Cupcake a Week: Jammin' Strawberry Cream & Chocolate

Happy Friday and Happy Memorial Day weekend! I am super excited to share my featured cupcake a week recipe with you for the upcoming holiday weekend! This is sure to be a crowd pleaser! I tested my latest cupcake creation "Jammin' Strawberry Cream & Chocolate" out with some friends at a crawfish boil the other weekend and they got rave reviews! I'll just go ahead and say it now...these are just too good to eat only one!

Here's the run down on how these cupcakes were created! For the last 8 weeks this competition called the "Real Women of Philadelphia" has been going on which was hosted by Philadelphia Cream Cheese and the queen of Southern Cuisine herself, Miss Paula Deen! Well I absolutely LOVE Paula Deen and have several of her cook books and love trying out her recipes. And who doesn't love Philly Cream Cheese right? So pretty much every night while eating dinner and watching tv with my husband I would see the Real Women of Philadelphia commericals. Every night I would think to myself why don't I enter this competition. So finally I went to the contest website and read over the details! Let's just say there's a lot at stake here and if your recipe is picked this could be life changing!

Here's a quick run down of the competition:

-8 weeks, with each week being a different category to submit a recipe for: side dish, appetizer, entree & dessert

-you must submit a video of yourself preparing the recipe between 1-10 minutes long

-your recipe MUST include Philadelphia Cream Cheese!

-each week 2 finalists are picked from each of the 4 categories for a total of 16 finalists

Now here's where it gets really exciting, if you are picked as one of the 16 finalists you:

-get flown to Savannah to meet Paula Deen and prepare your recipe in front of a live audience

-from there they pick 1 winner for each of the 4 categories

-the 4 winners get to help write a Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook, go on tour promoting the book with Paula Deen and get $25,000 plus a bunch of other cool perks!

Talk about one exciting competition! Well after weeks of thinking about it, talking about it, reading about it, watching some of the submission videos of other women's recipes online I finally decided to take my chances and enter a recipe the last week of the competition for the dessert category!

I wish I hadn't waited so long to join the contest but really I was super scared of having to video tape myself! Give me a recipe and I'll bake all day long, but throw a camera in front of my face and it's a whole different story! Finally I decided I would just go for it, you only live once right, and how often do you get a chance to meet the queen of butter Paula Deen!

So I gathered up my Philadelphia Cream Cheese and my secret ingredient homemade strawberry freezer jam and hit the kitchen to start baking...

CUPCAKES of course! I'm sure by now you all know how much I love cupcakes! I have a running head band that says it all "will run for cupcakes" and I post a different cupcake a week on my blog! So I decided to stay true to myself and what brings me joy and create a batch of cupcakes loaded with great flavors: chocolate, cream cheese and strawberries to hopefully impress Paula!

I put on the cutest apron I could find and got to filming! Paula had posted all kinds of "how to" videos on the Real Women of Philadelphia site which came in super handy for for my first video cooking debut! She talked about "how to develop a recipe", "how to shoot your video", "how to plate your dish", "how to set up your lighting" "how to do your hair" and "how to choose your wardrobe".

Paula if you are reading this blog, I want you to know I took all of your video advice into consideratioin when filming my recipe so I hope it pays off when you watch my dessert video submission and see all the careful thought I put into the fine details!

First of all I set up my prep area on our bar countertop. I decided to break down my recipe and talk about in in "3 easy steps" so I had 3 small workstations. I know it all looks like a mess in this picture but everything flowed quite nicely when filming.

Step 1: Prepare chocolate cake batter & cupcake pan

Step 2: Prepare strawberry cream cheese filling

Step 3: Prepare strawberry cream cheese frosting

Here's a picture of the Jammin' Strawberry Cream Cupcakes right before they go into the oven. I love the brown and pink color combination!

And here's the results after baking! YUM!

And with the strawberry cream cheese frosting and a strawberry on top!

Filming is over and it's time to eat some cupcakes!

So do you wanna see my 1st ever cooking video debut? You can find the video and recipe for my Jammin' Strawberry Cream & Chocolate cupcakes here on the Real Women of Philadelphia site!

