White Chocolate Cupcakes, White Chocolate Frosting

I'm experimenting with Italian Meringue Buttercream. Well, technically I experimented with it last week; I simply didn't make any cupcakes to go with the frosting. As a result, it sat in my fridge, sad and unused. In an effort not to be so terribly wasteful, I'm making a white chocolate variation. The basic frosting is simple--just omit the white chocolate--and I found it very tasty and easy to pipe. It has a texture comprised of density from the butter and airyness from the meringue. One would think those textures would be diametrically opposed to one another, but the result is a delicious frosting.


White Chocolate Cupcakes
yield: about 16 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar

3 extra-large eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

4 oz white chocolate, chopped and melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 2 muffin tins with 16 cupcake liners. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl as necessary, and avoid over-beating.

Mix in the dry ingredients alternately with milk in a 3:2 ratio, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Remove the mixing bowl and fold in the melted white chocolate until incorporated. Pour batter into the prepared cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes they are until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Frost with White Chocolate Frosting.


White Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream


5 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup butter
1 tbsp vanilla
4 oz white chocolate, melted


In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks. With the mixer running on medium speed, add in the sugar gradually, and continue beating until medium peaks.


Meanwhile, combine 1 cup sugar and water in a saucepan set over medium high heat. Stir to help the sugar melt. Once melted, stop stirring and boil until it has reached 245 degrees F. This can happen relatively quickly considering the size of your pan.


Once the sugar has reached 245 degrees, stream into the egg whites while the mixer is running at medium-high speed. This will cook the egg whites and create a beautiful, voluminous mixture. Continue beating for 7-10 minutes until the mixer bowl is room temperature. It's safer to err on the side of 10 minutes to ensure the egg whites are cooled.

Cut in the butter 1 tbsp at a time with the mixer running on medium-high speed. The mixture may get soupy (if so, let it chill for a couple minutes and continue beating) or it may look broken (continue beating). In the end, the frosting will deflate to about half its original volume. Mix in the vanilla and melted chocolate. Let cool and pipe onto cupcakes.

Scurvy Bastard Cupcakes

The first cupcake I made were lime cupcakes with lime curd and lime frosting. Appropriately I called them Limey Bastard Cupcakes and, by and large, they were quite tasty. However, I always wanted to try the same idea but with lemon. Hence, Scurvy Bastard Cupcakes are born. These cupcakes were ultimately easy to throw together since I already had a solid lemon curd and lemon frosting recipes. These are delicious without the filling as well, but why not guild the lily a bit, eh?

Also, if you've been paying attention, I've basically found my cupcake base taken and modified from Ina Garten's coconut cake recipe. The cupcakes have a delicate, moist crumb, but they still have some heft to them. They were made for coconut cupcakes, but they've taken well to vanilla and, now, to lemon as well.

Lemon Curd

2 lemons, zested
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt

3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup lemon juice

4 tbsp butter, sliced into 4 pieces

Combine zest, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine. Add egg yolks and whisk until pale yellow. Whisk in juice and set pan over low - medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until thick. Usually, this takes 10 minutes of cooking over a medium low flame. Strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, one piece at a time and stir until combined before adding another piece. Cool. Cover and chill. This makes about 3/4 cup lemon curd (and can be used to make lime curd as well). This can be made up to 5 days in advance.

Lemon Cupcakes

yield: about 16 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar

zest from 2 lemons

3 extra-large eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp lemon oil, optional

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, or 325 for dark pans, and line 2 muffin tins with 16 cupcake liners. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and zest on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon oil if using. Scrape down the bowl as necessary, and avoid over-beating.

Mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in a 3:2 ratio, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Pour batter into the prepared cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes (18 - 22 at 325) until they are light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Frost with very lemon frosting.

Lemon Frosting

1 cup butter, softened
3 - 4 cups powdered sugar
zest of 3 medium-sized lemons
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually incorporate 3 cups of confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time until fully incorporated. Next, mix in the zest and lemon juice. If the frosting is a little too loose, incorporate more confectioner's sugar until it's of spreading consistency. 


Fill cupcakes with lemon curd, and top with the frosting.

Chocolate Cupcakes. Caramel Frosting.

The chocolate cupcakes come from a mix. I'm warning you now. However, they're very delicious, and it makes my life that much easier when baking cupcakes for people in a tight schedule. This recipe comes courtesy of Your Cup of Cake and frankly I would highly recommend those German Chocolate Cupcakes too.

The caramel is worth the time and effort, and the frosting is perfect. Enough said.

Chocolate Cupcakes
yield: 20 - 24 cupcakes

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 (325 for dark pans). Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Mix the oil, eggs, and buttermilk until combined in a large bowl. Gradually add in the cake mix (sifting can help incorporate it more easily). Mix until combined. Finally, add in the sour cream and mix until smooth and consistent (though small lumps are just fine).

Fill muffin tins with batter 2/3 to 3/4 full. I've always gotten at least 20 cupcakes out of this mixture. Bake at 350 for 18 - 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Salted Caramel Sauce
yield: about 1 1/2 cups caramel though only 1 cup (total) is needed for this recipe

1 1/2 cups sugar
6 tbsp water

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp sour cream

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let it boil until it turns amber in color. Watch it like a hawk; sugar goes from golden brown to amber to black in the blink of an eye.

