Cupcake of the Week: Kegs 'n Eggs Cupcakes || Week 5

This week I decided to go with a Superbowl Sunday decadent treat... The Kegs 'n Eggs "Cupcake."  I'll use the term cupcake lightly here since that term seemed to throw my boyfriend's mental image of this breakfast snack slightly off...

Thanks to my best friend M, I'd been introduced to the concept of a bacon cupcake wrapper... Hot diggidy, did this idea need a test run on my blog!  And to add to the bacon & egg allure, I tried to think of a way to creatively introduce a tinge of beer flavor into the mix.

Kegs 'n Eggs Cupcakes
8-10 slices of Bacon
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
6 eggs
1/4 finely chopped chives

To drain a little excess fat out of the bacon, I laid the strips on paper towels and microwaved for about a minute and a half.  Then, using 6 strips I lined the inside of the cupcake tins.  With the remaining bacon, I sliced them into squares to cover the bottom of the cupcake tin.

Into each cup I added a small handful of Gruyere, a sprinkle of chives and a cracked egg. Make sure to pack everything down so your egg does not overflow out of the cup.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the egg looks thoroughly cooked.

Beer & Cheese Frosting
1 package Mascarpone Cheese 
2 tablespoons Blue Moon (or any other Hefenweizen Beer will do)
1 tablespoon orange zest
Chives for garnishing

In a bowl I combined the Mascarpone Cheese with the beer and slowly mixed until it was all incorporated.  Do this slowly as the beer will start to fizz if you mix it too quickly.

Then, using a cheese grater (or mandolin if you have one) zest the rind off of your orange and mix into your Frosting.  This will add a nice slightly bitter orange flavor and texture to your cheese.  A little sweet, a little sour, and a great creamy topping to the saltiness of the bacon, I thought it all worked out quite well!

I garnished each dollop of frosting with a pair of crossed chives.

Cupcake of the Week: Thai Coconut Curry Cupcakes || Week 4

Hungover one morning I stumbled into my kitchen looking for quick and easy things to whip up, when I noticed a can of coconut milk chilling in my pantry.  Hrm... I thought, I could easily whip up a batch of coconut curry tofu...

And somewhere between drooling over the possibility of a quick & easy lunch, and the exhaustion ridden headache I was suffering from, inspiration hit!  

So I present... my take on a Thai Coconut Curry Cupcake! 
Spyglass Taste Tester Approved.

Thai Coconut Curry Cupcakes

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
• 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cups coconut milk
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp thai red curry paste
• 1/2 tsp paprika

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, brown sugar, curry powder, thai red curry paste & paprika.  Cut your softened butter into chunks and mix in.  Then add in your wet ingredients, eggs & coconut milk.  (If you don't have coconut milk, you can substitute it with 3/4 cup of whole milk & 2 tsp coconut extract).  Spoon in to your cupcake tray until 2/3 full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Coconut Lime Frosting

• 1 box powdered sugar
• 1 stick butter softened
• 1 tbsp coconut milk
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1 tbsp lime juice

Whip your butter until it's light and fluffy.  Slowly incorporate your powdered sugar, coconut milk, extract and lime juice until your buttercream has reached a nice, spreadable consistency. 

Garnish

• Crumbled peanuts
• Cilantro

These work really well as mini-cupcakes, since you get all the flavors in one bite.  Described by my co-worker as a "meal + dessert" all in one...  Enjoy!

Cupcake of the Week: Tomato & Pesto Cupcake || Week 3

And onto my Tomato & Pesto "Cupcakes" with a Pesto & Red Chili Mascarpone Frosting & a Balsamic drizzle... decadent I know :-).  These came out fantastic, I'd eat them any day!

Tomato & Pesto Muffins 
(Yield 6)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large tomato finely diced
1 tablespoon fresh Pesto. 

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl sift together your flour, baking powder, salt & sugar. Slowly add in your milk, egg & vegetable oil, until it's mixed well. Add in the diced tomatoes & pesto. I like to use this Pesto I found at my farmer's market... In your pre-greased cupcake pan, fill up each cup & bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

While those are baking...

