferry Building in San Francisco; their shop is adorable, and I had to buy a cupcake there just because I loved its design (the Old Fashioned below, on the left; gingerbread on the right). I waited a bit to eat it, so the 7-minute frosting was starting to melt a little. With such light frosting, the cake is key, and it was not quite right. This was a typical so-so cake from scratch for me. Just a little too heavy and too roughly textured. So sad that such a beautiful cupcake was disappointing to eat!


Others I've tried: Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock (bread-like cake texture, but good frosting) and Violet's Cakes in Pasadena. I had red velvet from both, but have never had red velvet cake that I LOVED. Another trend that I haven't gotten into - I prefer straight up chocolate.

I think I'll stick to Parisian macarons if I'm going to splurge on a luxury baked good that I can't make myself! For now, that is.

Mom's Carrot Cake

I have to say, I very predictably loved the movie Waitress. I love how the main character invents pies to express her feelings. I love how she names them names that say something about life. I love how her creativity asserts itself in unexpected joining of flavors and vibrant colors. It brings to mind other favorite food movies of mine...Ratatouille's depiction of food experience as swirls of color curling around the taster, or the character in Bonjour, Monsieur Shlomi who bakes cakes for people as an offering of affection.

Cake has been one of my metaphorical pies, a creative outlet that I hope will be a gift to the person I'm baking for. This week a friend of mine had a birthday, so I took her request for carrot cake and put to work my mom's tried and true recipe. And since my mom is the one who showed me how to love people with food, this seems an appropriate sample of my food philosophy! You'll love this moist, texture-full cake that is both light and not too sweet. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Mom's Carrot Cake

2 C flour
2 C sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 C oil
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, very well drained
2 C finely grated carrots
1/2 C nuts (optional)
1/2 C raisins, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and then well drained (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stir together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl or a stand mixer: flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. Add oil, eggs one at a time, and vanilla. When combined, add remaining ingredients and beat together.
4. Prepare the baking pan(s): this recipe makes either one 9" x 13" pan, two 10" round pans, or three 8" round pans. Trace each pan you choose on parchment paper and cut out the paper to line the bottom of each pan. Spray the bottom and sides inside each pan with a non-stick spray, and place the parchment paper liner on the bottom of each pan. Now spray the top of the parchment paper. Spoon a few tablespoons of flour into each pan, and over the sink tap and turn the pan to lightly cover the bottom and sides of the pan with flour. This technique will allow the baked cakes to come out of the pans without sticking, which is especially important for this moist cake.
5. Pour the batter into the pans, to an equal height in each pan. Bake one 9" x 13" for one hour, two 10" pans for 40 minutes, or three 8" pans for 30 minutes.
6. Cakes are done when the cake starts to slightly pull away from the side of the pan and a toothpick comes out from the center with only a crumb or two.
7. Let cakes cool for 5 minutes in the pans, and then run a butter knife around the side of each cake before turning cakes out onto cooling racks.

While the cakes cool completely, make your icing!

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cube butter, softened at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese (do not use low-fat cream cheese)
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar, sifted (about 4 C)

Cream together the butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
Add vanilla and, gradually, the powdered sugar.
Whip until light.

Use 2 recipes of frosting for a single layer 9" x 13" cake. Use 3 recipes for a double layer 9" x 13" cake. Also great with spice cakes or fruity cakes like my cupcakes!

Fall Cupcakes

Since I'm taking forever to write this post, I decided to just post the pictures without the full recipes, but you've got the idea from my previous cupcake posts: make a white cake mix and add flavors, decorate with buttercream or cream cheese frosting tinted with complementary flavors and colors!

Here we go:


These are the vanilla bean brandy and mint chip cupcakes. As you might guess, the former are flavored with the seeds of a vanilla bean and a small touch of brandy, and the latter were given a light touch of mint extract and sprinkled with dark chocolate chunks (and green food coloring reminiscent of the ice cream!).


On the left are the caramelized apple cupcakes, which are based on a Tarte Tatin idea; I caramelized an apple, puréed it, and mixed some in with the batter. Then I made some brown sugar caramel and coated the bottom of each cupcake liner with the caramel and poured the batter in on it. They stuck fantastically to the pan, so greasing it would have been good, but in the end I was able to peel the paper off each cupcake and turned them over into new liners, as pictured here. Since a Tarte Tatin is an upside-down cake, I thought it would be appropriate...and I added more caramel on top for good measure. On the right are pumpkin spice cupcakes, to which I added spices based on my family pumpkin pie recipe, plus some pumpkin purée. Both of these cupcakes were moister than the others because of the fruit purées, and the others were lighter.


