I Dream of Dessert, American Classics Made Modern has launched today with none other than a cupcake recipe. You can expect much the same from my new blog as from this blog… a focus on unique recipes, infrequent, but quality posts, and lots of mouth watering photos.

This post has taken me a while, I know. And that is partly because it’s my last post here on this blog. That’s right, CupcakeBlog is shutting down. The decision was not taken lately, trust me, but a combination of factors came together… a botched wordpress upgrade (I am still without access to the admin console having to do everything directly against the database and will never recover my old categories), a planned move this summer (time to get the house staged and ready to sell), and a general feeling that I am ready for a break (a one year old requires much more attention than a sleepy 6 month old).

So, this is my last post. Comments will be turned off soon, but the site will remain up for as long as it gets traffic. I do intend to blog again. I will be back once we are moved and settled in with a new blog and a slightly different theme. I want to thank everyone who has supported CupcakeBlog. It’s been an absolute pleasure sharing my creations with you and I look forward to doing it again in the future.

Now about this recipe…

This recipe is inspired by a classic lime tart. It involves four layers - a crunchy ginger, biscuit crust, lime cake, lime pastry cream, and meringue frosting. While the end result can be difficult to eat (we ate them with a spoon), the flavor was great. The only other issue is that because the “tart” part of this cupcake requires refrigeration, the “cake” part was cold and dense… But it’s only part of the whole experience and didn’t ruin it by any means. I wondered what they would taste like at room temperature, but they were all scooped up in a couple of minutes.

Ginger Biscuit Crust

1 cup graham cracker crumbs or biscuit crumbs
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped finely

1. Combine the crumbs, ginger, and melted butter.
2. Scoop a heaping teaspoon into each cupcake paper, pressing down to cover the bottom.

Note: In the spirit of working with what I had, I used my daughter’s barley teething biscuits to make the crust. They are crunchy, not too sweet, and flavorful. They worked out great.

Lime Cupcakes
~12 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
zest of one lime

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Measure out milk, lime juice, and lime zest.
5. Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
6. Spoon batter over biscuit crust until just under 1/2 full - after they are backed you want about a 1/4 inch at the top for the pastry cream.
7. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Lime Pastry Cream

1 cup Whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
lime juice from 2 limes (~1/4 cup)
zest of one lime

1. Heat milk, half of the sugar and salt in a pan over medium until it reaches a simmer,
2. Whisk egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining half of the sugar in a medium sized bowl until combined.
3. Slowly add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture, whisking continuously.
4. Add remaining milk mixture slowly while whisking.
5. Transfer back into the pan and heat over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until it thickens. It will thicken all of a sudden, give it a good whisk then take it off the heat.
6. Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer and with the paddle attachment on medium speed start to beat the mixture.
7. After a minute or so, slowly add the soft butter in small chunks beating until incorporated. Continue to beat on medium speed for a couple more minutes.
8. While beating on medium speed, slowly add the lime juice and zest. Taste occasionally and add more or less lime juice depending on how tart you want it. I like the pastry cream to be very tart to balance the sweet meringue.
9. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap pressing down so it touches the cream directly, and refrigerate until cool, hour or so. This can be made a day in advance.

Meringue Frosting

3 egg whites
3/4 cups sugar

1. Combine the ingredients into the mixing bowl of your stand mixer and set over a Bain Marie (water bath).
2. Whisk by hand for a few minutes until the sugar is dissolved or preferably until the mixture reaches 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Beat on medium speed for 10 minutes.
4. Beat on high speed until stiff glossy peaks form, about 5 to 10 minutes more.

Note: Meringue does not store well. Prepare when you are just ready to top the cupcakes.

assembly

Assemble
1. Top the cupcakes with pastry cream then a dollop of meringue.
2. Top off with toasted coconut, candied lime peel, biscuit crumbs, or lime zest, whatever you have and prefer.

Note: These cupcakes don’t store very well. You can store them for a few hours in a refrigerator. Some condensation might collect on the pastry cream though. They are definitely best consumed the same day.

