The Cupcake Queen is entering three cupcakes tomorrow night in the "Pro" group of bakers at the Washington Club (15 Dupont Circle in DC) tomorrow night...Sept. 25th! All of the other pros are bakeries! Baked and Wired, Nostalgia Cupcakes, The Baltimore Cupcake Company, Sweet N Sassy Cupcakes from Newark, Delaware and more! We all make yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting, chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and the third one if the "wild card" cupcake...one of your own choosing.
I'll let you know what happens on Friday!
DelleiciousDC
Cupcake Queen is in DC's First Cupcake Contest!
Get This: Chocolate Mayonnaise Cupcakes with Vanilla/Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
The yummy cupcakes above came from a recipe I found in Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth
The cupcakes are so chocolate-EE and moist. They are to die for. I found the cute coffee cup and saucer at my fav place: Home Goods! Can you see me eating this??? YES!
This weekend we're heading to Bar Harbor, Maine for a wedding. Can't wait. the weather is supposed to be beautiful. Hope you have a great weekend!
Here's the Recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mayonnaise (not low-fat)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups boiling water
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Line two standard 12-cup muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine the sugar and eggs and beat with an electric mixer set at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the mayonnaise and vanilla just until combined. Reduce the speed to medium and beat in half of the flour mixture just until combined.
4. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add half of the boiling water and beat at very low speed, just until the batter is smooth, 5 to 10 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat just until combined, 5 to 10 seconds longer. Beat in the remaining water. The batter will be somewhat thin.
5. Divide the batter among the prepared cupcake cup liners, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer the tin to wire racks and let cool completely.
I topped my cupcakes with both buttercream frosting and whipped cream!
Rock On!
CQ
Week 2 of the Washington Post Cupcake Wars!
Okay! This week the Washington Post has pitted "Buzz" (in Alexandria, VA) against "Pasteries by Randolph" in Arlington, VA. They really like the Buzz vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting...pictured above. They rated it 5.5 out of 10, whereas the Pastries by Randolph red velvet was only give a 3.5 out of 10. Yikes...these people are rough!
These pictures are making me hungry! Tonight I'm making a special cupcake I've never tried before.
Oh, did I tell you that I won the family football pool this past weekend...mostly because picked Maryland and nobody else did!
CQ
Washington Post Launches CUPCAKE WARS!
Washington Post's photo showing a cupcake from Sticky Fingers
Thought you'd like to know that the The Washington Post has launched a series called "Cupcake Wars" in its Food section today.
It will continue for six weeks...facing off two bakeries each week. This week the bakeries are CakeLove and Sticky Fingers. These are the categories they judge on: About, The Range, Price, Size, How Do They Taste?, and Best of the Bunch.
Check it out and "judge" for yourself!
What a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts: Dark Chocolate Mounds Bar Cupcakes With Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Inspiration! How to get the coconut flavor into the middle of the chocolate cupcake with out mixing it all into the batter? Well, I went out and bought two packages of the little Mounds Bars...which believe it or not...are already in the grocery stores ready for...Yikes!...Halloween...That scared me!
I put the packages in the fridge when I got back home. I didn't want to freeze them, just make them cold so they wouldn't melt as much. So, when I was finished making the batter, I used a crescent moon cookie cutter on the little bars and placed the moon onto the top of each cupcake before putting them into the oven to bake.
The cool part was that when I took them out, the chocolate on the Mounds bar crescent moon had melted into a little chocolate pool and the coconut was right beneath it...just perfect! Then I frosted half of them with vanilla frosting and half with chocolate frosting and plunged them into the fresh coconut to top it all off! This is Nigel...I thought you might like to see how big his tongue can get when he's looking at such a site...he's a french bulldog and quite a hoot!
Layla is checking the cupcake from afar...she settled on a special doggie treat instead!
