Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Buttercream and Chocolate Cupcake-Toppers (Cheat)

Happy birthday, Mommy!! ❤

I made these cupcakes a couple of days ago for a bake sale, but the main reason I made cupcakes was so that I could reserve three of them for today – my mom’s birthday. I don’t like making small-batch cupcakes because making a batch of 24 cupcakes requires the same effort as making 3. (Hence, why I always make cupcakes for bake sales).

This is the first time that I’ve used chocolate cupcake toppers, but it definitely won’t be the last. They’re deceivingly easy to make, and they look gorgeous! They take the cupcakes to a whole new level, while only requiring an extra 5 minutes.

I forgot to take photos while I was making the chocolate toppers, but basically, you just melt down some dark chocolate and pipe it out on parchment paper. If you’ve melted the chocolate gently, they should harden at room temperature and peel off easily, giving you these beaautiful cupcake toppers!

There are so many things that you can pipe out using the chocolate. I stuck to some simple shapes. I used stars, hearts, flowers, the little thingy in the photo below, and random squiggles. Next time, I’d definitely try words and maybe I’ll challenge myself to piping out a puppy or something. We’ll see~

With the frosting, feel free to choose any color you wish! I like the way that the pink contrasts with the darkness of the chocolate, but I’m sure that blue would be gorgeous as well.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Buttercream and Chocolate Cupcake-Toppers

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 200g all-purpose flour
• 40g cocoa powder
• 280g granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 80g unsalted butter, cubed and room temperature
• 240ml  milk, room temperature
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the frosting:

• 300g unsalted butter
• *400g-600g powdered sugar, sifted
• 15ml (1 tablespoon) whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Gel food colouring of choice

For the chocolate cupcake-toppers:

• 100g dark chocolate

*To taste

Method

1. For the cupcakes, preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius or 325 degrees Fahrenheit
2. In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt
3. Add in the butter and beat until the mixture has a sandy consistency
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and vanilla until combined
5. Pour half the milk mixture in with the flour and beat on high speed until smooth
6. Gently mix in the rest of the milk mixture until jut combined. Do not over mix
7. Transfer the mixture into a lined cupcake tin and bake for 20-23 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean
8. For the frosting, in a mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy
9. Beat in the powdered sugar for 5 minutes or so, before adding the whipping cream and vanilla extract and beating for another minute
10. For the chocolate cupcake-toppers, chop or break the dark chocolate into equal-sized chunks and place in a microwave-safe bowl
11. Microwave the chocolate for 15 seconds at a time, stirring in between each interval so that the chocolate heats evenly. When the chocolate has 80-90% melted, stir the chocolate until it’s fully melted
12. Transfer the melted chocolate into a piping bag or into a sandwich bag with a TINY corner cut off
13. Pipe designs of your choice onto a sheet of parchment paper. Allow to harden before carefully removing and placing on your frosted cupcakes. Enjoy!

Flourless Souffléd Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Chocolate Ganache (Clean)

Souffléd stuff is awesome – except for souffléd omelets. Don’t try souffléd omelets (I speak from experience). Souffléd cupcakes though? YES. You need these in your life.

And not just any souffléd cupcake, but one with a salted chocolate ganache.

Okay – so why are souffléd foods so incredible? Because they’re fluffy as hell, but not in an angel cupcake way. I mean that they’re just so delicate and light, especially since they’re flourless. Then, you’ve got this gorgeous chocolate ganache that, if chilled, will set into this glossy layer. Or, you could just eat them straight away and let the chocolate do this:

*Insert heart-eyes emoji here*

Flourless Souffléd Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Chocolate Ganache

Adapted from The Iron You

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• 1 1/2 (21g) tablespoons coconut oil
• 85g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup (75g) coconut sugar, divided
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder*
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

For the ganache

• 1/2 cup (120ml) milk of choice
• 1/2 (7g) tablespoon coconut oil
• 100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• Fleur de sel or fine sea salt

*The espresso powder gives the cupcakes a stronger, more mocha flavor. You can replace this with cocoa powder as well

Method

1. For the cupcakes, preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Combine the coconut oil and dark chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and still until the chocolate has completely melted**
3. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg yolks and 1/4 cup of coconut sugar until thick and the sugar has dissolved. Add the espresso powder and salt and beat for another minute. Add the vanilla extract and melted chocolate mixture and beat for another minute.
4. In another large bowl, beat the egg whites and a pinch of salt at medium-high speed until foamy. Add in the remaining 1/4 cup of the sugar and beat at high speed until stiff peaks form (about 5 minutes)
5. Use a spatula or a whisk to gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in 3 batches
6. Pour the mixture into a lined muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool
7. For the ganache, put the chopped chocolate into a bowl. Bring the milk and coconut oil to a boil in a small saucepan and pour over the chopped chocolate. Let the chocolate sit for a few minutes before stirring together until smooth. Let cool for at least 15 minutes
8. While the ganache is still warm, spoon it over the top of each cupcake and sprinkle with sea salt

**You can also do this step in the microwave, heating it at 20-second intervals and stirring at each interval until melted

 

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes (Cheat)

IS IT SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAY?

Not exactly, but c’mon, funfetti cupcakes are for all occasions.

I did make this for a “birthday” celebration, though. It’s my school’s 20th anniversary, and it was the 10th anniversary of my school’s version of “American Idol”. I’m in the group that organizes it, so guess who brought in birthday-themed food? Me!

So since it was a “bake sale”, I didn’t eat any of the cupcakes, nor the frosting.

