Category Archives: Cupcakes

Mocha Caramel Cream Cupcakes

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Ruthanne

It’s that time of year here…that yummy cup of frou frou coffee just whispers your name until you find yourself nestled into an armchair at the local coffee shop watching it snow and sipping a mocha or a latte. One with chocolate drizzled on top…or caramel.

Why not capture those flavors in a cupcake?

These yummy treats are coffee-infused chocolate cupcakes filled with creamy caramel and topped with coffee buttercream.

Oh. My.

Bring it on winter!

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

One boxed chocolate cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)
1/4c milk (warmed)
2 T instant coffee granules

Caramel Cream Filling:

1 cup sugar
1/2 c. water
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 T. powdered sugar

Frosting:

2 sticks (8 oz.) salted butter
2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter
3 c. powdered sugar
2 T. vanilla
2 T. instant coffee granules

Directions:

Cupcakes:

Place 2 T. instant coffee granules into milk and stir. Allow this to sit and dissolve.
Make mix according to box
Add coffee/ milk mixture to cake batter and blend well.
Scoop into 24 cupcake liners in cupcake tins and bake at 350F degrees for about 20 minutes.
Remove from tins immediately and allow to cool on counter.

Caramel Filling:

Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly and cook until mixture turns a caramel brown color. (about 10 minutes)
Remove from heat and slowly add cream, whisking vigorously (this will spit and splatter as you add it, so use caution!).

Chill in refrigerator until cold. (I did this the night before and just left it overnight)
When mixture is cold, add powdered sugar and beat on high until creamy and smooth.

Frosting:

Add 2T vanilla and 2T instant coffee granules together in a small bowl and allow the coffee to dissolve.
Place butters and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on high until very fluffy.
Add vanilla/coffee mixture and beat until well combined.
Core cupcakes and pipe caramel filling inside.
Pipe frosting on top and sprinkle with a little cocoa powder.

My thoughts: Goodness, I love these cupcakes. The filling is a touch fussy since you need to chill it until cold, but I have to say that it is WORTH the wait. I’m on a diet and I took ONE bite (to get a picture of the filling, of course..!) and I couldn’t stop. I had to finish the cupcake. I blew my diet for this cupcake…it is just so good. Two people have asked for *just* a bowl of the coffee buttercream frosting…haha!

Sigh. I will dream of these cupcakes until the diet is over….in two months….and then I will eat 3 of them.

Make these and enjoy them on my behalf!!!! ~r

In other (non-recipe!) news, I finally have a DSLR camera! (Nikon D5200) Yay! I feel like my photos are a little off as I adjust to it though. I had a system for making my point and shoot work for me and now I’m trying to adjust my system to get the right lighting and exposure. I previously used a homemade light box to control my lighting and now I’m just so excited to sit down at a coffee shop and take pictures using natural light. Yesterday I met my friend Ben for coffee and before he could take a bite or sip of his treats I was like, “WAIT!!! I have to take a picture of that!” So much fun. So my apologies for my fairly awful pictures in this post– I’m learning!!!

Yummy coffee shop treats (and practice with my new camera!)

Want some other winter dessert ideas? Click on the image to be taken to the recipe.

52 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, buttercream, caramel, caramel cream, caramel filling, chocolate, chocolate cake mix, chocolate cupcakes, coffee, coffee buttercream, coffee cupcakes, coffee granules, coffee mixture, cupcake, cupcake liners, dessert, filled cupcake, food, mocha, powdered sugar frosting. Bookmark the permalink.

Cookie Dough Frosted Cupcakes

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Ruthanne

Chocolate cupcakes topped with rich chocolate chip cookie dough frosting….my new favorite thing!

I love cookie dough. When I was a little girl we always got little nibbles of it when mom was baking. Now, of course, we know that those raw eggs could kill us…but I think that cookie dough might be worth that risk!!

The best part of this recipe is that the frosting truly tastes like cookie dough (a light creamy cookie dough) and there are NO eggs in it. So you could just eat it straight out of the bowl and forget the cupcakes….not that I would do that….ever….well…maybe just a little….

I made my cupcakes into minis- simply because I wanted to put a “scoop” of frosting on top and a full-size scoop would be a HUGE amount of frosting…I don’t have a problem with that, but I think most people might 😉

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed chocolate cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)

***OR use your favorite cupcake recipe. This is really all about the frosting– so do your favorite thing with the cupcake recipe/ flavor***

2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter(softened)
2 sticks (8 oz.) salted butter(softened)
2 c. powered sugar
1 c. brown sugar (packed)
3 T. vanilla
1/3c. flour
1 12 oz bag of mini chocolate chips.

