Peanut butter cupcakes with white chocolate frosting and a sprinkling of white chocolate shavings!  I have to say that the peanut butter flavor really overpowers the white chocolate frosting, even though the frosting really does taste like white chocolate.  It still tastes pretty darn good though!

A note about the frosting – make it as soon as you’re ready to eat it.  It starts out nice and white, but after it sits for a few hours, it starts to turn yellowish.

And finally, keep a glass of cold milk nearby because just like straight peanut butter, these cupcakes stick to the roof of your mouth!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Adapted from I Heart Cuppycakes
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter, room temp
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

Method
Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tin cupcs with paper cupcake liners

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, peanut butter and brown sugar until smoothly blended and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Mix in egg. Add vanilla and beat for 1 minute or until batter smooth.

On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing until the flour is incorporated and the batter looks smooth.

Fill each liner with a generous 1/4 cup of batter, to about 1/3 inch below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and are lightly browned and a toothpic inserted in the center comes out clean, about 22 minutes. There will be cracks on the top. Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on wire rack.

White Chocolate Buttercream
Adapted from BBC Good Food
Makes enough for 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
100g white chocolate
140g unsalted butter
140g icing sugar

Method
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, stirring often. Leave to cool. Beat the butter and icing sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in the chocolate. Use immediately.

Ballet class lasts only 30 minutes.  Luckily, if I practically run, I can make it over to the nearby Westfield shopping center for a special treat for myself.  I visit T2 Tea and sample all four of the teas they have on display that day and have a chat with the friendly ladies who work there.  And then I do a fast-walk to get back to ballet to pick up my daughter.

As it turns out, my daughter also likes to sample the teas at T2 Tea, so before the holidays I started going to T2 before ballet class so she could try the teas too, and I sat in the lobby area of the ballet studio and read magazines while she was in her class.  They only have a handful of magazines and always the same ones, but I did find an Australian Women’s Weekly magazine (from March 2009!) that I hadn’t seen before and flipped through the recipe section.  I found some beautiful mocha cupcakes and read the recipe for them.  I was immediately intrigued by it because it used real melted chocolate, almond meal and buttermilk.

When I got home, I searched the Australian Women’s Weekly website and found the recipe.  Within the next week I had made them and said that they were the best mocha cupcakes I have ever eaten.

I’m not happy with my photos, yet again.  But here we have the best mocha cupcakes ever, frosted with coffee buttercream and decorated with a chocolate covered espresso bean.  Let me tell you that these absolutely require a chocolate covered espresso bean, they taste amazing when you eat them along with a bite of the cupcake.

I ended up using hazelnut meal instead of the almond meal.  And you can sort of taste this in the cake.  As with any mocha cake I’ve ever had though, you cannot taste the coffee.  Remember my tip from my white chocolate mocha cupcakes though – if you want the actual cake to taste like coffee, a good idea would be to fill it with coffee flavored ganache.

I used Lindt 70% chocolate for the melted chocolate, and I had just enough Green & Black’s cocoa powder left to use in these cupcakes.

For the first time in ages, I also used real buttermilk instead of the vinegar + milk substitute.

For the coffee in this, I didn’t use regular instant coffee granules.  I chose a special espresso-style instant coffee from Nescafe.  I don’t know if this made the difference, but the coffee flavor in that buttercream is intense.  It seriously tastes like you’re drinking a cup of coffee when you eat these cupcakes.

Try to let these sit overnight before eating them, if you can, because I think the flavor is even better on the next day.

My final word, if you’re after some fantastic mocha cupcakes, this recipe is definitely the one to use.

Mocha Cupcakes
Adapted from Australian Women’s Weekly magazine, March 2009
Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/4 cup (60ml) hot water
125g butter, softened
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
2/3 cup (80g) almond meal (I used hazelnut meal)
125g dark chocolate, melted
3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk, room temperature
coffee beans, to decorate, optional

Coffee Buttercream
3 teaspoons instant coffee granules
1 1/2 tablespoons hot water
185g unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups (360g) icing sugar, sifted

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line a 12-hole, 1/3-cup (80ml) capacity muffin pan with paper cases.