My friend Renie had a Flip camera so that is what we used to video tape! Thanks Renie for being my videographer and putting up with what seemed like a million do overs whenever I would mess up my words! My final video was done in all 1 shot from start to finish! Now don't get me wrong there were about 21 partial videos that occurred before the final video, but the real deal was done in one shooting! I practiced my intro several times, one of which got interrupted by a knock on the door, one of which I pulled out my running headband with the words being upside down, several with my black lab panting loudly in the background...all had to be scrapped! Then on the first time to go through the recipe live without stopping, as soon as I started to mix the cream cheese filling, one of my beaters fell out and we had to start all over. Let's just say I've got some good bloopers if I can figure out how to edit them into one video!

Oh yeah, and then the last second of the "real deal" video I had some cupcake stuck in the side of my cheek. I had to take a bite on camera you know...that's what Paula does on her shows and talk about how yummy the cupcake tasted! Well as I was talking I just moved the cake to my cheek I guess, and then said goodbye. I thought the filming was done! Well when we played back the video, the camera was definitely still on and you see this awful expression on my face while I am trying to move the cake from my cheek with my tongue. Yeah that's all on camera for the whole world to see! So you'll definitely get a good laugh at the end!

I think the last 2 dessert finalists will be picked sometime next week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Paula liked my recipe! Even if I don't get chosen as one of the finalists, entering this contest was an amazing experience and it helped me to overcome my fears of being in front of a camera. I was able to step outside of my comfort zone and take a chance and had an entire community of women from the Real Women of Philadelphia site supporting me along the way!

Thanks Paula Deen & Philadelphia Cream Cheese for hosting such an amazing competition! Watching all of the recipe submission videos these last 8 weeks has truly been inspiring! There are really some great cooks and creative personalities out there! All of the women that participated in this competition have really changed my perception of cooking and creating recipes! This competition has really taught me to step outside of the box and take a recipe that you love and mix it up a bit to make it one of your own, or to gather some of your favorite ingredients and see what kind of recipe you can create. Cooking truly is something that everyone can do! The kitchen is truly my favorite room of the house and the place where I feel most creative! Even though this competition is over, I feel like I have gained a new respect of cooking and can't wait to create even more of my own recipes!

So what are you waiting for...go whip up a batch of these today! You will be in strawberry & cream cheese heaven!

Cupcake a Week: Hostess Chocolate

This weeks cupcake takes me back to my childhood! I don't know about you but when I was growing up I used to love eating the Hostess chocolate cupcakes filled with the vanilla cream center and chocolate frosting. And lets not forget about those signature white curls on top!

I remember my mom would take us to the bread store every week and I would walk up and down the isles looking at all the sweet treats...twinkies, ho ho's, ding dongs, and sno balls but would always grab a pack of the Hostess cupcakes as my special treat! I just couldn't resist these chocolate cupcakes calling my name! I think it's their signature squiggle on top that really catches your eye and draws you in!

I thought it would be fun to try and re-create this popular cake! I turned to Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and discovered recipes that would work for the cake, filling and icing. I must admit these tasted pretty close to the real thing!

Just look at that cream filled center...don't you just want to sink your teeth into one of these?


Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes (my version of the cake using recipes from Martha Stewart)

One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 2 dozen)

Ingredients:
-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa powder
-2 1/2 cups sugar
-2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
-1 1/4 teaspoons salt
-2 large whole eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk
-1 1/4 cups milk
-1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
-1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-1 1/4 cups warm water

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Into the bowl of an electric mixer, sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; add the eggs and yolk, the milk, oil, vanilla, and warm water. Beat on low speed until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool slightly. Invert cupcakes onto the rack; then reinvert and let them cool completely, top sides up.

Seven-Minute Frosting (used for cream filling and squiggles on top of cupcake)
Recipe makes about 8 cups (I cut the recipe in half and still had extra left over)

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-2 tablespoons light corn syrup
-6 large egg whites
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer, set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine sugar, corn syrup, 1/4 cup water, and the egg whites. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes.
• Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the mixture on high speed until glossy and voluminous, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Use immediately.

Chocolate Ganache (used for chocolate cupcake frosting)
Makes about 3 cups (I cut the recipe in half and still had extra left over)

Ganache will thicken as it sits. To cover a cake, it should be pourable but still thick enough to coat. If not, place the bowl of ganache over a pan of simmering water and stir until it reaches the right consistency.

