March Cupcakes

Shamrock Shake

Vanilla-Mint Cupcake

Stabilized Whipped Cream

Maraschino Cherry & Decorative Paper Straw

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake Cupcake

Cream Cheese Frosting

Decorated Nilla Wafer

Dark Chocolate Stout

Guinness Chocolate Cupcake

"The Best Frosting I've Ever Had"

Chocolate-drizzled Pretzel Pieces

February Cupcakes

Angel Food with Strawberries

Homemade angel food cake is definitely worth the effort. Unfortunately, I just don't think it works terribly well in cupcake form. As the cupcakes cool, they contract, making them very small. They're so light and airy that you can eat one in 2-3 bites...and barely even notice you had a cupcake. Usually there are about 20 cupcakes left (out of 72) after the first day. This month? There were only two. I think in the future I will use a pound cake or vanilla cake when I want to do a fruit filling.

I used this recipe from Cooking Classy for the angel food cupcakes. They tasted great, although I was out of almond extract and I definitely missed that flavor.

This recipe from Food.com made a tasty strawberry filling that wasn't too sweet and was a good consistency for filling.

I used the cream cheese whipped cream recipe that was posted with the angel food cupcakes, and I thought it was a great pairing. I may use cream cheese whipped cream instead of the gelatin stabilized version in the future. It held its shape very nicely in the fridge and had a little more complex flavor than plain whipped cream.

To top the cupcakes, I cut a V shape out of the top of the strawberries, then sliced them in half to look like hearts. To keep the strawberries from drying out, I dipped the cut sides in the leftover strawberry filling.

Red Velvet

The obsession with red velvet cupcakes is something I have to admit I don't really understand. I mean, they're tasty enough, but I would personally choose almost any other flavor over red velvet. But Brad passed on a request, and I like to make the office manager happy! I also kind of hate food coloring, so I used half the amount called for and they're still plenty red!

I used this recipe from Gimme Some Oven for the cupcakes. Please ignore the ugly edges in the picture as that was entirely my fault! My test batch baked up beautifully. Unfortunately, I forgot the baking soda in my first batch and then I didn't have enough red food coloring for a second batch, and then I nearly forgot to add the baking soda/vinegar step in my second batch, so I mixed it in by hand but apparently not well enough and then the cupcakes spread instead of rising nicely. They still tasted great but I was a little embarrassed to deliver ugly cupcakes. I will definitely give myself more time to finish everything next time!  

My sister-in-law introduced me to this frosting from Tasty Kitchen (via The Pioneer Woman), and it is outstanding. It's sort of a strange recipe (flour? granulated sugar?!), but wow it tastes good. I've always thought cream cheese and red velvet were an odd combination, but this frosting is perfect.

I decided to keep these simple and add a single large heart sprinkle. I got these at World Market. They have some great sprinkles right now and the container they come in has a cute cupcake-shaped lid. 

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

I was having a terrible time deciding on a third flavor, but Brad's eyes really lit up when I said "cinnamon roll," so of course I had to make them. These looked delicious, smelled wonderful, and left little puddles of butter in the bottom of my cupcake pans. I was super sad that this recipe didn't make any extras! I will have to make them again sometime when I can share with friends...

I used this recipe from The Cake Blog in its entirety, which almost never happens. I put the cinnamon swirl mixture in a squeeze bottle, which was silly, because a bunch of it got left behind. Don't be like me. 

I thought the cupcakes could have used maybe half the amount of streusel - it was really mounded on there and they leaked quite a bit of butter into the pan. Tasty, but messy.

January Cupcakes

This month I made cupcakes inspired by our Christmas trip to the Florida Keys.

Key Lime Pie

Key lime pie is basically the best thing about going to the Keys.

