Pink Champagne Cupcakes

I got the idea for this recipe from a Betty Crocker cupcake book, but it calls for a box of cake mix (Betty Crocker, of course), and I prefer to avoid boxed mixes. So I experimented with two different homemade cake recipes (a buttermilk cake and a yellow butter cake). The yellow butter cake won as the better cake to mix with the champagne (the buttermilk cake was a bit too dense). So here's the combo that worked out best:

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

3 - 6 tablespoons champagne (okay, I know this seems like a drastic variance, but it depends on how moist the batter is before you add it in, as well as how much of a champagne flavor you want. The alcohol will cook out, but it's still nice to have some of that flavor left when the cupcakes come out of the oven - so just experiment with the amount of champagne and see what happens!) 

Also: you don't need high-quality champagne for this recipe (score!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for dark pans).

Cream together butter & sugar until light and creamy. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl from time to time. Add the vanilla.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and add to the mixture in two batches. Stir in the champagne. Mix until smooth.

Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full and bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes (or until toothpick is inserted and removed clean).

FROSTING:

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup champagne

1 teaspoon vanilla

4-5 drops red food coloring (I use some awesome coloring gels, so a tad of pink works well)

In medium bowl, beat ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Frost cupcakes, and sprinkle with pink sugar and pearl sprinkles.

(You can also add some drops of food coloring to the cupcake batter, but I opted not to).

These cupcakes are awesome. Just be aware that while the champagne cooks out of the cupcakes, but not of the frosting. There is only a minimal amount, so don't worry about "eating and driving" but I would recommend not making these for children.

Also, just another helpful hint: if you like to eat the batter, remember that the champagne is not cooked out of that, either:

 

Please eat responsibly! :-)

Black & White Cookies

In my opinion, these cookies are more aesthetically pleasing than they are tasty, but if you like a crispier cookie then you'll like this one. I personally prefer soft cookies, but these, while crispier, have a gooey glaze on top that balances it out well. The dough can be prepared in advance and the cookies baked the day before you plan to decorate them. So here's the recipe! 

COOKIES:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

a pinch of salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup & 2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy in a large bowl.

Add the beaten egg and vanilla and mix well.

Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix again until smooth.

Bring together in a dough and knead very lightly and briefly. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a couple of hours until very firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Dust the work surface with flour and roll out the chilled cookie dough into a thickness of about 1/8 inch.

Side note: I have a great wooden rolling pin, but I needed a good cover for it. At Bed, Bath, & Beyond , I bought a Regency Naturals Pastry Cloth & Rolling Pin Cover. I highly recommend this. The pastry cloth and the rolling pin cover absorb most of the flour, so they create a great non-stick surface while allowing the dough to remain light and flaky. Anyway, I highly recommend it. But back to the recipe!

Using 2-inch and 3-inch round cookie cutters, stamp out rounds and place on baking sheets line with parchment. Re-roll scraps and stamp out more circles. If you don't happen to have cookie cutters, use anything circular you can find. I made these just before I invested in some new cookie cutters, so I used a small handmade vase made by my friend Sarah's husband (thanks, Adam & Sarah, for giving away awesome  wedding favors!)

 

Bake on the middle shelf for 12-15 minutes, or until crisp (my oven is old and the temp is unreliable, so it only took about 8-10 minutes for mine to get crisp).

Let cool on the sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

9 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons sunflower or peanut oil

Put the chocolate and oil in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth and thoroughly combined. Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes before using.

DECORATION CHOCOLATE:

3 1/2 ounce white chocolate, chopped

Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until smooth and thoroughly melted. 

Put the cookies back on some baking parchment to catch any drips while decorating.

Fill a piping bag (or plastic baggie with a corner snipped off) with the molten white chocolate and get a toothpick ready for "feathering".

Pour some of the chocolate glaze over each cookie with a spoon.

Spread the glaze neatly over the cookie, just to the edge, with the back of the spoon. Repeat with remaining cookies.

Working quickly, pipe dots of white chocolate over the dark chocolate glaze on just a few of the cookies.

Using the point of the toothpick, drag the white chocolate into the chocolate glaze to create a feathered effect. Repeat with the remaining cookies and let set before serving.

 

Enjoy! :-)

Double Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Homemade Vanilla Buttercream

Happy Independence Day!

In honor of the 4th of July, I (surprise!) made cupcakes. They are double-chocolate cupcakes, topped with an amazingly simple (& delicious) vanilla buttercream frosting. The cupcakes themselves are densely chocolatey. Here's the recipe:

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup & 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup sour cream*
6 tablespoons boiling water

*If you don't have sour cream on hand, then there are many different substitutes you can use. An easy google search list many good options, but I went with a mixture of buttermilk & butter. To equal a 1/2 cup sour cream, I used 3/8 cup buttermilk and 2 and 2/3 tablespoons butter.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave or in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (stirring constantly). 

Cream together butter and sugar until light and creamy.

Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time.

Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and stir well. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder & soda, and salt together.

Add the flour mixture in alternate batches with the sour cream. Stir.

Add the boiling water and mix well.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full (if doing mini cupcakes, then about 3/4 full). Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees (325 for dark pans) for about 10-15 minutes. (For mini cupcakes, check after 7 minutes).

Let cool in pan for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

FROSTING:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
a few drops of vanilla (or whatever flavor you choose - this is entirely optional)

Beat butter in bowl until really soft. Gradually add the sifted sugar and beat until pale and smooth. Beat in the vanilla or flavoring, if using.

This frosting is incredibly easy. The original recipe called for 3 sticks of butter and 3 cups of sugar, but I lessened it so I wouldn't have too much excess. That said, I still have an entire bowl full in the fridge, so it would even be possible to take it down to 1 stick of butter and 1 cup confectioner's sugar. And it's really easy to make more, if you run out.

I frosted these cupcakes with a flower tip and these super cool accordion-looking plastic tubes. You put the frosting inside, add the tip of your choice, and then simply press the bottom of the tube down to expel the frosting. These are from Pampered Chef, and make frosting cupcakes incredibly easy! It also makes it look more "gourmet" than the regular smooth frosting.

For the holiday, I topped them off with sugar red-white-and-blue stars. They were a big hit and I highly recommend them.

Enjoy!