Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Long time no post, eh? Well, we're finally settled into our new place, and I've finally had an opportunity to make cupcakes! My cousin Lauren and aunt Cathy whom I haven't seen in about 4 years came down to visit our family yesterday! So, of course, I needed pull out all the stops and whip up some awesome cupcakes.

These cupcakes are yellow cake with dark chocolate chunks mixed in, with Mexican vanilla bean buttercream and a dark chocolate butterfly on top. I got the recipe for the cupcakes and frosting from Brownies For Dinner, and the recipes for both will be posted at the end of this entry with my additions listed.

I started by making the chocolate butterflies from melted Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate on Wednesday. I'm not sure I tempered the chocolate correctly, because they never really hardened like they should have, but the fridge/freezer was a quick fix for it.

I drew up the pattern for the wings, drew over it with thick black Sharpie, and just laid it underneath the parchment paper and piped chocolate over it with a squeeze bottle.

I baked the cupcakes on Friday, with these cute ruffled liners from Wilton that I found at Hobby Lobby.

Then, I packed up my frosting, the butterfly wings, and the cupcakes, and headed to my Gram's. I didn't assemble them beforehand because I wasn't sure the butterfly wings would hold up, and it's much easier to travel with unfrosted cupcakes. I assembled them at my Gram's, and they were a total hit!

Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes Recipe

• 1 box yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines, since I had it in my pantry)
• 4 eggs (I always use brown, cage-free eggs)
• 3/4 cup oil (I used Smart Balance, which is a blend of canola, soy, and olive oil)
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 ounces of good dark chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli 60% dark)

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. 

2. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, oil and water.  Add eggs one at a time.  Mix well (about 2-3 minutes).

3. Stir in chocolate. 

4. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.

5. Bake for about 15-20 minutes (I think I baked mine for 12, but I only bake one pan at a time. Just take them out when you can really smell them and a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean).  Let them cool completely on a rack before frosting.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (I actually used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, in the stick form)
• 2 – 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (I used 3 cups)
• 1/2 vanilla bean (I ended up using two whole beans. The flavor wasn't strong enough for me and there wasn't a high enough concentration of vanilla caviar visible in the frosting with just half)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon milk (I probably only used about half a teaspoon. I like my frosting stiff for piping.)

1. Beat the butter until it gets light and fluffy.  Gradually add powdered sugar.  Add the milk and beat for 2-3 minutes.

2. Split the vanilla bean half in lengthwise and scrape out all of the seeds.  Add the seeds and extract to the bowl.  Beat on high until combined and fluffy.

Chocolate Hazelnut Nutella Mini Bundt Cakes

These were made for my friend Becca's 21st birthday party. They're chocolate hazelnut Nutella mini bundt cakes with Nutella, tiramisu mascarpone cheese, fresh raspberries, and homemade raspberry sauce on top. I got the idea from Passionate About Baking, but tweaked it a bit to suit my needs.

For the cakes, rather than follow Deeba's recipe, I decided to use a box of chocolate cake mix that I had in the pantry. I added to it some chopped toasted hazelnuts, a cup of strong espresso, some chocolate chips, and Nutella. 

To make the raspberry sauce for the tops of the cupcakes, I simply heated a jar of sugar free raspberry jam over the stove. You can add in whatever you like to it at this point, so I added a teaspoon each of rum extract and vanilla extract. I also added about 2 tablespoons of orange liqueur (I used Paula's Texas Orange). Then you strain the seed out of the jam, and you're left with a fabulous sauce that is also great on ice cream!

Then, I just assembled the cakes by putting Nutella in the center of the cakes and somewhat on the top, then a dollop of tiramisu mascarpone (it's infused with espresso, making it perfect for tiramisu), then a fresh raspberry, and a drizzle of sauce!

Chocolate Hazelnut Nutella Cake

• 1 box of chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup of toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup of strongly brewed coffee (I used instant espresso granules)
• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 small jars of Nutella
• 1 tub of tiramisu mascarpone cheese
• fresh raspberries
• raspberry sauce (see recipe below)

Prepare chocolate cake mix according to instructions, substituting the coffee for part of the water. Stir in hazelnuts, chocolate chips, and one jar of Nutella. Bake according to instructions on box. Garnish with Nutella, mascarpone, raspberries, and sauce. 

Raspberry Sauce

• 1 small jar of raspberry jam (I used sugar free just because)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp imitation rum extract
• 2 tbsp orange liqueur (I used Paula's Texas Orange)

Heat jam in saucepan over medium low heat until viscous. Stir in vanilla, rum extract, and liqueur. Strain with mesh strainer to remove seeds and pulp. Refrigerate until needed. 

Unfortunately, this may be my last post for a little while. Why? Because we're moving!!!!! Yes, we're finally moving out of this duplex and into a house! So no cupcaking for at least a month since we need to save up for deposits and whatnot, and also we'll be settling into our new place. Updates will come as soon as they're available.

P.S. 22 followers? Really??? You guys are AWESOME!!!

Popcorn Cupcakes!

I made these for my cousin Teela's twin sons' 3rd birthday party! It was carnival themed, so the popcorn idea was perfect! Teela gave me the idea, and I found help at Cake Central.

 

The cupcakes are buttery pound cake with extra buttery buttercream on top (I added Wilton Butter Flavor to everything haha). The "popcorn" is actually just yellow and white miniature marshmallows that were cut crosswise at the bottom and smooshed to look like popcorn. 

Teela made some great cupcakes too, with the most adorable little toppers!

Memorial Day Slider Cupcakes (second try)

I made these for a Memorial Day potluck we had at work that was BBQ-themed. Unfortunately, I only figured out toward the end of my baking that in order to have a perfect dome at the top of the cupcake instead of having them come out like little hats, you should only spray the bottom of each cup of the muffin tin, not the sides. When you spray the sides, the spray over cooks the edges/top of the cupcake. They still tasted great, though. Just used box mixes and my standby buttercream recipe.  

Updates!

The Upcoming Cupcakes page is finally up-to-date!

My flickr is nearly up-to-date!

The Recipes page is up-to-date!

I've joined CookEatShare!

Also, I have 17 followers!!! I can't believe it! Thanks so much everyone for following my blog and enjoying my cupcakes as much as I enjoy making and sharing them. Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

I've been thinking about getting rid of the recipes page and just including the recipe with each post. Would this be more convenient for you? Or should I just add the recipe to each post but keep the recipe page for additional reference?