Cupcake Love

I love cupcakes. My affair with cupcakes began as a child with Hostess cupcakes. Of course, my mother, a lifelong baker made homemade cupcakes but it was all about Hostess for me, especially the Snowball and traditional Hostess cupcake.
As an adult, my tastes are naturally a bit more refined and now it's all about cupcakes made from scratch - chocolate cupcakes with white icing; filled cupcakes; cupcakes that combine the flavors of my favorite desserts with the wonderful goodness of cake.

Over the past five or so years, it seems that the rest of America has caught up with me. The current cupcake craze began some 10 years ago when the Magnolia Bakery in New York was looking for something to do with its left over cake batter. People loved the idea of the diminutive cakes that after a visit to the bakery they decided to spread the trend to their city of residence. There's Sprinkles in Los Angeles and here in Baltimore that's why Tracy Rice started The Baltimore Cupcake Company in Locus Point.

Baltimore's other cupcake maker, Sandra Long, owner of Charm City Cupcakes on Charles Street, it was a bequest from her great-grandmother.

According to Long, while her great-grandmother left everyone else in the family money, she gave Long her recipes. As the fourth generation in her family to use the recipes that means baking and cupcakes are in her blood, she said.

The rise of cupcakes is surprising in part due to the brouhaha that broke out after the esteemed epicurean magazine, Gourmet, put a tower of the diminutive cakes on the cover of its January 2004 issue. A vocal contingent of subscribers vowed to discontinue longstanding subscriptions to the magazine because it had the temerity to put the dainty treats on the cover.

Since 2004, the magazine has been vindicated by the ever-growing popularity of the small cakes. Cupcakes take center stage at a host of events now where once cakes reigned supreme. The day I spoke with Charm City Cupcake's Long, she was busily baking 300 cupcakes for a DC wedding. Not just any event, famed Chef Wolfgang Puck had tapped long to make the cupcakes guests would eat during the reception held at the Newseum. Just a few weeks before that, she turned out 16,000 cupcakes for another event.

Last spring, Martha Stewart hosted a weeklong cupcake event on her show, highlighting the glorious things bakers, both professional and amateur, have been doing with cupcakes.

Home bakers may not be making the tiny cakes for a high profile wedding or churning out thousands of cakes at a time. But, those who want to put down the boxed cakes and try out a recipe from scratch should not be daunted by the prospect, Long told me.

"The best cupcake is made from scratch, that's the foundation and my recommendation," she said.

Whether newbies or experienced bakers, it's all about trying out different things until you perfect the recipe, she continued.

"It's trial and error. You may bake it once and it comes out right or you bake it many times until you get it right. Even for starting out bakers you just keep trying to do it - from scratch first and with love," Long said.

Chocolate Snowballs

CUPCAKES

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
2/3 cup buttermilk

* Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In bowl of electric mixer, place butter and sugar, beating on medium speed until mixture is light yellow and fluffy. Reduce speed to low, and add chocolate, mixing until just combined. Scrap down the bowl, and on medium speed add the eggs one at a time, mixing until just combined. Add vanilla and mix, about one minute.
* Add in sour cream and mix well. Reduce to low speed and add half of flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Add 1/2 cup buttermilk and mix. Add remaining flour mixture, and mix until just combined. Using a 1/4 cup scoop, fill each cup with batter. Place in oven and bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
* Cool cupcakes in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool another 10 minutes.


VANILLA AND CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING From Martha Stewart)

Makes 10 cups (8 cups Chocolate and 2 cups Vanilla)

* 2 1/4 cups sugar
* 9 large egg whites
* 4 cups (8 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

In a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water, whisk together sugar and egg whites until sugar is dissolved and mixture is very warm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Beat on medium speed until completely cooled and stiff peaks have formed, about 10 minutes.
With mixer on medium speed, add butter a few tablespoons at a time until completely combined. Add vanilla. Beat on low speed until smooth, about 5 minutes.
Measure out 2 cups vanilla buttercream; set aside. Add chocolate to remaining buttercream; mix on low until combined.Use immediately.

Frost the cupcake with a vanilla or chocolate buttercream, creating a 2- to 4-inch mound of icing. Carefully pat handfuls of shredded, sweetened coconut onto frosting, until completely covered. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 10 minutes before serving.


One of my favorite desserts is Key Lime Pie, and after a bit of trial and error I came up with a recipe that features a lime-flavored yellow cake filled with Key Lime curd and toppeed with a limey vanilla frosting dusted with a light coating of crushed graham cracker crumbs.

