Triple Grapefruit Cupcakes

Grapefruit is one of my favorite flavors – have you ever tried the Neutrogena grapefruit face wash? …I haven’t, because I’m obsessed with another one, but the grapefruit in that smells SO good and I sniff it every time I’m in the face wash aisle at Target. True story.

It’s difficult to really capture the tart, citrus bite of a grapefruit in baked goods, but I did my best. Basically, this cupcake is a simple yellow cake with some finely chopped grapefruit zest added in. After the cupcakes have baked, the top is soaked in a grapefruit reduction. Once it’s absorbed, a cream cheese butter cream is piped onto the tops and a piece of candied grapefruit zest is added as a garnish. In all, this used two full grapefruit and I used all of it – from the zest to the pulp to the juice. Grapefruit are so beautiful in winter, and their fresh flavor is somewhat lighter than the classic holiday dessert. I can see this as a cake, but I wanted something a little more mobile so I could share the cupcakes with my coworkers!

Grapefruit Cupcakes

Makes 12

Cupcake:

Adapted from Joy of Baking

1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 c. sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. grapfruit zest, finely chopped

1 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 c. milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the grapefruit zest, flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 17 – 20 minutes or just until set and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Grapefruit Reduction

Makes 1/3 cup

Ingredients:

Juice of two grapefruit

Pulp of two grapefruit

Instructions:

Heat grapefruit and pulp in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let it come to a simmer and cook down until it’s reduced by half. You’ll know it’s done when it start to take on the appearance of jelly. Remove from heat and brush on the tops of the cupcakes with a silicon brush.

Frosting:

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter, room temperature

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2 c. powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

red gel coloring

Instructions:

In the bowl of a mixer, combine butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. If you want a pink tinge, stick the end of a toothpick into red gel coloring and run it through the frosting. Beat to combine. I used a Wilton 1M tip in a piping bag to make the top. Refrigerate to harden the tops.

Candied Grapefruit Zest

Ingredients:

2 grapefruit, washed thoroughly

2 c. sugar

1 c. water

3 Tbsp. light corn syrup

2 c. sugar, separated

Instructions:

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from the grapefruit. Try to avoid getting any of the bitter white pith on the slices. After the grapefruit has been peeled, slice them into 1/4 in. wide pieces. The length doesn’t matter. Fill a medium saucepan with cold water and add the zest. Let the cold water and zest come to a boil, then drain. Do this twice more. Finally, add 2 c. sugar, water and corn syrup in the saucepan and stir until it turns clear. Add in the zest and cook until it’s transparent, around 5-10 minutes. On two rimmed cookie sheets, distribute a cup each of white sugar. Using tongs, place the zest on the sugar and shake to coat. Let it sit – they should cool overnight. Garnish the cupcakes with the zest.

Angry Orchard Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Apple Peel

Moving is hard work, y’all. Boxes everywhere, forgetting where things are, forgetting what key opens the side door and banging on it like a maniac, hoping one of your roommates is inside… you know, the usual. Life is stressful, and you deserve a cupcake. Or a drink. Or… a boozy cupcake! What could be better?

Calling it a “boozy” cupcake may be misleading, as I’m pretty sure the alcohol cooks out of this, but the tart, delicious flavor of cider is still there, and that’s what counts.

They’re pretty ugly cupcakes all the way through the process, which almost guarantees they’re delicious. If I wanted them to be beautiful, I would have done a cream cheese buttercream frosting, but the cupcakes are super dense because of the cider, so a buttercream would have probably been too much.

Oh, and as it turns out, adding alcohol to batter makes it do a REALLY weird curdling thing, but the base recipe I used ensured me that it was normal. It was. Once you add the dry ingredients, it smooths right out.

A big thanks to my kitchen helped, Myria, for grating the apples and peeling them so nicely so I could candy them! You rock.

About the peels – don’t they look like bacon? I candied them much the same as you would a citrus peel, and used just a quick lemon juice rinse so they’d retain their color. Here’s a tip from someone who did it wrong the first time: thoroughly dry the peels before you put them in the sugar water, and once you remove them, let all the excess syrup drip off the peels. Give ’em a little shake so they’re as drained as they can be. And before you garnish the cupcakes, let the peels sit out overnight in a cookie sheet covered with granulated sugar.

And you can totally save the syrup you make! I put it in a jar in the fridge, and this morning I stirred a spoonful into my tea. Yum!

Angry Orchard Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

(Adapted from cupcakesfordinner)

1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. hard apple cider (or normal apple cider; I used Angry Orchard)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 large apples (Granny Smith is best for baking, but I used Red Delicious because it’s all I had on hand), peeled with peel reserved, and grated or finely chopped

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, then add egg and vanilla. Mix in apple cider – it’s okay if it separates and curdles a bit. In a different bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and combine – it’s okay if it’s still contains some little lumps but it should also take on a creamier consistency. Fold in apples. Fill liners 3/4 and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. My cupcakes kind of sunk a bit, I’m guessing it’s because of the alcohol. Frost and garnish. Refrigerate if not eating immediately.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Frosts 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. block cream cheese, room temperature
2 T. milk or cream
4 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Instructions:

In a large bowl, whip cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar slowly, and then add milk. Finally, beat in spices. Frosting should be thick and smooth with no chunks.

