Chocolate Tamale Cupcakes for Cinco de Mayo

When I was a shy girl in pigtails, I collected stickers in my gold vinyl sticker book. I would regularly flip through the book admiring my latest puffy unicorn or scratch 'n' sniff Strawberry Shortcake, deciding which stickers to keep and which ones to trade with a friend.  I still love stickers; there is something so tactile about them in today's world of screens.  My son and I add one each night to the wall calendar by his bed to reveal the next day's plans.

Homemade Corn Syrup You Can Use in Place of the Store-Bought Stuff

Every time I discover a way to make a popular commercial product at home, my mind is blown.  Homemade corn syrup is not something I had ever considered making, but much like homemade grenadine, homemade Baileys, homemade goldfish crackers, and homemade Oreo cookies, I am so glad that I did.  While I wouldn't make any of these products from scratch every single time (I'm human and laziness often wins), every item on the list is better that its store-bought counterpart.

Polenta Cupcakes Morphed Into Corn Muffins - A Story with a Moral

Polenta cupcakes seemed like a good idea. My Taste & Create partner this month, My Kitchen Treasures, had a recipe for a date, ricotta, and polenta cake that sounded like it would be a winner in cupcake form. I decided that I would give it a try using mangoes instead of dates.

First, I made some polenta.

And there - right there in the very first step - is where I went wrong.

You see, when the recipe called for polenta, it was referring to uncooked polenta (essentially corn meal), not the cooked, fluffy stuff that I posted about last week - oops!

Fact: Almost all cupcake recipes take about 20 minutes to bake.
Fact: My polenta cupcakes were still raw on the inside at 45 minutes in the oven. Cooked polenta = too much moisture.

But Then, The Miracle Happened

After one hour in the oven, I had basically given up on my poor polenta cupcakes and was about to throw them all in the trash when Jonathan tried one and noted that it tasted like a corn muffin. I had a bite and had to agree. They were sweeter than a typical corn muffin and moist rather than crumbly, but if I thought of them as corn muffins, not cupcakes, they were rather tasty. Rather than trashing them or frosting them, I left them naked, called them corn muffins, and served them with the main course to our dinner guests.

The Verdict: Our guests loved them! They even went back for seconds.

When I told our friends the story and asked whether the recipe was good enough to post on the blog, they said, "Definitely."

The Moral of the Story

Don't give up just because something doesn't go the way you had planned; you might just discover something new and exciting!

The "Corn Muffin" Recipe


As I said above, this recipe is a modification of the date, ricotta, and polenta cake from My Kitchen Treasures. I encourage you to check out the recipe in its original form and give that a try as well.

Makes about 15 muffins

For The Muffins

• 2 C flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 2/3 C cooked polenta
• 1 C sugar
• 1 1/4 C ricotta cheese
• 1/2 C butter, room temperature
• 3/4 C water
• 1 C finely chopped mango

For The Filling

• 1 C ricotta cheese
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 T powdered sugar

1. Combine flour, baking powder, polenta, sugar, cheese, butter and the water in large bowl, and beat on low speed with a electric mixer until combined.
2. Fold in mango.
3. Fill cupcake liners half full with batter.
4. In a small bowl, mix all filling ingredients.
5. Spread a thin layer of filling over each filled muffin.
6. Top off each muffin with remaining batter until they are all 3/4 full.
7. Bake at 375 F for about one hour.
   

About the Plates

The plates you see in these photos were a gift from Marx Foods. They are disposable palm leaf plates.

According to the info on Marx's website:

These environmentally friendly small hexagonal palm plates are made from a natural, renewable, and biodegradable raw material. Naturally discarded sheaths of the leaves of the Adaka palm tree, which in the course of its biological life cycle, dry, fall and regenerate, are collected. No trees are cut down. The palm sheaths are then cleaned in fresh spring water and molded into bowls.

Palm leaf plates are leak proof and able to withstand hot and cold temperatures without getting soggy or flimsy. They are smaller than our full sized Hexagonal Palm Leaf Plates and thus perfect for salads and side dishes.

