Week 21, June 23,2014 ~ Strawberry Pistachio Cupcakes with Vanilla BeanMascarpone Whipped Cream

I am going to keep this short this week...since I am going to DISNEY tomorrow morning!! I can only take credit for the execution of this cupcake...I was just fulfilling someone else's cupcake request! Since they can't be bothered to make cupcakes for themselves!...I kid, I kid... I do like all these things though so I am glad I made them! It is a fresh strawberry cupcake with homemade pistachio pudding and mascarpone whipped cream. It was the perfect combination of sweet and salty and the frosting was light and airy! I am sure there is more I can say about these cupcakes but I am technically on vacation and I have to finish packing...

This recipe was for 12-16 cupcakes depending on your tin!

For the Pistachio Pudding:

• 1/4 cup salted pistachio nuts
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar; divided
• 1 tablespoons water
• 1 cups whole milk
• 1 large egg yolks (save the white for the cupcake!-it will hold up in your fridge in an airtight container if you make the pudding in advance)
• 1 tablespoons cornstarch
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1.Pulse pistachios in a food processor until the nuts are tiny bits.  Add 1/6 cup sugar and water, and blend until mostly smooth.

2. Put the pistachio mixture into a medium sauce pan and add the milk. Whisk mixture over medium heat until hot; should take about 3-5 minutes.  

3. While milk is heating, whisk together 1/6 cup granulated sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch and pinch of salt.  whisking until it’s smooth.  Pour a 1/2 cup of the hot pistachio milk into the egg mixture.  Whisk together.  Add another half cup of hot milk and whisk to incorporate.  Return the egg mixture into the saucepan over medium heat.

3. Heat pudding mixture over medium heat until thick and bubbly--this happens pretty quickly, about 1 minute or so.  Whisk constantly.   Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla extract, until butter is melted.  

4. Place in bowl and cover with plastic wrap with the wrap touching the entire surface of the pudding and place in fridge for several hours at least.

This can be made up to 3 days ahead of time.

For the Strawberry Cupcake:

• 2 tbsp strawberry jam or preserves 
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh/frozen strawberries
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened
• pink food coloring
• 1/3 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small bowl, mix strawberry preserves and chopped strawberries. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In mixer, beat sugar and butter together until fluffy. Add egg whites, vanilla, and food coloring and beat until well incorporated. Add flour mixture and milk, beating on low speed until mixed. Fold in strawberry mixture.
3. Fill cupcake liners in cupcake pan 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for five minutes then remove the cupcakes onto a cooling rack and let cool for 45 minutes.

original recipe can be found here!

For the Mascarpone Whipped Cream:

• 8 oz Mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1/2 cup of sugar

1. in a bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the mascarpone cheese, heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract. Gradually increase the speed over a few seconds till on medium-high.  Slowly pour in the sugar. Beat on medium-high until soft peaks form--this should not take more than a minute or 2...gradually lower the speed until you turn off the mixer.
2. Frost cupcakes and top with pistachio pieces and/or strawberries

And I am sure over the last several months most of my Facebook friends felt this way:

or this way:

Sorry, I am not sorry!

Week 8, March 24,2014 ~Pineapple Coconut Strawberry Cupcakes

I call these my "Why doesn't it feel like spring yet?" cupcakes...I was hoping I could will spring to come through the power of cupcakes!...Didn't work it was like 20 outside today and we are suppose to get a snowstorm tomorrow... ANYWAYS...I love anything coconut, and anything pineapple! So combined I am one happy camper! One of my favorite drinks ever is a drink from Bahama Breeze. I don't remember what it is called but it is a pina colada layered with strawberry ice. So obviously I turned it into a cupcake! I didn't use any alcohol in this one since I did that last week and I don't want everyone to think I am trying to get them drunk! I plan on doing that another time though. I will say while the flavor was good this isn't a cupcake I am super proud of...This is only the second vanilla cupcake I have made during my challenge and both have been dry, so I am still on the hunt for the perfect vanilla cupcake. The pineapple filling I made was probably the best part of the cupcakes. It was almost like a lemon curd but with pineapple. The frosting was the same one I used for my chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes but I just added coconut extract. The frosting just didn't want to cooperate though! I don't really have much else to say about this cupcake. The recipe for the coconut cupcake was an Ina Garten recipe...I don't know what I was thinking...

