Green Tea Strawberry Coconut Cupcakes

I've been testing out flavor combinations lately—in preparation for the not-so-soon grand opening of my cupcake bakery. It'll happen one day. But for now, I'll just concentrate on creating and perfecting out-of-this-world cupcakes. 

My latest flavor test were these green tea strawberry coconut cupcakes...what a mouthful. They components are green tea cake, strawberry jam filling, strawberry swiss meringue, and a toasted coconut rim. In all honesty....these cupcakes are AMAZING! The cake isn't very sweet and the earthy flavor of matcha really shines through even with the tartness and sweetness of the strawberry swiss meringue. 

I contemplated for a while what kind of buttercream I wanted to use for these cakes. At first, I was going to just go for a simple American buttercream. However, I realized that it would be too dense and way too sweet for the matcha. I also thought of a french buttercream, but thought that it would be too rich and buttery. My final decision was a swiss meringue because of it's lightness and smooth texture. Swiss meringue buttercream also isn't very sweet and allows other flavors to shine through. 

Recipe Review:

Taste: I used two tablespoons of matcha, so the flavor really comes through, even with all the other components. The buttercream has a very nice strawberry flavor and isn't too sweet. 
Texture: The toasted coconut rim makes all the difference. It adds a wonderful crunch and is slightly smoky. The cake itself is very moist and fluffy. The buttercream melts in your mouth and is so light and airy. 
Appearance: See for yourself! Aren't these cupcakes just the cutest? I love the contrast of the light pink against the earthy green. These cupcakes kind of remind me of bird's nests. 
Level of difficulty: This is a fairly simple recipe. As with all my recipes that include swiss meringue, the only "difficult" part would be the time it takes to make the buttercream. 


Green Tea Cupcakes
Adapted from Billy's Bakery & Martha Stewart
makes 12 cupcakes 

ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar 
1 stick unsalted butter 
2 large eggs 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 1/2 cup cake flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoons salt 
2 tablespoon matcha powder 
1/2 cup whole milk 
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directions:
Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy, about 5 minutes. Then add the eggs and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed, until it is well combined. 

In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and matcha powder. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until all the ingredients are combined. Be sure not to overmix!

Fill the liners until 2/3 full. Bake the cakes for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Make sure to rotate the pan halfway through the baking process to ensure even cakes. 

Toasted Coconut 

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
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directions:
Toast the coconut for 15 minutes, or until golden brown, while the cupcakes are baking. 

Once cooled, break up the coconut using your hands. You want the pieces to be small.


Strawberry Swiss Meringue
makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes

ingredients:
3 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
2 sticks + 6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup strained strawberry preserves
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directions:

Slightly whisk the egg whites and sugar in a small bowl and place it over simmering water. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water. Heat mixture to 160°F, whisking constantly.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium high speed until the mixture doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks. This will take about 10-12 minutes.

Once the mixture has doubled in volume and is cooled down, slowly add the butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. At first, the mixture will look curdled. Don't worry, this is normal. Just keep mixing and it will become smooth and creamy. Once it has all come together, add in the vanilla extract and strawberry preserves. Mix until fully incorporated. 

Assembly:

Hollow out the cupcakes using an apple corer or knife. (Or any tool you prefer.) Add about 1 ½ tsp of strawberry preserves into the center. Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcake. I like to use an Ateco#827 tip. Put enough coconut to fill the cup of your palm and cover the outside of the buttercream. Let the excess fall off. 

These cupcakes are so delicious that my mom, who isn't even a big fan of sweets, couldn't resist inhaling an entire cupcake after dinner. She was instantly hooked. Like I said, the cake isn't very sweet and pairs wonderfully with the slightly sweeter strawberry buttercream. The toasted coconut ties the entire cake together. It's the perfect cupcake! The addition of the heart sprinkles makes it the perfect Valentine treat as well. So be sure to makes these for the special person(s) in your life :)

As always, happy baking! 

Earl Grey Cupcakes

I’ve become quite the tea fanatic in the recent months. There’s nothing like a hot cup of earl grey or jasmine green tea to warm the body and the soul. (That sounded very spiritual.) Those two are my favorite teas as of now. There are still so many I have yet to try.

