For the Love of Cupcakes!

Caramel Cappuccino Cupcakes

Now who doesn't love cupcakes?!

Well, for one, ME!  Well at least I used to not love cupcakes.  I know, I know, I can't believe it myself either.

I mean, it's not like I hated cupcakes.  I enjoyed a good cupcake here and there, Red Velvet being my favorite, but I was one of those who got into the cupcake hype a lot too late.

My husband has been asking for cupcakes to come out of my kitchen for years now, BUT all the work that went into making a single cupcake that I would probably get sick of after eating a couple only to be left with a bunch leftover that I would probably throw away or end up keeping in the fridge for weeks....well that wasn't my cup of tea.

Oh and I wasn't in the slightest convinced that baking up a cake "in a cup" would make any culinary difference.  So I stayed away from making cupcakes. Notice I said, stayed away from making them.  That didn't stop me from eating them though :-).  

Until about a month ago...my daughter found a cupcake magazine that I had stashed in my "miscellaneous drawer", browsed through it like she was shopping, walked up to me and said..

"Mom I would like to order these cupcakes for my birthday: (pointing her cute little finger to each one as she flipped the pages) this rainbow one, this cake pop one, and this cute bee one..ok?  Thanks Mom!"

Well how could I say no to that?

And so began my cupcake journey and my love for all things cupcake! What in the world was I thinking before?

FYI, my Zaley girl's birthday is not until June so fulfilling her request was a long way off.  BUT I had to put in some practice first.

And what other better way to get my feet wet than to start with these beautiful, decadent, uber delicious Caramel-Cappuccino cupcakes, with icing that has Kahlua Rum and coffee in it?  Now who wouldn't want one of these?  And what's more, the original recipe is a LOW FAT one...ding ding ding...bonus right?

But for the love of cupcakes and all that is sacred to the sweet tooths (or is it sweet teeth? lol) in my family, I had to change it a bit and include FULL FAT in them.  Yes, I know...bad Mommy...bad Mommy :-).

Let's cut to the chase and talk recipe.  The recipe is not mine.  I found this recipe in the same magazine that my daughter ordered her birthday treats from.  And by order I mean she ordered them from me :-).  It is a Betty Crocker Cupcakes & More edition featuring 72 recipe cards all with photos!  My co-worker gave this to me a couple of years ago and because I was anti-cupcake at the time...well it stayed at the bottom of my desk drawer at work for those 2 long years.  Good thing I saved it though.

Anyway..the recipe:
Caramel-Cappuccino Cupcakes

1. 1 box white angel food cake mix (this is one of the low/no fat ingredients of this recipe.  DO NOT change this ingredient even if you are going full fat)
2. 1 1/4 cups cold water
3. 1 teaspoon vanilla
4. 33 caramel-filled milk chocolate candy drops, unwrapped (I used mini unwrapped Rollos)
5. 4 cups powdered sugar
6. 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules or crystals
7. 2/3 cup fat-free half-and-half (I used full fat, regular half-and-half)
8. 1 tablespoon coffee-flavored liquer (I used Kahlua Rum)
9. 1 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened baking cocoa
10. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Place 33 foil baking cups in muffin pan or on cookie sheet.

TIP: I bought this 24-Cup Mega Muffin Pan that I absolutely love!  I used to bake a dozen cupcakes at a time but with this pan that I bought from Target, one time in the oven and done!

2. In a large bowl, beat cake mix and water with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds.  Then increase to medium speed and beat for 1 minute.  Stir in vanilla. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

OK..Here is my ultimate tip...and you have to heed this one..I promise...this one will change your cupcake making lives!  You have to get this stainless steel ice cream scoop that will make your cupcake scooping a cinch!  I don't know why I waited so long to get one.  But I have had mine for over a month now and I have cut down the time it takes me to make cupcakes almost in half!  So, you get my point?  Get this scoop.  Like right now.  The one from Norpro works very well.  And it scoops the perfect cupcake portion. Back to the recipe.

3. Bake 17-18 minutes or until golden brown and cracks in the tops of the cupcakes appear dry.  Cut deep slit in top center of each cupcake to form pocket.  Gently tuck 1 milk chocolate candy into each warm cupcake.

4. Prepare the icing: In a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and coffee granules.  Add half-and-half and liquer; stir with whisk until smooth.  Spoon 1 tablespoon frosting over each cupcake.  In a small bowl, mix cocoa and cinnamon; sprinkle over tops of cupcakes.

The end result:
Light fluffy cupcake (that you can literally stuff whole in your mouth hehe), with a melty chocolate center, and sweet cappuccino icing with a kick of rum!  This is more of an adult cupcake and this mommy's new favorite!  