Here is another simple cupcake recipe. This one was for a 2 year old’s birthday party - Naomi’s cousin. While it’s not super exciting, the resulting cupcake is very tasty, a crowd-pleaser, and relatively easy to put together. I also did a small batch for a small group. The recipes could be easily doubled or quadrupled without any problems. One pint of strawberries is all you will need to both top the cupcakes and to chop for the filling.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes
~8 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temp
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg, room temp
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup high quality unsweetened cocoa powder like Valrhona brand
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2 Add egg and beat until well combined.
3. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Strawberry Ganache Filling and Ganache Glaze

4.5 ounces (128 grams) Valrhona 85% cacao (or any bittersweet chocolate)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
1/3 cup strawberries, diced

1. Chop chocolate and transfer into a heat proof bowl.
2. Heat cream until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream over the chocolate.
3. Let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.
4. Add vanilla and salt. Stir until combined.
5. Divide the ganache in two approximate equal portions. In the first portion, mix in the chopped strawberries. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill.
6. Leave the second portion on the counter to cool down. You want the filling to thicken up before the glaze. Once the filling is think, fill the cupcakes with it. Then glaze with the glaze. See assembly instructions below.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 cups powdered sugar

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy.
2. Add the milk, vanilla extract, and 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat at low speed, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to arrive at the consistency and sweetness you like.

Assemble
1. Fill the cupcakes with the strawberry ganache filling using the cone method. This post has step by step photos of the method.
2. Spoon a tablespoon of glaze on each filled cupcake and smooth.
3. Top with buttercream frosting and a strawberry.

One of my most favorite places to discover unique ingredients and find inspiration for my latest creation is Boulettes Larder. My recent visit turned up the very special sea salt used to garnish these cupcakes and a very delicious pasta dish that was well worth the 18 dollar Tuesday lunch splurge.

The vanilla cupcake recipe is a make-up for my bookkeeping mishap of this post. It’s close to the same recipe, slightly altered and I amped it up with more vanilla. The recipe contains vanilla in 3 forms - vanilla extract, vanilla sugar, and vanilla bean. Why 3 forms? Why not.

As you may recall, I did a side by side comparison of Martha’s and Amy’s vanilla cupcakes for this post. The end results of these two recipes are two very different vanilla cupcakes. One tastes better and has a more delicate texture (Amy’s) but is more difficult to execute. The other is fail safe, but dense and not as tasty.

I am looking to come up somewhere in the middle, but leaning towards the tasty/delicate end of the spectrum. I have also tested Magnolia’s recipe and Claire Crespo’s vanilla cupcake recipe. Based on my recollection and comparison of the recipes, Martha’s is the most dense/fail proof, Magnolia’s comes next (note: Billy’s is pretty much the same as Magnolia’s minus a few tweaks), then Claire’s, then Amy’s.

I, of course, am trying to come up with my own version… My goal is to be as close to the texture & taste of Amy’s, but without the execution challenges. So, the recipe below is probably the second or third try and I still have some work. This version is probably between Magnolia’s and Claire’s, but I want to be somewhere between Claire’s and Amy’s. Whew… That was likely confusing.

The vanilla sea salt is a nice touch. If you can’t find it, just find some high quality sea salt, and mix it with some vanilla bean seeds. The Chef at Boulettes gave me the low down as to where this salt came from - Anglesey, Wales - and how its made. Its made by a family on the beach by evaporating sea water in stainless steel vats. The sea salt is then stored with Tahitian vanilla bean in clay pots. Sounds nice…

vanilla sea salt

Vanilla Sugar

1 vanilla bean, split
1 pound sugar

1. Split the vanilla bean but don’t scrape out the seeds. Put it with the sugar in an airtight container. Store in a cupboard for around 5 days or more. Shake it up once in a while.

splitting the bean

3 Vanilla Cupcakes
20 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

3/4 cup (1-1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1-2/3 cups vanilla sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2-2/3 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out

1. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
3. Measure the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
5. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
6. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3’s full. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

scraping the seeds

Vanilla Bean Frosting

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 package (8 ounces) philly cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
-4-5 cups powdered sugar

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy.
2. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.
3. Add the vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, and 3 cups of powdered sugar and beat at low speed, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to arrive at the consistency and sweetness you like.

Assemble
1. Frost each cooled cupcake with a healthy mound of frosting.
2. Top with vanilla seat salt or whatever you so desire.

filling the bag

frosting the cupcakes

I should mention… You should actually save the vanilla beans you scrape the beans out of and also use those to make vanilla sugar or reuse in some way as there is likely a lot of life left in them. Reminded by this post…

I have had wasabi in a cupcake before, but with dark chocolate. When I saw the white chocolate and wasabi combination on episode 4 of Top Chef, I figured… why not?

