Cupcake Friday: Italian cakes!

This has been an unusual week, thus there is an unusual cupcake recipe this Friday: Italian cupcakes.  They were originally going to be funfetti, mostly because I wanted vanilla cake.  Unusual thing number one: I'm usually a chocolate girl.  Even though I had a perfectly good, untried, funfetti recipe, I decided to go ahead and veganize it.  Unusual thing number two: I used a flax egg instead of applesauce.  Then I realized we didn't have proper sprinkles to make the funfetti magic. Oh, I really must buy some soon!  After all, how can one call themselves a baker sans sprinkles?  After scooping the batter into my new silicone cupcake holders, I discovered some quite ancient christmas themed sprinkles...and thus Italian cupcakes were born!

The cupcakes are vanilla, there's the white.  The sprinkles had red and green.  Instead of looking out of place, I decided to jump at the chance to honor my studies and dub them "Italian cakes".  Then, unusual thing number three happened.  I decided to forego frosting.

*pause*

Shocking no?  I'm usually such a frosting girl, but this week, call it laziness or whatever, I decided to present bare cupcakes.  And you know what?  They were FANTASTIC!

I hardly missed the frosting because the cupcakes were so full of flavor with an absolutely to-die-for texture.  It's rare that I will comment on the texture of a cupcake, usually they have a, well, cakey texture.  These cupcakes, however, were moist and dense, basically everything you would want in a cupcake.

Actually, I think these would make positively brilliant normal sized cakes with the appropriate adjustments to proportions/baking times.  With that recipe, I'd totally add frosting.  A proper cake must have frosting.

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Italian Cupcakes (original recipe from How Sweet It Is)
makes 6 cupcakes


4 tbsp Earth Balance

1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/4 cup brown and 1/4 cup white)

1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/6 cup almond milk

Sprinkles!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream earth balance and sugar(s) together until light and fluffy, about a minute depending on how melty your butter is when you start.  Add in flax egg and vanilla and beat until combined.  It will still be slightly water-y, but you want as much as possible to be absorbed into the batter.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add in half the ingredients, mix gently until just combined. Add in the milk, mix in.  Add in the rest of the dry ingredients, mix until just combined.

Pour batter into cupcake liners until they are 2/3 full, about a tablespoon and a half of batter per liner.
Bake for 18-20 minutes.  They are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

What kind of theme cupcake would you make?

Cupcake Friday: Peanut Butter and Chocolate Coconut

I'm proud of myself this week.  And you should be too.  I didn't look to Crumbs to come up with these cupcakes as I usually do.  No, this time I came up with the flavor combinations by myself, asking friends and family what they thought would make a good cupcake.  The frostings, fillings and combinations were truly my brain child this week.

I'm obviously making great strides in my cupcake baking.  Accomplishment number one of the summer, sorted.

In all seriousness though, not only were these the most "original" cupcakes I came up with, but they were also the most delicious cupcakes I have made thus far.  Everyone who ate them thought so.  Which is part of the reason that you should make these right now.  Seriously, they are that good.

Plus, I got to use my new cupcake holders from Sur La Table, total win!

The cupcake base was my old standby with whole wheat pastry flour and canola oil.  I used one tbsp of brown sugar.

Peanut Butter Frostingy-glaze
makes enough for one cupcake heavily frosted, or two lightly glazed


1 Tbsp Almond Milk (I'm sure you could use other types of milk, but I only have almond)
1.5 - 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter (I used White Chocolate Wonderful)
Dash of sweetener

Pour almond milk into a small bowl/large cup and add 1.5 Tbsp of peanut butter.  Stir with a fork until the mixture begins to come together.  Depending on desired thickness, add in more peanut butter.  Stir until the almond milk is totally blended into the peanut butter and has a runny, but slightly firm, consistency.

For the filling of this cupcake, I used some straight-up peanut butter, which contrasted quite nicely with the light-er frosting.  Since I used an already sweet peanut butter, I did not feel the need to add anything to it in order to give it a more traditional frosting flavor, though someone using natural peanut butter may want to.  Try it before you add it!