Whisk in the heavy cream. It will spit and sputter and get all kinds of angry. Your knuckles may get  a light steam burn. This is normal. Whisk it away until the cream and sugar is a cohesive mixture. Add in the salt, and, finally, mix in the sour cream. This caramel is a little salty, a little tangy, and hands down the best caramel I have ever made. The recipe came courtesy of a friend of a friend to whom I am forever grateful.

Caramel Frosting
yield: about 3 - 4 cups or enough to frost 20 - 24 cupcakes


3/4 cup of butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup salted caramel sauce

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until creamy. Mix in 2 cups confectioners sugar and beat to combine. Add in the vanilla and the caramel. Beat to combine. Finally, mix in 1 cup of confectioner's sugar and mix until thick and consistent. Add in remaining 1/2 cup sugar until desire thickness, consistency, and sweetness are reached.

Pipe frosting in a ring on top of the cupcakes. Fill the hole in the middle with remaining caramel sauce.

Caramel is sugar and cream. Frosting is sugar and butter. With that said, I should still point out that this is easily one of the sweetest, almost to the point of cloying, recipes that I've ever made. Originally the frosting recipe started with 1 cup of butter (and equally greater amounts of the other ingredients), but I was left with quite a bit of frosting.

Also, you will likely have caramel sauce left over. You're welcome.

Vanilla on Vanilla

Why not go back to the basics and make them really good? Personally, I'm a huge fan of vanilla when it's done really well. Both the cupcakes and the frosting itself contains vanilla beans to really bring out the vanilla flavor. As a reminder, here is a link to the eBay store where I purchase vanilla beans; you get them in bulk, and you get them relatively inexpensively: Vanilla Products. Enjoy!

Vanilla Cupcakes
yield: about 16 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar

3 extra-large eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk
1 vanilla bean

Pre-prep: Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add it as well as the remaining husk to the milk in a sauce pan. Heat over medium until simmering, cool, and let steep over night in the refrigerator. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 2 muffin tins with 16 cupcake liners. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl as necessary, and avoid over-beating.

Mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the vanilla-milk in a 3:2 ratio, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Pour batter into the prepared cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes they are until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Frost with very vanilla frosting.

Very Vanilla Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 - 4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 tbsp vanilla extract
about 1 tbsp cream, as needed

Cream butter on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in confectioner's sugar gradually, reserving the final 1/2 cup. Add in the vanilla, vanilla bean seeds, and 1 tbsp of cream. Beat in remaining sugar to smooth consistency.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Peanut butter and chocolate is a classic combination exemplified by the perfection of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I'm straying from my usual Chocolate Cupcake recipe because it has a deep cocoa richness. However, I want something a little lighter, and I think using chopped chocolate in the batter will add a certain candy-like quality that will be helpful in mimicking the aforementioned peanut butter cups. I'm adapting my recipe from Cait's Plate which I happened across yesterday while searching Tastespotting. Her recipe melts the chocolate, so I'm not adding in any extra chocolate; I'm simply changing the form of the chocolate already in the batter.

Chocolate Cupcakes
yield: 24 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1 cup butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 cup natural cocoa powder

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup greek yogurt

4 oz chopped semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (325 for dark pans) and line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl.

On the stove top over medium heat, melt the butter. Mix in the cocoa until homogenous and let this mixture cool. Use the microwave in a pinch and a whisk will incorporate the cocoa perfectly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and greek yogurt. Add cooled chocolate mixture to combine. Mix in the dry ingredients gradually, scraping down the bowl of the mixture as necessary. Finally, fold in the chopped chocolate. The batter will be thick.



Fill muffin tins, and bake at 350 for 18 - 20 minutes until they pass the toothpick test. I use dark pans, and at 325 these took about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove after 10 - 15 minutes and cool completely before frosting.



Peanut Butter Frosting

2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used a mixture of Jif and a natural peanut butter)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

2 cups confectioners sugar
heavy cream as needed, about 1/2 cup

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter and peanut butter until fluffy and combined. Add in the salt and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar. The frosting will begin to get thick after the first cup or so. Add the remaining sugar followed by 1/4 cup of cream. Add more cream as necessary. You'll reach a point where the creaminess just happens. For me it was after a little more than 1/2 cup of cream. Beat the frosting until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Frost cupcakes. I garnished with halved Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Decadent? Yes. The cupcakes are incredibly rich, but the frosting is fluffy and not too sweet. You can definitely taste the salt. The frosting is perfection.



I'm going to make these again next weekend. The cupcakes are solid, but I think I may revert back to the sour cream in the original recipe. The batter was incredibly thick and I overfilled my cupcakes, so I'd like to get it right. The frosting, as I mentioned, was perfect, but there was quite a bit left over, so I'm going to modify the amounts next time. I hate throwing such delicious frosting away, but there was about a cup too much.