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix (or your favorite cake recipe) and divide into mini cupcake liners in a mini cupcake tin. (makes about 48 mini cupcakes)
Bake according to box/recipe (mini cupcakes take less time, so adjust accordingly!)
Cool cupcakes completely.
Place all frosting ingredients except mini chips into a large mixing bowl and beat with mixer on low until combined and then high until light and fluffy.
Add mini chips (keep about 1/4 of a cup aside to sprinkle on top) and beat on low until fully combined.
Frost cupcakes. You can use a knife to just spread it on or use a small or medium Cookie Scoop to make your cupcakes look like mine do.
Sprinkle remaining chips on top and gobble these cupcakes up!!!

Cookie Dough Cupcakes2 My thoughts: These are dangerous cupcakes for me. I had to get them out of my house FAST. I seriously wanted to eat them all. Ah….cookie dough….sigh. Enjoy these so much!!!! ~r

6-13-14: Did you know that this yummy recipe is available on adorable blank notecards? With a photo of the cupcakes on the front, the recipe on the back, and plenty of room to write a message inside, these are the PERFECT gift! Why send just a card, when you can send the gift of a recipe as well?!? Click here for more information and to order.

Chocolate chips are an important ingredient here at easybaked~ click on an image to be taken to the recipe:

51 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, chocolate, chocolate cake mix, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate chips, cookie dough, cookie dough buttercream, cookie dough frosting, cookie scoop, cupcake, dessert, food, mini chips, mini chocolate chips. Bookmark the permalink.

A big pile of cupcakes!

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Ruthanne

Make everyone smile with a stack of three colorful cupcakes! Made with peanut butter cups, these mini-cupcake decorations are SO yummy with the chocolate cupcake they top. The occasions you could serve these at are endless. What a fun New Year’s Eve party treat, or birthdays? What about a Dr. Seuss themed party? SO much fun!!!! Here’s how to put them together:

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed dark chocolate cake mix (with oil, water and eggs to make according to box)
2 sticks (8 oz) salted butter (softened)
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter (softened)
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 tsp clear vanilla
24 Reese’s miniature peanut butter cups (unwrapped)
24 Reese’s minis peanut butter cups
Wilton Icing Colors
sprinkles, jimmies to decorate cupcakes

DIRECTIONS:

Make cupcakes according to the box. I used brown cupcake liners to match the chocolate on the peanut butter cup toppers.
Cool cupcakes completely.
Make butter cream frosting by combining butters, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
Beat on high until frosting is light and fluffy.
Divide frostings into bowls and color using icing gels. I made 5 colors, but you can do however many you want.
Pipe frostings on top of cupcakes and (using a smaller tip) pipe frosting on top of the two sizes of peanut butter cups. (I clipped both corners of a zip top bag and put the large tip in one and the small in the other. I piped the large cupcakes 1st and then squeezed the remaining frosting into the other corner and piped the frosting on the Reese’s cups.)
Gently stack the tiny cupcake on the medium and the medium on the full-size. (this buttercream recipe worked GREAT for these- it is nice and firm and hardens just a bit as it sets. I didn’t lose even ONE topping!)
Decorate with sugars and jimmies as desired I used Red Sixlets Candy for the large cupcakes and they looked so cute- like cherries!

Aren’t they fun? I just couldn’t stop taking pictures!

My thoughts: Goodness these cupcakes made me happy. My friend Danielle and I made them together and we both kept saying, “Ah! They are so CUTE!” My neighbors and coworkers were the recipients of these treats and the smiles when they saw them made my day! I love easy ideas that are high on the “WOW” factor. To give credit where it is due, my friend Megan from Happily Ever After Cakes pointed this idea out to me on Edible Crafts. They had only used one cupcake topper, but I love it so much with two!! Enjoy!!!!!! ~r

Need some ideas for your upcoming New Years Eve Party? Try these fun treats! Click on the image to be taken to the recipe:

38 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, birthday dessert, butter cream frosting, buttercream, chocolate, chocolate cake mix, chocolate cupcake, cupcakes, dark chocolate, dessert, dessert for kids, Dr. Seuss dessert, Dr. Seuss party idea, food, New Years dessert, peanut butter cup, reeses peanut butter cups, unique dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Ruthanne

Rich chocolate cupcakes filled with peppermint cream and topped with a chocolate frosting made with hot chocolate mix ~ a perfect winter treat!

