Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Hello, all! Happy winter break! Now that Christmas is two weeks away, I can finally get caught up on my Thanksgiving posts... Aye. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to keep up. Oh well. Though we usually have Thanksgiving at our house, we went to our friend, Marty's, brand new house for dinner instead. Dinner was to die for and after 21 years of complete and utter distaste for Brussel Sprouts, I have finally succumbed to their deliciousness. Granted, I will still only eat them if they are fried with maple syrup and butter but hey, baby steps.  Sorry it took me so long to like them, Marty. Anyhoo. Cupcakes! These cupcakes were SO relevant to Thanksgiving. I wanted to do a little play off a Thanksgiving food, but obviously green bean casserole or turkey cupcakes were not the way to go. Instead, I decided sweet potato cupcakes would have the same fall-y taste as the Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes I made for friendsgiving. And of course, you can't have sweet potatoes without marshmallows and/or walnut crumbly things on top, so that's exactly what I did.

Grace, Marty, and Sarah at Thanksgiving. Sorry about the picture quality. Dinner mood lighting didn't do me any favors

SWEET POTATO CUPCAKES:

1 stick butter (room temp)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Splash of vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

A few shakes of cinnamon

1 can of sweet potatoes, drained (the big can)

1/2 cup milk

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then mix in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. In yet another separate bowl, mash the sweet potatoes with a fork until they are mushy. Note: this part is kind of gross. These look absolutely disgusting but in the end they make some wicked good cupcakes. Just be patient! Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture slowly, alternating with additions of milk and sweet potatoes. Mix until combined, but don't over blend. These cupcakes have the ability to become extra dense with the sweet potatoes. Divide the batter among lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 

MARSHMALLOW FROSTING:

1 stick butter (room temperature)

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 7oz can of marshmallow fluff 

Beat the butter and powdered sugar together until almost combined. Add the marshmallow fluff slowly until frosting is thick and combined. I frosted my cupcakes while they were the tiniest bit warm still so the marshmallow would melt a bit on the cupcake. 

Pre-Melt

Post-Melt. Slurp.

CANDIED WALNUTS

(Note: I didn't measure any of these ingredients. These are just guesses as to what quatities I actually used)

2 Cups Walnuts

1 Cup Sugar

A few shakes of sea salt

In a pan, over medium heat, begin heating the sugar and salt, stirring constantly. After a few minutes, add the walnuts, still stirring constantly. Keep stirring until the sugar begins to liquefy. Once the walnuts are completely coated in the caramelized sugar, place them on wax paper to cool. THESE ARE GOING TO BE SO HOT. DON'T TOUCH THEM FOR AT LEAST 5 MINUTES. YOU WILL REGRET IT OTHERWISE. After letting them cool for a long time, I topped my cupcakes with them. I had about half of the batch left over but they are great in salads or for snacking. 

I was really happy with how these cupcakes turned out. The marshmallow frosting was really sweet but it balanced out the savory-ish cake nicely. I had big plans to toast the marshmallow frosting with a torch but my cupcake liners were too big and boisterous and would have caught on fire had I taken a torch to them. Plus, it's not like anyone in their right mind should let me use a blow torch inside the house. 

Happy Holidays!

xoxo,

KG

Pumpkin Ginger Cupakes

Happy Thanksgiving!! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Everything is so cozy and delicious and family oriented. It's so fun. With such a fun group of housemates and a lovely bunch of friends in Eugene, the Fort decided to throw a little thanksgiving of our own on Sunday. Patty, chef extraordinaire, was in charge of most of the actual meal, but I was obviously in charge of dessert. Check out Patty's food blog too! She's brilliantly witty and makes sure I eat actual food other than oatmeal and scrambled eggs. Just because I love baking and have sort of mastered the cupcake, I'm still working on my cooking skills. You can lurk on all of Patty's skills at Feeding the Fort. I must admit, our house eats pretty well. Anyways, for our pre-thanksgiving/ friendsgiving dinner, I made my first successful pecan pie after the dreadful blackened pecan pie incident of 2011 and of course, I made some cupcakes. Fall flavors, though I love them, are rather limited. There are a hundred Winter flavors, but as far as Fall goes, pumpkin is really the main attraction. So pumpkin cupcakes had to be made! To spice things up a bit, I wanted to experiment with some ginger too. And as per Ellie's request, they were topped with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

Precious. Thankful for my friends!

