Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes

Yeah, I know. It's been a looooong time since my last post. I used to have a job that wasn't so busy all day. Then I was unemployed for a year. Now I'm back at work full time and I'm super-busy for 8+ hours/day. It has seriously put a damper on my blogging. It hasn't, however, put a damper on my baking. My coworkers love cupcakes and they have been keeping my kitchen very busy.

It was my coworker Jessica's birthday a week ago and she requested some coconut cupcakes. Actually, I'm pretty sure she requested birthday cupcakes from me literally on my 1st day at work. She's never made it a secret around the office that she loves cupcakes and she even gave me a great cupcake magazine one day with dozens of tasty recipes and decorating ideas that I can't wait to try out.

For the coconut cupcakes, I used the mayo cake recipe, topped with cream cheese frosting. I added a 14 oz bag of sweetened flake coconut, pouring half into the batter and dunking the tops of the frosted cupcakes into the rest to coat the top of the frosting. The result was absolutely divine and I will definitely be making these again!

Happy birthday, Jessica!

Iron Cupcake SF: March 2011

March's flavor theme for Iron Cupcake was breakfast. I chose to model my cupcakes after my absolute favorite thing to cook and eat for breakfast: French Toast. I used my mayo cake recipe with some added cinnamon, stuffed them with a cream cheese filling, and topped them with a pat of butter(cream). Once they had some maple glaze drizzled on top and a sprinkle of cinnamon, they tasted just like the real thing. My cupcakes took home the 3rd place in the Taste & Appearance category. Here they are:

Here is a breakdown of the winners:

Most Creative Cupcake
Kristen - Bagels and Lox

Taste & Appearance
1st Place: Rachel - Sweet Squealer
2nd Place: Blanca - Pass the Hot Sauce Please
3rd Place: ME!!! - Stuffed French Toast

Baker's Choice
The Boiled Egg (Didn't catch the baker's name)

Overall, the competition was very tough this time. There were 19 cupcake entrees (compared to last month's 11) and they were all delicious and very creative. Here are some pics of the different bakers' creations...

Here is a collage of the doughnut entrees. So cute and creative.

A tribute to a childhood favorite:

This one was my personal favorite. The cake was a cornbread base, baked with bacon drippings, filled with a blueberry compote, and topped with a bacon-filled buttercream. Does that not sound like the most amazing thing ever?? Well, it was! I went to sleep dreaming of these cupcakes and can't believe they didn't place. Boo!

Here's the Baker's Choice Winner, The Boiled Egg. It was a white chocolate cupcake with a lemon curd "yolk." I loved the display.

And the winner of Most Creative was Bagels and Lox. The cake flavor was a poppy seed topped with candied parsley and some sort of gummy candy for the lox. Definitely deserving of Most Creative.

This cupcake won 2nd place for Taste & Appearance. Pass the Hot Sauce Please combined jalapeno and avocado flavors for a tasty snack.

And the 1st place prize went to my 2nd favorite entry (behind the bacon cornbread one) - Sweet Squealer. The maple-flavored cupcake had a sausage filling and was topped with adorable mini-pancakes. Congrats to Rachel!

I've started brainstorming for next month's flavor: Citrus! Come along and join my tasting team :)

Baked's Classic Apple Pie

So my grandma bought these couches for her house and immediately felt the painful sting of buyer's remorse. My mom had this absolutely fabulous idea that we should throw a couch warming party. We could visit and drink wine and laugh and be merry, all from the comfort of these bright comfy love seats. It was so much fun and I think my grandma might feel happier about her purchase!

Here are some pics from the party, including one of my dad in a very ridiculous outfit. I guess he was trying to make a point about how red and purple [the couch colors] go together like stripes and plaid. He didn't tell us this until late in the evening after we'd spent quite a bit of time thinking he was losing it and shouldn't be allowed to dress himself anymore. Dad, you're such a funny guy!


I think I might have mentioned this before but my grandpa's all-time favorite food is pie. I usually bake him cherry but I went with apple this time. I was just itching to test out another recipe from Baked. This one comes from their first book, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, the very same book that brought me the ever-so-popular Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie.

This apple pie does not disappoint. It's full of thin, juicy apple slices, tasty cinnamon, and a hint of booze. YUM! I would recommend this pie to anyone. The only change I will make next time (and there will definitely be a next time!) would be to blind bake the pie crust. There was a lot of juice in there and the bottom of the crust came out slightly soggy. Other than that, the pie was sublime. Everyone loved it, almost as much as they loved those fab couches!


Classic Apple Pie
from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

2 12-in rounds of pie dough
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
7 medium Granny Smith apples
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp whiskey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 large egg, beaten
1 Tbsp raw sugar

Shape pie dough in pie plate and chill in the freezer until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and the light brown sugar. Peel and core the Granny Smith apples, the cut them into 1/8-inch wedges.

Heat the butter over medium heat in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Swirl the saucepan occasionally until the butter begins to brown. As soon as the butter is evenly browned, add half of the apple wedges and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, or until the apples are softened.

Add the remaining apples and the cornstarch/sugar mixture. Mix until the sugar has melted, then add the vanilla, whiskey, and cinnamon to the saucepan and cook for 5 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and thick. Do not overcook.

Pour pie filling into chilled pie crust and top with remaining pie dough round. Trim the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhand and crimp the edges together. Brush the top with beaten egg and sprinkle with the sugar. Cut three steam vents into the top of crust.

Bake pie until the filling bubbles and the crust is golden brown, about 1 hour. (It might be a good idea to put a cookie sheet on the rack below the pie because mine bubbled over and made a mess). Cool pie on rack for at least 1 hour and serve warm or at room temperature.

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Buttercream

I baked these Guinness and Bailey's Cupcakes for my office to celebrate St. Patty's Day. The Chocolate Guinness Cake is yummy and moist. Do yourself a big favor and test out the batter. It's the best cake batter ever. Like a smooth, dark chocolate beer. The Irish Cream Frosting is a bit overpowering at first, but calms down after the first bite. Definitely a perfect treat for one of my favorite holidays!

I found this recipe on Annie's Eats, a cute blog with tons of tasty sweet treats I can't wait to test out. Her recipe calls for a Bailey's Chocolate Ganache Filling. I skipped that because I didn't have enough time but think that would make these even more awesome. Click here for the full recipe. If you'd rather be lazy like me and bake the simpler version, see below.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Guiness Chocolate Cupcakes
with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting*
from Annie's Eats

Guinness chocolate cupcakes:
1 cup stout (Guinness)
16 Tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
1½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
2 large eggs, room temp
2/3 cup sour cream

Bailey’s buttercream frosting:
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
4-8 tbsp. Bailey’s Irish cream

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine the stout and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs and sour cream to blend. Add the stout-butter mixture and beat to combine. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated. Mix in the Bailey’s until smooth. Add more if necessary until the frosting has reached a good consistency for piping or spreading. Frost the cupcakes as desired.

*DISCLAIMER: I've changed the name of this post and recipe due to the offensiveness of the name Irish Car Bombs. I was really just trying to make a cupcake out of a drink I've enjoyed for years, but now see how the name can be viewed as hateful. It was never my intension to offend anyone and I just hope everyone can view this blog post for what it is: a recipe for a very delicious cupcake, appropriate to serve at any St. Patrick's Day Party.