(the hot cocoa frosting is to DIE for…just thought you should know that right up front….!)

I love hot chocolate…. it is one of my favorite parts of winter. My friend Dawn recently suggested we participate in a Hot Chocolate Run. If you’ve never heard of this (I hadn’t!) let me show you a little of the amazingness that makes up a Hot Chocolate Run.

Nothing motivates better than chocolate, I always say! Who needs a medal when you can have a big cup of cocoa and warm chocolate fondue after a race?

In any case, I’ve been moderately addicted to hot cocoa ever since that weekend. We all know what happens when I get a flavor stuck in my mind right? Cupcakes happen. Hot Chocolate Cupcakes in this case– with some peppermint as a bonus. If you don’t like peppermint you can easily leave it out of this recipe, but I love the combination! Are you ready to make these? Here we go.

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed dark chocolate cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs needed to make mix according to box)
One packet of Dream Whip (what is Dream Whip? Click HERE)
1/2c. cold milk
3 t. vanilla (divided)
3 tablespoons of finely crushed peppermint candies (I used Peppermint Sprinkles )
1 stick (4 oz.) of salted butter at room temp.
1 stick (4 oz.) of unsalted butter at room temp.
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix (I used Nestle)
Kraft Mallow Bits and peppermint candies to decorate as desired.

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to box, and bake in 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins.
Cool cupcakes completely.
Make cream filling by placing Dream whip, milk and 1 t. vanilla in a mixing bowl and beating on high until light and fluffy.
Add finely crushed peppermint candy and gently fold in until well combined.
Hollow a core out of each cupcake (I used a Chicago Metallic Cupcake Plunger that was recommended to me by a friend– LOVED it!)

(If you have baking friends this is SUCH an inexpensive and fun stocking stuffer idea– it only took me about 5 minutes to core all 24 cupcakes– and I stopped to take pictures!)

Pipe filling into each cupcake core.
Make frosting by combining butters, powdered sugar, cocoa mix and 2 t. vanilla in a large bowl and beating on high until fluffy.
Pipe frosting over cupcakes and decorate as desired. (The mallow bits were really yummy with this frosting!

My thoughts: Fun and yummy winter treat!! Not a fan of peppermint? Just leave the crushed peppermint out of the filling and you have a yummy whipped cream taste with your hot chocolate frosting instead!

One note: Put the peppermints on just before serving as the frosting eventually makes them a little sticky. I hope you and your family love these little treats! Enjoy!!! ~r

29 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, chocolate, chocolate cake mix, chocolate frosting, christmas, crushed peppermints, cupcake, cupcake liners, dessert, dream whip, filled cupcakes, food, frosting, holiday, Hot chocolate, hot chocolate cupcake, hot chocolate mix, hot cocoa mix, mini- marshmallows, peppermint, peppermint hot chocolate. Bookmark the permalink.

A collection of mini cupcakes and a fundraiser for FUSION!

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Ruthanne

This post is a mid-week collection of cupcake recipes and a celebration for my friend Josh who is a missionary in Slovakia. Those of you who have followed my blog for awhile will remember my lack of recipe posts for several weeks every summer because I travel to Slovakia to work with a mission organization called Josiah Venture. This organization helps local churches reach teenagers with the message of God’s love for them. Two of the ways they do this is through English camps (Americans going and teaching English–which is how I’ve been a part) and also through teaching music at camps. My friend Josh heads up the music portion of this ministry in Slovakia. After camps, he is able to go into schools and start clubs that teach music theory and also various instruments. Many of the kids he works with come from really difficult home situations and they call Fusion “family”.

Easybaked was able to come alongside Josh for a fundraiser for Fusion this past weekend. He hosted a coffeehouse and we helped provide (800!) mini-cupcakes in 8 different flavors. It was such a great time to hear about what God is doing in Slovakia though Josh and Josiah Venture, and a lot of support was raised to help him in his work.

I rarely stray from simply sharing my recipes here, but I just had to give a shout-out to Josh and his hard work with these teens. If you’d like to know more about him just click here. You’ll be taken to his home page with Josiah Venture and also connected with his blog.

Thanks for giving your life here up to serve God far from home Josh!!!!!

Now cupcakes……

800 would have been impossible to do alone I think (how do bakeries manage?!?) So I enlisted 7 friends to help. We had a training session in making butter cream and piping it and WOW—they did such a great job!!!!

These were our practice cupcakes….which we promptly ate up!