I knew I wanted to do a fruity filling and after some pondering, plums came to mind. I thought the tartness of the plums would balance the sweetness of the white chocolate. I also liked that the plums would carry through the Japanese theme.

These cupcakes sound a bit crazier than they taste. The most dominant flavor is that of the filling. The tartness of the plums and the hit from the sake show through the most. I really liked the filling by itself. Even just pairing the filling with a simple vanilla cake would be delicious.

The cake has a nice, firm but moist texture that went well with the filling. However, its flavors were a bit lost. I wasn’t getting white chocolate and wasabi in any direct way, but there was definitely something going on there beyond a simple cake. It’s just a challenge to pinpoint it.

I topped the cupcake with a simple white chocolate frosting that is delicious and one of my new favorites. I considered putting some wasabi in the frosting, but didn’t want to overwhelm my tasters. If you are feeling adventurous, give it a try!

I had come up with the idea for the cupcake and then went away on a little mini-vacation. I was shopping at the local grocery store and strangely enough they had both wasabi and plum sesame seeds. I just had to buy them and use them to decorate the cupcakes. I really stumbled upon them and am not sure where anyone could pick them up other than the Surf Supermarket in Gualala, California.

Wasabi White Chocolate Cupcakes
~28 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

7 ounces white chocolate
3/4 cups (1-1/2 sticks) butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 eggs
1-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons wasabi paste

1. Chop chocolate and transfer into the bowl of a standing mixer.
2. Add butter to the chocolate and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until chocolate melts and butter is combined.
3. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Note that when you add the sugar the mixture will separate and look pretty funky. This is ok.
4. Let mixture cool for 10 minutes.
5. Add the vanilla. Beat in an electric mixer for 3 minutes. Mixture will thicken and you should no longer see butter floating on the top.
6. Add one egg at a time, mixing for 10 seconds between each.
7. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the mixture, return to the electric mixer, and mix until blended.
8. Add wasabi paste and mix until blended.
9. Scoop into cupcake cups 2/3s full and transfer to a 350 F oven. Bake for ~22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Note: The tops of the cupcakes will have an odd looking texture (as reported the last time I made them). It’s ok, it will get covered with frosting…

filled cupcakes

Plum Sake Filling

4 plums
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sake
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

1. Pit and chop the plums to a small dice. Leave the peel on, it gives a nice color.
2. Heat water and plums over medium-high heat until boiling.
3. Reduce heat to low and continue cooking, stirring regularly until plums are soft, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the sake a tablespoon at a time tasting after each addition. You want to taste the sake, but not have the alcohol be too prominent.
6. Mix sugar and cornstarch together. Add to the plum mixture and stir to combine. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar just to the point when the mixture starts to taste sweet.
7. Transfer to a heat proof bowl. Let sit at room temperature until cool. If making in advance, cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

White Chocolate Frosting

7 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 package (8 ounces) philly cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
~2 cups powdered sugar

1. In a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, gently melt the white chocolate. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined.
2. Beat in the melted white chocolate.
3. Add the vanilla and 2 cups of powdered sugar and beat at low speed, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to arrive at the consistency and sweetness you like. 2 cups worked for me.

filling the cupcakes

Assemble
1. Fill the cupcakes with the plum filling using the cone method.
2. Garnish with sesame seeds.

I made these here cupcakes for the first ever bay area cupcake meetup that happened this weekend. A lovely group of people showed up at Dolores Park in San Francisco with creative and tasty cupcakes to share. We talked shop and caused a bit of a scene. Apparently the idea of a group of people meeting up in a park to eat cupcakes is unusual. Go figure! If you are in the bay area sign-up for the meetup we plan to meet seasonally. The next gathering will be sometime this summer.