Mint chocolate chip, topped with chocolate buttercream that had just a hint of mint extract (the stuff is strong, so be careful!) and dark chocolate chunks.


Pumpkin spice, swirled on top with cream cheese frosting that had a bit of the pumkin pie spice in it (see the flecks?), and an abstract pumpkin piped on with a few green sprinkles to insinuate a stem. The pumpkin decoration is a bit too abstract, since people still had to ask what the flavor was, but I still think it's cute.


I kept the vanilla bean decoration simple, adding more vanilla bean seeds to the buttercream, but again included brandy to keep a thematic kick to the cupcake.

And, finally, the caramelized apple took a squiggly dollop of cream cheese frosting on top, with more brown sugar caramel mixed in.

I've just learned that there is a book out there called The Cake Mix Doctor which basically does what I've been doing with these cupcakes - it tells you how to start with a cake mix and flavor it up in all sorts of ways. This reinforces for me the fact that cake mixes are fairly fool proof; you can do a lot to them and they'll still turn out great!

I've added fruit purées of varying densities, extracts, cocoa powder, coffee, caramel, fruit juice, spices, sprinkles, dried fruit, Oreos, coconut, nuts, honey, almond paste, and candy (i.e., all manner of liquids, fats, and sugars!) and every one has been a success. As my mom says, cake mixes are full of stabilizers that home cooks don't have access to for cakes from scratch, which means that cakes from scratch can be pretty difficult to get right (something I personally have proven with a number of dense, heavy cakes). It takes mastering a number of correct techniques in order to get a good scratch cake.

So, don't feel bad if you rely on cake mixes! Why not use a fool-proof method of achieving a moist and well-textured cake? Just get creative by doctoring the batter up a bit to satisfy your inner food artist. And make sure to use homemade frosting, since that part is super easy and makes an immeasurable difference in the final product.

A Little More Cupcaking Around

Last week there were 2 occasions that served as excuses to make something special; I schemed for several weeks to come up with something sufficiently inspiring, and this is what came about. I am starting to feel like I need a coup de foudre, as the French would say, in order to want to make something. A coup de foudre could literally mean a "clap of thunder," but it is mostly used to describe love at first sight - a moment of passion that seizes you all of a sudden, with involuntary captivation. Any foodies out there get me? I feel a bit lost in the kitchen without the electricity of creative passion. While this general premise previously inspired me, this time the new prospective flavors and icings got me all whipped up again.

General premise: make a good white cake mix (or from scratch if you have more time and a good recipe) and divide the batter evenly up into 6 bowls. Plan your flavors and make icings to match! Last week I opted to top half of them with buttercream frosting and half with cream cheese frosting, to make some of them a little less sweet and the selection more diverse.

Here they are (left to right): coconut, Oreo, orange ginger, mocha, brown sugar au fleur de sel, and chocolate dipped strawberry.


I find these naked cupcakes to be nicely photogenic, with their varying colors and surfaces, but wait 'til you see what they became...as a general decorating technique, I wanted the decorations to clearly reflect the cake flavor, while being pretty, of course! If you decide to do a batch of only one flavor, do make sure to increase your flavoring proportions appropriately.

Buttercream Icing
1 C butter
1 t vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar (approx. 4 C)
2 T milk (reduce for stiffer icing)

Cream the butter and vanilla with an electric mixer or stand mixer until well combined. Add the powdered sugar gradually until smooth. Add milk 1 T at a time; use less for stiffer icing. I recommend starting with stiffer icing for these cupcakes, since you will be adding more liquid for some of the flavors which will make it softer. When you are piping icing onto cakes, you generally want the piped icing to be stiffer than icing spread on the cake with a spatula (stiff icing will pull the cake apart as you spread it, but when piped holds shape better).


Oreo Cupcakes
Batter: Mix in 2-3 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder. Pour batter into cupcake pan and insert a whole Oreo into each cupcake - place flat on top of the batter and gently push down until batter rises over the sides of the Oreo. Fill in the middle top with plain white batter (see the unfrosted ones above with white tops and brown sides?). Once baked, this results in a soft cookie on the interior that you can see the profile of when a bite is taken of the cupcake - so cute!