The night of the event we brought all of our unfrosted cupcakes to the venue and piped and decorated there– it ended up being a lot of fun to do them all together:

The eight flavors of cupcakes came either directly from the pages of easybaked- or they were inspired by a recipe here. Since we are racing toward the holiday season, I thought I’d share each of the recipes with you in a unique way– with free printable recipe cards. That way you can make them and share the recipe with your friends and family! Fun!!

Click on the photo to be taken directly to the easybaked recipe that inspired the mini-cupcake. Click on the words “recipe cards” under each photo to get a pdf that you can print and share.

Red Raspberry Minis — recipe card Andes Mint Minis — recipe card

Caramel Apple Minis — recipe card Cinnamon Roll Minis — recipe card

Strawberry Lemonade — recipe card Bubble Gum Minis– recipe card

Chocolate Ganache Minis–recipe card Wedding Cake Minis —recipe card

The very last recipe wasn’t inspired by any recipe in particular, so if you click on the photo you will simply get….a photo. Sorry about that! My apologies also for the photography ~ my iphone did all of the work on this post 🙂

I hope you enjoy this collection of cupcake recipes and cards~ and thank you for allowing me to share a little bit of my heart with you in this post! Back soon– in the meantime….enjoy! ~r

26 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes and tagged andes mint, baking, bubble gum, butter cream frosting, caramel apple cupcake, chocolate, cinnamon roll, cupcake recipes collection of cupcake recipes, cupcakes, free recipe cards, gluten free cupcakes, printable recipe cards, recipe cards, strawberry lemonade cupcake, unique cupcakes, vanilla, wedding cake cupcake. Bookmark the permalink.

Fall Acorn Cupcakes

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Ruthanne

A rich vegan cupcake recipe topped with vanilla buttercream and a cute little candy acorn.

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24 cupcakes)

3 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 tablespoons of vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cups oil
2 c. water

For acorns:

24 Nabisco Nutter Butter Cookie Bites
24 Hershey kisses
24 butterscotch or peanut butter chips
1/4 c. Wiltons milk chocolate candy melts.

DIRECTIONS:

Add dry cupcake ingredients together and mix to remove lumps.
Add liquids and mix until smooth
Divide equally into cupcake liners in muffin tins.
Bake at 350F degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely and frost with your favorite buttercream recipe (click here for mine) tinted with fall food coloring.
Make acorns by melting candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between. Dip unwrapped hershey kiss in chocolate and attach to bottom of cookie. Dip butterscotch/peanut butter chip in chocolate and attach to top of cookie. (Click HERE for more details on making these)
When hardened, gently place one acorn on the top of each cupcake.

My thoughts: Ever since I posted these cute little acorns last fall I’ve wanted to put them on cupcakes!! This was that day. The vegan cupcake recipe is SO yummy. The buttercream frosting isn’t vegan, but you can drizzle your cupcakes with a bit of powdered sugar glaze to keep them a treat for your vegan friends. You can use the cupcake recipe to make a yummy bundt cake too– and that is PERFECT with a light sugar glaze on top. I use this cake/cupcake recipe all the time- it is very moist and flavorful. Enjoy!!!~r

Other recipes you might enjoy (click on the image to be taken to the recipe):

20 Comments

Posted in Cakes, Candy, Cupcakes and tagged acorn candy, acorn cupcakes, autumn, baking, buttercream frosting, buttercream recipe, chocolate, chocolate cupcake, cupcake, dessert, fall, fall cupcake decorations, fall dessert, food, fun cupcake toppers, hershey kisses, milk chocolate candy, nabisco nutter butter, original recipe, powdered sugar glaze, thanksgiving, thanksgiving dessert, vegan dessert recipe, vegan recipe, vegan thanksgiving recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Lava Cupcakes

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Ruthanne

These rich chocolate cupcakes are made with a cake mix, but filled with warm chocolate fudge that pours out when you take a bite~ yum!!!!!

INGREDIENTS: (makes 18-20 cupcakes)

One boxed dark chocolate cake mix (plus water, eggs and oil to make according to box)
1 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. whipping cream
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. white baking chips

DIRECTIONS:

Heat semi-sweet chips and whipping cream in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted and smooth, making a ganache.
Refrigerate for about 2 hours, until hardened to a soft fudge consistency.
Scoop small balls of cold chocolate ganache out of bowl using a small cookie scoop (I highly recommend a small cookie scoop for this job- the chocolate is sticky and hard to work with until it is rolled in cocoa- a scoop makes it so much easier!)
Roll balls in cocoa powder and keep refrigerated until use.
Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Make cake mix according to box and spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter in 18-20 cupcake liners in tins.
Gently press a ball of ganache into the center of each cupcake.