Ingedients:
-2 cups heavy cream
-1 pound best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

• In a small saucepan over medium-high heat bring cream to a full boil; tun off heat. Add the chocolate, and swirl pan to completely cover it with cream. Let stand about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk mixture until smooth. Transfer to a clean bowl. Let cool, stirring frequently.

To assemble the cupcakes follow these steps:
1.Place seven-minute frosting in a piping bag fitted with Wilton tip 230.
2.Place tip straight up and down inside the cupcake about mid way down, squeeze and release. The inside of the cupcake will be filled with the frosting.
3.Continue to repeat this step until all cupcake centers have been filled.
4.Dip tops of cupcakes into ganache mixture and repeat until all cupcakes are covered.
5.Place chocolate covered cupcakes in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to set up.
6.Fill another piping bag with remaining seven-minute frosting fitted with a small round tip (Wilton # 2 or #3 will work). Pipe on the squiggles on top of the cupcake!
7.Take a bite!

ENJOY!

Cupcake a Week: Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcake

If you follow my blog regularly you know that this year I am posting a different cupcake recipe or idea each week! Well let's just say last weeks cupcake turned out to be a flop. Lesson learned: an ooey gooey peanut butter center and a jumbo cupcake do not go well together. I was left with a collapsed cupcake that looked like a mound of buttercream icing!

But this is a new week so I was determined to take my two favorite ingredients and create round 2 of my chocolate and peanut butter cupcake! This recipe is indestructable...as it requires no baking at all, but will be chilled instead and still includes some peanut butter goodness!

First of all you need to buy a bag of the snack size Reese's Cups.

Take off the wrappers and place them inside a cupcake tin with paper liners. The Reese's cup will serve as the base of your cupcake.

Next you will whip up a fabulous chocolate no bake cheesecake type mousse and dollop on top of the Reese's Cups! Place in the fridge until firm about 1 hour.

And if you so desire you can add a little peanut butter cream cheese icing on top for another layer of peanut butter! I had some of this butter cream left from last weeks cupcake so I figured what the heck...the more peanut butter the better! This is a simple and easy recipe you can whip up with just a few ingredients and doesn't even require turning on your oven.

Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcake

Ingredients:

-2 oz Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate squares, melted

-8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

-1/2 cup sugar

-1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

-2 cups Cool Whip topping, thawed

-12 Reese's Cup (snack size)

• Line 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.
• Unwrap Reese's Cups and place 1 in each of the cupcake liners.
• Melt chocolate in the microwave for 30 second intervals until melted. Set aside to cool.
• Combine cream cheese, sugar and butter into bowl and beat on medium speed until creamy.
• Add in melted chocolate and blend until combined.
• Fold in Cool Whip until incorporated.
• Spoon chocolate cheesecake mixture into paper lined cupcake tin.
• Refrigerate cheesecake cupcakes until firm, about 1 hour.
• If desired, add a dollop of peanut butter cream cheese frosting from this recipe.

ENJOY!

Cupcake a Week: Chocolate & Peanut Butter Swirl

Have you ever made a jumbo cupcake? Let's just say this was my first and not so great experience using the Wilton giant cupcake pan. It started out as a good idea...


I had some left over Reese's Cups from Easter...so what came to mind...a jumbo chocolate and peanut butter cupcake! I LOVE that flavor combination!


I made a chocolate cake batter and a peanut butter mixture that were swirled together in the pan. I taste tested both batters and so far they were super yummy! But while the cake was baking the middle just never seemed to firm up. I kept doing the toothpick test but the center still seemed gooey. So I'd leave it in for 5 more minutes, then 5 more minutes. Finally I just decided to pull the cake out of the oven because the outer edges were definitely ready. I just kept my fingers crossed the cake would be firm enough to stack.


While the cake cooled I made a batch of chocolate buttercream and a batch of peanut butter cream cheese icing and placed in piping bags so I'd be ready to decorate.


Then it was time to frost the bottom of the cupcake. I used a star tip and piped vertical strips of icing all the way around.


Then I swirled chocolate icing around the center of the cake before adding the top of the cupcake.


Then I swirled alternating rings of chocolate buttercream and peanut butter icing. So far the cake seems to be pretty sturdy...icing is almost complete.


Now for the Reese's Cups...I chopped the mini candies into four pieces and had planned to use these as a garnish on top of the cupcake...but my plan just didn't quite seem to fall into place. Brace yourself for the next picture you are about to see....

