a whisk and a spoon

Cupcake Hero: Cocoa-Malt Cupcakes with Malted Marshmallow Frosting

Happy anniversary, Cupcake Hero!  I haven’t participated in CH for the past few months, but how could I not jump back in the game to help Laurie celebrate its first year?  The theme for this month is actually to choose two themes from the past year and combine them into one double-good cupcake.  In honor of the festivities, I went with cocoa and marshmallow, (two of the past year’s best) to come up with these Cocoa-Malt Cupcakes with Malted Marshmallow Frosting.

Ever since I cracked open my jar of malt syrup earlier in the month, I’ve been dreaming of malt!  A bit of a one-track mind, I know.  I decided to incorporate the flavor into a simple Devil’s Food batter made with cocoa powder.  The frosting is a “loose interpretation” of marshmallow, in that no gelatin is involved.  Rather than mess with a sugar syrup, I made a fluffy Swiss meringue, also flavored, of course, with malt.

I was a little nervous wondering whether or not the addition of malt syrup to the batter would affect the baking.  They took a full 25 minutes in my oven, and after removing them from the cupcake tin, they still felt a little soft.  I put them on a sheet tray (out of the tin) and stuck them back in the oven for another 5 minutes.  When we had them later that night, the cakes were soft and moist and perfectly baked.  And the marshmallow frosting was sweet and sticky, just like it should be.

Check out the new Cupcake Hero page for a run-down of all this month’s entries!

Cocoa-Malt Cupcakes with Malted Marshmallow Frosting- makes 6 regular-size cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

Note:  For a more traditional Devil’s Food cupcake, replace the malt syrup with a dash of vanilla extract or a sprinkle of instant espresso powder.

1/6 c cocoa powder
1/4 c boiling water
1/4 c sour cream
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/8 c vegetable oil
2 t barley malt syrup
1/2 c AP flour
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c light brown sugar, packed
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t kosher salt

-Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line a cupcake tin with 6 paper liners.

-Put the cocoa in a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over it and whisk to combine.  Let sit for a few minutes to cool slightly.  Add the sour cream, egg, oil and malt syrup and whisk to thouroughly combine.

-In a separate bowl, sift or whisk the dry ingredients (including sugars) to combine.

-Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk just until blended.  

-Divide the batter among the cupcake cups.  The batter will be loose, so transferring it to a measuring cup and pouring it into the cups is probably easiest.

-Bake for about 25 minutes, until puffed and springy to the touch.

-Cool for 5 minutes and remove from the pans.  If the cupcakes feel soft on the bottom, set them on a baking sheet (not in cupcake tin) and pop them back in the oven for 5 minutes to firm up.  Allow to cool completely on a rack before frosting.

For the frosting:

Note:  Because this is meringue, it’s best to make the frosting just before topping your cupcakes (in other words, don’t make the frosting until you are ready to use it).  You can store the frosted cupcakes in the fridge overnight, if you have leftovers.  The meringue will be a little softer the next day, but still good!

1/4 c egg whites (about 2 whites)
1/2 c sugar
1 T barley malt syrup

-Combine sugar and egg whites in large metal bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Set bowl over saucepan of gently simmering water and whisk until mixture is hot to the touch and all the sugar has dissolved, about 2-3 minutes. Remove bowl from over water. Using the stand mixer fitted with the whip or a handheld electric mixer, beat meringue at high speed until very thick and billowy and room temperature, about 3-5 minutes.

-Add the malt syrup and whip on low speed for 1 minute.

-Spread or pipe the frosting on the cooled cupcakes.

SHF#47: Vanilla Date Cupcakes with Buttermilk Fudge Frosting

Not sure why, but I haven’t participated in Sugar High Friday in awhile. This month, though, I found myself seduced by a cupcake-loving pink flamingo into sending super-sweet Fanny a super-sweet cupcake for her round-up.

I’ve been on a tear lately trying to use up things in my pantry.  One of those things was a bag of dates that had been lingering around for longer than I would like to admit.  It was time for them to move out, and I found them a new home thanks to one of my favorite baking books, Regan Daley’s In the Sweet Kitchen.  She has a recipe for moist date cupcakes, flecked with vanilla bean and frosted with buttermilk fudge.  It sounded so interesting, I had to give it a go!