Combine coffee granules and hot water in a cup. Stir until dissolved.

Beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined between additions.

Fold in half of the combined sifted cocoa and flour, all the almond meal and then the chocolate. Fold in the buttermilk, remaining flour mixture and the coffee mixture.

Divide mixture among paper cases. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool cakes on a wire rack.

Coffee buttercream
Combine coffee granules and hot water in a cup. Stir until dissolved. Beat butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until as pale as possible. Gradually beat in half the icing sugar, all the coffee mixture, then the remaining icing sugar.

Using a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle, decorate cakes with Coffee Buttercream. Top each cake with coffee beans, if desired.

The Sweetest Kitchen hasn’t always been The Sweetest Kitchen.  I started out blogging about cupcakes in late May of 2008 at Blogspot; my blog was then called The Cupcake Review.  As I started to expand and blog about more than cupcakes I knew that I needed to switch to my own domain.  After much thought, I finally decided on the name The Sweetest Kitchen in late February of 2009, and launched the new domain on March 3.  It’s now been one year and my blogging experience has been such fun.  The Sweetest Kitchen has became more popular than I ever expected it to – I’ve almost reached 500,000 page views!

My most famous post, with at least 30,000 page views so far, was the zombie Halloween cupcake I made for Iron Cupcake: Earth and Cupcake Hero in October 2009.  However, my personal favorite of anything I have ever baked since beginning this blog is the pumpkin dulce de leche cupcake.  Everyone who has made these has raved about them, and I’m so happy about that!

Today I’ve made some cupcakes in celebration of The Sweetest Kitchen’s 1-year anniversary.  They are actually very similar to the pumpkin dulce de leche cupcakes, but instead of the pumpkin cake, I used a chocolate cake and sprinkled the frosting with sea salt.

The great thing about this dulce de leche is that I didn’t have to make it myself.  I bought it at the store, where it was casually sitting next to cans of plain sweetened condensed milk and selling itself under the pseudonym of “Top ‘n’ Fill Caramel” from Nestle.  I found this at Coles but not Woolworth’s (in Australia), for anyone wanting specific details.  And I recommend giving the caramel a good stir with a wire whisk before using to smooth out the lumps.

If you can’t find dulce de leche, find directions for preparing it yourself in my pumpkin dulce de leche cupcake post.

Totally scrumptious!

Okay, now I’ve given you some cupcakes for my anniversary party, now what about that giveaway, you say?  Right, let’s get to it.

Bake It Pretty is one of, if not the, best places to buy your baking supplies from online.  I have made my share of purchases from this lovely store, and Amanda, the owner, is so sweet.  In fact, Bake It Pretty is where I got those zombie hands and spider toppers that made those particular cupcakes of mine so famous!

I knew I wanted to do a Bake It Pretty giveaway for my blog’s anniversary, so here it is – leave a comment on this post to receive a $50 gift certificate for Bake It Pretty!

Earn an extra entry by mentioning this giveaway and a link to this post on Twitter! Leave a comment on this post with the link to your Twitter status that mentions this giveaway.

Earn another extra entry by mentioning this giveaway and a link to this post on your blog! Leave a comment on this post with the link to your blog post that mentions this giveaway.

You have until Sunday, March 7 at 6:59PM to enter. In the meantime, click on over to Bake It Pretty to create your wishlist!  Note, the deadline is Sydney, Australia time, or Pacific Standard Time in the US on March 6, 11:59PM.

Thanks for stopping by over the past year and helping to make The Sweetest Kitchen the great little place that it is!  :)

The giveaway is now over and any comments left after 7PM on March 7, 2010 as recorded on the comment will not be counted.  The winner will be chosen tomorrow so check back then to see if you have won!

I have breastfed my babies exclusively for the first six months of their lives (and weaned at 18 months), and on their six-month birthdays I have given them their first tastes of solid foods. Yesterday, the 24th, was Miles’ six-month birthday and we had a great day.

Miles had mashed bananas as his first food.

Well, he at least tried it. Not much of it got in. But generally the entire experience was a blast for him.

