Hamantashen Cupcakes - Cupcakes for Purim

Hamantashen cupcakes are the perfect Purim dessert for the cupcake fan. Hamantashen cupcakes are not simply a cupcake with a hamantashen stuck on top. The cupcake itself is a triangle (as hamantashen must be), it has a sugar cookie flavor to it, and like the cookie, it has a jam filling. I topped the cupcake with a sweet jam glaze and then put a hamantashen on top for good measure.

Hamantashen cupcakes are the brain child of fellow St. Louis blogger, Susan (of SusanIsk.com). She first suggested that I make gefilte fish cupcakes and when I wasn't so thrilled with the idea, she proposed hamantashen cupcakes. Since they were her idea, I let her be the official taste tester.

There was a debate over whether the cookie should be removed prior to eating or whether the whole thing should be eaten together. Susan, as you can see, opted for putting the whole thing in her mouth. She felt that it all went perfectly together and that the cupcake wasn't quite as good on its own. Credit also goes to Susan for the suggestion of turning the hamantashen on its side to make the cupcake look like a Jewish star. Jonathan and I both loved the idea!

Later tasters, such as my friend Christina, preferred eating the cupcake and the hamantashen separately. Christina claimed that the cake and the cookie together were a bit too dry, but each was good on its own.

Before You Get Started

Before you begin making hamantashen cupcakes, you need two key things (other than the cupcake ingredients):

1. Triangular cupcake liners. I purchased these locally at a Hobby Lobby. However, you can find them on Amazon if they don't sell them near you. Obviously, you can make the cupcakes in regular circle liners, but it's not as fun.
   
2. Hamantashen. You can buy some or use my homemade hamantashen recipe.

Hamantashen Cupcake Recipe

For the hamantashen cupcakes, I used the same sugar cupcake recipe to make the hamantashen cupcakes that I used for my snickerdoodle cupcakes. It is the perfect recipe to use when you want a cupcake to have the flavor of a sugar cookie.

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. Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes.
    

The Jam Filling

Like the hamantashen cookies, the hamantashen cupcakes need a jam filling. You can use the same filling that you used in your hamantashen cookies or mix and match flavors. The easiest way to fill the cupcakes is to load the filling into a piping bag, shove the bag into the cupcake while it is still slightly warm, and squeeze. If you don't have a piping bag, you can always use a small paring knife to cut a hole in the cupcake, spoon in some filling, and then replace the cake that you removed.

The Jam Glaze

The jam glaze served as the glue to keep the hamantashen cookie stuck on the hamantashen cupcake. It also added a nice, sweet moist layer to top off each cupcake bite. I would suggest making the jam glaze with the same jam that you used as a filling, but again, you can always mix and match flavors.

• 1/2 C jam of your choice
• 2 t water
• 1 C powdered sugar

1. Heat jam in a small saucepan on medium-high heat until it resembles a thick syrup.
2. Add in water and stir.
3. Remove from heat and strain out bits of fruit and seeds.
4. Let cool.
   
5. Mix in powdered sugar.
6. Spread on cupcakes.
   

In the Circle of Cupcakes
It's the wheel of yummies
It's the leap to pick one
Before they're all gone
Till we find our cupcake
On the path unwinding
In the Circle, the Circle of Cupcakes
(In case you totally don't get this)

Linzer Cupcakes: Blue is for Chanukah

While traveling in Idaho, I came across a cooking store that sold linzer tart cookie cutters. I had no idea that this product even existed. As soon as I saw the Jewish star one, I knew it was going to make an appearance in my Chanukah cupcakes.

A bit of education, compliments of Joy of Baking:

Linzertorte is "one of Austria's most famous desserts. Believed to have originated from the City of Linz, written recipes began to appear in the early 1700s. Traditionally this torte consisted of a crust made with flour, ground nuts (traditionally almonds), sugar, egg yolks, spices and lemon zest that was filled with preserves (traditionally black currant) and then topped with a lattice crust. "

Linzer tarts are the cookie form of Linzertortes. Linzer cupcakes are the cupcake version of linzer tarts, a mere two degrees of separation from the real thing.

