Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting
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By now you’re probably aware of my love of sweets with brown sugar, especially the Brown Sugar Cookies. So when I saw Bake or Break post about these cupcakes, it was a no-brainer.
I was a little nervous because the recipe is from Martha Stewart, and I’ve made some recipes of hers that left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, this recipe rocked! While the cupcakes are dense, they’re soft, moist, and have an amazing caramel flavor. The frosting has a tang from the cream cheese, and the brown sugar gives it a a nice sweetness.
Cupcake Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 & 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk
Cupcake Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°. Line standard muffin tins with liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk. Beat until well-combined after each addition.
Fill lined cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake 20-30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks 10 minutes then remove from pans to cool completely.
Makes about 30 cupcakes.
Photos of the process.
Frosting Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
Frosting Preparation
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar until smooth.
Frost cupcakes immediately, or refrigerate frosting for up to 3 days. After refrigerating, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth. Note: I’m lazy and didn’t want to put the frosting back in the mixer and wash another bowl, so I used the egg beater that OXO sent me. It was easy to use and even easier to clean, and it can go in the dishwasher! Stay tuned for your chance to win one here.
Recipe adapted from Bake or Break.
Pop Chips Giveaway and Facebook Sweeps
On January 1, I began counting points (again). For those of you who have no idea what points are, consider yourself lucky. Not only does counting points mean I eat a lot less of everything I make (fortunately I have coworkers willing to inhale everything I bring in), it also means a return to stocking my kitchen with lots of fruits and veggies and healthier snacks.
And that includes Pop Chips. Not only are they delicious, they satisfy my chips craving and have less than half the fat of fried chips. Plus, my favorite flavor (sea salt & vinegar) is only three points for the 100 calorie single serving bag.
So, when Pop Chips offered to again send me and a blog reader some chips, I obviously couldn’t refuse. Plus, they’re having an amazing sweepstakes over on their Facebook page and you can win an all-expense paid trip to Vegas! The prize includes:
- all-expense paid trip for one winner + a guest to the Venetian in Las Vegas
- 3 nights for two in a VIP suite
- $250 spa credit
- $200 dining credit (on property restaurant)
- two VIP show tickets (on property shows)
- $1,000 gift card
- two round-trip tickets to Vegas
- 1-year supply of Pop Chips
They’re also giving away a month’s supply of Pop Chips every week. And, just by entering, you receive a $1.00 off digital coupon. Rules & regulations.
To enter to win the Pop Chips, leave a comment below telling me your favorite Pop Chips flavor. To enter to win the Vegas trip, visit Pop Chip’s Facebook page.
Pop Chips provided me chips for myself and one reader. Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, January 15, 2012. One winner will be selected at random shortly thereafter and contacted by email. Please note this giveaway is only open to residents of the U.S.
***Comments closed.***
Double Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
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Happy new year! I hope 2012 is starting out well for everyone. I had a fun time at my friend’s party and the champagne cupcakes were a huge hit. I think next time I may try them with the Pop Rocks on top. Fun, huh?
Because the cupcakes only required 1/2 cup of sour cream, I had some leftover. So the other night when I was awake at 3 in the morning thanks to the crazy man setting cars on fire in my neighborhood, I googled sour cream bundt cake recipes. Side note: I’m happy and relieved that the LAPD now has a “person of interest” in custody and I hope when he goes to jail he’s subjected to random middle of the night blazing siren and hovering helicopter sounds like those of us in Hollywood have had to deal with.
Anyway, the cake is a bit time consuming and you’ll end up with a sink full of dishes, but it’s definitely worth the time and effort. It’s moist and chocolatey without being too sweet. My coworkers loved it, even calling it amazing and delicious, so you can bet this recipe is a keeper!
Ingredients
1 cup cocoa
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
3/4 cup boiling water
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons butter (1 1/4 sticks)
2 cups brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray. Mix the cocoa and chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over the chocolates and stir to melt. Let the mixture stand to cool (about 2 to 3 minutes).
Meanwhile, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Cream the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy in a large bowl. Add the eggs to the butter mixture and blend well. Fold the sour cream into the cooled chocolate mixture until incorporated.
Add the flour mixture and the sour cream chocolate mixture to the butter mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips to the batter and stir to incorporate. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake slightly before removing from the pan. Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar and serve.
Recipe from Daisy (yeah, the “dollop of Daisy” people).
Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Frosting
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For the past several years on New Year’s Eve, my friend and her husband have hosted a small party at their house. It’s a pretty chill night filled lots of socializing, eating, drinking, Wii, and board games. (Writing that made me feel old, jeez.) And each year, I of course bring dessert.
Since I’ve been sick this week, I almost took the easy route and made S’mores Pies. Then I realized that was stupid and decided on champagne cupcakes. Fortunately for me, I only looked at a couple of recipes before deciding on this one. The original recipe called for a pastry cream filling, but since I’m not a fan of pastry cream and I was feeling lazy, I decided to leave it out.
Well, the pastry cream wasn’t missed at all. The cupcakes are moist and the champagne flavor comes through in both the cake and the frosting. I would definitely make these again for a celebratory night! Plus, I love any excuse to use my contraband dragees and glitter. (We can’t buy them in California.)
Note: I know absolutely nothing about champagne (except that I like it), so I asked a couple buying champagne at the store if they would help me. This guy directed me to a $5.99 bottle of Barefoot Bubbly Moscato that said “Deliciously Sweet” on it and told me it would be great for baking; his husband made it clear it was not suitable for drinking. Point taken, and it worked great in both the cupcakes and frosting.
Photos of the process.
Cake Ingredients
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup champagne
Cake Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup champagne and 1/2 cup sour cream (mixture will fizz and bubble a little). Add flour and champagne mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Batter will be thick.
Fill cupcake papers with 1/4 cup level measures of batter. Bake for 17-22 minutes. Let cool. Yields 18 cupcakes.
Frosting Ingredients
1 cup plus 1 tbsp. champagne
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
Frosting Preparation
Place 1 cup of champagne in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Transfer to a small bowl or condiment cup and allow to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream softened butter and powdered sugar together. Once the frosting is thick and fluffy, pour in the reduced 2 tbsp. champagne plus 1 tbsp. champagne from the bottle and mix well.
Frost and decorate.
Recipe from Sprinkle Bakes.
2011 in Pictures
2010 was yet another sweet year on the blog. Have a happy and safe new year!