We ate 3 of them during the week we were down there! 

key lime cupcake 

I used this recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody for the lime cupcakes. Mine sank quite a bit in the middle, unfortunately. It was fine this time, as I was planning to add a pool of key lime pie filling! However, it seems to be a common problem when I bake citrus flavored cupcakes. My semi-scientific theory is that the acid in the citrus accelerates the rising effect of the baking soda or powder. Due to our altitude (almost 4500 feet), the cupcakes rise faster than the batter can bake and support itself. I will have to tweak these in the future - it's probably just as simple as decreasing the leavener or adding a bit more flour.

key lime pie filling

I used the pie filling recipe found on the bottle of key lime juice (Nellie & Joe's*), but cooked it over medium-low heat in a small sauce pan until thickened instead of baking. The filling was chilled in the fridge overnight and then scooped into the cupcake's centers.

stabilized whipped cream

I use the Wilton recipe for stabilized whipped cream. This is great way to do whipped cream for cupcakes. It holds up well at room temperature, and continues to look good for 3-4 days under refrigeration.

I use this grass-fed beef gelatin* to stabilize the whipped cream. It smells a little strange when heated, but the whipped cream tastes just as delicious as ever! 

molded white chocolate sea shells

For these, I used the "Bright White" Candy Melts* and a seashell candy mold I found at Michael's.

Cortadito

These cupcakes were inspired by the Cuban coffee drink I fell in love with in Florida. It's two shots over cane sugar with a little bit of steamed milk. It's intensely strong, very sweet, and has this delicious sugar-coffee sludge at the bottom of the cup. Totally addictive.

coffee cupcake

I used this recipe for coffee cupcakes. I wish I had left myself time to test a few recipes, because they baked up flat with large holes. It was okay this time, since I was planning to add yet more coffee in the form of a syrup soak, but I will need to tweak this recipe in the future.

Cuban espresso syrup soak

The syrup soak was just a double shot of Cuban espresso (I brought home some Cafe Mayorga beans from Florida) with about 3 T of baker's sugar stirred into it. Poured a bit over each cupcake to intensify the coffee flavor and add more moisture.

espresso/vanilla buttercream

My usual buttercream recipe: 1 1/2 c butter, 6 c powdered sugar (1 1/2 lb), 1 tablespoon vanilla extract - beat together. Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream and beat until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. If frosting is too dense, add more cream.

I saved out half of the vanilla frosting. For the rest of the frosting, I added about 2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons of hot water.

I put each frosting into a 12 in bag and stuck both bags into a 16 in bag. In hindsight, it would have been easier to use cling wrap like I usually do. The 12 inch bags did not fit well together in the 16 inch bag! I used a large round tip for the frosting and finished the cupcakes with a sprinkle of Sugar in the Raw turbinado sugar*.

Piña Colada

I couldn't decide what to make for my third cupcake, and my hubs suggested this one. On the whole, I like them, but I wish they had more pineapple flavor in the cake -- as they are, you don't get any pineapple flavor in the first bite! Some crushed pineapple in the batter would have been a good addition. 

coconut cupcake

I used this recipe from Five Heart Home for the coconut cupcake. I didn't add in the shredded coconut because I didn't want the chewy texture for this one. They looked great and were really moist with a nice texture. Unfortunately, not a lot of coconut flavor (because I left out the shredded coconut, I'm sure) so I would add some coconut extract next time.

pineapple curd

I used this recipe from Alaska from Scratch for the pineapple curd. It was great! Not too sweet, great pineapple flavor, and a good consistency for filling. 

I used my juicer (Fagor slow juicer*) to juice a fresh pineapple for this recipe. About 1/3 of a large pineapple yielded the 1 cup of juice needed for the recipe.

coconut buttercream

I used this recipe from Baked by an Introvert for the frosting. I ended up having to make another half-batch to cover all my cupcakes. I added about 1/2 tsp rum flavoring and 1 tsp coconut flavoring to give it that piña colada flavor. 

The sprinkled bits on top are toasted coconut chips*. I got mine at Costco a few months ago, but they seem to be a seasonal item. They add a nice sweet crunch to cookies and granola, too.

*this post contains Amazon affiliate links for special ingredients and products mentioned. These are all products I use and recommend, but many of them can be found at your local grocery store as well!