Makes 24 Cupcakes...I also didn't add the almond extract

For The Coconut Cupcake:

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups, shredded coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.
4. Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

This is the link to the recipe
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/coconut-cupcakes-recipe.html?oc=linkback

For the pineapple filling: 

• 1/2 C. sugar
• 4 Tbsp. flour
• 1 egg
• 1 C. crushed pineapple, drained
• 1/2 C. pineapple juice
• 2 Tbsp. butter

1. In a saucepan combine all the ingredients except for the butter and stir frequently until the mixture thickens. Make sure the egg doesn't turn into scrambled eggs. 
2. Remove from heat and mix in the butter.
3.  Let cool completely before filling the cupcakes with it. 

For the strawberry coconut cream cheese buttercream:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 8 oz (1 package) strawberry cream cheese, softened
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1-2 tsp coconut extract depending on preference
• 2 tbsp freeze-dried strawberries, pulverized.  

1.  In a large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined. 
3. Add the coconut extract and mix till incorporated.
4. Stir in powdered strawberries
5. Frost how desired.

:P

Week 3, February 14th, 2014 ~ Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

For Valentine's Day I wanted to do something different. I usually make red velvet but I wanted to be a bit more creative...It's only week 3 after all! So than I thought about different Valentine's Treats and thought Chocolate Covered Strawberries! I could of taken this cupcakes in a few different directions but I knew I wanted more of a fresh tasting strawberry as opposed to an artificial candy flavor. So I settled on a rich dark chocolate cupcake then filled it with a strawberry compote and topped it with a layer of nutella, to put my own stamp on it and I thought it would balance everything out and offset the sweetness of the frosting (It should be known I love nutella!), then finished it off with a strawberry cream cheese buttercream. This will be my go to strawberry frosting! It was light and had a fresh strawberry flavor! The decoration is dark chocolate hearts covered in sprinkles.  

DARK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES-makes 12 cupcakes

• 1/2 cup (1 stick or 115g) unsalted butter
• 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
• 1/2 cup (64g) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
• 3/4 cup (95g) all-purpose flour*
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk

For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line a 12-cup cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each time. You may also melt the butter and chocolate over low heat on the stovetop. Stir until smooth and set aside to slightly cool.

In a medium sized bowl, toss the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together until thoroughly combined. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the cooled butter/chocolate and whisk until smooth. Add half of the flour mixture, then half of the buttermilk. Repeat until everything is added. Stir until *just* combined; do not overmix. The batter will be very thick like pudding.

Divide the batter between 12 liners in your cupcake pan. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

recipe courtesy of Sallysbakingaddiction.com

Strawberry Compote

• 2 cups of fresh strawberries, cleaned, hulled and chopped--frozed fresh strawberries work well too (not the ones in juice or anything)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp. corn starch

In a small saucepan, combine strawberries, sugar and cornstarch and stir.

Bring mixture to a boil and allow to thicken.

Remove from heat and cool completely.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 oz (1 package) strawberry cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp freeze-dried strawberries, pulverized

1.  In a large bowl, cream together butter and cream cheese. 
2. Gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined. 
3. Stir in powdered strawberries

Then lastly I spread nutella on top of the cupcake before I frosted them!

For the sparkly chocolate hearts on top I just melted some wilton candy melts --the dark chocolate ones and put it in a candy squeeze bottle. I then made heart designs on a plate covered in a layer of red wilton sprinkles. Once you let them dry for about 10 minutes they are good to go! I have also made four leaf clovers with green sprinkles for St. Patty's Day! It couldn't be easier they chocolate doesn't really get away from you. I am not the most coordinated person so if I can do it anybody could!