Hummingbird Cupcake

In case you are wondering what a Hummingbird cake is; it is for my opinion it is almost the same as banana cake with slight tropical flavors.  This cupcake is moist and sugary with all the pineapple and banana and almost like the nectar that Hummingbirds feed on. Probably thats where these cuties got their name.  The cupcake is topped with cream cheese frosting. You will almost hear yourself hum with delight once you take a bite of this cupcake.

Source:  All Recipes

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp granulated sugar

5 1/2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1 egg

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

1/2 cup mashed banana ( about 2 small banana)

1/3 cup crushed pineapple, with juice

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For The Frosting

1 pound (1 box) confectioners' sugar

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk, or more if needed

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Makes exactly 12 cupcakes

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; whisk together and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, vanilla, and sugar and beat until blended and smooth.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Mix in the mashed banana.  With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Gently fold in the pineapple, nuts (if using), and coconut with a spatula until evenly mixed.
• Divide the batter between the prepared liners, filling each about ¾ full.  Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract.  Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Source: Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients

 5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces or 71 grams) unsalted butter , softened
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces or 191 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon (7 grams or 1/4 ounce) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces or 105 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen

Streusel

2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
3 tbsp flour

Mix all till coarse and sprinkle on top of the muffins before baking.

Method

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be quite thick, closer to a cookie dough. Fill them about 3/4 full.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean . Best eaten on same day.

Billy's Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake

All packed and ready for pick up :)

Have you been seaching for a wonderfully moist spongy cupcake, then look no further.  I had this recipe written down a year ago and yesterday when I was cleaning my notes, I saw this and today I made these mini vanilla cupcakes for a fundraiser.  They were really super delicious and spongy. Probably because it uses a different method of blending the wet and dry ingredients.  The dry ingredients are whisked together and then the fat is added and lastly the wet ingredients.

Source:  Martha Stewart Show

Ingredients


Makes about approximately 30 cupcakes or mini cupcakes

1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Love how the sprinkles just add a tiny pinch of color

Method

• Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until it looks coarse or just blended slightly with flour
• In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.
• Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Smooth delicious buttercream and see how spongy the cake is

Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency. Probably you might not need to use all of the confectioner sugar.

Truly this is the best vanilla cupcake. 

Marshmallow Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcake

Source: Taste of Home

Ingredients

1/2 cup (50 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 cup (240 ml) boiling hot water
1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Method

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly butter, or line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.
• In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.
• In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.
• Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16 - 20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. (Do not over bake or the cupcakes will be dry.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. 

Marshmallow Cream Filling

2 teaspoons hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow creme
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ganache Frosting

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Method

• For filling, in a small bowl, combine water and salt until salt is dissolved. Cool. In a small bowl, beat the marshmallow creme, shortening, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy; add the salt mixture.
• Cut a small hole in the corner of pastry or plastic bag; insert round pastry tip. Fill the bag with cream filling. Push the tip through the top of the cupcake to fill it with cream.
• Place chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool, stirring occasionally, to room temperature or until ganache reaches a spreading consistency.

Dip cupcake tops into frosting; chill for 20 minutes or until set. Store in the refrigerator.

Next time I will be using more cream...its so good

Banana Split Cupcake

I have always liked banana split sundae and ice cream. I wanted to combine these into a cupcake and came across this recipe and it worked like magic.  The cupcake is slightly dense  and the filling compliments the dense cake.  The whipped cream is light and not too heavy on the cupcake. Although the process of putting these together takes a little time but the effort is worthwhile.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp. buttermilk
1 cup mashed ripe banana

For the filling

1 cup strawberries, hulled and diced small
1 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
6 oz. crushed pineapple, drained

For the frosting

3/4 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

For the ganache

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tbsp light corn syrup

Makes 12 cupcakes

Source: Food.com, Annie's eat

Method

• To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Mix in  the mashed banana until well combined.  With the mixer on low speed alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing only until just incorporated.
• Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 to ¾ full.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the strawberry filling, combine the strawberries and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl.  Toss well, smashing slightly with a fork.  Allow the berries to macerate at least 20-30 minutes.
• To fill the cupcakes, cut a small cone out of the center of each cupcake with a paring knife .   Add a teaspoon of the strawberry filling to the center of each cupcake.  Top with a teaspoon of the crushed pineapple, filling to the top of the cupcake.
• To make the frosting, add the heavy cream to the chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.  Whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.  Add the powdered sugar and continue to whip until thoroughly combined and stiff peaks form.  Blend in the vanilla extract.
• To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Bring the cream to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Remove from the heat and pour the hot cream over the chocolate; let stand 1-2 minutes.  Whisk together until a thick, smooth ganache forms.  Blend in the corn syrup.  Let stand at room temperature at least 10 minutes so the ganache is not too hot before you pour it on top of the whipped cream.
• Garnish as desired. Keep refrigerated.