Red Velvet Cupcakes

These cupcakes where the grand finale to my Christmas baking session. I brought them along for the family Christmas dinner at my dad's yesterday. And now that the festivities are over, I must say that this year, it was particularly lovely with the two babies Julia and Fynn around. They both played along really well and seemed to enjoy it. My mum always tells me that the year I was born, she had been looking forward to Christmas so much and, apparently, I then spent the evening crying under the Christmas tree. But Julia, to our great joy, really had a fun time. We'll have a few quiet days at home now until the new year starts and I am so curious what it will bring. Have a good start everyone and see you in 2016.

Recipe
(from the fabulous "Cake Days" by the Hummingbird Bakery) 

Ingredients
For the sponge
120g unsalted butter, softened
300g caster sugar
2 large eggs
20g cocoa powder
40ml red food colouring (such as Dr Oetker)
1 tsp vanilla essence
300g plain flour
1 tsp salt
240ml buttermilk
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the frosting
100g unsalted butter, softened
600g icing sugar
250g full-fat cream cheese (such as Philadelphia)

Coloured sprinkles, to decorate (optional)
One or two 12-hole deep muffin tins
Preheat the oven to 190°C and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.

Using a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Break in the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition and mixing in the scrapings from the sides of the bowl.

In a separate, small bowl, stir together the cocoa powder, food colouring and vanilla essence to form a paste. Add the paste to the batter, mixing thoroughly until the paste is completely incorporated.

Sift together the flour and salt in another bowl, then add the flour to the batter in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk and mixing thoroughly after each addition. Lastly, in another bowl, mix the vinegar and bicarbonate of soda together by hand and add it to the cake batter, mixing it in until it is fully incorporated.

Spoon the batter into the paper cases, so that they are two-thirds full, using any remaining batter to fill up to four more cases in another tin. Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when lightly pressed. Allow the cupcakes to cool for a short while in the tin, then place on a wire rack to cool completely before you frost them.

Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, and mixing on a low speed, beat the butter and icing sugar together until no large lumps of butter remain and the mixture is sandy in texture. Add the cream cheese and mix together slowly until everything is incorporated, then increase the speed to medium and beat the frosting until it is soft and fluffy.

Cover all cupcakes with 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese frosting, smoothing it down with a palette knife and making a swirl in the middle of the frosting for a decorative finish. Sprinkle with whatever decoration you fancy. I used crushed candy canes and sugar stars. 

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Last weekend, it was particularly foggy. The kind of weather that calls for comfort food. Most people would agree that a mug of hot chocolate definitely belongs to the category of comfort food. And so I thought, hot chocolate cupcakes would do the trick. And they really do taste like a cup of sweet hot chocolate - wonderful!

Recipe

(from one of my absolute favourites: Cake Days by The Hummingbird Bakery)

For the dough:

240ml milk
25g chocolate powder (the kind you use for hot chocolate like Banago or M-Quick from Migros)
80g soft butter
280g sugar
240g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line a 12-mould muffin pan with paper cases. With the recipes from this book, I usually end up with about 15 cupcakes.

In a small saucepan, warm up the milk and dissolve the chocolate powder. Set aside and let cool.

In a bowl, mix butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt with an electric hand mixer on low speed until you have a fine crumbly batter.

Mix chocolate milk and eggs and add to the cake batter in three additions while constantly mixing. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula from time to time. Mix until you have a smooth batter.

Fill your batter into the prepared cases. Don't overfill them or they will spill while baking! Two thirds is fine. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer whether they are done. Let cool completely after baking.

For the frosting:

60ml milk
30g chocolate powder
500g icing sugar
160g very soft butter

Warm up the milk and mix with the chocolate powder. Let cool In a bowl, mix butter and icing sugar with an electric mixer on low speed until you have a powdery batter. Slowly add the chocolate milk while constantly mixing. On high speed, mix until you have a fluffy batter.

Spread the frosting on your cupcakes with a palette knife and decorate with sugar pearls… whatever you feel like or fits for the occasion.

Smurf Cupcakes

Jacqueline has a thing for marshmallows. Especially smurf marshmallows. Edi found a large box of them at one of our local grocery stores a few weeks ago. Jacqueline - the sly girl she is - asked me to hide a few of them away and not to tell her or Edi were they are because she feared that there would not be any left for her birthday to use as a decoration for her cake. I did as she told me and I at some point, when thinking about what to bake for her birthday, I came up with the idea of smurf cupcakes, made of blue dough and white buttercream icing, each topped with a marshmallow smurf. I believe they were a big hit.

