Christmas Stollen Cupcakes - A Christmas Classic Transformed

These Christmas stollen cupcakes stole my heart.  I got the stollen pun out of the way in the first line. Now you (specifically my Dad, the pun master) can proceed with reading the stollen cupcake post without waiting to see if/when I would use the bad pun.

Each year, I like to share a new Christmas cupcake recipe ('tis the season for baking)!  I've made gingerbread cupcakes, eggnog latte cupcakes, mulled wine cupcakes with roasted chestnut frosting, and panettone cupcakes.  As I was debating what to make this year, I received a free copy of the inspiring book A World of Cake by Krystina Castella. (Skip Read all of the way to the end of the post if you want to know how you can win a signed copy). 

Panettone - Cupcake Style

Panettone is one of the few cakes that you can buy in a box at Walgreens. I've always seen the panettone there, but like the Snuggie for dogs, I just look - I've never purchased. That being said, I can't tell you if my panettone cupcakes are better or worse than the panettone cake in the boxes. But, I believe that the odds of homemade baked goods being better than their store-bought counterparts are about the same as the odds of a book being better than its movie adaptation - just about 100% (feel free to correct me, fans of boxed panettone or movie adaptions of books).

Panettone Whoseewhatsee?

If you've spent the whole first paragraph wondering what in the world panettone is and how you say it (it's pon-a-tony), here is your answer: Panettone is an Italian sweet bread with dried fruit and/or candied fruit typically served during Christmas time. I've (of course) made mine in cupcake wrappers. I got the adorable seasonal wrappers shown above and below as a gift from cousin Bryna. Thanks!!

Panettone Cupcake Recipe

To make these panettone cupcakes, I converted a panettone recipe from allrecipes.com to cupcake format. I am reprinting it below with the cupcake adaptation and my notes.

Makes 12 cupcakes

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 C warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1/4 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C nonfat plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 T grated lemon zest (I used 1/4 t lemon extract and 1/4 t orange extract)
• 1/4 t salt
• 4 C unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 C dried currants
• 1/4 C raisins (I also added 1/4 C dried cherries and 1/4 C dried cranberries. Feel free to add whatever dried fruit you like!)
• 1 T confectioners' sugar
• 1 T butter, melted (optional)

1. In a medium bowl, combine yeast, water and sugar.
   
2. Cover and let stand 10 minutes, or until foamy.
   
3. Add eggs, yogurt, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Mix well.
   
4. Stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough forms into a manageable ball.
5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary, until dough is soft and pliable, but not sticky. (You may need up to 5 cups flour.)
   
6. Place dough in a large, lightly greased bowl.
7. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
   
8. In a small bowl, toss dried fruit with confectioners' sugar.
   
9. Punch down dough, transfer to floured surface, and knead in the fruit.
10. Line cupcake tin with liners and divide dough evenly between them.
11. Cover loosely with dish towel, and let rise 30 minutes.
    
12. Brush with melted butter, if desired.
    
13. Bake for at 350 F for 25 minutes, or until cupcakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
    

Other Christmas Cupcake Ideas:

• '08 Christmas cupcake - Mulled wine cupcakes with chestnut butter frosting
• '07 Christmas cupcake - Eggnog latte cupcakes
• Honey baked ham cupcakes
• Ferraro Rocher cupcakes
  
• Baking Bites Holiday Cupcake Contest - Check out the Baking Bites Holiday Cupcake Contest for some great cupcake inspiration.
  

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.

Naan Recipe: If You Can Make Pancakes, You Can Make Naan

Naan is one of my favorite components of an Indian meal. Sometimes when I go to an Indian buffet, I'll hit the buffet one last time for naan only so that it is the last flavor in my mouth when I walk out the door.

What is Naan?

Naan is an Indian bread that is similar to pita, but so much better (don't even try to debate it with me)! It is traditionally made in a tandoor (a clay oven), but I made this naan recipe in a cast iron skillet.

Why Did I Make a Naan Recipe?

My Taste & Create partner this month was Heaven is Chocolate, Cheese, and Carbs (is that not the coolest blog name ever?). She had a naan recipe on her blog and I was all over it. What made picking the naan recipe extra fun was that it came from Cooking 4 All Seasons and HICCAC made it last month as her entry for Taste & Create. It's like a continuing chain of Taste & Create love.

How Did the Naan Recipe Compare to Naan I've Tried at Indian Restaurants?

I won't say that this naan recipe was better than that of the naan I get at my favorite Indian restaurant. I will, however, say that it was just as good. It was also not that hard to make. You may recall that my last attempt to use yeast was a complete failure. The failure was due in part to using the wrong kind of yeast and not warming the milk. This time, I followed directions and it was a breeze. If you can make pancakes, you can make naan.

The Naan Recipe

As mentioned above, this recipe came from Cooking 4 All Seasons via Heaven is Chocolate, Cheese, and Carbs. I am reprinting it with my notes. I also left out the sesame seeds that were in the original recipe because I didn't think they were necessary.

• 3 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t instant yeast (It is VERY important that you use instant yeast. I used Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast which according to this lengthy discussion on Chow is the same as instant yeast.)
• 1 1/2 C warm milk - not above 100F (I wanted to make sure that temperature didn't lead to problems so I used a meat thermometer and tested the milk temp before use. I made my milk 90 degrees.)
• 1 t sugar
• Butter to taste

1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the milk.
2. Let rest approximately 10 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the yeast/milk mixture.
4. Mix in the salt.
5. Knead until soft and elastic.
6. Cover with a damp towel and leave in a dark place to rise until doubled, about two hours. (Am I the only one who can't tell when dough has doubled? It looked bigger so I went with it. Maybe I should measure next time?)
7. Remove the dough from the bowl, degas gently then divide into ten even balls.
8. Roll out into triangles, dusting lightly with flour as needed. I discovered that the thinner you roll it out the better. (Being the non-perfectionist that I am, I did not make triangles. I made whatever shape things happened to roll out into - mostly amoeba shaped blobs.)
9. Heat up a frying pan. (I used a cast iron skillet. I also liberally buttered the skillet.)
10. Generously brush one side of the dough with water and begin to cook with that side down on medium heat.
11. Brush the other side with water.
12. The dough should bubble a bit as it cooks. Leave it on the heat for a few minutes, then flip it to cook the other side for a shorter amount of time.
13. Move to a plate.
14. Generously butter. Enjoy.

