The Hostess With The Mostest

Oh boy, busy busy month February is. I think every weekend this month, I've been busy with something. Today is the first day I've had some down time in awhile so I'm trying to use this as an opportunity to get some much needed work done, including this blog.


I do have some news, but I can't decide if it's good or bad yet. I recently met with an admissions adviser at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in San Francisco about possibly enrolling in their merchandise marketing program. I know, crazy, huh? And for those who have known me for at least the past few years, I'm just as shocked as you are. The adviser was very helpful and very well informed, but with all the information to digest, I left the building semi-nauseated by it all. Long story short, I think the program sounds excellent and the support and networking the school offers to their students is very desirable but I'll have to think about each pro and con thoroughly. And on top of all of that, if I want to pay the current tuition before the increase, I have to be accepted into the school by May 1st. No pressure, right?


Anyway... can you guess where I got the inspiration for these cupcakes? This might sound cheesy (but admittedly, probably not more than the title for this post), but I got the idea for these after I opened up my pantry and saw a box of the familiar chocolate cupcakes with the white squiggle on top and the overly sweet cream centers. And, fun fact: the "cream" used to fill the cupcakes is actually made with Crisco, not real cream. Yum. My version of the famous sweet treat is filled with vanilla mousse and raspberry preserves. A pretty tasty combination when combined with the rich chocolate cake and chocolate ganache on top, if I do say so myself. 


The Ingredients (makes about 2 dozen):
For the cupcakes:
-recipe can be found here
For the filling:
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-2/3 cup sugar
-2 egg whites
-1 cup heavy cream
- raspberry preserves
For the frosting:
-3 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
-1 cup heavy cream
-1 1/2 tbsp corn starch


The Directions:
1. Start with the filling first. Whip the heavy cream, vanilla and half of the sugar until soft peaks form. Set aside.
2. Beat the egg whites until foamy. Then add the rest of the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Carefully fold the egg mixture into the whipped cream until combined. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours to allow the mousse to firm up (I made this the night before making the cupcakes).
4. Bake the cupcakes as directed.
5. Once the cupcakes are cool, core out the middle, being careful to keep the cores intact as you will need them to close up the hole later. Set aside.
6. Put a layer of raspberry preserves into each cupcake and follow with a spoonful of vanilla mousse. Replace the tops of the cupcakes to prepare for the ganache frosting.
7. Dissolve the corn starch into the heavy cream first to avoid clumping. Then, in a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips and heavy cream together and stir until smooth.
8. Apply a layer of the ganache on top of each cupcake and allow to cool completely before serving or decorating.
9. Consume and enjoy!

Rainbow Cupcakes

A close friend of mine has been requesting some rainbow cupcakes for well over a year now, so I finally gave in and made them for her. As pretty as these turned out though, I'll have to admit that I don't plan on doing these again for quite some time, as it is very time consuming. And if you're semi-OCD like me, it could require a lot of patience as well as a steady hand. I mixed up and dyed the batter in no time, but filling the cups and spreading out all the colors took days. Okay, not really, more like 5 to 15 minutes per color. But because my batter is a little more thick, it took a little more elbow grease and careful spoon maneuvering to get the colors to spread out.


If you're not OCD like me though, you can always just spoon the batter in without spreading it out first and they'll still come out nicely!


Happy 2012!

The Ingredients (makes about 2 dozen): 
For the cupcakes:
-3 1/2 cups flour
-1 tbsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup unsalted butter, softened
-2 cups sugar
-2 tbsp vegetable oil
-4 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 cup milk
-assorted food coloring (I used gel)
For the frosting:
-1 cup unsalted butter, softened
-1 cup vegetable shortening
-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, or to taste
-1 tsp vanilla extract


The Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line your cupcake pan(s).
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
3. In your mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add eggs one at a time, mixing until combined. Then add in the vanilla and oil, mixing well.
4. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet, mix until combined, then add 1/2 the milk. Repeat until you run out of both. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the mixing bowl between each addition, especially after the dry, to ensure everything is mixed in.
5. Divide the batter into 6 bowls/cups and add the food coloring until desired color is reached. I divided the batter evenly, but upon filling the cupcake liners, I realized I should've divided it so that my bottom color would have the least amount of batter and my top color would have the most since I wanted to spread out each color to the edges of the liners.

I reused some plastic cups from a coffee shop I frequent so I didn't have to worry about the dyes staining my dishes

6. Fill cupcake papers and bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, rotating the pan halfway through to ensure even baking.