My brother actually introduced me to earl grey tea when I decided to make afternoon tea for my family almost a year ago. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. Which is why I came up with the idea of making earl grey tea cupcakes. I mean, I love cupcakes and I love tea. It’s a match made in heaven.

I knew that I wanted to make an early grey cupcake, but I didn’t know what kind of frosting to pair it with. I had a swiss meringue buttercream in mind because it’s just light and fluffy enough to not overpower the mild earl grey flavor. Suddenly, I remembered having had the most amazing food experience at Le Cirque in Manhattan.

We were brought a complimentary earl grey panna cotta served in a caviar container. At first we were in complete shock, thinking we had just received an ENTIRE TIN of caviar. Then the waiter opened the lid and it still looked like we had received and ENTIRE TIN of caviar. However, he explained it was an earl grey panna cotta with tapioca “caviar”. We had a good laugh after being completely fooled. I tasted the product and it was good but it was definitely missing something. The waiter then put a nice dollop of lemon meringue on top of the panna cotta and the result was a flavor explosion that made more sense than I can even explain. The lemon meringue really enhanced everything and made the dish so extremely composed. 

That’s where my decision to pair the cupcake with a lemon swiss meringue stemmed from. The end result was a cupcake with a mild earl grey flavor. I was hoping for a bigger pop of earl grey after having steeped 4 tea bags for hours. However, there was enough to detect some earl grey in the cake. The lemon frosting was the icing on the cake. It added a refreshing burst of citrus to the earthy earl grey flavor. My mom liked it so much that she ate two within two minutes. I think this is definitely something I’ll have to make again.

Recipe Review:

Taste: There wasn’t as much early grey flavor as I would have liked. Next time I will either use more tea bags or steep them longer. The lemon buttercream was very bright and refreshing.

Texture: The cake is slightly dense but still very moist. The buttercream is light and very smooth. It practically melts in your mouth.

Appearance: There are tiny specks of early grey tealeaves all throughout the cake. It’s so pretty to look at, especially with the slightly purple tinted buttercream.

Level of Difficulty: This is a very simple recipe. It’s a standard vanilla cake. There’s just some waiting to be done with the steeping of the tea bags and the making of the buttercream. Other than that, it is very simple.

Earl Grey Cupcakes
makes 18 cupcakes 

ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk
4 earl grey tea bags 
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directions:

Line two cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Heat the whole milk in a saucepan until it simmers around the edges. Place the tea bags in the scalded milk. Steep in the fridge for 4 hours or preferably overnight. 

In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 

In a the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale and creamy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla extract. Beat until combined. Alternate adding the milk and flour mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Fill the cupcake liners about ¾ full. Bake the cupcakes for 20-22 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Let cool completely. 


Lemon Swiss Meringue 
makes approx. 3 cups a
adapted from Baker's Royale

ingredients:
5 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest 
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directions:

Slightly whisk the  egg whites and sugar in a small bowl and place it over simmering water. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water. Heat mixture to 160 degree°F, whisking constantly.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium high speed until mixture doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks. This will take about 10-12 minutes.

Once the mixture has doubled in volume and is cooled down, slowly add the butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. At first, the mixture will look curdled. Don't worry, this is normal. Just keep mixing and it will become smooth and creamy. Once it has all come together, add in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. Mix until fully incorporated. 

Once you've made the cupcakes and the frosting you can frost and decorate however you wish. As usual, I use my favorite tip which is the Ateco#827. I added just a touch of purple gel food coloring to match the rest of the cupcake, but that's completely optional. 

These cupcakes are great for a tea party or a cute picnic. You can also make them just for the heck of it. They’ll go so quickly, so be sure to make enough for everyone!

As always, Happy Baking!! 

Classic Butter Cupcakes with whipped vanilla frosting

I love cupcakes. I love making them, eating them, even just looking at them. They're delightful and delicious. So when my brother asked me to make his bosses some baked goods in return for giving me free perfume, I knew that I had to make cupcakes. I scouted for hours for the perfect recipe. At first I thought I'd make devil's food cupcakes with swiss meringue buttercream. However, as I started searching through recipes, that idea slowly disintegrated. Chocolate cupcakes just didn't seem as appealing for some reason. I think that was mostly because of my decorations. I envisioned the cupcakes topped with my fondant decorations and decided that the dark brown wouldn't compliment my pastel flowers or royal blue "University of Michigan" buttons.