We spent the morning making cupcakes for the occasion as well, of course. We went pretty simple with chocolate and vanilla, but we made them a little bit more fancy by adding dark chocolate pieces to the chocolate cake batter, and adding vanilla bean paste to the buttercream. The tiny blue sugar hearts were the finishing touch. You can find these at Little Betsy Baker.

These were so cute, and tasted great too. I used Green & Black’s organic cocoa powder to make these cupcakes, which is the first time I’ve used anything organic in my cupcakes. Honestly, I’m skeptical about higher quality cocoa making baked goods taste better. I couldn’t taste anything exceptional in these cupcakes when compared to a standard cocoa powder, such as Hershey’s.

The method of preparing this cupcake batter is similar to that of making a muffin, and for me, the resulting cupcake is more muffin-like rather than cupcake-like, if you know what I mean.

What do you think about high-quality versus average-quality cocoa powders? Does it make a difference in the taste?

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from Woolworth’s Fresh magazine
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
125g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate, chopped

Method
Preheat oven to 200C (400F) .  Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Melt butter and 100g coarsely chopped dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Stir until melted and smooth.  Cool.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter and chocolate mixture, eggs, milk and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.  Pour into flour mixture along with 100g chopped dark chocolate.  Stir gently, just until combined.

Divide batter evenly into cupcake liners and bake 15-20 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes enough to generously frost 12-16 cupcakes

Ingredients
170g unsalted butter, room temperature
225g confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Method
Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high). Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days (bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using).

Happy half-birthday to my little boy, I look forward to many more!

One night as I was putting her to bed she told me she wanted to make her own cupcake.  I asked her what kind of cupcake did she want to make.  She said she wanted a vanilla cake, pink raspberry frosting, a cherry on top and a piece of white chocolate.  I promised her I’d help her make them.

And later, we made her cupcake together.  They ended up being incredibly cute, don’t you think?  The recipe is made up of Billy’s vanilla cupcakes, a basic vanilla buttercream that has been tinted pink with red gel and flavored with LorAnn raspberry flavoring from Bake It Pretty, and topped with a maraschino cherry and a shard of Ghirardelli vanilla bean white chocolate.  The cupcake liner is also from Bake It Pretty.

In case you’re wondering why I didn’t use real raspberries to flavor the frosting it is because I have realized that raspberries actually turn frosting purple, and my daughter wanted pink frosting, so I had to artificially flavor and color it.

It was a fun experience for my daughter to see her cupcake brought to life, and for me it was a great moment to realize how creative she is!

My 4-year-old daughter, even at just 4, seems much older than she really is.  She is a pro at playing computer games, she wants to do everything herself, she’s bossy, and it’s hilarious to hear her say grown-up words and phrases, such as “That’s not dignified!”.  Not long ago, she was crawling through the living room babbling out baby words, “dum dum diggum” was one of her baby word phrases.  At that point in time, I could not picture her as she is now – walking, talking, having conversations with her.

My 2-year-old son isn’t talking yet, although he’s excellent at saying “dada” and “mama”.  I couldn’t believe it when he turned 2 in July.  He is such a trouble-maker.  He is into everything, constantly.  He’s just figured out how to open the refrigerator and yesterday morning he grabbed a piece of leftover pizza for breakfast!  I didn’t have any ideas on how to keep the refrigerator door locked, so we’ve taped the refrigerator shut!

It’s impossible to know how your kids will change as the years roll by, but you can always be certain of at least one thing – they love birthdays!  Everything about a child’s birthday is a dream come true for them.  There’s cake, ice cream, presents, fancy decorations, friends and family.  What’s not to love about that?

I was honored to have been asked to bake cupcakes for a friend’s son’s birthday earlier this month.  It was his 4th birthday, and as my little girl is 4, I know how special it must have been for him and his family, and I was so happy to have been asked to provide the cupcakes for his special day.

My friend didn’t have a solid idea as to what kind of cupcakes she wanted for her son except that the cupcakes had to be filled; she basically left the design up to me.  After a bit of a think, I asked her how they would like ice cream sundae cupcakes, to which she replied that that would be great!