Chocolate Fuge-Frosting Filling
makes enough to frost one cupcake or fill two


1 Tbsp coco powder
1 tsp Agave
1 tsp vanilla
generous splash of water (~1/4 tsp maybe?)

Mix the first three ingredients together in a small bowl until they are fully blended.  Add in the water slowly, mixing as you go.  Start with less water, the more you add, the softer the frosting will get.  There will be a little hardening afterwards, but not considerable amounts (unless you refrigerate/freeze it!).

Vanilla-Coconut Frosting
makes enough for one cupcake


1 Tbsp Coconut Butter (soft/melted)
1/2 tsp Agave
1 tsp vanilla
splash of water

Mix together coconut butter and agave.  Add in vanilla, mix until it has all been absorbed and looks almost crumbly in texture.  Slowly add in some water and mix while you go.  The final texture should be slightly spreadable and slightly crumbly.  You may need to use your fingers to help mold the frosting on.

To make the coconut cupcake extra pretty (the coconut butter frosting tends to look a wee bit mucky), add some coconut shavings onto the top of the cupcake.

What cupcake flavor would YOU create?

Handling the Heat

If you haven't heard, New York has been dying from a heat wave for the past couple days.  From Thursday-Sunday there was unbearable, record-breaking heat that caused normal life to come to a near standstill.   I managed to do pretty well during those days, however, escaping the bubble of air-conditioning to live a bit ;)

There were plenty of iced coffees used to chill off!

I managed to get a wee bit of baking in before the heat really set in.  I made chocolate chip cookies that ended up a bit flat, but they were eaten straight from the oven which made the DELICIOUS!

I had my first experience with oats in a jar; they were beyond delicious.

I used the worlds best nut butter ever, PB & co Cinnamon Raisin Swirl.  Words cannot describe my abundant love for this stuff!  I recently got White Chocolate Wonderful, which tastes like the inside the middle of a peanut butter cup to me.  Good, but I prefer this one.

Sunday evening was considerably less hot and I jumped at the chance to bake a bit, meet chocolate mint cookies.  These were absolutely incredible!  They have an extraordinarily rich chocolatey taste with a unique fudge-like texture.  I highly recommend you making them as soon as possible, the minty flavor is absolutely perfect for summer.

Since the hot weather has more/less left these shores for a bit, my mother and I headed out on some errands/fun stuff on Monday.

I've been wanting to try Argo Tea for quite a while (say early April) and finally managed to today!  Yes, much celebration ensued.

Okay, so maybe you cannot actually read the menu from this photo, but the point was to show you all the really cool screen.  Of course, none of the awesome-ness comes across in this photo.  Basically, there was a t.v. screen that displayed all the drinks and changed so you could see the different variations.

After much deliberation I chose...

An Iced Coconut Chai Latte!  It was beyond beyond.  The coconut flavor was nice and subtle, yet pronounced.  That being said, it most definitely did NOT overwhelm the spice-y chai taste that I love oh-so-much.  Perfect way to enjoy a chai latte during the summer :)

The rest of the day was spent running around and doing fun errands.  This involved going to Fishes Eddy and totally not getting the dishes we planned to get, a trip to Lulu Lemon that ended up in shorts and a racerback tank top (so so so excited to go running in these!) and a lovely little jaunt through Whole Foods purely to get Guittard chocolate chips. What can I say, I need the good stuff for baking!  Not to mention (another) trip to the container store and lunch at Pret (avocado and pine nut wrap, go get this now.  you will NOT be sorry!).

While at the container store I looked a bit at all the crazy things they had to pack lunches in.  This year I'm totally committed to bringing lunch with me to uni.  Of course, now that I'm living properly close and will have even less classes than last year, this could end up being a moot point.  Still, salad bowl anyone?  It even has a little top container for your dressing!  Quite brilliant, if I do say so myself.  I didn't get it, but I am definitely thinking about it.  Need to pack myself nutritious lunches ;)

What have you been up to recently?  What is your favorite summer beverage?

