Lemon Yogurt Cupcakes

Prior to going back to work, I found myself baking regularly which was quite weird since I never thought of myself as much of a baker. I guess I really liked the idea of having something baking when I had visitors or bringing baked goods to a get together. In any event, I have to say that I got more of the hang of it in the recent past and am enjoying baking at this point. I did however have quite an epic baking fiasco when I was making baby’s birthday cake. I am happy to report that it ended well though and everyone was quite impressed with the finished product. I will have to see when I have a little time to blog about baby’s tiger cake since it was quite a production.

In terms of these cupcakes, these are definitely something you can make in a time crunch. I have been loving baking with yogurt and buttermilk in general since I find that the results are usually very moist and everything I’ve been baking with which includes either ingredient has been turning out almost perfect.

(makes approximately 12 cupcakes)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 cup Greek Yogurt
1 cup Sugar
3 Eggs
2 tsp. Lemon Zest
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/3 cup Lemon Juice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the cupcake pan with cupcake liners or grease pan.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla extract, oil and lemon juice.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients, whisking until combined. (If you like, you can also add fruit at this point)

Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop batter into cupcake liners or greased pan.

Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes until pale golden. Allow to cool, then enjoy!

Sprinkles Cupcakes' Strawberry Cupcakes

Recently, I had a bunch of strawberries laying around so I found myself searching for recipes involving strawberries (note: more to come!). One recipe that seemed to leap out at me as soon as I googled "strawberry cupcakes" was a recipe from Sprinkles Cupcakes. I am now really curious to try the cupcakes from this place and it will definitely be on the list of places to go if I ever head to one of the cities that they are located in. The owner has made appearances on several tv shows. She had demonstrated this particular recipe on Oprah, which is probably why it popped out at me.

I decided to make mini cupcakes since I was bringing them to a party so I reduced the time in the oven. I didn't even really get to taste one for myself but everyone who had one told me they were good! I had a feeling they were good though from just having a taste of the batter!

INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes:
2/3 cup fresh or frozen whole Strawberries (thawed if frozen)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose Flour (sifted)
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. coarse Salt
1/4 cup whole Milk (room temperature)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 cup Sugar
1 large Egg (room temperature)
2 large Egg Whites (room temperature)

Frosting:
1/2 cup whole Strawberries
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted Butter (firm and slightly cold)
Pinch coarse Salt
3 1/2 cups Confectioners' Sugar (sifted)
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin tin or 24-cup mini muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Place strawberries in a small food processor and process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree. Add a few more strawberries if necessary, or save any extra puree for frosting.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla and strawberry puree.

Cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.

With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes for regular size cupcakes, and 15 to 18 minutes for mini cupcakes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

Icing:
Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed.

Beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar, beating until well combined.

Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a tip of your choice or simply using an offset spatula, pipe/spread frosting on each cupcake. Add any other decor of your choice (I decided to use little pieces of strawberries). Enjoy!

Banana Buttermilk Cupcakes

After making a red velvet cake, I was left with some remaining buttermilk. I was determined to finish the remaining amount of the buttermilk and found myself searching for recipes which included the ingredient. With some ripe bananas also at hand, I decided to make these cupcakes. I was really pleased with the results! They were super easy to make, and everyone agreed that they were really moist and were enjoying them. So if you have some left over buttermilk and ripe bananas, I would definitely recommend making these cupcakes!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup Butter (softened)
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
3/4 cup Banana (approximately 2 bananas - mashed)
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Once fluffy, beat in egg, mashed bananas and vanilla.

In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Stir dry ingredients into the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 additions of buttermilk.

Spoon into paper-lined or greased muffin tins.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Over the weekend, I hosted a baby shower. While I was struck with the flu earlier in the week, I still forced myself to go ahead with making the cupcakes that I had planned on making from the start. Hopefully, they turned out okay. I found the recipe to be on the sweet side, and perhaps not as red as I would have liked a red velvet cupcake to be. I will definitely cut down on the sugar and increase the amount of red food coloring the next time!

INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes:
2 1/2 cups Cake Flour (sifted)
2 tbsp. unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Vegetable Oil
2 large Eggs (room temperature)
5-6 drops Red Food Color
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 cup Buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. White Vinegar

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups Cream Cheese (room temperature)
4 cups confectioners' sugar (sifted)
3/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.

Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

For frosting: Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth.
Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, pipe frosting on each cupcake in a circular pattern, then release pressure and pull up to form a peak in the center.