Cupcake of the Week: Life is Like a Box of Cupcakes (part 1) || Week 13

In discussing possible cupcake ideas with my #2 taste tester seanbrogan, (obviously behind mr. zucca, and tied with mr. portman. you can battle it out.) we struck inspirational, sugary, gold.  It started out innocently enough, how about a surprise cupcake I wondered.  A prosciutto wrapped, goat cheese stuffed date hidden in the middle of a seemingly innocuous little vanilla treat.  What if... what if there were a whole tray of them?  Yet each one was slightly different?   Like a box of chocolates?  You never know which one you're going to get...

And thus the "Life is Like a Box of Cupcakes" was born.

I realize that this is all going to take a bit of time, a little elbow grease and several batches of cupcakes before I present the final array... but in the meantime for your blog reading pleasure, here is the first test batch I whipped up!

Simple Vanilla Cupcakes (in which to hide greatness)

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  in a bowl mix together all of the ingredients.  line your mini cupcake tray and fill each cupcake 2/3 of the way full.  bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  this recipe will yield 2 dozen minis!

Simple Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

• 1 box powdered sugar
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

in a mixing bowl, whip the butter until it is nice and fluffy.  slowly incorporate the powdered sugar, milk & vanilla extract until you have a nice fluffy white frosting.

Filling #1 || Spiced Chocolate

• 1 bag of melting chocolate 
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream

in a double boiler melt your chocolate.  once it is completely melted, remove it from the heat and very slowly mix in your spices and cream to make a nice and delicious ganache.  set aside.

Filling #2 || Tabasco Candied Nuts

• 1 cup of mixed nuts
• 1 pat of butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp tabasco hot sauce

in a heated skillet, melt your butter.  throw in the mixed nuts and mix until coated.  lightly toast them until they start to brown.  add in the brown sugar and coat.  once your nuts are nicely toasted and candied, empty them onto a tinfoil covered baking sheet and spread out.  drizzle your tabasco sauce on top and set aside to cool.

Filling #3 || Prosciutto Wrapped & Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates

• 1 box of dates (the fruit, sadly)
• 1 log of goat cheese
• 1 package of prosciutto

line a baking sheet with tinfoil.  take each date, dig into the center from one end and pull out the seed.  in its place stuff in a marble sized ball of goat cheese.  then take your prosciutto, slice each piece in half lengthwise and wrap it around the date.  place it on your baking sheet.  repeat.  turn on your oven to broil.  broil your dates for about 4-7 minutes or until the prosciutto starts to crisp up and the goat cheese just starts to melt.  pull out of the oven and set aside.

Assembling the Cupcakes
take each mini cupcake, and using a small knife, cut a hole in the middle of the top. scoop out your cupcakes (you can save the scooped out insides to make cake pops) and set aside.  in 1/3 of your cupcakes, fill them with the ganache.  in 1/3 of the cupcakes, fill them with the spiced nuts (if they're too big, chop them up a little).  in the last 1/3 take a goat cheese stuffed date and cut them in half.  place half of the date in each cupcake.

then cover them all in white vanilla frosting and garnish with a toasted almond so they all look the same!

*One thing to remember, in making these cupcakes you have to take into consideration allergies and religious edibles.  First, make sure that your guests aren't allergic to nuts.  This could end very badly if they are.  Second... if anyone trying your cupcakes keeps kosher, you could either try skipping the prosciutto, or (and we know this from experience) they'll have to cut each cupcake in half to figure out which ones have pork!

Cupcake of the Week: Fig & Blue BurgerCakes || Week 12

Apparently my mind just keeps going to darker and weirder places when brainstorming cupcake ideas.  But the end results? They keep getting better and better... This weeks confection was inspired by one of my favorite burgers in the city... Stout Burgers "Six Weeker" camembert/fig/mild jack/arugula/caramelized onions. Burgers & Cupcakes... oh my!

I pulled the sweet fig and caramelized onions out of the mix, but I wanted to add a touch of sour & savory so I decided to swap out the creamy cheese flavors for a slightly sharper blue. 