Will There Be Naan Cupcakes?

There will not be naan cupcakes, but there will be Indian cupcakes. I baked them today and haven't yet frosted them. I had a few issues with them, but the jury isn't out yet. I'll give the whole story soon.

Mardi Gras King Cake Cupcakes: Fit for a King and Queen

 

King Cakes are cakes typically baked throughout the Mardi Gras season (beginning on Jan. 6, Epiphany, and ending on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday) to celebrate the three kings. It is one of the few desserts that I know of that people base an entire party around. The tradition is that one person brings the king cake to the Mardi Gras king cake party. A plastic baby (representing baby Jesus) is buried somewhere in the cake and whoever gets the piece with the baby has to host the next year's Mardi Gras king cake party.

I'm not Christian and I'm not from New Orleans, so why did I bake a Mardi Gras king cake cupcakes?

1. Iron Barley was having a Mardi Gras King Cake Bake-Off. I won a prize in their last competition for my tomato cupcakes. I had to give it a shot.

2. King Cakes basically taste like cinnamon rolls. Groom 2.0 loves cinnamon rolls. He has in the past talked about going to the airport just because there was a Cinnabon there. Neither of us is sure if he actually did this or just talked about it.

3. In Jewish weddings (as Bride and Groom 2.0's wedding will be), the bride and groom are supposed to be treated as king and queen for a day. The traditional chair lifting is to emphasize the couples regal status. Therefore, a king/queen cake could be fitting. Maybe I could hide a fake flower bouquet in one and the person who finds it either gets married next or chooses the next bachelor/bachelorette to wed.

The king cake cupcakes were the first cupcakes I have made that used yeast. They were definitely more a bread consistency that a cake consistency. In fact, I used my bread machine to make them.

The cupcakes were amazingly good fresh out of the oven and three days later my house still smells sweet and cinnamony.

The Mardi Gras king cake cupcakes were so tasty on their own that they didn't really need frosting.  However, cupcakes must have frosting and I thought that would be the best way to work in the Mardi Gras

king cake colors:

Purple represents justice,

green represents faith,

and gold represents power.

Another option might have been to just use colored sugar.

If I made these again and called them cinnamon rolls instead of king cakes, I would definitely work some of the praline filling into the frosting. The filling was the best part! Because I didn't think that it would color well, I opted for a basic cinnamon frosting.

I used purple ball sprinkles to look like Mardi Gras beads and of course, I hid the baby in one of the cupcakes.

The Opinions of Important People

1. Groom 2.0 liked them a lot. He didn't like the purple sprinkles because he thought they added unnecessary crunch. He also considered them to be a bit brunchy for a cupcake, but it turns out they are considering a brunch wedding so that might not be so bad.

2. Bride 2.0 is sick and has no taste buds.

3. The Iron Barley judges voted my cupcakes 3rd place! When they were announcing the winners, I was standing next to the owner of Kreative Kakes. She was so sweet. She seemed certain I was going to place. She asked me "Do you have a bakery?" I replied matter o'factly, "No, I have a blog." My prize: A Mardi Gras crown, some fancy beads, Mardi Gras party cups, and a Mardi Gras CD by Bob Case. You can see some of the other contest entries in the picture to the left. Not surprisingly, mine were the only cupcakes.

The Mardi Gras King Cake Cupcake Recipe

I slightly modified the recipe from allrecipes to use a bread machine and to be cupcakes. If you don't have a bread machine, you can follow the steps from the original recipe.

Yield: 24 cupcakes


Pastry Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling Ingredients

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup melted butter

1. Put all pastry ingredients into the bread machine per your machine's instructions. Typically you put in all the wet ingredients, then all dry ingredients, and put the yeast in last. Run the bread machine on the dough cycle. 
2. Remove from the bread machine, cover and allow to rise for two hours or until doubled in size.
3. To make the filling: combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup raisins. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.
4. Rip off pieces of dough and make long strips out of them (about 2.5 inches wide). I didn't find the dough to be easy to roll so I basically just pressed it into the thin strips. 
5. Spread the filling down the center of the strip. 
6. Fold the top and the bottom of the strip around the filling to form a log. 
7. Stretch the log out to make it as thin as as you can without it breaking. 
8. Start on one end of the log and roll it until it fits snugly in a cupcake liner. Break it off, put it in the liner and continue rolling sections of the log.
9. Bake at 350 F for 20 min.

The Cinnamon Mascarpone Frosting Recipe

• 1 cup chilled whipping cream
• 8 oz mascarpone
• 1/2 T cinnamon
• 2 to 3 cups confectioner's sugar (depending upon how thick you prefer frosting)

1. Whip whipping cream in mixer until soft peaks begin to form.
2. Fold in mascarpone. 
3. Mix in cinnamon.
4. Slowly add about the confectioner's sugar, being careful not to over-whip frosting.

The Very Important Tip

I found the plastic baby in the baby section of a local party store. The store employee who helped me find it was very excited to share all of her Mardi Gras knowledge with me. I was most thankful for this particular tip:

"Do not put the baby in the cake when you bake it. It will melt. Hide it in afterwards."