Happy National Cupcake Day!!! 

My new favorite holiday.

In honor of National Cupcake Day, I thought I’d post a few of our favorite cupcake recipes here on Domestic Pursuits. 

Happy Cupcaking!!

These Chocolate Peppermint Brownie Cupcakes would be absolutely wonderful this time of year.  They are minty and moist and fabulously rich – perfect to bring to a holiday party!  If you prefer a lighter chocolate cupcake with a minty touch, try these Chocolate Mint Cupcakes.

I personally love these Chocolate Whiskey Cupcakes, which involve my favorite Irish trio – Irish Whiskey, Irish Cream, and Guinness.  Enjoy them on St. Patty’s day, or really any day where you feel like embracing your Irish side.  Like National Cupcake Day.

This is one of our favorite recipes here on Domestic Pursuits – Oreo Cupcakes - they are seriously delicious.  We both have a weakness for Oreos here on Domestic Pursuits and these cupcakes definitely indulge this fondness of ours.  I actually think it would be pretty neat to try them with the seasonally distributed mint Oreos one finds at the supermarkets this time of year – or with the similar product distributed at Trader Joe’s, which frankly I think I may like even better. 

Finally, I just purchased more vanilla beans so that I could go ahead and make these Vanilla Bean Cupcakes again.  (Among other soon-to-be-posted Vanilla-y treats….stay tuned for homemade marshmallows!!  And maybe some sea salt caramels too.)

Peppermint Filled Brownie Cupcakes
From Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
Yields 12 cupcakes

8 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa
12 small (1.5 inch) peppermint patties

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave. Once butter is melted, add chocolate pieces and stir to melt. You may need to microwave the chocolate – do so at 20-second increments and stir well.
3. Add sugar and salt, whisking until smooth.
4. Whisk in eggs.
5. Gently whisk in flour and cocoa just until smooth – do not over-mix.
6. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each lined cup. Place 1 peppermint patty on top of batter, pressing gently into the batter. Top with two tablespoons of batter, covering patty completely.
7. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached (insert above the peppermint patty).
8. Place muffin tin on a wire rack and cool completely before removing cupcakes.

Recently, after a long day of furniture shopping, my husband and I were meandering through the grocery store pondering what we would be having for dinner.  As we were picking up some fresh produce to make dinner, my husband strayed over towards the bakery case and took a very long look at the desserts.  It’s been a while since I’ve baked, as we’re currently between houses and staying with my parents and hence most of my kitchen is packed up and awaiting transplant to our new place…which we sadly don’t close on for another 31 days…not that anyone’s counting.  The poor guy really wanted a Boston Cream Pie.  Well, I figured after a long day of patiently deciding exactly which sofa arms were just the right shape (instead of watching Sunday afternoon football) he deserved a treat.  I had put Boston Cream Pie on my list of things to make while I’m 30 (after all, it is the official dessert of Massachusetts, partly thanks to my esteemed friend and co-blogger Beth) so figured I would give it a go tonight.  I was thinking about making the ‘real deal’ full sized pie here, but there is something that psychologically makes me feel better when I eat a cupcake rather than eating a slice of cake, so I opted to go the cupcake route with this one.

The recipe I located sounded fairly accessible for a recipe that requires homemade custard and ganache, and as Martha can do little wrong when it comes to cupcake recipes in my book, I figured they would be great.  Indeed, these little treats are absolutely delicious - although we were so excited for a bite as the vanilla cake smell filled the house, I just couldn’t wait long enough to get through the 40 minutes recommended to let my custard fully set, and as a result mine were a little bit wobbly.  Also, I had about twice as much ganache as I needed – unless you plan to REALLY REALLY cover your cupcakes in glaze, or you want to eat half a cup of ganache on its own, you can probably get by with about half a batch.  This recipe made a perfect 18 cupcakes for me otherwise.  It was rather odd not using paper liners for my cupcake pans, but because you slice the cakes in two in order to put the filling inside liners really aren’t practical.  I think this would also come out well if the cupcakes were hollowed out and filled with the vanilla cream, which would allow for liners and more stability – but would make them look less like real Boston Cream Pies.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes – from Martha Stewart Recipes

For the Cupcakes:

Another gem from Annie’s Eats!  This raspberry buttercream frosting is sweet, tangy and smooth.  It has just the right intensityof raspberry flavor and pairs beautifully with my favorite chocolate cupcakes.  Add a touch of pink food coloring to brighten things up, and you have a picture-perfect and oh-so-delicious chocolate raspberry treat!

Raspberry Buttercream

16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
Pink icing color (optional)

1.  Place the butter and jam in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream on medium-high speed until well incorporated, about 2 minutes.
2. Sift in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Tint with icing color as desired.