PUMPKIN GINGER CAKE:
1 stick butter (room temp)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
Splash of vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 T pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 T ground ginger
A few good shakes of cinnamon (to taste)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup egg nog  (See Note)

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time until blended. Add the vanilla and mix. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, and cinnamon. Slowly add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the pumpkin and egg nog. (NOTE: I ran out of milk but had egg nog. The final product benefited from the extra nutmeg-y flavor and didn't taste like egg nog, but while they are baking/ still warm, these cupcakes smelled absolutely horrible. I didn't even want to taste them. Luckily, I did and was rather pleased by the taste. Once they cooled, the smell subsided. Milk would be a perfectly valid substitute in this recipe.) Being careful not to over mix, blend all ingredients until combined. Dived among lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 for 20-22 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
1 stick butter (room temp)
1 block cream cheese (also room temp)
3 cups powdered sugar
A splash or two of whipping cream as needed
Lots of cinnamon (to taste)


Beat the butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add the powdered sugar and cinnamon slowly and blend until combined and thick. Cream cheese frosting has a tendency to get a bit sticky so adding a a little whipping cream will thin it out a bit. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. (ANOTHER NOTE: I rarely work with cream cheese frosting because it is so sticky. Scooping it into a piping bag can be a tricky mess. If you can, have someone hold the bag open so you have maximum hand usage to limit the frosting from sticking to the sides of the piping bags, avoiding an otherwise inevitable collapse)

These cupcakes were a lovely taste of fall. The ginger made them a little bite-y and interesting. If given the opportunity to make them again, I would probably use milk over egg nog. It worked out fine, but I think milk would be a better choice. Oh well. Hakuna Matata. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

xoxo,

KG

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Hello friends! It is officially Fall! While I'm a little bummed about the lack of sunshine and the excess rain, the trees are absolutely gorgeous. My roommates and I have been constantly drinking spiced cider and and carving pumpkins and carrying around our personal space heaters to each room we move to. It's like we are bachelors with only one light bulb carrying it around to whichever room we need light in. You know, Yolo. In the spirit of the season and to ease my woes/ self pity about having to work on Halloween weekend, I whipped up a little batch of apple pie cupcakes. Don't be alarmed, it wasn't another Pi Day Mishap sort of situation. They were scrumptious. It was the perfect little treat before everyone went out and about on their merry ways to various Halloween festivities/ Work.

The Dread Pirate Pinta, Patty Mayonnaise, Lumberjack, Cow, Formal Apology. Happy Halloween!!

CAKE
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Many shakes of cinnamon (this is kind of to taste. I LOVE cinnamon)
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter (room temperature)
2 eggs
Splash of vanilla
3/4 cup apple cider

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. and set aside. In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla one at a time. Alternating with portions of the cider, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Blend until creamy and combined, being cautious not to over mix. Divide the batter among lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees for 20-23 minutes. Usually 20 minutes is the perfect timing for my recipes, but this one took a bit longer. It seems as though most of our household appliances are on the fritz, though, so bake at your own discretion. As always, let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

APPLE PIE TOPPING
5-6 Apples (I used honey crisp and braeburn because I don't like granny smith, but if you like tart, those seem like a nice option too)
3 T butter
Cinnamon to taste

Peel the apples and cut them into small pieces. I used a paring knife and just cut away at them willy nilly. In a large pan (I used a wok because that was readily available and seemed to keep my apples in check and in the pan) melt the butter and add the apples and cinnamon. Saute the apples until they are a bit soggy (I realize this usually isn't a word you want to use when discussing food items. Maybe soft is a better word) and warm. Pull them off the burner and let them cool completely.

