Perfect Recipe

Lemon Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks) of butter
3 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons
1 cup buttermilk

Lemon Buttercream:
1 and 1/4 cups butter (2 1/2 sticks)
2 tsp grated lemon rind
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners (I used yellow, although white would also be cute).

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Don’t go skimping here–you want the mixture to be almost white and super fluffy. This is absolutely essential to the outcome of the cake.
While butter and sugar are mixing, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside. After butter and sugar have mixed sufficiently, With the mixer running, add eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition. Beat in vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest. With mixer on low speed, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until fully incorporated.

Using a standard cookie scoop, place about 2 scoops of batter into each muffin cup. Fill these almost to the top. Bake about 20-25 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. You don’t want to overbake these even a bit, or they’ll start to lose their delicious moisture. Remove from oven and cool completely. Frost with lemon buttercream and garnish.

Buttercream:
Beat butter, lemon rind, and lemon juice in an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating to spreading consistency. Makes 2 and 3/4 cups

Hi Hat Cupcakes
± 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 and 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

For the Frosting:
1 and 3/4 cups sugar
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

For the Chocolate Coating:
2 cups chopped (about 12 ounces) semisweet chocolate
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center. Prepare the batter: Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl, and set it over a medium saucepan of barely simmering water; stir chocolate until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from heat, and set aside to cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed, scraping sides of bowl as needed, until light and fluffy. On low speed, mix in melted chocolate. Increase speed to medium, and add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla, and beat until mixture is creamy and color has lightened slightly, about 1 minute. Mix in sour cream. On low speed, add half of reserved flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Mix in 1/2 cup water. Add remaining flour mixture, and mix until just incorporated.
Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Fill each liner with enough batter to come 1/8 inch from top, about 1/3 cup. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until tops are firm and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool in pan for 10 minutes.
Use a small knife to loosen any tops stuck to the pan. Carefully invert cupcakes onto the wire rack. Turn cupcakes right side up, and let cool completely.

Prepare the frosting:
In a large heatproof bowl, combine sugar, 1/4 cup water, egg whites, and cream of tartar. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on high speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Set bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Beat on high speed until frosting forms stiff peaks, about 12 minutes; frosting should register 160 degrees.on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and almond extracts, and beat for 2 minutes more until frosting thickens.
Transfer frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain pastry tip. Leaving a 1/8-inch border on each cupcake, pipe a spiral of frosting into a 2-inch-high cone shape, using about 1/2 cup of frosting per cupcake. Transfer cupcakes to a baking sheet, and refrigerate while preparing the chocolate coating.

Prepare the chocolate coating:
Combine chocolate and oil in a medium heat-proof bowl set over a medium saucepan of barely simmering water; stir until melted and smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, and let cool about 15 minutes.
Holding each cupcake by its bottom, dip cupcake in the chocolate to coat frosting, allowing excess to drip off. Transfer to a baking sheet fitted with a wire rack. Spoon more coating around edge of cupcake and any exposed frosting; none of the frosting should show. Let cupcakes stand at room temperature 15 minutes.
Carefully remove paper liners from cupcakes, and discard. Place cupcakes on a serving platter, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to let coating set. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours more. Serve cold. Cupcakes can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Oreo Cupcake

Ingredients:

225g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
85g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
150g sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup(240ml) nonfat unsweetened yogurt
1 tsp vanilla essence
80g Oreo cookies, roughly crushed

Whole Oreo cookies for decorating

Frosting:

5 Tablespoons Flour
1 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

Directions:

Cupcake:
Preheat oven to 180C and grease or line a 8-inch round tin. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Dribble in eggs slowly, about 1 tbsp at a time, beating constantly for about 2 mins. On low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined. Beat in ½ of the yogurt. Then beat in 1/2 of the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining yogurt, and vanilla extract. Finally beat in the remaining flour mixture. Lastly, fold in the crushed cookies.
Pour into prepared tin, arrange whole Oreos on top and bake for about 40 – 50 mins till skewer inserted comes out clean.

Frosting:
In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it to be very thick, thicker than cake mix, more like a brownie mix is. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If I’m in a hurry, I place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools.) It must be completely cool before you use it in the next step. Stir in vanilla.

While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. You don’t want any sugar graininess left. Then add the completely cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat the living daylights out of it. If it looks separated, you haven’t beaten it enough! Beat it until it all combines and resembles whipped cream. Grab a spoon and spread it on a cooled chocolate cake.

Nutella Frosted Cupcakes
Makes 12

Ingredients:

10 tbsp(140 grams) butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups (200 grams) sifted ap flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don’t worry if the batter doesn’t look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.
Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter. They should be 3/4 full, if you’re not using a scoop. Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the nutella.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Devil’s Food Cupcake with Passion Fruit Filling

Ingredients:

1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dark or regular unsweetened cocoa powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 cup buttermilk

Filling:
250g white chocolate, finely chopped
200g whipping cream
1/8 cup (30ml) concentrated bottled passion fruit juice

To brush the cake:
½ tablespoon concentrated bottled passion fruit juice diluted in 4 tablespoons water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil two 7.9inch (20cm) springform cake pan and line the bottom with baking paper.

Start by making the filling: place the cream in a saucepan and heat until it is nearly boiling. Remove from heat and add the chocolate all at once. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is silky and smooth. Add the juice, mix well; refrigerate it, well covered, for 4-6 hours or until set.

To make the cupcakes, in a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat oil, butter, granulated sugar and vanilla, until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Beat in 1 cup melted chocolate chips until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, until well combined, about 2-3 minutes.
Divide batter into cupcakes pans. Bake 20 minutes, or until just set, and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.