* A half batch of the recipe listed above yielded enough frosting for 16 cupcakes.

Since I made my Vanilla Bean Ice Cream a few weeks ago, I had one lonely vanilla bean lying around in my kitchen, just waiting for a worthy recipe to come along – when I saw this cupcake recipe on Annie’s Eats that sounded fantastic and decided to give it a whirl!  Happily, I had a big end-of-year picnic coming up for work which was about the perfect occasion to make a bunch of cupcakes without my husband and I having to eat them all.  There are not words for how fantastic this recipe came out – the batter was thick and creamy and the cake is light and moist.  I frosted them with a plain vanilla buttercream frosting – usually I shy away from buttercreams, as I find them a bit too rich for most of my recipes – but it accented the vanilla cake really well.  This was also my first adventure with gel food coloring in my frosting – a bit of advice, a little goes a LONG way!  I used about 1/4 tsp to color this entire batch of frosting!  (I used Teal, btw.)  Also, a plug for my favorite decorating device – The Pampered Chef makes an amazing decorating gun – looks a little like you should be using it to caulk a window frame or something, but it is incredibly easy to use and makes my baked goods like professional in no time flat.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes – from Annie’s Eats

3 cups cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 vanilla bean, sliced lengthwise
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Prepare cupcake pans with paper liners.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Take your vanilla bean halves and scrape the pods to remove the beans – save the pod to make vanilla sugar later – but that’s for a different post.)  Add the butter and the vanilla beans to the bowl of your trusty stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment – or, if you have one a bowl-scraping paddle attachment which is the best kitchen investment I’ve made this year), and beat on meadium speed until the mixture starts to appear light and fluffy; about 2-3 minutes.  If you don’t have a paddle attachment that scrapes for you, scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for about another minute to ensure adequate mixing.  Add the sugar gradually, 1/4 cup at a time, beating for about a minute after each addition.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until the egg is incorporated.  (Scrape down the bowl between additions here too!)  In a large measuring cup, mix the buttermilk and vanilla together.  As your mixer continues to run on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients to the butter mixture - alternating between each, and beginning and ending on the dry.  Scrape down the sides again to make sure everything is well incorporated and mix for about 15 seconds longer – be careful not to overmix!  Place the batter into the prepared cupcake pans, filling each liner about 2/3 of the way – this batter is quite thick, so try to get all the bubbles out of the bottom of the cups when you fill them!  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely and frost as desired – enjoy!!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting – also, from Annie’s Eats

20 tbsp. (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. milk

Add the softened butter to your stand mixer bowl and beat on medium high for about 30 seconds or until smooth.  Add the sugar and salt and mix to incorporate – start slow or else your entire kitchen will be covered in powdered sugar!  When the sugar has been completely incorporated (you will probably have to scrape down the sides to get this accomplished), add the vanilla and milk – mix on low for 10-15 seconds.  If you’re planning to use food coloring, this is when to add it!  Increase the speed to high and beat for 4-5 minutes, or until light and fluffy appearing.  Frost away!

I should probably rename them “Death By Cookie Dough” cupcakes.  Seriously.  A chocolate chip cookie inspired cupcake filled with eggless cookie dough and topped with brown sugar cookie dough buttercream, these are a cookie dough lovers dream!  Faces lit up at the description of the cupcakes and they were quickly devoured.  A friend who always insists that I bring leftover baked goods home specifically asked to keep the remaining cupcakes.  They are just that amazing!

If you’re a fan of cookie dough, get out your brown sugar, chocolate chips and butter (lots of butter) and get going on this unique, decadent cupcake!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
from Annie’s Eats
Yields 24 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)

For the filling:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

For the frosting:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cupcakes
1.  Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. Combine butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix each addition just until incorporated.
6. Blend in the vanilla and fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
7. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture.
10. Top with Cookie Dough Buttercream and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.

Cookie Dough Filling
1. Combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour.

Frosting
1. Beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy.
2. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth.
3. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.

I have my husband to thank for this delicious confection.   While I was searching high and low for a fun, new dessert recipe that was guaranteed easy and tasty, he suggested I enhance my favorite cake and frosting recipe with some mint extract.   The chocolate mint cupcakes with mint frosting were born!

As I’ve said before, Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake is my go-to recipe for chocolate cakes and cupcakes.   It’s so easy to make and work with; in fact, a fellow blogger suggested pouring the batter into a large Pyrex measuring cup and using that to fill muffin tins… genius!

The end-result is a perfectly rich and minty cupcake that reminded me of Keebler’s Grasshopper Cookies.   I’ve always had a weakness for this particular flavor combination, making it quite hard to eat just one cupcake at time!

