This is just your average apple cupcake, baked with chopped apples inside, a filling of dulce de leche for a rich caramel taste, and cream cheese frosting.  A pecan sits on top.

Now, I don’t have a picture of the inside of these, but I assure you that there is a dollop of dulce de leche in there.  The cupcakes didn’t last long enough here to have their pictures taken!

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
• Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House
• Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes Bakery & Cupcakey Supply

Apple Cupcakes
Adapted from Baking Bites
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup applesauce
1 cup Granny Smith apples, diced

Method
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, followed by vanilla extract.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add one third of this mixture to the butter mixture, stirring to incorporate, followed by half of the applesauce. Repeat with the rest of the flour and applesauce and mix only until no streaks of flour remain in the batter. Fold in diced apples.  Divide evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the muffins spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

When cooled completely, fill cupcakes, using the cone method, with dulce de leche (recipe follows). Frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe follows) and top with a pecan.

Dulce De Leche
Adapted from Recipe Girl
Makes enough to fill cupcakes plus about 1/4 cup leftover

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.

Use leftovers for coffee or ice cream!

Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from – source unknown
Makes enough to generously frost cupcakes, plus leftovers

Ingredients
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened and cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
12 pecans

Method
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Gradually add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating continuously until smooth and creamy. Cover and refrigerate icing for 2 to 3 hours, but no longer, to thicken before using. Frost cupcakes then top each cupcake with a pecan.

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 loved this cupcake!  It is one of the best I’ve made in ages.  The cake is a basic vanilla cake, borrowed from Billy’s Bakery, flavored with matcha, or green tea, powder.  Inside the cupcake is a filling of strawberry preserves, for a big strawberry taste.  Swirled on top is fresh strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream, which is really lovely.  It also does actually taste like strawberries, unlike my first strawberry cupcake entry, which used heaps of strawberry puree but did not taste like strawberry.

This cupcake, however, did taste like strawberries and matcha.  With one bite you will first taste the strawberry.  After that bite is swallowed, the flavor of the matcha hits.  I really really love this cupcake, but I think I’ve already said that!

I used Billy’s vanilla cupcake recipe because this is my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe.  They always come out moist and soft and were perfect for the addition of matcha – I just added the powder to the dry ingredients.

The buttercream comes from Martha Stewart.  It takes a lot of mixing to make this particular buttercream, so a stand mixer is a necessity.  The buttercream came out perfectly and the softness of it matched well with the moist cake.

I divided both of these recipes in half, which is why some of the ingredient amounts in the recipe may look a bit funny.

Our June ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH
• A groovy linocut piece from BLOCKHEAD PRESS
  
• A sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes Cupcakery
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, 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; HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson; JESSIE STEELE APRONS ; TASTE OF HOME books; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

Here are the recipes I used to make these cupcakes…

Matcha Cupcakes
Adapted from Billy’s Bakery & Martha Stewart
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cake flour, not self-rising
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh matcha powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Strawberry jam or preserves

Method
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and matcha powder; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until the cubes of butter are peanut-sized or a little smaller.

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cupcakes have cooled completely, using the cone method, fill cupcakes with strawberry jam or preserves.

Strawberry Buttercream
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup fresh strawberries, pureed

Method
Place whites and sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Remove from heat, and attach bowl to a mixer. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking well after each addition.

Switch to a paddle attachment. With mixer on low, add strawberry puree, and beat until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Use immediately, or cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days.  Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.

Because of the egg whites and jam in these cupcakes, it is best to store them in the refrigerator.  Let them return to room temperature again before enjoying.

It is a chocolate cake made with raspberry jam, filled with raspberry whipped cream and frosted with chocolate ganache.

I’m not so sure about that purple liner, but that’s what I decided to use for these cupcakes!

I based the recipe on Nigella Lawson’s chocolate cherry cupcakes.  I’ve always loved those cupcakes, and thought that I could easily substitute raspberry jam for the cherry jam in this recipe.  I personally don’t think the raspberry taste was quite as noticeable as the cherry taste in the original recipe, but they’re still quite nice.

They’re quite sweet as well, so if you decide to make these, you may want to cut back a little on the amount of sugar, because the jam will have plenty of sugary goodness to make up for it.

Our June ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH
• A groovy linocut piece from BLOCKHEAD PRESS
  
• A sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes Cupcakery
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, 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; HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson; JESSIE STEELE APRONS ; TASTE OF HOME books; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

Here are the recipes I used to make these cupcakes.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Adapted from Nigella Lawson
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
125g soft unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
300g raspberry jam, seedless if desired
150g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, beaten
150g self-raising flour

Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.

Put the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan on the heat to melt. When nearly completely melted, stir in the chocolate. Leave for a moment to begin softening, then take the pan off the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter and chocolate are smooth and melted. Now add the raspberry jam, sugar, salt and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon and when all is pretty well amalgamated stir in the flour.

