December Cupcakes

This month's cupcakes were inspired by traditional Christmas flavors and colors!

Gingerbread

gingerbread cupcake

I used this recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction for the cupcakes. They baked up beautifully but were pretty dark and spicy. They were good, but they definitely needed the cream cheese frosting to mellow them out.

cream cheese frosting

For cream cheese frosting, I use an 8 oz block of cream cheese, 2 sticks of butter, and a 1 lb bag (4 cups) of powdered sugar. Add 1 tablespoon of vanilla and beat until fluffy. You can add some cream if it's too thick. For these cupcakes, I piped on a base of cream cheese frosting with a large French star tip, sprinkled some turbinado sugar for color, and then used a large round tip to pipe a snowman. The snowman's nose is a chocolate sprinkle and his hat is a chocolate chip.

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

chocolate cake

This recipe from Annie's Eats is my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. It makes exactly 24 cupcakes and they're perfect every time. To make these taste more "hot-chocolatey" I used milk instead of the hot water and used my least "dark" cocoa powder. I also pushed a couple of mini marshmallows into the top of each cupcake before baking.

peppermint buttercream

I used my usual buttercream recipe (3 sticks butter, 6 cups powdered sugar, 4-5 T cream, 1 T vanilla) and added 1/2 tsp peppermint extract. I put a line of red gel food coloring down the inside of the piping bag before loading the frosting. 

The cupcakes were garnished with mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, and mini candy canes. 

White Chocolate Cranberry

vanilla cupcake

This recipe from American Heritage Cooking is my current favorite for vanilla cupcakes

They're moist and have plenty of vanilla flavor without being too sweet. They have nicely domed tops, too.

cranberry filling 

I didn't actually use a recipe for this one. I just put a bag of cranberries in a pan with some sugar, water, and the juice of one orange. I cooked them until they burst and then chilled the filling overnight. I cut a core out of the cupcakes (I prefer a small serrated paring knife* over a fancy cupcake corer) and put in about 2 teaspoons of the filling.

white chocolate buttercream

I used this recipe from The Recipe Rebel for the white chocolate buttercream. For some reason, mine didn't set up. Maybe my white chocolate was still too warm when I beat it into the frosting? However, the soft consistency did give the frosting a nice snowdrift effect, so it turned out just fine. These cupcakes were garnished with sparkling cranberries and Wilton sugar pearl sprinkles*.

sparkling cranberries

I used this recipe from The Wicked Noodle to make my sparkling sugared cranberries. They might sound strange, but these things are seriously addictive. They do require several hours (overnight if you can) of drying time, so plan ahead!

*I added Amazon affiliate links for some special ingredients and products mentioned in this post - they are items I actually use and recommend.

November Cupcakes

This month's cupcakes were inspired by the best thing about Thanksgiving --- PIE!

For all of the cupcakes, I cut leaves out of pie crust for garnishing. I use the pie crust recipe found here: 
http://chezpim.com/bake/how-to-make-the-perfect-pie-dough
It is the best ever. Once you get used to the technique, it's super easy to make. It rolls out like playdough, never gets tough and overworked, and is deliciously flaky and buttery. 


Apple Pie

Spiced cake 

For the cupcakes, I used this recipe:
http://lifemadesweeter.com/2014/09/apple-pie-cupcakes-salted-caramel-buttercream-frosting/
They were delicious! Not too sweet, nicely domed, with a moist crumb and a nice warmth from the spices.

Apple pie filling

For my filling, I used honeycrisp apples and the recipe found at the link above. The apples made the filling even tastier!

Salted caramel frosting

I used the recipe at the link above for the frosting as well. I used a delicious homemade salted caramel sauce found here: 
http://www.thekitchn.com/homemade-salted-163317


Pumpkin Pie

 Pumpkin cake

The cupcake recipe was found here: 
http://www.ninahendrick.com/pumpkin-spice-cupcakes/
It's a great classic pumpkin cake recipe. I wanted them to be pretty soft and dense to mimic pumpkin pie and they were perfect. 

Whipped cream frosting

I use the stabilized whipped cream recipe found here: 
http://www.food.com/recipe/wilton-stabilized-whipped-cream-79506
I whipped it to medium peaks (a little softer than I usually do for cupcakes) and applied a dollop with a large round tip. 

These cupcakes got a dusting of fresh-grated Ceylon cinnamon and nutmeg to finish them off.


Pecan Pie

Butter pecan cake

For the cupcakes, I used the butter pecan cake recipe found here:
http://acuppycakelife.blogspot.com/2010/07/butter-pecan-cupcakes.html
Most of the pecan pie cupcake recipes I found used a vanilla base, but I'm so glad I went with the butter pecan cake! It was the perfect rich, buttery, nutty base for the sweet filling.

I saved the extra butter-toasted pecans to sprinkle on top of the cupcakes after they were filled.

Pecan pie filling

For the pie filling, I used this recipe:
http://joandsue.blogspot.ca/2012/10/pecan-pie-cupcakes.html
My filling didn't set up very well in spite of a night in the fridge. It worked fine as a syrupy glaze, though. I let it run over the top of the cupcake so the extra buttery pecans would stick. It made for a slightly messy eating experience, but ... worth it.

