French toast cupcakes...

My son is in a percussion ensemble.  Each week, instead of them having to drive out to get fast food for lunch, we have themed lunch and everyone brings something to contribute.  This week's theme is breakfast for lunch.  I am making a crock pot bacon, egg, hash brown and cheese casserole for them,  However, they get a little testy if I show up without cupcakes or cookies for them.  

I was looking through all of my recipes and came across this little baby.  What could be more perfect?  French toast cupcakes topped with a brown sugar streusel and then maple frosting.

Here's the recipe:

STREUSEL TOPPING
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

 In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix the cold butter into the mixture by hand, squeezing the pieces in to mix it.

CUPCAKES
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.  In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla and mix well, until the mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Get rid of any remaining flour by stirring the mixture by hand, with a spatula.  Place three tablespoons of batter in each prepared baking cup. Divide the streusel evenly among the cupcakes, and sprinkle it on each one. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean..

FROSTING
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 lb. (4 cups) confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar until combined. Stir in the vanilla, salt, and syrup. Add the heavy cream and whisk on high for 4 minutes.

After you frost the cupcakes, shake some cinnamon and powdered sugar over the top to finish the cupcakes and add that last special touch.  

I could not help myself...I had to try one of these cupcakes.  They were calling to me..whispering sweet nothings in the wind.  I have never had very good willpower, so I caved and tried one.  Oh my goodness.....it was so delicious.  It tasted just like french toast. 

I cannot wait for the kids to try them tomorrow.  I hope they realize how spoiled they are...and loved.  

Peanut Butter Blossom....cupcakes

My son's class was having a Christmas party earlier in the week, and he volunteered me to make cupcakes.  Thanks!  I never mind baking, but I get nervous when it is for people I do not know.  Also, there is the transportation factor, especially when I am not the one doing the transporting.  

When I bake for those I am not familiar with, I like to eliminate all potential allergens as much as possible.  I made the base cupcakes using a recipe that does not call for milk, eggs, or butter.  I add about 1/2 cup of extra flour to this to make it a bit more sturdy since it will be a cupcake.  I literally just dump everything into the bowl and mix.  

2 C flour
2 C sugar
6 Tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 C warm water
2/3 C oil
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 tsp vanilla (or 1/2 tsp mint) extract

Put in cupcake liners and fill about 2/3 full.  Bake at 350 F for about 10-15 minutes (toothpick will come back clean).  

I made a batch of standard buttercream and decorated with royal icing to look like holly leaves and berries.  I still had some cupcakes left over, so I decided to make peanut butter frosting (no recipe....just 1/2 cup butter, PB to taste, milk and powdered sugar).  I dusted with sanding sugar to mimic the sugar on peanut butter blossom cookies and then topped with a Hershey kiss.  I saved 1-2 for me and packed the rest separately from the holly decorated cupcakes.

I sent my son off with these cupcakes to school.  When he got home that evening, I asked him how everyone like everything.  He fell to his knees and did the "we're not worthy" thing from Wayne's World.  I think it's fair to say everyone liked them!  Mission accomplished!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday. My husband asked me what kind of cake I wanted, and I told him I would be making my own.  I wanted to practice my ombre frosting flower technique.  

I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe (click here for the recipe) and then filled it with a peanut butter mousse frosting (peanut butter, butter, Kool-Whip, milk and powdered sugar).  Oh my...almost forgot to fill the cake because the mousse was so good.  I put a crumb coat of this peanut butter mousse on the outside of the cake to keep it neat and tidy.

I should mention with the chocolate cake recipe that you NEED parchment paper in the bottom of your pans.  I ran out of parchment paper, so I decided that Bakers Joy would just have to do.  Nothing against Bakers Joy, it's a fine product, but this cake is so moist that it will stick like super glue to the pan if you don't have parchment paper.

Now comes the part about the flowers.  I was so transfixed with tinting the frosting that I did not realize I did not make enough.  I had to make the flowers smaller than I wanted and could not overlap them like I wanted.  Lesson learned.  Overall, I was pleased with the way it came out, gaps and all.  

I served it to my family last night after our celebratory dinner at Carraba's (if you have not been, you MUST go).  You could almost literally hear my 5-year-old granddaughter inhaling her slice.  Everyone else also loved the cake and gave me great compliments.

New Year cake

When I think about New Year's Eve, I think about parties.  I think about how I celebrated New Year's Eve in my youth.  One year we played a game where every hour, at the top of the hour, we celebrated the new year as it became midnight in each time zone.  Oh my...what can I say?  We were young and dumb.

Now that I am a little more.....mature and I have a little more common sense, my new year was rung in by planning this cake and cruising around Pinterest (I like to live on the edge these days).  I barely made it to midnight.

This morning, even though not 1 drop of adult beverage was consumed, I still felt like I was hung over.  I decided to cheat on the cake and make a box cake.  I did, however, spruce it up a bit.  I added an additional egg.  I used butter instead of vegetable oil, and I used milk instead of water.  These little substitutions make all the difference if you must use a box cake mix.

When my husband dragged himself downstairs a little later, I asked him what kind of frosting he wanted.  He requested chocolate fudge.  I found a recipe on line that looked perfect.  Something went awry when I made it though.  It closely resembled the fudge batter I made last month for Christmas.  I knew it would not spread to cover the cake so I put it between the layers of the cake.  I found another recipe (here) and made yet more substitutions.  This recipe called for fudge topping.  I didn't have any of that, but I did have a bag of milk chocolate chips hanging around.  I melted them up in the microwave and added them.  I did need to add more milk than the recipe called for after I added the chocolate chips.

I had delusions of grandeur when I thought about the decorations.  I had chocolate fireworks made in about 4 different colors.  I had my confetti.  I had my little rolled up things...whatever they are supposed to be.  I started putting the fireworks on the cake and it looked awful.  Take 2 - get all of that off of the cake and just go with the confetti and those little rolled up things (which I was pretty proud of, BTW.  Fondant cut and wrapped around a straw to dry).

After our traditional pork dinner (minus the sauerkraut), it was time to reveal the cake.  Everyone seemed to like it a lot.  I guess today was not the day to count calories...

Happy New Year!