Oreo Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcake:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

3. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Oreo Filling:

1/2 cup shortening
2 cups powdered sugar

Mix together and fill cupcakes by cutting a cap out of the top of the cupcake. Fill with a small ball of filling and replace cap.

Oreo Buttercream

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons milk

2 "rows" of Oreos, crushed

1. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar slowly.

2. Add vanilla and milk until creamy

3. Add 2/3 of crushed Oreos

4. Frost cupcakes, top with remaining Oreos

Creme Brulee Cupcakes

Happy Birthday To Matt!!! These were my friend Matt's choice for his birthday week, so I hope he likes them. I had trouble with the original recipe for the cake part, so I ended up using two cake mixes combined to get the right flavor. I used Duncan Hines' Caramel and French Vanilla cake mixes and baked them according to the box's directions, which turned out really well.

Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream
1 cup light brown sugar
4 egg whites
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

Put sugar, egg whites and salt into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees). Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes total. Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and continue beating 1 minute to reduce air bubbles.

I garnished with some natural sugar crystals and melted sugar chips. I just put a thin layer of sugar on parchment paper under the broiler until it melted and browned. When it cooled, I cracked it into little pieces to simulate the "crack" on top of creme brulee.

Banana Pudding Cupcakes

Banana Cupcakes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
2. With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs to the creamed mixture and beat well. Add the bananas and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add all the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix until completely integrated.
5. Add the milk and vanilla. Mix for 1 minute on medium speed.
6. **Fill cupcake liners one-half to three-quarters full with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

**I added crushed Nilla wafers in the cupcake liners before I added the batter.

I filled the cooled cupcakes with banana cream pudding and then frosted them with swiss meringue buttercream frosting. I followed the recipie from: http://howtoeatacupcake.blogspot.com/2008/02/face-your-smbc-fears.html

The frosting was amazing! I may never go back to regular buttercream (until next week). It was fluffier and less tooth-achingly sweet than regular buttercream, but it took quite a bit longer to make.

Until next week!

French Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

This week's cupcake was a special request, so here's the recipe:


Vanilla Cupcakes:
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon soft butter
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Cream butter & sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Sift dry ingredients together and add slowly to wet ingredients. Add milk until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes.

To make chocolate chip vanilla cupcakes, add 6oz. of mini chocolate chips to batter.

Vanilla Buttercream:
2 sticks softened sweet butter
1.5 lbs of powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk


Beat butter until fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar until combined, adding milk as needed to make the frosting creamy.

I made four variations on the frosting this week. The requestee wanted chocolate chips in the frosting, but I thought that would be too much chocolate for some people, so I did a few varieties with differing amounts of chocolate chips.