Frisco and Nutella

I just got back from San Francisco last week where all I did was eat, eat, EAT. I had the best time on my trip and not just because of the food.. although that was a big part of it (lets not lie). It's good to be back home though and on the computer catching up on all the wonderful recipes from the blogs I follow. I feel very out of the loop if I don't check my Reading List, so I'm glad to be back "in" :)! Now lets get to what I had a hankering for all week: Nutella! Actually it started out as a little craving for Ferrero Rocher candies and then this led to a just plain chocolate craving and then that led back to a Nutella kick. At first I decided to take the easy "eat it from the jar with a spoon" way out, but concluded that I should take advantage of the extra jar that I bought and use it as an ingredient. The result? Self Frosting Nutella Cupcakes. You would think that this would be enough. I mean its cupcakes that frost themselves with Nutella! I took it a little further though and add some Nutella frosting. I had also wanted to add a Ferrero Rocher on each cupcake but I didn't remember this until I was walking out of the grocery store. So please image a beautiful fine hazelnut chocolate candy sitting on top of that Nutella frosting in all of it's glory. After eating Nutella out of the jar, baking with it, frosting with it AND eating these cupcakes I learned a very valuable lesson: there is such a thing as too much Nutella. I mean this in a "I have to lay down and rub my tummy" sort of way. I was FULL of it. I'm surprised I didn't sprout hazelnuts overnight! The cupcakes were pretty good but they were lacking something. If I make them again, I would add more Nutella and maybe a little buttermilk to the batter because the plain cupcake had almost no flavor and was a little dry. They weren't bad though by any means and I'm glad that I had frosting to put them over the tasty edge.This recipe makes 12 and there are only 6 left. So .. take that how you will :)

Self Frosting Nutella Cupcakes

10 tbsp butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don’t worry if the batter doesn’t look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.

3. Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter. They should be 3/4 full, if you’re not using a scoop. Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the nutella. Bake for 20 minutes. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Nutella Frosting

6 tbsp butter, room temperature
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup nutella

2 - 4 tablespoons milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. In a medium bowl combine butter, nutella, sugar, and vanilla until mixed together. Add milk to meet desired spreading consistency. Frost, frost, frost! :)

Red Velvet Cuppycake

I had a magnificent lunch this afternoon with my mom at Elephant Bar. Their crab cakes are the most divine morsels of food that I have ever put in my mouth. And on top of that their served in a rich mango sauce that is to die for. Please, don't even get me started on the seared ahi and ginger. After eating this delicious meal and feeling pretty good from my Passion Mai Tai, I was perusing the dessert menu my eyes landed on a Frosted Red Velvet Cupcake. It looked good in the picture, but we thought to ourselves 'why spend money on something that we can easily bake at home?'.. so we bought some red food coloring and the rest is history! The recipe comes from Paula Deen so you know that not only were the cupcakes moist but they were fluffy and rich in flavor. Red Velvet isn't my favorite flavor for cakes and I never really go out of my way to make it, although I have in the past and this recipe definitley puts the others to shame. We decorated them with a standard vanilla buttercream instead of the traditional cream cheese frosting, since it was easier to throw together at the last minute. Besides, I've never ever been a fan of cream cheese frosting unless its piggy backing something carrot flavored.

Grandmother Paula's Red Velvet Cake

Courtesy of Paula Deen

2 cups sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 ounces red food coloring

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin pan by lining with cupcake holders.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well.

3. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

1.Mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

2. Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Lemon Cream

 

Continuing  with the Tuesday night baking tradition, I whipped up a batch of lemon cream cupcakes. The cupcakes themselves had a delectable cake like texture and the perfect hint of lemon flavor with every bite. The frosting had more of a lemon zing so I was careful not frost them too heavily, even though in my opinion the frosting is the best part of any cupcake!

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

Adapted from All Recipes

Cupcake:

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp grated lemon peel

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp pure lemon extract

3 1/2 cups AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sour cream

Frosting:

3 tbsp butter

2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar

2 tbs lemon juice

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

2 tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and paper line about 30 muffin cups. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add grated lemon peel, vanilla extract, and lemon extract. Mix well. 

2. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Batter will be thick (and tasty).

3. Fill muffin cups about 1/4 full and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool completely.

4. For frosting: Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add lemon juice, vanilla, and milk. Beat until smooth. Add more milk as needed for spreading consistency. 

5. Frost cupcakes! 

6. Eat cupcakes!!

Tax Day: Cinnabon

Cinnabon gave away two free samples of their new cupcakes today in honor of tax day (dun dun dun). I love Cinnabon. I love free. And most of all I love cupcakes.

I would say that the classic Cinnamon cupcake was the best. Usually I'm a chocoholic but it was too dry for my taste. I might even peel myself away from the usual friday night baking to go buy a full sized one..or four.