Red White and Blueberry Upside Down Cupcakes

Moist and simple, but with a fresh twist! An upside down cupcake is quick but has a very special twist! White cake mixed with red food coloring and a blueberry layer make a unique treat for the Fourth of July (or when the US was still in the World Cup....sad!). As seen on Photograzing. 

red white and blueberry upside down cupcake

Watching the World Cup has been so intense. Between  BAD calls in the Germany vs. England game or the two goals scored back to back within minutes by Argentina I had been biting my nails! I made these cupcakes for a US game watching party...its a shame that the results were not equally good. The cupcakes were lovely, the soccer scores were not. I think the US was far too dependent on Donovan...but I'm a baker, not a sports analyst. I know food...and is it me or did the Ghana team uniforms look like like a McDonald's commercial circa 1987. Everytime I saw a close up of the red and yellow uniforms I just couldn't help but wonder if they wanted fries with that goal.

I'm not going to pretend these are a fancy cupcake. They were the product of 45 minutes of time between a camping trip and game time. I confess, I used a mix again. If you're looking to color cakes red (the most daunting color) I recommend using Wilton's No Taste Red and lots of it! I split the mix in half and added more than a teaspoon of the dye. It's a tough color to reach. For some reason red dye's just don't behave the same as the rest. If you are looking for blue dye, Wilton also makes a very nice Royal Blue, which is a perfect USA blue instead of the bright blues you'll tend to get with other dyes.

Hopefully your cupcakes turn out just as well...though you might have to use the blueberry upside down cupcakes to cheer on Brazil instead.

red white and blue cupcakes

Red White and Blueberry Upside Down Cupcakes

1/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 white cake mix
1 cup blueberries
water, oil and eggs according to cake mix instructions
Wilton White Dye
Wilton Red No Taste Dye

Preheat oven to 325.

Line two cupcakes tins with liners.

Melt the butter in a small pan over medium low heat. Add sugar and continue to cook for five minutes.

Mix cake mix. Add water. Mix. Add Oil. Mix. Add egg whites one at a time, mixing after each addition.

Split the cake batter in two. Add White dye to one half and red dye to the other half. (The white dye does make a  noticeable difference).

Divide the butter and sugar mixture between the cupcake liners. Add about 7 or 8 blueberries to each cupcake liner. Spoon the white cake batter over the blueberries. Top with red cake batter.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool for five minutes before attempting to invert.

Enjoys!

Strawberry Balsamic Buttercream

Strawberry balsamic buttercream? YEP! If you didn't believe me on the Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream, I hope you do now! It's an amazing flavor combination! And these high flying homemade cupcake wrappers are the perfect tribute to my Labor Day weekend at the Red Bull Flugtag in Philadelphia! If you don't care for Flugtag scroll down to the bottom for instructions on how to make homemade tulip cupcake wrapers and strawberry balsamic buttercream!  

What an inspiring weekend. Odd word choice, right? I used inspiring for a few reasons. Camden New Jersey inspires me in many ways: to run, to hide, to flee, to curse Google Maps for not having an "avoid ghetto" function, to call the cops, to avoid eye contact, and most specifically to ask "WHERE ARE WE?!?!?!"

What Red Bull Flugtag - Phila Edition failed to mention readily is that it's not actually in Phila. No. It's in Camden, New Jersey, which in 2009 had the highest violent crime rates in the United States! Hooray! Perfect place for a day trip, RIGHT? Neither of which I  knew until Brandon pulled into a parking lot across the street from what appeared to be a chop shop with a man sitting in a car. Staring at us. The. Entire. Time. To be fair I'm sure a car with four people frantically on smart phones parked in a deserted part of town looked odd. It took us just a little to long to find a better address to get us to the waterfront. Ironically, I wasn't physically assaulted until we were in a better section of town.

After a drive through town that scared us DC cityfolk, we made it just in time for all the awesome that just didn't quit!  From a spread eagle pair of legs in whitey tighteys, to Amish buggies, and the habitually uncreative Trojans, there was a lot to be seen....maybe a little too much of the whitey tighty plane! Either way the frightful drive in was forgotten easily enough.

