White chocolate is a unique ingredient, and while dark and milk chocolate have hordes of rabid fans, you’d hear those same hordes echoing horrible sentiments like “I hate white chocolate” and “white chocolate is gross” or even “white chocolate isn’t REAL chocolate.” Lately I’ve taken up the cause and have been stubbornly defending what I know to be a special, delicious ingredient. And it is TOO real chocolate!

Where's the white chocolate?

However, as with many things, sometimes it takes baby steps to get people to like an ingredient that they’ve completely dismissed. That’s why I was so elated when I learned that you could CARAMELIZE white chocolate to make it extra special!

But what IS it?

I ended up using white chocolate in the form of a caramelized ganache. Easy to make, easier to eat. Since caramelized white chocolate just screams for salt, I topped each cupcake with a random sprinkling of large crystal sanding sugar and coarse sea salt.

What's with the cherries and almonds?

The first time I ever made caramelized white chocolate, I decided that, while it looks like peanut butter, it tastes decidedly more like toasted almonds, if anything. I chose to make an almond flour cake, though not a gluten-free one. I wanted the natural almond flavor more than the density. For that toasted flavor I craved, I toasted the almond flour in the oven before using it, which worked perfectly.

Such a warm and inviting looking cupcake.

Instead of my usual filling-in-a-hole-in-the-middle style, I went for a muffin-ier approach in these cupcakes and added fresh chopped cherries to the batter just before baking. Honestly they weren’t my first choice, as much as I love cherry and almond together; I would have preferred apricots. But I just barely missed the end of apricot season by about a week as I waited for the weather to cool down enough for me to turn on the oven, and just went with the cherries from the bodega downstairs. They definitely do the trick, though, adding a sweet, juicy note to the almost-savory cupcakes. And they gave me the inspiration to use these sexy red wrappers I bought recently.

Quite elegant, actually.

A few notes about the ganache: while it eventually sets up to the point where it will hold its shape enough to pipe, that takes at least 24 hours in the fridge. Even after that point it’s very soft and melts easily. I prefer to use it as a glaze – you get plenty of the unique caramelized flavor while not overdosing on sticky sweetness.

You may also notice that I used milk as the liquid in the ganache instead of the usual cream. I felt that the white chocolate was fatty enough and any more fat would make it too greasy and slick in the mouth, and I think that was the right choice, considering how buttery-moist this cake recipe is.

Half sweet, half savory, totally awesome.

Toasted White Chocolate Cherry-Almond Cupcakes

First, Make the Ganache:

1. 200 g chopped white chocolate, divided
2. 75 g milk

Caramelize half of the white chocolate in a shallow baking dish or sheet pan set in an oven at 250F. Stir every ten minutes and bake until the chocolate is a deep peanut butter color and fragrantly caramelized (don’t worry if it looks grainy, that’s normal). Allow to cool, then transfer to a double boiler over simmering water. Add the rest of the white chocolate and melt both together completely. Meanwhile, heat the milk in the microwave until it’s steaming hot (less than 30 seconds). Remove the melted chocolate from over the simmering water and gently stir in the hot milk until it is completely combined and emulsified. Chill in the refrigerator, stirring once every hour or so, until it is thick, spreadable and no longer runny.

Then, Make the Cakes:

1. 68 g almond flour
2. 4 oz butter
3. 4 oz sugar
4. 2 eggs
5. 1/4 tsp vanilla
6. 46 g AP flour
7. 1/2 tsp baking powder
8. Pinch salt
9. 1/3 cup chopped fresh cherries (from about 8 cherries)

Preheat the oven to 325F. Spread the almond flour out on a small baking sheet (I put mine in a pie tin so I wouldn’t accidentally sweep any away when I was stirring it) and toast, stirring every 2 minutes or so, until it’s fragrant and moderately browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the eggs and vanilla, scraping down the bowl between additions. Sift together the dry ingredients and, with the mixer off, add all but about 1 Tbsp at once, then mix slowly until the dry is just incorporated. Scrape down the bowl, then toss the chopped cherries with the leftover 1 Tbsp of dry mixture. Gently fold the cherries into the batter. Bake in lined muffin tins for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

To Assemble:

1. Cupcakes
2. Ganache
3. Sanding sugar
4. Coarse sea salt

Use a small spatula or butter knife to smoothly spread a layer of ganache on each cupcake. Sprinkle lightly with both sugar and salt. Keep refrigerated (the ganache will set up fully once refrigerated overnight).

