A cupcake craze has blossomed in the past decade.
Cupcakes are now subbing in for wedding cakes and specialty cupcake bakeries are springing up everywhere. The flavour options for cupcakes are vast, and thousands of creative decorating ideas are just a Google search away. Here are three lovely recipes to get you started.
Chocolate Heaven Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp instant espresso powder
½ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large egg, room temperature
½ tsp vanilla
½ cup boiling water
Chocolate buttercream icing:
2 cups icing sugar
1⁄3 cup cocoa
1⁄3 cup room temperature butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp light cream or homogenized milk
Preheat oven to 325º F. Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin. In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder. Turn mixer on low speed to combine dry ingredients.
Add the milk, oil, egg and vanilla to the flour mixture and mix on medium speed until well combined. Turn mixer off and add the boiling water.
Turn mixer on to lowest speed and mix until the water is absorbed into the batter. Be careful, the batter is very runny and will splash everywhere if you’re not careful. Then beat on medium-high for one minute to add air to the batter. Fill the lined muffin cups three-quarters full and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool for five minutes, then remove them from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack. When cool, ice with chocolate buttercream. Makes 12 cupcakes.
To make icing, beat the icing sugar, cocoa and butter together on low speed until well combined. Add vanilla, then add milk a little at a time until icing is at desired consistency.
Beat icing at high speed for one minute.
Lemon Cloud Cupcakes
4 Tbsp butter, softened
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Finely grated zest of two lemons
1⁄3 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1¾ cups cake flour (it’s important to use cake flour because the cupcakes won’t be as light if you use all-purpose)
1¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1⁄3 cup buttermilk
½ cup whipping cream
Lemon icing:
4 Tbsp butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
Juice and zest of two lemons
Pinch of salt
4 cups sifted icing sugar
Preheat oven to 350º F. Line two muffin tins with paper liners. In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter to soften and continue beating until it is light in colour, about three minutes.
Add the sugar and continue beating until mixture is very light, scraping the sides of the bowl at least once. Beat in the lemon juice and zest, then blend in the oil. Blend in the egg yolks one at a time on low speed, mixing just to blend after each addition, then blend in the whole eggs one at a time, mixing just to blend.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. On low speed blend half the flour mixture into the batter, then blend in half the buttermilk. Add the remaining flour and mix until the flour is incorporated, then mix in the remaining buttermilk.
In a separate mixing bowl beat the whipping cream to just slightly beyond the soft peak stage. Gently stir half the whipped cream into the batter to lighten it, then fold the rest of the cream into the batter. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners until two-thirds full; gently tap muffin tins on counter to release any air bubbles. Bake for about 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pans for five minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely before icing. Makes 24 cupcakes.
To make icing, beat butter and cream cheese together until soft. Add the lemon juice and zest as well as the salt, mix to combine. On low speed, add the icing sugar one cup at a time until desired consistency is reached. Beat icing on high speed for one minute.
Sugar Cookie Cupcakes
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
¾ cup light cream
Vanilla buttercream icing:
1 Tbsp cream cheese, softened
2½ cups icing sugar
4 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp light cream
Optional: red food colouring, red decorating sugar or coloured sprinkles
Preheat oven to 350º F and line a muffin tin with paper liners. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy, about two minutes. Mix in the vanilla and eggs. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; add flour mixture to the batter and mix on medium speed until well combined. Add the cream and mix until batter is smooth.
Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling about two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until just barely brown around the edges and tops spring back when touched. Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for five minutes then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack before icing. Makes 12 cupcakes.
To make icing, cream together the cream cheese, butter and icing sugar. Mix in vanilla, then gradually add the cream until desired consistency is reached. Beat icing on high speed for one minute. If desired, use food colouring to tint icing a soft pink, and sprinkle iced cupcakes with decorating sugar or coloured sprinkles.
Angela Shellard is aself-described foodie. She has done informal catering for various functions. Contact: [email protected].