So, let's talk about this assault. First, we had to climb over a fence, and some "lady" had stood up to let people through. Kind right? Well she decided she'd had enough kindness for one day right as my group of friends was cut in half, and mama hen starts yelling about her effing son. Rachel, decided that wasn't gonna fly (bad pun) and figures that any woman who calls them their effing son deserves to be taken down a notch or two. It looked like this five foot four, two hundred and fifty pound woman was gearing up for a fight. Sucks to be her because when she turned around to yell back at Rachel, she realized she'd be needing to yell UP about eight inches. The look of horror on her face when she realized she was threatening a six foot fiery red head was classic.

We all know how crowds can get at these things. You squeeze your way through every nook and cranny, trying to find a good spot, trying to keep your group together, occasionally loosing a person for an hour or so (sorry Yandary!) and just kinda go with the ebb and flow of the mass. We'd luckily made it into a very stagnant section. Not much traffic, mostly kind people, many with children, snacks and no intention of going anywhere near that "lady" and her effing son. Happily in the peace of the eye of the storm, I'm switching out to a zoom lense when this girl of five foot two, with a bad attitude (and bad hair, yeah I went there and quoted a country western redneck song...seems fitting),  asks me to move.

My simple polite response "Oh, can you wait just 5 seconds? I can't move right now."

Her simple reprehensible response "Oh, well then I'll just shove you!"

And commence the assault on me. Honestly! What person can't wait five seconds? It's not like I said "NO @#$&*! Go around @#$%" Bleep. Bleep. Bleep. Apparently, she doesn't speak nice as a second language.

Note: I might be five foot four, blonde, a buck twenty five and have been dressed like a yuppie by comparison, but that does NOT mean you can invade my personal space. Also remember my six foot tall fiery red head friend? I also forgot to mention her six foot tall boyfriend. Oh snap! Yeah, her little attempts shoving me were not well received.

But hey, the dregs of humanity aside, I got the camera lenses in, filled my quota of rude things to yell for the year, and was able to get a ton of great shots of flugtag!!!

Amish Aviation

I'm sorry that the picture collage is a so small! This in no way does justice to this crash, set the music of Weird Al's Amish Paradise. This next collage has so many teams and funny moments. Full shame to the team who made a flying cheesteak, in Phila, that didn't even make it down the runway!

top row: sock monkey, trojans, cheesesteak, and the island of misfit toys!
second row: flying dodo, and the amazing flugtag of the loom team!
third row: king kong, boring trojans, and bill and ted's bogus journey!
bottom row: flying saucers (it actually wound up and spun like a top!), astronauts, and a flying cuckoo clock

SUCH A FUN DAY! ...........okay, moving on to baking. No, actually, one last moment to say: WHO THE HECK SAYS OH I'LL SHOVE YOU?!?!?!?! WERE YOU RAISED BY WOLVES? No, just raised in Camden? Never mind. Okay, now I'm ready to move on. 

Red Bull gives you wings, so why not a cupcake with wings? I used these wrappers for my bacon chocolate cupcakes for the DC [we should be a] State Fair as well. I love them! They remind me of Baked & Wired. And bonus! They are super easy to make. 

Super Easy Tulip Cupcake Wrappers Instructions: 

1. Cut five inch by five inch squares of parchment paper. 
2. Spray the cupcake mold with cooking spray (to help the liners stick) 
3. Press the parchment paper into the molds. 

I will admit that pressing the parchment paper in, and getting it to bake as nicely is not as super easy as I made that sound. My advice would be to find a glass, or round cutter that will find into the cupcake mold and use it to hold down the paper while you make flatten the paper to the sides and make creases in it so it holds its shape better. Worth it! Bakes much better than a regular cupcake liner, and they don't spill over easily. You can make larger cupcakes with it too! You can't go wrong. More cupcake and less mess? PERFECT!

I hope you enjoy the buttercream as well! 


