Raspberry Cream Cheese Mini Brownie Cupcakes

{Cupcake Week- Day 5, the final day}
Okay, yes. Technically these aren't cupcakes. 
But they are definitely the pièce de résistance. I hate to admit that I ate about half the batch. They were just so darn good, I couldn't not eat them. I used a basic brownie recipe, light cream cheese, and fresh raspberry puree for these baby cakes, but there is definitely some wiggle room for alterations. Example, I'm sure a brownie mix from a box would suffice; you can use any variation of cream cheese, and the fruit puree could be switched to anything that goes well with chocolate, like strawberries. These baked up pretty quick and made the perfect amount, not too many or too little. These little treats would be great for any occasion!

Ingredients:
1 batch brownie batter (here is a good recipe)
4 oz cream cheese, softened (half a regular brick)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 oz fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed and pureed with a pinch of sugar for sweetness


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F, spray mini cupcake pans generously with cooking spray. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together until creamy and smooth, about 1 minute. Spoon a heaping teaspoon full of brownie batter into each mini cupcake slot. Next, spoon a smaller amount of cream cheese on top of the brownie batter. Then add a little (about a 1/4 teaspoon if you want to get technical) raspberry puree to the top of the cream cheese. Once you've added the cream cheese and the raspberry puree to each brownie cupcake, take a tooth pick and swirl the tops slightly.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until tooth pick comes out mostly clean when inserted in the center of cupcake. Let cool for about 10 minutes before popping them out. Depending on how many cupcake pans you have, you may have a second batch, like me! Should yield in the ballpark of 48 mini brownie cupcakes.

There ya have it! Happy weekend! 

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

{Cupcake Week- Day 4}
For today's post, I wanted something simple and delicious. I've been trying for weeks to find a buttercream recipe that didn't end up separating once the fruit was added. I guess this can be somewhat common, but I finally decided to change the method and the recipe, and finally landed a recipe that stays combined, tastes amazing, and pipes beautifully. I used fresh strawberries that I cut up and froze for a few days, then let them thaw completely in the fridge. The berries made their own syrup and so no extra sugar was needed to sweeten them.

Ingredients:
8-12 Vanilla Cupcakes (either from a mix or from scratch)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 shortening
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup strawberries- pureed

Directions:
In a medium bowl, beat together butter and shortening until smooth and creamy. Add strawberry puree and vanilla, and beat again until combined. Next, add a little bit of powdered sugar at a time, mixing after each addition until it's fluffy- don't over beat. Spread on cupcakes, or pipe away! For these cupcakes I used the large Walton French Tip.
This frosting would also go great with chocolate cupcakes! 
Source for the frosting: My Baking Addiction

Nutella Swirl Cupcakes

{Cupcake Week- Day 3}
Today is my birthday! And because it's my birthday, I'm showing you the best and easiest cupcake recipe you'll ever see. No one should have to cook or bake... or clean, or fold laundry or change diapers on their birthday- but in case you have to bake your own cake, here is a fantastic recipe for you! With only two ingredients, you can't really go wrong, am I right?

Ingredients:
1 French Vanilla Cake Mix (or likewise from scratch) (plus the ingredients to make it)
1/2 cup Nutella


Directions:
Scoop your cake batter into your cupcake tins, about 3/4 full. Take a small spoonful of Nutella, and dollop it on top of the batter. Swirl with a tooth pick so the tops look marbled. Bake as directed.


Once the cupcakes are out of the oven, and mostly cool, spread a thin layer of Nutella on top as the frosting. You can even get fancy and pipe it on if you'd like- and there ya go!
 

German Chocolate Cupcakes with Coconut Almond Frosting

{Cupcake Week- Day 2}
I have never been much of a fan of that coconut frosting that generally comes with German Chocolate Cake, mainly because the only time I've tried it, it's been from a can. I love coconut to death, but that canned frosting kind of ruined my liking for German Chocolate Cake, I guess you can call me a frosting-nazi because I'm so particular about the frosting on cakes. Well, I am here to tell you that making your own coconut frosting is fast, easy, YUMMY, and most importantly--- you can pronounce all of the ingredients used to make it. My husband, the one who doesn't like cake, actually ate three of these in one sitting and absolutely raved about them! He even offered to take the rest to work with him so his co-workers could try them. That is no small compliment, my friends. Take it from him, they are delish, and will definitely satisfy that decadent chocolate craving you've been having.