Even though these are disposable plates, each durable piece is unique with an attractive wood pattern finish that fits into both rustic and elegant events.

I was very impressed with the quality of the plates. They were super thick! Also, aside from the fact that they are environmentally friendly, they are gorgeous - perhaps even too gorgeous to throw out. The good news is that we didn't have to throw them out!

Even though the palm plates were billed as disposable, there is no reason that you have to trash them after one use. We used them for the muffins and for some greasy pizza and we were still able to rinse them off, let them dry, and use them again. I think we should be able to get many more uses out of them before having to pitch them. We did, however, give up one of our plates because a friend wanted to feed it to her compost worms and see how they liked it. I haven't heard the report on how that went yet.

The plates are available for sale on the Marx Foods website.

How to Cook Polenta

How to Cook Polenta To find out how to cook polenta, I headed to Eating Out Loud. I needed to find out how to cook polenta because my next cupcake has polenta as an ingredient. Since I was making polenta anyway, we decided to have it for dinner. Polenta is a cheap and easy way to have a dinner that looks incredibly gourmet. For the best effect, be sure to call your polenta dinner "polenta with ragout and pan seared beef" rather than "cornmeal with tomato sauce and hamburger meat." Polenta Recipe Cooking polenta is really easy, and the best part (depending on how you look at it) is that you can cook polenta instead of taking a trip to the gym. It involves stirring a very heavy cornmeal mush for about thirty minutes - an incredible arm workout! First, you'll need to buy some uncooked polenta. Polenta is essentially cornmeal, and any old cornmeal would work just fine. However, according to a helpful discussion thread on Chowhound, polenta has more of a standardized grain size. I purchased my uncooked polenta from the bulk bin at Whole Foods. Bob's Red Mill also sells it. Below you'll find the polenta cooking technique as found on Eating Out Loud, along with my notes.

• 6 C water
• 1 t salt
• 2 C uncooked polenta (any cornmeal will work)
• 3 T unsalted butter

1. Heat water with salt over high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Stir in polenta and reduce to a simmer. It’s important at this point to keep the mixture moving using a strong wooden spoon.
3. Stir for about 30 minutes — the mixture will thicken immediately, but the consistency and thickness will continue to develop during the 30 minutes. It’s important to keep stirring, don’t give up. (I wanted to give up. I wanted so much to give up. I ended up having my husband help out. He's made polenta before and never stirred for thirty minutes. He didn't see the point until it was all done and the consistency was perfect! If you prefer more of a soft polenta, then I give you the OK to quit.)
4. After 30 minutes, stir in butter until blended.
5. Pour the polenta into a greased baking dish and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. The polenta will become firm and can be sliced at this point.
6. The polenta can be refrigerated or frozen for later use.

Coming Up Next Coming up next, I've got a post about polenta cupcakes that somehow morphed into awesome moist corn muffins.

Cornmeal Cupcakes with Orange Flavor and Grand Marnier Whipped Cream

My mother-in-law just reported that these cornmeal cupcakes with orange flavor and Grand Marnier whipped cream are her favorite cupcakes so far this year. She also said that she really liked the crunch. "The crunch?" I asked. Could a crunch possibly be a good thing in a cupcake? She thought so. Personally, I wouldn't describe the cupcakes as having a crunch, but they definitely do have more of a gritty texture than normal due to the coarse blue cornmeal.

My other taster of the week, Susan, enjoyed that the cornmeal cupcakes weren't overly sweet, and she also liked the orange flavor (which she felt could be even more pronounced).

As for me, I was happy to move back to a healthier (not healthy) cupcake after the cookie dough cupcakes. I felt springy and happy after eating a cornmeal cupcake.

Cornmeal Cupcake Recipe


I got the recipe for the cornmeal cupcakes from Garrett of Vanilla Garlic. When I first started this blog, I made several of his cupcakes and they were all hits. I haven't made one in a while, but when I started looking for a blue cornmeal cupcake to go with my blue cornmeal pancakes, he had the perfect recipe (he used yellow cornmeal, but that was an easy substitution)! The best part of the recipe is its simplicity, it requires only one bowl.