Strawberry Balsamic Buttercream:

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

a pinch of salt

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

strawberry jelly to taste (about ½ cup for me)

balsamic vinegar to taste (about 1-2 tablespoons)

Whip butter, salt, and vanilla till creamy then whip in powdered sugar in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Beat on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Add jam and vinegar and continue until incorporated.


Enjoy! 


And don't forget to please vote for Cherry Tea Cakes in the Express Night Out's Best of 2010 DC Food Blogs contest! Look under people and places! I am the underdog, and realize I stand no chance, but it's fun for a moment to pretend I do! :) 


Be sure to check out the other competitors at:

• Howetoeat.wordpress.com: a DC "unapologetic" food diary
• Iflipforfood.com: a hybrid of home cooking and DC restaurants
• Diningindc.net: a restaurant guide to DC
• Metrocurean.com: a great site if you want news on DC dining

DC State Fair: Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

I love chocolate and bacon! Yes, it sounds odd at first, but once you realize two of the best items on the planet got rolled into one you can't imagine life without it! I used my chocolate bacon gnache from the chocolate bacon truffles as a cupcake topping for the DC "State" Fair! 

Bring on the HEAT! Holy cow! Could it have been any hotter for DC's inaugural "State" Fair? I doubt it. I was feeling borderline heatstroke towards the end of the pie judging. And before you say, psht, yeah right, let me remind you: I'm from the desert. I know heatstroke! 

For a first run state fair, not too shabby, especially when you consider that DC is not a state. Taxation without representation. Yep, that is our "state." More than half the tents were filled with political groups and political campaigns, but it's DC after all. I get accosted by an activist every time I leave any metro station, why would I expect any less at the fair? All that was really missing was funnel cake. I'm sorry to be the one the point this out, but it will never be a true state fair until there is funnel cake. 

whirling twirling kid ride of death, the Queen of Columbia Heights pageant, and a cute kid petting a yak

I'm also hoping that there will be twirly whirly rides next year, of a larger nature than the ones you see these two children above having a good time in. No, sadly, that kid did not throw up. I think that is my second requirement for it to be a state fair: ridiculously rickety rides that make young boys throw up.  I was watching him and he looked like he had it in him, but nope, held his own on that one. He was on there a long time! Didn't take me long to figure out why. I took a little spin....turns out you can't stop. That thing is built for perpetual motion. Found that out the hard way. Many thanks to my friend Brandon who snapped pictures (which I hope never see the light of day) while laughing hysterically instead of helping me out of the whirling twirling kiddie ride of death. . 

Aside from the one "ride" (otherwise known as a playground) there were the other traditional state fair items including a petting zoo, live bands, and a rather low budget beauty pageant. I pass no judgement. Last year I entered in the Miss Punkin Chunkin Pageant after all last year for kicks and giggles. I even bought a bump it so I'd have appropriately sized hair for the occasion. :)  (he he and this year they are having a "ms" category that I think I might enter too. It was just too fun!)

Last and in no way least, was the food competitions! Pies, pickles, jams, cupcakes you name it! Did I win? NO! Some granny with a carrot cake to die for came out of nowhere with that one! Good for her! The world needs more amazing carrot cake out there. I've had one in my life I've liked. One! And with forty different cupcakes to compete against that was some stiff competition! So three cheers for a fair winning carrot cake! I also hear the watermelon rind pickles were excellent. So intrigued with that one.

All in all a great HOT day. I am so so happy to be inside instead now, happily blogging and getting rehydrated.

Chocolate Cupcakes

adapted from Chocolate Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

3 cups white sugar

5 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line a cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.

Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Pour batter into lined cupcake tins.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes minimum, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Bacon Chocolate Gnache

1 part bacon grease

1 part butter, melted

2 parts dark chocolate

Chopped up bacon to taste

Cook the bacon and measure the bacon grease in grams. Melt and equivalent amount of butter in the same pan (uncleaned to pick up more bacon flavor) you cooked the bacon in.  Add in the two parts of chocolate  and melt.

Once all is melted and combined, set aside to cool. We opted to cool ours covered in the freezer stirring frequently. Chop a few pieces of cooked bacon into tiny pieces, and set aside. We like it extra crispy for texture.

