Anti-Valentine's Day Cupcakes

"Anti-Valentine's Day - why would anyone be anti Valentine's Day?" asked my befuddled mother.  "Valentine's Day is about love.  Why would someone be opposed to love?"  I'm not actually anti Valentine's Day. I have some extremely fond Valentine's Day memories.  I still recall reading "The Tasty Pasty Valentine" as a child - a short story about mice making Valentine's cards and eating the paste.  In more recent years, I've celebrated with sushi-filled Valentine's Day hotel room stays, heart-shaped balloons, and even personalized romance novels.  In fact, as I put the red "X" over the heart-shaped cupcakes, I had a moment of superstitious fear that Aphrodite would spite me. 

However, I do understand why people are anti Valentine's Day.  Couples face pressure to buy gifts, pressure to make the day special, and jacked up prices at every restaurant.  Singles must contend with the constant reminder that others are happily coupled. 

Anti-Valentine's Day parties have become a commonplace way to deal with the hype.  Some are for singles only and some allow couples as long as they aren't all smoochy and romantic.  Any excuse to party sounds good to me, but the question is ...

What Kind of Cupcake Should You Bring to An Anti-Valentine's Day Party?

Apple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls - This Month's Cupcake Project Recipe for Paula Deen

 

As my regular readers know, I create monthly cupcake recipes for PaulaDeen.com.  This month, I was asked to develop something with apples or pecans.  I opted to use both! I made these apple pecan cinnamon roll cupcakes with a glaze that actually contains apple cider! 

Whether or not you make the cinnamon rolls, I'd highly recommend trying out the simple apple cider glaze. The apple cider glaze would be outstanding on my gingersnap cookies.

You'll find both the apple pecan cinnamon roll cupcake recipe and the apple cider glaze recipe on Paula Deen.

Pistachio Cake Cupcakes with Rosemary and a Cherry Glaze

Seeing some leftover crumbs of this pistachio cake cupcake on a party napkin, one would think that it was a simple yellow cake.  Unlike most of the pistachio cake recipes that you will find with a quick Google search for "pistachio cake recipes", this cake isn't green - there is no green food coloring and no instant pudding.  Interestingly, this pistachio cake recipe doesn't use any pistachios (except on top for decoration).   All of the pistachio flavor in the cake comes from pistachio oil. 

Using pistachio oil gives these pistachio cake cupcakes an intense pistachio flavor (think pistachio ice cream) without adding crunch.  If you like crunch, you could always throw some nuts into the batter.

Rosemary, You Say?

Rosemary is typically found in more savory baked goods, such as focaccia bread.  But, it worked like a cupcake charm with the pistachio cake.  It made the cake taste woodsy like something Hansel and Gretel would have enjoyed in the forest after they grew up and developed more refined palates.  I wish I could take credit for the flavor combination idea, but full accolades go out to The Flavor Bible (more on that book in an upcoming post).

And The Cherry Glaze?

The cherry glaze mostly serves to add a pretty pink top to the cupcake.  The cherry flavor is not particularly detectable, but if you love sugar glazes like I do, this is a nice one to add to your arsenal.

Monkey Bread Cupcakes with Banana and Chocolate

Monkey bread is balls of yeasty bread dipped in butter, cinnamon, and sugar. There isn't much that could make a monkey bread recipe better except the one thing that monkeys are known to love - bananas! And - if I were going to put bananas into a monkey bread recipe, why not throw in some chocolate, too?!

Since I haven't posted in a month, I wanted to come back with a recipe that was worth the wait. This monkey bread recipe is definitely it! Serve these monkey bread cupcakes with brunch (or on their own as brunch), as dessert, as a snack, or any time that you want to see someone's face light up.

Now, about that not posting for a month. I've haven't just been monkeying around. On August 17th, I gave birth to our little monkey.

