Chai Cinnamon Hazelnut Goodness

GUYS. I am having severe baker pride right now. Yesterday, for the first time in my baking career, I made up a recipe totally from scratch. Usually I use other people's recipes for inspiration and then I add my own little flare where flare needs to be added. But I was feeling extra confident in my abilities and decided to just make up my own recipe. I'm so excited about this. I have a list of about A HUNDRED cupcake recipe ideas but I decided to start out with my own experimental recipe rampage with a simpler cupcake. I made a cinnamon chai cupcake with a hazelnut buttercream and I have to admit, I am pretty proud of how they turned out. Now is the time I usually send you to the link where I got my inspiration but NO NEED FOR THAT TODAY!

KJ gave Marissa, Sarah, and me a ride to a concert on Friday when it was POURING rain so I obviously had to repay him with some delicious treats. My mom always gets excited when Ben or Grace's boyfriend, John, comes over for dinner because she likes cooking for boys. They eat so much! I never really understood the concept until presenting boys with a heaping plate of cupcakes. They just eat all of them and are so appreciative of the free sugary goodness. It's so nice when all of your food is eaten and liked!

CINNAMON CHAI CAKE:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 stick butter at room temp
2 eggs
A couple splashes of vanilla
1 cup chai concentrate (I used Oregon Chai)
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar

Cream the butter and sugars together until fluffy and combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in between additions. Add the vanilla and mix until combined and creamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in batches, alternating with additions of chai and milk. Beat until all of the ingredients are combined and smooth. Spoon into a lined cupcake tin and and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

When the timer beeped, I was pretty sure I was going to open the oven to some sort of radioactive, volcanic explosion. I didn't! They looked like real life cupcakes! 

HAZELNUT BUTTERCREAM:
1 1/2 sticks butter (room temperature)
3 cups powdered sugar
A couple shakes of cinnamon
1 T hazelnut torani syrup (more or less to taste. Be careful though, because this gets super hazelnutty super quickly)

Beat the butter until whipped. Add the powdered sugar in batches until combined and fluffy. Add the cinnamon and combine. CAREFULLY add the hazelnut. Seriously. Start with less. Torani is potent stuff. I wound up having to do a little recon work with extra powdered sugar. Spoon, or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes!

Now that I have successfully made up my very own cupcake recipe, I'm so excited to start crossing off some other original concoctions off of my ENORMOUS list of ideas. Good things are happening, people.

It's a great day to be cooking cupcakes!

xoxo,
KG

Raspberry Lime Cupcakes for a Cause

I had an exciting baking session with my friend (and future roommate!), Charlotte, a couple days ago. I baked my first batch of cupcakes in the kitchen of the house I am going to be living in next year! Charlotte lives there now, so I was so excited when she asked me to come over to help her bake for her Kappa Delta bake sale. The bake sale was raising money for the Eugene Looking Glass Station 7 to bring awareness to child abuse. The theme for their philanthropy is "shamrock", so I got to work wracking my brain for any recipe that would produce green cupcakes. Since I just made the Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, I decided to go in a lime direction. I considered making margarita cupcakes from Brown Eyed Baker, but since it was for a sorority function, Charlotte and I decided to replace the tequila with something raspberry-y and tangy. So with that, I present to you... RASPBERRY LIME CUPCAKES!

Charlotte with our delicious cupcakes, in our cute kitchen! (Can you tell how excited I am about this house?)

CAKE:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1 stick butter (at room temperature)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Zest and juice of 1 1/2 limes

1/2 cup frozen raspberries (thawed)

Splash of vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

3 T honey

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until it's light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, blending between each addition. Add the vanilla, lame juice, and lime zest and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients in batches alternating with the buttermilk and blend until smooth. In a blender, or using a hand blender, blend the thawed raspberries. Add 1/4 cup of the raspberries to the batter and mix until fully combined. Divide the batter among a lined cupcake tin and bake at 325 for about 22 minutes. WARNING! These are the UGLIEST cupcakes before the are frosted. But they taste good and look much better when they are all finished so don't let that detour you from these delicious treats!

With the remaining raspberries in a small bowl, add the honey and combine. When the cupcakes are completely cooled, dip the tops of the cupcakes in the raspberry sauce.