Warning: This recipe has a couple of steps and maybe complicated. You can substitute store bought lime curd and also use store bought frosting adding the lime juice and lime zest, rather than making your own.

Key Lime Cupcakes
Makes 12

CUPCAKES

* 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
* 2 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 1/4 cup sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 2 tbsps key lime juice
* 1 tbsp key lime zest, finely grated
* 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 3/4 cup buttermilk

LIME CURD
*4 large egg yolks
*2/3 cup sugar
*1/4 cup fresh key lime juice
*4 tbsps cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
*1 1/2 tbsps freshly grated key lime zest

VANILLA KEY LIME FROSTING

* 1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 3 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1 tsp key lime juice
* 1 tsp key lime zest, finely grated
* 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
* few drops green food coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line pan with 12 paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed, until mixture is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, one egg at a time,until each is fully incorporated. Add in lime zest and lime juice and mix well. Reduce speed to low and add one-third of flour mixture, then half of buttermilk. Add one-third flour, mix well, then add remaining buttermilk, mixing well and then add final one-third of flour. Scrap down bowl and give batter a couple of stirs to mix in any dry ingredients. With a spoon scoop about 1/3 cup batter into each liner.
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan and continue to cool.

While the cupcakes are baking....
In a heavy saucepan whisk together yolks, sugar, and lime juice. Over medium-low heat, cook, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to thicken, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in butter, one piece at a time. Strain curd through a fine sieve into a bowl and stir in zest. Cover with plastic wrap so that plastic touches curd and cool, chilling at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

The frosting...
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed, cream butter until smooth and creamy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add 3 cups of confectioner's sugar, milk, lime juice, lime zest and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 1 cup of confectioner's sugar to thicken frosting.

To make the final product...
With a small knife cut out a small plug, about 1/2-inch wide and 1-inch deep, from the top of the cupcake. Using a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip, #5 or #6 and filled with curd, insert curd into cupcake. Return plug and frost cup cake. To finish, sprinkle frosting with 1/2 teaspon finely crushed graham cracker crumbs.


Another one of my current favorites was featured on the Martha Stewart Show, the Hi-Hat Cupcake, a chocolate cupcake with creamy frosting that is then dipped in chocolate.

I've replaced the chocolate cupcake in the recipe with one handed down in my family, but have included the original recipe from the book "Cupcakes!"


Hi-Hat Cupcakes

Ingredients

Makes 12 cupcakes.

* FOR THE BATTER
* 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
* 1 1/4 cups sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup sour cream

* FOR THE FROSTING
* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 3 large egg whites
* 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

* FOR THE CHOCOLATE COATING
* 2 cups chopped (about 12 ounces) semisweet chocolate
* 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center. Prepare the batter: Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl, and set it over a medium saucepan of barely simmering water; stir chocolate until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from heat, and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed, scraping sides of bowl as needed, until light and fluffy. On low speed, mix in melted chocolate. Increase speed to medium, and add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla, and beat until mixture is creamy and color has lightened slightly, about 1 minute. Mix in sour cream. On low speed, add half of reserved flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Mix in 1/2 cup water. Add remaining flour mixture, and mix until just incorporated.
4. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Fill each liner with enough batter to come 1/8 inch from top, about 1/3 cup. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool in pan for 10 minutes.
5. Use a small knife to loosen any tops stuck to the pan. Carefully invert cupcakes onto the wire rack. Turn cupcakes right side up, and let cool completely.
6. Prepare the frosting: In a large heatproof bowl, combine sugar, 1/4 cup water, egg whites, and cream of tartar. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on high speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Set bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Beat on high speed until frosting forms stiff peaks, about 12 minutes; frosting should register 160 degrees.on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and almond extracts, and beat for 2 minutes more until frosting thickens.
7. Transfer frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain pastry tip. Leaving a 1/8-inch border on each cupcake, pipe a spiral of frosting into a 2-inch-high cone shape, using about 1/2 cup of frosting per cupcake. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet, and refrigerate while preparing the chocolate coating.
8. Prepare the chocolate coating: Combine chocolate and oil in a medium heat-proof bowl set over a medium saucepan of barely simmering water; stir until melted and smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and let cool about 15 minutes.
9. Holding each cupcake by its bottom, dip cupcake in the chocolate to coat frosting, allowing excess to drip off. Transfer to a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack. Spoon more coating around edge of cupcake and any exposed frosting; none of the frosting should show. Let cupcakes stand at room temperature 15 minutes.
10. Carefully remove paper liners from cupcakes, and discard. Place cupcakes on a serving platter, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to let coating set. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours more. Serve cold. Cupcakes can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.