Basil Infused Olive Oil Cupcakes with White Wine

Sometimes I get tired of my star tip (the one I use to pipe big cupcake swirls). So, I pick a random tip from my set and see what I can come up with. For these cupcakes, I used Wilton tip 352 and piped a loose spiral with lots of lines criss-crossing over it. I think it's a keeper!

Note: If you click the link to my tip set above, you'll see that it doesn't have 352 in it. I have no idea how I got 352, but it must have gotten mixed in with the others.

Let's Talk About the Cupcake

These cupcakes are not my first ones made using olive oil and I wouldn't even say that they are the best (my olive oil cupcakes with lemon, thyme, and balsamic whipped cream are some of my favorite cupcakes ever). However, this is the first time that I used olive oil in the frosting. I made a basic buttercream frosting and used olive oil instead of milk. The olive oil makes you pucker just a little bit (especially if you use a bold, fruity olive oil). If you like the taste of olive oil, you'll enjoy the effect, although you may wish that it were even stronger (remedy this by drizzling some olive oil over the frosted cupcakes).

I Thought You Said We Were Going to Talk About the Cupcake, Not the Frosting

Ah, yes. The cupcakes. These cupcakes are also not my first cupcakes made with basil (I made vegan chocolate basil cupcakes). However, without the chocolate flavor to serve as a distraction, the basil flavor truly shines here. The basil makes the cupcakes feel light and Springy (as opposed to all the snow we've been getting here in St. Louis), but I will warn you that the cake is quite dense.

My neighbor tasted tasted these for me. She said that she didn't like the first bite because it was too unexpected, but that she enjoyed each subsequent bite more and more and was in love with the cupcake by the last bite.

Olive Oil Cupcake Recipe

Yield: 10 cupcakes

• 1 C extra virgin olive oil
  
• 2 oz fresh sweet basil leaves
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 C sweet white wine
  

1. Soak basil leaves in the olive oil for at least an hour. You can also muddle them to help release the basil's natural oils.
   
2. Pour oil through a sieve to remove the basil. Squeeze out as much oil as you can. No matter how hard you try, some will remain on the leaves. It's OK. You only need to end up with 2/3 cup of oil.
   
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and olive oil and mix on high speed until completely combined.
5. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
   
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on slow speed.
7. Add half of the wine and continue mixing.
8. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the rest of the wine and the remaining flour mixture and beat until combined between each addition.
9. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
10. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until they bounce back when touched.

Olive Oil Buttercream Recipe

• 1 1/2 C confectioners' sugar (add more until it reaches your preferred consistency)
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 T olive oil

1. Mix together sugar and butter until they are blended and creamy.
2. Add olive oil and continue to beat for another minute.
   
3. Add more confectioners' sugar to make the frosting stiffer, if desired.

Cupcake Hero

I made these cupcakes for February's Cupcake Hero! I'm looking forward to seeing all of the other olive oil entries!

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.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Bourbon and Pecan

Groom 2.0 wanted chocolate cupcakes for his wedding. I thought the better than sex chocolate cupcakes would be perfect, but Bride 2.0 found them too rich. They both really liked the derby pie cupcakes. However, they had a problem and I had a problem.

What Do Chocolate Cupcakes with Bourbon and Pecan Have to Do with Prince?

The problem that Bride and Groom 2.0 had with the derby pie cupcakes was the name. They aren't big horse racing fans and their wedding isn't around Derby time - it's in 2 weeks! This was an easy problem to solve.

Much like Prince, a name change was in order. The cupcakes formally known as derby pie cupcakes are now known as chocolate cupcakes with bourbon and pecan.

Wedding Cupcake Frosting Must Be Pretty

The frosting on the derby pie cupcakes wasn't pretty enough for a wedding. I knew I could do better.

I frosted the chocolate bourbon pecan cupcakes using a pecan butter frosting with chocolate and bourbon.

Did the new frosting and new name work for the soon-to-be wed couple? All will be revealed VERY soon. The couple has chosen their wedding cupcakes and I'll be posting about their selections any day now.

Chocolate Cupcake with Bourbon and Pecan Recipe

I am reprinting the original derby pie cupcake recipe here with just a few slight changes from the original.

For the chocolate cake, I used chockylit's recipe that I featured in my Better than Sex Chocolate Cupcakes.

Makes 16 regular 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
• 1/2 C milk
• 1 t vanilla extract
  

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 bowl and whisk to combine.
5. In another small bowl, 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. Make the fun gooey part. See below.
   

The Fun Gooey Part Formerly Known as Derby Pie Filling

The second part of the chocolate cupcake with bourbon and pecan recipe is a fun gooey part that I got from Allrecipes:

• 1/2 C white sugar
• 1/2 C light corn syrup
• 1/4 C butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/8 C bourbon
  
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/8 t salt
• 1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips
  
• 1/2 C chopped pecans

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and butter.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.
3. Cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl, combine eggs, bourbon, vanilla, and salt. Mix well.
5. Slowly pour the sugar mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
6. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.
7. Fold 3/4 of the fun gooey part into the chocolate cupcake batter. You don't need to mix it well, just give it a nice stir.
8. Fill cupcake liners about halfway.
9. Use up the remaining 1/4 of the filling by putting an additional spoonful or two of the fun gooey part on top of each cupcake, being careful not to fill them more than 3/4.
10. Bake the cupcakes at 350 F for 20-25 minutes.
    

Pecan Butter Frosting with Chocolate and Bourbon Recipe

Get the recipe for pecan butter frosting with chocolate and bourbon.

Cupcake Hero

These cupcakes are my entry into this month's Cupcake Hero! Cupcake Hero is a year old now! It's so hard to believe. Happy birthday!