Caramel Buttercream
Caramel buttercream is great on chocolate cupcakes, banana butter pecan cupcakes, Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes or for eating right out of the bowl!
Ingredients:
1 stick of room temperature butter
3 cups of powdered sugar
Caramel sauce (either make your own, or do what I do and buy a bottle in the ice cream toppings aisle)
a few tablespoons of milk
Yield: Enough to do roughly 12 regular cupcakes, depending on how heavy your frosting hand is.
Directions:
(This is where it really helps to have a stand mixer. I throw a stick of butter in my Kitchen-Aid and let the paddle attachment beat the snot out of it until it’s all smooth and gorgeous. If you’re using a hand-held mixer, prepare to burn off all the calories you’ll consume by “taste testing” the buttercream. )
Beat the stick of butter a medium speed until it is smooth and creamy.
Slow the mixer down to low and incorporate the powdered sugar a 1/2 cup at a time. (The mixture will get a bit thick and difficult, but we’ll fix that with the caramel sauce)
Add in caramel sauce. I wish I could tell you exactly how much I use, but I sort of squeeze it in until the texture is right and the taste is drool-worthy. It’s probably half a cup. Don’t quote me on that though…
If necessary add milk in, a tablespoon at a time, until the buttercream reaches the desired texture.
Like peanut butter buttercream, caramel is much stickier than regular buttercream, so I always add a bit more milk to thin it out. If it’s too sticky it won’t actually come out of the tip when you pipe it.
Enjoy and spread the love!
Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcakes
I use my cupcakes like currency around the office. In this particular instance I had Brett from Marketing video tape our Christmas Party. I mean, who wouldn’t want to preserve “SIFE Live with Alem and Lindsey!” for all eternity? Marketing is well known for their love of Starbucks, so I thought I’d transform one of my favorite winter drinks into a cupcake.
Presenting the Salted Caramel Mocha Cupcake…
It’s much more simple than it sounds, I promise!
Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix (and all the fixins: eggs, oil, water)
A handful of mini-chocolate chips
1 cup of coffee or espresso, sweetened (sugar, stevia, splenda, whatever works for you)
Caramel Buttercream (made with salted butter)
Turtle Crunch sprinkles
Course-ground sea salt
Yield: 24 regular cupcakes
Directions:
Preheat the oven and prepare the cake mix according to the package. Toss in a handful of mini chocolate chips in the final mixing moments. Put fabulous cupcake papers in your cupcake pans.
Fill your cupcake papers and bake according to the package directions. As always, 18 minutes at 325 is perfect for my oven, but you might have to play with the timing and temperature a bit.
Once the cupcakes have cooled and you’ve taste tested the runt of the litter, use a fork to poke holes in the tops. Using a spoon or an eyedropper, pour a small amount of your sweetened coffee over the top of the cupcake (If you’ve ever made a jell-o poke cake, this is the same concept.)
Top the cupcakes with caramel buttercream.
Drizzle more coffee over the top and sprinkle on a small amount of the course-ground salt and turtle crunch sprinkles.
Enjoy and spread the love!
Peanut Butter Buttercream
Peanut Butter Buttercream is one of my favorite buttercreams, and you know that says a lot because I hate frosting! It’s great on chocolate cupcakes, but even better on banana butter pecan cupcakes!
Ingredients:
1 stick of room temperature butter
3 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of peanut butter (add or subtract depending on the taste and texture you want)
A splash of vanilla extract
a few tablespoons of milk
Yield: Enough to do roughly 12 regular cupcakes, depending on how heavy your frosting hand is.
Directions:
(This is where it really helps to have a stand mixer. I throw a stick of butter in my Kitchen-Aid and let the paddle attachment beat the snot out of it until it’s all smooth and gorgeous. If you’re using a hand-held mixer, prepare to burn off all the calories you’ll consume by “taste testing” the buttercream. )
Beat the stick of butter and 1/2 cup of peanut butter on a medium speed until it is smooth and creamy. You can adjust the peanut butter depending on the taste you’re going for. I almost always add more after I’ve added the powdered sugar.
Slow the mixer down to low and incorporate the powdered sugar a 1/2 cup at a time. (The mixture will get a bit thick and difficult, but we’ll fix that with the milk)
Add in vanilla.
Add milk in, a tablespoon at a time, until the buttercream reaches the desired texture.
Peanut butter buttercream is much stickier than regular buttercream, so I always add a bit more milk to thin it out. If it’s too sticky it won’t actually come out of the tip when you pipe it.
You can see from this photo that it’s a bit stiff, but still delicious!
Enjoy and spread the love!
Cupcake Surprise! Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cupcakes
I love cookie dough. When I make cookies, it’s a wonder that any of the dough makes it to the cookie sheet. And let’s be honest, sometimes I buy cookie dough just to eat it. It’s something like a 1 in 20,000 chance I’ll get salmonella so the risk is totally worth it.
But Lindsey… this isn’t a cookie blog, it’s a cupcake blog. Where are you going with this? Glad you asked.
Why not combine my two loves – cupcakes and cookie dough? Even better, why not peanut butter cookie dough and chocolate cupcakes?
These are super simple to put together, and oh so delicious.
Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix (and all the fixins: eggs, oil, water)
Peanut butter cookie dough (Either buy the pre-made and take your chances, or you can use an eggless recipe)
Yield: 24 regular cupcakes
Directions:
Prepare the cookie dough. Roll into balls roughly 1 inch in diameter, and freeze for at least 2 hours. Freezing is important if you want the dough to stay doughy and not bake completely.
Preheat the oven and prepare the cake mix according to the package. Put cute cupcake papers in your cupcake pans.
Fill your cupcake papers about 1/3 full of batter and stick the dough ball in the middle. Cover with batter until the papers are between 1/2 and 3/4 full. It should look something like this:
Bake according to the package directions. As always, 18 minutes at 325 is perfect for my oven, but you might have to play with the timing and temperature a bit.
If you’ve promised these to people at the office, try not to eat all of them right out of the oven. Also, don’t forget to take a picture of them if you want to post them on your blog. Oops.
Frosting:
The possibilities are endless here. You could do a peanut butter buttercream, or thin out the remaining peanut butter cookie dough using milk to make a cookie dough frosting (provided you didn’t eat it all already).
Maple would be delicious as well…or maybe a chocolate ganache…I’m hungry now…
A note about the eggless recipe:
When I made these for work, I used Cupcake Project’s Peanut Butter Cookie Dough That’s Safe To Eat.
If you aren’t interested in peanut butter, there is also an eggless chocolate chip cookie dough recipe as well.
Long Time No Post
And I mean a really long time.
Life got a bit crazy. There was still plenty of cupcaking, but when you fill your days with this:
It becomes difficult to want to write when you get home.
But now that spreadsheet mess has its own frame and a place of honor in my cubicle
Huzzah!
I’ve made it my goal for 2012 to update more frequently. The world needs more cupcakes, and I can’t do it alone!
If you have any requests, let me know. I’m always looking for new flavor ideas. I’m doing a few weddings this year as well and I’m really looking forward to creating some deliciously fabulous displays!
-L
I never met a chocolate I didn’t like…
There is a very simple way to make deliciously moist chocolate cupcakes. While my favorite cake mix brand is “Betty Crocker: Super Moist,” even super moist can become…moister? If I haven’t totally skeeved you out with that word, here’s the tip:
Mini-chocolate chips!!
Simply toss a handful of mini-chocolate chips into the batter as you mix it up. I usually toss it in right before I turn the mixer off, so the chips are mixed in but not pulverized.
As the cupcakes bake, the chocolate melts and leaves little mini-pockets of deliciousness.
If you find yourself lacking mini-chocolate chips, any sort of chocolate chopped up into fine pieces will do perfectly (as you saw in the white-chocolate blueberry post). I grind mine up in the food processor until it’s pretty much powder. Toss it in, and go!
Delicious chocolate buttercream is just as easy. All it takes is the basic buttercream recipe and a jar of hot fudge sauce (found in the ice cream section of the grocery store). Or two, if you wind up accidentally eating the first one. (Yeah, I have a problem…I know.)
Beat the butter until it’s smooth and creamy, and add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Then add in the jar of hot fudge sauce. Add a little milk until it reaches the consistency you desire. If you want a little more chocolate kick, you can even add a little cocoa (but that seems needlessly complicated).
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go eat the bar of 72% cacao I have stashed in my pantry…
PS: Did you see the Harley-Davidson style chocolates on those chocolate cupcakes? One of these days I’ll post about how to make your own custom chocolate shapes.
Buttercream
Let’s be honest, I hate frosting. Doesn’t matter if it’s buttercream, cream cheese or some sort of whipped oil-based goo, I’m just not a big fan.
I view frosting as a necessary evil. Like deodorant, alcohol and cats. It’s essential to the flavor adventure of the cupcake, but too much is just *gahhh*. (Sorry, I gagged.)
Now that my whining is out of the way, here’s my vanilla buttercream recipe! It’s super simple and very easy to modify for your own flavor adventure needs.
Ingredients:
1 stick of room temperature butter
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
a few tablespoons of milk
Yield: Enough to do roughly 12 regular cupcakes, depending on how heavy your frosting hand is.
Directions:
(This is where it really helps to have a stand mixer. I throw a stick of butter in my Kitchen-Aid and let the paddle attachment beat the snot out of it until it’s all smooth and gorgeous. If you’re using a hand-held mixer, prepare to burn off all the calories you’ll consume by “taste testing” the buttercream. )
Beat the stick of butter on a medium speed until it is smooth and creamy.
Slow the mixer down to low and incorporate the powdered sugar a 1/2 cup at a time. (The mixture will get a bit thick and difficult, but we’ll fix that with the milk)
Add in vanilla.
Add milk in, a tablespoon at a time, until the buttercream reaches the desired texture.
I think it looks a bit like half-melted ice cream:
See? Simple and delicious! (If you’re into that kind of thing)
Buttercream Tips and Hints:
- You don’t have to use milk. Orange juice, fruit puree, limeade, soy milk, alcohol or any other liquid are all acceptable substitutions.
- You don’t have to use vanilla. Any extract can be used to flavor the buttercream. Personal favorites: maple, lemon and raspberry
- Doubling the recipe is super easy- 2 sticks of butter, 6 cups of powdered sugar! Just play with the liquid levels until it reaches the consistency you need.
- Air bubbles can ruin your piping- drag a spatula through it before you stick it in the bag
