A tale of apples, dieting and apple spice cupcakes 2 ways

 How bout them apples? 

Quite frankly I can't believe I can even stand to look at apples.

A little over a month ago as I sat down to do my charting, I felt an uncomfortable pinch at my waist.
My gosh, these are already SCRUBS & worse yet they are my 'fat girl' scrubs.  Sigh...


Yes, my baking obsession had gotten the best of me, or more appropriately, the worst.  I had been slowly gaining weight, but I was in denial.  I wore dresses instead of pants.  When I went to the beach, I sported a rash guard and surf shorts.  Sexy, right?  I avoided my scale like the plague.  But there was no denying the weight gain once my baggy scrubs started to have "screaming seams" as my co-worker, who is not known for mincing words, put it.  I won't go into the details of the diet, but let's just say it was intense. Strict!  NO SUGAR(processed or refined) or carbs whatsoever.  Well, I had done it to myself and drastic times called for drastic measures.

I baked without sampling.  That's right.  Not even a lick of the beater.  Not one single cookie crumb.  Torture!

I learned to enjoy baking through smell.   Baked good right up to the nose, eyes closed, and then inhale deep and long.  Ahhh.  My niece actually started offering me to "smell her food" before she ate it.  She so gets me.

I was allowed to eat 3 different fruits-apples, oranges and strawberries.  The oranges and strawberries saved my diet.  But the apples never cut it for me.  Worse yet, they were almost double the calories of the oranges and strawberries.  Didn't matter though.  I still had to eat them about once every 1.5 days.   Literally an apple a day.  Bleck.  Boring.

I made it through the diet.  My baggy scrubs were once again baggy.  I could wear my jeans(comfortably)again.  No more apples.  That was until I came across this recipe.

It IS fall and honestly, how bad can apples be in a cupcake?

Apples are AWESOME in a cupcake!!!

This cupcake is sturdy, almost muffin-like.  It has hearty chunks a fuji apples in every bite.  Very moist.  "10 out of 10" is my hubbie's rating.  And I reluctantly admit, that apples can be good in the right context.

I used 2 different frostings for these.  The first was my own experiment.  It is a whipped mascarpone honey frosting.  It is delicious, but the Hawaiian humidity got the best of it and it was more of a glaze as far as consistency.  I was hoping for big fluffy mounds of frosting.  Nonetheless, it was delicious.



  

The second frosting is homemade whipped cream and if you like a lighter, less sweet frosting, I would go with this one.

Both are good warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds and then topped with your choice of frosting.


Apple Spice Cupcake from Cupcakes

Ingredients


1/2 C unsalted butter at room temperature
3 apples(about 1lb), peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 T plus 3/4 C sugar
1 C AP flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ground allspice
pinch of nutmeg
2 large eggs at room temp
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream

Method

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 F.  Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liner.  In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the 2 T of the butter.  Add the chunks of apples and the 2 T of sugar and cook, stirring often, until the apples are translucent and soft, 5-7 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.  In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the remaining 6 T butter and the 3/4 C sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.  Slowly add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined.  Add the sour cream and reserved apple mixture and fold in until just incorporated.
Divide evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.  Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.  Let them cool on a wire rack in the pans for 5 minutes.  Then remove from pan and place on wire rack an let them cool completely, about 1 hour.

Whipped frosting


Ingredients


2 and 1/4 C heavy cream, chilled
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Method

To make the frosting, place the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip on medium-low speed at first, gradually increasing to high speed.  Blend in the confectioners’ sugar gradually.  Whip until stiff peaks form, being careful not to over-beat.  Use a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip to frost the cooled cupcakes.  Sprinkle with ground cinnamon and drizzle with caramel sauce.  Store in an airtight container and refrigerate.

Honey-Mascarpone Whipped Frosting


Ingredients


8 oz mascarpone
6 T butter
1/2 vanill extract
3/4 powdered sugar
2 T honey

Method

In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the mascarpone, butter and vanilla together until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.  Gradually beat in sifted powdered sugar and mix until thoroughly combined, scraping your bowl as needed.  Add 2 T honey and mix until combined.

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

Ahhh, autumn!  What a glorious season.  The crisp air.  The golden & rust colored leaves.  A time to pull out your cute boots and....caps?  What would be another cute article of clothing that would surface in the fall?
You see, it's been 15 years since I've had the pleasure of donning any cool weather clothes.  No season changes for me.  I live on an island smack dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  Hawai'i.  Actually, Oahu to be exact.    I know some of you might have a difficult time feeling sorry for me.  I live here.

Well, my husband works here & this is where we have all of our family gatherings, but you get the idea.
So while I'm sure you won't be crying me a river any time soon, surely you can appreciate my nostalgia for fall & spring.
It doesn't help that all of the blogs that I frequent are practically bragging to me about their recent trips to the apple orchard.  How they taunt me with their stories of football games, hay rides, blah, blah, blah.  Bitter?  Maybe just a tad.
So, I bake.  I make fall-themed items.  Frito pie, pumpkin cookies, chili.  Anything that conjures up images from my childhood.
These cupcakes are the perfect homage to autumn-a moist pumpkin cake brushed with coffee & topped with the yummiest homemade whipped cream dusted with cinnamon.