Makes 8 cupcakes with some ganache left over.

The winner of August’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:

• Bake It Pretty; $5 electronic gift card
• Beanilla; 3 Indian + 3 Tahitian vanilla beans & a jar of Ground Vanilla
• CT2Designs; a cupcake ring
• Miss Kitty Creations; a cupcake charm of your choice
• Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a prize pack worth $25

Thank you to all our prize sponsors!

These might look a little familiar to anyone who has bothered to read ALL the way back on this blog…back to when the pictures were horrible instead of slightly-less-than-horrible…

Hello again!

Yeah, my pumpkin cupcakes are back. And with a purpose!

What pumpkin shortage?

This month’s Cupcake Hero theme is pumpkin! Since I couldn’t get it together in time to enter last month’s banana contest, I’m totally bringin’ it with my favorite fall treats.

I take back what I said last year. Mellocreme pumpkins NOT optional.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

Just shifting into focus to say hello...

Since I finally figured out the perfect frosting for these spicy lovelies last year (and greatly improved upon it by way of some gorgeous chocolate and cocoa powder that I got at a Scharffen Berger event), I decided it was high time I created a filling for them. And what a filling it is…

Ladies and gentlemen, pumpkin cupcake nirvana has been achieved.

A little browned butter caramel with your pumpkin and chocolate?

Sittin' on some pumpkins.

Oh yes…I think that about does it as far as pumpkin-y awesomeness is concerned.

Oh artificial pumpkin goodness. Why you got to be so awesome?

I brought these to class. They were appreciated pretty thoroughly, especially the filling. Many of my classmates had only recently (like last week) been introduced to the wonder of brown butter so it went over very well.

Quick! Eat it!

I definitely recommend you make these this fall. And then eat them. Eat them fast.

...before it turns into a pumpkin.

Ultimate Pumpkin Cupcakes

First You Gotta Bake the Cakes…

1. 1 1/4 cup unsalted butter
2. 1 cup dark brown sugar
3. 1 1/4 cup sugar
4. 2 eggs
5. 1 15 oz. can pumpkin (plain pumpkin, no spices pre-mixed in there!)
6. 3 cups AP flour
7. 2 tsp baking soda
8. 1 tsp fine salt
9. 3 1/2 tsp cinnamon
10. 1 tsp nutmeg
11. 1/2 tsp ground cloves
12. 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, waiting until each is fully incorporated into the creamed mixture before adding more. Gradually add the pumpkin and beat until smooth. Whisk together the flour and other dry ingredients, then gradually add them to the batter until everything is homogenous. Plop into lined muffin tins (an ice cream scoop is great for this since it’s a very thick, almost dough-like batter) and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one comes out clean. Cool completely before filling and/or frosting. Makes about 28 cupcakes. (I usually make 24 and pour the rest of the batter into a buttered large ramekin or Pyrex dish as a little treat for myself.)

Then You Have to Make the Filling…

1. 4 oz./8 Tbsp unsalted butter (you can use salted if you like, just omit the added salt)
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp heavy cream, room temperature
4. Pinch of fine salt

Cut the butter into several pieces and melt them in a small saucepan. Continue cooking, gently swirling the pan, until the milk solids begin to burn – the butter will smell nutty and caramelly and there will be brown bits in the bottom of the pan. Don’t let the burnt bits get black though – remove the pan from the heat before it gets too dark. If you have a vessel that can handle it (like a Pyrex container) pour the browned butter into it immediately; otherwise, let it sit in the pan until it has cooled slightly, then move to a bowl or other container, being sure to scrape as much of the lovely brown part from the bottom of the pan as you can. Refrigerate the butter until it has solidified. Once you are ready to make the rest of the filling, cut it into small pieces.