With the combination of dates, brown sugar and buttermilk, the cakes are golden-hued, really moist and delicious, and keep nicely for a few days.  There isn’t a picture in the book, but the author’s instructions led me to believe that the frosting would be quite stiff.  Mine actually had a consistency in between a glaze and a normal icing.  I could definitely spread it on, but I couldn’t heap it on.  It is definitely sweet, though, and a little goes a long way, so maybe that was a good thing.  I thought about chilling the icing, then whipping it further, but I liked the smooth tops and gentle drips that formed as it set.

Vanilla Date Cupcakes with Buttermilk Fudge Frosting- makes 8 regular-size cupcakes
adapted from Regan Daley’s In the Sweet Kitchen

Note: If some of these measurements seem a little screwy, that’s because I downsized it from the original, which was much larger and meant to produce jumbo cupcakes.

For the cupcakes:

2 1/2 oz plump, pitted dates, coarsely chopped
5 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c light brown sugar, packed
seeds of 1/3 vanilla bean
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 t pure vanilla extract (or dark rum)
1 c cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1/3 t baking powder
1/3 t baking soda
1/8 t kosher salt
pinch of grated nutmeg
1/3 c + 1 T buttermilk

-Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pan with 8 paper liners.

-Put the chopped dates in a small bowl and pour 3 T boiling water over them.  Let sit for a few minutes, and mash with a fork to a rough paste.  Set aside while you prepare the batter.

-By hand, or using a hand-held mixer, cream the butter, two sugars and vanilla seeds until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Add the egg, then add the vanilla extract (or rum) and mix well.

-In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.

-Add the buttermilk and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, beginning with the buttermilk and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended.  Fold the date paste into the batter with a rubber spatula.

-Divide the batter among the cupcake cups, filling each one 2/3 to 3/4 full. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

-Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely on a rack before frosting.

For the frosting:

1/2 c granulated sugar
1 1/2 t light corn syrup
1 1/3 T unsalted butter, in small pieces
1/3 c buttermilk, plus an additional 1 T, for thinning the cooked frosting
1/3 t baking soda, sifted
1/4 t pure vanilla extract or paste

-Combine the sugar, corn syrup, butter, buttermilk and baking soda in a heavy-bottomed pot (use a larger pot than you think you will need…this mixture bubbles up to about four times its original volume as it comes to the boil!).  Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Increase the heat slightly and bring the mixture to a boil.  Stir one last time as it comes to the boil, then don’t stir again.

-Boil the syrup until it reaches 236°F on a candy thermometer (soft ball stage).  You will see that the frosting caramelizes as it cooks.  Immediately pour it into a mixing bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip).  Let it cool for about five minutes.

-Stir in the vanilla extract or paste, then beat on medium speed until thick enough to spread, about five minutes.  If the frosting is too thick, add the additional buttermilk, one teaspoon at a time.

-Slather the tops of the cupcakes with the frosting and cool before serving.  You can place the cupcakes in the refrigerator to set the icing if it seems loose, or add additional teaspoons of buttermilk if it seems too thick.  (If it is too loose to work with, you can try chilling it for 10 minutes or so, then re-whipping.)

-Iced cupcakes can be stores for 2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator (bring to room temperature before serving).  If you have more frosting than you need, transfer extras to a small, flat container…it will set up as fudge in the refrigerator.

Cupcake Hero: Cocoa Cupcakes with Zebra Frosting

There has been something conspicuously absent from my diet the last few weeks.  Yeah, that’s right, where’s all the chocolate?  Trust me, I have noticed this and I aim to correct it now, thanks to Laurie and her cocoa powder-themed May Cupcake Hero event.  What’s more, Laurie has a prize from Askinosie Chocolate up for grabs!  Even if I’d been stuffing myself with the food of the gods lately, that’s all the incentive I need to make up a batch of cocoa cupcakes.

First things first, I had start with a good cake, and I knew I wanted it to be cocoa all the way through.  I poked around for a chocolate cupcake recipe that would incorporate cocoa as well as buttermilk (whenever I have an already open container in the fridge, and I really try to use it up).  Of course it was Ina to the rescue!  She had one that sounded pretty good in her book Barefoot Contessa at Home, but it made 14 to 15 cupcakes.  What a weird amount, and I certainly didn’t want that many…I didn’t even want half that.  So I cut it back to a third and somehow still wound up with six cupcakes.  I was a math major in college and even though those skills are a little rusty these days, I’m pretty sure six times three doesn’t equal 14 to 15.  But six was actually perfect, so don’t think I’m complaining.