Recipe

(Vanilla cupcake recipe from Cake Days by The Hummingbird Bakery)

For the dough:

80g soft butter
280g sugar
1/2 sachet of vanilla sugar
240g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
240ml milk
blue food coloring

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line a 12-mould muffin pan with blue paper cases.

In a bowl, mix butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, flour, baking powder and salt with an electric hand mixer on low speed until you have a fine crumbly batter.

Mix milk and eggs and add to the cake batter in three additions while constantly mixing. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula from time to time. Mix until you have a smooth batter. Then, add blue food coloring and mix until it is well incorporated (I used the whole little tube of food coloring).

Fill your batter into the prepared cases. Don't overfill them or they will spill while baking! Two thirds is fine. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer whether they are done. Let cool completely after baking.

For the frosting:

500g icing sugar
1/2 sachet of vanilla sugar
160g very soft butter
50ml milk
12 marshmallow smurfs

In a bowl, mix butter, icing sugar and vanilla sugar with an electric mixer on low speed until you have a powdery batter. Slowly add the milk while constantly mixing. On high speed, mix until you have a fluffy batter. Then, add the dulce de leche and mix well.

Spread the frosting on your cupcakes with a palette knife and place one marshmallow smurf onto each cupcake.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Is it Easter already again?! Time flies, doesn't it? But I've been having a slow start today and I'm looking forward to a few days off now. This afternoon, I'm going to go over to Evelyn's sister Sibylle. As usual, she has invited her family and a bunch of other people to her house for the annual Easter egg coloring session. Last year, it was big fun and I have no doubt that we are going to have a great time today as well. I just finished decorating these cupcakes which I'm going to bring along for the dessert buffet and I thought, I might just have time to share them with you before I have to leave. Happy Easter you guys!

Recipe

(from one of my absolute favourites: Cake Days by The Hummingbird Bakery)

For the dough:

80g soft butter
280g sugar
1/2 sachet of vanilla sugar
240g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
240ml milk

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line a 12-mould muffin pan with paper cases.

In a bowl, mix butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, flour, baking powder and salt with an electric hand mixer on low speed until you have a fine crumbly batter.

Mix milk and eggs and add to the cake batter in three additions while constantly mixing. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula from time to time. Mix until you have a smooth batter.

Fill your batter into the prepared cases. Don't overfill them or they will spill while baking! Two thirds is fine. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer whether they are done. Let cool completely after baking.

For the frosting:

500g icing sugar
1/2 sachet of vanilla sugar
160g very soft butter
50ml milk

In a bowl, mix butter, icing sugar and vanilla sugar with an electric mixer on low speed until you have a powdery batter. Slowly add the milk while constantly mixing. On high speed, mix until you have a fluffy batter.

Spread the frosting on your cupcakes with a palette knife and decorate with sugar flowers or sugar pearls… whatever you feel like or fits for the occasion.

Gingerbread Cupcakes

It's the first of December - time to let the Christmas baking begin! I'm of course already trying to figure out what kind of cookies I'm going to bake. And, as usual, there's going to be a special cake for our family Christmas dinner. But, first things first... I'm always trying to take it easy during these December weeks when everyone tends to get stressed out. Which is why, right now, I'm spending a relaxing weekend at mum's. I took my laptop with me, however, so I won't have to deprive you of these lovely little treats here. Cupcake meets gingerbread. For these, I used a store-bought gingerbread spice-mixture (for all of you from Switzerland: I like the one from Migros) and the basic cupcake recipe comes from the always reliable and fabulous Cake Days.

Recipe

(slightly adapted from Süsse Sünden by Tarek Malouf and the Hummingbird Bakery)

For the cupcakes:

80g soft butter

280g sugar

240g flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon gingerbread spice-mixture

2 eggs

240ml milk

Preheat the oven to 190°C (convection oven 170°C). Line a 12-mould muffin pan with paper cases.

In a bowl, mix butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, gingerbread spice-mixture and salt with a hand mixer on low speed until you have a “sandy” mass.

Mix eggs and milk. Slowly add about three fourths of this to your batter until it’s blended well. Scrape down the bowl with a ladle. Add the rest of the egg-milk-mixture and beat on middle speed with your electric hand mixer.

Fill the 12 paper cases (to about two thirds). If you have remaining dough, fill it into more paper cases (I ended up with 16 cupcakes). Bake the cupcakes in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes until they have risen and the surface is springy. Test if they are done with a wooden skewer. If it comes out clean, your cupcakes are done.

Let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then, release from the pan carefully and let cool completely.

(Scroll down for the frosting)

For the frosting:

500g icing sugar

160g very soft butter

50ml milk

1 large pinch of gingerbread spice-mixtue

In a bowl, mix icing sugar, gingerbread spice-mixture and butter with a hand mixer on low speed. Slowly add the milk while constantly beating. Then, beat on high speed until you have a light and fluffy batter. 

