Vanilla Bean Pound Cake Cupcakes

December 19, 2011

Real vanilla beans make anything taste better.  But I know that they are kind of expensive, so I only try to use them in moderation.  When a co-worker requested a simple vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting, I knew I had to take it up a notch and make them a little extra fancy.  And, when I saw the recipe for a golden, dense and buttery pound cake, I knew that this would be the recipe to try.

Now, when I say that these are dense cupcakes, I mean it.  They have the smooth and heavy consistency of regular pound cake, in portable, individual cupcake form.  These cupcakes don’t rise  like a lot of other cupcakes do-they ooze a lot of that butter right out of the cupcake liners (use some high-quality paper liners that are slightly resistant) or forgo the liners and just bake them right in the pan.  Any kind of frosting would be good for these cupcakes.  I imagine that with the holidays coming up that a peppermint or vanilla bean frosting would be fantastic.  In this case, I used a simple chocolate buttercream recipe.  And these definitely didn’t disappoint.  And, sometimes, simple is better.

 

Vanilla Bean Pound Cake Cupcakes

Servings: 24 cupcakes (I doubled the original recipe)

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

1 and 1/2 cups sugar

2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise and seeds removed

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 large eggs

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

4 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sour cream

For the frosting:

3 and 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

4 and 1/2 sticks (36 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup powdered sugar (plus more if needed)

Pinch sea salt

Sprinkles, for garnish

 

Instructions

1. For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a cupcake pan with the liners of your choice.

2. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the sugar and vanilla bean seeds at low speed until combined.

3. Add the butter to the vanilla sugar mixture and beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.

4. In a small separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and the vanilla extract.

5. Decrease the mixer speed to medium-low and slowly add the eggs to the butter mixture.

6. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

7. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream mixture, mixing until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

8. Divide the batter among the baking cups and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely.

9. For the frosting: In a heatproof bowl over simmering water, melt the chocolate chips, stirring until smooth.  Set aside and let cool until room temperature.

10. Using your stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and salt together on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.

11. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the melted chocolate to the frosting, mixing until smooth.

12. Pipe as desired onto the cupcakes.

 

Sources: Cupcakes from Cupcake Project, originally from Caviar and Codfish. Frosting from Martha Stewart.

 

Filed in:Desserts
comment
December 19, 2011 - 8:47 pm

Annie @ Annie's Cooking Lab - Yum, those look so good! I love the mountain of frosting on top!

December 19, 2011 - 9:21 pm

Blog is the New Black - These look wonderful, and I’m sure the real vanilla beans helped a ton! I like that you used a chocolate frosting as a contrast… these look awesome!

December 19, 2011 - 10:40 pm

Jessica F - When you say that you doubled this recipe, did the servings number reflect that or the ingredients list? I just can’t get over how much butter goes into 24 cupcakes…

Bet they are a wonderful decadent treat!

December 19, 2011 - 10:47 pm

srlacy - Hi Jessica-
The ingredients that I have listed are for 24 cupcakes. Yep. It’s a lot of butter. I was really surprised myself, but they turned out great!

December 19, 2011 - 11:01 pm

Esther @ Esther Eats - I’ve always wanted to make pound cake cupcakes! How full did you fill the cups before baking?

December 19, 2011 - 11:11 pm

srlacy - Hi Esther-
I filled them about 3/4’s full (I normally try to aim for that with any kind of cupcake), but they definitely didn’t rise as much as regular cupcakes.

December 20, 2011 - 2:13 pm

Ann P. - Growing up, pound cake was the only treat my mom would bake, and I LOVE it! The simple combo with the chocolate frosting and the colorful sprinkles bring me back to those days. 🙂
I was thinking–foil cupcake liners might also work to keep the butter in!

February 20, 2012 - 8:47 pm

Lori - seriously, only2/3 c powdered sugar??? just double checking. they look fabulous!