Once the mixture has cooled to a spreadable consistency, spoon it out into a stand mixture and whip at a high speed until it is light and fluffy. Fold in bacon pieces. 

DC Cupcakes: Red Velvet Cupcakery, Cake Love, and Whole Foods

Second round of taste tests for the local DC cupcakeries! This time we decided to see how the low-end grocery store cupcake holds up to the challenge! 

Care to take a guess on which cupcake is which? Red Velvet is another one of the chains that have popped up in the cupcake trend. Cake Love is one of DC's most prominent and longest standing cake stores, that only started selling cupcakes along side their slices of cake since the trend. Then there's Whole Foods, a healthy grocery store specializing in herbs, health foods, organic, farm raised foods, which also offers a "boutique" cupcake at nearly half the price of actual cupcake boutiques. 


Looking at the above pictures I can sure tell you which cupcake I think would cost two dollars.


So, I held my second taste test with all the same standards and criteria I did for my first edition of DC Cupcakes: What the Locals Think. These results were dramatically different than the first round. The first round were the cupcakeries I determined to be perhaps the "more popular" cupcakeries. It turns out I was right. I knew Cake Love would be well known, and chances were few people had considered a Whole Foods cupcake...I had no idea how poorly asking about Red Velvet would go.  


But first: Let's talk taste test! 


The results were nearly unanimous on the taste test: 

• Red Velvet had the favorite cake. 
• Cake Love had the favorite icing. 
• Whole Foods was deemed "tasteless" 
• Red Velvet's Gnache Icing was "far too bitter" 
• When asked to pick an "overall favorite" every person picked Cake Love. 

Survey Stats: 

Unlike last time, where 100 people were just brimming over with their opinions about Georgetown Cupcakes, Hello Cupcake, and Baked & Wired, Wednesdays survey yielded a lot of confused looks, perplexed responses, and questions about each one's location. Easily the most common response was "Is that the one that's in [Penn Quarter/U St.]? I think my [roommate/girlfriend/boyfriend/coworker] has been there." 

I honestly in good faith can't even give you stats. The response rate just wasn't high enough for me to consider it truly legit. Lets just leave it with: Cake Love had the most consistent favorable comment, and Red Velvet was easily the most hated, and literally, only one person said they'd had a Whole Foods cupcake, and they expressed sheer hatred towards it. 

Even at the end of all this, Baked & Wired and Georgetown Cupcake are remaining as the only cupcakes in town that the DC locals really poured out the love for. If you're only in town for a short trip head straight to Baked & Wired! I'd hate for the line at Georgetown to take up an hour of your trip! 

Cake Love: A DC Tradition

Cake Love has been in DC longer than the cupcake craze, the same cannot be said for the other cupcake boutiques, and though they won today's taste test, it was commonly noted that they are better for cakes, and not cupcakes. Though they did win the taste test, in the survey they were always described as "okay." Nobody said that it was their favorite cake spot in town (but after last months love for Baked & Wired it would be hard for me to imagine there a lot of love left). The shop itself is somewhat airy, if not a little too dark despite the large windows. The displays were uninspiring, and the cupcake the least gourmet looking of any cupcake yet in either taste test. The chocolate cake itself came off with a highly nutty flavor, and during the taste test was not identified as chocolate cake, but rather a spice cake. Odd right? 

Favorites flavor cupcake mentioned in the survey: Chocolate, German Chocolate, and Coconut

Décor: 8 it has a semi cutesy vintage kitchen feel

Service: 8 friendly, not enthusiastic

Packaging: 2, paper bags and due to the soft frosting it traveled POORLY

Variety:  5 nothing you hadn't seen before

Red Velvet: Move Over Hello Cupcake, Meet The New Last Favorite

Thought not everyone agreed the survey was pretty explicit that Red Velvet Cupcakery was not loved. On a personal note, I'm sorry but I have to say it: I spit out my bite of chocolate gnache. It was inedible. I tried it again once I'd adjusted my notions that this gnache was very dark, but it didn't help. It was bitter and frankly disgusting. The taste testers agreed. Some of the survey participates spoke about seeing unsanitary conditions and bug infestations. I wish I had started with the survey. I wouldn't have taken that bite. One of the taste testers actually said: "UGH! If the Donner party would have had these cupcakes, they still would have kept on eating each other!" 

