Whip It Up Week 4 - Chocolately Goodness!

Thanks to some extreme technical difficulties, I'm about two weeks behind in posting Whip It Up updates - sorry everyone!

One of my favorite things about being back in San Antonio is that I can occasionally run by Joseph's Storehouse - San Antonio's premiere restaurant/bakery/church - again for lunch or a sweet treat, like Amy and I used to do when we were at Trinity. Amy is a girl after my own heart and firmly believes in finishing most every meal with a little something sweet - Joseph's cookies were often just the thing we needed!

My mom and I stopped into Joseph's seeking a sweet treat on a trip to the area two years ago and discovered Joseph's gigantic chocolate fudge cupcakes. I noticed a framed newspaper article on the wall where the recipe had been printed and figured I'd have no trouble finding that particular article online - I was wrong.

Bryon and I met for lunch during the week at Joseph's recently, and I took the opportunity to furiously scribble down the recipe while Bryon was paying for our meal. Upon closer examination, the recipe is nearly identical to a sheet cake recipe that my mom has been making for as long as I can remember, except her recipe uses shortening, cinnamon, and there's less vanilla extract in the icing.

The cupcakes are rich, fudgey, and wonderful - definitely a winner! And, like my mom's recipe, it can be made as a sheet cake as well. Will I make it again? Probably - but I think I'll add the cinnamon to the batter that my mom's recipe includes. The recipe is very easy - I think even a very beginning baker would have no problem with these whatsoever.

Joseph's Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup cocoa

1 cup oil

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla

¾ cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350. Grease jumbo muffin tin or rectangular cake pan. Sift dry ingredients together. Add liquid ingredients and mix well. Bake 25-30 minutes for large cupcakes, or 30-40 minutes for cake.

Icing

4 Tablespoons cocoa
6 Tablespoons milk
1 stick butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Begin preparing the icing approximately 5 minutes before the cupcakes or cake is done baking. Bring butter, cocoa and milk to boil. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients, mixing well. Pour/spread over hot cake(s).

Source: Joseph's Storehouse Bakery, Grandma Goldsmith

Cuppycakes!

For Week 3 of my Wilton cake decorating class, we were instructed to bring cupcakes that we would decorate to demonstrate the different skills we learned that week, including using icing dots to make faces and fruit, star flowers, swirl flowers, and the Wilton rose. My instructor also gave me a few lessons in making daisies and hibiscus.

The Wilton Rose

For my cupcakes, I used the same cake and icing recipes I prepared for the sunflower cake I made for Week 2 - Yellow cake with butter cream icing. To make the roses and hibiscus flowers, however, the icing must be a stiff consistency, so less liquid should be added.

Hibiscus

Double Roses

And we're back... Strawberry Cupcakes in Two Varieties!

Despite the lenghty sojourn from blogging, this superhero has still been cooking - and taking some pictures - but not doing much writing about it. A slight fever and a screaming headache is keeping me from getting anything else done that I should be doing this afternoon, though, so blog updating it is!

I made these back in early October when I was on a bit of a cupcake streak. I made one batch of the cupcakes, and made half a batch of the two different icings below for variety. I never could decide which one I thought was the better combination. My opinion varied from day to day, or between afternoon and evening. Try them both ways and feel free to offer your opinion!

Strawberry Cupcakes*

3 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 cups sour cream

1/2 cup fresh** strawberries, pureed

1 small package strawberry Jello

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces

2 cups sugar

5 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour, baking powder, soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine evenly. Stir the sour cream, strawberries, jello, and vanilla together in a large liquid measuring cup and set aside.

Beat the butter on high in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue beating while gradually adding the sugar - it should take a couple of minutes to completely incorporate all the sugar. Continue to beat until very light and fully, about 3-4 minutes more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the sour cream in 2 parts, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl as you mix. Blend thoroughly.

Scoop the batter into prepared muffin tins (either lined with cupcake papers or greased and floured). Lightly tap the pans on the counter so that the batter settles evenly.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-22 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes, then place cupcakes onto the rack to cool completely.

Yield: 36 cupcakes (if I'm remembering correctly)

*Can be prepared as 2 9-inch round cakes. If doing so, cool in pan on a rack for 20 minutes before turning cakes out onto the rack to finish cooling.

**Substituting frozen strawberries for fresh works just fine.

Source: Modified from FoodNetwork.com Raspberry Cake

Cream Cheese Icing

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 up unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Store any leftover frosting in the refrigerator after using.

Source: Adadpted from Allrecipes.com Cream Cheese Frosting II

Romanov Icing

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

6 cups powdered sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extrat

4 teaspoons Grand Marnier*

2 pinches orange zest

2 dashes cinnamon (you want to be able to taste the slightest hint of cinnamon in the icing)

Mix butter and powdered sugar on low speed until just combined. Add vanilla extract, Grand Marnier, orange zest, and cinnamon. Beat on high until frosting is at the desired consistency. Taste and adjust the vanilla/Grand Marnier if necessary (I added a little extra of both), but be careful not to overdo!

*Substituting Triple Sec works just fine.

Source: Adapted from Foodie Bride

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Last Friday I decided that I simply had to have red velvet cupcakes. I've never made red velvet cake in my life, and only had it two times that I can recall, so I have no idea where this craving came from.

Having never made red velvet anything, I went in search of a recipe. I ended up with two that were equally interesting to me - very similar, but with a few, distinct differences. I decided to make a half batch of each, so that we could have a head-to-head taste test. While both were good, one was the clear winner.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1 oz bottle red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350. For cupcakes, line muffin tin with cupcake liners. For cake, grease and flour three 8-inch round pans.

In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour, baking soda, and coca powder. Set aside. Cream eggs, sugar, oil and vinegar. Add flour mixture to the creamed ingredients while beating. Slowly add the buttermilk. While still beating, add the vanilla and the red food coloring.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean - approximately 18-20 minutes for cupcakes, 25 minutes for 8-inch rounds. Cool pans on wire rack - 5 minutes for cupcakes, approximately 15 minutes for 8-inch rounds. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Frost the cooled cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (recipe below). For layer cake, assemble the layers with icing between each layer, then frost the top and sides.

Source: Adapted from Mrs. Wilkes' Boardinghouse Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Her Savannah Table by Selma Wilkes

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 1 lb box confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecans, chopped

Cream butter and cream cheese together in stand mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in confectioners sugar until thoroughly combined. Add vanilla and pecans, mixing well. If frosting becomes too thick, add milk one teaspoon at a time.