Meet Myles:

Jonathan and I tried to pose Myles with a cupcake, but he wasn't quite up for it yet. The best we could do was pose him in his monkey onesie. Myles likes to hang out in my Moby wrap while I'm working in the kitchen. He mostly sleeps, but some day he'll be my cupcake helper (even if it's just eating them).

Special Thanks to Scharffen Berger

For the chocolate portion of this monkey bread recipe, I used Scharffen Berger baking chunks. Scharffen Berger offered to send me some chocolate to try. I expected to get some of their chocolate bars (which I have tried before and have found to be fantastic to bake with or simply to eat). To my surprise, in addition to the bars, they sent along some baking chunks. I had never seen this product before, but I was really excited about it. They are a great alternative to chocolate chips. Not only are they of higher quality than most chocolate chips that you will encounter, but sometimes a chunk is just more fun than a chip. Thanks, Scharffen Berger, for the sample!

Monkey Bread Cupcake Recipe

I came up with my monkey bread cupcake recipe by modifying the King Arthur Flour monkey bread recipe. I changed it from a cake to cupcakes, dipped the batter in butter instead of water (more calories, but more yum), and added the banana and chocolate. Also, I gave my cupcakes a cinnamon glaze. Here is the modified recipe:

Makes 12 cupcakes

• 1/2 C lukewarm water
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 t salt
• 1 T sugar
• 2 T instant yeast or rapid rise yeast
  
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1 T cinnamon
• 1 ripe banana, cut into small slices
• chocolate chips or baking chunks to taste (about 2 oz)
• 2 T unsalted butter, melted
  

1. Place water, vegetable oil, egg, salt, sugar, and yeast in a medium bowl and mix well.
2. Add 1 cup of the flour, stirring to blend.
3. Add the second cup of flour, stirring to make a cohesive dough.
4. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes; this gives the flour a chance to absorb the liquid, making it easier to knead.
5. Knead the dough — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until it's soft and smooth.
6. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or large measuring cup, cover it, and let the dough rise for 30 to 60 minutes or until it's doubled in size.
7. Gently deflate the dough.
8. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
9. Place cupcake liners into a cupcake tin and lightly grease them with butter or cooking spray.
   
10. Pull off a small piece of dough. How small? You should get 24 pieces out of the batter so that you can have two pieces in each cupcake. However, unless you are having a dinner party for exactly 12 people, it doesn't really matter and you can make the pieces whatever size you would like.
11. Stretch the piece out, put a banana slice and several chocolate chips or baking chunks inside, and then roll it into a ball.
    

12. Dip the ball in the melted butter.

13. Dip the ball in the cinnamon and sugar.

14. Put the ball into the cupcake liner. You should be able to fit two balls into each cupcake liner.
15. Cover the cupcake tin and let the bread rise for 30 to 60 minutes, until it's visibly puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 F.
16. Uncover the cupcake tin and bake the monkey bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's golden brown and feels set.
17. While the monkey bread is baking, prepare the glaze.
    

Cinnamon Glaze Recipe

• 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 1 T milk
• 1/4 t cinnamon

1. Mix all of the ingredients together.
2. Drizzle over the hot cupcakes.
3. The cupcakes are best served warm. If you can't eat them immediately, reheat them in microwave for about 15 seconds before serving.
   

Cupcake Hero Banana

Cupcake Hero was one of the first blog events that I ever entered. After a long hiatus, it is back, and it's now hosted my one of my fav cupcake bloggers, I Heart Cuppycakes. This month's theme is banana, and these monkey bread cupcakes with banana and chocolate are my entry! I'm looking forward to seeing all of the other entries, but I hope that I'm top banana.

Absinthe Cupcakes: Brought to You By the Green Fairy

The Green Fairy Presents: Absinthe Cupcakes

Prepare for a fantastical journey of taste like none you have experienced before.

What The Fairy's Friends Said About Absinthe Cupcakes

The Green Fairy's Only Friend who Had Tried Absinthe Before: Liked the flavor but was disappointed that he didn't get drunk from the cupcake. (You can definitely taste the absinthe, but sorry, they won't make you drunk.)