Place/mound the completely cooled apples on top of your completely cooled cupcakes.

FROSTING
1 1/2 sticks butter (room temperature)
3 cups powdered sugar
Lots of cinnamon (again, to taste)
Splash of vanilla
A splash or two of apple cider

Beat the butter and slowly add to powdered sugar and cinnamon. Add the vanilla and apple cider for liquid cohesiveness. The apple cider gives the frosting a really nice, light flavor but it can make the frosting really thin, really quickly so add with caution! Spoon or pipe onto your apple-topped cupcakes!

My frosting got a bit thin. Oops. I sprinkled mine with a bit of cinnamon

These were totally yummy. They were light and fluffy and the frosting and batter had the perfect amount of apple flavor to compliment the real-life apple mountain on top. I think these would also be really good with some sort of caramelized nut or something of the sort. Or maybe a pie crust-like struesel. 

Happy Fall!!

xoxo,

KG

Honey Strawberry Cupcakes with Goat Cheese Frosting

I'm alive!! After a crazy summer of taking too many credits and not enough time for cupcake baking and a wonderful European adventure, I am back to a (relatively) normal school pace. Thank goodness. I'm finally back to my preferred schedule of being able to bake a lovely batch of cupcakes once a week and I couldn't be happier. I promise my posts will actually be weekly from now on. Anyways, cupcakes. This summer, my mom found the coolest little Instructable cupcake contest. First prize for recipes: A KITCHEN AID MIXER. Holy smokes. I have the biggest passion for Kitchen Aids. They are incredible mixers, not to mention super durable. My grandma's from the 1950s is still in commission! The bad news for yours truly: It's a tradition in my family to get a Kitchen Aid for a wedding present. The bad news isn't a free mixer from my wonderful relatives. As a mere senior in college, I still have a while until a glorious new kitchen aid graces its presence in my kitchen. This contest seemed like the perfect fix. I knew I had to make something a little kooky in order to catch voters' eyes. For months, I have wanted to incorporate goat cheese into a buttercream and I decided Honey Strawberry cupcakes would be the perfect base for the savory frosting. For the first time in the history of this blog, I don't have a picture of the people eating them since I was so focused on taking pictures of the actual cupcakes:( 

Ben and Me with Beer, Brauts, and pretzels in Munich. Not cupcake related but we are eating so it's close enough.

HONEY STRAWBERRY CAKE:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 T baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 stick room temperature butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Splash of vanilla

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup milk

1 container of strawberries, diced

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. One at a time, add the eggs, vanilla, and honey. Slowly, alternating with the milk, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend until combined. Since the honey makes this cake a bit denser, be extra careful not to over mix, otherwise you'll have rock-like cupcakes. Carefully fold the strawberries into the batter. Divide the batter among lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

GOAT CHEESE BUTTER CREAM:

1 1/2 sticks room temperature butter

3 cups powdered sugar

8 oz. room temperature goat cheese, crumbled

A squeeze of honey

Beat the butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and honey and whip until thick. Crumble the goat cheese into the buttercream, being careful to make sure the goat cheese is fully incorporated into the frosting. Spoon or pipe the buttercream onto completely cooled cupcakes. 

HONEY BALSAMIC REDUCTION:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup honey

In a small pan (I used a pan over a pot to make sure the heating of the balsamic was uniform) bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil. Stir in the honey and turn the burner down to let the balsamic simmer. Let the vinegar simmer for about 10ish minutes until it's thick and syrupy. This is prone to burning (I know from experience) so just keep an eye on it. Let the reduction cool in the fridge and once completely cool, drizzle on top on the goat cheese buttercream frosted cupcakes!