Whipped cream frosting

I used the stabilized whipped cream found above for these as well. I whipped it to firm peaks and applied with a large French star tip. Somehow I didn't get a picture of these with the pie crust garnish, but they got one too. 

October Cupcakes

For October's cupcakes, I made a classic fall flavor and some Halloween inspired decorations. 


Pumpkin Spice Latte 

Pumpkin spice cupcake
I don't remember which pumpkin cupcake recipe I used in October! Boost the spices a bit, though, to get the pumpkin spice latte flavor.

Espresso soak
I brewed a few shots of espresso and brushed it onto the cupcakes a few times as they cooled.

Stabilized whipped cream frosting
I used the Wilton recipe for stabilized whipped cream. It pipes nicely, keeps well, and is great for a cupcake that's not too sweet.

Fresh-grated Ceylon cinnamon





Nutella 
Costco had Fererro Rocher truffles on sale. That's about all the inspiration I needed. Nutella buttercream is so good, it should probably be illegal. I usually throw away excess frosting in the interests of self-preservation, but I just couldn't!

Chocolate cupcake
The chocolate cupcake recipe from Annie's Eats is my go-to. They're moist, fluffy, and have plenty of chocolate flavor. And it bakes exactly 24 cupcakes so I don't end up eating all the leftovers!

Nutella buttercream
I used this recipe from My Baking Addiction for the Nutella buttercream. Because I was planning to put a truffle on top, I didn't put a ton of frosting and I ended up with enough left over to frost another dozen cupcakes.

Fererro Rocher truffle

Chocolate spider legs
For these, I just melted semi-sweet chocolate chips in a small ziploc bag, piped them onto wax paper in a check mark shape, and stuck them in the fridge for a few minutes. And yes, I made sure every spider had 8 legs. 





Braaaaaains
There are a few Walking Dead fans at the office, and the show left off at a major cliffhanger shortly before I made the cupcakes, so I thought it would be fun to do a zombie themed cake.

Vanilla Cupcake 
I used this yellow cupcake recipe from Annie's Eats, but with 4 whole eggs instead of 2 whole and 4 yolks. They turned out fine but I think the substitution changed the texture a bit. I would recommend making this one as written and using a different recipe when you don't want the yellow cake. 

Raspberry jam swirl
I used some homemade raspberry jam to make a swirl in the cupcake batter. This made for a creepy effect peeking out from underneath the frosting. 

Vanilla buttercream
I thought about using raspberry jam (I like to color frosting naturally when possible) in the frosting as well, but I didn't want any weird texture from the fruit or seeds. I resorted to a few drops of red and yellow food coloring to get a nice pink brain color. Next time I would just strain the jam or cook down some raspberries and strain off the juice. They were good, but the raspberry flavor didn't come through very well. 

September Cupcakes

The first new toy I bought myself with my cupcake earnings was a kitchen torch. So obviously I had to use it on two of this month's cupcakes. 

Salted Caramel Apple Cider 

Apple Cider Cupcake
I used this recipe from B. Sugar Mama for the cupcakes, but I used a local hard cider from Lockhorn Cider instead of the Angry Orchard. These cupcakes had an awesome texture and were very moist! 

Cream cheese frosting
Some recipes use more cream cheese than butter or vice versa. I like to use equal amounts (2 sticks of butter to 1 8 oz box of cream cheese) for a nicely balanced flavor and a slightly lighter texture. I add about 4 cups of powdered sugar, 2 tsp of vanilla, and a few tablespoons of cream. Make sure you beat it for a few more minutes after you think you should stop. I piped the frosting with a petal tip to try and make a rose. They turned out a little ugly, but salted caramel covers a lot of sins.

Salted caramel drizzle 
This salted caramel recipe from The Kitchn is easy and turns out great every time. 

Lemon Meringue

Lemon Cupcake
I don't remember which lemon cupcake recipe I used for these! I still haven't found "the one," though, so you're not missing much. These had a better texture, but were not lemony enough.

Lemon Curd Filling
The Barefoot Contessa's recipe for lemon curd is hard to beat. Blitzing the lemon zest with the sugar extracts the flavor out of it very well, and it's much easier to make than other recipes I've tried. It also freezes nicely, in case you're like me and make a double batch...

Meringue frosting
I used this meringue recipe from King Arthur Flour for the frosting. It toasted nicely with the kitchen torch but it did shrink a little overnight in the fridge.



S'more

I used the S'more cupcake recipe from Life Love and Sugar for these. 

Graham Cracker Crust

Chocolate Cupcake
These cupcakes are very chocolatey, but a little too gooey for eating while standing around in an office setting.

Marshmallow Frosting
This frosting was a relatively convincing marshmallow substitute. I think it needed a little vanilla to be more accurate. It was good, though, and it held better than the very similar meringue frosting for some reason. 

Chocolate/Graham Bark
Once I finished the cupcakes, I thought they looked a little too similar to the Lemon Meringues, so I melted some chocolate, spread it on a silicone baking mat, and sprinkled the leftover graham cracker crumbs on top.