The frosting was a little trickier, as I didn’t have any good gimmick planned ahead for my cupcakes.  Suddenly last week I realized it would be Memorial Day weekend back in the States (which you can forget all about when you’re so far away that it’s almost winter where you live), and in New York all the Mister Softee trucks would be out in force.  I began to feel quite sad thinking about the annoyingly catchy tune broadcast from the trucks’ speakers and my favorite soft-serve twist cones (which I have always called a “zebra” cone).  So zebra frosting it was gonna be, in buttercream form, of course!

I used a favorite whole-egg buttercream from Baking Illustrated.  The amount yielded in the recipe I provide is likely more than you will need for six cupcakes (it’s probably better suited to 12), but I’ve found that trying to do a really small amount in the KitchenAid doesn’t work well. One egg isn’t enough for the whip to pick up and aerate. Just use what you think you will need and save the rest as plain to flavor and use for another batch anytime with the next couple weeks. Although, if you have a hand-held mixer (I do not), then you may have fine results making just half the provided amount.

The trick to piping it zebra-style is to first set aside half the frosting you are using in one bowl (to be left as plain vanilla). Put the remaining half in another bowl, and to that, whisk in sifted cocoa (a teaspoon at a time) until you get the desired color and taste.  Then take a piping bag fitted with a wide tip and hold it wide open in one hand. Spoon in the vanilla frosting down one side of the bag and the chocolate down the other, so that the two are divided down the center. If you look into the bag, it will essentially look like a black and white cookie. You may have to squeeze out the first little bit into a bowl until you get the two halves coming through the tip.

The twisty frosting was oh-so-cute, and the cakes were moist and black as night. I didn’t even recognize the pastel cupcake liners I used!  They held up well in the fridge, too.  We ate ours over the course of three nights, bringing them up to room temperature first.  And I don’t know if it was because we’d been so chocolate-deprived, but we inhaled those cocoa things in all of two bites!

Cocoa Cupcakes- makes 6 regular-size cupcakes
adapted from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa at Home (here’s a link to the original)

4 T (2 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 T + 2 t granulated sugar
3 T + 2 t light brown sugar, packed
1 medium or large egg, at room temperature
3/4 t pure vanilla extract
1/3 c buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
2 T + 2 t sour cream, at room temperature
2 t brewed coffee
1/3 c + 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/3 c good cocoa powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/8 t kosher salt

-Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

-By hand, or using a hand-held mixer, cream the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Add the egg, then add the vanilla and mix well.

-In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

-Add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it’s completely blended.

-Divide the batter among the cupcake pans. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (keep an eye out so you don’t overbake).

-Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely on a rack before frosting.

Zebra Frosting - makes about 2 cups
adapted from a recipe for vanilla buttercream in Cook’s Illustrated’s Baking Illustrated

2 large eggs
1/2 cup (3.5 oz) sugar
1 t vanilla extract
pinch of salt
16 T (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened but still cool, cut into pieces
cocoa powder to taste

-Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepot. In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Set the bowl over the simmering water (making a double boiler). Whisk gently but constantly until the mixture reaches 160°F. It should be thin and foamy.

-Transfer the bowl to the mixer and whip until light, airy and room temperature. This should take about five minutes. Reduce the speed and whip in the butter, piece by piece. If it looks curdled halfway through, it should come together as you add the remaining butter.

-Once all the butter is incorporated, beat on high speed for about a minute until light and fluffy. You can refrigerate, covered, for a least a couple weeks, or flavor straight away.

 -To flavor, eyeball the portion of buttercream you will need for the amount of cupcakes you have.  Let come to room temperature if chilled.  Set aside half the frosting you are using in one bowl (to be left as plain vanilla) . Put the remaining half in another bowl, and to that, whisk in sifted cocoa, a teaspoon at a time, until you get the desired color and taste.

-Take a piping bag fitted with a wide tip and hold it wide open in one hand. Spoon in the vanilla frosting down one side of the bag and the chocolate down the other, so that a line basically forms down the center, separating the two. If you look into the bag, it will essentially look like a black and white cookie. You may have to squeeze out the first little bit into a bowl until you get the two halves coming through the tip. Then frost your cupcakes in a twisty swirl.