Decoration: Buttercream frosting: Load plain frosting into a piping bag with a medium round tip. Pipe in concentric spirals on top of cupcake, building up as desired. Top with halves or quarters of Oreos and microplane/grate some dark chocolate over the top. Use reduced-fat or sugar-free Oreos to make this a tad healthier.



Mocha Cupcakes
This mocha guy is very similar to the mocha cupcake I made last time, but I added small chunks of chocolate on top and made the coffee slightly stronger. Still a hit! I love how he stands at attention at the head of the other cupcakes in this picture.




Brown Sugar au Fleur de Sel Cupcakes
It is nearly impossible to pick a favorite for myself from among these 6 flavors, but I will say that this one appeals strongly to my current salty/sweet attraction.
Batter: Make caramel in a saucepan on the stovetop: let 1/3 C brown sugar sit in the saucepan with 1 T water (do not stir, but swish pan occasionally) until bubbles form on the surface; then pull the pan off the heat before it burns, and stir in 3 T butter and 1/4 t fleur de sel or sea salt until butter is melted and all is thoroughly combined. Let cool slightly, then mix into the cake batter. Pour into the cupcake pan and top each with several flecks of fleur de sel.

Decoration: Buttercream frosting: Stir in broken-up brown sugar and a pinch of sea salt (to taste). Make sure to break up the brown sugar chunks and only add small salt pieces, as they will block the decorating tip if they are too big. Use a large star tip in your decorating bag and start making concentric spirals on top of the cupcake, building up to a conical swirl on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar and a few flecks of fleur de sel. Use the fleur de sel sparingly, as it is easy for it to overwhelm the sweetness - a little bit goes a long way. If you are not going to serve the cupcakes immediately, you may want to wait on sprinkling the brown sugar on top; it may dissolve into brown liquid droplets if there is any condensation on the cupcakes in the refrigerator.


Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cube butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese
1 lb. powdered sugar (approx. 4 C)
1 t vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer or stand mixer until well combined. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar gradually until smooth. This icing starts out softer than the buttercream; if you find that this icing gets too thin when you add the flavoring, feel free to mix in more powdered sugar one spoonful at a time until it thickens up as desired.


Coconut Cupcakes
These were the most disappointing to me, simply because I got very excited about the idea of coconut being paired with toasted pecan, but in the end there wasn't a strong coconut flavor to the cake. I was unable to find coconut extract, and ended up using a coconut pudding mix when I could have had more success with coconut milk. Still, the cake ended up moist due to the pudding, and it tasted good if not super coconut-y.
Batter: Stir in 1/4 of Dr. Oetker Organic Coconut Pudding Mix package and 1/4 C shredded sweetened coconut.
Decoration: Cream cheese frosting: Mix in another 1/4 package of coconut pudding mix. Using medium star tip pipe in concentric spirals onto cupcake, building up into a cone. Top with toasted coconut shreds (toast your own on the stove top, stirring constantly) and toasted pecan bits.


Orange Ginger Cupcakes
Lovely, light, freshly orange cupcakes; these were good for folks who preferred less sweet dessert. The ginger is barely discernable.
Batter: Mix in 2 T freshly squeezed orange juice, 1 large pinch orange zest, and a pinch of grated fresh ginger.
Decoration: Cream cheese frosting: Add 2 t freshly squeezed orange juice and a pinch of freshly grated ginger; stir in more powdered sugar to thicken as necessary. Add a small drop of red food coloring and a few drops of yellow if orange color is desired. Pipe onto cupcakes with medium round tip and top with orange zest.


Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes
I consider these cupcakes a fabulous success; the batter ended up very moist and full of strawberry flavor with a tint of chocolate, and the cream cheese frosting was a great complement.
Batter: Add 1/4 C condensed strawberry purée (if making 6 cupcakes, reduce for less). Instructions for the purée on this previous post. Use a small grater or microplaner to grate enough bittersweet chocolate into the batter so that when stirred in the occasional fleck is visible in the midst of the strawberry seeds. These will not rise like the other cupcakes, but don't worry! They will taste great.
Decoration: Cream cheese frosting: Pipe on with medium round tip. Top with a strawberry half, stem included, and surround with small bittersweet chocolate chunks. If making a day ahead, wait until right before serving to put the strawberries on top.


Final tip: Take a sharp knife along when you serve them so that folks can try slices of the different flavors without going sugar crazy!