Place the sugar in a saucepan with tall sides. Wet it with just enough water to make it the consistency of wet sand, then place over high heat. Brush down the sides of the pan with water to keep crystals from forming. Cook, swirling the saucepan gently, until it is a nice amber color and smells caramelly. You can make it as mild or dark as you like but a nice medium caramel is just about perfect for me. Add the butter and salt all at once and stir until melted, then remove the pan from the heat and gradually add the cream. Be careful – the caramel will bubble up angrily when you pour in the cream (this is why you want a tall pan). If any bits of caramel seize up, just place the pan over medium-low heat and stir gently until everything is dissolved and smooth. Allow to cool, then chill in the refrigerator to make it firmer and easier to scoop into the cakes.

And Of Course There’s the Frosting…

1. 2/3 cup whole milk
2. 6 oz. chopped dark chocolate
3. 2 tsp cocoa powder

Place the chocolate in a medium mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil, then immediately pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for about 30 seconds, then slowly begin stirring it with a whisk, from the middle out, until all the chocolate is melted and you have a smooth, creamy ganache. Sift in the cocoa powder and stir until it is fully incorporated. Chill until firm and spreadable.

Now for the Assembly!

1. Cooled Pumpkin Cupcakes
2. Chilled Brown Butter Caramel Filling
3. Chilled Double Chocolate Ganache
4. Mellocreme Pumpkins

Use a small round cutter to cut out the middles of the cupcakes. Be careful – they’re very soft! Spoon a glob of caramel into each, then trim the middle and place the “lid” of cake back on top of the caramel. Let the caramel set up a bit inside the cakes (chilling or even freezing if you’d like). Whisk the ganache slightly to get it tightened up, then spread a thin but opaque layer on top of each cupcake. Top each with a mellocreme pumpkin.

I’ve learned a lot of things over the past year on my own as well as more recently in class. For instance, the cocoa powder in the ganache is entirely unnecessary from a technical standpoint – the cocoa butter in the ganache is what makes it bind up. If you were to use cream, as is traditional, the cream itself would be thickening it as you beat it. I decided to stick to my original, slightly odd choice of milk (back when I was afraid of cream) because I think a perfectly smooth ganache would detract from the velvety soft cake, and left in the cocoa powder strictly for that extra bitter chocolate kick that goes so well with the almost too-sweetness in this cupcake.

Well, it's technically BURNED, though not BURNING.

Since I got my challenge done a little late in the month this time around, I was able to observe several other Daring Bakers’ reactions to this recipe before embarking on my own Dobos Quest. One of the things I noticed a lot of people saying was that they didn’t like the top caramel-soaked layer of cake, pretty as it is.

Fun with hot sugar.

So I decided to forego that whole thing entirely, though with the shape my cake ended up taking on there are a lot of interesting patterns I could have made with a top layer like that. BUT, I decided to just play with some caramel on its own for the top.

Seriously, the cake was the exact size and shape of a brick. Tastiest brick ever!

Of course I had the caramel drizzled on the Silpat, THEN I remembered the totally awesome pulled sugar demo Chef did for us in class the other day, which involved pulling and kneading caramelized sugar until it looked like pure gold. If I had thought it out a bit better I could have (maybe) done a gorgeous golden ribbon, but I ended up with splatters that were nowhere near as delicate as what I originally wanted. However they did look quite a bit like flames, so I bent the bottoms to form bases and stuck the shards on top of the cake.

Count 'em! Six!

Since it’s just little old me alone in my apartment right now (and Bowser doesn’t eat cake), I halved the recipe and decided to bake the sponge cake in one large sheet and cut it into whatever shape I ultimately wanted for the cake.

Uhoh, the buttercream is getting melty...*lick*

I considered trying a crescent shape for an extra-fancy little cake but decided to go with a good old rectangle. Besides, neatly frosting the inside of a tiny crescent? No thank you.

Yeah, so they're not the straightest layers ever, but it's not like it matters. It all ends up the same in the end...

