The Cupcake Addict's Cupcake Collection

Author Archives: MLea

• Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

  Posted at 7:20 pm by MLea

  Nov 18th

  I was originally going to make cinnamon cupcakes with ganache icing, then I realized the recipe called for cocoa, so I adjusted my goal.  This recipe comes from Cathy P’s grandmother and was originally intended for a jelly roll pan.  I have no clue how to adjust time and temperature, so I may adjust next time.

  I didn’t really measure with the ganache:  I think I probably ended up with 7 ounces of cream and 5 ounces of bittersweet chocolate per batch.  I left one batch plain, but added 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp ancho chili powder to the other.

  Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla

  Combine water, cocoa, oil and butter.  Bring to a boil and allow to cool.

  Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

  Beat eggs until pale yellow.  Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Turn speed to low and add buttermilk, then dry ingredients.  Mix until incorporated.  Add cocoa mixture and vanilla and blend.

  Pour into mini cupcake pans.  Bake at 350 for 18 minutes.

  

  Spicy Mexican Chocolate cupcake- click to enlarge

  

  Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes- Click to enlarge

  

  Mexican Chocolate Cupcake- Click to enlarge

  
  

  This was a really good recipe to use for filled cupcakes.  They were airy and easy to pipe ganache into.  I ended up with some naked cupcakes as I ran out of ganache.  These ended up being cinnamon chocolate cupcakes filled and iced with whipped ganache.   The recipe yielded 48 minis, 3 regular size cupcakes, a good bit of batter eaten out of the bowl and probably 1/2-3/4 if a cup wasted.   I will definitely use this recipe again, but could probably cut it in 1/2.

  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged chili powder, cinnamon, Mexican Chocolate

• Hostess Cupcake

  Posted at 8:29 pm by MLea

  Nov 16th

  

  So perhaps as a joke, Mr Shuck brought home a box of Hostess Cupcakes for me to review.  My first observation is that Hostess Cupcakes are a bargain!  $2.99 for 8!   My initial cupcake was completely consumed, so I guess it’s not THAT bad, considering I have left some cupcakes on the plate recently.  (By this very act, I think I have demonstrated to myself that I’m not a cupcake snob.)   The cake is okay….it’s moist and chocolatey…a little sticky in the teeth.    The icing, on the other hand, is HORRIBLE!  It tastes like plastic and has a waxy texture.  The white filling doesn’t have a lot of flavor.  I assume it’s sweetened shortening or something.  It adds a nice mushiness in the center.

  Last night, I made ganache as I intended to make cupcakes tonight, but am not in the mood now.  I made 1/2 with cinnamon and ancho chili powder and the other half just plain.  It hardened up a bit too much, so I added some warm cream today in an attempt to increase the fat content and have it cool down softer for baking tomorrow.   The last 2 Hostess cupcakes ended up drenched in warm ganache: plain for me and spicy for Mr Shuck.  I must say that a Hostess cupcake topped with slightly warm ganache is AMAZING.   You can’t taste the plastic icing when it’s covered with Callebaut bittersweet chocolate ganache.

  I wish I had taken the time to take a picture before cramming the yumminess down my gullet.

  Posted in Miscellaneous, Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged Hostess

• This week’s cupcake by Mrs Shuck

  Posted at 7:33 pm by MLea

  Nov 15th

  I think this week I am going to attempt Mexican/Mayan Chocolate cupcakes: cinnamon cake with cinnamon and ancho pepper infused chocolate ganache icing. I may make some plain ganache for those timid of spiciness.

  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations | Tagged .

• S’mores Cupcake from Whole Foods

  Posted at 5:48 pm by MLea

  Nov 14th

  So today whilst we were out looking for healthy snacks for my lunch, we came across this lovely cupcake at the Interbay Whole Foods (also known to West Seattle residents as Hole Foods)

  

  S'mores Cupcake from Whole Foods-Click to enlarge

  This was a lovely cupcake.  I was expecting it to be more than a grocery store cupcake, but it didn’t live up to my expectations.  The homemade looking marshmallows weren’t as tasty as generic marshmallows from the bag.  The cake was chocolatey, but dry and crumbly.  There was enough icing to hold on the graham cracker crumbs, but no excess.  A cupcake deserves excess.

  Mr Shuck also thought the frosting to cake ratio was a bit low.  He liked the taste, though.

  Rating: ♥♥

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged S'mores, Whole Foods

• Cupcake snob?

  Posted at 4:19 pm by MLea

  Nov 14th

  The Cupcake Addict might be becoming The Cupcake Snob.  I think my cupcake expectations might be becoming a bit unrealistic.  I’m also pondering changing my rating scale from a max of 4 hearts to a max of 5 hearts.  Hmmmm……

  Posted in Miscellaneous

• Dulce de Leche from Sugar Bakery

  Posted at 6:08 pm by MLea

  Nov 13th

  I thought I’d give Sugar Bakery another chance.  Actually, coworker Scott brought 2 back after lunch, so really HE gave them a second chance.