Despite the fact that I did not read Joy of Baking prior to baking my Linzer cupcakes, I randomly selected black current jam as the cupcake topping. I was shocked and excited to find that that is the traditional one used. I picked it simply because it wasn't red. I thought if Chanukah cupcakes had red jam they would look too Christmasy.

Rant
It really bothers me when colors get taken over.
For example,
Pink = Breast Cancer (Pink used to mean girly and feminine. Now it means save our boobs. I'm all for saving boobs, but I don't want to push a campaign every time I wear the color.)
Red = Christmas (I wear lots of red. I happen to look good in the color, some redheads don't. Whenever I wear it around the holidays, I feel like I'm in the Christmas spirit. Holiday cheer is great, but I don't always want to walk around promoting a holiday I don't celebrate just by wearing a color I like.)
Green = Irish (I have red hair and I wear green. I must be Irish, right. Not.)
Rainbow = GLB (I love rainbows and I love gay people, but why can't I wear a rainbow without it meaning something other than my awe of the amazing natural phenomenon?)
/End Rant

My initial Chanukah cupcake idea was to make a jelly doughnut cupcake as seen at Coconut and Lime. These are like traditional Chanukah sufganiot (doughnuts) but in cupcake form. They are really a perfect Chanukah cupcake. However, I couldn't quite work in the linzer thing and I had to use my new cookie cutter.

Then, I saw these linzer cupcakes at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody and decided to put the jam on top of the cupcake rather than in it to create a linzer effect.

The Cake
For the cake, I used the same recipe as my strawberry cupcakes except I used blackberries instead of strawberries. Despite the "black" in the title, the batter for these cupcakes looked play-doh purple and when they were done baking they were a nice shade of blue. Blue is not all that appetizing, however as it turns out, it is a color that has been taken over by Chanukah. Perfect.

BTW, it would be so easy to adapt these for Christmas by using a Christmas cookie cutter and sticking with strawberry cupcakes and strawberry jam.

adapted from ABC News

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup blackberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard cupcake pans with 24 paper cupcake liners. Set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs. Mix until smooth and creamy. Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until just combined. Stir in berries. Place batter into each cupcake cup filling each half full. [Warning: These cupcake will rise a lot. Don't fill more than halfway or they will overflow.] Bake cupcakes for approx. 18-20 minutes. Let cool.

The Frosting

There was no frosting. I just spread some black current jam on top of the cupcake along with some blue and white edible glitter. Be sure to put the glitter down first. That way it won't get on the jam and mess up your peek-through jam window.

The Linzer Tarts

from allrecipes

Note: This makes far more tarts than you will need for the cupcakes. I'd cut it in half or plan on having lots of extra cookies to serve with your cupcakes. I am including the directions directly from the site so you know how to make the tarts if you choose to do so. I only made the top half (with the hole) and then placed it on the jam on my cupcake.

• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups ground almonds
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 5 tablespoons raspberry jam
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, the almonds and cinnamon, and continue beating until the mixture becomes a slightly stiff dough.
Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about one hour.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
On a lightly floured surface, roll the 1/2 of the dough into a sheet 1/8 inch thick. With a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut as many circles from the sheet as you can. Knead the leftover scraps of dough into a ball and roll it out again into a 1/8 inch sheet. Cut out more circles. You should now have about 12 circles.
Arrange them on an ungreased baking sheet leaving about and inch of space between them.
Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the other half of the dough, but before placing the second batch on the baking sheet, cut out the center of each circle with a 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Bake both batches for 10 - 15 minutes or until light brown. Cool on cake rake for 20 minutes.
Spread tops of the solid circles with a thin coating of jam, lay a cutout cookie on top of each, pressing the two together so they make a sandwich. Spoon a dab of jam into the opening of each tart and sprinkle the tops with confectioners' sugar before serving.
NOTE: Keep dough as cold as possible for easier handling. You may have to chill it after rolling it out so that it will be easier to cut.