Cupcake Friday: Inspiration Station

Brilliant rhyme, no?  Okay, so maybe it's not such a brilliant rhyme, but due to another mind searingly hot week, for this edition of cupcake friday we'll be talking about places to get inspiration for your cupcakes!  Sometimes it's easy for me to think of what kind of cupcake I want, yet other weeks I have absolutely no clue.  Generally, my inspiration is found through a mix of blogs, books and famous cupcake-eries. If you want to inspire yourself to make some gorgeous cupcake creations, here are my recommendations.

Blogs/Internet

Chocolate Covered Katie - I always use the single serving cupcake as my base recipe for my creations.  It makes the perfect amount, is vegan and endlessly adaptable.  There are also a good variety of inspiring variations on here, not to mention good vegan frostings!

Annie's Eats - This entire blog is a baking inspiration, but I adore her cupcakes.  They are gorgeous, each looks like a little work of art.  I look at this blog when I want to create some impressive, unique and gourmet cupcakes.

Tastespotting/Foodgawker - Just entire in cupcake and prepare to be amazed.  Whatever you want to find a recipe for, you'll be able to find it here.

Books

Dorie Greenspan - Generally, I find all of her cookbooks completely inspiring.  My personal favorite is Baking: From My Home to Yours, though I also really enjoy Paris Sweets.  She doesn't have many dedicated cupcake recipes, but all her cake recipes can be adapted.  The frostings are one of the highlights from this cookbook, they are all rich, decadent and delicious!

Pretty Party Cakes - One look inside this book and you will be in absolute awe about the myriad of ways in which one can decorate  a dessert.  If you need/want to make the most beautiful cupcakes of your life, definitely try this out!  Lots of her recipes call for using rolled fondant, you can either make your own or buy it prepackaged.

Hello Cupcake - Looking through this book originally sparked my desire to get fancy about cupcake making.  They have so many ridiculous ideas in here and even though most of them I would never have a reason to make, they still push me to be more creative with the cupcakes I do make.  And I now know that it is possible to make a cupcake that looks like corn on the cob.  Winner.

Stores

Crumbs - I'm definitely vocal about my love for this cupcake shop!  It's where I find the majority of my inspiration to create fun cupcakes that people will love.  They look appetizing, yet not so beautiful that you can't eat them.  Plus, they strike the cupcake/frosting ratio just perfectly.

Magnolia - When I'm in the mood to make cute and pretty cupcakes I turn to Magnolia.  The colors, the swirl of the frosting, the sprinkles, everything about Magnolia's cupcakes screams lovely.  These are the original cupcake in a way, establishing the classic buttercream and frosting/cake ratio.

Baked - From their interesting flavors, to the brilliant combination of tastes and textures, I always look to Baked if I'm in need of some sophisticated cupcake inspiration.  Their cupcakes may look unassuming, but pack a serious flavor punch, something which I appreciate.  I'm more inspired by the flavors as opposed to the actual recipes of these cupcakes, I may not need to know how to make their cupcakes, but I'm eager to create my own version that looks like it!

Cupcake Friday: Cookie Dough and Vanilla

This week's cupcakes were straight Crumbs inspired.  Cookie dough is one of my absolute favorite flavors, though I've never liked how they have a chocolate as opposed to cookie dough filled centre.  Obviously, I needed to change this!  I'm not a huge vanilla fan, but my parents are, so I chose to re-do the traditional vanilla cupcake into something that, hopefully, turned out a bit more exciting.

I used the same recipe base, though I changed the ingredients slightly.  Instead of using applesauce, I opted for canola oil.  Although I usually choose whole wheat flour, we didn't have any this week, so I replaced it with white flour.  These replacements were quite nice.  Personally, I prefer the taste of whole wheat flour, in the future I will definitely be using that, but I think the canola oil change is here to stay.  The texture you get with applesauce is nice, dense and moist, but compared to the texture with oil, applesauce produces an undeniably gummy result.  The crumb when using canola oil produces a much more traditional cupcake texture, one that is highly comparable to what you would get at Crumbs!

For frosting the cookie dough cupcake I used this recipe.  I used brown sugar instead of white sugar and halved it.  Of course, you could make the whole recipe, use what you need to frost the cupcake and make cookie dough balls with the rest!  For chocolate chips I used Guittard semi-sweet.