Literally in the blink of an eye my cupcake started to collapse. I didn't even have the Reese's cups on top of it yet...the whole inspiration behind this cupcake. So basically I just panicked knowing any minute the entire cupcake could collapse and I just threw some Reese's on top so I could at least get a picture.

This is just so sad...I mean where did the bottom of the cupcake go...it looks like it never even existed. Has anyone else ever made a giant cupcake and had the bottom completely crumble??? I am convinced it must be the peanut butter mixture that was swirled in the middle of the cupcake and that there wasn't enough stability b/c the center was too gooey...does this sound like the reason for the failure? And this isn't even the worst picture...about 5 minutes later it had fallen over a few more inches. Where you see the ring of peanut butter icing, it was pretty much touching the edge of the plate. What a bummer!

But let's look on the bright side...even though the cupcake crumbled it's still edible right? So what did I do, I grabbed a fork and dug right in...and I must say it was super yummy! I definitely recommend you still try this recipe, just maybe with smaller cupcakes in mind!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes

Chocolate cake:
-1 box Devils Food cake mix
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-3 eggs
-1 cup chocolate milk

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare desired cake or cupcake pans.
  
• Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.
• Set batter aside.
• Prepare peanut butter filling.
  

Peanut Butter Filling:
-1 stick unsalted butter, melted
-1 cup confectioners' sugar
-1 1/4 cups peanut butter
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Stir together all ingredients until smooth.
• Layer mixtures into pans as follows: chocolate, peanut butter, chocolate, peanut butter, chocolate
  
• Take a knife and swirl the chocolate and peanut butter layers together.
• Bake in the oven according to the required time for the pan size you use (for the jumbo cupcake it took about 45 minutes...but again use this recipe in the jumbo pan at your own risk, based on the outcome of my cake...I don't recommend it)
• Frost with chocolate buttercream and peanut butter cream cheese icing.
  

Chocolate Buttercream

- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
-6 cups confectioners' sugar
-1/2 cup milk
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/2 cup cocoa powder

• Beat butter on medium speed in electric mixer until creamy.
• Add in confectioners sugar, milk and vanilla and beat until desired consistency.
• Mix in cocoa powder.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing

-1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
-3 oz cream cheese, softened
-1/2 cup peanut butter
-1 cup confectioners' sugar

• Beat butter on medium speed in electric mixer until creamy.
• Add in cream cheese and peanut butter and mix well until combined.
• Add confectioners' sugar and beat on medium until fluffy.
  

ENJOY!

Cupcake a Week: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

We all love chocolate chip cookies right? And what about cupcakes, we love them too? So how about combining the two and creating a chocolate chip cookie cupcake! These tiny cookie cakes take me back to my teenage years. When my sister and I were in middle school and high school it seems like every weekend we would head to the mall. We were what you might call shopaholics...always seeking out the latest fashion trends at all of the name brand stores.

Man have I come to realize the value of money since those days...I don't even want to think about the thousands of dollars I spent on clothes growing up not even thinking twice about how frivolously I was spending my money. Even in college I was the same way. My college roommate would always joke with me saying "it looks like a department store blew up in your closet" because it would be crammed full with so many clothes I'd be lucky if the doors would even shut.

I am proud to say though that I have done a lot of "growing up" since those days and I no longer feel the urge to splurge on the latest hot fashion items! Knowing that there are bills to be paid and a house mortgage sure do make you get wise about how you spend your money quick. Or maybe it's the fact that I no longer work in a professional work environmet but instead work out of my house...no need to buy high heel shoes and dress slacks anymore...it's running shorts and a t-shirt for me most days! Or maybe it's the fact that where I live now I no longer have access to all of my favorite stores...let's just say the shopping scene in Mobile is not quite the same as it was in Cincinnati.

So its probably the combination of the three (bills, work from home, none of my favorite stores) as to why I am just so cheap these days that I pretty much don't buy any clothes unless they are on sale or at the outlet mall or it's for a special occasion. My husband practically has to convince me to go spend money on myself for a new outfit! I think he buys more clothes for himself...he just can't seem to find the pair of Docker's that fit just right or have enough khaki shorts!

