Brown Sugar Frosting Recipe

Brown sugar frosting is one of my most favorite frostings. If you use light brown sugar, as shown above, the brown sugar frosting tastes like a thicker version of the glaze on a glazed doughnut. If you use dark brown sugar, as shown below, the flavor is a bit richer and the frosting is somewhat more creamy. This makes sense since dark brown sugar is really just light brown sugar plus additional molasses.

You can't go wrong either way.

Brown Sugar Frosting Recipe

I got the delectable brown sugar frosting recipe from Southern Food on About.Com.

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
  

1. In a saucepan, melt butter.
2. Add the brown sugar.
3. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium low, and continue to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Add the milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly.
5. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
   
6. Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar. (I would highly recommend sifting this confectioners' sugar. It's such a pain to sift, but it ensures that the frosting will be extra smooth.)
7. Beat until thick enough to spread. If too thick, add a little hot water.

FYI: The top photo is of my sweet potato casserole cupcake. The bottom photo is from my gluten-free quinoa cupcake.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes: Cupcakes with a Surprise Inside

Snickerdoodle cupcakes were on my to-bake list as soon as I found out that the snickerdoodle was Bride 2.0's favorite cookie. I'm by no means the first person to make a snickerdoodle cupcake. Among many others:

• Culinary Concoctions by Peabody made snickerdoodle cupcakes (well, really muffins) that I've been told by Sara at Cupcake Muffin are absolutely amazing. They look really simple to make and seem to be very close to the cookie.
• I Heart Cuppycakes made snickerdoodle cupcakes twice - once with a cake mix and once without. They are vanilla cinnamon cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

While those snickerdoodle cupcakes sounded great, I opted to do things my own way.

My snickerdoodle cupcakes are burnt sugar cupcakes with a snickerdoodle cookie baked into them, topped with a cinnamon penuche frosting and another snickerdoodle cookie.

Snickerdoodle Cupcake Reviews

The very first taster - The first taster of the snickerdoodle cupcake was a friend of mine with whom I was playing a game of spades. As soon as she started eating the cupcake, she lost all ability to concentrate on the game. I took this as a good sign, but I really didn't need to guess for long about her opinion of the cupcake. She "oohed and ahhed" for quite a few minutes about not only the flavor, but how amazing it was that there was a cookie baked in the middle. She was this cupcake's number one fan!

The other spades players - The other spades players also loved the snickerdoodle cupcakes. It was speculated that Bride 2.0 would pick them.

Bride and Groom 2.0 - Bride and Groom 2.0 thought that the snickerdoodle cupcakes were too dry. They both said that the cupcakes tasted exactly like the cookie, but felt that the cookie didn't really work in cake form. They did, however, both love the cinnamon penuche frosting.

Me - I thought they were delicious. However, I was a bit frustrated that the cookie blended into the cake so much. Despite my first taster's comments about the cookie being such a nice treat in the cupcake, I could hardly tell where the cookie ended and the cake started. If I looked, I could see where the cookie was - which was neat - but it tasted just like the cake. Like Bride and Groom 2.0, I adored the frosting!

The Snickerdoodle Cupcake Recipe

I made the snickerdoodle cupcake recipe by slightly modifying How Stuff Works' caramelized sugar cake. I have reprinted it with my modifications below.

Makes 24 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 C granulated sugar, divided
• 1/2 C boiling water
• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 C milk

1. Heat 1/2 C sugar in heavy 8-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is melted and golden brown.
2. Reduce heat to low.
3. Gradually add boiling water into sugar mixture; continue cooking until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly. You need to stir really quickly here to keep the sugar from glomming up.
4. Beat egg whites in medium bowl at medium speed with electric mixer until soft peaks form.
5. Gradually add 1/2 C granulated sugar, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form; set aside.
6. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; set aside.
7. Beat butter and remaining 1/2 C sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy.
8. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract.
9. Gradually add sugar syrup, mixing until well blended.
10. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition.
11. Fold in egg white mixture.
12. Fill cupcake liners halfway full.
13. You could pop these into the oven at 375 F for 20 minutes right now, but if you want the cookie baked into them, read on.

The Snickerdoodle Cookie Baked in the Middle of the Snickerdoodle Cupcake

To bake a snickerdoodle cookie into the cupcake, make a tablespoon-sized ball of a your favorite snickerdoodle cookie dough recipe and roll it in a cinnamon / sugar mixture. Then, press the ball into the half full cupcake liners.

Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes or until the top bounces back when touched lightly. As you can see above, they look kind of ugly before they are frosted. However, it's also sort of fun to see the cookie popping out. I almost didn't want to frost them.

The Cinnamon Penuche Frosting

I fell in love with penuche frosting when I made my quinoa cupcakes. I used the same recipe that I used on those cupcakes, only I added cinnamon to make it more snickerdoodly.

I got the original penuche frosting recipe from Southern Food on About.com.

• 1/2 C butter
• 1 C brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 C milk
• 1 T ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 C sifted confectioners' sugar

1. In a saucepan, melt 1/2 C butter.
2. Add the brown sugar.
3. Bring to a boil and lower heat to medium low and continue to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Add the milk and cinnamon and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
5. Cool to lukewarm.
6. Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar. (I would highly recommend sifting this confectioners' sugar. It's such a pain to sift, but it ensures that the frosting will be extra smooth.)
7. Beat until thick enough to spread. If too thick, add a little hot water.