I brushed the layers with a little Monin violet syrup, just for fun. The day I made it I couldn’t taste the syrup and everything was a bit too sweet for me, but after a day in the fridge, the cold dulled the sweetness and everything was much yummier! The caramel got a little gummy and melty from the humidity in my wacky fridge, but that just makes it easier to eat I think – not as shattery and sharp.

Agh! Throw it out the window!...Wait, don't!

I really enjoyed this challenge for many reasons – I’ve never made sponge cake before, but I am really a fan of anything that involves whipping egg whites and folding them into something! And I like the texture of it. A lot of people said it was too dry, which it probably would be if I hadn’t brushed it with the syrup, but I did…so…nyah! I also REALLY loved the chocolate buttercream. It was some tasty stuff! I used some really nice super dark chocolate and it turned out yummmmmy.

Thanks to Lorraine and Angela for such a fun and beautiful challenge! Now that I’m done writing about mine I can go check out some of the other lovely cakes out there on the internet today!

Gooey sticky cupcakes!

Chocolate was my first idea, followed by…beer! Chocolate Guinness cupcakes it would have to be!

No sense of modesty or self-respect, these cupcakes.

I was out at the time I was coming up with the idea and had to phone home and have Z look up a recipe for me to base my shopping on, but I ended up with everything I needed. My only challenge would be whose recipe to choose?

See that awesome chocolate cake?

I was busy for the rest of the day and didn’t have much time to look at too many recipes before I went to bed, so I asked via Twitter if anyone knew any particularly perfect recipes.

Told you that frosting was gooey!

And then, early in the morning, the power went out. So I slept. At noon, it came back on, so I got up (what, I like sleep!)…and then it went out again almost immediately.

Don't you just want to tunnel all up in that chocolatey goodness?

So I started searching through my cookbooks. But, as I don’t have many, I couldn’t find one. So I worried.

Eventually, around 2 in the afternoon, while I was in the middle of complaining about the lack of power for probably the fiftieth time, it came back on. Immediately I began my search for the perfect cupcake recipe, idly chekcing to see if anyone had answered my call on Twitter.

Omnomnomnom

Someone had!

This photo taken hastily as I gathered my cupcake carrier and bag of marinating portobello caps.

The fabulous Shiv, one of the two lovely ladies behind Pithy & Cleaver replied with this recipe – which apparently just won the 3rd annual Brooklyn Kitchen Cupcake Bake-off! And with good reason. These cupcakes are incredibly moist, dark and rich, with a super gooey frosting that has a really nice tang from the cream cheese. I skimped a little on the salting because I ran out of unsalted butter halfway through and was using salted, and didn’t want to overdo it. They were fantastic as they were, though, so if you’re not into salty (which is silly), you can still make these and enjoy them as much as everyone at the cook out did.

A little sloppier than I'd like, but it was a crazy day in the kitchen.

I was definitely intrigued by the nuts and seeds theme this month. I thought of lots of potential ingredients…I do a lot of stuff with almond flour these days, oh but sunflower seeds are Z’s favorite…hmm, but what about poppyseed? No, poppyseed is good, but too obvious. And then I had a Very Original Idea, which morphed into an Even Better Idea, which I am going to attempt as my second entry once I have more butter. But there were compenents that got knocked out by the evolution of the idea, namely salted caramel, and I couldn’t abandon something as awesomely delicious as salted caramel. So I brought in my good friend Mr. Cashew. Mr. Cashew and salt are friends from way back, and the rich smoothness of caramel pairs wonderfully with the almost creamy texture of cashews. And what was going to tie them all together? An awesome rich chocolate ganache, that’s what!

I wonder what those giant crystals could possibly be?

These cupcakes are really, REALLY awesome, and I definitely would make them again. I found a recipe for peanut butter cake – no chocolate, just a cake recipe that had a cup of peanut butter in the batter. Then I tweaked it around and substituted cashew butter (which is not cheap but so much nicer than peanut butter – can you tell I don’t really like peanut butter?) and ended up with sturdy but still mysteriously light-as-air cupcakes. I think beating the cashew butter into the rest of the batter really lightened it up and made it fluffy, and the extra fat the cashew butter added makes the tender cake melt in your mouth.