My Pregnant Friend: "This is the closest I'm going to get to alcohol for a while!" She liked them, but thought the texture was too thick.

My Friend who Puts Much Thought Into His Reviews: "I love the texture. It's very filling so I could stop at one, but it's so good I could have two or three."

Groom 2.0: Groom 2.0 was under the influence of the sick fairy so he couldn't taste anything.

I loved these cupcakes. They had the texture of cornbread (you'll see there is actually cornmeal in them) and the mild, yet definitive flavor of spice cake but with totally different spices than you would find in a typical spice cake. The topping is simply sugar and absinthe. Some thought there was too much sugar. Some thought there was too little sugar. Some wanted normal frosting. I thought the balance was just right.

I don't like licorice nor did several of my tasters and we still enjoyed these absinthe cupcakes. People say absinthe tastes like licorice and it does have a small resemblance to it, but it is not the same taste.

The Absinthe Cupcake Recipe

I got the recipe from David Lebovitz. He made these as a cake and I converted them to cupcakes. I reprinted the recipe with my changes below.

• 1 1/4 t anise seeds
• 1 1/4 C flour
• 1/2 C cornmeal
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 8 T unsalted butter
• 1 C sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 C whole milk (I used heavy whipping cream because that's what I had on hand)
• 1/4 C absinthe (I used Absente from Buy Absinthe Alcohol. For more on using and buying absinthe, read this.)
• 1 small orange

In a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, grind the anise seeds until relatively fine. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and anise seeds. Set aside. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until they are incorporated. Mix together the milk and absinthe with a small handful of orange zest (Use more if you want the orange flavor to shine more. I used about 1/2 t.) Stir half the dry ingredients into the beaten butter. Then add the milk and absinthe mixture. Stir in the remaining dry mixture, being careful not to over mix.

This recipe should make 12 cupcakes. They hardly rise at all so you can fill your liners almost all the way to the top. Bake for 30 min at 350 degrees.

The Absinthe Glaze Recipe

• 1/4 C sugar
• 1/4 C absinthe

Stir the sugar and the absinthe. You do NOT want the sugar to dissolve in the absinthe. As you can see in the picture, the glaze had big sugary clumps. Poke holes in the cupcakes and drizzle the glaze into the holes and all over the tops of the cupcakes. All of the glaze should be used when you are done.

Tomato Cupcakes: A Prize Winner

I've strayed from the project.

1. I've used nuts.

2. The bride hates tomatoes. She put them on her evil foods list.

3. Tomato cupcakes at a wedding? I don't think so.

I couldn't help myself though. My favorite restaurant, Iron Barley, hosted their annual Tomato Fest this weekend. Tomato Fest is simply a celebration of all things tomato. As part of Tomato Fest they host a tomato cooking contest. I HAD to enter a cupcake. Before you give me an F in the cupcake project consider the following:

1. Perhaps I have a special bond with red tomatoes because I'm a redhead. (Why do they call redheads carrot tops instead of tomato tops?)

2. Our tomato plant has been very kind to us this year. See the picture. I figure I should give back to tomatoes by supporting them as well.


Where to begin with a tomato cupcake? Luckily, Garrett of Vanilla Garlic had paved the road by creating a tomato soup cupcake recipe back in October of '06. In his post about the cupcakes, he points out that they took 5 minutes to make. While that has great appeal, I thought I would have to make them slightly more snazzy to win a contest.

Again my favorite cupcake blogs did not let me down. Chockylit of Cupcake Bakeshop had a recipe for a basil cream filling. I thought giving the cupcake a filling would sweeten up what had the potential to be a more muffiny cupcake.