But anyways now that I have gone on a tangent about my history with shopping and spending money on clothes, let's get back to those cookie cups! I don't know that I would have ever been introduced to these had it not been for my shopping obessession. See right across from one of my favorite clothing stores in the mall was this cookie shop called "The Original Cookie Company". Everytime we went to the mall, my sister and I would have to stop in and get several different types of cookies...there was the sugar cookie with M&Ms the double chocolate and the absolute must have chocolate chip cookie cup with icing on top! YUM YUM YUM! This cookie company no longer exists in that mall and I'm not even sure if it exists at all, but those sure were some delicious cookie cups!

So while my sister was here visiting last week I wanted to make her some chocolate chip cookie cups so we could relive our mall madness days! We just used the Nestle Toll House recipe, and placed the dough in a mini cupcake tin to bake. Once the cookies cooled we swirled on some buttercream icing I had left over from making Easter cupcakes! Now these didn't taste quite the same as those cookie cups we remember from The Original Cookie Company but these were a pretty close second!

Cupcake a Week: Banana & Chocolate

This recipe is for all you banana and chocolate lovers! I had 3 very ripe bananas that were staring me in the face this week just begging to be eaten. It seems every time I have ripe bananas I make the same old loaf of banana bread or a batch of muffins that I have made a thousand times. This week I wanted to switch things up a bit and try a banana cupcake! I even decided to get a little crazy and make them into a sandwich style cupcake filled with a layer of icing and another swirl of icing on top! Let me just warn you these can get a little messy when eating, but they are oh so worth it!

I have this fabulous cake book, Confetti Cakes that I used for the recipe. The book is crammed full of some of the most elaborately decorated cakes, cupcakes, cookies and yummy recipes I have ever seen. If you don't already own this book, I highly recommend picking up a copy! I find myself just thumbing through the pages regularly looking at all the details, techniques and vibrantly colored pages...talk about some inspiration on every page!

Banana Cupcakes (recipe from Confetti Cakes)

This recipe can be used for three 9-inch round cake layers, 1 half sheet (13 x 18 inches) or 24 cupcakes! (I cut this recipe in half because I only had 3 bananas and it still turned out moist and delicious)

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons baking soda
3 1/4 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
6 very ripe bananas

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners or spray with cooking spray (I used cooking spray b/c I wanted to be able to slice the tops off my cupcakes and make them into sandwiches).
• In a large bowl, sift together the baking soda and flour. Set aside.
• Peel the bananas and mash them in a bowl. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until smooth.
• Set the mixer to low speed and add the eggs, one at a time scraping thoroughly between each addition.
• Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined.
• Add the flour mixture in two batches, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
• Add the bananas and beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 18-22 minutes.
• Allow cupcakes to cool. Using a serrated knife cut the tops off the cupcakes and swirl a layer of chocolate buttercream icing on the cake. Put the top of the cupcake back on and then swirl some more buttercream on top.

Have a great weekend!

Chocoflan

Here's a recipe my dad shared with me a few weeks ago for a Chocoflan cake. It was a huge hit with his friends and everyone raved about how good the combination of cake and custard was. I've never made flan before, but remember learning about it and tasting it in my seventh grade spanish class...wow that was a long time ago! I wasn't really a huge fan of flan way back when, but I have to admit this cake sure did change my opinion of this sweet custard dessert.

This past weekend I went to a Mexican themed party so I figured this Chocoflan cake would be the perfect dessert to take! How good does this caramel drizzle and pecan topping look on top of the flan custard? It was hard to not sneak a taste of this cake before the party.

The way this cake bakes is pretty neat. You make the chocolate cake mixture in one bowl and pour it into a buttered bundt pan that has been drizzled with caramel first. Then you make the custard mixture in a blender and pour the custard over the chocolate cake. The magic of this cake occurs in the baking...the custard sinks to the bottom of the bundt pan and the cake rises to the top.


Don't you wish you had a piece of this delicious cake? Well here's the recipe, so what are you waiting for, go whip one up for your next party!