Garrett's recipe is below, with my notes.

Makes 12 cupcakes

• 1/2 C olive oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 C sugar
  
• 1/2 C dry white wine
• 1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C yellow cornmeal (I used blue cornmeal)
  
• 1 t salt
• 2 t baking powder
• Finely grated zest of one orange (I used 1/4 t orange extract instead)
  

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar, and wine until smooth.
   
2. Add the other dry ingredients and the zest; whisk together gently.
3. Line cupcake tin with cupcake papers and spoon into the papers about 4/5 full.
   
4. Bake at 375 F for 22-25 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Grand Marnier Whipped Cream Recipe

You could top these cupcakes with any number of frostings. They might be great with an orange buttercream frosting. I opted to make a Grand Marnier whipped cream.

• 1 C heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 C Grand Marnier syrup. See my Grand Marnier syrup recipe.
• 1/4 C sugar
• 1 t Grand Marnier
  

1. Whip heavy whipping cream until it looks like whipped cream.
2. Mix in remaining ingredients.
   

Note: I added some food coloring to the whipped cream to create the middle of the flower. I typically avoid food coloring, but the flower needed some color and I decided to take the plunge.

Pancake Recipe Using Blue Cornmeal and Orange - Different and Delicious

Pancake recipes have been high on my tasting list recently. I haven't been posting all of the pancake recipes I've tried because this isn't a pancake blog; it's a cupcake blog. Besides that, I'm not always up for a food photo shoot at breakfast time. However, this pancake recipe for blue cornmeal pancakes made the cut!

Why Did This Pancake Recipe Make It on Cupcake Project?

• I made this pancake recipe for Taste & Create, the monthly event where food bloggers get paired with other food bloggers to try each others' recipes.
• The pancake recipe was exceptional. Don't make this recipe expecting a smooth, light, and fluffy pancake. This recipe is for the pancake lover who appreciates a dense pancake with a textured inside and a sweet, complex flavor.
• Of course, I am going to use this pancake recipe as a cupcake inspiration. You can look forward to a blue cornmeal orange cupcake.

About the Pancake Recipe

My partner for this month's Taste & Create was Grace from A Southern Grace. This is actually the second time I've been paired with Grace. The first time I made her breakfast quinoa and subsequently made quinoa cupcakes. She's got all kinds of recipes on her blog, but I suppose I'm drawn to her breakfast ones. This time, I spotted her blue cornmeal pancakes and had to give them a try. Oddly enough, she got the recipe from Katie at One Little Corner of the World during a previous Taste & Create. Katie found the recipe in the cookbook "With a Measure of Grace: The Story and Recipes of a Small Town Restaurant". Was that a mouthful of pancakes, or what?

The Pancake Recipe and Cooking Notes


Makes 20 medium-sized pancakes. Cut the pancake recipe in in half or even quarter it if you are making them for just a couple of people, or make the whole thing and put some in the freezer for a lazy Sunday morning.

• 3 C flour
• 1 C sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1 C blue cornmeal (You can use regular yellow cornmeal if that's all you've got.)
  
• 4 eggs
• 3 C milk
• 1/2 C oil (Any vegetable oil will do. I used my favorite not-too-olivey baking olive oil - Jovia Groves' 2007 Arbequina, but any olive oil will do. You can order Jovia from Extra Virgin.)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (I used 1/2 t vanilla extract and 1/2 t orange extract to give the pancakes an orange flavor. I highly recommend it! If you don't have orange extract, you could use some orange zest instead.)
  
• More oil for greasing griddle (I prefer to use butter to grease, but either would work.)
  

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cornmeal.
2. In another bowl, lightly mix eggs, milk, oil, and extracts.
   
3. Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine well.
4. Preheat griddle to medium-hot. A drop of water will dance over the griddle when it is ready. Grease by spreading 2 tbsp oil on it and spread around with a folded paper towel. Keep the towel around to use for the next batch of cakes. (I used a cast iron skillet since I don't own a griddle. I just dropped some butter on the skillet and swirled it around until the whole skillet was covered. I did not need to use a towel.)
   