 

My first instinct was to go onto Tastespotting; my newest obsession. But as I scrolled through the endless submissions, I couldn't seem to find a cupcake that caught my eye. Then I thought of Rosie from Sweetapolita. She's a baking wizard. I absolutely adore all her recipes and pictures. Plus, her two daughters are absolutely adorable. Rosie's obsession, I think, is vanilla cake. She has over 10 different recipes for vanilla cake, each with their own unique taste and techniques. In the end I decided to combine her classic butter cake with her whipped vanilla bean frosting. I also added my own caramel swiss meringue buttercream filling, but I won't be posting a recipe for that since I just combined some left over caramel with some left over SMB. 

 

Shall we move onto the recipe?

I think we shall. 

Classic Butter Cupcakes with Whipped Vanilla Frosting 

adapted from Sweetapolita

makes 28 cupcakes 

Classic Butter Cake

ingredients:

4 large eggs (separated), at room temperature

3 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (I used half cake flour and half AP flour)

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar, divided

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup milk, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

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directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside

While eggs are still cold, separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes).

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft, about 1-2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture.

In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy.  Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over-mix the batter or it will deflate.

Fill each prepared muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the tops are just firm to the touch and a tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting, about 1 hour. 

Whipped vanilla frosting

makes enough to frost 28 cupcakes

ingredients:

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt (optional)

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directions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed, until very pale and creamy Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.

*I used an Ateco #808 tip to pipe the frosting

You can top each cupcakes with some sprinkles, or jimmies, if you want for an added flare. I think they added a nice touch to an otherwise bland looking cupcake. These cupcake are perfectly moist and delicious. The frosting is extremely light and fluffing due to the long periods of creaming and whipping. 

I hope you like these cupcakes if you do try to make them and as always....

Happy Baking!

My obsession and Oreo Cupcakes

I have an obsession. It's pretty bad really. I'm obsessed with baking. If my parents let me, I'd probably bake every single day. There's just something satisfying about baking and knowing that what I bake is tasty. Sometimes I feel empty inside if I have the urge to bake and I don't end up baking. This must sound silly but it's true. A few days ago that urge came back and I didn't ignore it this time...well that and the fact that there was a pack of left over oreos just sitting on my counter for a month. It was bothering me. I knew I had to use it because I didn't ever feel like just eating oreos. I never really like just eating oreos...I think it's the cream inside. What is it made out of anyway? It's so sweet and, well, gross. I've always been the kind of person to take the cream out and just eat the cookie portion of the oreo. Is that strange?

Anyway, instead of eating the oreos, I decided to make oreo cupcakes. I planned on making these cupcakes for a while now, but I tried my hardest to resist the urge to bake. Why? That's because every time I bake in the summer my dad gets mad at me for "making the house too hot." The funny thing is that he never complains when he finally gets a taste of what I baked.

 

These oreo cupcakes are really easy to make. They don't even require a stand mixer. You can just use an old-school whisk. The chocolate cake recipe I used came from The Butch Bakery Cookbook by David Arrick. It's a lovely book. The recipes are extremely easy to follow and the end results are to die for. All the cupcake recipes I've tried were moist and just sweet enough. I highly recommend you buy this book and try some of the recipes. The buttercream recipe also came from this book but I changed it up a little to suit this cupcake. I hope you give this recipe a try. 

Oreo Cupcakes

adapted from The Butch Bakery Cookbook

makes approx 16 cupcakes

ingredients:

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon espresso powder (this isn't necessary, but it brings out the chocolate)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur (optional)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract  

16 oreos halves, with cream filling still attached 

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directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Twist Oreos in half and set aside the extra cookies for later. Place the side with cream filling in the bottom of each cupcake liner, cream-side facing up.

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil and remove from the heat. Stir in the cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and espresso powder, and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool, about 20 minutes.

In a medium-size mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add the eggs, oil, Kahlua (optional), vanilla, and the chocolate/espresso mixture to the bowl, whisking just until all of the ingredients are completely incorporated. 

Fill each prepared muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the tops are just firm to the touch and a tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting, about 1 hour.  

Oreo buttercream

makes enough to top 16 cupcakes

ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 

l6 oreo halves, left over from the batter, finely crushed

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directions:

Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla, and finely crushed oreos. Beat until smooth, creamy, and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. 