These couldn’t really have been more perfect for a child’s birthday – ice cream in cupcake form!  And they really look like sundaes!  These chocolate cupcakes are filled with chocolate ganache, frosted with vanilla buttercream, swirled with more chocolate ganache and decorated with sprinkles and maraschino cherries.  They tasted fantastic!

I have to be honest.  I baked extras of these cupcakes so that we could have some too!  Well, I had to taste them to make sure they were good enough for my friend’s son’s birthday!  And they were good enough, of course; everyone loved them.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from Hershey’s
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

Method
Heat oven to 350°F. Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper baking cups.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Using the cone method, fill cupcakes with chocolate ganache (recipe follows).  Frost with buttercream (recipe follows) using a round piping tip, then spoon chocolate ganache glaze (recipe follows) on top of buttercream.  Put sprinkles on as soon as you finish putting the ganache on each cupcake, just in case the ganache hardens too much for the sprinkles to stick.  Push a maraschino cherry into the top of each mound of frosting (the ones with stems make a better presentation!).

Chocolate Ganache Filling
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes enough to fill 12 cupcakes (with a little leftover)

Ingredients
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature

Method
Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and stir until combined.

I put the ganache in the refrigerator to firm it up just a little teeny bit, about 15-20 minutes I think it was.  It was still pourable, but it wasn’t dripping everywhere, either.

Vanilla Buttercream
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method
Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high). Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes enough to top 12 cupcakes (with a little leftover)

Ingredients
3 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup

Method
Place chocolate in a medium-size heatproof bowl. Bring cream and corn syrup just to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour mixture over chocolate. Let stand, without stirring, until chocolate begins to melt.

Gently stir chocolate and cream until totally combined; begin near the center of the bowl and gradually work your way toward the edge, pulling in as much chocolate as possible, until the mixture is smooth and glossy.

My second batch of Halloween cupcakes, baked especially for October‘s Cupcake Hero, uses dulce de leche, which I chose to make in the oven.  Mine took about 1 hour, 15 minutes at 425°F.  It didn’t turn very dark before the top of the dulce de leche started to turn a little hard and dark brown around the edges, even though I had it tightly covered with foil.  I used an electric mixer to smooth out the lumps, but little tiny bits of the burnt edges remained.  It didn’t affect the taste, though; it tastes great!

These are delicious and super moist pumpkin cupcakes, filled with dulce de leche and frosted with dulce de leche buttercream.  The web is made from melted semisweet chocolate and an awesome, creepy spider from Bake It Pretty adorns each cupcake.

The chocolate web is very easy to make.  I melted 2-3 tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips, with about 1/4 teaspoon of shortening to make the chocolate a little looser, and spooned it into a Ziploc bag.  I then cut off a very tiny sliver of the bottom corner of the bag and piped four circles on top of each cupcake.  I would have used a toothpick to draw through the circles, but I didn’t have any, so I used an uncooked stick of spaghetti that I had broken down to the length of a toothpick!  But I just simply pulled the spaghetti stick through the circles, starting from the center for each line.  Easy spiderweb decoration!

These cupcakes are quite rich, and I knew they would be before I even made them, but they are absolutely delicious.  The pumpkin and caramel go very well together.  If you’re not after so rich of a cupcake, skip the dulce de leche filling and just use the dulce de leche buttercream on top.

Pumpkin Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
7.5 ounces pureed pumpkin

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Once cooled, using the cone method, fill each cupcake with a dollop of dulce de leche and frost with dulce de leche buttercream. If desired, decorate cupcake with spiderweb design using 3 tablespoons chocolate chips melted together with 1/4 teaspoon shortening.

Dulce De Leche
Adapted from Recipe Girl
Makes just enough to fill cupcakes and use in frosting

Ingredients
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
boiling water

Method
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Open up the can and pour the sweetened-condensed milk into a pie pan. Cover tightly with foil. Place into a larger pan and pour boiling water in larger pan & around pie plate (level of water should be about halfway up the pie plate). Don’t let any water seep up and into the pie plate.

Place in oven and bake for 1 hour. At the one hour point, peel off foil and check for progress. If the mixture has thickened and turned a caramelly color, it’s done. If it doesn’t quite look thick enough or dark enough, cover it up and bake it a little longer (mine took 75 minutes).