Much better color

FROSTING:

1 1/2 sticks butter (at room temperature)

3 cups powders sugar

Juice of 2 limes

Splash of milk

2 drops of green food coloring

Beat the butter until light and creamy. Add the powdered sugar in batches, alternating with the lime juice and the milk. blend for a few minutes until thick and creamy. Add a few drops of green food coloring and blend until you have your desired color. Spoon or pipe onto the cupcakes carefully as to not get the raspberry mixed into the green frosting. We topped ours with little lime slices and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

These cupcakes were delightful and super tangy. The raspberry in the cupcake and the raspberry sauce on top worked so well with the crispness of the lime frosting. Totally to die for and would be such a good recipe for the summer since they are so light and fruity. 

SUMMER COME FASTER!

xoxo,

KG

The Devil Went up to Spokane

Howdy! Ben came down to Eugene last weekend to visit so naturally we made lots and lots of cupcakes so he could bring them back to school. He loved the banana cupcakes I made a couple weeks ago so we made a batch of those. We also tried a new recipe too! I love the idea of chocolate and fruit. The sweetness of the chocolate and the tangy-ness of the fruit makes for such a nice ZING of flavor. That being said, we decided to make a simple devil's food cake with a raspberry buttercream. They were delightful! Marissa said this was definitely the best frosting of all time. This is the girl who looks at me with puppy dog eyes while I'm making buttercream, anxiously waiting for me to hand her the frosting smothered beater for her to lick. She is quite the frosting connoisseur, so I'm am extremely flattered. The cake recipe came from Spicy Ice Cream.

Ben cooking up some devil's food cupcakes

Ben's buddies at school eating them!

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

9 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 t salt

1 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1 stick butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

Generous splash of vanilla

1/2 cup strongly brewed black tea

1/2 cup milk

Cream together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Blend in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry ingredient blend and the tea to the butter mixture and beat. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and the milk and mix until smooth. Fill lined cupcake tin with the batter and bake for about 22 minutes at 350. As always, cool completely before icing.

RASPBERRY BUTTERCREAM:

1 1/2 sticks butter

3 cup powdered sugar

2 Generous splashes of vanilla

1/2 cup frozen raspberries (thawed) (this is sort of by taste. If you want SUPER raspberry-y frosting, use more. Not-so raspberry-y frosting, tone it down a bit)

Cream the butter until fluffy and add the powdered sugar in batches. Blend until creamy. Add the vanilla. Using a hand blender (or a regular blender would work too) blend the raspberries until soupy. Add the raspberry soup to the butter cream and blend for 5 minutes until thick and creamy and totally combined. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. 

These cupcakes had a lovely consistency and I will definitely make them again. I think next time, I want to add some sort of glaze or drizzle-y chocolate raspberry sort of something or other. A nice filling or swirl of something gooey would definitely add a little more spunk to them.

Stay fabulous.

xoxo,

KG

Snicker doodlin'

I have a little confession to make. I'm bad at measuring. I'm sure my great grandmother, who I have heard was just about the best baker around, is rolling around in her grave. Of course, since baking definitely involves a sort of chemistry to find the perfect equilibrium of texture and ingredients, I do measure dry ingredients carefully. The wet ones, not so much. Most of the time this applies to vanilla or milk. A generous splash of vanilla vs. 1 teaspoon of vanilla is usually the route I take. Plus I really like vanilla so I usually just put more in than a recipe calls for, anyways. My non-measurements in this recipe were cinnamon and brown sugar. The original recipe came from Jessica Burns but I didn't think these cupcakes were snicker doodle-y enough so I added a few things here and there to spice them up a bit. Caution: Some of the measurements are mere guesstimates.

Ariston, my baking buddy

SNICKER DOODLE CAKE:
3 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
About 5 generous shakes of cinnamon (Use as much as you like)
2 sticks butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
About 3/4 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 or 2 generous splashes of vanilla
1 1/4 cup milk

With an electric mixer cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the milk. Beat until combined and smooth.