 I sit here at my desk with my coffee.  I eat one & imagine that it is twilight & I can hear the high school marching band playing in the distance.  The air is cool and the wind howls.
Ok, that'll have to do for now.
I feel chilly and my thermometer confirms that it's a cool 66 degrees.  Time to break out the sweat pants.

Yield: about 2 dozen cupcakes Ingredients: For the cupcakes: 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 3 tbsp. espresso powder 2 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg 1/8 tsp. ground cloves 1 tsp. salt 1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup canola or vegetable oil 4 large eggs ½ cup coffee or espresso, for brushing For the whipped cream: 2¼ cups heavy cream, chilled ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar For garnish: Ground cinnamon Caramel sauce(for me, this was more for presentation as it did not add much to the overall flavor). Directions: To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  Stir together and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  With the mixture on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until incorporated. Fill the cupcake liners about three-quarters full.  Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.  Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans.  While the cupcakes are still warm, brush them two or three times with the coffee or espresso, allowing the first coat to soak in before repeating.  Let cool completely. To make the frosting, place the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whip on medium-low speed at first, gradually increasing to high speed.  Blend in the confectioners’ sugar gradually.  Whip until stiff peaks form, being careful not to over-beat.  Use a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip to frost the cooled cupcakes.  Sprinkle with ground cinnamon and drizzle with caramel sauce.  Store in an airtight container and refrigerate. Source: cake adapted from Williams Sonoma

Source:  Annie's Eats

Love and Strawberry Cupcakes

Love

How do you show people that you love them? Yeah, you. How? Do ya buy flowers? Maybe you leave them a nice little love note on the mirror? Oh, I got it. Maybe you do your spouse’s chores for a week?! Yeah, that’s nice.

I think that there is a good chance you show love like I do. By baking. That’s what I did yesterday.

Five years ago today, my sister-in-law gave birth to my niece, Karlee.

I love her.

She’s my monkey. I’m her giraffe.

She gives me love unconditionally. Her snaggle-tooth grin gives me joy unparallel. When we have a family event & she snuggles up to me, it literally makes my heart melt. She’s told me that I’m beautiful twice. Those words made my year(trust me, all of my in-laws are gorgeous so for her to say that was a big deal).

So what could I ever do to show her how much I love her?

I show her love by reading to her. I take her to gymnastics. We play doctor & sculpt with playdoh. I teach her manners. She helps me bake. And she’s gone to Texas with me twice.

Yesterday I spent all day baking for her party today. One of the results of that labor of love are my strawberry cupcakes. Now mind you, I have tried to make strawberry cupcakes more than a handful of times, but these are the clear winner. Before I went to bed last night, I opened up the cupcake container just to get a whiff of that wonderful strawberry delight. They are light and fluffy and the frosting is truly, truly like strawberry ice cream.

Oh & those heart toppers, that’s just another way to show my love. I’m not so good with a knife, but I managed these fairly easily.

Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups (12 oz/350 g) granulated sugar

1 (3 oz/85 g) package strawberry flavored gelatin (such as Jell-O)

1 cup (8 oz/227 g) butter, softened

4 eggs (room temperature)

3 cups (10.5 oz/300 g) sifted cake flour

1 tablespoon (15 mL/17 g) baking powder

3/4 teaspoon (3.75 mL/5 g) salt

1 cup (236 ml/8 liquid oz) whole milk, room temperature

1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (2 liquid oz/4.5 oz/130 g) strawberry puree (puree itself should be closer to room temp, not frozen or icy)

Method:

1. If you’re making your own strawberry puree, remove strawberries (about 2 handfuls) from freezer and place in a single layer in a flat dish to thaw slightly. Place into food processor and puree the strawberries until smooth. Stir to ensure it is nice and smooth not icy. Measure out 1/4 cup for cupcakes and 3 tablespoons for frosting, and freeze the remaining puree for another use.

2. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)., Line cupcake pans with 36 liners.

3. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the milk, strawberry puree, and the vanilla. Set aside.

4. Sift and whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, and set aside.

5. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the sugar, gelatin, and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy–about 5 minutes.

6. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with spatula.

7. Add the wet & dry ingredients to the creamed mixture by alternating–beginning and ending with dry ingredients and mixing just enough after each addition to incorporate, but not overmix.

8. Use an ice cream scoop and divide the batter evenly.

9.Bake 18-20 minutes or when a toothpick comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake. (also these have rather flat tops, so don’t be alarmed)

Whipped strawberry frosting

Ingredients:

3 sticks + 2 tablespoons (13 oz/375 g) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

4 cups sifted (18 oz/500 g) confectioners’ sugar (icing, powdered)

1 tablespoon (15 mL) heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoon (7.5 mL) pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

5 tablespoons (45 mL) strawberry puree made from frozen strawberries (if you want the frosting seed-free, you can put the puree through a sieve before adding to frosting)

Method

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed (I use “4″ on my KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale & creamy.

2. Add remaining ingredients, except strawberry puree, and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.

3. Add strawberry puree (can be cool, but not frozen or icy) and mix until incorporated.

4. Best used right away, but can be covered in an airtight container at room temperature for a day or so.

Source: Adapted from Sweetapolita @ http://sweetapolita.com/2011/08/strawberry-layer-cake-with-whipped-strawberry-frosting/