Halloween is tomorrow! Break out that pumpkin puree and whip up these treats for your face and belly!
1. DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte Hair & Face Mask.
2. Wizarding World Copycat Harry Potter Pumpkin Juice.
I hope you have a fantastic Halloween weekend!
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Remember those gold star-spangled cupcakes I made for New Year’s Eve? They’re also perfect for Oscar Night this Sunday! When I first made them, I used my Cuckoo for Coconut recipe for the cupcake, but this time I went for vanilla bean. Both are equally delicious, but I’ll share my vanilla bean recipe today.
Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream Frosting — makes about 16 regular cupcakes or 75 minis.
Cupcake Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 5 tbs butter, softened
- 2 tbs agave nectar
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla bean, seeded (discard hull)
- ½ cup milk
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 4 tbs champagne – any champagne will do!
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- edible gold stars
Cupcake Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350° and line your cupcake tin(s) with paper or silicone cupcake liners.
- Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a larger bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), cream the butter and sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs into the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, mixing well and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.
- Beat in vanilla bean seeds and vanilla extract.
- Add flour mixture and milk alternately to your sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour, and blending in between each addition until completely incorporated.
- Scoop batter into cupcake liners until they are ⅔ full and bake for 10-13 minutes for minis or 16-18 minutes for regular-sized cupcakes.
Frosting Directions:
- Cream butter with the paddle attachment on your stand mixer (or use a hand mixer) in a medium bowl, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times to get any devious clumps of butter.
- Pour in one cup of confectioner’s sugar and mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl. Then, repeat with the other cup of confectioner’s sugar.
- Mix in your vanilla extract.
- Mix in your champagne on low, one tablespoon at a time.
- Add more confectioner’s sugar if necessary.
- Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!
As I was preparing to write this post, I realized the only photo you’ve ever seen of my “little” brother Chris is this one from when he was about 4. So here’s a more recent one – from his graduation from the Pre-Pharmacy program at UConn earlier this year!
Not so “little” anymore, right?!
Anyway, Chris loves Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, but his birthday (October 26) tends to be a little on the chilly side. So I made him Mint Chocolate Cupcakes to celebrate his 23rd.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Mint Buttercream Frosting – makes 12 regular cupcakes or about 60 minis.
For the cupcakes, I used the same recipe I did for my Chocolate Dirt Cupcakes because it’s perfect and the cupcakes come out so most!
Cupcake Ingredients:
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used dark chocolate melting wafers)
- ¾ cup black tea or coffee, hot
- 1 cup flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ½ tbs vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
And the frosting is my standard buttercream with peppermint essential oil and green food coloring mixed in:
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tbs milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp peppermint essential oil – make sure it’s food grade! Most peppermint essential oil should be, but definitely check. If you don’t have peppermint EO handy, you can use a flavoring or extract, but you may need to use more
- 6 drops green food coloring (I used neon green)
Cupcake Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350° and line your cupcake tin with paper or silicone cupcake liners.
2. Add the cocoa powder and chopped chocolate into a medium bowl and pour the hot coffee or tea over it. Whisk together until the chocolate has melted and your mixture is smooth. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
(Here’s a reference photo for how small the chocolate should be chopped.)
3. In another medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
4. Once your chocolate mixture has cooled, mix in the eggs, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract.
5. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture in two parts, scraping down the sides of the bowl and whisking until smooth each time.
6. Fill each cupcake liner about ¾ of the way, then bake for 16-20 minutes. While they’re cooking, make your pudding.
7. Cool the cupcakes on a wire rack or in their tin for about an hour.
Frosting Directions:
1. Cream butter with the paddle attachment on your stand mixer (or use a hand mixer) in a medium bowl, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times to get any devious clumps of butter.
2. Pour in one cup of confectioner’s sugar and mix well — again, scraping the sides of the bowl for clumps. Then, repeat with the other cup of confectioner’s sugar.
3. Mix in your vanilla extract, peppermint essential oil, and green food coloring.
4. Mix in your milk, one tablespoon at a time.
5. Add more confectioner’s sugar if necessary.
6. Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!
Happy Earth Day! Stan’s favorite dessert is dirt pudding, so I made a cupcake version for him over the weekend. I gotta tell you: these chocolate cupcakes are the most delicious ones I’ve ever made. Mine tend to come out a little on the dry side, but these are perfect. Moist, but not super dense. They’re great for Earth Day, or kids’ birthday parties!
Chocolate Dirt Cupcakes with Pudding and Crumbled Oreo Topping — makes 12 regular cupcakes. Because you have to scoop out the center, I don’t recommend making these as minis, unless you’re baking chocolate cupcakes with a different frosting. In that case, this recipe will make about 60 minis.
My favorite cupcake from NoRa Cupcake Co. is the Irish Car Bomb Cupcake. Based on the beer cocktail with a highly controversial name, it’s a chocolate Guinness cake with Jameson dark chocolate ganache and Bailey’s cream cheese frosting topped with a malt ball. Seriously amazing. Oh and fun fact: the drink was invented in Norwich, CT! I made my own version of the cupcakes without the Jameson ganache and went with a Bailey’s buttercream frosting instead. I brought them into work yesterday, and they were gobbled down pretty quickly! So if you’re bringing dessert to a St. Paddy’s Day party, these are sure to be a hit!
Chocolate Guinness Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes with Bailey’s Buttercream Frosting — makes 12 regular cupcakes (about 60 minis)
Edit 3/2015: I’ve updated this recipe to be more moist, similar to my Chocolate Dirt Cupcakes recipe.
Cupcake Ingredients:
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used dark chocolate melting wafers)
- ½ cup black tea or coffee, hot
- ½ cup Guinness Extra Stout
- 1 cup flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ½ tbs vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 ½ tbs Bailey’s Irish Cream
- 1 tbs milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 drops green food coloring
Cupcake Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350° and line your cupcake tin with paper or silicone cupcake liners.
- Add the cocoa powder and chopped chocolate into a heat-safe mixing bowl and pour the hot coffee or tea over it. Whisk together until the chocolate has melted and your mixture is smooth. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- In another medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- Once your chocolate mixture has cooled, mix in the eggs, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and Guinness into the chocolate mixture, starting with the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl in between additions and mix thoroughly.
- Pour batter into cupcake liners until they are ⅔ full and bake for 8-10 minutes for minis or 16-20 minutes for regular-sized cupcakes. Check with a toothpick to be sure they are cooked all the way through.
- Once baked, place on a cooling rack to cool.
Frosting Directions:
- Cream softened butter until smooth, making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl a few times.
- Add 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar, mixing it in two parts (start with half a cup, mix it well, then add the other half cup).
- Mix in the vanilla extract, milk, Bailey’s and green food coloring.
- Add more confectioner’s sugar — ¼ cup at a time — until you’ve reached your desired consistency and taste.
- Frost the cupcakes when cooled.