Spread the frosting onto your cupcakes. Sprinkle with spice-mixture if you like. Put the cupcakes in a cool place until you serve them.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Last week on my last day before my one-week holiday, my boss asked me what I was going to do during my vacation. "I'm going to turn twenty-nine", I answered. "So you're going to bake cake?!", he said, smiling. And I answered that I was going to do that anyway, but, of course, my birthday is always the perfect occasion to have myself a little cake festival, as I like to call it. I had a few friends over yesterday to celebrate and I made sure they were going to get enough sweets. Next to cream cheese brownies (no birthday party without cream cheese brownies), a plum and an apricot cake, I made these peanut butter cupcakes which were also a big hit. A sweet and salty treat for the addict ;-)

Recipe

(slightly adapted from: Home Sweet Home by Tarek Malouf and the Hummingbird Bakery)

Makes about 12-16 cupcakes

For the sponge:

70g soft butter

210g plain flour

250g sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

210ml whole milk

2 large eggs

40g crunchy peanut butter

For the frosting:

500g icing sugar

160g soft butter

50ml whole milk

30g crunchy peanut butter

For the decoration:

salted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a muffin tray with paper cases.

In a bowl mix butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt with an electric hand mixer until they form a crumb-like consistency. In a jug, mix milk an eggs. With the mixer on low speed, gradually pour half of the liquid into the crumb mixture and mix thoroughly until combined. Raise the speed to medium and beat until the batter is smooth and thick, with no lumps. Scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Once all lumps are gone, turn the speed back down and gradually pour in the remaining liquid, continuing to mix until the batter is smooth and combined. Add the peanut butter and mix through, making sure it is evenly mixed through the batter.

Spoon the batter into your paper cases, filling them two-thirds full. I usually use my ice-cream scoop for this. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when lightly touched. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin and placing on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

In a bowl, mix icing sugar and butter together on low speed until combined and there are no large lumps in the butter. Gradually pour in the milk whole mixing on low speed. When all the liquid is incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed and beat the frosting until light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and mix well until the frosting is even and smooth.

Spoon generous amount of the frosting onto each cupcake, then gently smooth over with a palette knife, making a swirl at the top if you wish. Top each cupcake with chopped salted peanuts.

Ricotta Vanilla Cupcakes with Lime Frosting

Well, sometimes you have to work on a Sunday afternoon. But that doesn't mean that you can't have cake. I brought these cupcakes to the office today as a sweet motivation for our team. The recipe comes from the lovely Fräulein Klein. Check out her cute bunny ear decoration! Since it's not easter yet, I decided to cover my cupcakes with a buttercream frosting with a sour twist.

Recipe
(slightly adapted from Die wunderbare Welt von Fräulein Klein)

for 12 cupcakes:
175g flour
2 eggs
100g sugar
125g butter, soft
125g ricotta
1/2 vanilla pod, scraped out seeds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line muffin tray with paper cases.

In a bowl, beat sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the eggs and continue beating. Add the vanilla seeds, lemon juice, milk and ricotta and mix well. Add flour and baking powder.

Fill the dough into your paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Scroll down for the frosting recipe.

Frosting:

(slightly adaped from Tarek Malouf - Süsse Sünden)

500g icing sugar

160g soft butter

50ml milk

lime, grated zest and some juice

In a bowl, beat icing sugar and butter on low speed. Slowly add milk and keep beating until you have a soft and fluffy batter. Add lime zest and a splash of juice. Beat well. Spread on your cupcakes with a palette knife. Decorate with sugar pearls if you like.

Dulce De Leche Cupcakes

New Year's resolution: Bake more cupcakes. Start: Today! Those cute little cakes are true charmers... and with dulce de leche... Now, who wouldn't love that?! I hardly know anyone who doesn't like caramel. Let me tell you, even dogs like these cupcakes. But see below.

These were intended for Andrea's birthday party today. As I was on the way to her, I accidentally ran into Ina, another friend of mine from the office. I was so happy to see her that I spontaneously gave her two cupcakes for her and her husband who is sick at the moment. Cake, in my opinion, is the best medicine! Later this afternoon, I got a thank-you-sms with two pictures. One showing Ina and her husband taking a bite of the cupcakes (I swear they looked even sweeter than the cupcakes) and the other one showing the two emtpy paper cases on their dinner table. Isn't that cute?! Things like that really cheer me up! Also, I had a wonderful afternoon at Andrea's. So many funny moments... Including a tarot session with the girls and a cupcake-rescue operation. The cupcakes were placed on the living room-table and Edith's dog darted for them as soon as it was released from the leash. "Amie" seemed to love the icing... well, one cupcake was "contaminated" after that, but - thank God - we managed to save the rest :-)

Recipe
(from: Süsse Sünden by Tarek Malouf from the Hummingbird Bakery)

For the dough:

80g soft butter
280g sugar
1/2 sachet of vanilla sugar
240g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
240ml milk
150g dulce de leche

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line a 12-mould muffin pan with paper cases.