Ingredients:
8-12 German Chocolate Cupcakes (either from a mix or from scratch)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 - 3/4 of a 7 oz. bag sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup chopped roasted almonds (you can generally buy them in the snack food isle)

Directions:
Once your cupcakes are completely cool, in a small sauce pan bring butter, sugar, evaporated milk and egg together over medium heat. Cook until thickened, about 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Once it's thickened up, remove from heat and add vanilla, coconut and almonds, stir until combined. Cool to room temperature before frosting cupcakes. Add chocolate flower for decoration once all the cupcakes have been frosted. (I found it was easier for the chocolate flowers to stand if the frosting was thicker in the center.)

Tutorial:
How to make chocolate flowers:
Things you'll need:
1/2 bag semisweet chocolate chips
microwave safe bowl
a piece of wax paper
a dinner plate (or any hard, flat surface that is easily transportable)
a zip-lock bag

Directions:
In a microwave safe bowl, melt down chocolate chips in 15 second intervals, stirring each time, until melted and smooth. Place wax paper on the back of a dinner plate (or the like), and make sure there is room in your freezer or refrigerator for the plate to lay flat.
Spoon melted chocolate into the zip-lock bag, and twist the top so no chocolate leaks over the top on to your hand. Snip one of the corners of the bag, about 1/8 of an inch, or as big or little as you'd like.
Pipe the chocolate on to the wax paper, making three long ovals all connected at one point, with the center oval being larger than the rest. Repeat. Make sure you make a few extras in case one or two break when removing them from the wax paper.

Place plate of flowers in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, or in the fridge for 20-30 minutes or until hardened.
To remove flowers from the wax paper, bend the paper near the flower and very carefully peel the flower off. It's okay if a few break, it happens. There ya go! You can experiment by making other funky designs with the chocolate, like stars or hearts... or whatever you can come up with!

Enjoy!

Source for frosting: Barbara Bakes

Black Forest Cupcakes

{Cupcake Week- Day 1}
So, because it's my birthday week, I'm celebrating with one of my true loves. Cupcakes. There is just something about them. I know you feel it, too. I hadn't had black forest cake before until about a month ago, and oh... my... gosh. It's now one of my favorite's! I can't believe I've gone all my life without having tried it before. I decided to make it into a cupcake for my cupcake week, and it was a smashing success! 

Ingredients:
8-12 Chocolate cupcakes (either from a mix or from scratch) completely cooled
1/2 pint whipping cream
1 can cherry pie filling
shaved semisweet chocolate for garnish, optional

Directions:
After your cupcakes are completely cooled, cut a cone shape out of the top center of each cupcake. Fill the cupcakes with a couple spoonfuls of cherry pie filling. In a small bowl, whip the whipping cream until it is stiff enough to form soft peaks. You can add a little powdered sugar to sweeten it up if you'd like. Don't over beat the cream or else you'll end up with butter. 
Top each cupcake with whipped cream, as much or as little or as you'd like. You can dollop it on, or make it fancy by making peaks in the whipped cream by using the back of a spoon, and swiftly pulling it away from the cupcake, all the way around the top of the cupcake. Top each cupcake with a little bit of the remaining cherry pie filling, then sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Serve immediately or refrigerate. 
There ya go! So easy, right?! And so good!   

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes

{my house smells like the cheesecake factory}
I've been anxiously awaiting for today to come for many weeks. Why? I finally have the chance to make a ton of baked goods- and have a place with many mouths to transport said baked goods to. Sometimes I run into the problem of not having enough people to eat all the things I make- and that doesn't make husby very happy. I've been wanting to make these baby cakes for a really long time. Unfortunately, I skipped the water bath as suggested by Martha Stewart because I didn't have a way to create one- so I think these could have been better, but I'm not complaining. I found these to be a bit of a more challenging recipe, which is right up my ally. Go big or go home is my motto. Don't let that scare you, there are definitely some short cuts.

Ingredients:
for the cheesecake:
16 oz cream cheese (two regular size packages)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional- but after tasting one, I think a little zip of lemon would go really well)

for the raspberry topping:
6 oz fresh or frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar


for the crust: (you could buy the premade crumbs, but I found with one box of graham crackers, I could double the recipe whereas with the premade crumbs, I could only do one batch)
22 Graham crackers
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Line cupcake pan with liners. In a food processor, process graham crackers until crumbly. Switch crumbs into a bowl, and mix in butter and sugar and stir with a fork until the crumbs are moistened. Fill each cupcake liner with 1 tablespoon of crumbs. Use a small drinking glass to press the crumbs down. Bake for 5 minutes or until set. Set aside to cool.