Cover each ball with a small scoop of cake batter- just enough to cover the ball completely.
Bake at 350F for the time recommended on the box.
Remove from oven and serve warm with ice cream and drizzles of white chocolate.

If you aren’t serving immediately, warm each cupcake in the microwave for 15-20 seconds before serving.

My thoughts: I’ve had many a molten lava cake and cupcake before, but usually they fall apart right out of the pan. These cupcakes hold together beautifully and don’t leak all that warm fudge out until they are cut into. They are perfect re-heated and sooooo yummy with a little ice cream and raspberry sauce. A perfect treat for a chilly fall day!! Enjoy!! ~r

Other cupcake recipes you might enjoy: (click on the image to be taken to the recipe)

20 Comments

Posted in Cakes, Cupcakes and tagged baking, cake mix, chocolate cake mix, chocolate cupcakes, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, dessert, food, ganache, lava cake, lava cupcake, molten lava, molten lava cake, recipe, semi-sweet chocolate, sweet chocolate chips, warm cupcakes, whipping cream, white chocolate. Bookmark the permalink.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes (with Halloween MISfortune cookies!)

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Ruthanne

Caramel cupcakes dipped in gooey caramel cream and topped with tangy green apple frosting~ yum! Add a caramel MISfortune cookie on top to celebrate Halloween with some laughs.

INGREDIENTS:

One box of Duncan Hines Caramel cake mix (plus water, oil and eggs to make according to box)
One bag (14 oz) Kraft Caramels
1/2c. sweetened condensed milk
1/4c. butter or margarine
1 stick (4oz) salted butter
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter
2 c. powdered sugar
2 t. clear vanilla flavoring
1 packet of Crystal Light drink mix- Appletini flavor

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Make cake mix according to box and divide into 24 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin.
Bake according to box. Remove from oven and cool completely.
In a small saucepan, combine 16 unwrapped Caramels, 1/2c. sweetened condensed milk and 1/4 c. butter.
Melt (stirring constantly) until creamy and smooth.
Pour warm caramel into a small bowl. Dip tops of cooled cupcakes into caramel to coat the top. Stir caramel occasionally to keep it smooth. (I had to spoon the remaining caramel onto the last few cucpcakes instead of dipping them)

Allow caramel to cool completely.
Make frosting by adding butters, powdered sugar, vanilla and Crystal Light drink mix together in a mixing bowl. Beat together on low until combined and then beat on high until light and fluffy. **note: the apple flavor in the drink mix is strong and tart– I LOVED it, but you might want to add it a little at a time and taste as you go to decide how strong a flavor you want.**
Pipe frosting over the caramel on each cupcake and enjoy!!!

To add fun little misfortune cookies on the top for Halloween party:

Unwrap the rest of your Kraft Caramels and place about 15 in a large ziplock bag. Microwave for about 15 seconds to soften them, remove them from the bag and knead them into a ball.
Place the ball back in the bag and using a rolling pin, roll the caramel out flat and thin.

Carefully remove the flattened caramel from the bag and use a round cookie or fondant cutter to cut circles out of the caramel.

Slide a funny misfortune in the center and fold into a fortune cookie shape (fold lightly in half and then pull the corners back and together).

Need ideas for MISfortunes? Print a free PDF of my favorites here

Place each MISfortune cookie on a cupcake and enjoy!

To give credit where it is due: this GENIUS idea of using Kraft Caramels to make fortune cookies came from a wonderful book called What’s New, Cupcake? I was browsing the cookbook aisle a few weeks ago and came across this book- it is AMAZING. If you click on the title it will take you to Amazon and you can see pictures of some of the cupcakes other people have made using this book…..amazing creativity!

My thoughts: These are such a unique cupcake– the tart green apple frosting is the perfect balance to the sweet caramel and the misfortune cookies just make everyone laugh. The frosting is a tart and strong green apple flavor- a little like Jolly Rancher candies. You can add less drink mix to tone it down if you’d like- just add a little at a time and taste as you go. I loved it exactly the way it turned out!

I want to apologize ahead of time to my international fans. I’m pretty sure you are going to have a hard time finding caramel cake mix and almost positive you won’t be able to get your hands on the Appletini drink mix. A homemade caramel cake would work, and any powdered drink mix with a green apple flavor..? As I said- my apologies!!!