(…)

Okay, okay. Don’t blame me for test-tasting, alright? I had one unfrosted cupcake. Just one. Not two or three, but one, unfrosted cupcake. If that’s not something to be proud about, I don’t know what is. I did have some frosting separately though. C’mon, everyone who’s made frosting before knows that there’s no way you could make frosting without eating at least a few tablespoons (gotta test-taste, right?).

I gotta say, it was definitely worth it. There’s quite a bit of egg white in these, which make them super light and fluffy, yet still flavorful. Then there’s the frosting, which is just heavenly. Then there’s the sprinkles, and sprinkles make everything better.

I know, I know. What the hell is up with these contrasting photos? The thing is, I frosted them at night, and I was like “ooh this light isn’t super-yellow” and figured that I’d take a few photos in it, but then the next morning I was like “omg natural light <3”, and so there you have it. I probably should’ve gone with one type of photo but I’m indecisive and I just love both so much. The natural light is my typical kind of photo, but the night-time photos are just so dramatic.

See? Left = Dramatic. Right = Pretty.

 

And again.

 

You get the point.

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes

Adapted from The Sweetapolita Bakebook

Makes 16 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp cold butter, cubed
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sprinkles
• Vanilla Frosting

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C
2. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to stir together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt
3. Add the butter and beat until the mixture is crumbly and resembles coarse sand
4. In a separate bowl combine half of the milk and the vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg whites and the rest of the milk.
6. With the mixer on medium-low speed slowly add the milk/vanilla mixture into the first mixture and beat for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the egg white mixture and beat the mixture for an additional minute.
7. Fold in the sprinkles
8. Pour the batter into lined cupcake pans, filling them ⅔ full
9. Bake for 17-20 minutes until the centers are set.
10. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely before frosting with vanilla frosting and topping with lots of sprinkles

 

Vanilla Rose Cupcakes + Vanilla Frosting (Cheat)

Happy Singles Awareness Day!

(AKA Valentines Day for you lucky lovey-dovey couples out there)

I’ve never actually had a Valentine. Is that sad? Hey, I still have a few valentines to go.

Besides, I’d rather spend my valentines baking and sitting around and eating and binge-watching Supernatural. I watched 4 episodes yesterday and it wasn’t even Valentines Day yet.

I didn’t actually do that, though. Well, sorta. I tested out a microwavable-french-toast-in-a-jar recipe and baked a plaited milk bread and cooked a heart-shaped egg in the middle of a slice of toast and made single-serving healthy cookie dough. More importantly, I went on a date…with my mom 🙂 We ate at Honeymoon Dessert and brought clothes (which I haven’t done in months tbh) and got a free coupon for a chocolate fondue (best part). It was a pretty great day.

I did bake these incredibly delicious cupcakes for a Valentines-themed bake sale. How do I know that they were delicious? Well, I ‘tasted’ one of them. One of the unfrosted ones, at least. (I had to know if tasted decent!)

The unfrosted cupcake I had was so so so so good. It was all moist and flavorful and oh-so-perefect. My cupcakes were the first to sell out at the bake sale. They sold out in practically 3 minutes flat. My brother managed to buy one before they sold out, as well as two of his friends. They all loved the cupcakes so much. Another friend of mine brought a cupcake and walked away with it. She came back later on to tell me that they were absolutely delicious. Needless to say, I’m pretty happy with these cupcakes, especially since this was the first time I piped roses like these.

I think they’re probably the prettiest cupcakes I’ve ever made, too.

To pipe roses on your cupcakes, you will need a petal tip. I wish that I could put together a tutorial on how to pipe roses, but I’m not really sure how. There are plenty of tutorials on Youtube, which is how I learned to make them.

I can give you a few tips though.

 

 

In terms of the temperature of the frosting, if you want very ruffle-y roses with rougher edges (picture above on the left), chill your frosting for 3 minutes or so in the fridge to allow it to firm up, and repeat this when the frosting starts to warm up. Colder frosting requires more energy to pipe, because it doesn’t get out of the piping bag easily, but I personally like the way they turned out better.

If you want smoother edges, and an easier frosting to pipe out, then simply use the frosting as it is. Your hand on the piping bag should naturally warm up the frosting so that it’s easy to pipe.

I tried to do the thing where you put a line of food coloring inside the piping bag so that the edges of the rose are a different color, but obviously, I wasn’t paying enough attention to realize that the line of food coloring was in the middle. It still looks kinda pretty, though, doesn’t it?

 

How did you guys spend your Valentine’s Day?

Notes:

Vanilla Rose Cupcakes + Vanilla Frosting

Cupcakes adapted from Cupcake Project

Makes 16 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1 cup (225 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 3/4 cups (175 grams) cake flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup (75 grams) full-fat sour cream
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) whole milk

 

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup (115g) butter
• 1/2 cup (95g) shortening
• 3 cups (360g) powdered sugar
• 1-2 tbsp (13-30 ml) water or cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius, or 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together sugar, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
3. Add butter and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes until the mixture is crumbly
4. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth
5. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined
6. Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just combined
7. Fill cupcake liners just over 1/2 full
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcakes comes out clean, without any of the batter stuck to it
9. Remove the cupcakes from the cupcake tin and leave to cool before frosting

Frosting:

1. Using a stand/hand mixer, cream the butter and shortening together until smooth
2. Add powdered sugar and mix until combined
3. Add vanilla extract and 1 tbsp water/cream and mix until smooth
4. Add more sugar or water/cream to achieve desired consistency (too stiff = add water/cream, too soft = add sugar or chill in refrigerator for 2 min)
5. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes

 

I love you guys ❤ xoxo