I made my own frosting for the vanilla cupcake.  It ended up tasting like a sugar cookie glaze...I guess you could call it a sugar cookie cupcake!

Vanilla "Sugar Cookie" Frosting
frosts one medium sized cupcake


4 Tbsp Confectioners Sugar
1 Tbsp Flour
Almond Milk added as needed (at least 2 Tbsp)

Add sugar and some milk.  Stir.  Add in some flour.  Stir.  If needed add in more milk until you get the consistency you want.  It should be thick and able to hold some shape, but not chalky.  You also don't want it to be too runny or it will drip all the way down your cupcake.

What is your favorite kind of frosting?


Un Bacione,

Emilia

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love my chocolate chip cookies thick, soft and cake-like.  None of that thin, crispy cookie over here.  I want it to be almost like I'm eating cookie dough.  Now, I'm a big fan of vegan desserts.  Partly because I never seem to have enough eggs around, partly because I enjoy the challenge, but mostly because I like the taste!  You can "underbake" pretty much anything and it comes out good, I'll take that.  Today I was looking around for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe, but didn't find any that seemed to fit the bill.  I decided to strike out on an adventure and make my own using a couple other recipes as guidelines.  The result?  Totally dreamy, cakey and soft chocolate chip cookies, with a dough you can eat.  I'll call that a success!

Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about ten large cookies


1 cup flour (I used white, only because I didn't have any wholewheat pastry on hand)
1/2 cup sugar (I suggest dividing it evenly between brown and white)
Pinch salt
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch Baking Soda
2 tbsp Applesauce
3 tbsp Almond Milk
Splash Vanilla
Chocolate Chips!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking tray with parchment paper, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips, mix.  Then, add the wet ingredients, stirring well in order to make sure the dough is an even consistency.  If it is looking dry, add a splash more almond milk.  Then, stir in the chocolate chips.

Spoon on to the baking sheet using a tablespoon.  I like to make my cookies large, about a heaping tablespoon, though any size works well.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on your oven.  When done, they should be slightly golden at the edges, and not glossy on the top.  I like to take them out when they still look like they have a couple more minutes to cook, yet are decently firm.  Cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack until they reach room temperature.  Enjoy!

What is your favorite way to eat chocolate chip cookies?  Thick and chewy or thin and crispy?  Lots of chocolate or small specks?


Un Bacione,

Emilia

Must Shop NYC

I love shopping.  Frankly, I think everyone does, at least a little bit.  Who doesn't want to try on a new look, experiment with a new food, or start a new book?  Although everyone says New York is an amazing city for shopping, it takes some strategy.  There are many days when I wish I could just drive on over to a mall and have all the stores right there.  New York isn't like that, every store you want to visit seems inconveniently placed and not at all close to each other.  Of course, I still love it.  Here are my personal favorites for New York shopping.

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Bloomingdales- Sure, Bergdorfs has the windows, but I'm a Bloomingdales girl.  Although they have plenty of fancy brands, they still stocking some affordable clothing.  Overall, the atmosphere is very welcoming, I don't feel silly going in there because I cannot afford to buy high fashion names.  The shoe galleries are excellent (second only to Selfridges in London) and they have some really lovely accessories.  There are two locations, one uptown and one in Soho.  They are both nice, but I'd recommend going to the uptown location first as they have a larger stock.

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The Strand- Just plain impressive.  Crammed bookshelves, stacks and stacks of books, good prices.  Definitely a New York institution.

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Kinokuniya- Japanese bookstore.  No, I don't speak japanese and have no intention of ever learning to, but the stationary selection here is fantastic.  They have so many cool pens, pencils, highlighters, folders, notebooks, I think I've gotten the majority of my back to school selection here for the past couple years.  Seriously awesome stuff.  Even if you aren't into japanese things, I'll bet you will be able to find something you like.

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Pearl River Market- Another asian selection, but they have so much more than just "asian stuff".  This place is seriously awesome for their selection of cheap dishes and cheap things you never knew you needed, but just have to have.  I've gotten everything from sushi rolling mats to cosmetic bags with french sayings here.  They seriously have everything you could ever think to want.