Scrape and pour into the muffin papers in their tin and bake for 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out.

Cool cupcakes completely.  Fill cupcakes with raspberry whipped cream using the cone method.

Raspberry Whipped Cream
Adapted from Joy of Baking
Makes about 1 cup

Ingredients
1/2 cup ultra-pasteurized heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1/4 cup lightly sweetened raspberry puree, strained if desired

Method
In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and beaters in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat only until soft peaks form. Add the sweetened raspberry puree a little at a time, and beat just until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised. Taste and fold in more sugar or puree, if required.

If you have any leftover, use it as a topping for a cup of hot cocoa or mocha!

Ganache Frosting
Adapted from Nigella Lawson
Makes enough to lightly frost 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
100g dark chocolate
100ml double cream
12 fresh raspberries, optional

Method
Break the chocolate for the icing into little pieces and add them to the cream in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and then whisk – by hand or electrically – till thick and smooth. Ice the cupcakes, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon, and stand a raspberry in the centre of each.

This is my first entry this month, the strawberry pie cupcake.

A graham cracker base was baked into the bottom of the cupcake liners, then they were filled with strawberry cake.  Once they were done baking, a teaspoon or so of strawberry syrup was drizzled on top of the cake, then they were frosted with strawberry whipped cream.  On the very top is a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbs and another teaspoon or so of strawberry syrup, along with a sliced strawberry.

Now, sure it might look great, but I’m totally puzzled.  Despite all the strawberries in these cupcakes, they do not taste like strawberries! What did I do wrong?  The only thing I can think of describe the taste is just that they taste sweet.  Any suggestions?

Our June ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH
• A groovy linocut piece from BLOCKHEAD PRESS
  
• A sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes Cupcakery
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, 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; HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson; JESSIE STEELE APRONS ; TASTE OF HOME books; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM.  Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

Here are the recipes I used to make these cupcakes…

Strawberry Cupcakes
Adapted from Sprinkles, Trophy Cupcakes & Martha Stewart
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients
4 whole graham crackers, finely crushed
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg whites, room temperature

Method
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.

Stir crushed graham crackers and melted butter together in a bowl until well combined. Place 1 tablespoon graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each prepared muffin cup. Use the bottom of a small glass to pack crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner.

Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until the edges of the graham cracker mixture is golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and fill each muffin cup three-quarters full with cake batter – keep reading for instructions for cake batter.

Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.

With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 20-22 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven, poke several holes on top of each cupcake with a toothpick and pour 1-2 teaspoons of strawberry syrup (recipe below) on top of each cupcake. Let cool cupcakes cool for 10 minutes, remove from tin and then cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry Syrup
Adapted from Taste of Home
Makes about 1 3/4 cups

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup mashed unsweetened strawberries

Method
In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Gradually add strawberries; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I took the mashed strawberries out of the syrup (set aside) and just used 1-2 teaspoons of the syrup to pour on top of the cupcakes after baking (I poked holes in the cupcakes first with a toothpick first so it could soak in better). With the rest of the syrup, I put it back on the stove and stirred in 2 teaspoons of cornstarch so it would be thicker to pour on the very top of the cupcakes. I returned the syrup to a boil, for one minute, then let it cool off completely before topping the cupcakes with it.

You will definitely have leftovers – use it on pancakes or waffles intead of maple syrup! Put the mashed strawberries that you took out earlier back into the syrup, if desired.

Strawberry Whipped Cream
Adapted from Joy of Baking
Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients
1 cup ultra-pasteurized heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1/2 cup lightly sweetened strawberry puree

Method
In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and beaters in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat only until soft peaks form. Add the sweetened strawberry puree a little at a time, and beat just until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised. Taste and fold in more sugar or puree, if required.

If you have any leftover, use it as a topping for a cup of hot cocoa or mocha!

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.

The cupcake is a mocha cupcake, made with strong coffee and a scattering of ground coffee.  It is filled with straight Nutella.  The frosting is my Nutella coffee frosting that has been featured at Cupcakes Take The Cake.  The cupcake is finished off with a hazelnut, dipped in chocolate by my own self.

Do these taste like a hazelnut mocha?  They do.  A very rich hazelnut mocha!  The Nutella filling may have been a bit much.  The coffee taste isn’t very strong in the cupcake, and you cannot feel the crunchiness of the ground coffee.  The strongest coffee taste comes from the frosting, which smells absolutely gorgeous.  The cupcake itself is just a teensy bit dry, but very chocolatey.

Our February ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

Check out the official post at No One Puts Cupcake In A Corner to see my winning entry and that amazing list of prizes that I will be receiving!

Thank you to everyone who voted for me! :)

Yes, I need to work on my piping skills, I know! :)

I call it the matcha cocoa cupcake, because it does taste similar to the matcha hot cocoa recipe I enjoy. The chocolate cake in these cupcakes are very chocolatey, and the matcha is very matcha-y. The cake is dense and heavy and quite filling.