Pesto & Red Chili Flake "Frosting" with a Balsamic Drizzle
15 oz (or 1 tub) Mascarpone Cheese
2 tablespoons fresh Pesto
2 pinches Red Chili Flakes
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

In one bowl, mix together the Mascarpone, Pesto & Chili Flakes & set aside.  Over your stovetop, heat up your Balsamic Vinegar & slowly sprinkle in your sugar.  Stir until combined & then let simmer on low heat until your mixture has been reduced by a third.  It should drizzle nicely from your spoon. 

Top each Cupcake with a healthy dollop of Frosting, a drizzle of Balsamic and garnish with a slice of a fresh Heirloom Tomato!  Enjoy!

Cupcake of the Week: BLT Cupcake || Week 2

Since my boyfriend got me these adorable little plates for Christmas, it was about time to start making little treats to photograph on them!

After listening to the Ideas of Today, Food of Tomorrow discussion, my wheels started spinning & I started to think about deconstructing the everyday...

When it hit me, the BLT was totally ripe for a little inspiration!  In cupcake form of course...

A tomato muffin with an avocado frosting & a bacon crumble on a bed of lettuce "wrappers."  They turned out really well, but buyer be wary, they're meant for instant consumption, as they didn't taste great cold & my avocado turned brown after a few hours.

Tomato Muffins (Yield 6)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large tomato finely diced
1 tomato sliced into thick rounds

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  In a bowl sift together your flour, baking powder, salt & sugar.  Slowly add in your milk, egg & vegetable oil, until it's mixed well.  Add in the diced tomatoes.  In your pre-greased cupcake pan, fill each cup halfway, add the sliced tomato & then finish scooping in the batter.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Avocado Frosting & Bacon Garnish
1 Ripe Avocado
2 tablespoons of Mayonnaise
1 package of Bacon, cooked & drained.

In a bowl, cream together the Avocado & Mayonnaise until it resembles a nice green frosting.  Crumble your cooked bacon into a separate bowl.  Garnish your "cupcakes" & serve them on a bed of lettuce! (or spinach in my case)

Cupcake of the Week: Maple Bacon Scones || Week 1

On my way to work, I realized I'd yet to name my New Years Resolution 2011... And not my "go to the gym," "take classes," "volunteer more," every year resolutions, I like to pose a challenge. Last year it was Caroline on Crack's 100 things to do in LA mega-list, which proved a little harder than I thought & I'm still determined to finish. This year, I thought I'd do something a little more fitting to my current blog...

And so.  The challenge has been set.

CUPCAKE (or equally as yummy baked good) OF THE WEEK!!

I know I'm already a little behind... but thankfully I have 3 baked goods sitting in my "to blog" list which I'm going to forward date to weeks 1, 2 & 3. But from here on out, each & every week I'm going to brainstorm, experiment & taste test a brand new creation from the inner world of Niki.  No chocolate or vanilla cupcakes here!  It's going to be all about fusing flavors & textures, with hopefully mostly positive results.  

So... here goes.  Week #1.  Maple Bacon Scones!

Ingredients - Yield 3 Dozen Mini Scones
3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 stick cold butter
1 cup cold cream
3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 package cooked bacon, crumbled

1 box powdered sugar
extra sugar to dust on top

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.  Grease your mini scone pan & set aside.  (If you don't have a scone pan, you could easily make these in a mini cupcake tin as well).  In a bowl, mix your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda & crumbled bacon.  Make a little well in the middle of the mixture & pour in your cream & maple syrup.  Lightly mix.

Then, here's a little trick... using a cheese grater, grate your cold stick of butter (all of it) into your bowl!  It works really well at evenly distributing the butter in little chunks through your batter so it stays light & fluffy.  Once your dough is ready, spoon little balls into your scone pan, dust the top with a little sugar & bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

When done, let your scones cool and in a separate bowl mix up your glaze...  1 part maple syrup, 4 parts powdered sugar.  Mix it up until it has a slightly runny consistency, thin enough to drizzle, thick enough to still set once it's dried.   Drizzle your glaze on top of your scones, let it harden up a bit & enjoy!