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Limelight Marketplace- Not a single store, rather a collection of small stalls from bigger brands.  Shopping here is fun just for the awesome location, it's in a converted church and is absolutely gorgeous.  They also have an interesting selection too with everything from Havianas and Hunter to Le Sportsac and French Connection.

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N.Y. Cake- If you like to bake, this place is seriously the bomb.  They have absolutely everything you could possibly want in your baking adventures and some things you won't even know how a person could use it.  Want a cake in the shape of hello kitty?  Go there to get the pan!  I've bought so many cookie cutters, pans and boxes of fondant here.  This place is impressive.

Rugby- Ralph Lauren's younger line.  My favorite things from here are definitely the rugby shirts, but this is an awesome place for sales.  I got an entire bathing suit from here for $40 with sales, complete win.  They sell preppy pieces with a twist.

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Madewell- J.Crew's younger line that has a more urban/undone aesthetic.  They have really great pieces that are simple, yet unexpected.  Check this place out for great jeans and other american casual pieces.

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Of course, there are plenty of other amazing places to shop in NYC, this list just scratches the tip of my best of iceberg!  Have fun, explore and you are sure to find a place that sells something you love.  Just, don't expect to find everything you want or find it easily!

Un Bacione,

Emilia

Kinda-Sorta Totally Awesome Scones

That's pronounced "scaw-ns" people.  Though I'd avoid doing that while in England, too pretentious, everyone will realize you have an american accent, you can get away with saying things differently.  Like yogurt and aluminum.  Though I still haven't worked out if it is silly or not to say football.  I think that one is a lose/lose situation.

Though making these scones is a win/win situation; however you choose to pronounce it!

Almond Butter Scones
makes about 12  mini scones/adapted from here and here


1/2 cup oats
1 cup flour (I used 2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry and the rest white, because I ran out)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp Almond Butter
2/3 cup Almond Milk

Preheat over to 475 F.

Milk together all dry ingredients.  Stir.  Add in almond butter and mix with hands.  Add in milk and mix slowly.  You should get quite a runny mixture.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake liners.  I used about a tablespoon and a half for each liner.  Put in the oven and bake for about 13 minutes, or until a toothpick in the centre comes out clean.

They definitely aren't sweet scones, but they are still fantastic!  I was surprised at how insanely rich they tasted, they definitely have a similar texture to a buttermilk scone.  Now, I wonder if there is any way to make healthy clotted cream with these...

Enjoy!

Un Bacione,

Emilia

Cupcakes Take Two

Another Friday, another cupcake post!  Up this week we have one crumbs inspired beauty and one Emilia flavor creation.  The crumbs edition was cookies and cream (my favorite) and my personal concoction was with jam and granola.  I call it, the 'New House' cupcake because as of today I'm renting a house.  Oh yeah.

The cupcake recipe was, again, my favorite vegan one.  I wanted chocolate cake for the cookies and cream one, so I used a little less flour and added in some coco powder.  For flour, I used whole wheat pastry flour and sugar was brown sugar.

Now the frostings were all my own creations this week.

Cookies and Cream Frosting
1 tbsp (plus a wee bit more) Coconut Butter
1 tsp Agave syrup
splash of vanilla
Chocolate Cookie Crumbs (I used these in chocolate)

Combine the coconut butter, agave and vanilla in a bowl.  Stir until combined.  Add in some chocolate cookie crumbs, save the rest for decorating the top.

To create the New Home cupcake, I used blueberry jam and threw on some Ezekiel cereal.  This combination of flavors worked really well and got me thinking about creating a peanut butter and jelly cupcake, it might be coming soon!

Both cupcakes were also filled.  The cookies and cream one had some chocolate cookie crumbs with a little coconut butter (not frosting), while the New House cupcake was filled with a mixture of jelly and cereal.  Look here for a tutorial about filling cupcakes.

I think the cupcakes this week were even better than last week!  I loved the idea of the cappuccino cupcake, but the buttercream just didn't work out for me.  The almond butter frosting also didn't really sit well with me.  This week, the coconut butter frosting turned out perfectly and the jelly imparted a really nice sweetness, though not cloying.  I'd definitely suggest making these cupcakes!

