A...B...Cupcakes Finished!

Well my friends - we made it. I have now officially baked a different batch of cupcakes for each letter in the alphabet. It all started back in March earlier this year, and now in November it is complete. So here is a little recap, in case you missed it...

A is for Almond
Chocolate almond cake topped with almond swiss meringue buttercream and a chocolate covered almond.
5/10



B is for Baileys
Baileys cake topped with Baileys swiss meringue buttercream and drizzled with chocolate ganache.
7/10



C is for Caramel
Spice cupcakes topped with brown sugar swiss meringue buttercream and brown sugar crystals.
10/10



D is for Doughnuts
Doughnut cupcakes filled with raspberry jam, topped with a doughnut glaze and sprinkled with sprinkles.
6/10



E is for Eskimo Pie
Chocolate cake topped with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream, drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with 100's and 1000's.
7/10



F is for Ferrero Rocher
Chocolate cake filled with Nutella and a roasted hazelnut, topped with Nutella swiss meringue buttercream and chopped hazelnuts, drizzled with chocolate and finished off with half a Ferrero Rocher.
9.25/10


G is for Guinness
Chocolate Guinness cake filled with dark chocolate ganache, topped with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream and green sugar crystals.
9.5/10



H is for Honey
Honey cake topped with peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream and drizzled with honey.
6.75/10



I is for Irish Whiskey
Irish Whiskey cake topped with coffee swiss meringue buttercream and an Irish Whiskey chocolate.
8.75/10



J is for Jubes
Strawberry, lemon and orange cupcakes topped with strawberry, lemon and orange SMBC, then sprinkled with coloured sugar and topped with a jube. 6.5/10


K is for Kit Kat
Mint chocolate cake topped with mint swiss meringue buttercream, chocolate sprinkles and a Kit Kat.
9.5/10



L is for Lemon
Lemon cake filled with lemon curd and topped with lemon swiss meringue buttercream.
7.5/10



M is for Marshmallow
Cherry ripe cake topped with rocky road.
8.25/10




N is for Nougat
Honey, almond and orange syrup cake topped with nougat cream and pieces of nougat.
8.5/10



O is for Oreo
Chocolate Oreo cake topped with Oreo cream cheese frosting and an Oreo.
9.5/10




P is for Peanuts
Chocolate cake with half a peanut butter cup inside, topped with peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream and half a peanut butter cup.
9.5/10



Q is for Quick Oats
Anzac cake topped with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream and an Anzac biscuit.
8.5/10



R is for Raspberry
Raspberry white chocolate cake, topped with whipped cream and raspberry jam.
1/10




S is for Snickers
Chocolate cake filled with caramel and nuts, topped with caramel swiss meringue buttercream, pieces of Snickers and finally drizzled with chocolate.
9.5/10


T is for Toblerone
Toblerone chip cake topped with Toblerone swiss meringue buttercream and a piece of Toblerone.
8/10



U is for Un-Cupcake
Chocolate cupcake pops (chocolate cake mixed with vanilla buttercream and then coated in milk and white chocolate).
10/10



V is for Violet Crumble
Chocolate cake topped with honey swiss meringue buttercream and pieces of Violet Crumble, and then drizzled with chocolate.
7/10



W is for Waffles
Blueberry-buttermilk cake topped with maple syrup swiss meringue buttercream, sprinkled with blueberries and drizzled with maple syrup.
10/10



X is for Xiaodianxin (cookies)
Chocolate chip cake topped with brown sugar swiss meringue buttercream and a cookie dough truffle.
6/10



Y is for Yogurt
Lemon yogurt cake topped with blueberry swiss meringue buttercream.
7/10




Z is for Zebra
Zebra cake topped with chocolate and vanilla swiss meringue buttercream.
9.5/10




Holy moly that is a lot of cupcakes!

Thank you everyone for voting every week - I hope you found this project as fun as I did, and please stay tuned for a new and exciting project starting next week!

Z is for Zebra cupcakes

Vanilla and chocolate striped cake topped with vanilla and chocolate swiss meringue buttercream

First of all I just have to ask - how could you not want fruity cocktail cupcakes? Especially when they are named zombie? I mean, come on, it was Halloween and everything! As you can probably tell I was really hoping the zombie cupcakes would win the poll last week, however, it was not meant to be, because Zebra cake won the poll in a landslide.

