With Sprinkles on Top

Happy 07.08.09! I am here to bring you yet another Martha Stewart Cupcakes recipe. I just can’t help it. Another useless piece of trivia about me is that my favorite color combination is orange, yellow, and green (yes, I’m enough of a color freak to think about color combinations). So I was pleased to make something with oranges, lemons, and limes.

Triple Citrus Cupcakes
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3-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 Tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
3 Tablespoons finely grated orange zest
3 Tablespoons finely grated lime zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
9 large eggs, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl every few minutes. Add citrus zests. Reduce speed to medium and add vanilla. Add eggs, three at a time, beating until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in four batches, beating until completely incorporated after each.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full; tap pans on countertop once to distribute batter. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean — about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks to cool.
4. To finish, dip tops of cupcakes in glaze, then turn over quickly and garnish as you’d like. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Citrus Glaze
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons fresh citrus juice, plus more if needed (I used fresh lemon juice)

Whisk together ingredients until smooth. If necessary, add more sugar to thicken or more juice to thin the glaze. Use immediately.

I tried a bite of one of the cupcakes and they are VERY citrus-y, which is a good thing in my opinion. The glaze has a very strong flavor due to using fresh lemon juice.

I saw this recipe of Paula Deen’s and just had to try it. Paula can do no wrong, in my humble baking/cooking opinion. And even though I’m not a huge fan of raisins and walnuts, I figured the brown butter icing that tops these cookies would woo me. And sure enough, I was right.

Paula’s Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
Recipe Credit: Paula Deen for Food Network Magazine
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* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
* 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
* 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup buttermilk
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
* 1 cup raisins
* 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* Brown Butter Icing, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 1 or more cookie sheets. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, shortening, and sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until mixture is light in color. Add buttermilk. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice; stir into creamed mixture. Fold in oatmeal, raisins, walnuts, and vanilla, blending well. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Drizzle with Brown Butter Icing.

Brown Butter Icing:

* 1/2 cup butter
* 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 to 4 tablespoons water

In a small saucepan heat the butter over medium heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in 3 cups sifted powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in enough water (3 to 4 tablespoons) to make an icing of drizzling consistency. Drizzle on warm cookies.

Yield: enough to ice 5 dozen cookies

Happy 4th of July to all of the Americans that read this blog!

I decided to make chocolate surprise cupcakes for the occasion. They are filled with a cream cheese/chocolate chip mixture and are delicious! But I’m biased toward all things involving cream cheese. Mmm. The frosting is also made from scratch, using a recipe that calls for hot fudge topping. Makes the frosting a little more ooey and gooey and tasty, if you ask me. Here’s the recipe plus a few more photos.

Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes
Print Recipe

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups water
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla

filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Stir in oil, water, vinegar, and vanilla. Pour 2/3 full into liners.
3. Make the filling. Beat cream cheese, egg, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop heaping teaspoon of the filling into each cupcake.
4. Bake 25 minutes.

Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 cup hot fudge topping
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Cream butter and shortening until light and fluffy.
2. Sift cocoa and powdered sugar together. Add to the creamed mixer gradually, beating well after each addition.
3. Add milk, mix well.
4. Add hot fudge topping and vanilla, mix well. Blend until smooth and creamy.

I have a confession: I do not like overly sweet foods. This may come as a surprise considering that my blog is decidcated to all things sugar and sweet. But it’s true. I can rarely finish a piece of cake and the thought of eating an entire S’more, with all that marshmallow sweetness, makes me a little uneasy. I just can’t do it. For most desserts, I take a bite or two, enjoy them to the fullest, and call it quits. As a result, I tend to gravitate toward things that are tart. Rhubarb is one of those perfect foods. Rhubarb also brings back good memories of summertime when I was a kid – rhubarb pie and all.

I found this recipe for rhubarb coffee cake on Smitten Kitchen. I went to the Madison Farmer’s Market this weekend and bought some fresh rhubarb. Mmmmmmm. And since I aim to bring a little geekery to your lives, did you know that the leaves of the rhubarb plant are toxic? And that the color of the stalk, which ranges from green to red, is not related to its suitability for cooking. Though I will admit, the red is prettier.

Rhubarb Crumb Coffee Cake
Recipe credit: Smitten Kitchen, adapted from New York Times 6/6/07
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For the rhubarb filling:
1/2 pound rhubarb, trimmed
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

For the crumbs:
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 3/4 cups cake flour (I used all-purpose flour, it works fine)

For the cake:
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour (I used all-purpose)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons softened butter, cut into 8 pieces.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan. For filling, slice rhubarb 1/2 inch thick and toss with sugar, cornstarch and ginger. Set aside.
2. To make crumbs, in a large bowl, whisk together sugars, spices, salt and butter until smooth. Stir in flour with a spatula. It will look like a solid dough.
3. To prepare cake, in a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add butter and a spoonful of sour cream mixture and mix on medium speed until flour is moistened. Increase speed and beat for 30 seconds. Add remaining sour cream mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula. Scoop out about 1/2 cup batter and set aside.
4. Scrape remaining batter into prepared pan. Spoon rhubarb over batter. Dollop set-aside batter over rhubarb; it does not have to be even.
5. Using your fingers, break topping mixture into big crumbs, about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch in size. They do not have to be uniform, but make sure most are around that size. Sprinkle over cake. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean of batter (it might be moist from rhubarb), 45 to 55 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings. Also try this recipe with cherries or blueberries if rhubarb isn’t in season!

I bought Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book the day it was released. Yes, I was THAT excited. An entire book of Martha Stewart cupcake recipes. Say what you will about the woman, she and her team always produce consistently GREAT recipes. I couldn’t decide what to bake first, so I had a friend make that executive decision. He chose the mint-filled brownie cupcakes. Good choice, even though I’m not a huge mint fan. The cupcakes are filled with York Peppermint Patties – yum!!

Mint-Filled Brownie Cupcakes
Recipe credit: Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
Print Recipe

8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa, sifted (I didn’t have fancy cocoa…so I used Hershey’s special dark and it worked out fine!)
12 York Peppermint Patties, unwrapped

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set (not in) a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally just until melted – 4-5min.
2. Remove bowl from heat. Whisk in sugar and salt until mixture is smooth; whisk eggs to combine. Gently whisk in flour and cocoa just until smooth (do not overmix).
3. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each lined cup. Place 1 peppermint patty on top, gently pressing into batter. Top with two tablespoons batter, covering patty completely. Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted halfway in centers (above mint patty) comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached (about 35 minutes). Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored for up to 3 days at room temperature in airtight containers.

Makes 12 cupcakes.