I spent some time thinking about the topping. I debated for a while using a cream cheese frosting as Garrett had done. At first, I couldn't picture cream cheese with tomato. Then it hit me... "Hello, what kind of Jew are you? Bagels, cream cheese, tomatoes, and lox." Wow, I must be out of NY too long. Despite the realization about the joy of cream cheese and tomatoes, I opted against the cream cheese in favor of a tomato honey glaze. I really wanted to take the tomato flavor home.

For the final and perhaps most important component, I found a recipe for pesto truffles on The Dough Ball.

I essentially turned a 5 minute cupcake into an all-day baking adventure.

The Results

This cupcake was a meal in itself. A unique, delicious, and filling meal. The only thing I would change is to put more filling into each cupcake. I really enjoyed the bites where I had both filling and cake. I might also try it with some actual frosting. I loved the glaze, but I'm not sure how much it added to the whole thing. It was great when I first made it. It tasted like a tomato version of applesauce. (I might even make it again for that very purpose. Maybe to serve with a potato pancake, for example.) However, by the next day it had absorbed a bit too much into the cupcake.

The Results that Counted

I have never entered a food competition of any sort. I was pretty excited about my entry, but skeptical about its potential to win. My husband and I waited in the 90 degree heat for three hours for the contest results. The heat was made more bearable by some great bands and lots of available liquid.

Finally, announcement time came. First place went to.... Tomato Beer. Come on, it's 90 degrees out and people are at a drinking event. That's a shoo-in winner. Congrats to Mr. Tomato Beer if you ever happen to come across my blog. Second place went to someone else and third place went to someone else. Guess I wasted my time. But no, turns out they created a special prize just for my tomato cupcakes! The judges gave me runner up because they LOVED them but they didn't think they were quite tomato flavored enough to give them the big prize. Hey, I'll take it. The prize was a free dinner for two at Iron Barley. Woohoo!

In case anyone doubts my prize winning, (I have no idea why you would), here is some video evidence.


This next video is of my acceptance speech. I have thus far avoided even putting a picture of me on this blog. However, I just love listening to the oohs and ahhs on this video so I had to share. There goes my anonymity. Feel free to ignore me (unless you are a member of my immediate family, in which case I expect high props) and focus on the oohs and ahhs. It's fun, at least for me. Note that when I brought the leftover pesto truffles into work, I got "ugh - no thanks". Different strokes for different folks.

Detailed Baking Notes

This next part is the detailed baking notes for any other crazy cupcake people who would like to spend a whole day making a cupcake or for anyone who would like to make just a small component of them (for example the truffles). I had to write this up to enter the contest which is why you are getting more detailed notes than normal.

Pesto Truffles (Makes dozens. You will definitely have more truffles than cupcakes and you will be happy about that.)
Truffle recipe found on http://thedoughball.blogspot.com/2007/06/my-second-sugar-high-friday-and-my.html

473 ml heavy whipping cream
Large bunch of basil leaves (about 5 oz depending on how strong a basil flavor you want)
3 bars of Godiva 60% chocolate (about 400 grams of chocolate)
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup chopped toasted pine nuts
½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cocoa powder
pinch of salt

1) First take the basil and put it in a bowl with the cream, cover with saran wrap and let sit overnight in the fridge, stirring occasionally to mix it up.
2) The next day, take out about ½ cup of the basil leaves and cream and blend with a hand mixer so you end up with a greenish, slightly thickened mixture.
3) Now strain the unblended cream into a saucepan, pressing on the basil leaves to make sure and squeeze all the cream out of them. Hold onto the basil leaves to use in the basil cream filling.
4) Pour in olive oil and heat over medium low, stirring everything together. While you’re waiting for the cream to heat up just under a simmer (turn off the heat when you see the first baby bubbles appear), break the chocolate into small pieces in a bowl.
5) When the cream is ready, pour over the chocolate and begin stirring, and keep stirring until all the chocolate pieces have melted. Now take the blended basil and cream and mix into the chocolate and cream until everything is incorporated.
6) Put in the refrigerator until it has cooled completely and is hard enough to roll, about 6 hours. If you’re in a hurry, stick it in the freezer before you work it.
7) While you wait for your basil ganache to set, if you haven’t yet, then grate your cheese, toast your pine nuts, and chop them, and then combine together in a bowl.
8) When the ganache is ready combine the cocoa powder with the Parmesan and pine nuts and a tiny pinch of salt (keep in mind, Parmesan is salty) all in a bowl.
9) Get the ganache out and roll small chocolate balls between your palms. Throw it into the cocoa powder mixture and coat well. If desired, do a second coating in a bowl of just Parmesan cheese.