June 9, 2012 - 10:58 pm

Andrea - I am planning on making these for my wedding and want to do a test run! They look absolutely fantastic!! I was wondering, though if there was a huge difference between cake flour and all purpose flour. What would happen if I only have all purpose flour on hand? Thanks for all of the great recipes!

June 11, 2012 - 7:42 am

srlacy - Hi Andrea-

Here is a link to a great resource:

http://bakingbites.com/2007/05/subbing-all-purpose-flour-for-cake-flour/

Good luck!

October 7, 2012 - 4:46 pm

Vanilla Bean Pound Cake Cupcakes - […] Find the recipe at :  http://www.thecurvycarrot.com […]

Baked Eggnog French Toast

December 12, 2011

 

I think we’ve been over this before.  I’m not a big sweet breakfast person.  Growing up in the Midwest, it was all about eggs, biscuits, gravy, and some sort of pork product.  I find the savory breakfast foods as pretty much my ultimate kind of comfort food.  But, as you probably have noticed, I am gradually switching over to the sweeter side.  Especially with the holidays around the corner, and especially because I have at my fingertips some of the best creamery products in the world (one of the best parts about New England, in my opinion….), I thought this baked eggnog French toast would be a great experiment.

I was actually a little hesitant to try this recipe…no egg dip, no griddle, not too much in the way of ingredients.  I didn’t want a  soppy mess on my hands, but I did love the ultimate convenience of throwing it in the fridge the night before and then just popping it into the oven the next morning.  And the fact that my apartment smelled like the North Pole while this was baking.

I think you could play around with the ingredients a lot with this recipe.  Instead of walnuts, try another nut.  Mess around with the spices.  I’m not a huge nutmeg fan, but what’s eggnog without a little nutmeg sprinkled on top?  I halved the original recipe, so I had enough for two portions.  If you have an army to feed and a giant baking pan, this would be a great addition to any holiday get-together.

I made up some home made vanilla whipped cream to put on top with a splash of maple syrup. Another kitchen experiment victory, just in time for the holidays.

Baked Eggnog French Toast

Servings: 2

 

Ingredients

4 3/4-inch slices of brioche

2 cups eggnog

1/3 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Fresh nutmeg, grated (to your liking)

 

Instructions

1. Lightly spray a baking pan with cooking spray.

2. Line the slices of brioche evenly in the baking pan (some overlap is fine).

3. Pour the eggnog evenly over the bread, making sure that all pieces get covered.

4. Cover the baking pan and chill for at least 4 hours (or overnight, preferably).

5. The next morning, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

6. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

7. Evenly sprinkle the walnuts over the bread.

8. Top the walnuts with the brown sugar mixture.

9. Bake, until the walnuts are lightly browned, about 25 minutes or so. ***I had to watch mine very carefully because they started browning very quickly.  If you are making a larger batch, you could increase the cooking time by about 5-10 minutes, but make sure to watch it carefully.

 

Source:  Adapted from Whole Foods.

 

Filed in:Breakfast | Holidays
comment
December 12, 2011 - 1:16 pm

Laura - This looks absolutely incredible.

December 12, 2011 - 2:05 pm

Rachel @ Baked by Rachel - I’m a huge fan of French toast! This version sounds fantastic.

December 12, 2011 - 3:40 pm

Paula @ Dishing the Divine - I sent this link to my husband and he immediately requested that we make this. So, it’s getting printed and slated for this weekend! 🙂

December 12, 2011 - 3:50 pm

Ann P. - Ingenious invention! You’re right, this does sound like an easy way to feed an army!

December 13, 2011 - 9:41 am

Dee - Yummy… thanks for sharing your recipe. It’s a keeper.

December 15, 2011 - 5:35 am

Krissy @ Krissy's Creations - I love how this french toast can be prepared the night before and then just baked in the morning! Love the little effort with great results 🙂

December 15, 2011 - 4:49 pm

honeywhatscooking - that looks so incredibly delicious… i love french toast. eggnog just seals the deal.