I hope you really enjoy surprising people with these unique cupcakes!! ~r

23 Comments

Posted in Candy, Cupcakes, Seasonal dessert and tagged apple frosting, appletini, baking, butter cream, caramel, caramel cake, caramel cupcake, caramel fortune cookies, crystal light appletini drink mix, cupcake liners, cupcakes, dessert, desserts, food, gooey caramel, green apple butter cream, green apple frosting, Halloween, Kraft caramels, misfortune cookie, misfortune cookies, party recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

Dark Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Ruthanne

Dark chocolate cupcakes topped with ganache and vanilla buttercream– so rich and smooth because they are flour-less (lets hear it for my gluten-free friends!!)!!! YUM!

Ingredients: (makes about 40 mini cupcakes)

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups of dark chocolate chips
1 stick (4 oz.) salted butter
2 T. cocoa powder
4 egg yolks
6 egg whites
pinch of salt
1/2 c. sugar

Ganache:

1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
1/4 c. heavy whipping cream

Frosting:

1 stick (4 oz.) salted butter (room temp)
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter (room temp)
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 t. clear vanilla flavoring

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate with butter in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth and creamy.
Whisk cocoa powder into melted chocolate.
Add egg YOLKS and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk until foamy.
Add sugar gradually to egg whites while beating on high until medium peaks form.
Add 1/3 of egg whites to chocolate and mix well- until completely combined and smooth.
Add remainder of egg whites and fold in gently until completely incorporated.
Spoon batter into mini-cupcake liners in tins and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool completely. (Cupcakes will rise high in oven and as they cool they will sink and even become a little concave— perfect spot for our yummy ganache to sit!!)
To make the ganache, heat chips and whipping cream in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until completely melted and smooth.
Gently spoon or pipe ganache into the concave top of each cupcake until all ganache is used up.
Allow ganache to cool and harden (place in fridge to speed this process up)
Make frosting by combining remaining room temperature butters with powdered sugar and vanilla and beating on high until light and fluffy.
Pipe frosting on tops of each cupcake, covering the ganache.
Decorate as desired.

My thoughts: Usually, I use a cake mix for my cupcakes and focus on the fillings and frostings for that “wow” factor. The wow factor in these is definitely the cupcakes themselves….wow. I tried cupcakes made with a flour-less recipe this past weekend in Chicago at Molly’s cupcakes. (AMAZING!) I just had to try making them for myself and the reason I made them mini is because they are SO rich and heavy. A full-size cupcake would be too much. These cupcakes are definitely worth the extra effort! The tiny hearts on top I just made on wax paper using Wilton’s candy melts. Click here for some photos of how to pipe designs in chocolate. Enjoy!!! -r

14 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes, Gluten Free and tagged baking, buttercream frosting, chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate ganache, cocoa powder, cupcakes, dark chocolate, dessert, flour-less cupcakes, food, heavy whipping cream, mini cupcakes, rich chocolate cupcakes, whipping cream frosting. Bookmark the permalink.

Lemon Lime Cupcakes

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Ruthanne

Refreshing lime cupcakes topped with lemon butter cream- SO easy and fun!!

I just can’t say goodbye to those summer flavors and colors….I know I should be sharing my apple and pumpkin recipes with you, but these just make me so happy!! The tart and the sweet….lime green and yellow….if you are missing summer already these are the perfect remedy this weekend!

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed white cake mix
Oil, eggs and water to make mix according to box
1 small box(3 oz) of lime jello
2 sticks of salted butter
2 sticks of unsalted butter
3 c. powdered sugar
3 t. lemon extract
1 t. vanilla extract
Yellow food coloring (to desired shade)

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake according to directions on box, but add lime jello before mixing.
Pour into 24 lined cupcake tins and bake according to package.
Cool cupcakes completely.
Make frosting by combining butters (softened), powdered sugar, lemon and vanilla extracts and coloring in a large bowl and beating on high until light and fluffy.
Pipe frosting onto cupcakes (watch this video for techniques)
Decorate as desired. I topped with heart sprinkles and sour fruit heart candies, but I thought it might be fun to top with course salt and a cute straw and call them Margarita cupcakes! Be creative!

My thoughts: These are so easy. Because they use Jell-O, the flavor possibilities are incredible. Raspberry and Lemon? Peach? If you want a really easy twist on a plain cupcake these are your recipe! Enjoy!!! ~r