When the mixture appears to have turned into a nice, thick caramel, remove from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, and then beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Dulce De Leche Buttercream
Adapted from Joy The Baker
Makes enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons prepared dulce de leche

Method
Cream together softened butter and powdered sugar on low using an electric mixer. Add cream and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth and no lumps appear. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the prepared dulce de leche and beat to incorporate.

But these are!  This is what I created with Martha Stewart’s awesome Halloween cupcake liners, Bake It Pretty’s zombie hand toppers and a couple of Oreo cookies.

I’ll break it down for you.  First of all, if you’re making Halloween cupcakes, you’ll need these cupcake liners from Martha Stewart.  You can find them at Michael’s craft stores for about $4.

Next, I baked a batch of chocolate pumpkin cupcakes.  I’ve used this recipe before and liked the result.  Then, I whipped up some pumpkin buttercream to fill these cupcakes with.

The cupcakes are frosted with a plain chocolate buttercream, and perhaps there’s a bit too much frosting for my own liking, but I wanted a nice big round top on these.

I finely crushed 10 Oreo sandwich cookies, which ended up being way too many for 12 cupcakes; 6 probably would have been enough.  I dipped each cupcake top into the crushed Oreos to completely coat them.

For the “tombstones”, I found Oreo Fudgees made perfect-shaped tombstones.  I took the Fudgee sandwich cookies apart, scraped off the filling and stuck one side of the Fudgee into each cupcake, then stuck a zombie hand in front of the tombstones.

They’re quite spicy; I can taste a hint of ginger over all the other spices in the cupcake and filling (the filling had the most ginger).  And like I said, there’s a bit too much chocolate frosting, which makes a bit too sweet for me.  The kids love them though!  The decorations make a perfect Halloween cupcake – remember, you can find the zombie hands at Bake It Pretty’s Halloween shop!

This is my entry into Iron Cupcake: Earth for October’s theme ingredient “music” – these cupcakes are perfect for one of my favorite songs by the late Michael Jackson, “Thriller”!

Our Generous IronCupcake:Earth Prize Providers:

• The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
• Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
• Bella Cupcake Couture
• Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
• The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne

I’m also entering these cupcakes into Cupcake Hero for October’s theme ingredient of pumpkin and/or Halloween.  This will be my first ever entry into Cupcake Hero!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
Adapted from Country Living
Makes 12 cupcakes*

Ingredients
1 cup + 2 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup + 3 3/4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup + 2 1/2 teaspoons buttermilk
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 3/4 teaspoons pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2.25 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 3/4 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon + 1 3/4 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs

For Oreo decorations:
7 finely crushed Oreo sandwich cookies
6 Oreo Fudgees sandwich cookies, pulled apart and filling removed
12 zombie hand cupcake toppers from Bake It Pretty

Method
Preheat oven to 350F; line a cupcake tin with paper liners.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl; set aside.

Combine buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla in a bowl; set aside.

Beat butter and sugars together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture is smooth and light.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, blending well after each addition.

Divide batter evenly among cupcake liners.  Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool cupcakes completely, then using the cone method, fill cupcakes with pumpkin buttercream (recipe follows).

Frost each cupcake with chocolate frosting (recipe follows), then dip the frosted tops into the finely crushed Oreos to evenly coat.  Stick an Oreo Fudgee “tombstone” into the top of each cupcake, and place a zombie hand in front of it.

*The original recipe yields 36 cupcakes, but I divided the recipe into fourths, which is why the amounts of the ingredients are a little strange!

Pumpkin Buttercream
Adapted from A Year In The Kitchen
Makes enough to fill 12 cupcakes (plus some left over)

Ingredients
1/2 cup + 2 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons + 1 1/8 teaspoons pumpkin puree
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces confectioners’ sugar

Method
With electric mixer, cream butter and pumpkin (mixture will look grainy).  Turn mixer to low and add cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla.  Slowly add 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar at a time until the buttercream is creamy and no longer separating (the mixture will look grainy if there isn’t enough sugar mixed in).