December 21, 2011 - 10:53 am

Sherrie - I can’t wait to try this

January 2, 2012 - 12:13 pm

Audra@The-Baker-Chick - Wow I sure am sad I missed this during the holiday season! I love anything withe eggnog flavor and this sounds amazing!

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

December 10, 2011

 

I was trying to think of a great name for these cupcakes to describe how much I loved them.  In fact, these might be my favorite cupcakes that I have ever made.  The mixture of chocolate and raspberries has always been one of my favorite flavor combinations, but this cupcake…this trio of moist, chocolately cake with a velvety chocolate raspberry ganache center and a raspberry chocolate sour cream frosting…well, I couldn’t come up with a better name because nothing can describe them.

I made these for my friend, Parisa’s, birthday.  Parisa happens to be a chocoholic (my favorite kind of person, in fact).  One of my favorite parts about bringing in birthday cupcakes for my co-workers is the excitement they have in choosing which one they want (I have since upgraded to making an actual menu that they can choose from…which could have been two pages long…so many cupcakes to try!)  I knew Parisa would want chocolate, so we talked about other flavor combinations…and her eyes lit up when I mentioned raspberry.  Done and done.

So, off I went, trying to come up with a cupcake design that would impress even the biggest chocolate lover.  I loved Annie’s cupcake base version from a batch she made a while back, so I knew I wanted that as my base.  I knew I wanted a ganache filling to add to the chocolate overload, and I knew I wanted a frosting that was beyond the realm of traditional buttercream.  Something smooth, satiny, and a little savory to cut some of that sweet.  So voila!  Here they are.  By far, these cupcakes were my biggest hit with the residents and nurses (until I made a batch last week that may have topped them..coming soon….)

Would it be inappropriate to describe these cupcakes as sultry and seductive?  Because, honestly, to a chocolate lover, they totally are.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Servings: 18 cupcakes

 

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

3 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1 and 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee

3 cups sugar

2 and 1/2 cups flour

1 and 1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 and 1/2 cups buttermilk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

 

For the chocolate-raspberry ganache:

18 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or chips)

2 and 1/4 cup whipping cream

1 tablespoon seedless raspberry jam

 

For the frosting:

1 pound semisweet chocolate chips

1 and 1/3 cups sour cream

6 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Garnish: fresh raspberries

Instructions

1. For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line cupcakes pans with the liners of your choice.

3. Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl and carefully pour the hot coffee over the chocolate; let sit for about 1 minute.  Whisk until smooth; set aside.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, basking soda, baking powder, and salt.

5. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs on medium-high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.

6. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly add the vegetable oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate.

7. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

8. Divide the batter among your liners (I had extra batter, so feel free to make some extra cupcakes….) and bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.

9. For the chocolate-raspberry ganache: Place the bittersweet chocolate in a bowl.

10. In a small saucepan over medium heat on the stove, gently bring the cream to a slight boil.

11. Remove the cream from the heat and pour over the bittersweet chocolate; let sit for about one minute, then whisk until smooth.

12. Add the raspberry jam to the chocolate/cream mixture and whisk until smooth.

13. Refrigerate until ready to use.

14. For the frosting: In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate chips; stir until smooth.  Let cool to room temperature.

15.   Once cooled to room temperature, add the sour cream, raspberry jam,  corn syrup, and vanilla, and beat (using your stand mixer or a hand mixer) until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

16.  Add the butter to the mixture and beat until thoroughly combined.  Set aside until ready to use.

17. To assemble the cupcakes: Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, gently cut out a small hole in the center top of each cupcake.  You can discard the removed pieces, but I just end up eating them.  Using a piping bag or a small spoon, gently place a teaspoon or two of the ganache into the center of each cupcake.  Pipe your frosting, as desired, onto the tops of each cupcake.  Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Sources:  Cupcake base from Annies Eats (adapted from Smitten Kitchen, originally from Gourmet.).  Chocolate-raspberry ganache and frosting adapted from Bon Appétit.

 

Filed in:Desserts
comment
December 10, 2011 - 11:09 am

Blog is the New Black - These look AND sound amazing… love this combo!