Candied Apple Peel

Peel of 3 apples
1 c. water
1 c. granulated sugar + 1/2 c. for rolling and sprinkling

Instructions:

In a small saucepan, bring water and sugar to a rolling boil. Add peels and simmer until no white is visible. Remove peels from syrup, let drip, then roll in granulated sugar. Let dry and harden overnight. Reserve syrup, if desired.

Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Cupcakes

Do you have a happy place? Tonight I got home after spending all day working on a very long and detailed project and all I wanted to do was relax.. so I brought my iPad and all my cooking stuff down to the kitchen to bake, my happy place.

Well, not this particular kitchen. I kind of resent cooking in a school kitchen since nothing seems to work the way it should and it’s always boiling hot since the oven that works best also turns on one burner of the stove.

So while I listened to the beautiful melodies of Ingrid Michaelson, I came up with these cupcakes and I think they turned out pretty dang delicious. If you have a kitchen helper like I did (thanks, Lizzy!), some things will go quicker like the crushing of the pretzels.

But really, these are fun to make. Plus, they taste awesome. I’m such a sucker for the sweet/salty dessert combination.

Fluffy chocolate cake? Yes. Dense, fudgy frosting? You betcha. Crunchy pretzel pieces? Absolutely. And, of course, a caramel-filled valley in the middle. Perfection.

Chocolate Cupcakes

makes 36 cupcakes

3 c. flour
2 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. cocoa powder
1 c. melted butter
2 c. water
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp.vinegar
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together dry ingredients and, in a separate bowl, beat wet ingredients. Slowly incorporate flour mixture into wet ingredients. Put in cupcake cups and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

adapted from Hershey’s

1 c. butter or margarine
1 1/3 c. cocoa
6 c. powdered sugar
2/3 c. milk
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 4 cups frosting.

Cupcake assembly:

16 oz. pretzels, crushed

1 bag microwavable caramels

Frost cupcakes leaving a divot in the center, as pictured above. Let rest for five minutes. In a shallow dish, roll frosted area in crushed pretzel pieces and refrigerate until firm. Melt caramels in microwave according to package instructions and spoon a small amount into the center of the cupcake. Refrigerate until serving time.

Rainbow Cupcakes!!!!!

Not many things in life merit five exclamation points. In fact, I’m kind of an exclamation point Nazi. I may have posted something in our college newspaper Facebook group to the tune of, “the next person’s article I read with exclamation points is getting kicked.” I mean, it might have been me. Bottom line: exclamation points have no place in journalism. They encourage the reader to get excited!!!!! about!!!!!! something!!!!!!! and our job is to inform, not to persuade.

But I’m here to persuade you to make these cupcakes. They’re RAINBOW, for Pete’s sake. If you bite into them, you will literally taste the rainbow. Plus, the frosting is called CLOUD frosting. Sure, I named it myself, but still. What’s more excellent than a rainbow and a cloud? Let me answer for you: not much.

This is my go-to “frosting” because it’s absolutely perfect on any cake you don’t want to weigh down with a heavy buttercream. It’s basically just a thicker homemade whipped cream but it adds a dimension of richness without making the cupcake too much to handle. Although, if you look at the last picture on the bottom of this post, it IS possible to get a little caught up in the sheer puffiness of the cloud frosting and go a bit overboard…

Rainbow Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

• 2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 2 c. sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 c. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• gel food colors in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake papers. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over-beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Separate batter into six bowls and color with food gels until desired brightness is achieved. Using six separate spoons, starting with purple and ending with red, carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

 Cloud Frosting

1 qt. heavy cream

1 c. powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla or raspberry extract

In a large bowl, beat cream on high with an electric mixer until peaks form. Add sugar and extract and whip until stiff. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and store in refrigerator if there are leftovers.

A Preview

These are some pictures of culinary triumphs (and failures) that I’ve taken in the past year. I’ve done a terrible job remembering to photograph my cooking and baking adventures, but I promise I’ll do a better job starting…now.

Dr. Seuss cupcakes

My first attempt at flood icing…

Oops! 

Christmas non-pareil cookiesAn experiment with Italian merengue frosting.. too much work for the everyday cake, in my opinion.Baked zucchini fries with Parmesan crustSpinach stuffed shellsCandy cane cupcakes with peppermint buttercreamHeath bar cupcakes

So, as you can see, my photography leaves much to be desired, but most of these adventures were relatively easy in skill level (with the exception of the Italian buttercream frosting, I really can’t emphasize enough what a colossal pain in my butt that was..) and they all turned out to be pretty tasty.

And yes, I do know how to make things other than cupcakes. :)