Cupcake Experiments

Lately, all I want to bake is cupcakes. So why not get a little creative? I made a batch of Devil's Food Chocolate and a batch of Golden Yellow cupcakes for a total of 48. I divided each batch in half, for greater variety with my experimentation. For half of the chocolate batch, I wanted to make a chocolate mint version, so I added 1/2 tsp Peppermint Extract to the batter. For an extra kick, I melted 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 2 tbs heavy cream and 1 tbs corn syrup to make a dark chocolate ganache filling. I cored out the middles and filled them with the ganache. I mixed up a batch of vanilla butter cream, and separated out enough to frost the dozen mint cupcakes. I added green gel food color and 1/2 tsp of Peppermint Extract before filling the decorating bag. I simple piping and an Andes mint topped this cupcake. 

The other half of the batch was intended for a "Chocolate Malt" flavor. However, when I went to the grocery store, they did not carry malt powder. This seems to be an epidemic. They no longer carry baker's superfine sugar, and now malt powder! I am going to end up special ordering all of my best ingredients. So, these cupcakes are really just "Chocolate Milkshake", but still fabulous. I cored the centers, filled with white vanilla butter cream, topped with made-from-scratch chocolate frosting and a dollop of the white butter cream. I used 2 different tips for a different effect, the butter cream resembles whipped cream. For a cute garnish, a Pepperidge Farm Pirouette cookie takes the place of a straw. I made sure to inset the cookie at an angle, allowing the cookie to sit in the core for stability. 

The Golden Vanilla batch did not turn out as expected. For half the batch, I wanted to make a "Banana Split" cupcake. I added 1 mashed banana to the batter. It was a disaster - they hardly rose in the oven, and they were severely rubbery and undercooked. All 12 went right in the trash. The second dozen was going to be a simple cake with no filling and butter cream frosting specially piped on top. I was dying to try to make chrysanthemums on top with some new decorator's tips. The pictures made it look so easy!! I did one, and it was not pretty, so I stuck with what I am good at. Simple piping and for a garnish - the cherry that was intended for the banana split cupcake. They looked pretty to me, and they tasted great too.