December 10, 2011 - 4:43 pm

Ann P. - Gorgeous photos, and I also love that combo! Your friend made a good choice and you definitely delivered. 🙂

December 10, 2011 - 9:31 pm

Jesica @ Pencil Kitchen - Beautifully decorated!

December 10, 2011 - 11:49 pm

Simply Tia - This is cruel to make me look at this. I want to eat them….right now! Your pictures are fantastic as well!

December 11, 2011 - 1:08 pm

Marjorie (sugar for the brain) - They look absolutely fantastic! You are right about raspberry and chocolate there might not be any better match in the dessert world 😉

December 12, 2011 - 12:33 am

Anna - My little girl said the other day that she already knows what cake she wants for her bday (talk about thinking too far ahead, her birthday is like 6 months away…) Ma, I want a huuuuge choco cupcake for my birthday. When i saw your post, I knew instantly that this will be it! Thanks for making it easy for me. This is the winner, hands down!=)

December 12, 2011 - 2:01 am

Maria - These look yummy! Great pics too!

December 12, 2011 - 10:24 pm

Alex - I don’t know how big your cupcakes are, but I literally just made 36 cupcakes using this recipe. They’re great either way.

December 12, 2011 - 10:29 pm

srlacy - Hi Alex-
I made 18, but I included in the instructions that I ended up with extra batter.

December 16, 2011 - 8:01 am

Me And My Sweets - Beautiful pics! And they look yummie!

December 19, 2011 - 2:49 pm

natalie (the sweets life) - I can see why these are your favorite–they are absolutely gorgeous!

December 23, 2011 - 1:00 pm

Lindsay - What is this icing like??? I am looking for a yummy icing recipe. Thanks!!

December 23, 2011 - 6:30 pm

srlacy - Hi Lindsay-

I described what the frosting was like in the write-up of the post.

January 8, 2012 - 7:30 pm

ashley - wow, these were a huge hit! One friend said she almost cried they are so good 🙂 thank you for sharing this recipe! will definitely make again!

January 8, 2012 - 7:31 pm

ashley - but yes the batch is HUGE, i also made way more than 18

February 1, 2012 - 9:13 pm

Eva - Hi,

These cupcakes look amazing! I was wondering if the corn syrup be subsituted with something else.

February 1, 2012 - 9:28 pm

srlacy - Hi Eva-

I’m not sure what to recommend, except perhaps doing a Google search to see if there are appropriate substitutions that have been tried and true in cupcakes.

February 11, 2012 - 7:32 am

The Curvy Carrot » Coconut Jam Cookies - […] half bag of sweetened coconut caught my eye.  And the leftover jar of raspberry preserves (from these cupcakes) also caught my eye when I attempted to clean out the fridge.  Cleaning out the kitchen is a […]

February 12, 2012 - 11:46 pm

Pam - I made these cupcakes tonight. Everything was perfect until the frosting. I followed your recipe exactly and my frosting never thickened to a frosting-like consistency. It was like soup. Is there something I am missing?

February 13, 2012 - 7:31 am

srlacy - Hi Pam-
I’m not sure what to tell you, since I wasn’t there, but it sounds like it may have been a temperature issue. I wonder if the melted chocolate wasn’t cool enough, or if you didn’t beat it long enough. There’s nothing missing from the recipe. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you.

February 14, 2012 - 8:00 pm

Paula @ All Things Moms - What a cute cupcake! I think I might make a mixed cupcake tray for a gathering this weekend using these and the Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes I made today with strawberries on top! Fruit and Chocolate for everyone!! 🙂

February 14, 2012 - 9:02 pm

Carol - I made this for work for Valentine’s Day. It was a big hit. The frosting was a little runnier that I wanted so I added some powdered sugar. I don’t think I cooled the melted chocolate long enough. And I neeeded enough for 24 cupcakes so I tweaked the measurements. Overall the flavor was fantastic. I would definately make them again.