Back to the cupcakes… I often think of fall when I think of pears (much like apples), but I hadn’t worked with pears in a cupcake and was eager to do so. I decided to “spring them up” a bit and paired the pear with vanilla bean. I enjoyed the combination and all in all consider the cupcake a success.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes
~30 regular cupcakes / 375 degree oven

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
2-1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temp
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.
5. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine
6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
7. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 1/2’s full. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Note: As mentioned previously with this recipe, if you overfill the cupcakes, they will overflow and then sink. To be on the safe side I am now recommending that you fill the cupcakes 1/2 full. With a big batch you may still have some problems with one or two of them, but the majority should work out just fine. Your oven must be for sure hot enough, so it doesn’t hurt to get an oven thermometer and make sure it’s at the correct temperature. These cupcakes are temperamental, but the resulting cake is worth it.

chocolate cupcake

Pear Filling

1 good sized pear, pealed, pitted, and chopped into small dice
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 vanilla bean

1. Add pear and water to a medium sized pan. Cook for 10 minutes over medium-high heat.
2. Stir together sugar and cornstarch then stir into the pears.
3. Split open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the pears.
4. Cook until thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.

Note: The filling can be made a day in advance and stored covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

pear filling

Soft Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
4 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 vanilla bean
2 tablespoons milk

1. Beat butter at medium-high speed until creamy.
2. Sift powdered sugar into the mixer bowl (right on top of the beaten butter). Beat to combine.
3. Split open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the frosting.
4. Add the vanilla and the milk. Beat until combined.

Pear Chips

1 good sized pear

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice thin cross-sections of pear.
3. Place on a baking sheet making sure that the slices do not touch.
4. Let them dry in a 200 degree oven for about 1 hour (depends on how thin the slices are) flipping 2 or 3 times until they are dried out and no longer soggy.

pear chips

Assemble
1. Fill the cupcakes with the pear filling using the cone method. This post has step by step photos of the method.
2. Frost with frosting and top with a pear chip.

cupcakes from the meetup

My neighbor is a bee keeper. Mostly she keeps bees in a more lush area of the city, but she also has some hives in her backyard. She dropped off some of her backyard honey the other day. I just had to make some cupcakes with it! This creation consists of honey chiffon cake, layered with some salty peanuts, and then topped with a honey cream cheese frosting.

I had some challenges with the cake and wasn’t able to experiment enough with it to get it to my high standards. The posted recipe is just shy of what I would deem acceptable, but the frosting is a definite winner.

I have had some people ask me, “How do I do it?” what with a demanding full-time job, a baby, the blog… Well, I don’t really do it… not like I used to, anyway. It’s definitely a lot harder to devote the time required to get a great post together given that they often involve recipe development of some sort. I am exploring other content ideas to help bridge the gap between posts, but I don’t want to just link or refer to other existing content on the web - there are already plenty of blogs doing just that and doing it well. So, we shall see. In the meanwhile, explore the archives if you haven’t had a chance.

I am planning on baking next for the first ever meet-up of the Bay Area Cupcakes Take the Cake group. My inspiration for my next creation is color and the plan is to pair chocolate and fruit in a few different combinations… Join us if you are from the area!

Honey Peanut Cupcakes
~9 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

2 tablespoons peanuts, unsalted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup + 1 tablespoon flour (cake if you have it, otherwise all-purpose)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons grape seed oil or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons whole milk
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup thick honey
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/4 cup sugar

1. Chop peanuts together with the salt and set aside. If you can’t find unsalted peanuts use the salted but only add a pinch of additional salt. Taste the chopped nuts and make sure they are salty.
2. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into the bowl of a standing mixer.
3. In a medium bowl, combine oil, milk, egg yolks, and honey. Stir to combine.
4. On a low setting, start to beat the dry mixture and slowly add the wet. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until incorporated.
5. Transfer mixture to another bowl. Wash and dry mixer bowl.
6. Whip egg whites with whip attachment on medium-high speed until foamy. With the mixer on medium speed, add cream of tarter and slowly add sugar. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
7. Scoop a cupful of the stiff egg whites into the batter and stir to combine. This should lighten up the batter.
8. Transfer the batter to the egg whites and gently fold until there are no more streaks of egg white.
9. Fill cupcake cups about 1/3 full. The sprinkle peanut/salt mixture over top. Fill with batter up to 2/3s full and bake at 350 F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

layering in some peanuts

Honey Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces or 1/2 package of Philly cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 tablespoons thick honey

1. Bring butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours.
2. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl or onto parchment.
3. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.
4. Add 1 cup of the powdered sugar and the honey. Beat until combined.
5. Add more sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.

Note: The honey I used in both recipes was very thick, meaning it was not pourable unless I warmed it in a water bath first. This works great for the frosting as it keeps it thick. Note that if you use pourable honey the texture of both recipes may change slightly!

Assemble
1. Frost.
2. Topped with chopped, salted peanuts.