Halloween Cupcake Idea

Halloween Cupcakes

Read on to learn about how to make witch Halloween cupcakes or learn how to make Halloween cupcakes with edible googly eyes!

How to Make Witch Halloween Cupcakes

I got the general Halloween cupcake concept from the Food Network - but I didn't use any of these recipes and they didn't have a broom.

The beauty of these Halloween cupcakes is that the flavor really doesn't matter. You can make Halloween cupcakes with any of your favorite cake recipes and cookie recipes (for the brooms and hats). You could even (and I can't believe I'm saying this) use a mix. You would still get rave reviews.

However, for the curious, I am listing below the exact recipes that I used.

The Halloween Cake Recipe

For the cake, I made a chocolate cake that I found on Vanilla Garlic. I mixed in Rice Krispies to make it reminiscent of Nestle Crunch bars, my favorite Halloween candy when I was a kid. The chocolate cupcakes were moist and tasty. The Krispies didn't add much. Most tasters didn't even detect that they were there, except for the two mentioned above who thought they were dried fruit.

The Spooky Green Halloween Frosting

I wanted to make green witch faces for the icing and from past experience I knew that most of my tasters had a problem with green. I know that people tend to like green apple candy so I decided that if I made my frosting apple-flavored, people wouldn't mind if I colored it green. I used a recipe from C&H Sugar. It had a very mild apple flavor. It was super light and fluffy and most of my tasters really liked it.

Edible Halloween Witches Brooms

I got the broom idea from Diana's Desserts. However, instead of using her cookie recipe, I used some leftover maple cookie dough I had in the freezer. It worked perfectly, but probably wasn't as tasty as if I had made the dough fresh.

Edible Halloween Witches Hats

I made the hats from the same cookie dough. I baked up some small flat circle cookies. When they were out of the oven, I brushed melted chocolate mixed with butter on top of each cookie and used the hot chocolate to glue a Hershey's kiss to the center of each cookie.

The easier version of this, which I saw all over the web, was to make these with the back of a Fudge Stripe Cookie. I haven't had a Fudge Stripe cookie in years. We used to keep these around the house when I was growing up. My mom let me have two per day. I would allot them to myself when I finished my homework as a self-reward. I don't think I ever cheated and had more than two. I think I was an unusual child.

Anyway, Fudge Stripes would definitely not be a bad witch hat option in a pinch.

Why I Made These Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween is your opportunity to be someone or something different. Women, at least those I encounter in St. Louis, typically take the opportunity to be sluts. Do we all secretly want to be sluts? I didn't think I did. A few years back, I dressed as a bagel for Halloween. Yes, a bagel, complete with sesame seeds. My costume was so big that I could barely fit in the door at the party I was attending, let alone get close enough to talk to someone without yelling. It didn't even matter that I was there with my boyfriend (now husband). I felt like, well, some day-old bread. The next year I wore something slutty. Single women: Do not be bagels.

My cupcakes also wanted to dress up for Halloween. They are still young (it's only my 1st year of cupcake making) so they decided to go for cute, not slutty, and be witches. Unlike every other cupcake I have made, it didn't matter what was inside these cupcakes, they just needed to be costumed appropriately. When my friends asked what kind of cupcakes these were, I replied that they were made of 100% witch.

Footnotes

1. As my obsession with cupcakes has grown, so has my husband's interest in and skill at food photography. Most of the pictures on this site have been taken by him. For the shot at the top of this post, he created a special hood for the camera which made any bright light look like a cupcake. The cupcake stars in the picture were created due to the hood not to editing in Photoshop.

2. I'm again participating in the St. Louis Bloggers' Blog Carnival. This is my entry.

Orange Carrot Cupcakes with Maple Frosting and Maple Cookies: The Goodbye and Hello Cupcakes

This weekend was the going away party for a dear friend of mine who has left STL to be back with her family in LA. I don't think I've ever used the expression "dear friend." It sounds so formal and British, but I'll stick with it.