  

  Dulce de Leche from Sugar Bakery: Click to enlarge

  Sugar is not about to be added to the favorites list.  Apparently, I don’t like home-made caramel.  I like the top of creme brulee, the stuff in a Snickers® or Milky Way® and the jar of ice cream topping, but I otherwise I don’t like the taste of burnt sugar.  So perhaps this won’t be a very objective review.  The icing seemed to be a meringue butter cream, very silky.  The cake didn’t have a lot of flavor: I couldn’t tell if it was vanilla or caramel.  It wasn’t dry.  It was filled with dulce de leche.  My coworker thought this cupcake was great.  I thought it was only ♥.  I ate 1/4 of a cupcake and it was a struggle, done only to have a review.

  I had a taste of the frosting of another cupcake purchased that day:

  

  Chocolate Cupcake from Sugar Bakery: Click to enlarge

  The frosting was a fudgey butter cream.  My tiny taste was very tasty.  I’ll update eventually with the eater’s opinion of the cupcake. Coworker Michael says,  “If cupcakes had fingers, I’d buy this cupcake an engagement ring.”

  Appearance note:  I’m not sure if Sugar uses cupcake liners that don’t fit the cupcake pan or if the cupcakes just rise above the liner, but the cupcakes always appear awkward.  They remind me of a person whose clothes are too big for them: a little sloppy.

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged dulce de leche

• Black Bottom Cupcake at Simply Desserts

  Posted at 11:10 am by MLea

  Nov 12th

  This was the only cupcake option available at Simply Desserts, so that’s what I had.  Chocolate cupcake with cream cheese and chocolate chips baked in on top.  The top was extremely tasty: tangy cream cheese mixed with sweet chocolate chips.  The rest of the cupcake was just okay:  the cake was moist and had nice chocolate flavor, but nothing spectacular.  I did eat the entire cupcake and scrape the crumbs off the liner with my fork, so I really have no complaints.

  Photo to come later…..

  

  Black Bottom Cupcake from Simply Desserts- Click to enlarge

  Overall rating: ♥♥♥

  Posted in Miscellaneous Bakeries | Tagged black bottom

• I want a meatloaf cupcake!

  Posted at 8:21 pm by MLea

  Nov 9th

  We are hoping to go back to Chicago again next Spring, so I am adding “The Meatloaf Bakery” to my places to visit list.  Sometimes I’m in the mood for a cupcake, but I also am in need of dinner.  This would solve both desires at once: cupcake shaped meatloaf topped with a side item frosting.

  Menu items that I’d try:

  Herby Turkey Loaf:  Ground turkey with a mix of spices, garlic, pepper, and Parmesan cheese.  Topped with stuffing and served with cranberry sauce.

  Loaf a Roma: Beef and Italian sausage mixed with mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and red wine.  “Iced” with angel hair pasta.

  Omega 3 Loaf: Salmon (Since it’s Alaskan, not Atlantic.  I’m a Seattle-ite and not interested in the un-naturally pink fish} with lemon, parsley and dill.  Topped with wasabi mashed potatoes.

  Yentl Lentil Loaf: Lentils and brown rice with veggies and cheese. Topped with bell peppers.  (Looks good, but I probably wouldn’t try it: A bit too healthy for a vacation sort of trip.)

  

  Posted in Miscellaneous, Not a cupcake | Tagged meatloaf cupcake

• Sweet Licorice and Pumpkin Creme Brulee from Yellow Leaf

  Posted at 6:57 pm by MLea

  Nov 7th

  Today’s treats from Yellow Leaf:

  Sweet Licorice: I don’t like licorice, so this one was for Mr Shuck.  I had a tiny taste and it tasted like licorice.  Mr Shuck thinks, “It was fine, but licorice shouldn’t be in cupcakes.  Licorice should be in licorice.”  Rating:  ♥♥

  Pumpkin Crème Brûlèe:  Pumpkin cupcake filled with pumpkin custard topped with vanilla Italian meringue butter cream and garnished with a piece of caramelized sugar.  Great cupcake: lightly flavored cake is moist, creamy filling has delicate pumpkin flavor, caramelized sugar garnish sticks pleasantly to your teeth.  Rating: ♥♥♥

  

  Pumpkin Creme Brulee from Yellow Leaf- Click to enlarge

  

  Pumpkin filling- Click to enlarge

  

  Sweet Licorice from Yellow Leaf- Click to enlarge

  
  
  Posted in The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company | Tagged licorice, pumpkin creme brulee

• Baby Shower

  Posted at 11:07 am by MLea

  Nov 5th

  So, last night I made 3 different kinds of cupcakes for a baby shower: carrot with cream cheese icing, strawberry with strawberry icing, and vanilla with chocolate ganache.    I normally don’t taste the raw batter when I’m baking unless it’s chocolate.  I don’t know what made me taste the carrot cake batter (after I had it already in the liners), but I’m glad I did.  I realized that I had forgotten the sugar!  What a disaster that would have been!  I scraped the contents of the liners back into the bowl and added the sugar.  I will always taste my batter now.

  Thanks to the ladies for trusting me with their cupcake needs!  And for $$!

  

  Carrot Ginger with Cream Cheese Icing and candied Carrot- Click to enlarge

  

  Strawberry with Strawberry Buttercream- Click to enlarge

  

  Vanilla with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache- Click to enlarge

  
  
  Posted in Mrs Shuck's Creations

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