Topping:

8 oreo cookies, split in half

Assembly:

Fill a piping bag fitted with a tip (I used an Ateco 808) and top each cupcake with buttercream. Then top each cupcake with an oreo half.

Congratulations! You have now successfully made delicious oreo cupcakes. There's just one question left to ask yourself-to share or not to share? The decision is yours. 

Happy Baking!  

    

Samoas Cupcakes

I can guarantee that I'm not the only one who secretly loves Girl Scout cookies. My favorite?...Samoas! I love the wonderfully rich vanilla cookie and the chewy chocolate coconut coating. I think what really makes it is the chocolate coating and drizzle. It just ties everything together and makes the cookie oh-so delicious.

There are a lot of bloggers who have already made their cupcake version of the popular cookie. At first I wanted to make the recipe from Top with cinnamon. Izy is only 16, but her food looks so sophisticated and delicious. However, after thinking for quite some time, I decided to make my very own original recipe. I was building on recipes. I used Magnolia bakery's vanilla cupcake, chocolate ganache, and Rosie's caramel swiss meringue buttercream from Sweetapolita. You should check out both blogs. They're absolutely wonderful. 

These cupcake took some time, but mostly because of cooling time. There are a lot of different parts to the recipe, but overall it's not a difficult cupcake to make. It consists of: vanilla cake, whipped chocolate ganache filling, chocolate ganache coating, toasted coconut rim, and caramel buttercream.

Samoas Cupcakes

makes 24 cupcakes

ingredients: 

cake: 

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. 

chocolate ganache:

adapted from Sweetapolita

4 oz milk chocolate

4 oz dark chocolate (I used 60% cacao) 

1 cup heavy cream

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directions:

In a heavy saucepan, heat the cream until it's gently simmering. Once it's simmering, pour it over the chocolate. Set aside until room temperature and thickened. 

caramel buttercream:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup  heavy cream

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 large egg whites

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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directions:

Place 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the water in a medium saucepan to a boil over medium heat. Brush down the sides of the pot with a dampened pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming. Stop stirring and cook until caramel is dark amber, gently swirling from time to time. Remove from heat, and slowly add cream, whisking by hand until smooth. It will be splatter, so be careful. Whisk in sea salt and vanilla. (I left out these two ingredients) Let cool.

Place butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed, until pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer clean with lemon juice, and place egg whites and remaining sugar into bowl over a pot of simmering water (not boiling–you don’t want to cook the eggs). Whisk occasionally and gently until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160° on a candy thermometer.

Remove the bowl from heat, and place back onto the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form (about 5-6 minutes). Once the bottom of the bowl is neutral and no longer warm to the touch, reduce speed to medium-low, and add beaten butter, one cup at a time, whisking well after each addition.

Switch to paddle attachment. With mixer on low speed, add cooled caramel, and beat until smooth (about 3-5 minutes).

 

Toasted Coconut:

Spread 1 cup of shredded coconut in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 300F for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to make sure that the coconut browns evenly.

Assembly:

Using a small paring knife, or cupcake corer, core out the middle of the cupcake and either discard or eat. Fill the core with 1/2 of the ganache. (I took the amount and chilled it, then whipped it slightly.) Dip the cupcake into the remaining ganache. Rim the cupcake with toasted coconut. Let the ganache set for about 25 minutes. Once the ganache is set, top the cupcake with the caramel swiss meringue buttercream. (I used an Ateco #827 tip.)

These cupcakes are definitely bake-sale worthy. I think you could even fool people into thinking you bought them from a bakery. I really hope you do try this recipe. You'll absolutely love it! 

Happy Baking! 

200 cupcakes

One of my friends recently requested that I make her 200 "Alice in Wonderland" themed cupcakes. When I first heard of this request, I knew there would be absolutely no way I could ever possibly do such a task with my single oven. But I gave it some thought and decided I'd give it a test run with just a few cupcakes and designs over spring break. So I did a few days ago and here's what I came up with:

Well, what do you think? In my opinion the cupcakes were a success. I had my friend come over yesterday and she was absolutely ecstatic. She loved them. After seeing here reaction, I knew that I would most likely be able to pull this off. Who knows?...maybe this could be the start to my future baking business.