Divide the batter among a lined cupcake tin and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting. (NOTE: This recipe Makes almost 2 dozen cupcakes)

FROSTING:
Confession number two: I NEVER measure anything relating to frosting or buttercream. I do everything by taste. The only sort of measuring I do is the butter, but only for how much frosting to make, not for a ratio thing. All of these measurements are guesses too. But they are educated guesses. If these measurements don't work, just add whatever it's lacking. Too buttery: add powdered sugar. Too dry: add a small dash of cream. Need more frosting: MORE BUTTER.

2 1/2 sticks butter
4 cups powdered sugar
Generous Dash of Vanilla
A couple shakes of cinnamon (to taste)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Cream the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in batches until combined. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar and beat until combined. This buttercream has to be beaten for about 5 minutes since the brown sugar granules are much bigger. The frosting will be gritty of you don't beat it for a while. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. I sprinkled mine with a bit of cinnamon.

The actual cake wasn't quite as sweet as usual. If I make this recipe again, I think I might add a little more sugar to give them a little extra kick. The buttercream is SUPER sweet though, so it was sort of a nice balance.

Be Happy!

xoxo,
KG

Mint Chocolate Chip Goodness

As I journey through my baking adventures, I have learned some valuable lessons. The most valuable lesson would definitely be "NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A GOOD CUPCAKE". Since I have started baking, it seems as though people are genuinely more willing to help out a girl in need. I think this sounds manipulative, but it isn't supposed to be. Basically my observation is people become much friendlier and are more willing to lend a helping hand when you are known for thanking people with a heaping plate of cupcakes. Exhibit A: "Can someone please cover my shift at work? There is a new cupcake recipe I want to try." Within mere minutes of sending the email to my co-workers I received a response with a simple "DIBS" in my inbox. This little system is becoming quite convenient. Don't worry, I'm not taking the cupcake favors for granted though. After my co-worker was kind enough to cover one of my shifts, I quickly got to work on some scrumptious cupcakes.

Mint Chocolate chip ice cream is easily my favorite frozen dessert. Mint and chocolate are such an excellent combination so I couldn't resist whipping up some mint chocolate chip cupcakes. They taste like a gooey chocolate cake topped with a big fat scoop of the frozen stuff. Except they won't give you a brain freeze.

Of course I saved one for my roommate, too. These cupcakes make even the most mundane homework exciting! Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. I'm sure the public sphere in civil society of the Ottoman Empire was still just as mundane even with a cupcake in hand, but I'd like to think it at least made the experience a bit more enjoyable.

CHOCOLATE CAKE: (This is just a basic chocolate cake recipe so if you have a favorite, use it!)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 t Vanilla
1/2 cup boiling water

Sift all of the dry ingredient in a large bowl. Add the egg, milk, canola oil, and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the boiling water and stir until there aren't patches of water in the batter. This batter is a bit runny so I used a ladle to spoon it into the lined cupcake tin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting or ganaching.

GANACHE:
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 t peppermint extract (or more to taste)

Heat the cream on the stove until almost boiling. Poor the hot cream over the chocolate chips and mix until the chocolate chips have melted into a delightful gooey mess. Stir in the peppermint extract, making sure it is fully combined (no one wants a painful bite of pure peppermint extract).

When the cupcakes have cooled, use a small knife (I'm a big fan of paring knives) to make a hole in the cupcake. Spoon or pipe the ganache into center. (Since the ganache is so gooey, piping is tons easier).

MINT BUTTERCREAM:
1 1/2 stick room temperature butter
2-2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1 1/2 T heavy cream
1 t Vanilla
1 T peppermint extract

Beat the sugar until whipped and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in batches alternating with a splash of cream. Add the vanilla and peppermint extract and whip until creamy and think. I also added some green food coloring to give it an extra minty look. Pipe or spread onto your ganached cupcakes.

The vanilla in the buttercream totally makes this taste like an ice cream cupcake. If you wanted a fresher or crisper cupcake, I'd omit the vanilla, but I was definitely going for the ice cream flavor. They were delicious. The ganache on the inside was sticky and wonderful and gave the cake a little extra oomph. Overall, wicked cupcakes.

Live long and prosper.

xoxo,
KG

Banana Bonanza!

Hello! So today was my friend, Hillary's, birthday so I decided to whip her up some banana cupcakes with a honey cinnamon buttercream. This cupcake was pretty much banana bread with butercream so naturally it was TO DIE FOR.