Also in your food processor (obviously you can make the crumbs ahead of time) puree raspberries and sugar. Strain puree into a bowl using a strainer to collect the seeds. Set aside.


In a large mixing bowl, blend cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and blend again until well mixed. Add vanilla and mix again. Add each egg one at a time, mixing in between each addition. Pour 3 tablespoons (or 1/4 cup if you have a little measuring up like me ;) ) of cheesecake mixture onto the graham cracker crusts. Once each one has been filled, take a 1/2 teaspoon of raspberry puree and dot it on the top. Take a tooth pick and swirl it around.

Pop them in the oven and bake for about 22 minutes. Now, if you have a pan big enough and have enough room in your kitchen feel free to do a water bath, but again, I skipped it and the only thing that happened was my cheesecakes kind of sank down little in the centers. Make sure you sit in front of your oven and watch them like a nerd. Just kidding, you don't have to.

Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving. Not so bad, right? You will die when you smell these out of the oven... :)


Source: Annie's Eats via Martha Stewart

Stuffing & Mashed Potato Cupcakes, anyone?

{i have no idea what to call these- other than delicious}
I saw these on one of my new favorite foodie blogs, way far back in her archives. I must have been looking for something specific. With Thanksgiving coming up (Canadian Thanksgiving is just around the corner) these looked and sounded wonderful, not to mention EASY and ADORABLE!

Ingredients:
1 box Turkey Stuffing (and the ingredients to make it)
4 servings of instant mashed potatoes (or the real stuff depending on how much time you have) (and the ingredients to make it)
1 cup grated cheese (I used cheddar)
Dried Parsley 

What ya do is: Prepare stuffing as per directions. Spray cupcake pan with cooking spray. Scoop a spoonful of stuffing into each little cupcake slot, and press the stuffing down so not to have air pockets, like this:

Then make your mashed potatoes (or if you are making them scratch, you probably would have wanted to start making them hours ago). Once your mashed potatoes are done, scoop a spoonful and plop it on top of the stuffing in each cupcake slot. Press down. If you have left over potatoes you can obviously add more to each cupcake. Sprinkle with cheese and Parsley. Bake for 10 minutes at 325F. Goes great with turkey for Turkey Day! 

Source: The Ungourmet

Snickers Cupcakes

{cupcakes sent from heaven}
I saw these on Annie's Eats, and I just had to make them! So I gave it a whirl only I simplified them because again, I'm not having much luck with cakes from scratch. 

 Ingredients:
1 Chocolate Cake Mix- any flavor you'd like, really! (and the ingredients to make it)
5 Regular size Snicker Bars, cut into chunks
1/3 cup Caramel sauce (you can make your own if you feel so inclined, but I used the Smucker's brand)

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup caramel sauce
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:
Bake your cupcakes per directions on box. Once they are cooled. Cut a cone shape out of the top center of each cupcake. In a medium bowl, mix 1/3 cup of caramel sauce with Snickers Bars, enough to coat. Then scoop a spoonful of candy mixture into each hollowed out cupcake, like this.

To make the frosting, mix butter with electric mixer for 2-3 minutes on medium or until butter is smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla, caramel and mix until blended, then whip in heavy cream until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Decorate cupcakes however you wish! ... And don't forget to garnish with more Snickers Bars!

Source: Annie's Eats

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

{and cream cheese frosting that will knock your socks off}
One thing I love about having family close by, is sometimes they pawn off cake mixes to me. I'll be honest, I haven't had much luck with making cakes from scratch. I see other people do it all the time, but mine seem to always have a flaw. I hear they are tricky to master, so I guess I'll have to keep practicing. But in the mean time, I'm welcoming any and all cake mixes that you have no need for. Oh, and don't judge me for not being perfect like everyone else who knows how to make a cake from scratch.

Ingredients:
1 Carrot Cake Mix (and the ingredients to make it... eggs, oil, milk)
1 8oz package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar (you may need a little extra for thickness)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 baby carrot, shredded for garnish (optional)

Directions:
Make cupcakes as per directions on box. Once cupcakes have cooled, begin making the frosting. In a large bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Then add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth and fluffy. You may need to add a little extra powdered sugar to make a tiny bit thicker. Top with shredded carrot pieces as garnish.

