Dulce de Leche Cupcakes

To keep with the mexican food theme for our work party, I made dulce de leche cupcakes.  Well, actually, I just made regular cupcakes and then dulce de leche buttercream.  I made two dozen chocolate using my favorite recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  I also made one dozen vanilla using a new recipe from my Real Simple magazine.  I wasn't sure about this new cake recipe, but everyone said it was great. I'm really picky when it comes to vanilla cupcakes and I'm still working on finding the right recipe.  

For the buttercream, I made my standard buttercream and added a couple spoons of dulce de leche. This was my first time using dulce de leche and it made the most amazing buttercream.  The cupcakes were a huge hit with everyone.

Sprinkles Cupcakes

So it took me a while, but I finally went to Sprinkles cupcakes in Palo Alto.  I had the red velvet with cream cheese frosting and my friend had the lemon blueberry with cream cheese frosting.  They were both super yummy, but the red velvet was my favorite.  I'll definitely have to go back again to try the other flavors.

Breakfast Club Cupcakes

As soon as I heard that the Flavor of the Month was to make something as a tribute to John Hughes, I immediately got excited. I love his films! My top three favorites include, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles.

I knew I wanted to make some sort of cupcake and I didn’t want to just make pink cupcakes. Then Natalie, from Bake and Destroy, reminded me about her French Toast Cupcakes. It was the perfect idea for my crazy, busy schedule.

I decided to make a basic buttermilk vanilla cupcake and throw in some cinnamon. For the frosting, I initially started with a maple buttercream, but didn’t like the taste at all. So that one went in the trash and I started again. The cupcakes were topped with cream cheese frosting and a dusting of cinnamon. Really the cupcakes weren’t much like French toast at all, but more like cinnamon cupcakes, but who cares because they were so good!

Lemon Glaze Cupcakes

I've been on the search for the best vanilla and chocolate cupcake recipes for the past two years. I feel like I have to get these basic recipes right before I can get creative with other flavors. I've already found a favorite chocolate recipe from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but vanilla has been much more difficult. I've tried recipes from Magnolia Bakery, Billy's Bakery and Martha Stewart, but they all seemed to be lacking the flavor and texture that I expect in a cake.

While browsing the cooking section of my favorite bookstore, the Green Apple, I stumbled upon a cupcake book that I had not heard of yet. I flipped through it and thought "Do I really need another one?". Thankfully, I had already been wanting to make lemon cupcakes for the Flavor of the Month carnival over at Bake at 350, but I knew I didn't have any good cupcake recipes. So $5.00 later (I know, can you believe that sale price!), I had yet another cupcake book to add to my collection.

I decided on making the buttermilk cupcakes. The Flavor of the Month for August was lemon, so I added some lemon zest to the batter and a lemon glaze on top. This recipe was quite different then the others I tried in that it had more butter, more sugar, and more eggs. The end result was totally not what I was expecting...they were DELICIOUS!! I can't stop thinking about how great they were. Finally, I have found my go to vanilla cupcake recipe-HOORAY!!

Buttermilk Cupcakes

3 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

zest of one lemon (optional)

Preheat oven 350°F. Line 24 cupcake tins with baking papers. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, lemon zest, and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir the vanilla. Alternating add the flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour.

Fill each baking cup 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Lemon Glaze Icing: whisk 2 cups powdered sugar with 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice or more if needed for pourable consistency.

Cupcakes 2008

Baking has been a hobby of mine for a long time, but I've never invested as much time and money into it as I have in the last two years. I guess it has a lot to do with finally living alone and having the time and freedom to play around with it.

Cupcakes have taken center stage in my baking for the last two years. I'm now known by my friends and family as the cupcake baker. I love these miniature creations! Here is a sampling of my favorites that I've baked this year. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes w/Vegan Buttercream

Chocolate Banana Monkey Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes w/ Chocolate Ganache

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes w/Buttercream

Vanilla Cinnamon Cupcakes w/Cream Cheese Frosting

Oreo Cupcakes