In a bowl, mix butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, flour, baking powder and salt with an electric hand mixer on low speed until you have a fine crumbly batter.

Mix milk and eggs and add to the cake batter in three additions while constantly mixing. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula from time to time. Mix until all is well combined. Add the dulce de leche  and mix until you have a smooth batter.

Fill your batter into the prepared cases. Don't overfill them or they will spill while baking! Two thirds is fine. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer whether they are done. Let cool completely after baking.

For the frosting:

500g icing sugar
160g very soft butter
50ml milk
100g dulce de leche, plus some more for decorating if you like

In a bowl, mix butter and icing sugar with an electric mixer on low speed until you have a powdery batter. Slowly add the milk while constantly mixing. On high speed, mix until you have a fluffy batter. Then, add the dulce de leche and mix well.

Spread the frosting on your cupcakes with a palette knife. Remember, I told you about Myriam und die Meisterbäcker?! In one of the series, she and Michelle explain how it's done!

If you like, you can use some more dulce de leche to decorate your cupcakes with a piping bag.

Sour Cherry Cupcakes

Here comes my undisputed favourite treat from my party buffet: I’m totally fond of these cute cupcakes! Beware! The frosting is quite heavy... But oh so delicious...

Recipe

(slightly adapted from one of my new favourite books – thanks for the tip Nadina! – Süsse Sünden by Tarek Malouf and the Hummingbird Bakery)

For the cupcakes:

80g soft butter

280g sugar

240g flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

240ml milk

150g sour cherries (from the glass), drained and chopped

Preheat the oven to 190°C (convection oven 170°C). Line a 12-mould muffin pan with paper cases.

In a bowl, mix butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt with a hand mixer on low speed until you have a “sandy” mass.

Mix eggs and milk. Slowly add about three fourths of this to your batter until it’s blended well. Scrape down the bowl with a ladle. Add the rest of the egg-milk-mixture and beat on middle speed with your electric hand mixer. Fold in the cherries until they are evenly dispersed.

Fill the 12 paper cases (to about two thirds). If you have remaining dough, fill it into more paper cases (I ended up with 16 cupcakes). Bake the cupcakes in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes until they have risen and the surface is springy. Test if they are done with a wooden skewer. If it comes out clean, your cupcakes are done.

Let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then, release from the pan carefully and let cool completely.

(Scroll down for the frosting)

In the meantime, prepare your frosting:

500g icing sugar

160g very soft butter

50ml milk

(80g sour cherries, drained and chopped, some left whole for the decoration)

In a bowl, mix icing sugar and butter with a hand mixer on low speed. Slowly add the milk while constantly beating. Then, beat on high speed until you have a light and fluffy batter. At this point, you can add the cherries which I left out. 

Spread the frosting onto your cupcakes. Decorate with remaining sour cherries if you like. Put the cupcakes in a cool place until you serve them.

Birthday Cupcakes

I know, I know... I am all about chocolate lately. But I just can't get away from it :-) So, for my friend Luzia's birthday party, it had to be something with chocolate. What I liked most about these cupcakes is the decadent frosting... I think I ate about half of it while decorating the cupcakes... highly addictive...

Recipe:
(from: Leila Lindholm - Piece of Cake)

3 eggs
200g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
50g butter
100ml cream
2 tablespoons cold coffee
200g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 pinch of salt
100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Prepare a muffin tray and fill it with 12 paper cases.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar until light and fluffy. Melt butter, mix with cream and coffee and add to you egg-mixture. Mix flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt and fold into the egg-mixture. Melt chocolate over a hot water bath and fold into your dough.

Fill dough into the muffin forms and bake for about 15 minutes. (I had to bake them for about 25 minutes...) Let cool.

For the frosting:

60g soft butter
300g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
20g cocoa powder
100g cream cheese
1 tablespoon hot coffee

Mix butter, icing sugar, vanilla sugar, cocoa and cream cheese, then add the coffee. Do this with a hand mixer and don't worry if your batter is crumbly at first, it will blend in and get creamy as soon as you add the hot coffee. To make sure the ingredients blend well, take the butter and the cream cheese out of the fridge well in advance.

Spread the icing over the cupcakes and decorate with sugar sprinkles, marzipan flowers, chopped nuts or whatever you like... enjoy...