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.