Cupcakes!
It has been quite a long, long time since I last made cupcakes. Woah.
And in the past few weeks, I've actually made them twice. Gasp.
Crazy. Ok, not really. It's break. I've actually done a lot less cooking this break. We've been running around way too much. And it's almost over already. How is this possible?
First of all, I made tiramisu cupcakes again. It had been two years since I had made them for NES's New Years party because we were, well, sort of maybe kind of headed toward dating and I knew he loved tiramisu. And then a real tiramisu showed up. This time, that didn't happen. We were headed to JB and KEB's and there was no other tiramisu at all. It was fun. And I even got to use my new cake/cupcake/pie keeper from mom and dad!
And then, on that very same night, BMM gave me a mini cupcake maker. It was a perfect gift because I had seen them, but never thought of getting one for myself. And although I had my doubts, it really did make the cupcakes easier! Ok, let me qualify that. When not making a bajillion little tiny cupcakes, it makes things easier. If I were trying to make a whole batch, it might take a while. However, it is nice to only have to wipe out a few little cupcake cups instead of the billion in the mini cupcake pan. I have a secret dislike of washing cupcake pans. Shhhh.
But, yes. Cupcakes. So, I wanted to try out my new nifty cupcake toy, and I knew we were going to visit JDR and EM to watch Harry Potter movies, so I decided I'd try out the butterbeer cupcakes I found. However, that being said, we still have cookies from cookie swaps before Christmas. Ooops. So, I knew we didn't need a million tiny cupcakes lying around. Or big cupcakes either. Thus, I knew that I had to cut down the recipe. A lot. So I made 1/3 of it.
And I learned a few things. First of all, my mixer was able to mix the tiny little amounts, which was nice. But it took a little more attention than usual. Also, I was reminded that baking is an exact science, as I feel like being off even a little with such small amounts make the consistency off.
So I made my little tiny cupcakes. And they came out well. And only took about 7 minutes for each batch.
I was supposed to fill them with the butterscotch ganache, but, well, I ran into a problem. I didn't quite wait till it was cool, and I tried to use my filling tip, but well, yeah. It kind of just oozed out. So, I covered them in ganache instead.
And the frosting was one of those that starts out almost granular and only becomes frosting as you add cream to it. It was very interesting.
I thought I did a pretty good job salvaging them. And making them look remotely like their larger counterparts. And they smelled like butterscotch like crazy.
Butterbeer Cupcakes
adapted from Erica's Sweet Tooth
Cupcakes:
2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/6 tsp. baking soda
1/12 tsp. salt
1/6 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/6 cup sugar
1/6 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 tsp. butter flavoring
2 2/3 Tbsp. buttermilk
2 2/3 Tbsp. cream soda
Ganache:
1/3 11 oz. bag butterscotch chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
Frosting:
1/6 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 Tbsp. prepared ganache
1/3 tsp. vanilla
1/3 tsp. butter flavoring
pinch salt
1/3 lb. powdered sugar
Cream, as needed
(If using the oven, preheat to 350 degrees and line mini cupcake tins with liners)
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the egg, then the vanilla and butter flavoring.
Combine buttermilk and cream soda, and alternate adding the dry ingredients and this mixture.
Fill liners 3/4 fill and bake until tester comes out clean, and tops are golden.
Melt the chips and cream together in the microwave, watching carefully. Cool to room temperature ( . . . do it.).
Remove the ganache needed for the frosting. Drizzle the remaining ganache over the cupcakes.
Cream the butter in a mixer till light and fluffy, and add the reserved ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, salt. Mix till combined.
Beat in the powdered sugar slowly and mix for about 2 minutes.
Add cream 1 tsp. at a time until the frosting is the correct consistency.
Pipe the frosting over the cupcakes. Drizzle any leftover ganache over the frosting.
Makes approx. 20 mini cupcakes.
And in the past few weeks, I've actually made them twice. Gasp.
Crazy. Ok, not really. It's break. I've actually done a lot less cooking this break. We've been running around way too much. And it's almost over already. How is this possible?
And then, on that very same night, BMM gave me a mini cupcake maker. It was a perfect gift because I had seen them, but never thought of getting one for myself. And although I had my doubts, it really did make the cupcakes easier! Ok, let me qualify that. When not making a bajillion little tiny cupcakes, it makes things easier. If I were trying to make a whole batch, it might take a while. However, it is nice to only have to wipe out a few little cupcake cups instead of the billion in the mini cupcake pan. I have a secret dislike of washing cupcake pans. Shhhh.
And the frosting was one of those that starts out almost granular and only becomes frosting as you add cream to it. It was very interesting.
Butterbeer Cupcakes
adapted from Erica's Sweet Tooth
Cupcakes:
2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/6 tsp. baking soda
1/12 tsp. salt
1/6 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/6 cup sugar
1/6 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 tsp. butter flavoring
2 2/3 Tbsp. buttermilk
2 2/3 Tbsp. cream soda
Ganache:
1/3 11 oz. bag butterscotch chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
Frosting:
1/6 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 Tbsp. prepared ganache
1/3 tsp. vanilla
1/3 tsp. butter flavoring
pinch salt
1/3 lb. powdered sugar
Cream, as needed
(If using the oven, preheat to 350 degrees and line mini cupcake tins with liners)
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the egg, then the vanilla and butter flavoring.
Combine buttermilk and cream soda, and alternate adding the dry ingredients and this mixture.
Fill liners 3/4 fill and bake until tester comes out clean, and tops are golden.
Melt the chips and cream together in the microwave, watching carefully. Cool to room temperature ( . . . do it.).
Remove the ganache needed for the frosting. Drizzle the remaining ganache over the cupcakes.
Cream the butter in a mixer till light and fluffy, and add the reserved ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, salt. Mix till combined.
Beat in the powdered sugar slowly and mix for about 2 minutes.
Add cream 1 tsp. at a time until the frosting is the correct consistency.
Pipe the frosting over the cupcakes. Drizzle any leftover ganache over the frosting.
Makes approx. 20 mini cupcakes.
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