5. Pour from a pitcher or use a ladle to make standard round cakes. Turn cakes when edges are set and small bubbles form and pop on the surface.
6. After a minute or so, peek underneath. If they look golden and pancake-like, turn out to a plate.
7. Eat right away or keep warm in the oven until you are ready to enjoy them!
   

What to Put on Your Pancakes

You can't go wrong with maple syrup on your pancakes (as long as you use the real stuff and not maple flavored crap). For an extra special treat, you might want to try making a homemade Grand Marnier syrup.

All American BBQ Cupcakes: Smoky Chocolate Cupcakes with Sweet Corn Cream Cheese Frosting

My cupcakes get jealous at BBQs - all of that BBQ smoke and sweet corn at meal time and none at dessert. That's why I created the All American BBQ cupcake. The cupcake is a chocolate cupcake with a secret ingredient - liquid smoke. The liquid smoke gives the chocolate a fantastic smoky smell and taste. The frosting is a sweet corn cream cheese frosting that has just enough corn to scream summer BBQ, but not too much to say, "Ewww, corn frosting!"

BBQ Cupcake Reactions

Bride and Groom 1.0 sampled this cupcake last night.

Groom 1.0 said that the smoky flavor reminded him of BBQ sauce and hamburgers and it worked well with the chocolate. That was my goal with the cupcake, as stated above, so I couldn't have been happier about this review. He also said that it was in his top 10 of all Cupcake Project cupcakes.

Bride 1.0 said that if they were having a second wedding and it were in the summer, they might have chosen this cupcake.

Neither of them could taste the corn in the frosting, but they did think that the sweetness of the frosting went well with the smokiness of the cake.

Groom 1.0 also said that the cake tasted like a chocolate pop tart. He says that's a good thing, but I don't believe him (hence the attempt to hide this comment).

The Smoky Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

I added liquid smoke to my favorite chocolate cupcake (Chockylit's chocolate cupcake) to make this recipe.

Makes 16 cupcakes

• 1/2 C (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 C sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 C flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Askinosie cocoa powder. See my post on Askinosie cocoa powder for more info.)
• 1/2 C milk
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 t hickory flavored liquid smoke

1. Beat butter until softened.
2. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small-sized bowl and whisk to combine.
5. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine.
7. Add about half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine.
8. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
9. Add liquid smoke.
10. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2 full. These cupcake will not dome. If you fill them too high, they will just collapse.
11. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The Sweet Corn Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

• 1 15 oz can corn (If you are already working the grill and have some fresh corn, that would work. I used white corn so you don't see weird yellow pieces of corn jutting out of the frosting.)
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 C (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
• 3 C sifted powdered sugar

1. Cream the butter and cream cheese.
2. Drain any liquid out of the corn and food process it until it becomes a big corn mush (that's a technical term).
3. Add the corn to the butter and cream cheese and mix well.
4. Mix in the powdered sugar. You can add more or less sugar to get the taste and consistency you like.

The Leftover Frosting

Because I frosted these cupcakes lightly, I ended up with lots of extra frosting. If you are also a light froster, you may want to halve the recipe above. If you do have extra frosting, you can make cornbread out of it. This was Jonathan's idea all the way. He took my extra frosting, mixed in some corn meal and baked it in a cast iron skillet. It made a dry crumbly corn bread, but any corn bread is better than tossed out frosting. We think it might have been better if he had added an egg.

The Red, White, and Blue Sprinkles

I bought both the red wrappers and the red, white, and blue sprinkles at Confectionery House.

Cupcake Hero

The theme for Cupcake Hero this month is cocoa powder with bonus points for Askinosie cocoa powder. I thought about topping these cupcake with my Askinosie chocolate cream cheese frosting instead of the sweet corn cream cheese frosting to increase my odds of winning, but the corn just seemed so right. Besides, I'm sure the Cupcake Hero staff will be happy for a corn break after tasting all of that chocolate.