Tomato Cupcake (makes 18)
Modified from a recipe found on http://vanillagarlic.blogspot.com/2006/10/tomato-soup-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese.html.
(The reason for the modification was simply that all the condensed tomato soup that I found had high fructose corn syrup in it. Therefore, I tried to reproduce condensed tomato soup on my own with regular corn syrup. If you don't care about eating high fructose corn syrup, I'd use Garrett's recipe. It's probably lighter.)

2 cans of tomato paste
1 T corn syrup
1 T water
1cup milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup of butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 1/2 cups of sifted self-rising flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
crushed walnuts (optional)

1) Set the butter and egg out and let them come to room temperature. Set the over to 350 degrees.
2) Mix tomato paste, corn syrup, water, and baking soda in a bowl and let it stand. Use a deep bowl as the mixture will rise.
3) Cream the butter, sugar, and spices in bowl. Add the egg and mix for 30 seconds. Mix in the tomato and soda mixture. Mix in the milk.
4) Mix the flour and baking powder together, and then beat into the mixture until just combined.
5) Pour evenly into cupcake papers. Fill the papers high since the cupcakes won’t rise much.
6) Bake for 20 min at 350 and then an additional 5 minutes at 310 or until toothpick comes out clean.

Basil Cream Filling
Recipe from http://cupcakeblog.com/index.php/2006/03/basil-cream-and-mint-cream-filled-cupcakes-with-raspberry-mousse-frosting/

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
All the basil that is leftover from the pesto truffle making
1 cup heavy cream

1) Bring sugar and water to a boil, stir until sugar dissolves.
2) Chop basil or mint and add to the mixture.
3) Boil for 3 minutes.
4) Cool to room temperature.
5) Beat heavy cream on high until stiff peaks form.
6) Add the five to six tablespoons of syrup to taste and beat until combined.

Honey Tomato Glaze
Modified from a recipe found on http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=7445
3 large very ripe heirloom tomatoes, diced
2 cups aromatic honey
1 x vanilla bean, scraped

1) Combine everything in a stainless steel pot and bring to a boil.
2) Cover and reduce heat to a simmer.
3) Cook on medium low heat partially covered for 10 – 20 minutes until the tomatoes soften and the mixture has a glaze-like consistency.
4) Strain out liquid.
5) Blend the tomato and honey mixture that remains and chill.

Putting it all Together
1) When the cupcakes are cooled, cut a cone out of the top of each one.
2) Pipe some basil cream filling into the hole and replace the top.
3) Spread the glaze onto the top of each cupcake. The glaze will go on very thick (think applesauce). However after leaving it in the fridge overnight, much of it will absorb into the cupcake.
4) Top with a pesto truffle.
5) Eat and smile!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes: Shh.. I'm Cheating on My Company

In the past, when I've brought baked goods anywhere, everyone basically said "mmm.. thanks" and gave positive commentary regardless of what they may have actually thought. However, when you tell someone that you are doing a project to pick the best cupcake and you want honest feedback, everyone seems to go out of their way to put on their best critic hat and come up with some helpful hint.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate every one of them, keep 'em comin'. It is just a source of amusement to me.