Come on, by now you should know that those aren't sugar crystals on that cupcake...

I filled each cake with a generous dollop of caramel pastry cream. I added 1/2 tsp fine sea salt into the batch along with the vanilla and butter and it was soooo good. Seriously, it was hard to keep myself from just eating the warm salted caramel cream with a spoon before I got the plastic on it. After plugging up the little holes in the tops of the cupcakes, I spread a rich chocolate ganache on top of them – if I hadn’t gotten confused and made the ganache too soon, I would have tried dipping the cupcakes, but the spreading went relatively well even after the ganache stiffened more than I wanted it to.

And then I topped them with whole salted cashews and a sprinkling of crunchy, awesome coarse sea salt.

Delicious gooey surprise!

These cupcakes kind of capture everything I love about cashews – their smooth, fatty, almost creamy richness; the way they blend so perfectly with chocolate, caramel and salt alike; just a hint of crunch. Light and snacky, but also substantial and filling. Yummmm…

Salted Cashew Turtle Cupcakes

One cashew was not enough. They were lonely!

First, Make the Cakes:

3/4 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup hot water

1 cup cashew butter

In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure they are thoroughly blended, then add the vanilla. Sift together the dry ingredients and alternately add dry and wet to the batter. Once everything is well blended, add the cashew butter and beat on medium-high until completely mixed and light and fluffy. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 12-15 min.

Salted Caramel Cream (adapted from Lucy Vaserfirer’s recipe)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

2 cups milk

2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 egg

2 egg yolks

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Combine water and all but 2 Tbsp of the sugar in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil for 8-10 minutes, until dark and caramelized but not burned. While the syrup is boiling, prepare an ice water bath. Once the sugar is caramelized, dunk the bottom of the saucepan in the ice water to stop the cooking. Remove from the bath and slowly stir in the milk. Don’t freak out if your caramel totally seizes – the next step is to simmer over low heat until smooth, and it may take a while but all the hardened caramel will totally melt, I promise! Just stir gently until it’s smooth and darkened from the caramel. In the meantime, whisk together the cornstarch and 2 Tbsp sugar, then whisk in the egg and yolks. Increase the heat on the caramel mixture to medium and simmer, then pour into the egg mixture in one long, slow stream, whisking constantly. Return to the saucepan and cook over medium for a couple of minutes, whisking the whole time, until the mixture thickens and just begins to boil. Immediately strain it into a bowl and stir in the butter, salt and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap pressed down onto the surface with a couple holes punched in it to vent the steam, like you would for a curd. Place in refrigerator and use once cooled.

Chocolate Ganache

8 oz. good quality dark or bittersweet chocolate chips (or a slab of finely chopped chocolate)

3/4 cup whipping cream

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp butter, room temperature

Combine the cream and sugar in a saucepan and barely bring to a boil. Immediately pour it over the chocolate and whisk until completely smooth. Stir in the butter. If you do this right before you want to frost the cupcakes, you can dip the tops of the cupcakes in. If it sets up a little bit, you can still spread it with a knife, or pipe it.

To Assemble:

Cashew Cupcakes

Salted Caramel Pastry Cream

Chocolate Ganache

Whole Salted Cashews

Coarse Sea Salt

Cut a cone out of each cupcake and fill the resulting hole with the pastry cream. Trim the cone and replace just the top. Frost with ganache and decorate each cupcake with whole cashews and a sprinkling of coarse salt.

Voting isn’t open until the end of the month, but once it is you can go vote for these here.

Here’s the requisite prize info:

Our March ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A Bunnycake Easter Plushie by DOGBONEART, http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21636297.
• A whimsical piece by CAKEASAURUS, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5729584.
• as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
• a collection of all new printed cupcake liners, 200 in all from Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice – sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com . And as a special thank you, we would like to once again thank DIANAEVANS - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5599270 for her participation in the February challenge. An incorrect link was posted and we want to be sure that she gets the recognition she deserves. Thanks again Diana!