In the end, I decided not to submit my recipe. For the first time in my life, I didn't enjoy making cupcakes. I was too wrapped up in the competition to win the glorious kitchen aid that I almost dreaded each step that went into this recipe. Not to be too metaphysical/spiritual/what have you, but I took it as a sign to not enter the contest. If competing took away the fun and relaxation baking usually brings me, the brand new mixer just wasn't worth it. Maybe I'll be able to enter my cupcakes in other competitions in the future, but until then, baking cupcakes is just going to be for my own enjoyment (and the enjoyment of the people eating them!)

As my mom always told me, follow your gut. It is usually right. Happy Fall, Friends!

xoxo,

KG

PS. I put the link to the instructables contest in the intro! I urge you to take a gander at some of the cupcakes. They are absolutely beautiful! 

Blueberry Pancake Cupcakes

Life is flying by. I know, totally cliche, but I don't care. Life is just zooming off at the speed of light and I have completely lost track of everything time related. Being home for a week was so much fun and totally relaxing. I made lots of cupcakes, like these blueberry pancake cupcakes, and did as many "Colorado-y" things as I could while I was home. Fast forward three weeks and here I am in in Oregon, sitting in my newly painted dining room (It is white with tiffany blue trim, basically guaranteeing no boys will ever live in this house without having to paint the entire interior. It is adorable.) with cupcakes in the oven while I write this post from three weeks ago. There is just so much going on! With school and my latest home improvement obsession (which should make Bill very proud since he has been trying to teach me the ways of a professional engineer for 12 years now), I am super behind on the blog. But no matter, I will catch up eventually. And with that, I present you with a very belated Blueberry Pancake Cupcake recipe!

Patrick and Ben being a little candid at Film on the Rocks

And Elise with her Birthday cupcakes. Happy birthday, Cookie!

BLUEBERRY PANCAKE CUPCAKES

1 Stick butter (room temperature)

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

Splash of vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

A few shakes of cinnamon (to taste)

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 cups blueberries

Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend until combined. Mix in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the flour to the butter mixture, alternating with the milk, and beat until combined. Blend in the maple syrup. Carefully fold the blueberries into the batter with a rubber spatula so they don't break. Divide the batter among lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

MAPLE BUTTERCREAM:

1 1/2 sticks butter (Room Temperature)

3 Cups Powdered Sugar

1/3 Cup Maple Syrup

Splash of Vanilla

Beat the butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until almost incorporated. Add the vanilla and the maple syrup and beat until combined. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. I garnished mine with a couple blueberries.

So I was a pretty big fan of these. They tasted like breakfast and dessert smashed into a petite little treat. My only qualm about them was how sweet they were. The cupcakes alone weren't too sweet but paired with the maple buttercream, it got a little intense. Next time I'll just cut back on the maple syrup a little and that should do the trick. Who ever thought I would find something that was too sweet for me? This might be the apocalypse. 

The philosophical Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on the blog soon and stop to smell the roses with this crazy school schedule. 

Until next time!

xoxo,

KG

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Hey. Just me being the WORST blogger ever. The end of the term got a little bit stressful with finals and moving, but I made it through with good grades and a BEAUTIFUL new bedroom thanks to my mom and Bill. We worked our butts off pretty much 9am to midnight everyday and finally got everything finished. It's such a little sanctuary in there.

Totally luxurious, right? My parents are too cool.

I am home for a week in Colorado and I am baking up a storm and blogging like crazy. I wasn't home for more than 20 minutes before my mom asked me to bake up some cupcakes for a little shindig with her friends. I've been wanting to do a strawberry shortcake cupcake for a while, but it seemed like something that needed to wait until summer. Strawberry shortcake is such a light summery dessert so Ben and I whipped up some delicious cupcakes for my mom to take to her party, and they were totally scrumptious. Plus, I got to bake in my mom's kitchen, which is one of my favorite things. I'm always shocked when my great-grandmother's, ancient cupcake tin bakes cupcakes just as evenly as the hoity-toity, state-of-the-art cupcake tins I got for Christmas. Not to mention, the passion I have for her kitchen aid mixer.