Chocolate Buttercream
Adapted from a post at Cupcakes Take The Cake
Makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes (plus some left over)

Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup milk (plus a few tablespoons to adjust consistency)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Beat butter and cocoa until smooth, then add sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth with each addition .  Add milk and vanilla and beat for about 3 minutes.

I changed the recipe slightly to make cupcakes, instead of a layer cake.  After tasting, I can say that I don’t like this cake!  It could have been a mistake on my part, but the cupcakes were a bit on the dry side and I didn’t like the taste, either.  I was disappointed, as the photo accompanying the recipe showed an extremely moist-looking yellow cake.

The chocolate buttercream is an all-time favorite of mine.  That recipe can be found at Cupcakes Take The Cake.  The frosting is coated in chocolate jimmies.

I’ll go ahead and post the recipe from the KitchenAid stand mixer instruction manual, but I don’t recommend trying it.  If you’re after a moist and tender yellow cake, I would highly recommend the recipe that Bakerella posted here (I also have made her yellow cake before, here).

Quick Yellow Cake
Adapted from KitchenAid Stand Mixer instruction manual
Makes 18-20 cupcakes, or 2-layer 8- or 9-inch cake

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup low-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Method
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside.

Combine dry ingredients in mixer bowl. Add shortening, milk and vanilla. Mix on low speed (or speed 2 of stand mixer) about 1 minute. Stop and scrape bowl. Add eggs. Continuing on low speed, or speed 2, mix about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape bowl. Turn to medium speed, or speed 6, and beat about 1 minute.

Scoop batter evenly into cupcake pans. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove and cool cupcakes completely on wire rack.

To bake 2-layer cake: Pour batter into two greased and floured 8- or 9-inch round baking pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Frost as desired.

I chose to do something with the new Cherry 7UP.  I have seen these done before from NZ Cupcake Queen, but she didn’t post her recipe.  Hers are very pretty!

I chose to alter a Mountain Dew cupcake recipe I had found online.  I replaced the Mountain Dew with Cherry 7UP, replaced the lemon extract with maraschino cherry juice and omitted the lemon and lime zest in both the cupcake and buttercream recipe.  I also drizzled the cupcakes with fresh Cherry 7UP after baking, which made the cake very moist.

Note: It’s cloudy and rainy today – when you rely on natural light to take your pictures inside the house, cloudy days are not good, hence the grayish cast to this photo!

Surprisingly, this cupcake does not taste much of cherry or 7UP (although the drizzling of fresh Cherry 7UP gave it a tiny hint)!  I’m a little disappointed.  But they do make a nice sweet dessert, and they are pretty cute.

Our April ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A creation by FRUITFLYPIE, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=16748
• a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
• a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

Now, the recipes…

Cherry 7UP Cupcakes
Adapted from Quirky Cupcake
Makes 12-14

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup Cherry 7UP
3/4 teaspoons maraschino cherry juice or syrup
1 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Extra Cherry 7UP for drizzling

Method
Preheat oven to 350F.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

Beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar; beat on medium-high until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time; scrape the sides of the bowl between each addition.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.  Add to butter mixture.  Mix on low for 5 seconds.

Add Chery 7 UP and cherry juice or syrup.  Mix to combine.

Fill cupcake liners evenly with batter, about 2/3′s full (I actually went about 3/4′s full).

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Immediately after baking, poke deep holes – but not all the way through – each cupcake with toothpick or fork, and slowly drizzle approximately one teaspoon over cupcake.  Let sit to absorb and completely cool before frosting.

Cherry 7UP Buttercream
Adapted from Quirky Cupcake
Frosts 12-14 cupcakes

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
2-2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon Cherry 7UP
1 teaspoon maraschino cherry juice or syrup
Red food coloring gel (optional)

Method
Sift confectioners’ sugar into a bowl or onto parchment paper.

Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy.  Add half of the sugar, mix on low for 5 seconds.

Add Cherry 7UP and cherry juice or syrup.  Beat until combined.

Add food coloring, if desired, for a pinker hue.

Gradually add remaining sugar until a proper consistency and sweetness is reached.