White Chocolate Cupcakes with Candied Kumquats
Ingredients
8 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped
13/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk*
3 large egg whites
Frosting
4 1/2 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped
6 ounces (3/4 of 8-ounce package) cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line three 6-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Place white chocolate in metal bowl set over pan of barely simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and vanilla in large bowl until blended. Add hot white chocolate to sugar mixture; stir to combine. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with coconut milk in 2 additions, beating batter just to combine between additions.
Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gently fold egg white mixture into batter in 3 additions.
Divide batter among muffin cups (about 1/4 cup each). Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)
For frosting:
Stir white chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in medium bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in melted white chocolate. Let cool until thickened to spreadable consistency.
Spread frosting over cupcakes. Drain Candied Kumquats; arrange kumquats decoratively atop cupcakes. (Can be assembled 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
Chocolate Chunk Cookie Cupcakes
Makes about 2 dozen
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
Put butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the milk. Stir in chocolate chunks with a rubber spatula.
Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake until pale golden and a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean
Toadstool Cupcake
Decorate these cupcakes with caterpillars, snails, or acorns made with tinted fondant. They can be made a day ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Decorating the toadstools: To turn a cupcake into a toadstool, use enough batter so it overflows when it bakes; cut the tops off level with the tin, and set them aside. To make the stem, invert the cupcake bases, and spoon glaze over them to coat; add the caps, and similarly coat with glaze.
Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus more for muffin tins
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
Butter Glaze
Cinnamon candies, for decorating
Green food coloring
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Generously butter 6 cups (every other cup) plus the top of a 12-cup standard muffin tin and 4 cups plus the top of another 12-cup muffin tin. Dust with flour, and tap out excess.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Put melted butter and the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs; mix 2 minutes more. Mix in vanilla.
Mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk in 2 batches. Divide batter among the 10 prepared cups in the muffin tins, filling to the top edge. Add more batter to the center of each so that it mounds 1/2 inch above rim.
Bake, removing halfway through, gently tapping on counter, and switching positions of tins, until cupcakes are slightly golden and a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in tins on wire racks. Cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 day before decorating.
Slide a serrated knife, lying flat against the top of the muffin tin, under the overflowed cap of each cupcake, and slice it off level with the tin; set tops aside. Run a butter knife around edges of cupcake bases to loosen. Invert, and unmold onto a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, leaving the bases inverted.
Spoon glaze over cupcake bases. Place caps on inverted bases. Spoon glaze over tops (reserve remaining glaze). Let stand 1 minute. Smooth any drips with a toothpick or knife. Decorate with cinnamon candies. Let stand at room temperature until glaze is firm, about 1 hour.
Transfer cupcakes to a serving platter using an offset spatula. Tint leftover glaze with green food coloring. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (such as Ateco #2). Pipe blades of grass around the bases of the cupcakes. Cupcakes can be loosely covered and stored at room temperature up to 2 hours. Place fondant decorations on top of glazed cupcakes just before serving.
Chocolate Cupcake
makes 24 cupcakes / 350 degree oven
Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Measure out everything but the eggs directly into your mixer bowl.
Mix on low speed just until incorporated.
Beat on high speed for 2 minutes.
Add eggs, beat on high speed again for 2 minutes.
Measure out into cupcake pan lined with cupcake papers. A 2 ice cream scoop works great for this. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan then transfer to a rack to cool completely before frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream
enough to lightly frost 24 cupcakes
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cocoa
4 cups confectioner�fs sugar
1/4 cup milk
Beat butter on high for about 30 seconds until soft.
Add cocoa and 1 cup of sugar and beat until incorporated
Add half of the milk and the remainder of sugar and beat until incorporated.
Continue to add milk until you get to the consistency you want.
Assemble
There are many ways to go here, in this case, I simply piped the frosting onto the cupcakes with a large star tip.