To be fair, there was some praise of Red Velvet, and one person did say "as a frequent buyer, I've noticed that some days the cupcakes are better than others.  So if you only go once and hate it, I'd say go back at least once." So maybe we just caught them on a bad day....except for one thing. They also have a location in Tucson, Arizona, and I sent some feelers out to the foodies I know in Tucson. The responses I got said the exact same discouraging things, AND were wondering how Red Velvet Cupcakery had managed to stay in business as they rarely saw customers in the store located on the University of Arizona Campus. A vacant cupcake shop on a major university campus? That might say it all. 

Favorites flavor cupcake mentioned in the survey: Birthday Cake, Black Velvet

Décor: 5, depending on location, Dupont: 0 it's stuck in with Tangy Sweet, Penn Quarter 6, Tucson: 4

Service: 7, not particularly friendly, not ready at opening

Packaging: 5 a brown bag with a BIG A sticker on it, poor branding

Variety: 7 

Whole Foods: The "Boutique" Cupcake You've Never Heard of For a Reason

I won't even humor  the idea of trying to talk about Whole Foods. I LOVE this store, but it was a bad cupcake, with waxy frosting and no taste. It literally tasted like you were eating nothing. If there wasn't texture you wouldn't have known there was a cupcake. With nobody in the survey having tried the cupcakes, save one, there isn't a whole lot to say except this: 

Boutique cupcakes cost twice as much for a reason. They actually have flavor. 

I must admit, I was very excited about the idea that maybe this underdog cheap cupcake could contend....but it couldn't. You can make a better cupcake from a mix, and you should. For two dollars, go ahead and buy a cake mix. You'll be much happier. 

Favorites flavor cupcake mentioned in the survey: NA

Décor: NA it's a grocery store after all

Service: 7, polite, helpful, not knowledgeable

Packaging: 6, plastic containers that actually traveled best out of the day

Variety:  6, but does it matter if they aren't good? 

Thanks for reading! Hope that helps you make your choices! Personally I recomend reading the quotes below! They crack me up! 

A few quotes from the survey: 

Is cake love the one on U-Street?  I've never been there, and I've never even heard of the other two.. - M in DC

Never had any of them... I guess I should expand my cupcake horizons... - G in MD

I've heard of cake love but..... - M in MD

Cake love/love cafe: There cupcakes are ok, their frosting is different, I like their use of fresh fruit.  They have a good chocolate cake.  Not my favorite cupcake place. - E in DC


Cake love has the best German Chocolate cupcake I have ever had and they have a lot of novel ideas for cupcakes. Cake Love gets my vote. Red Velvet is a bit ordinary and boring for my taste and I have never had on of the whole foods boutique cupcakes.  - C in DC

I tried Cake Love once...it was alright. The most memorable part was the sweet, light, homemade tasting frosting (good but not my favorite kind...it was kind of like eating cool whip) and the cute vintagy look of the kitchen. The day I went anything with chocolate was on sale. So that was automatic brownie points in my book. - M in DC

Red Velvet Cupcakery: Easily my favorite of the 3.  I love their small tiny shop on 7th & E NW. It's simple and I like that.  Their Red Velvet cupcake isn't any better or worse than Red Velvet cupcakes at other places.  But I'm not a Red Velvet fan.  I really love their Devil's Food, best Chocolate Gauche Frosting I can buy on a cupcake.  B-Day is also yummy, they use almond in their yellow cake and that works nicely with the chocolate frosting. I also love their Black Velvet cupcake .  It's a vegan, gluten free cupcake.  I'm neither a vegan nor do I have to eat gluten free foods, but I love this cupcake.  The texture is different, it's a nice change.  To me, gluten free means more room to add coco. Their Peanut Butter cupake is also good.  Being a frequent buyer, I've noticed that some days the cupcakes are better than others.  So if you only go once and hate it, I'd say go back at least once. - EU in DC