Take Person A of the past: Sticks cupcake in mouth. Gets big grin. Provides a cupliment. (Cupliment (n.) - a favorable remark or set of remarks about a cupcake)

Same person with a cupcake project cupcake:

• Evaluates appearance.
• Stops and smells.
• Tastes cake alone
• Tastes frosting alone.
• Takes a series of small bites of the combination.
• Pauses for thought.
• States, "It was good.. but.." Too much enthusiasm can't be shown because a good critic doesn't give a 10 to many things.

It should also be pointed out that like critics in any field, the commentary can go in any direction. I thought these were extremely moist cupcakes, the bride and groom thought they were a good level of moistness, and the coworkers thought they were dry/coarse. Were we all eating the same thing?

The Cake

I work for the biggest beer company in the USA. It was only a matter of time before I made a beer cupcake. Although, and you can just pretend you didn't see this, I didn't use beer from my company for these cupcakes. I used a great beer, Young's Double Chocolate Stout. Read into this what you wish.

I got the recipe from Big City, Little Kitchen. I just replaced the Guinness with the chocolate stout. Update 12/9/12: Big City Little Kitchen is no longer live.  So, I am including the recipe as I made it below.

Yield 24 cupcakes:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chocolate stout
• 1 stick, plus 1 tb, unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine the chocolate stout and the butter, chopped into 1-inch chunks, in a large sauce pan, and heat to melt the butter.
3. Remove from heat, and whisk in the cocoa and sugar. 
4. In a bowl, whisk the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla, then add to the beer mixture.
5. Sift together the flour and baking soda, and fold into the batter. 
6. Pour into cupcake tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until inserted cake tester comes out clean.
7. Let stand 10 minutes, remove from cupcake tin, and cool completely on a rack.

For those of you reading this thinking "eww beer cupcakes", the good news is you can't even taste the beer. It just tastes like a nice, rich, not too sweet chocolate cupcake. For those of you who really wanted to try a strong knock-you-on-your-ass beer flavored cupcake, this probably isn't it.

Whoa.... hold up..... the big big boss just came by my cube where the cupcake Tupperware is sitting. I must point out that he does not know about the project, so of course he is less of a critic. However, he liked them and was so excited about a beer cupcake that he wanted the recipe. Good thing he doesn't know what brand of beer went into them.

Back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Or not... he's come back to my cube to offer me a recipe of his own. This one is for beer margaritas.




See, I wasn't kidding about the importance of using a certain brand of beer (btw.. I know this recipe is blurry. It's a lesson on what happens when you drink beer.)

The Frosting
The frosting had two parts.

The Glaze:

To be honest, the glaze wasn't meant to be a glaze, but by the time I added enough Double Chocolate Stout to it that you could taste it at all, it was too runny to be anything but a glaze. Luckily, it worked perfectly. It looks like I planned it to be a nice layer of beer foam.

• 1 8oz package of cream cheese (Don't be lazy and use the cream cheese straight out of the fridge. Wait for it to be room temperature. Who would make a stupid mistake like that and end up with some lumps of cream cheese in the glaze? ummm... me )
• 1 can of Double Chocolate Stout
• 4+ cups of powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup butter

The Icing

The icing swirl at the top is the icing from none other than my Grandma's famous golden glow cake (first mentioned here). This a tried and true winner chocolate frosting.

• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese
• 3 T milk
• 3 C powdered sugar
• 2 squares of melted unsweetened bakers chocolate

The groom remarked that there wasn't enough of it. The bride shut him down saying she liked seeing the foam effect of the glaze.

Summary

I'll make these again if someone requests them. This time the glaze will be on purpose. I'd really like to try making them with our smaller local beer company's coffee stout (if you like coffee and beer, you should try this beer) and a coffee based frosting.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Champagne Glaze: Picture Perfect Cupcakes

Strawberry cupcakes are perfect for an intimate dinner for two. The champagne glaze gives them that touch of extra romance. No intimate dinner for two to be had? These strawberry cupcakes would also be perfect for a summer BBQ.