The birthday girl with her cupcakes!

I love banana bread. It is one of the best desserts to ever exist (aside from cupcakes of course). This recipe was super easy and made really moist cupcakes. Now I just want to make all sorts of bread based cupcakes! Zucchini bread cupcakes, pumpkin bread cupcakes, the list goes on! There are now hundreds of cupcake ideas floating around in my little noggin, now.  I got the original idea from Honey and Jam but I added a few ingredients to give the cake a little more spunk.

BANANA CAKE:

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 into lined muffin cups. Bake the cupcakes at 350 for 25 minutes. Let them cool completely before frosting. 

HONEY CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM:

1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 Sticks of Butter

Slightly less than 1/4 cup honey

A couple good shakes of cinnamon

1 Tablespoon whipping cream

(NOTE: I sort of had to play with the amounts of honey and powdered sugar. If the honey gets too overpowering and gives you that painful tingle in the back of your throat, add a bit more powdered sugar and the flavor should mellow out a bit.)

Whip the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in batches and mix until combined. Add the whipping cream and honey and whip until think and fluffy. Fold the cinnamon into the frosting until incorporated.

Spoon or pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. I garnished mine with a piece of banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

This was one of my favorite recipes I have made so far. The cake was really moist and the frosting was delicious. I loved the combo. This recipe would be really good with walnuts I think, as well. Or a nice peanut butter frosting. The possibilities are endless!!

Happy eating, friends! And remember, there is always money in the banana stand. 

xoxo,

KG

Traveling Cupcake Sandwiches

So as Valentine's day is approaching, I wanted to send Ben some cupcakes since I won't be able to see him on the actual day. But he is visiting this weekend! Yay! Anyways, cupcakes are not an easy thing to mail. They get all soggy in the mail, not to mention the frosting disaster zone of whatever container you mail them in. So I raked my brain for a bit to figure out how I could send some cupcakes up to Spokane without them being super gross by the time they arrived. Apparently they arrived just as delicious as ever because they were gobbled up before the "people eating my cupcakes" pictures could be taken. But, I can only assume these were the lovely bunch who ate them!

I'm so excited they liked them!!

Anyways, in the spirit of the holiday, I made a simple red velvet cupcake with a vanilla cream cheese frosting. The original recipe was from Baker Chick but as always, I added my own little twist.

CAKE:

4 T Room Temperature butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3 T cocoa powder

Enough red food coloring to give the batter a glossy red color 

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup flour

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

1 1/2 t white vinegar

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy on medium high speed. Add the egg and mix until incorporated. In a separate small bowl mix the cocoa powder, vanilla, and red food coloring to make a thick paste (NOTE: I had to add about a tablespoon of water to the mixture, but I was using gel food coloring instead of liquid). Add the paste to the butter mixture and blend until well combined. Alternate adding parts of the flour and buttermilk and mix to combine. Mix until smooth. Add the salt, baking soda, and vinegar and mix for a few more second to make sure everything is combined and fluffy. Divide the batter among a lined cupcake tin and fill the cups FULL. I'm talking 3/4 full so they puff over and you can slice off the top for your sandwich. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Let them cool completely before frosting or sandwiching.

FROSTING:

1/2 stick butter at room temperature

8 oz package of cream cheese (softened)

2 1/2 Cups powdered sugar

2 T Vanilla extract

Beat the butter and cream cheese until fluffy and voluptuous. Add the half the powdered sugar and the vanilla and mix until combined. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and beat until creamy and light and fluffy. And voila! Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting.

Once the cupcakes are cool, use a small, sharp knife (I used a paring knife and that worked really well) and slice the top of the cupcake off. Slather the decapitated cupcake with frosting and place the head back on. 

Ben said the frosting didn't get EVERYWHERE mid shipment and they still tasted good despite being a few days after I baked them. I'm totally using this sandwiching technique to mail cupcakes again. Plus they just look so cute! Marissa ate one when they were fresh and said "the cake. The cake. The actual cake was my favorite. it was just so dense but also fluffy. I don't know. They tasted so good in my mouth." I'm taking that as a compliment.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

xoxo,

KG

S'mores Galore!