Chocoflan (recipe from Marcela Valladolid, Food Network)

Ingredients
-12 cup capacity bundt pan
-softened butter, to coat pan
-1/4 cup cajeta or caramel sauce

For the cake:
-10 tablespoons butter, room temperature
-1 cup sugar
-1 egg, room temperature
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-3/4 teaspoon baking powder
-3/4 teaspoon baking soda
-1/3 cup cocoa powder
-1 1/4 cups buttermilk

For the flan:
-1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
-1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
-4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
-3 eggs
-1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For garnish:
-1/4 cup cajeta or caramel sauce
-1/4 cup chopped pecans

• Put an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
• Coat a bundt pan with a little butter, then coat the bottom with 1/4 cup cajeta and put it in a large roasting pan. (The roasting pan will serve as a water bath during baking.)
• For the cake: Add the butter and sugar to a bowl and using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa in a medium bowl. Beat 1/3 of the flour mixture, and 1/2 of the buttermilk into the egg mixture. Repeat, ending with the flour mixture. Blend until well incorporated.
• For the flan: In a blender, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, cream cheese, eggs and vanilla. Blend on high for 30 seconds.
• Scoop the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan and spread evenly. Slowly pour the flan mixture over the cake batter. Cover with foil and add about 1-inch of hot water to the roasting pan.
• Carefully slide the pan into the oven, and bake 1 hour, until the surface of the cake is firm to the touch, or an inserted toothpick comes out clean. When cake is done, remove from the water bath and cool completely to room temperature, about 1 hour.
• Invert a large, rimmed serving platter over the bundt pan, grasp tightly together, giggle a little an flip over. Remove the pan and scrape any remaining cajeta from the pan onto the cake, garnish with chopped pecans and serve!
• Cook's Notes: The batters may appear to mix when you pour them into the pan, but they completely separate while baking, with the flan ending up on the bottom when it's inverted. I like eating it warm, but traditionally, it is chilled 24 hours before serving.
• Cajeta is a thick and creamy spread or paste made with caramelized sugar and milk. It is used as as dessert on its own or as a topping. Also known as "dolce de leche", it is sold in many supermarkets, Latin specialty markets or onlion. It can be substituted with a thick caramel sauce.

ENJOY!

Cupcake a Week: Vanilla & Chocolate Swirl

Vanilla or Chocolate...Chocolate or Vanilla???? I often find myself contemplating which flavor to choose when it comes time to eating cake or ice cream. When I'm at a wedding and there are both chocolate and vanilla slices of cake, I'm that over indulgent guest that eats one piece of cake like all the other guests, but then when no one is watching sneaks back up to the cake table and helps myself to a second piece of cake to try another flavor. I know I am not the only one who has done this right??? Please tell me some of you also raid the cake table for extra servings. This is a rare chance when you get to eat a super moist, delicious, high quality ingredient cake made from scratch from a well known bakery...I mean this is one sugary slice of heaven, or two you just can't resist.

But if you aren't going to be heading to a wedding anytime soon and are craving something both chocolate and vanilla, then this marbled cupcake recipe is just what you need!

And to take it even one step further, not only is the cake a combo of vanilla and chocolate but so is the icing! You get the best of both worlds all in one little cake! I made one batch of vanilla buttercream icing and one batch of chocolate buttercream icing then combined them side by side in a piping bag with the star tip and swirled it on top. Then added some chocolate jimmies.

Just looking at the swirls of vanilla and chocolate icing reminds me of my childhood and going up to the local convenient store on a hot summer night and ordering swirled soft serve ice cream. YUM!

Marble Cupcakes (recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book)

Makes 16 cupcakes

Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/3 cup milk, room temperature
-1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature
-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
-1 cup granulated sugar
-3 large eggs, room temperature
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
-1/4 cup boiling water

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine milk and cream.
• With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk mixture, and beating until combined.
• To make chocolate batter, measure out 1 cup batter, and transfer to another bowl. Combine cocoa and the boiling water in a bowl. Stir into reserved 1 cup batter.
• Fill prepared cups with alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate batter, filling each three-quarters full. Run the tip of a paring knife or wooden skewer through the batter in a figure-eight motion to make swirls. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until tops are golden and cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

*Martha recommended dusting marble cupcakes with confectioners' sugar, but I decided to top them off with buttercream icing instead....either way they will taste delicious!

• Frost with a combination of vanilla and chocolate buttercream. Place a large star decorating tip into a piping bag and fill one side with vanilla and the other side with chocolate buttercream. Hold bag and swirl icing in clockwise motion on top of cupcakes to create a swirl.

Billy's Vanilla Buttercream (recipe from Martha Stewart's website)

Makes enough for 30 cupcakes
Note: I cut the recipe below in half and still had left over icing.

-1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
-6 to 8 cups confectioners's sugar
-1/2 cup milk
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With the 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.

