Cupcake of the Week: French Onion Soup Cupcakes || Week 9

After having the French Onion Soup Dumplings at Stanton Social, I knew this was something that could easily be converted into a cupcake formula.  It's like the best of both worlds!  Soup Dumplings & Cupcakes!  Plus, this couldn't be any easier to make.  So enjoy!  And watch out for all the calories (of which there were plenty)

French Onion Soup Cupcakes

• 1 can of French Onion Soup (yes, I know I was being lazy)
• 1 package of Puff Pastry (defrosted & ready to use)
• 1 block of Gruyere Cheese
• 1 cup Shredded Parmesan
• 1 egg
• 1 package of Mascarpone Cheese 
• 1 cup Fried Onions (I like the Trader Joe's version of French's Fried Onions)
• Butter

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.  In your cupcake tin, butter all 12 molds.  Open your can of French Onion Soup and set aside. 

Lay out the Puff Pastry and cut each sheet into fourths.  Using one square, press it into a cupcake mold.  Once it's nicely fitted inside (there will be extra hanging over the edges that you'll fold back to cover the top) place in one cube of Gruyere Cheese, and then spoon in your French Onion Soup until it's almost full.  Like a little gift, fold over all four of your corners until you have a nice little package in your cupcake tin.

Repeat with 5 more tins until you have 6 cupcakes total.  In a bowl, whisk your egg, and then using a brush, brush some of your egg wash over the top of each of the cupcakes.  Put your cupcake tin in the oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the top just starts getting some color.

Then take the tray out, and in the remaining six tins, mound a handful of Parmesan (these will bake nicely into your Parmesan Crisp garnishes) into each section.  Place your tray back in the oven for another 8-10 minutes. 

Using spoons, remove your baked French Onion Soup Cupcakes from the tin, and transfer to your serving dish.  Take a spoonful of Mascarpone and dollop it on top of the hot cupcake.  Stick a Parmesan Crisp in as a garnish, and then sprinkle some crunchy fried onions around the plate for an added texture! 

I served these with my own concoction of the evening.  My lovely boyfriend has decided to become the master mixologist to my attempts at avant garde cooking.  So he bought some egg whites and we whipped up this take on a fizz... not sure what to call it quite yet!

The Iizuka||Zucca Concoction

• 2 parts Dark Rum
• 1 part Cointreau
• 1 part Agave Syrup
• 1 Egg White
• 2 parts Club Soda
• Nutmeg Garnish

In a shaker, mix together Rum, Cointreau, Agave & Egg Whites.  Shake for about a minute before adding Ice.  Then Shake for another 2-3 minutes with ice before adding Club Soda.  Give it a few more shakes before straining into a chilled glass.  Shave some Nutmeg on top before serving!

I wasn't really thinking French Onion Soup Cupcakes when mixing this up, so no, in case you were wondering, they are not meant to be paired together. 

Cupcake of the Week: Parmesan & Chive Cupcakes || Week 8

I'm not going to lie when I say that I was slowly running out of time this week to create something special...

After a late night of drinks, I got home at 11pm last night, exhausted, but ready to bake.  Really, the perfect mindset to think up something crazy.  Looking through my pantry and fridge, I pulled together a silly little collection of savory flavors that surprisingly worked out really well together.

Perhaps not for everyone, these little treats would go work well as a side dish to a ham or turkey feast, pulling out a lot of complex flavors that compliment smoky meats.  Or, if you're into the cupcake & alcohol pairings, this would be nice with a Rauchbier (which is a German beer that has a very distinctive smoke flavor which is developed by using a malted barley that's been dried over an open flame.).

Parmesan & Chive Cupcakes
(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 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
2 tablespoons diced chives

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 parmesan & chives. In your pre-greased cupcake pan, fill up each cup & bake for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Roasted Garlic & Bacon Frosting
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 head of roasted garlic*
2 strips of bacon - cooked, drained & crumbled
1 tbsp diced chives
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Roasted Garlic is perhaps one of the easiest, yet most delicious thing to make.  First, take your head of garlic and slice about a third off the top.  You want to see the tops of the garlic cloves, but want to leave the head in tact so it has a nice shell to cook in.  Place your garlic head on a piece of tinfoil, generously coat it with olive oil, making sure that the oil drips down into the head of garlic, and salt & pepper the top.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the garlic cloves are nice and soft, and your kitchen is filled with a sweet & savory aroma.  Peel out your garlic cloves, mash them a little and set aside.

In a bowl, mix together all of your ingredients into a nice "frosting" of sorts.  Dollop a nice spoonful on your cupcakes and garnish with some fried onions, and a few sticks of chives.  Enjoy!

Cupcake of the Week: Fiery Dark & Stormy Cupcakes || Week 7

With it being Valentine's Day and all, I wanted to make a special little treat for my beau who is perhaps one of the biggest Ginger Beer consumers I know.  Instead of going all girly with hearts and bows, I decided to turn one of his favorite drinks, the Dark & Stormy into a Fiery cupcake.

So I present...

Fiery Dark & Stormy Cupcakes
I did a double recipe so there would be plenty to share!
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 milk
3 tsp lime juice
2 tsp dark rum
2 tbsp ginger crystals (or sub ginger candy)

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.

not gonna lie, these are perhaps THE BEST cupcakes i've ever made.

Yummy Frosting
1 stick of butter
1 box of powdered sugar
2 tsp lime juice
2 tsp dark rum

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. 

Garnish
ginger crystals (or ginger candy)
key lime's
dark rum

after frosting, i added on a few sprinkles of ginger crystals for an extra boost.  then using your knife, hollow out half of a key lime.  set it on top of your cupcake, fill with rum, and carefully light on fire!  be sure to wait until the fire has gone out completely before eating!! 

enjoy! 

and don't burn down any houses please.

Cupcake of the Week: Caviar & Creme Fraiche Cupcakes || Week 6

Sticking in the savory realm, I wanted to take a classic appetizer and re-imagine it into a cupcake...

Caviar & creme fraiche are normally paired with blini or small pancakes so you can enjoy the salty, sweet and succulent textures wrapped up perfectly in a bite sized treat.  The blini are normally fairly bland in flavor, merely playing an edible plate of sorts to the star ingredient, the caviar.

A fairly easy duo to work with, replacing the blini with something equally as innocuous seemed like the perfect solution...

Cake seemed a little too heavy, as did a muffin, so I thought that a light and fluffy cornbread dotted with diced chives would add a nice texture to the dish.  So here you go... enjoy!

Caviar & Creme Fraiche Cupcakes
yields 3 dozen mini cupcakes
2 Cups self-rising flour
2 Cups self-rising cornmeal
2 Cups milk
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 Cup diced Chives
1 Cup Creme Fraiche
2-3 oz Caviar

Combine all ingredients + 1/4 Cup diced Chives; mix well. Pour batter into a well-greased cupcake sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool

Top each "cupcake" with a dollop of creme fraiche "frosting" a garnish of diced chives and a spoonful of caviar!