Red Velvet...my least favorite in DC. The cupcakes are too expensive for what you get. Their Devil's Food? SICK. Don't even try it. Their Summertime cupcake is yummy though. - M in DC

Red velvet had flies all over the place the one time I was there. -MC in DC

I've never tasted their "boutique" cupcakes.  If you give me a choice of buying brownie bites or cupcakes at the same store , I'll choose the brownie bites every time.  That said, I'm sure the cupcakes are pretty good.  I've never had anything from Whole Foods that was sub par. But truthfully I'd rather buy my boutique cupcakes from a boutique than a grocery store. - E in DC

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Smooth, creamy peanut butter buttercream atop moist deep chocolate cupcakes. I recommend adorning them with a few homemade chocolate peanut butter cups! 

This may not be as decadent or as gourmet as some of my more recent posts. But sometimes you just need to get back to basics, and boy do I!!!  Today I held the taste test and administered the surverys for friday's second round of DC Cupcakes: What the locals think. Spoiler Alert: I had to spit out one of the cupcakes. Wretched. Worst. Cupcake. Ever. I'm not exaggerating. One of our tastetesters did the same. I loved his reaction "UGH! If the Donner party would have had these cupcakes, they still would have kept on eating each other!" Spot on. 

After a seriously long day, running around from Penn Quarter, Dupont, and Tenleytown in 90 degree weather and 72% humidity, the cupcakes and myself were certainly the worse for the wear. Normally after an incredibly long and exhausting day I turn to a cupcake. It was a new experience to practically despise cupcakes...which didn't last for long. I picked up a bulgolgi box and was ready to fall right back in love with chocolate cupcakes....just maybe with a better frosting. And you can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter. Simple? Yes, but after today, I'm good with a simple chocolate cupcake. 

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup dutch process cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line enough cupcake tins for 28 cupcakes.

In a large bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix buttermilk and vanilla.

In a stand mixer beat sugar and butter until blended on a low speed then increase speed to high for a few minutes until light and creamy. Reduce speed to low; add eggs, 1 at a time while the mixer continues to run.

Add in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately. Beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Pour half the batter into a large pastry bag and pipe into lined cupcake tins. Repeat with the remaining batter.  Bake 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Buttercream Icing

1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
A pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners sugar

1 cup peanut butter

Whip in a stand mixer using a paddle attachment butter butter, vanilla, salt, and peanut butter till creamy then whip in powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add more sugar to taste.

Lemon Chocolate Cupcakes

Butchie graciously offered to help me with the bakesale this week! Too kind right! Amidst all the amazing cupcakes we made we ended up with a few extra batters and voila! A chocolate lemon cupcake! As seen on Photograzing. 

A few years ago I had an intern named Mary Kate.  She is almost TOO good of a person and has chosen to spend the next two years of her life as a volunteer for Farm of the Child in Honduras! Simply amazing! I’m not as good of a person so I only baked cupcakes to help pay her way! Lots and lots and lots of cupcakes.  Thankfully, Butchie is also a good person and was kind enough to devote our weekly baking night to helping with me prepare.  [What’s with all the virtue in this paragraph? Somebody go kick a puppy. –B.]

What a night it was! Eight types of cupcake and three types of cookies is a little much for one kitchen table. In the end there were 108 cupcakes left after our taste tests and I never even attempted to get a count on those cookies.  Posts on many of them will be scheduled in the coming weeks.  Hope you like cupcakes! We have a ton of recipes coming for you! And no more cake for a long time after. I never thought there would be a day I was tired of cake, but 100+ cupcakes have changed my mind.

When all was said and done, we had some extra cake batter and thought about cake batter ice cream, so I just did that. Even then, still some batter left: lemon chocolate cupcakes? Yes, please! I must admit this is far more of a Butchie treat. She loves her lemon. [Someday my citrus evangelism will work and you will see the light. –B.] I will admit that I didn’t mind it at all. I’m starting to think that I have overcome my pronounced hatred of lemon. Out of a matter of pride however I won’t fully admit that just yet, and instead stick to the notion that for once (and not yet again) lemon came out wonderfully! [Mark my words, it will happen. --B]

I just want to wish Mary Kate all the best. I’m very happy to have yet another Cherry Tea sale and to help do some good in the world, and to help her help others.  Farm of the Child is getting a fantastic worker.  