My mom and her friends enjoying some cupcakes and conversation!

SHORTCAKE CUPCAKES:
2 Sticks butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
A generous dash of vanilla
3 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 cup milk
2 cups chopped strawberries

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk to the butter mixture, and blend until combine. Divide among lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before filling or frosting.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, using a small knife (paring knives or grapefruit knives are my favorite) scoop out the middles of the cupcakes.

Fill the cupcakes with the diced strawberries.

WHIPPED CREAM:

1 Pint heavy whipping cream

1 cup powdered sugar

1 splash vanilla

In an electric mixer, whip the cream until almost stiff. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and whip until stiff. Be careful not to over whip because your whipped cream will get grainy. Pipe onto filled cupcakes. We garnished ours with strawberries and mint for an extra summery flavor. 

These cupcakes were really yummy and had the summery taste I was aiming for. I liked the whipped cream instead of my normal butter cream because it was nice and light, which paired nicely with the lightness of the cupcake. These were a bit crumbly since we compromised the structure a bit by cutting a gaping hole in them. But what cupcake isn't messy, right?

Stay cool, guys.

xoxo,

KG

Mochaccino Cupckaes

Let me just start this post by sharing my complete and utter gratitude for the existence of coffee. It is the perfect drink in any form. Black, iced, lattes, cappuccinos, you name it, I love it. The taste is magical and the caffeine effects are miraculous. Until the withdrawal headaches come on. This term has been a little crazy and my coffee drinking has gotten a little bit out of control. Cutting myself off of caffeine cold turkey might have been a hasty decision but I figured it was the easiest way to get my coffee drinking back under control. While I was in the midst of this little caffeine cleanse, I had a little lapse in judgement. I have no idea why I thought it would be a good idea to make mochaccino cupcakes during this dark time. But I did, and I can't say I'm upset about it. Even though I slipped up a little on my coffee detox, I don't regret a thing. They were delightful. I made these cupcakes for a co-worker who so generously helped cover a shift for me and I brought them on our DDS camping trip! Thanks, Jordo! This recipe was adapted from Better Homes and Gardens.

My lovely DDS fam eating cupcakes at tent event!

MOCHACCINO CUPCAKES:

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 t salt

1/4 t baking powder

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 sticks butter

2 eggs

2 cups sugar

Splash of vanilla

1 cup STRONGLY brewed coffee (cooled)

1/2 cup milk

4 Dark chocolate hershey bars  broken into pieces (or your favorite dark chocolate)

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cocoa and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. Stir in the vanilla. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the coffee and milk until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Gently fold in the chocolate pieces, being careful to not overwork the batter. Divide the batter among lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. 

CARMEL SYRUP (almost the same recipe as the carmel from my Chocolate Toffee Carmel Crunch Cupcakes:

3/4 cup sugar

5 T water

2/3 cup non-fat milk (I used almond milk because it is my latest obsession but regular milk will be fine)

A sprinkle of sea salt

In a small saucepan heat the water and the sugar on low heat. Using a whisk, stir only until the sugar is dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved, crank up the heat to high and occasionally stir the mixture by swirling the pot by the handle, but don't stir it directly. The mixture will start to bubble and turn amber in color. This burns quickly so expect the correct amber-y color at about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the milk. BE SO CAREFUL because this mixture tends to bubble and steam a lot. Keep stirring until you have acheived a smooth sauce. Mix in a baby bit of salt, just for a little kick. ANOTHER WARNING: This is SUPER hot. Don't do any sampling for a few minutes because you will singe your tongue right off. This won't be a thick caramel. I wanted to make it thin so it wouldn't alter the consistency of the frosting but would still have that caramelly flavor. If you want a thicker caramel, replace the milk with 1/2 to 2/3 cup heavy cream.

