Mexican Hot Chocolate Frosting

This frosting was originally recommended to go with chocolate cupcakes filled with peanut butter cups (at least on the Food Network website, where I found it).  I didn't have any peanut butter cups, and was running low on chocolate (shocking, I know - don't worry, I'm all stocked back up). So, I made plain old vanilla cupcakes and tossed in some chocolate chips. It was really the frosting I wanted to try - Mexican Hot Chocolate Frosting.  I've always been taken with the idea of chocolate & chili, but haven't had the courage to try it. So when my friend Rachel (who enjoys spicy food and lived in California for a while) came over for dinner the other night, I figured this was the perfect time to try out the frosting. It's not exactly spicy, but it is very flavorful. I think it would be better on rich, chocolate cupcakes instead of vanilla, but it was still good. Just fair warning - this recipe makes a lot. I intended it for 12 cupcakes, and have a bunch left over in the fridge that needs to be used up. Anyway, enough talking, here's the recipe:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

Using a hand-held mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter together thoroughly. Add chili powder & cinnamon, mix. Add salt, vanilla, & confectioner's sugar; mix. Add melted chocolate and mix until thoroughly blended and smooth. If the mixture needs thickening, add more confectioner's sugar until it reaches a spreadable consistency.

I topped mine off a Cinnamon Imperial just for fun. This is definitely a good twist on the typical chocolate frosting, but if you're a die-hard, strict chocoholic I would recommend sticking with a more traditional recipe. If you're a bit more adventurous, then enjoy!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

These are my favorite cupcakes thus far. I was searching for a good recipe to make, when my friend Barb suggested I try Black Bottom Cupcakes. I've only ever had these in a more muffin-like form, and wasn't a big fan. However, these cupcakes were ridiculously awesome. I got many compliments on them, and ate quite a few myself! (Usually I only eat one to see if it tastes okay; I'm more of a batter person). Anyway, this is a mixture of several different recipes from various sources, so here goes -

CUPCAKES
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar + a few teaspoons more, based on preference
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups water
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

CREAM CHEESE FILLING

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

*Note: this makes a little more filling than necessary for the cupcakes, but it's difficult to split an egg into a smaller portion. Just be prepared to have some left over.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line ~24 cupcake tins with liners.

In a large bowl, mix together dry "cupcake" ingredients. Stir in wet "cupcake" ingredients until blended.

To make the filling, mix together the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and salt with a hand-held mixer until light & fluffy. Stir in chocolate chips.

Fill cupcake tins 1/3 full. Add a dollop (or heaping teaspoon) of the cream cheese mixture on top, fill another 1/3 with batter (the end result should be the batter 2/3 of the way up the cupcake tin, with the cream cheese part either completely covered or almost all the way covered). Bake in preheated oven approximately 15-20 minutes.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

(The beauty of these cupcakes is that the cream cheese filling is slightly tangy, contrasting with the sweetness of the cupcake. Because of that, I kept frosting to a bare minimum - I didn't even cover the entire cupcake with it. If you want more frosting, double this recipe).

2 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter, softened

4 oz. confectioner's sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light & fluffy. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of milk and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla extract, and remaining milk of mixture is too thick.

This produces a very soft frosting, which works well texture-wise for these cupcakes, but will not work well for any piping or frosting decorations you might want to do.

When cupcakes have cooled, ice with a small amount of the cream cheese frosting. Sprinkle with a hint of cinnamon for an extra splash of awesomeness.

Enjoy!

Baked Doughnuts

My family visited over Memorial Day weekend, and I thought the perfect pre-church activity Sunday morning would be decorating doughnuts. I received some doughnut pans for my birthday this year, which allows me now to make dozens of baked doughnuts very easily. I just follow the recipe on the back of the pans, and then pipe the batter into the pans using a ziploc bag with a corner snipped off (this reduces the mess, and the batter doesn't get all over the middle part). I have a regular-size pan and a mini-pan, and it took three or four tries to get the minis to actually turn out correctly (I was over-filling the batter cups!) Anyway, they cook in about five minutes, they are delicious, and somewhat healthier for you since they aren't fried. You can top them however you desire - chocolate glaze, vanilla glaze, lemon, cinnamon and sugar, powdered sugar, etc. After trying several different glaze recipes, I decided to take the easy route and microwave some store bought chocolate frosting for my nephews to use. I then gave them free reign to my sprinkle collection (BIG mess, but BIG fun). Here are some pictures of their creations:

 

Erin helps Joel (5) and Nathan (3) with their sprinkle allotment.

 

Joel & Nathan display their final creations (they were devoured shortly thereafter).

Ezra (7) carefully decorates using every type of sprinkle, while fresh-from-the-oven doughnuts cool in the foreground.

 

Ezra shows off his masterpiece.

Isaac (9) was the first to finish his decorating (and the first to eat it!)

 

The remaining doughnuts were dipped in melted butter, then dunked in a cinnamon and sugar mixture - this was the topping of choice for all of the adults present.

This was a fun (but messy) activity, and very easy to orchestrate! (Just be aware of the risk of sprinkle spillage - I'm still sweeping up blue decorating sugar!) The recipe is on the back of the doughnut pans, and varies based on the size of the pan, so I won't post it here - but if you have a sweet tooth like I do, I highly recommend these doughnuts! They are quickly becoming a Sunday morning tradition (although when it's just my husband and myself, we don't go quite as overboard with the sprinkles ;-).