So what is a zebra cake you might be asking? Well it is simply a cake that has stripes of chocolate and vanilla - hence looking like a stripy zebra. The great thing about these cupcakes is that they are super easy to make and they have a great visual impact. Here is how you make them...

Zebra Cupcakes (adapted from Baking Bites)
Makes 20 cupcakes

4 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract (I just added extra vanilla extract instead)
2 cups plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line 2 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, mix together eggs and sugar until mixture is light and creamy and the sugar has mostly been dissolved.
   
3. Stir in the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and almond extracts.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Pour into wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
   
5. Measure out just over two cups of vanilla batter and place it back in the medium bowl. Sift cocoa powder over the bowl and whisk until fully incorporated.
6. Put 1 tsp of vanilla batter into the center of each cupcake liner and let it spread slightly on its own. Put 1 tsp of chocolate batter in the center of the vanilla. It will push out the other batter and, as it sits for a moment, will also spread itself. Alternating spoonfuls of the two batters, repeat the technique until you fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 to 3/4 full (for me this was about 6 tsps).
   
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cupcakes are light gold and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then cool on a wire racks.
   

Now to finish off these zebra cupcakes I thought I would get a bit smart and swirl some chocolate and vanilla swiss meringue buttercream together, and this is how you do it...

Vanilla and Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

4 egg whites
270g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate, melted

1. Combine the egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl and whisk over a saucepan of simmering water until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is as hot as you can get it without the egg whites cooking. To test rub the mixture between your fingers and if you can't feel any sugar granules then it is ready.
   
2. With the whisk attachment on your mixer whisk the egg white and sugar mixture on high speed until a stiff meringue is formed and the mix has cooled down to room temperature. This should take about 10 minutes.
3. Now put the paddle attachment on your mixer and with the mixer on a low speed add a tablespoon of butter at a time. Once all the butter is incorporated turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix until the mixture is light and fluffy again. This should take about 4-6 minutes. A tip: for the first time ever my SMBC would not firm up! So I put the runny mixture into the fridge for 10 minutes and then beat it and it was fine. I have now learnt that SMBC does not like hot weather!
   
4. Now put half of the mixture into a separate bowl. In the mixer bowl add the vanilla extract and mix on medium speed until the extract is combined and you have a good piping texture.
   
5. Put the other half of the mixture into the mixer bowl and add the melted dark chocolate, mix on medium speed until the chocolate is combined and you have a good piping texture.
6. Now Grab two piping bags and put some vanilla SMBC into one bag and some chocolate SMBC in the other bag.
7. Then snip off the ends of the two piping bags and pop them in another piping bag.
8. Swirl your SMBC onto each cupcake.

Two bags of frosting...


Both bags of frosting together, ready to pipe with...


And finally the frosted cupcakes...


Now after all that hard work, time to taste the goods - first strip off your cupcake (how rude!) and admire the stripes...


I cut mine in half to fully admire the zebra stripes, so pretty...


The ratings?

Me - 10/10 - absolutely perfect, the cake is nice and moist, not too sweet and just perfect really. The SMBC was so nice and creamy - great!
Mat - 9/10 - a great way to finish off the A..B..Cupcakes project - a great tasting cake.

I'll post up a wrap up of the A..B..Cupcakes project tomorrow - until then have a lovely day!

And the winner is...

Image by feridem

Zebra cake

Tune in on Monday to see the final creation in my A...B...Cupcakes project!

Y is lemon 'Y'oghurt Cupcakes

Lemon yoghurt cake topped with blueberry swiss meringue buttercream

What comes to mind when you think of yoghurt? To me it is instantly berries - delicious, fantastic berries. When yoghurt won the poll I knew straight away that I wanted to incorporate berries into the cupcakes somehow. But then I remembered the waffle cupcakes, they had blueberries in the cake and I only made them a short while ago. So I decided that the cake portion of these cupcakes would have to have a different flavour, something that goes well with berries. And that my friends is how I decided upon lemon yoghurt cupcakes.


Lemon Yoghurt Cupcakes (from Best Recipes)
Makes approximately 24 cupcakes

1 3/4 cups caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 tsp lemon juice (I used 3)
Grated zest of 2 lemons
3/4 cup oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 cup natural yoghurt (I used low-fat)
2 cups self-raising flour

1. Preheat oven to 180 C and line 2 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake cases.
   
2. In a bowl mix sugar, eggs, salt, juice, zest and oil with a fork.
3. Add remaining ingredients and combine well.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
   

Now seen as I had some frozen blueberries left over from the previously made waffle cupcakes I decided that the buttercream would be blueberry flavoured, so....

Blueberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

4 egg whites
270g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter
500g blueberries, pureed

1. Follow the directions for Almond SMBC but replace the vanilla and almond with the pureed blueberries.
2. Once the cupcake have cooled pipe a swirl of the SMBC onto each cupcake.

Doesn't it look pretty...


And just for a bit of fun I thought I would show you my miniature photography set up today. Normally I have a big light box out but I couldn't be bothered moving it. So a piece of paper and three lamps seemed to work quite nicely.


The ratings?

Me - 7/10 - I love the blueberry SMBC but the cake was a bit dense/too moist for me. Still yummy though :)
Mat - 7/10 - it was good but he is over lemon.

And the winner is...

Image by you can count on me

Yogurt

With Zoe's party on this weekend I won't be making these just yet - but in a week and a half time you can tune in to see the yummy cupcake creations!

X is for Xiaodianxin (or Cookie Dough Cupcakes!)

Choc chip cupcake topped with brown sugar Swiss meringue butter cream and a cookie dough truffle

So cookies won the poll last week. Personally I was going for banana because I wanted to make some yummy banana split sundae themed cupcakes - but hey whatever you guys want, I'll make it. Since I already made Oreo cupcakes as part of the A... B... Cupcake project I didn't want to make another cookies and cream themed cupcake - so what to make? In steps one of my favourite food blogs - Culinary Concoctions by Peabody - if you like baking and you like blogging then you must visit this wonderful blog. I remembered a post a while ago about Cookie Dough truffles and thought that would be the perfect theme for my cupcakes this week.

Everyone likes sneaking a bite of the cookie dough before you bake the cookies. It is like an unwritten law in baking. These cookie dough truffles just take it to the next level - the dough is made for eating, NOT baking! They are egg free for all of those who are scared of eating raw egg - so there is no need to be afraid.

So before we start on the cupcakes, make up these yummy cookie dough truffles first....


Cookie Dough Truffles (from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt (I left out the salt - bring on the sugar rush!)
2 cups plain flour
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
½ cup chocolate chips (I upped this to 1 cup - mmm chocolate)

1. Using a stand mixer (or a bowl and beaters), cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Beat in the vanilla.
3. With speed on low, slowly add flour, alternating with condensed milk, beating well after each addition.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Shape into 1-inch balls and place into an air tight container. Store in freezer for at least 3 hours (I stored mine overnight).

Next we need to make the cupcakes...

Choc Chip Cupcakes (from Cupcake Heaven by Susannah Blake)
Makes 12

115g unsalted butter, softened
115g caster sugar
2 eggs
115g self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake cases.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Sift in the flour and fold in, then stir in the vanilla extract (I added the vanilla extract in with the eggs).
5. Sprinkle over the chocolate chips and fold in.
6. Spoon mixture into cupcake cases and bake for 17 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
   

Now I wasn't able to preheat my oven because little miss Z was running (okay crawling) around in the kitchen and I didn't want her to burn herself. So my cupcakes were in the oven for longer and I had to open the door a few times to check if they were ready, this resulted in sunken cupcakes....


But we all know that such mishaps can be covered easily with a good dollop of frosting. So now that the cupcakes are cooling it is time to make a batch of Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Butter Cream.

Now frost those babies...


Next I got a bit tricky with my cookie dough truffles and I coated them in milk chocolate (drool) - to do this I simply nuked 395g of milk chocolate in the microwave, dipped each truffle in the chocolate, then placed them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Then pop those babies into the fridge until set. Yum!

Once they are set top each of the cupcakes with a cookie dough truffle...


Except this truffle - it was special you see, it had a little 'M' on it. I was going to give it to Mat but then I ate it. You know, to make sure it wasn't poisonous.


Now enjoy your cupcake in 3 simple steps...

1. Pick off the truffle and lick the frosting off of the bottom of it...


2. Eat said truffle...


3. Enjoy the choc chip goodness..


The Ratings?

Me - 8/10, love the SMBC, the truffles were yummy - I just wished the cupcakes didn't sink.
Mat - 4/10, he didn't like the cookie dough truffle and the cake was too sweet - hard to please!

Oh and don't forget to enter the Sprout Head giveaway!