COFFEE CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM:

1 1/2 sticks butter ( room temperature)

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup STRONGLY brewed coffee

1/4 cup carmel syrup, or to taste and texture

Beat the butter until fluffy. Carefully add the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Slowly add the coffee and caramel syrup to the buttercream and beat until combined. There is a lot of liquid in this buttercream so you made need to add a little more powdered sugar to achieve a thicker frosting. Spoon or pipe onto your completely cooled cupcakes!

These were the perfect little pick me up. The coffee flavor was delicious and I didn't even feel bad about consuming the coffee. The caffeine was cooked out when I baked them, right? That's what I keep telling myself so I hope it's true! I felt like I should have been sitting in a little European cafe overlooking some beautiful monument while I was eating these. They just felt so regal.

I hope these cupcakes do the justice for coffee it deserves. I certainly thought they did!

Enjoy friends!

xoxo, 

KG

Neapolitan Cupcakes

I have always had trouble making up my mind. Making decisions is just not my strong suit. Simply picking what I want when I go out for dinner is a task. (I just about lost ALL of my marbles when trying to pick a college). I try to avoid decisions as much as possible. If I have the choices of vanilla, chocolate, or swirl frozen yogurt, I'll totally pick swirl. It's like not having to make a decision at all! Plus it tastes so much better than just plain ol' vanilla or chocolate. Because of this, I was always intrigued by Neapolitan ice cream. You can have 3 flavors for the price of 1! Plus it looked so nice with the strips of pink, brown, and white all lined up in the carton. So, I  decided to do the same thing with my cupcakes. 3 flavors, 1 cupcake. And let me tell you, they were one of the best decisions I have ever made. These cupcakes were so much fun. They looked cool and tasted great! We sold these at a rotaract bake sale for "pennies for polio".

Some lovely Rotaracters with lots of baked goods for a good cause!

NEAPOLITAN CUPCAKES:

1 1/2 cup flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt 

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Splash of Vanilla

3 T Seedless strawberry jam

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/4 cup milk

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined. Mix in the vanilla. Slowly add the flour and milk until totally combined. 

Separate the batter equally into 3 bowls. Leave one of the bowls alone. This is going to be the vanilla part of the cake. In another bowl, add the strawberry jam and mix until combined. In the last bowl, beat in the cocoa powder. 

In lined cupcake tins, layer the batters, being cautious to not mix them together (the color of these cupcakes can get pretty gross really fast). Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry

Vanilla

Chocolate

Slurp

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM:

1 1/2 sticks butter (room temp)

3 cups powdered sugar

Generous splash of vanilla

1 generous squeeze of honey

1 T heavy cream

Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, honey, and vanilla slowly until combined. Add the cream to bring the frosting together. Whip until the buttercream is thick and fluffy. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes.

These cupcakes were totally yummy. The honey in the frosting gives it a nice little zing but it doesn't really give it a honey flavor. I loved the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors. It was just a fun cupcake! I've been feeling a little creative with my piping lately so look out for some new piping experimentation in the future!

If only every decision was as easy as picking a cupcake recipe!

xoxo,

KG

 

Shirley Temple Cupcakes

In my opinion, shirley temples are the quintessential kid drink. They taste so good and digging the cherries out from the bottom of the glass with the straw was a beloved tradition. My sister and I used to get shirley temples anytime we went out to eat when we were little. We both LOVED the cherries and had totally different ways of eating them. My mom gets the BIGGEST thrill teasing me about it. I would always save the best for last. I would drink the shirley temple slowly, to make it last throughout my meal, and then finally, when both my meal and my drink were gone, I would savor the one or two cherries left in my glass. Grace, on the other hand, would eat all of her precious cherries right away, and then ask for more. Don't ask me why I never changed my ways. She clearly had the better technique. Since those days, I have lost my zest for maraschino cherries, but I have definitely not lost my zest for shirley temples. SO, when I found out my new little in APO liked shirley temples as well, I knew I had to whip up some shirley temple cupcakes for her. Unfortunately, since I had to be sneaky with my shirley temple cupcake gifts, I couldn't take a picture of her eating them:(. But not to worry, Marissa and Qdoba Brian were able to save the day and indulge in some cupcakes for the picture. The original recipe came from Armen Atoyan.