Billy's Chocolate Buttercream (recipe from Martha Stewart's website)

Makes enough for 30 cupcakes
Note: I cut the recipe below in half and still had left over icing.

-2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
-12 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
-3 tablespoons milk
-1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-5 cups confectioners' sugar

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add chocolate until just combined. Add milk, vanilla, and sugar; mix on medium until well combined, being careful not to overmix.

ENJOY!

Cupcake a Week: Samoa Minis

Well as most of you probably know, February is Girl Scout cookie month! I'm sure you've seen those cute little girls outside of the super markets this month selling these famous colorful boxes of cookies for their troops or have already bought one, two, three or more boxes from one of the girls in your neighborhood. I have been ordering girl scout cookies for as long as I can remember since my sister was involved in girl scouts as we were growing up. My favorites have always been the Red Box - Tagalongs (chocolate & peanut butter), the Green Box - Thin Mints and the Purple Box - Samoas (chocolate, coconut & caramel). So since we have already bought and eaten half way through several boxes of cookies this year, I thought it would be fun to try and recreate one of my favorite cookies as a cupcake!

So here goes my attempt at making a Samoa cupcake. The 3 most important ingredients: coconut, caramel and chocolate.

I had to steal this box away from my husband because he had already eaten 2 rows of the cookies in 2 days.

I love the 3 layers of oooey gooey goodness on this cookie. The caramel topped with the toasted coconut and then the drizzle of chocolate...these 3 flavors together are delicious! And when you bite into the cookie and the caramel stretches out into a thin string that hangs from your mouth, that makes your lips all sticky...you know what I'm talking about right...or I am just a slob when eating these cookies????

And the coating of chocolate on the bottom side of the cookie is a special treat too! I used to put these cookies on my finger as a kid and pretend that they were a ring...did anyone else do that too? So now that I've gushed about all the features that make me absolutely love this cookie, let's talk about how to turn the flavors found in this cookie into a cupcake!

I started going through all different types of cupcake recipes, looking for ones that had at least one of the key ingredients: coconut, caramel or chocolate in them. I decided I wanted to make pretty traditional flavored yellow cupcake but I substituted the granulated sugar with brown sugar to help bring out a caramel flavor in the cake. Once I had the base of the cupcake batter made I then melted some caramels and mixed in along with some coconut flakes to add some extra textures and layers of flavors in the cake.


While the cupcake were cooling, I toasted some more coconut in the oven that I used for a garnish on top.

I melted some more caramels and drizzled over the cupcakes.

Then sprinkled on the toasted coconut.

And we can't forget about the chocolate. Don't worry about making the garnishes look perfect like the cookie...I just wanted to drizzle them on quickly and roughly that way each cupcake is unique and some are more ooey gooey than others...those are the best!

So what do you think...have I made a pretty good Samoa cupcake cookie replica? Have I convinced you to go out and buy a box of these cookies or whip up a batch of these cupcakes! I promise you won't be disappointed with either one of them, they are both delish! These cupcakes baked up so fluffy and moist with little pockets of caramel tucked inside.

Samao Minis Cupcakes (makes 36 mini cupcakes)

Ingredients:
-1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
-1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
-3 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-3/4 cup milk
-1/2 cup coconut flakes
-6 Kraft caramels, melted with a splash of water

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line mini cupcake tins with paper liners.
• Combine butter and brown sugar in bowl of electric mixer and cream together on medium speed.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix.
• Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
• Add the flour mixture and milk to the creamed butter and sugar alternating the dry and wet ingredients in 3 batches.
• Melt the caramels in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Pour melted caramel into the batter and stir.
• Add the coconut and stir.
• Divide batter evenly into prepared cupcake liners.
• Bake for 14-16 minutes. Let cool before adding toppings.
  

Toppings:
-8 Kraft caramels, melted with a splash of water
-1/2 cup coconut flakes, toasted
-1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, melted

• Melt the caramels in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Drizzle melted caramel over the cupcakes.
• Sprinkle toasted coconut over caramel topped cupcakes.
• Melt the semi sweet chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Drizzle melted chocolate over the cupcakes.

If you have another Girl Scout cookie that is your favorite and you want me to recreate it as a cupcake leave me a comment and just maybe your cookie flavor will be featured as a cupcake in an upcoming post!

ENJOY!