The Snickerdoodle Cookie on the Top

I topped my snickerdoodle cupcakes with a snickerdoodle cookie from Wholly Wholesome bakery. I could have topped them with my own cookies, but I had lots of extra Wholly Wholesome cookies and they did look pretty cute!

Gluten-Free Quinoa Cupcakes: Quinoa for Breakfast Part 2

 

These gluten-free quinoa cupcakes were inspired by A Southern Grace's apple cinnamon quinoa breakfast which I wrote about in part one of quinoa for breakfast. However, I am dedicating the gluten-free cupcakes to Cathy (a gluten-free friend of mine) whose husband wrote me this email back in September:

"Okay, so I just read the blog posting about the lonely 'cupcake' from your recent trip and it made me wonder if you've given any further thought to creating a gluten-free cupcake?

You could put your creative mind to a real cupcake challenge and take your game to the next level (mixing flours in addition to mixing ingredients)! This could be your chance to shine as a gluten-free superstar, while bringing hope to the despaired. I urge you to rise up and throw off the shackles of society; tell wheat that you don't have to use it...tell it that other options exist...show the world you are not the slave to boring flower any more! Wheat-free or die (or at least sick)! Join us in the revolution... Long live tapioca!!"

What a man! Can't you just picture him as a superhero fighting glutens? You'd think he was the gluten-free one and not his wife. Admittedly, it took me 6 months to respond with gluten-free cupcakes, but these were worth the wait! They were light and fluffy and had a surprise apple cinnamon center. The quinoa gave them a nutty flavor which went perfectly with the apples.

I topped the cupcakes with a penuche frosting. I was turned onto this frosting by an anonymous commenter who insisted that I google penuche and try it. It's basically a brown sugar frosting that tastes like caramel. It's basically delicious! I will be using this frosting recipe again and again. Not only did it taste great, but it was smooth and easy to spread.

Groom 2.0 Called This Cupcake a Wedding Contender

Groom 2.0 actually called this cupcake a wedding contender. I was shocked. There was no chocolate involved. I expected this to be a cupcake that Bride 2.0 would like. However, Bride 2.0 didn't like it. She liked the frosting and the apple part, but didn't like the taste of quinoa and thought the cake on its own was too dry.

My mother-in-law said: "Liked everything about it...taste, texture, quinoa, etc. Would never have guessed the ingredients."

A friend, who is becoming such a regular taster that my loaner Tupperware practically has his name on it, reported: "One of the best combinations of flavors, I enjoyed this very autumn cupcake. The gluten-free dough was a little dry, but I enjoyed the texture. Overall moistness is a critical component to a stellar cupcake from me, and this could have been a little moister."

His co-taster disagreed with his point about the texture. "Overall moisture was satisfactory because of the surprise center."

If I made these gluten-free cupcakes again, I would try mixing the apple filling throughout rather than only putting it in the middle of the cupcake. It would ruin the surprise factor, but I think it might address any issues with moistness.

If you are gluten-free or gluten-full and are looking for a tasty and different cupcake to try, I would definitely feel comfortable recommending this one.

Gluten-Free Quinoa Cupcake Recipe

I got the recipe for these cupcakes by adapting a recipe at Lucullian Delights to cupcake format. I am reprinting the recipe below with my modifications. One modification of note is that her recipe has coconut in it. That's on the banned foods list for Bride and Groom 2.0 so I left it out.

• 2 1/2-3 cups diced apples (about 2 medium sized apples)
• 1/4 cup sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 4 large eggs
• 9 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cup cooked quinoa (You cook quinoa in the same way that you would cook rice. Read part one of quinoa for breakfast if you need more detailed cooking directions. I started with 1 C of uncooked quinoa and ended up with enough for this recipe plus plenty left over to have for breakfast or any other meal. I used Red Inca quinoa, hence the dark spots in the cake.)
• 1 3/4 cups rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  

1. Simmer the apple cubes with the water, sugar, cinnamon, and rum until the apple is cooked and almost all the liquid is evaporated. Try very hard not to eat it all before putting it in the cupcakes. There will be some left over. I ate it with the leftover penuche frosting. You could just make the apples and frosting and forget the cupcakes entirely and be quite happy.
2. Whisk the egg and sugar and add the melted butter. Stir well.
3. Add the quinoa, mix well, and then add the flour and baking powder. Stir well.
4. Fill 12 cupcake liners about 1/3 full with batter.
5. Add a layer of apples.
6. Top with another layer of batter so that they are all about 3/4 full.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the tops bounce back when you touch them.

Alternative: Mix the apples in with the batter instead of doing layers. I have not tried this, but I think it might be even better than the layered method.


Penuche Frosting Recipe
I got the penuche frosting recipe from Southern Food on About.Com.

• 1/2 C butter
• 1 C brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 C milk
• 2 C sifted confectioners' sugar (I only used about a cup)
  

1. In a saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter.
2. Add the brown sugar.
3. Bring to a boil and lower heat to medium low and continue to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Add the milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
5. Cool to lukewarm. Gradually add sifted confectioners' sugar. (I would highly recommend sifting this confectioners' sugar. It's such a pain to sift, but it ensures that the frosting will be extra smooth.)
6. Beat until thick enough to spread. If too thick, add a little hot water.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Cupcake Ideas?

I am entering this cupcake into the blog event Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free. If you are looking for more ideas for gluten-free cupcakes, check out the round-up here. Remember, any cake recipe can easily be converted to a cupcake. Your cupcakes may take less time to bake than the cake recipe. Typically they take 20 minutes at 350 degrees. I recommend making a test cupcake first to see how much it rises and how long it takes to bake before you bake the entire batch.