My friends are so weird.

SHIRLEY TEMPLE CAKE:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 stick butter, at room temp

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup sprite

Splash of vanilla

1/4 cup grenadine

Red food coloring

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend until combined. Beat in the vanilla. Mix in the flour mixture and sprite just until combined. The batter will look a little curdled because of the sprite, but no need to worry about it. 

Remove 1/2 cup batter and place in a separate bowl. Add several drops of red food coloring and and grenadine until combined and a rich red color. Place about 1 tablespoon of the red batter in the bottom of each lined cupcake tin. Fill the rest of the way with the white batter and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

CHERRY BUTTERCREAM:

1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

Splash of vanilla

1/4 cup grenadine

Beat the butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until combined and thick. Add the vanilla and grenadine and whip until creamy and combined. The grenadine is to taste, so add more or less if you'd like. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes.

These shirley temple cupcakes were a nice little childhood throwback. They were a lovely addition to the weird 90s nostalgia I have been experiencing lately, especially with my recent purchase of new roller-blades.  I loved how springy the carbonation from the sprite made these cupcakes. I'll be honest though, these were a little on the bland side. Despite adding all sorts of extra grenadine and sprite, it didn't seem to really do much to enhance the taste. I really like the idea of cherry frosting though, so I want to experiment with some other ways to get that intense cherry flavor. 

Happy slurping, friends!

xoxo,

KG

Shortbread Butterscotch Cupcakes

I love baking cupcakes. Duh, right? If I didn't, this blog wouldn't exist. But seriously, not only are they delicious, they have so many other benefits besides the individually-sized sugary goodness. I mentioned in my Mint Chocolate Chip post how much more willing people are to help you out when you are known for thanking them with a heaping plate of cupcakes. My newest cupcake revelation is in regards to recognition. Since I started the blog, I have begun to develop a much broader range of tasting subjects for my cupcakes. Because my theme for the blog is taking pictures of the people who eat my cupcakes, I have started to bake a lot more for the different groups I belong to on campus. I am always the first to volunteer to bake for meetings and gatherings so new people are constantly eating my cupcakes and I am starting to become more widely known for them. Not to make it sound like my apartment smells of rich mahogany and leather bound books, but it is just sort of nice to have developed this little cupcake queen title among my friends and colleagues. I can't help but feel pretty good about my cupcake skills when I hear of people telling their friends about me. I even had a friend who was inspired enough to try on of my recipes on her own! Who knew baking cupcakes came with such a confidence boost? Anyways. Now that I'm off of my high horse, let's talk about the recipe for this post. Since I love bringing cupcakes to new people and events, I decided to bring some banana shortbread cupcakes with butterscotch buttercream to a little gathering for APO. I have had this nagging urge to incorporate shortbread into a cupcake for a while now. A nice crunchy, buttery layer on the bottom of the cupcake just sounded like the best idea and I am so glad I tried it.

Kyle and Kristina with their cupcakes at brother interview potluck!

SHORTBREAD:

2 sticks butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

splash of vanilla

1/4 t salt

1T heavy cream

Cream the butter and sugar together until they are just combined. Add the vanilla, flour, salt, and cream and beat until combined. Kneed the dough until it sticks together, but don't over kneed. Press the shortbread dough into lined cupcake tins, about a centimeter thick.

BANANA CAKE:

This recipe is one I have used previously in my Banana Cupcakes. I haven't worked much with butterscotch so I wasn't really sure what flavors would go well with it. So I figured banana wouldn't be bad.