Fig & Blue BurgerCakes

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup soft blue cheese
• 1/2 cup fig jam
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
• 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
• 2 pats of butter
• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup diced green onions

pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  in a bowl, combine white sugar, 1/4 cup of butter, eggs, flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup soft blue cheese, 1/4 cup fig jam.  mix until combined.  in a skillet melt your pat of butter and over low heat saute your red onions with a tiny sprinkle of sugar, until they are soft and browned.  mix in half to your cupcake batter and save the other half to use as a garnish.  line your cupcake tins and fill 2/3 of the way.  bake for 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

while your cupcakes are baking, it's time to make your mini-burger patties!  in a bowl mix your meat with worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.  make balls the size of a large marble and then flatten into 2 inch patties.  on your still hot skillet add another pat of butter to coat the pan.  grill your burger patties until they are nicely browned.  drain over paper towels.

in a bowl, mix together the rest of your blue cheese with heavy cream until it becomes a spreadable consistency.  if you need to use more cream, do so.  add in your fig jam and mix.

once you're ready to assemble, spread some of the blue cheese and fig mixture on top. garnish with a mini burger patty, a pinch of caramelized onions and a sprinkle of green onion.  enjoy!

Cupcake of the Week: Nutella, Mozzarella, Pancetta & Banana Cupcakes || Week 11

In what some will call a bold move, I went for it... fruit, cheese, chocolate & meat.  All things that pair nicely with wine, yet things that are rarely paired with each other.  But let me tell you... in doing so, something magical happened.  A true feast for the palate, a wonderful combination of ooey & gooey with salty & sweet that would pair well with a deep Merlot.

So here it is. 

The Nutella, Mozzarella, Pancetta & Banana Cupcake
3.5 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 sticks of butter, softened
2 cups of sugar
3 eggs
1.5 cups milk
1 cup chopped chocolate pieces
1/2 cup chopped banana
2 bananas sliced 
2 balls of burrata mozzarella
1 cup diced pancetta
1/2 cup nutella spread

pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.  in a bowl cream together your butter, sugar & salt.  mix in your eggs & milk.  then add in your flour, baking powder, chocolate & banana and mix well.  the cupcake batter should be nice and light.

in a pan, fry your diced pancetta until they are nice and brown.  scoop about half of your pancetta into your cupcake batter, reserving the rest to use as a garnish.  fill your cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full.  with the burrata, slice the ball in half.  scoop out the creamy center and reserve in a bowl.  with the rest of the mozzarella, cut into cubes.  in the center of each cupcake, place 1-2 cubes of the mozzarella and press down into the cupcake.

bake 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the cupcake has a nice sponge-y texture. there should be a few brown spots of ooey-gooey melted chocolate throughout your cupcakes!

in a bowl, whisk together the creamy burrata with the nutella and set aside.  slice the banana into wedges.  garnish your cupcakes with a dollop of the nutella & cheese mixture, a sprinkle of the reserved pancetta and a slice of banana!

when you cut into your cupcakes they'll have a nice stringy gooey center.  these cupcakes actually remind me a lot of a warm & gooey chocolate cookie, albeit with cheese & meat.

Cupcake of the Week: Alie N Georgia's McNuggetini Cupcakes || Week 10

In honor of finally trying the infamous McNuggetini, created by the fabulous Alie N Georgia... I decided to let that be the architecture behind my latest cupcake of the week.  If you haven't seen the duo work their magic, you must watch the video below!

Combining the deliciously sweet and dangerous chocolate vodka shake, with a BBQ sauce rim which works surprisingly well and a McNugget garnish, this certainly seemed like an awesome contender for my Herbivore vs Carnivore Cupcake Battle.

McNuggetini Cupcakes
3.5 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 sticks of butter, softened
2 cups of sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 cups chocolate milk
1 cup chopped chocolate pieces

mix everything together well. it helps to use a hand mixer or professional mixer. makes lots of air bubbles which help make these cupcakes awesome. the mixture should be a little wet and nice and light.

fill cupcake tins 2/3 of the way full.

pre-heat oven to 375 & bake 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the cupcake has a nice sponge-y texture.  there should be a few brown spots of ooey-gooey melted chocolate throughout your cupcakes!

Vanilla Vodka Buttercream
1 stick of butter
1 box of powdered sugar
2 tbsp vodka
2 tsp vanilla extract

in a large bowl, whip softened butter until it's nice and fluffy. slowly add in the powdered sugar until it's incorporated. about halfway through making the buttercream, add your liquids to flavor the frosting.

BBQ Sauce & McNugget Garnish
4-5 packs of BBQ sauce
20 piece box of chicken mcnuggets

Using a plastic squeeze bottle, empty the packets of BBQ sauce so it's easy to drizzle.  (If you don't have a squeeze bottle, you can always use a plastic baggie and cut off just the tip of one of the corners).  Drizzle on your sauce, and top each cupcake with a warm McNugget before serving!

These little suckers came out amazingly well.  Granted, a little dangerous if consuming more than one per sitting...  I could easily see these served up with a nice side of fries and a coke.  Or a shot of vodka.  You're choice.   

Special Thanks to Alie & Georgia for being such an amazing inspiration!!