What is your favorite cupcake?  Do you prefer store-bought or homemade?

Un Bacione,

Emilia

Crumbs-Inspired Cupcakes

Who doesn't love cupcakes?  My friends got me the hummingbird bakery cupcake kit for my birthday and I've been dying to bake some cupcakes ever since!  Unfortunately, I didn't have any eggs in the fridge.  Nevertheless, I persevered and found a vegan cupcake recipe.  Sorted.

Of course, I wasn't content to simply follow the recipe ideas in the book.  No, I had to get even more complicated/creative.  I have a deep love for crumbs cupcakes and thought it would be awesome to try to make my own version of their creations.

For the cupcake base I used this recipe, which only makes one cupcake.  I wanted to make two, so I simply doubled the recipe.  I used applesauce and for liquid, I used almond milk.  My oven always takes about five extra minutes to bake these cupcakes, just keep an eye on them and test them using a toothpick.

So what kind of cupcakes did I make?

Cappuccino, like from crumbs, as pictured above.

and apricot almond, like this cupcake from Le Pain Quotidien.

To make the cappuccino cupcake taste like coffee, I subbed coffee extract for vanilla extract.  For the apricot almond cupcake, I used almond extract.

Then came frosting making time.  Immediately, I grabbed my hummingbird bakery cupcake book and gathered the ingredients to make their vanilla frosting.  Using my math skills, I figured out how to make a single serving of frosting.

Single-Serve Cappuccino Frosting

inspired by The Hummingbird Bakery Cupcake Book

2 tbsp Butter

5 tbsp confectioners sugar

Splash of Almond Milk

Splash of coffee extract

Dash of coco powder

Blend the butter and confectioners sugar together on medium speed until they are fully combined.  Then, turn the speed to low and add the milk and extract.  Blend until combined.  Turn the speed up to high and mix for about five more minutes.  Add in coco powder, mix some more.  The more you mix the fluffier the frosting becomes, so keep tasting it as you go along.

Almond Butter "Frosting" it acts more like a glaze!

2 tbsp Almond Butter (you may have to add in more as you go!)

4 tbsp confectioners sugar

1 tbsp almond milk

Blend almond butter and confectioners sugar on medium speed until they come together.  This takes quite a long time, but if you feel that the mixture is too crumbly after about five minutes, add in a little bit more almond butter.  Pour in the almond milk and blend on low until the milk is absorbed.  Increase speed to high and blend until you reach desired consistency.  This is a thick glaze-y frosting so keep that in mind when blending.  You are never going to reach the light fluffy level of a buttercream. 

**I found this to be extremely melty so I stuck my frosted cupcake in the refrigerator.  It will still run a bit, but much less.  Keep this is mind when frosting.  I was also making these on quite a hot day so it might be different depending on the weather in which you make them.

Not content to have normal cupcakes with frosting only on the top, once the cupcake cooled, I cut little holes into the middle.  In these holes I added some almond butter frosting and apricot pieces for the apricot-almond cupcake and some of my new chocolate-coffee spread with guittard chocolate chip for the cappuccino cupcake.  

who doesn't love a filled cupcake?

Then came frosting time.  I used my handy-dandy frosting knife and smacked some frosting on those beauties.  Last year, I had a friend who was really into decorating cupcake and taught me how to properly frost a cupcake to make it look at least kinda professional.  There are some good videos here and here.  To make them look even more spiffy, I added some chopped up apricots to the top of the apricot almond cupcake and some chocolate chips to the top of the cappuccino cupcake.

Now, crumbs adds a lot of frosting to their cupcakes, something which I'm all for!  So keep in mind with these frosting recipes that they will definitely give you a crumbs amount of frosting...

Yum!  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my cupcakes this week, but my dad thought we bought them at a bakery (don't know if this is a compliment or not!), so that's got to count for something!

Stay tuned for more cupcakes coming next week!  In the meantime...

What is your favorite type of cupcake?  Do you like lots of frosting, or a little frosting?

Un Bacione,

Emilia