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Yields 30 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp mint extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.   Grease muffin cups or line with paper liners.
2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, milk, oil, vanilla and mint extract. Stir until well blended.
4. Add flour mixture to large bowl and beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
5. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
6. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full with batter (about 1/4 cup).
7. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely

For the frosting:
2 1-lb packages of confectioner’s sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp mint extract

1.  Beat shortening and water together.
2.  Gradually beat in confectioner’s sugar and beat until creamy.
3.  Add vanilla and mint extracts and beat in well.
4.  If needed, add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, to attain desired consistency.
5.  If frosting will not be used right away, store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Mint Cupcake recipe can be found here.

Use Wilton tip 233 to make grass.

When I make something new, I don’t want just a recipe, I want the perfect recipe! My desire for a tried and true favorite helps explain why I often prefer to get my recipes from blogs and community-oriented cooking websites as opposed to magazine and cookbooks.

A pumpkin cupcake comparison from The Way the Cookie Crumbles popped up in my Google Reader a few weeks ago. In this post, Bridget details her experiences with three different pumpkin cupcake recipes. This recipe found on Smitten Kitchen was her favorite, and I have now fallen in love with it as well! This clearly is the perfect pumpkin cupcake recipe.

While I couldn’t justify making these for just me and my husband, a dinner at a friend’s house presented the perfect opportunity to whip up this fun fall treat. Pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, maple syrup… you can’t get much more fall-ish than this! The cupcakes have a light, airy texture and a flavor reminiscent of spice cake with a pop of pumpkin. Instead of using the original maple cream cheese frosting, I opted to use a maple butter cream frosting recipe from Annie’s Eats. It’s the perfect companion to the pumpkin cupcakes: smooth and sweet and fall-inspired.

Pumpkin Cupcakes
(From David Leite via Smitten Kitchen)
Yields 18 cupcakes

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark-brown sugar (I used light brown)
? cup granulated sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
? tsp ground nutmeg
? tsp ground cloves
? tsp salt
? tsp freshly ground black pepper (I omitted)
2 large eggs
? cup buttermilk mixed with 1 tsp vanilla
1? cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1. Preheat the oven to 350? and line cupcake pans with 18 liners.
2. Using a stand mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl.
4. Add the eggs 1 at a time to the mixer, blending well and scraping down the sides after each addition. 5. Alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour.
5. Add the pumpkin and beat pumpkin until smooth.
6. Divide the batter equally between the cups. (They?ll be about ? full.) Rap the filled pans once on the counter to release any air bubbles.
7. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on racks completely.

Maple Buttercream Frosting
(Annie’s Eats)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1-2 tbsp. milk

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed until smooth.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until well combined, then increase speed and beat until smooth.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the maple syrup. Mix until incorporated.
4. If the frosting is too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk and beat until smooth and desired consistency is achieved.

I am a relatively new member of the chocolate peanut butter fan club, and these cupcakes had something to do with it. My husband and a number of my friends have always been passionate lovers of all things chocolate and peanut butter, while my feelings were ambivalent.

When I first spotted these cupcakes on Proceed with Caution, I knew I had to make something like them for the chocolate peanut butter aficionados in my life. I used my go-to chocolate cake recipe (Hershey?s Perfectly Chocolate Cake), incorporated peanut butter into my grandmother?s frosting and made the peanut butter balls as written.

The resulting cupcake is heavenly! As I bit into my first one I thought ?Now I know what all the fuss is about!? If the creamy peanut butter frosting doesn?t provide a peanut-y enough kick for you, there?s a sweet peanut butter ball nestled inside the cupcake. Topped with half of a miniature Reese?s Peanut Butter Cup, these cupcakes should satisfy the most demanding chocolate peanut butter lover in your life.

Sadly, I don?t have many photos of these delectable cupcakes because the batch was quickly demolished by my peanut butter and chocolate loving friends!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Yields 30

For the Filling:
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp vanilla

For the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Using a mixer on medium speed, beat together confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, 2 butter, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla until blended. Shape mixture into 24 balls using heaping measuring teaspoons. The balls will be sticky and don’t need to be perfectly shaped. Place shaped balls on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet and set aside.
2. Heat oven to 350?F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
3. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.
4. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir until well blended.
5. Add flour mixture to large bowl and beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes.
6. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
7. Spoon 1 heaping measuring tablespoon batter into each muffin-pan cup. Drop 1 peanut butter ball in center of each cup and top off muffin cup with batter (should be 3/4 full)
8. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely

For the frosting:
2 1-lb packages of confectioner?s sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Beat shortening and peanut butter together until creamy and then beat in water.
2. Gradually beat in confectioner?s sugar and beat until creamy.
3. Add vanilla and beat in well.
4. If needed, add more water, 1 tbsp at a time, to attain desired consistency.
5. If frosting will not be used right away, store in an airtight container.