 

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

{I dream in... cupcakes}
Strawberry lemonade, one of the best inventions since sliced bread, improved only when put into a cupcake! Now, I have to admit (because part of growth is making mistakes) I messed up on these pretty badly. I was so upset when I realized my mistake, but I couldn't just throw them out- I had to see them to the end. While I was at the store picking up some lemonade concentrate, I got flustered because the lemonade was no where to be found; this was the last item I needed and I was anxious to get home. What kind of a store doesn't have lemonade?! Rude! So in my fluster, I finally spotted what I thought was lemonade on the very bottom shelve all the way at the back. It was yellow and had lemons on it, so I just grabbed it and left. The recipe calls for a lemonade syrup that you put on the cupcakes before frosting- it was after I had done this to every single cupcake that I realized I didn't buy lemonade concentrate, but grapefruit juice concentrate- no wonder it tasted so bitter. I kind of started to cry, but remembered my favorite quote "there is no nobility in being superior to others; true nobility lies in being superior to your former self" (Hindu Proverb). So despite my small set back, I finished the cupcakes and even tried one to see how horrible they tasted, and to my surprise, they weren't that bad! I will definitely have to explain to everyone why they taste a little off, but overall... not bad! Hopefully you can pay better attention than I can!

Ingredients for cake:
1 White cake mix , and the ingredients to make it (yeah, that's how I roll)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped up really small

Ingredients for syrup:
1 cup lemonade concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Ingredients for frosting:
1 (12 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
18 tablespoons butter (that sounded like way too much, so I only used a few heaping tablespoons)
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

 Directions:
Mix cake batter as according to package directions. Fold in lemon zest and strawberries- don't over mix. Divide batter up into cupcake pan, filling half to 3/4 of the way full. Bake according to box directions. Once cupcakes have baked and cooled, poke several holes through the tops of the cupcakes, mix lemonade concentrate and powdered sugar together well. Spoon lemonade syrup over the top of the cupcakes. Let stand about 20 minutes so the syrup can soak in. Beat the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl on medium speed until light and very fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the powdered sugar, and mix until smooth. Add lemon juice and vanilla, mix well. Frost cupcakes as desired and garnish with lemon slices and strawberries.

Original recipe adapted from Annie's Eats.

Rich Chocolate Cupcakes

{A simple twist on a chocolaty classic}
My husband doesn't like cake, or any sweets for that matter. But he raved about these cupcakes, and ate more than just one! 

Ingredients:
1 Devil's Food cake mix (any chocolate cake mix will do) and the ingredients to make it
2 packets of Jell-O milk chocolate pudding mix
1 container of Chocolate frosting (or make your own, something I haven't mastered yet)


Directions:
Mix all required ingredients for cupcakes as per package. Once well mixed, add the 2 pudding packets, stir until well mixed. Bake cupcakes per box directions. Let cool and frost. 
Once you bite in, you can tell that the cake is thick and rich, and more like a brownie than a cake. It's divine!

Hanky Panky Cupcakes

{Formerly known as Better Than Sex Cake}
*original recipe adapted from iheartcuppycakes*

Ingredients:
1 Devil's Food Cake mix (and the ingredients to make it)
1 can of Eagle Brand Sweet and Condensed milk
1/2 cup Caramel ice cream topping (I used the dipping sauce found next to the apples in the produce area)
2 Heath or Skor candy cars, broken up into pieces (I used Skor)
Whipped cream (I made home made, but store bought is just fine)

Recipe:
Make cupcakes as per recipe on box. Next, take a skewer or a fork and poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes. Make the sure holes go at least 2/3 of the way down, if not further. Mix the sweet and condensed  milk and the caramel sauce together over low heat in a medium sauce pan. (I used a microwave because I'm lazy). You just want it to get warm enough that they mix well together. Spoon small amounts of the caramel mixture over the cupcakes, allowing it to sink down into the holes. You may have to repeat this step once or twice, you can add as little or as much as you want. Let cool. Dollop some whipped cream on top, and then sprinkle the candy car pieces on top of that!  If you want to get even more creative, you could drizzle more of the caramel mixture on top again.
*side note: if you aren't going to serve them right away, it's best to keep them in the refrigerator so that the whipped cream doesn't melt.*
Enjoy!