1 1/2 Cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 stick of butter, melted
4 ripe bananas, smushed and mashed to a gloopy mess
2 eggs
2 T vanilla
1 t cinnamon

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a little well in the bowl and add the melted butter, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Stir to combine but don't over mix the batter. Divide the batter among the cupcake tins, over the shortbread. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

BUTTERSCOTCH BUTTERCREAM:

1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

splash of vanilla

1 Bag butterscotch chips

In a double boiler, melt the butterscotch chips. They don't really melt as much as they just get kind of pasty. Set aside to cool. Beat the butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix until smooth and fluffy. Slowly add the melted butterscotch to the mixture and mix until well combined and delicious. The butterscotch, like all of the extras in my buttercream recipes, is to taste. If you want the frosting to be super butterscotch-y like me, use the whole bag. The frosting was super sweet when I used the whole bag, so if you are looking for something less intense, cut down on the butterscotch.

I must say, I was a big fan of these. Since I had no experience working with shortbread and little experience with butterscotch, aside from my passion for butterscotch pudding when I was little, these cupcakes were definitely a challenge. But a welcomed challenge, nonetheless. My suspicion of banana and short bread pairing well together was spot on. I was really happy with the result and I am totally going to use more butterscotch in my recipes!

Until next time, my friends!

xoxo,

KG 

French Toast Cupcakes

I'm having major baking nostalgia. The first really extravagant cupcakes I ever made were french toast cupcakes. I had always loved baking but these cupcakes just threw my love for baking over the top. Of course I knew baking from scratch was a real thing but the cake mix Betty Crocker so selflessly provided in the grocery store seemed so much easier. I didn't realize how creative baking from scratch could be and how limiting baking with the box of cake mix could be. So when I happened upon a french toast cupcakes recipe, I decided to take a little risk and try it out. Who doesn't love breakfast and cupcakes, right? And I am SO glad I did. Without this recipe, my baking extravaganzas would be pretty non extravagant. I owe a lot of thanks to this recipe and Bakingdom for sparking my interest in cupcakes. So to show my gratitude, I made these cupcakes for a rotoract meeting. The recipe seemed so much easier the second time around after about a million other recipes of practice. So, with great honor, I present to you the magical French Toast Cupcake recipe!

Just some lovely rotoracters enjoying their cupcakes

CINNAMON STRUESEL

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 T sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

5 T cold butter, cut into pieces

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Mix in the butter but squeezing the pieces into the sugar mixture. I found using my hands was much more effective than using a fork. Pop the bowl in the freezer while you make the batter. 

FRENCH TOAST CUPCAKES:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 t baking powder

22 t cinnamon

1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

1/4 t salt

1 stick butter at room temp

1 container of plain yogurt

2 eggs

Plash of vanilla

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy add the eggs, one at a time, and blend until combined. Mix in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the yogurt. Blend until just until combined. Divide the batter among lined cupcake tins. Top with the struesel and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

MAPLE SYRUP BUTTERCREAM:

1 1/2 sticks butter at room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

Splash of vanilla

Beat the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar slowly and blend until combined. Add the vanilla and maple syrup an mix until think and creamy. (Note: add the maple syrup slowly. It can get a little sticky and mess up the consistency of the frosting and/or become to maple-y flavor. The 1/4 cup is mostly just a guideline). Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes! I dusted mine with a little cinnamon and powdered sugar because that is what I like on my french toast.

It was so nice to make these cupcakes again. It was even nicer when they turned out about hundred times better than they did the first time I made them. All of my practice has definitely paid off. Though you can't experience the taste difference, you can clearly see the technique differences. 

The first time I made them. My frosting collapsed and they weren't the prettiest cupcakes to ever walk this earth

Much better execution. I'm a sucker for a pretty cupcake.

I'm getting better everyday! This recipe was such a nice little confidence boost. 

Try something new today! You never know, you might be blogging about it later :)

xoxo,

KG