Also this weekend, a friend (I'd call him a dear friend too, but can I really use the expression twice in one post) who moved to Seattle a while back was here to visit.

I wanted a cupcake that would show my moving friend that we would miss her and my visiting friend that we were glad he was here.

The visiting friend has a passion for carrot cakes, so I really felt obligated to go that route. I knew at some point I would want to try a carrot cupcake and it would feel all kinds of wrong trying it while he wasn't around.

As for the moving friend, I'd figured I focus the accoutrements on her. First, I thought about spelling her name out in carrot strips and putting them on top of the cupcakes. While that would be cute, maybe, not everyone loves raw carrots. I gathered this after looking at many many pictures of carrot cakes each adorned with a fake icing carrot on top of it. If people liked real carrots that much, why would so many people bother creating fake ones out of icing.

I then saw a picture of cupcakes for someone's birthday where each cupcake had a little candle sticking out of it, and inspiration hit me. I decided to make cookies which spelled "Good Bye Naomi" put them on little sticks and stick one in each cupcake.

What frosting? What cookies? I opted for both maple frosting and maple cookies. That part was for me. There has to be a me component. I love maple. I think maple syrup could go on anything and be yummy. I've even had it on pasta.

Overall, I was really pleased with the creation and particularly pleased with the comment of one friend who said, " These look like they are straight out of party magazine." I know I said at the beginning of the project that I was only going to care about taste, not looks. Well, call me shallow, but appearances are starting to matter to me.

The details

The cake
For the cake I used a carrot cupcake recipe from Diana's Desserts.

http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/4271/Recipe.cfm

These didn't really taste like carrot cake. Oh well. Orange was definitely the predominant flavor. Guess I should have realized that with all the orange zest and orange juice. However, they were the perfect level of moistness and bursting with flavor. If you think of them as orange carrot cakes vs just carrot cakes you'll be in for a treat.

The Frosting
For the frosting, I returned to All Recipes.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Maple-Icing/Detail.aspx?strb=1

The only thing I changed was to follow the advice of one of the commenters on that site and use 1/2 t vanilla and 1 1/4 t maple. This was to give it a stronger maple flavor. The consistency of the frosting was spot on. It had a perfect smooth texture and was really easy to pipe. As you can see in the pic, I piped on far more icing than I have in any past cupcakes.

Everyone keeps requesting that I use more icing, so I finally listened. It is clear that I like much less icing on my cupcakes than the average person so I guess I'm just going to have to cave a bit on that on to please the masses. I can always wipe some of it off directly into my husband's mouth with no complaints.

I would definitely use this as a cream cheese base for future creations.

As for the maple flavor, it turned out this was a true test of just how much love of maple you have. Some said it was maple overload, but others and most importantly the bride and groom to be really liked it just as it was. If you aren't such a maple fan, just don't up the maple in the recipe as much as I did.

WARNING: The maple extract seems to some how get into your pores. For days after baking these, despite multiple showers and many other meals, I could smell maple on my skin. Good thing I like the smell of maple.

The Cookies

I knew I wanted a flat cookie that would hold its shape when made into a letter.

I opted for a Canadian Maple Leaf cookie found on Recipezaar minus the frosting. Figured I already had frosting.

http://www.recipezaar.com/64633

Never having made cookies on sticks before, I was a bit skeptical of how they would stick on the sticks. I cut out my little letters and just pressed them lightly into wood skewers. When they came out of the oven, they were stuck. It's just that easy.

I was reminded though of what a pain cookies are, mainly because you can't make that many at a time. Cutting out all those suckers and doing all those batches can get old fast. My solution, just stop when you get bored. As it turns out, I still have 3 times as much dough as I used sitting in my freezer for future use. You may see more maple creations coming so I can have an excuse to use some of it.

For those reading and viewing closely you may note that I said the letters would spell "Goodbye Naomi". Somehow I lost my D cookie cutter, good thing her name didn't have a D in it.