Mocha Cupcakes

This week we had a special visitor, so we made a cupcake just for her!!  Mocha cupcakes!!!  Mary and Natalie, Tee's Sister and Niece, were down for a visit, and Mary is a Starbucks junkie!  It is always fun to include newbies in on the Cupcake Cure!!  Although, as you will see in the pictures, Mary got wrangled into entertaining my little ones, but she did have a fun time being a taster!!

Tee started off the day hunting down the Coffee Extract from the Jacksonville Mercantile, and then headed over to Starbucks to get a fresh cup of eight, (yes, eight) shots of Espresso!!!  Thanks girls!!  So, the batter had the eight shots, plus some instant espresso powder.  Mary was certain the cupcake would have a strong coffee flavor, but she was impressed with its mild and moist flavor.

The extract was used in conjunction with a seven minute frosting, and that is where the majority of the coffee flavor came, the frosting really had a kick!

Tee delivered to all of our coffee loving friends, and hopefully after having one, they weren't up all night!  We will have to wait and see what the 'after' effects, if any, are!

Next week we are making by request (thanks Kimmie) Cookies and Cream Cheescake cupcakes!  So I will be back to being a baker and a taster!!!

Until then,

t & k

St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes

Read this blog post with an Irish accent, and it will be all the better!

How can you go wrong with an Irish themed cupcake?  The base was a Brown Sugar Pound Cake, that was a bit deceiving.  The batter was not that impressive, and we forgot to read the fine print that stated the recipe makes 28 cupcakes, and we overfilled, so hence forth no picture of the cupcakes coming out of the oven!  But then, once they cooled, the two sticks of butter and 2 1/4 cups of brown sugar, caramelized into cupcake heaven, oh how delightful!

The frosting, on the other hand, was the crowning jewel for this holiday themed spectacular!  A Baileys Irish Cream frosting!  We had to make it in two batches, one with the Baileys, and one without, using a non-alcoholic Irish Cream substitute.  Three sticks of butter and a pound of sugar later, we have one fantastic, and oh so delightful creation!  Two green thumbs up for this one!

Can't wait to try the Brown Sugar Pound cake, with a brown butter frosting, I can hardly imagine what that will taste like!

We are taking next week off, for Spring Break, but we will be back in April for more creations.  As always, if one ends up in your hands, take a bite, and blog us in the morning!!

Until then,

t & k

Jumbo Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

This weeks creation was somewhat reminiscent of a giant ding dong!  This recipe only makes 12 jumbo cupcakes, so we had to choose our testers very carefully this week, and I made my kids share!  Although Tee did not taste them, I did!  I thought they were just delightful, and very easy to make, you can easily whip this one out in a little over an hour, from start to finish!

We thought the batter would be more dense, but it was surprisingly airy, I think the addition of sourcream helped in that realm!  Tee may not have tried the cupcake, but she did enjoy the batter!  The cream is just good old fashioned marshmallow fluff, whipped with a cup of butter, heavenly!!! 

Next week, is a St. Patricks day treat.  Brown butter pound cake cupcakes, with an Irish Cream frosting!!  Can you say Yum!!

Until then,

t & k

Martha's Meyer Lemon Cupcakes

After much discussion with our new "helper" Joey we decided on Meyer Lemon Cupcakes. The ironic part is that Joey couldn't help us this week! She did get to be one of our tasters.

Wow, did this recipe use a lot of eggs! 17 to be exact. Add to that the 12 Meyer lemons. Thank goodness for Harry and David. I made three trips there! I wonder what they thought of me.

We started out making the curd. It was easier than Kari thought. She is not a fan of the curd. I could have eaten it right from the bowl. Anden was our "Super Helper" counting all 8 egg yolks. It totally made the cupcake. Piped in the middle. Wow what a treat!

Kari needs to go to CA (Cupcakes Annoymonus) because she was totally in love with them. Can you say six in one day. Okay there were a few weird ones. Too many cakes in the oven at one time. The recipe made 42! The cupcake was dense more like a pound cake, even Norm liked them.

All in all it was a very refreshing spring treat! And since the recipe makes almost four dozen, it is the perfect recipe for a spring brunch!

Next up is Jumbo Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes, aka gourmet ding dong!!

Until then,

t & k

Cupcakes for comments!!

So a ton of you have asked.....  How do I score a cupcake???  Well, leave us a comment, or go and check out the Martha Stewart cupcake book, and let us know which cupcake would be your favorite or that you want to try!  We will then leave a tasty treat on your doorstep, or place of employment!!  Also, if you don't have a google account, you can leave a comment under anonymous, and just leave us your name! 

Tomorrow is MS Meyer Lemon Cupcakes, with a lemon curd.  Meyer lemons have this amazing taste, so I can't wait to try them out, I bet it will mimic a lemon bar, one of my all time favorite non-chocolate treats!  Until then....

t & k