Here's the Q&D* version on how to make these cupcakes:
Ingredients:
1 box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Cake Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
1 box chocolate jello instant pudding
1 small Yoplait Yo-Plus Digestive Health with Optibalance Yogurt
2 packages of the small Mounds Dark Chocolate Bars (place in the fridge for about an hour before using)
1 can Dark Chocolate Fudge Creamy Home Style Duncan HInes Frosting
1 can French Vanilla Creamy Home Style Duncan HInes Frosting (or make your own)
1 bag of shredded coconut
Make the cupcakes according to the box instructions, add in the instant pudding and the yogurt and mix with a whisk for 1-1/2 minutes. Add batter to the cupcakes holders.
Use a small cookie cutter to cut a shape into the Mounds bar. It could be circular, square, but it shouldn't be over 3/4 of an inch in length. Place this piece on the center of the cupcake batter and press down a bit.
Bake according to directions on box.
Frost the beauties after they are cool...about 20 minutes. Dunk them in a bowl of shredded coconut.
There's no doubt....You will have many fans after they eat one of these!
Rock On!
CQ
*Quick and Dirty
Tennis Anyone? Nectarine Cupcakes with White Chocolate-Cardamom Butter Cream Frosting
Ripe nectarines...did you know that nectarines are essentially the same fruit as Peaches, the primary difference is that nectarines are smooth-skinned and peaches are fuzzy...white chocolate, cardamom all wrapped up in a cupcake...what more could you want? Love....or a
doubles tennis match played on a clay court!
Seriously, four ripe nectarines called to me to be cupcaked and I could not refuse....and I read about this frosting recipe with cardamom...I always thought it was cardamon...oh, well...on http://cupcakeblog.com/ and I knew it was a match made in heaven!
Layla was so tired from our walk last night that she couldn't even rally to keep her eyes on the cupcake...advantage cupcake!
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
One box of Duncan Hines French Vanilla Cake Mix
4 good sized nectarines(peeled, and food processed)
1 box of instant vanilla pudding
For the frosting:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1-2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
Making the cupcakes:
1. Follow the recipe on the cake mix box
2. Add in the processed nectarines
3. Add in the instant vanilla pudding
4. Mix with an electric mixer for 1:30 minutes
5. Pour batter into paper cupcake papers
6. Bake according to directions on box
7. Let cool before frosting
Making the frosting:
1. In a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, gently melt the white chocolate. Allow to cool for 2 minutes or so.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy.
2. Beat in the melted white chocolate.
3. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar, vanilla, and cardamom and beat at low speed, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to arrive at the consistency and sweetness you like.
Here's my tennis joke of the week:
Q: What did the tennis ball say when it got hit?
A: Who's making all the racquet?
C Ya!
CQ
Sugar and Spice Are Nice Cupcakes!
I had a funny desire for spice cupcakes this week...I wonder if it is because it has been so cool here...and...I hate to say this but, the leaves are beginning to turn...and...oh no...some of the leaves have fallen! I hate the end of summer. But pretty soon I love the crisp e ness of fall. Besides, what the H can we do about it??
These cupcakes are made from Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice cake mix. I followed the directions on the box...and then I added 1 cup of cranberries, 1/2 cup of walnuts (smallish pieces) in half the batter (because some folks are allergic to nuts), 1 cup of dried apricots (chopped into small pieces), and, finally, 1 cup of plain yogurt.
Layla really liked Martha Stewart's Cream Cheese
Frosting (recipe below)...it is so creamy!
We've become addicted to the Olympics and watch them every night. Are you hooked, too?
Martha Stewart's Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Makes enough for one 9-inch, three-layer cake
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and brought to room temperature
2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted
Directions
Beat cream cheese and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add butter, beating until incorporated after each addition.
Reduce speed to low. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, and beat until fluffy and smooth. Frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days; bring to room temperature and stir well before using.
Layla and I hope that you have a GR...ATE week!
Rock ON!
CQ
Cupcakes Squared: Emeril's Vanilla Cupcakes with French Vanilla Frosting
My sister Robin took these photos of this week's square cupcakes. She titled this one "Nothing helps a broken heart more than cupcakes." 
And then we really needed to add in the Kir Royales...how does anyone live without champagne??
These babies were d*** good!
Rock On!
CQ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