Lemon Buttermilk Cake 

1 3/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons grated lemon peel

3 extra-large eggs

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Beat sugar, butter and lemon peel in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon juice. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into medium bowl. Stir dry ingredients into butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Set aside cake batter until ready. Make chocolate buttermilk cake. 

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup dutch process cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs

In a large bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix buttermilk and vanilla.

In a stand mixer beat sugar and butter until blended on a low speed then increase speed to high for a few minutes until light and creamy. Reduce speed to low; add eggs, 1 at a time while the mixer continues to run.

Add in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately. Beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Pipe  chocolate cake batter and lemon cake batter into into lined cupcake tins alternately.  Repeat with the remaining batter.  Bake 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.

Top with chocolate lemon buttercream frosting. 

Lemon Chocolate Buttercream

1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp lemon flavoring
a pinch of salt
3 cups confectioners’ sugar

dutch processed cocoa to taste

Whip in a stand mixer using a paddle attachment butter, and flavoring till creamy then whip in powdered sugar in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes with Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream

Tried out a new chocolate cake recipe! It bakes up the most perfectly shaped cupcakes I’ve ever had! Moist, and rich with a deep chocolate flavor, it pairs wonderfully with the chocolate hazelnut buttercream!

chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with a chocolate hazelnut butterceam frosting

Kickball lately has been a killer. Our team started out so strong! Two wins and a tie is a pretty good record…but then we lost three games in a row, and I got clothes lined last game by a player who decided running over the wrong base was a great idea. The way WAKA sets it up there are two first bases. One on the left, and one on the right. I use one, the runner uses the other, but it acts just like one extra large base. Why??? So you can overrun first base!!! Not the first base man!!!

kick ballers on the national mall, my WAKA team's shirt/logo

Being hung out to dry like that has given me a new appreciation for kickball night: it needs cupcakes. If I’m going to come out of this black and blue, there is going to be chocolate cake waiting for me! My teammates all have a little somethin’ somethin’ in the jell-o to take the edge of. I. Need. Cake.

So I schlepped a cupcake carrier through the metro at rush hour to make it to an 8:30 staff meeting. Then after work - thank heaven for interns - I dragged it (and myself) down to the National Mall in what is shaping up to be the hottest June on record. That’s love. Hear me teammates? L-O-V-E. 

Did the pregame sugar rush make a difference? Well...um...we scored one run. Which isn't so bad. We lost 1-2, but it was probably out best played game in a month....except for the everclear chocolate pudding that may have been the cause of a batting order mix up....maybe. Hey, I didn't have any. I went third, that's all I know. 


Hope you enjoy these cupcakes! I know 3 WAKA kickball teams sure did! 

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup dutch process cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

¾ teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line enough cupcake tins for 28 cupcakes.

In a large bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

In 2-cup liquid measuring cup, mix buttermilk and vanilla.

In a stand mixer beat sugar and butter until blended on a low speed then increase speed to high for a few minutes until light and creamy. Reduce speed to low; add eggs, 1 at a time while the mixer continues to run.

Add in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately. Beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Pour half the batter into a large pastry bag and pipe into lined cupcake tins.* Repeat with the remaining batter.  Bake 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.

*For a two 9 inch rounds bake 30 to 35 minutes. I prefer to pipe in cupcake batter to reduce air bubbles and have greater control over the amount of batter in each tin. It’s a personal preference, you can certainly spoon in the batter as you like.

Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar, more as needed

1 teaspoon vanilla

300 grams chocolate hazelnut spread

milk (as needed)

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using the paddle attachment. Add in the vanilla and chocolate hazelnut spread. If the mixture hardens, add a little milk. If it appears too thin, add a little more powdered sugar. Continue this until it reaches the consistency you’d like.

Enjoy!