Valentine Cupcakes

Kitty Floridofebrero 1, 2013

This post is also available in ENGLISH (INGLÉS)

Preparing well ahead for February 14th, I decided to bake these Valentine Cupcakes on a Sunday evening. Usually, I don’t have cake flour. Not because I forget to get it at the store, but because it is too pricey to get cake flour in Guate without paying an arm and a leg. So, after reading this post from Joy The Baker, I’ve been making my own cake flour since we started this blog with Helga. Thanks Joy! So, after sifting my fair share of cake flour quite a few times (I batch make it so I can have some handy), I was ready to make this recipe… but I wanted to make a Funfetti version of the cupcakes.

Like I said, I wanted. I ended up having just ¼ cup of this kind of sprinkles, I added some red and pink colored sugar to complete the ½ cup of sprinkles that the recipe calls for. The result was gorgeous! Since I used half and half, the amount of colored sugar sprinkles was just the right touch to give it a soft swirly kind of color to the batter. After baked, the cupcakes look gorgeous and with the chocolate-pudding-like buttercream, these cupcakes will make a good impression on everyone’s tummies.

Oh, and from experience when a recipe calls for eggs (or egg whites in this case), be careful to crack each egg, separate it and put the egg white in the bowl you will be using. Make this with each of the eggs. Once I didn’t do it and an entire pound cake recipe went down the drain. Why? Well, one of the eggs was bad. That’s when I heard Grandma Lucy’s voice in my head “You know better, you must take your time to crack each egg and see if its good”. So, from Grandma Lucy to you… Take your time cracking eggs.

Kitty

Valentine Cupcakes

Cupcake Recipe by My Baking Addiction
Chocolate Buttercream, a Foodies Original Recipe
Yield: 18 cupcakes

Ingredients for the Cupcakes:

2 ¼ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk, room temperature
4 large egg whites, room temperature
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
seeds scraped from one vanilla bean
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup of valentine colored sprinkles

Ingredients for the Chocolate Buttercream

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
6 ounces of semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions:

For the Cupcakes, center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and egg whites.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla bean seeds at medium speed for 3 minutes, or until the butter and sugar are very light. Add in the vanilla extract and one-third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until well incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter fully incorporated and smooth, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
Once ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.
Remove the bowl of your mixer and add the sprinkles, folding them into the batter carefully.
Using a large scoop (about 3 tablespoons), distribute the batter between 18 muffin wells, filling each well 2/3 full.
Bake for 18-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers come out clean. Cool on wire rack.
For the Chocolate buttercream, melt the chocolates and butter in the bowl of your mixer placed over simmering water.
When it’s melted, transfer your bowl (caution, it will be very hot!) to your mixer and start whipping the chocolate. It will lighten its color as it gets fluffier. Add the cream cheese slowly, so it helps the buttercream grow while letting air in.
Add the vanilla extract and slowly add your confectioners’ sugar. If you want your buttercream more dense, add more than what’s directed here.
Decorate your cupcakes with the buttercream (I used my 1M tip from Wilton), white sprinkles and a red M&M on top.