Red White and Blue Cupcakes

     Can you believe Memorial Day is next Monday?  I know summer doesn't officially start until June 21st, but Memorial Day is like a signal of the final days before summer break.  The weather starts getting really hot and the pool finally opens.

     Sorry if I misled you, but if you guessed that these cupcakes were meant to celebrate Memorial Day, you'd be wrong because their purpose was different.  It was to celebrate my history class' hard work after we took the AP United States history test.  I felt that red white and blue cupcakes would be appropriate for the occasion.

     I was debating how to make a red white and blue cupcake without changing the cupcakes' color.  You see, I had these nice cupcake liners left over from the Fourth of July last year that I wanted to use, and if I made red velvet cupcakes or dyed cupcakes, the colors would bleed through and you wouldn't be able to see the pattern.  So I stuck with vanilla cupcakes as a base.  Then I decided to make a raspberry filling to fill the cupcakes with and some white chocolate cream cheese buttercream to balance the tartness.  White chocolate and raspberries go really well together.

You'll have some extra raspberry filling, but there'll be plenty to do with it.  You can save it to fill another cake, stir it into some muffins or make pie bars, for example.  

cross-section

     Filling the cupcakes was really easy.  At stores, you can buy small contraptions which core the cupcake for you, but it's just as easy to use a plain old knife.  Just stick the tip of a small knife a bit away from the edge of the cupcake, tilt it so that the tip is is the center of the cupcake, and rotate the knife in a circle so that you remove a cone-shaped piece from the cupcake.  Take this piece out, spoon a teaspoon of filling into the cupcake, and press the cone back into the cupcake.  Then cover this with frosting so that the cupcake-eaters are surprised.

   
     The vanilla cupcake recipe is different from the one I usually use, but it is still good.  Instead of the white, fluffy, vanilla-bean speckled cupcakes I make for plain vanilla cupcakes, I chose to use a recipe for a simple cupcake that could hold up against the frosting.  Still, the cupcake was very soft and tasty.

     To decorate the cupcakes, I just sprinkled some red sprinkles around the edges and then piped some melted white chocolate (mixed with blue food coloring) in star shapes onto wax paper and left it to harden.

      So whether you're celebrating a U.S. history class or a national holiday, I hope you enjoy these cupcakes!

Red White and Blue Cupcakes

makes about 3 dozen cupcakes

adapted from Glorious Treats

Ingredients

For the Cupcake:

2-1/2 cups cake flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tbs vinegar/ lemon juice mixed with enough milk to make it one cup)

1 recipe raspberry cake filling
1 recipe white chocolate cream cheese frosting

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs for about 10-20 seconds, until frothy.  Add the sugar and quickly beat the mixture for anther 30 seconds (you don't want to leave eggs and sugar alone together for too long).  Add the vanilla and oil and beat. 
4. Slowly stir in some of the dry ingredients until just incorporated.  Add half of the milk and stir.  Repeat until all the ingredients are just incorporated into the batter. 
5. Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way with batter. Bake in preheated oven for 10-14 minutes, until golden brown and springy.  Let cool in pan for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Once the cupcakes are cool, take a knife and cut out a cone shape, as described above. Spoon 1 tsp raspberry filling into the hole, and then place the cone bake onto the cupcake.  Pipe or spread some frosting on the cupcake and decorate with sprinkles if desired.  To make the white chocolate decorations: melt white chocolate, mix it with food coloring, pipe it into star shapes onto wax paper and let harden.

Raspberry Cake Filling

makes about 2-3 cups of filling

Ingredients

2 cups (12 oz) frozen raspberries, thawed with juices reserved (if using unsweetened berries, mix with 1/4 cup sugar and thaw)

1/3 cup white sugar

water

4 tbs corn starch or 6 tbs flour

1 tsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Pour the raspberry juice into a measuring cup and add enough water to make 1-1/4 cups.
2. Place the water/juice, raspberries, sugar, corn starch/flour, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  
3. Stir occasionally until the mixture boils and is thick.
4. Cool completely.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

enough to frost 2-3 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 oz (1/2 block) cream cheese, at room temperature

4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 oz good quality white chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions

1. Cream together the butter and cream cheese until well combined.  Then add 2 cups of confectioners sugar and mix until fluffy.  
2. Add the salt, vanilla, and white chocolate to the butter mixture.  Beat until well combined.
3. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until fluffy.  If the frosting is too thick, beat in some milk.

Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes

   

Dinosaur sprinkles!

     A lot of people know me for my famed cupcakes.  It makes sense because I know how to make a good cupcake, and I make them frequently.  In fact, I made each of my friends a special cupcake for their birthdays last year, and for my sister's friends on their birthdays and my brother's preschool on special holidays.  (See here, here, and here, for example.) I even made my middle school science project "The effect of pH level of cupcake batter on the height of the cupcake after being baked." (It got a blue ribbon (: )
     As you may know from previous posts, tomorrow is my brother's birthday, so I'm making him chocolate cupcakes to bring to his adorable preschool friends. I wish I could be there! This is just a precursor to the confetti strawberry layer birthday cake I'm going to make him.

1.      Here are some tips for making perfect cupcakes:

• Use buttermilk.  If you can't find it in stores (I can't) then just mix one tbs white vinegar with 1 cup minus one tablespoon of milk.  Or, you can probably find dry buttermilk powder in the baking isle or where the dry milk is. 
• Sift the flour (this makes the cake fluffier)
• Use quality ingredients, like good cocoa powder and real vanilla beans (If you're making Oreo cupcakes, well then be sure to use quality Oreos)
• Don't overmix the batter (overmixing kills the cupcake)
• Bring ingredients to room temperature (so they mix better)
• Make exact measurements. If you don't have a kitchen scale, then be sure to use the spoon and level method for measuring flour. 

   As long as you follow the recipe and these tips, you'll be sure to make a chocolate cupcake which the average human taste buds would deem the perfect chocolate cupcake.  Here's the recipe.

Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes

makes about 30 cupcakes
adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1. 2 cups sugar
2. 3/4 cups cocoa powder
3. 2 teaspoons baking soda
4. 1 teaspoon baking powder
5. 1 teaspoon coarse salt
6. 1 cup buttermilk
7. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
8. 3 large eggs
9. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
10. 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee (I boiled water and added a teaspoon of instant espresso powder)

11. Directions

12. Preheat the oven to 350*F.  Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
13. In a large bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
14. Place the buttermilk in a container with a sturdy lid and close it.  Shake for about 30 seconds to make it fluffy.
15. Add the oil, eggs, and vanilla to the buttermilk and whisk until combined.
16. Slowly add wet ingredients to the dry while stirring with a spoon or mixer on low speed. Stir until just combined.
17. Add coffee in a thin stream, stirring constantly until just combined.  Batter will be thin.
18. Pour batter into baking cups (I used a ladle) and bake in oven for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
19. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for a few minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove cupcakes and place on a wire rack to cool completely.  
20. Once the cupcakes are cool, frost with fudge frosting (recipe below) and enjoy!

Fudgy Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature
6 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 tablespoon vanilla
a pinch of salt
4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar (sifting unnecessary)
6 tbs half and half or heavy cream

Directions

1. In a glass bowl over simmering water, or a microwave in 30-sec intervals, melt 4oz of the chocolate, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining chocolate until smooth.  Set aside to cool.
2. Once it's cool, add the butter.  Cream with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Then add the vanilla and salt and beat until combined.
3. Add half of the sugar and beat until incorporated.  Then, mix in the cream. 
4. Add the rest of the sugar until the desired consistency is reached and beat until fluffy.