Snickerdoodle Cupcakes and a dose of Gossip

So normally I bake by myself but I like some company and some help dish-washing every once and awhile.  This weekend was one of those days. A few of my crew friends came over and helped me whip together a recipe I’ve wanted to make some, Snickerdoodle Cupcakes.

I’ve had many snickerdoodle cookies, and it’s a lovely combination of cinnamon and sugar.  These cupcakes are just another way of exploiting these flavors.  The cupcakes obviously have sugar and as well have cinnamon.  The frosting obviously has powdered sugar with some added cinnamon.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  I mixed it into a small tupperware because our kitchen lacks bowls.

Next cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat after each time.

Beat in the vanilla. Here’s the mixture after the second egg. →

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/2 the water/milk.  Repeat with remaining flour mixture and milk, ending with the flour mixture.  

 

Line a 12-cupcake tin with paper liners

Pictures: Batter ready for the pan.

Zoomed out (above) and up-close (below).

Fill the lined cupcake tins with the batter (about 3/4 full).  I had enough for 14 cupcakes or you can just fill the cupcakes extra full.  Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the a toothpick comes out clean.  Here’s Jen modeling my lovely new fall oven mitt.

Let the cupcakes cool.

While the cupcakes cool, whip up the frosting.

Beat the softened butter, 1-2 cups of the powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and 2 tsp. cinnamon.   I never remember to get my butter out beforehand to soften.  So I asked one of my friends to use her warm hands to soften up the butter.  She has extra warm hands so our butter was a little too soft.

Add more powdered sugar  when all the powdered sugar has been incorporated in.  Add 2-4 tbsp. water to thin the icing to spreadable consistency.  Feel free to add more cinnamon if you like a stronger cinnamon flavor.

Spread this wonderful frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.  Here are my friends demonstrating their icing skills (or lack-thereof).

Enjoy these lovely sweet, cinnamon cupcakes with the smooth cinnamony frosting.  Great with a glass of milk.

Espresso Cupcakes

Sorry for my time away.  I just completed my four-day bread baking class at King Arthur Flour, and I am trying to recover from my carbohydrate overload.    I will be posting some recipes from my time in the next few weeks.  To keep you satisified, here is a lovely cupcake recipe.  Also, this is my first cupcake recipe, hopefully there will be more on chem and crew in the next month when I head back to Smith.

Who doesn’t love chocolate and who doesn’t love espresso?  If you said no to either question, are you sure you’re alive?  These cupcakes are delicious blend of both flavors.  The espresso helps to bring out the chocolate in this recipes.

I had a small get-together with friends, so I made a half recipe.  The recipe called for espresso powder.  I scoured the coffee aisle to no avail.  I found it recently at King Arthur Flour, baking speciality store.  Instead, I used fresh espresso made by my espresso machine.  You could use espresso, strong coffee, or instant coffee powder.  I would suggest the first two or espresso powder if you can find it.

This recipe also called for self-rising cake flour, which I also didn’t have and you probably won’t either.  Instead, I made my own self-rising flour by mixing 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt.  The cupcakes were still delicious.

Preheat the oven to 400˚F.

Cream together the the butter and brown sugar.  

Add the eggs one at a time and mix.

Stir in the flour, cocoa, and espresso/espresso powder/coffee.  Add in the milk and melted chocolate.

Spoon into lined muffin pan (I made mini cupcakes for bite-size delectables).

Bake for 12-16 minutes.

Icing:

Cream together the butter, espresso/espresso powder/etc, and chocolate.  Microwave for 15-30 seconds, until mixture is smooth and melted.  Be careful to not burn the mixture.  Mine was very close to burning but I saved it.  Spread over cooled cupcakes.

Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Nigella Lawson

Recipe:  Espresso Cupcakes