7. Cream the butter and shortening together. Then slowly add the sugar and follow with the extract. This can also be dyed with the food colors, if desired.
8. Consume and enjoy!

May's Cupcake Of The Month: Strawberries And Cream

It's May! 'Tis the season for spring dresses, sunny days and blooming flowers. And did I mention it's also National Strawberries Month?


These are fluffy vanilla cupcakes filled with a homemade jam-like strawberry filling and frosted with airy whipped cream that has just the right amount of sweetness to compliment the already-sweet strawberries. What's not to love?

The Ingredients (makes 2 dozen):
For the cupcakes:
-1 1/2 cups butter, softened
-1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
-2 eggs
-3 cups flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-3 tsp vanilla extract
-4 tbsp milk
For the filling:

-1 cup strawberries, mashed

-1 tbsp sugar

-1/2 tsp lemon juice

For the frosting:

-1 cup heavy cream

-2 tbsp powdered sugar, or to taste

-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

The Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line your muffin pan with cupcake papers.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
3. In your mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add eggs one at a time..

4. Add the vanilla extract and then 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then 2 tbsp of milk, then continue to alternate between the dry ingredients and the milk until both are used up.

5. Once the batter is smooth, fill cupcake papers about 1/2 to 2/3 full and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, rotating the pan halfway through to ensure even baking. Allow to cool completely before cutting out the centers.

6. Combine the mashed strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then allow to simmer until the sauce starts getting syrupy, stirring occasionally. Take it off the heat and allow to cool completely before filling cupcakes. The sauce will thicken as it sits.

7. Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form, then slowly add in the powdered sugar. Mix in the vanilla extract.

8. Fill and frost cupcakes once they've completely cooled.

9. Consume and enjoy!

March's Cupcake Of The Month - Samoa Cupcakes

As you might have noticed from my last post, I sort of have a thing for Thin Mints (as well as Lemonades... and Tagalongs...), but I never really liked Samoas (now better known as Caramel deLites), with the reason being that I don't like coconut (it's because of the texture, not the flavor!). By request from a friend though, I came up with my own version of this cookie-turned-cupcake.


And I must admit, it's a pretty damn good cupcake. Even for someone who doesn't like coconut. And I'm so very glad I decided to make this because it gave me a reason to learn how to make homemade caramel!


By the way, I'm never buying caramel sauce from the store ever again. Never. Ever. Again.


I'll admit, it's a bit intimidating the first time you go over the recipe, especially after reading that the sauce can go from cooked to burnt in an instant. But don't be discouraged! Once you've got it down, you'll never go back to those preservative-filled squeeze bottles ever again! Of course, if you do end up going with a store-bought sauce for this, I obviously won't know and I definitely won't judge.


*Unlike my past posts, this one will not feature any baking-process pictures. I was pressed for time and couldn't stop or spend the time I wanted and needed to take the proper pictures.*


The Ingredients (makes 2 dozen):

For the caramel sauce (from Ina Garten's recipe; optional):

-1 1/2 cups sugar

-1/3 cup water

-1 1/4 cups heavy cream

-1 tsp vanilla extract
For the cupcakes:
-3 cups all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-3/4 tsp salt
-1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
-1 1/2 cups sugar
-4 large eggs
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-1 1/4 cups milk
For the frosting:
-1 cup unsalted butter, softened
-1 cup vegetable shortening

-1 1/2 cups caramel sauce
For the topping:
-2 cups coconut shavings, toasted
-1/4 cup chocolate chips, melted for drizzling
-1/4 cup caramel sauce


The Directions:
Optional: Mix the water and sugar together in a saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Then increase the heat to medium and let it boil uncovered until it becomes a warm chestnut brown color (or until it reaches 350 degrees). Then remove from heat and slowly add the heavy cream and vanilla. Return to low heat and allow to simmer, stirring constantly, until the caramel has dissolved into the cream and the sauce is smooth. Allow to cool and thicken before adding to the buttercream (note: this can take up to 4 hours).
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line your muffin pan(s) with cupcake papers.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to mix well after each. Then mix in the vanilla.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in increments. Scrape after each addition to make sure nothing settles at the bottom.
6. Once the batter is smooth, fill cupcake papers about halfway and bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, rotating the pan(s) halfway through to ensure even baking. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
7. Beat butter and shortening together until combined and fluffy and then stir in the caramel sauce. Make sure to really scrape the bottom of the bowl for excess caramel that might have settled there.
8. Frost your cupcakes once they've completely cooled.
9. Top with the toasted coconut shavings and then drizzle caramel and chocolate over the top.

10. Consume and enjoy!