The dark chocolate ganache is a nice touch, and the matcha Swiss meringue buttercream is to die for. This is my second attempt at making SMBC (my first attempt failed) and it went really well. The texture is amazing, almost mousse-like. It pipes really well. The matcha taste in the SMBC is not overpowering and adds an extra light matcha flavor.

Thank you to Cupcakes Take The Cake for posting my matcha cocoa cupcakes on your blog!

Our December ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
* BETTY TURBO
* as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
* PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice -sweet!

As an added bonus for December we have adorable cupcake pincushions complements of SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY.

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: FIESTA PRODUCTS; HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS; the CUPCAKE COURIER; TASTE OF HOME books. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.com.

Recipes:

Chocolate & Matcha Marbled Cupcakes
(adapted from La Tartine Gourmande)
makes 10-12 regular sized cupcakes

Ingredients
8 Tbsp butter, melted (1 stick)
3 oz dark chocolate, melted
3 eggs, large
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 + 2/3 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1.5 tsp sifted unsweetened cocoa, diluted with 2 Tbsp whole milk
1.5 tsp Matcha powder

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter and set aside. Melt the chocolate using a double-boiler.
Beat the eggs with the sugar until blended. Add the melted the butter and vanill extract and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the butter/egg mixture. Beat until blended, but do not overbeat.

Divide the batter in two halves. In the first half, add the Matcha tea, in the second the chocolate and cocoa diluted in milk. Stir each half until thorougly incorporated.

Spoon chocolate mixture into cupcake liners, and spoon matcha mixture on top of the chocolate. Fill liners about 1/2 – 2/3 full. You can use a toothpick or knife to gently stir the colors together for a marbled effect, or you can leave as is.

Bake in a preheated oven for 20-22 minutes. Test with a toothpick to make sure they are done.

Chocolate ganache

Ingredients
3oz dark chocolate
3oz heavy whipping cream

Method
Heat the whipping cream and chocolate in a small pan over low heat unti melted. Do not boil. Remove from heat and sit aside until cooler. Dip tops of cupcakes into the ganache and sit aside to let ganache harden, or put into the refrigerator to harden it quicker.

Matcha Swiss Meringue Buttercream
(method adapted from How To Eat A Cupcake)

2.4oz egg whites
4.8oz sugar
5.3oz unsalted butter, room temperature
1.5 tablespoons matcha (use more or less to suit your taste)

Method
Put egg whites and sugar into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees).

Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add matcha powder and continue beating 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles.

I think the green tea and cranberry is a nice pairing. The overall taste of the cupcake is very sweet; the cranberry taste of the frosting is very subtle, while the strongest cranberry taste comes from the filling. I will also note that I used a small amount of red food coloring in the cranberry parts of the cupcake.

The Iron Cupcake: Earth prizes this month are from Etsy artists Lollipop Workshop, Cookie Sunshine, Lots of Sprinkles and Cakespy. Corporate prizes are from Fiesta Products, Hello, Cupcake, Jessie Steele, Cupcake Courier, and Taste of Home. For this month only we have an added bonus from Sweet Cuppin Cakes Bakery and Cupcakery Supply.

Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

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Recipes:

Green Tea Cupcakes
based on Magnolia Bakery’s vanilla cupcake, and the same cupcake recipe I used for my my green tea cupcakes. What I did differently was divide the recipe by thirds; I ended up with eight cupcakes. For the green tea, add 1.5 teaspoons of green tea (matcha) powder to the flour mix.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Filling

Ingredients
* 1.5 ounces cream cheese
* 2 tablespoons cranberry sauce
* pinch of salt
* 6 ounces confectioners’ sugar

Method
Soften cream cheese and cranberry sauce together in medium sized bowl. Add salt. Gradually add sugar, beating with electric mixer until creamy. Add red food coloring, if desired, for a brighter color.

Cranberry Buttercream

Ingredients
* 1/2 cup cranberry juice
* 1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
* 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, more if desired for firmer texture
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
In a small saucepan, combine the juice and cranberries. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until softened. Let cool and either strain cranberry juice, pressing the berries until most of the juice is gone, or chop the cranberries finley.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Beat in the cranberries. Add more confectioners’ sugar for a firmer texture, if desired. Add red food coloring, if desired, for a brighter color.

White Chocolate Drizzle

Ingredients
* 2-3 squares Ghirardelli White Chocolate

Method
Melt white chocolate in small microwave safe bowl, microwaving in short bursts of 15 seconds, stirring after each 15 seconds. Shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds total. Spoon into sturdy sandwich bag, or piping bag, cut off a small tip of one corner and squeeze white chocolate in a quick sweeping motion on top of frosted cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a fresh cranberry, if desired.