Tomorrow is the rotoract bake sale for the alternative spring break trip so I obviously had to contribute some cupcakes for a good cause. I decided to go with a s'more cupcake as per request from my roommate and were they delicious! As far a desserts go, s'mores, aren't necessarily my favorite, but if these cupcakes were eaten around the camp fire I certainly would not complain.

My friend, Charlotte, was my baking buddy!

... and my weird roommate. They were the best tasters around! :)

Anyways! I made a few tweaks in the recipe but the original came from The Wicked Noodle. 

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (15 graham crackers smashed to dust in the food processor or blender)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 t baking powder

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 T vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 jar of marshmallow cream (the short jar)

A few graham crackers for garnish

CAKE

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt. In a separate bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, blending between each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Alternate adding graham cracker mixture and milk to the batter. Divide among lined muffin tin and bake for about 18-19 minutes. (NOTE: I baked my cupcakes for about 20 minutes and they were ever so slightly overcooked).

GANACHE

While letting the cupcakes cool completely, bring cream to almost a boil in a small sauce pan and then pour over 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate is melted and the sauce begins to thicken. Let cool to about room temperature. 

BUTTERCREAM:

2 Sticks of butter

1 Jar of Marshmallow Cream minus 1/3 Cup

1 1/2 Cup powdered sugar

2 T Vanilla

Beat the butter until fluffy and add half the marshmallow cream. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the rest of the marshmallow and beat for about 3 minutes until the frosting is think and fluffy. The marshmallow cream makes it a bit sticky so you may need to add a little powdered sugar. The original recipe called for "toasted marshmallow fluff" but since I'm not the biggest fan of marshmallow, I decided to tone down the flavor a bit. The buttercream is still super marshmallow-y but definitely more subdued than just a heaping blob of marshmallow cream.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, using a paring knife, cut a small hole in the cupcakes. Using the extra marshmallow fluff, place or pipe a dollop of it in the hole you just made. Then fill the hole the rest of the way with the chocolate ganache. 

Then pipe the marshmallow buttercream on top! I dusted mine with a sprinkle of cinnamon and topped them with a chocolate dipped graham cracker.

These were some of the messiest and stickiest cupcakes I have ever eaten, but so delicious! The ganache and marshmallow on the inside seemed to ooze EVERYWHERE. I will definitely make these again. Though s'mores aren't my favorite, I do appreciate a quick slather of peanut butter on my graham crackers before assembling the marshmallows and chocolate. Next time I make these I think I'm going to incorporate some peanut butter into the batter or maybe add some peanut butter to the crater of goodness with the marshmallow fluff and ganache. 

Happy Slurping!

xoxo,

KG

First Post!! Vanilla Strawberry Dollop Cupcakes

Hello! This is so exciting and my first cupcake post! I have only been baking cupcakes for about 6 months but I am absolutely in love with it! This recipe originally came from the the Gluten Free Canteen but I used regular flour instead so I had to alter the recipe a little. But they were delicious! The original recipe used raspberry but I like strawberry better. You could probably use any flavor of jelly you like.

^My taste tester (crazy roommate) modeling the strawberry vanilla bliss.

CAKE
1 1/2 Cup flour
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 t Baking soda
1/4 t kosher salt
6 T melted butter
1 T Vanilla
1/2 Cup Warm Water
Strawberry Jam

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Mix the butter, vanilla, eggs, and water together. Add the butter and water mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth (NOTE: I had a little trouble with the batter being a bit runny so I added a little more flour and sugar to get a thicker consistency). Spoon the batter into lined cupcake tins and top with a heaping dollop of strawberry jam (or the jam of your choice). Bake at 350 for 5 minutes and then lower the temperature to 325 and bake for about 17 minutes more until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM:
1 Stick of butter
2 Cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 T vanilla extract
2 T Strawberry Jam (or until buttercream looks pale pink)

Beat the butter in a standing mixer until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in batches of 1/2 cup-3/4 cup so you don't get powdered sugar mess EVERYWHERE. Add the vanilla and strawberry jam and mix until smooth and fluffy. Pipe or spoon it on to your cooled cupcakes!

Enjoy!!

xoxo,
KG