March 28, 2012 - 9:23 am

deb - Can I substitute water for the coffee. We do not drink coffee in our home. Thanks

March 28, 2012 - 9:24 am

srlacy - Sure.

March 28, 2012 - 6:05 pm

Pamela Solomon - Hi when you say for the frosting how much water is it?

March 28, 2012 - 6:16 pm

srlacy - Hi Pamela-

It’s just enough water so that the bottom of the pan is completely covered-usually about 1 or 2 cups, depending on the size of the saucepan you use.

April 13, 2012 - 3:48 pm

cassie - Hi,
I am just wondering how well the cupcakes kept after putting the ganach in them and icing on them. If I am doing them tonight and they wont be given out till tomorrow night, will they sit ok??? Thanks!!

April 13, 2012 - 4:19 pm

srlacy - Yes, they should be fine, but I would recommend covering them tightly and/or even refrigerating them.

June 28, 2012 - 7:42 am

Leanne butler - Made these last night (I halfed the receipe and still got a dozen big cupcakes!). Just want to thank you for great instructions as they turned out fabulous !!

July 16, 2012 - 11:25 am

deedee - hello!
just curious if you think this recipe would be good for a wedding – is the frosting stable enough to hold up and will the cupcakes freeze ok until frosted day before wedding? can you suggest another recipe that’s amazing? thanks!!

July 16, 2012 - 11:43 am

srlacy - Hi Deedee-

I think this recipe should be just fine as far as the freezing goes. Let me know how it turns out for you.

July 16, 2012 - 7:59 pm

deedee - thank you for answering – I did want to make sure that the frosting could last a few hours at an outdoor wedding as I’ve never made this one … do you have any idea? thanks a bunch I really appreciate this!!

July 16, 2012 - 8:20 pm

srlacy - I think as long as you have them chilled/cold ahead of time and it’s not 100 degrees (like it is right now, unfortunately), they should be ok. Good luck!

September 21, 2012 - 9:47 am

Intense Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes | Adventures in Cupcakes - […] [Inspired by The Curvy Carrot] […]

October 5, 2012 - 8:33 am

Sarah - Just made these and the frosting is amazing! The ganache is about the consistency of chocolate syrup. Is that right? Should it be thicker?

October 6, 2012 - 11:05 am

srlacy - Hi Sarah-

The ganache should be about that consistency when it is still warm, but it should thicken as it cools.

October 26, 2012 - 8:30 am

Cindy - Looks yummy. If there were metric units it would help. I converted each into metric n feel the amount of sugar is way too much!! About 600 over gm of sugar??!! Gosh!! I find most non-Asian recipes have very high sugar content. Overall the amounts given for the recipe is huge even for 18 cupcakes!! They must be HUGE cups.

October 26, 2012 - 10:16 am

srlacy - I do not give metric units on this site and cannot confirm that these are correct equivalents.

November 18, 2012 - 6:29 pm

Melissa - I have made these several times and every time there is SO SO MUCH ganache left over. What am I doing wrong?

November 18, 2012 - 7:36 pm

srlacy - Hi Melissa. I’m not sure. Just halve the recipe.

April 1, 2013 - 4:00 am

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes by The Curvy Carrot - […] Find the recipe at :  http://www.thecurvycarrot.com […]

June 26, 2013 - 8:22 pm

deedee - hello again! these turned out great for the wedding and am making them for another party this weekend – I was hoping to see if you had any tips to make the frosting a little thicker – they were a little hard to frost and if they weren’t refrigerated the entire time the frosting didn’t hold up. the weather was actually not too hot either:) any help would be great – thanks!!!

June 26, 2013 - 8:34 pm

srlacy - Hi Deedee-I wonder why the frosting was soft for you. Here’s my advice: just add more chocolate to the recipe, if you can, and decrease the liquid ingredients a little bit, like the sour cream. Make sure to chill the ganache, too, but that doesn’t sound like it was the problem for you. I hope the frosting turns out better for you this time!

June 27, 2013 - 9:31 am

deedee - wonderful – I will follow your tips – thanks so much!