For the kids, I attempted Mint Cookies & Cream Cupcakes, because they needed to be part of the cupcake adventure too.  I gave my Matty the honor of picking the cupcake out of that same magazine. He loves Oreos and mint ice cream so of course he picked this one :-).

Mint Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

Just look at the picture.  Need I say more?  Nope.  So recipe time.

Mint Cookies & Cream Cupcakes:

1. 1 box milk chocolate cake mix (use your favorite chocolate cake mix)
2. Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on the cake mix box
3. 1 package (15.25 ox) mint Oreos
4. 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
5. 1/4 cup butter, softened
6. 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place paper baking cup into muffin pan or on cookie sheet

2. Make cake mix as directed on box, using the water, vegetable oil, and eggs.  Coarsely chop cookies.  Reserve 1 cup chopped cookies for garnish. Gently stir remaining chopped cookies into batter. Divide evenly among muffin cups.

3. Bake 18-23 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks.  Cool completely.

4.  Prepare frosting: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.  Reduce speed to low.  Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until frosting is smooth and spreadable.  Frost cupcakes.  Sprinkle with reserved crushed cookies.

Behold the closeup of these delicious beauties!

Mint Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

The end result:
Decadent, rich chocolate cupcakes, with mint Oreos in every bite, with a tangy finish from the creamy cream cheese frosting!  The kids loved this one and so did the adults.  

Cupcake adventure continued a week later.  Yes, I was on a roll.  This time I wanted to do a more homemade, from scratch kind of chocolate cupcake.  So I rustled up the best chocolate cake recipe that I had used last year in November to make the bottom tier of my son Mason's 1st birthday cake.  I found this recipe here .  It is the Buttermilk Chocolate Cake Recipe. 

And believe me when I say, that this will be the ONLY chocolate cake recipe you WILL EVER USE!  It really is THAT GOOD!  And best thing about it, it is a dump cake, meaning everything just gets dumped together.  I couldn't believe it either until I made it and it turned out amazing every single time.  Here is the recipe that I got from the Wedding Cakes For You website.   

Best Ever Chocolate Cake:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup coffee
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.In another bowl, mix the oil, eggs, coffee, vanilla and buttermilk.

Dump the wet ingredients into the dry while mixing at low speed. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl and beat again for another minute. 

Divide the batter evenly between the pans. This batter will be very thin. Don't worry it will bake up beautifully.

Bake in the 350 degree F preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, depending on your oven, or just until the tops are springy or a cake tester comes out clean.

Chocolate Cupcakes made with the best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever!

The end result:
Rich. Moist. Chocolate. Period.

From the same website, I also found the MOST AMAZING CARROT CAKE RECIPE!  I also used this one for my Mason's 1st birthday cake, for the top tier.  Check out the Best Carrot Cake Recipe.

Did you have a hard time finding the recipe?  Yeah I did too.  You have to watch the video to get the recipe but I transcribed it here for you all.

Carrot Cake Recipe:
This recipe will make about 3 dozen cupcakes, so half the recipe if needed to make less cupcakes, but why would you want to do that?

1. 3 cups flour
2. 1 tablespoon baking soda
3. 1 tablespoon cinnamon
4. 1 teaspoon salt
5. 3 cups sugar
6. 1 1/2 cups corn oil
7. 4 eggs
8. 1 1/3 cup carrot puree
9. 3/4 cup crushed pineapple (drained very well)
10. 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
11. 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

For the cream cheese frosting:

1. 1/4 cup butter, softened
2. 1 package (8 oz cream cheese)
3. 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Mix together all of the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, sugar

2. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Using a hand mixer, beat well, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple of times

3. Fold in the carrots, pineapple, coconut and walnuts

4. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups

5. Bake in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or just until the tops are springy or a cake tester comes out clean.  Remove cupcakes from muffin pan and let them cool completely on cooling racks.

6. Prepare frosting: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.  Reduce speed to low.  Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until frosting is smooth and spreadable.  Frost cupcakes.

Carrot Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting made with the Best Carrot Cake Recipe Ever!

My piping skills are still amateur (as you can tell from the picture above hehe), but I am slowly getting to know my piping tips.  Check out my video below to see the pretty roses I attempted on the carrot cupcakes I made for Easter last week!

Thanks to my sister for her awesome iPhone video skills :-).

The end result:
Let's just say this: My husband hates carrot cake.  Absolutely abhors it.  But these cupcakes? This carrot cake?  It's now his favorite. Of all time.  Yes...it is THAT GOOD!  

Get your Betty Crocker on and for the love of cupcakes...go make cupcakes!

I will too...stay tuned for more of my cupcake adventure :-).

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