Chocolate Cupcakes with Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing

Last week I was in NYC for a meeting with a client and stopped in at Chelsea Market. I went in specifically for saffron and cocoa, but once there realized I needed lots of stuff that I did not really need. So while I did purchase my saffron threads and cocoa, I also walked out with milk and white chocolate curls, various chocolate blocks, various chocolate chips and some blood oranges!

When I get home all I can think about is what I should make, after all I need to prove to my husband that I really needed all of this. I decided to make dark chocolate cupcakes with blood orange cream cheese icing. I used my stand by chocolate cake recipe and added the juice and zest of one blood orange for my cream cheese icing. The result was amazing, the hint of orange in the icing complimented the very chocolaty cupcake perfectly.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 12)
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Dark-Chocolate-Cake-I/Detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup and 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon white sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.


2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Spoon mixture into muffin tins, 1/2 full.


3. Bake in preheated oven for 18 - 20 minutes. Allow to cool.
   

Blood Orange Cream Cheese Icing

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 Tbs juice from one blood orange
1 tsp zest from one blood orange
3-4 cups of powdered sugar (sifted)
1 tsp of orange extract

DIRECTIONS

1. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.


2. Add the orange extract, blood orange juice and zest and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness.


3. Either spread on with a blunt knife or spatula, or spoon into a piping bag and decorate your cupcake.
   

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

I travel alot for my job, all within the US, but all so different from each other. I've seen the cows in Arkansas and the freeway in LA. I've eaten at trendy places in Chicago and enjoyed comfort food in Texas.

Last week I had a client to visit in Upstate New York. Even though I live in a borough of New York City, I had never been Upstate. Me and a co-worker drove were driving around the little town on the way to visit my client and I couldn't help but just stare out the passenger side window and take in the quaint town. The weather was warm and the sun was shining, we passed beautiful tree lined streets and Old Colonial houses.

I love Old Colonials, I love the elegant look to them, the history they must have, the quality workmanship that is so hard to find today. But its the beautiful porches that stand out to me the most, especially the wrap around porches. As we passed house after house I kept thinking what a great day it was to just sit on the porch and have a nice pitcher of pink lemonade with friends.

That thought stayed with me until I came home the next day, and I was inspired to make Pink Lemonade Cupcakes. I found a recipe on http://castsugar.blogspot.com/ and they tured out perfect.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1/3 c. thawed frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate
1/4 c. buttermilk
Pink food coloring

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with liners. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg whites and lemonade concentrate. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until just smooth.
3. Add just enough food coloring to turn the batter a light shade of pink.
4. Scoop batter into liners (fill about three-fourths full). Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting (see below).

Lemonade Buttercream:
3 c. + 3 Tbsp. confectioner’s sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. pink lemonade concentrate
Pink food coloring

1. Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt, lemon juice, and a few drops of food coloring to the stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment until combined.
2. Turn the speed to med-high until the buttercream is fluffy and uniformly pink. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

The Best Strawberry Cupcakes

I love anything strawberry, ask my closest friends what my favorite food is and sadly they would all say a Dunkin Donuts Strawberry Frosted Donut!!

Since I started baking a couple of years ago I've been on the hunt for the best starwberry cake/ cupcake recipe. Most recipes out there start with a box mix, but I prefer to bake from scratch. I was on the hunt for a moist, fresh delicous strawberry cupcake, and I finally found it.

This is the recipe I used to make the cupcakes for my sister's baby shower, they went over so well, that I am making it my go to strawberry cake recipe.

Strawberry Cupcakes (makes 18 cupcakes):
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
2 teaspoon strawberry extract
1 cups pureed fresh strawberries
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/4 cup butter-softened
1 8oz package cream cheese-softened
2 teaspoon strawberry extract
6 cups confectioners' sugar (sifted)
Pink Food Coloring

Directions :

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a large mixing bowl,beat sugar and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg whites one at a time,beating well after each addition.
• Stir in strawberry extract,pureed strawberries,and sour cream.
• In a medium mixing bowl,sift together flour,baking powder,soda,and salt.
• Gradually add to butter mixture,beating until combined.
• Pour batter evenly into prepared cupcake pans.
• Bake for 15-20minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove onto wire rack.
• Cool completely before frosting

Frosting:

• In a large bowl,beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth.
• Add strawberry extract beating until combined.
• Add food coloring until desired color is reached
• Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth.

Mona's Baby Shower

This weekend was my sister's baby shower, she is pregnant with identical girls!!!! Of course I couldn't wait to throw her a pink themed baby shower.

For favors I made onesie butter cookies.

Instead of a traditional cake I made cupcakes, chocolate, strawberry and yellow cakes, and I mixed the frostings, vanilla and chocolate buttercreams and strawberry cream cheese frosting.

I love rainbow cookies, normally they are red, white and green, but I stuck with the pink theme on these too.