Irish Coffee Brownie Cupcakes

Recipe and image from:
http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/irish_coffee_brownie_cupcakes/

 

 

Servings: 16 cupcakes
           

Ingredients

Brownie Ingredients:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt

Cupcake Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
1 cup whole roasted coffee beans
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup whiskey
Brownie batter from above

Frosting Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons whiskey

Directions

Brownie Directions:
In a medium-sized bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Mix in eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined.

Mix in cocoa powder, flour, and salt until just combined.
Set aside.

Cupcake Directions:
In a small saucepan on medium-high, heat milk and coffee beans until just boiling.

Remove from heat, cover, and steep for fifteen minutes.

Using a sieve, remove the beans from the milk and set the milk aside. You will only need ¾ cup of the milk, so it’s fine if some sticks to the beans during this process.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a separate medium-sized bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs to the butter/sugar mixture, mixing until fully incorporated.

In a small bowl, mix together whiskey and ¾ cup of the coffee-infused milk.

Alternately mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients into the butter/sugar bowl, mixing until just combined.

Fill cupcake liners ¾ full with cupcake batter.

Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of brownie batter into the center of each cupcake.

Bake for 25 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.

Frosting Directions:
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy.

Mix in powdered sugar a little bit at a time until fully combined.

Mix in cocoa powder and whiskey.

Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Use Wilton tip 106 for the piping style shown in the photos.

Southern Red Velvet Cake

(photo courtesy of www.mccormick.com, recipe from www.foodnetwork.com)

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 30 min

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

Oil Spray for the pans & cooling rack(s)

2.5 cups flour

1.5 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1.5 cups veggie oil

1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tbsp (1 oz) red food coloring (this is a lot more than I thought it was, so have a lot on hand)

1 tsp white distilled vinegar

1 tsp cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil and flour 2 round cake pans (I used 9x1 inch).

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla.

Mix dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed.

Divide cake batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Place the pans in oven evenly spaced apart. Bake, rotating pans halfway through cooking, until cake pulls away from edges of pans and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cakes cool 10 minutes on cooling rack in pan, and then remove from pans. Cool completely on cooling rack.

Make cream cheese frosting (see below)

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

8 oz butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat ingredients with electric mixer until good and fluffy.

Place one of the two cakes on a plate and frost top liberally. Place second cake on top and frost top and sides. Decorate as desired after that.

Cake should be stored in refrigerator

The Verdict: Cake was good, but a little dry. Need to think up a way to moisten it some...or keep looking for a recipe we like more.

"Best-Ever" Carrot Cake & Cream Cheese Frosting

We had some leftover baby carrots, so I gave this one a whirl. I think it came out pretty good. I added the nutmeg in on a whim to the original recipe. The recipe is from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook.

The frosting seemed a little too sweet for my taste, not really cream cheesy, if that makes sense. I'm on the look out for a better recipe for that. In the meantime...

Carrot Cake

(photo courtesy of http://www.reallynicerecipes.com/)

Prep: 30 mins

Bake: 30 mins

Cool: 2 hours

Makes: 12 servings

Ingredients

4 beaten eggs

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 cups finely shredded carrots* (lightly packed)

3/4 cup cooking oil

(see recipe for frosting below)

1. Allow eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and flour two 9x1.5 inch round cake pans. Set pans aside. In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg & baking soda.

2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, carrots and oil. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until combined. Pour batter into the prepared pans.

3. Bake in a 350* oven for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes in pans. Remove from pans (cookbook had an excellent tip to sandwich the cake to get it out of the pan smoothly). Cool thoroughly on racks.

4. Frost tops and sides with Cream Cheese Frosting. Store cake in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

5-6.25 cups powdered sugar

1. Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups powdered sugar, beating well. Continue to add in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.

This frosting will cover tops and sides of two 8 or 9 inch layer cakes. Halve the recipe to do a 13x9x2 inch cake.

Cover and store frosted cake in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons strongly brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour [note: I used whole-grain pastry flour with good results]
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows
Chopped salted peanuts or mini chocolate chips for decoration (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time. Now add the vanilla, and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

Now, with the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the buttermilk mixture with the flour mixture (add the buttermilk mixture in 2 additions and the flour mixture in 3.) Mix only until blended. Give the batter a few gentle stirs with a rubber spatula just to make sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Use a standard ice cream scoop (or two spoons) to fill the muffin tins; they should be about 3/4 full.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently pressed or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Don’t overbake — better to err on the side of caution and check them a little early.

Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts or mini chocolate chips, if desired.

Peanut Butter Icing:

Ingredients
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter [I used creamy all-natural peanut butter]
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions
In the bowl of a mixer, mix together the confectioner’s sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt on medium-low speed with the paddle attachment. When well blended, add the heavy cream and continue mixing on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.