A Rolling Scone Gathers No Mess

This is kind of a scone mega post. Kind of. I'm rewarding my callers with brunch, and having 25 on a shift means this weekend is going be filled with cooking. And we all know I love brunch. I won't bore you with the 4 quiches I'm making (two spinach, sausage and potato, and lorraine), but I do want to post about the scones.

I've only ever made one scone recipe before, but they turned out so well that I'm going to alter that cranberry orange scone recipe in order to make blueberry lemon scones. It's changed somewhat. I added more butter and a little more cream. These scones are therefore richer, but the dough is also easier to handle. Additionally, I found a great recipe for maple pecan scones over at Kitchen Misfit that I just have to try. After all, if I ever want to own a bakery or anything of the sort when I retire, I had better starting mastering these classics. I'll start with an updated version of my cranberry orange scones.


Cranberry Orange Scones
yield: about 8 scones

2/3 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
1 tbsp orange zest
1/4 cup sugar

8 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into tiny bits
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1-2 tbsp orange juice
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the cream, egg, orange zest, and sugar together in a small bowl until well combined.

In another bowl, stir together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend in the butter with your finger tips or a pastry blender just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir the cranberries and the cream mixture into the flour mixture with a fork until it forms a sticky, but hopefully manageable, dough.

Knead the dough gently for 30 seconds just so it comes together. Shape the dough into a long rectangle and cut the scones into 8 triangles using a sharp knife. This is much easier than using a biscuit cutter and having to reshape the dough. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the scones for about 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice and confectioner's sugar to make a glaze. Drizzle the icing over the scones. These scones are not too sweet, but the icing adds a little punch of sugar and orange flavor.




Blueberry Lemon Scones
yield: about 8 scones

2/3 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup sugar

8 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into tiny bits
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries

extra cream and raw sugar to finish off the scones

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the cream, egg, lemon zest, and sugar together in a small bowl until well combined.

In another bowl, stir together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend in the butter with your finger tips or a pastry blender just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir the blueberries into the flour first, followed by the cream mixture. Use a fork until it forms a sticky dough. Be careful not to break up the blueberries too much.

Knead the dough gently for 30 seconds just so it comes together. Shape the dough into a long rectangle and cut the scones into 8 triangles using a sharp knife. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the scones all over with cream and sprinkle with the raw sugar.

Bake the scones for about 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. All in all, this is a wonderful variation on the cranberry orange recipe!




Maple Pecan Scones
yield: 16 scones but this recipe can be halved

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup chopped pecans

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks (20 tbsp) butter, cold and cubed

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the oats and pecans out on a baking sheet. Toast in preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes, stirring halfway through. They should be fragrant and toasty when finished. Let cool.

Raise oven temperature to 425 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until a coarse meal forms. Of course, a food processor makes this whole process much easier, but I digress. Add in the cooled oats and pecans.

In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, cream, maple syrup, and eggs until combined. Fold the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until a cohesive dough forms. Divide the dough in half. Transfer each half to a lightly floured surface and pat into 7" circles. Cut each circle into 8 wedges and place the wedges on a parchment-line baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 16 - 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If you wish, make a glaze using about 3 tbsp maple syrup and 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar to drizzle over the cooled scones.

Lemon Cupcakes!

Sunday is the birthday of one of my student supervisors at work. She requested lemon cupcakes with cherry buttercream frosting, so I can only oblige her. However, I love blueberries and lemon as well. So I'm going to use the same lemon cupcake and top one dozen with cherry buttercream. With the second dozen, I'm going to fill them with lemon curd and top them with a wild blueberry buttercream. Naturally, fresh fruit is always the best, but since these fruits are getting pulverized by the mixer, I'm going to use frozen wild blueberries (I was lucky enough to find some delicious fresh cherries at the local Fresh Market). I think the best way to incorporate the blueberries will require that I let them thaw and drain since I want to to avoid adding excess liquid to my frosting.

Incidentally, about a year ago, I made some amazing lime cupcakes filled with lime curd and topped with lime frosting, but I never posted the recipe. The original recipe for Key Lime Cupcakes is found over at Bon Appetit. I have to say I preferred regular limes. Key limes have a lemony quality that I'm not fond of. Either way, I'm using a modified version of that recipe for my lemon cupcakes.

Luscious Lemon Cupcakes
yield: 24 - 28 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs
5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest (about 3-4 lemons worth)

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if you're using a dark pan). Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the lemon juice and lemon zest. The mixture may look curdled; don't worry.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours. Add the flour in three additions alternately with the buttermilk in two additions. Using a scant 1/3 cup batter, pour into lined muffin tins. I had enough batter for about 28, though I was very careful not to overfill because that seems to be a problem with me. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.



Cherry Buttercream Frosting
yield: enough frosting for 1 dozen cupcakes

This recipe, and I think the whole idea my friend had for these cupcakes, comes from une Gamine dans la Cuisine. Those are some beautiful pictures!

1 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt

3 to 4 cups of confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup fresh cherries, finely chopped


Make sure to avoid adding too much of the cherry juice to the frosting. It can break down the buttercream.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and salt until light and fluffy. Gradually add 3 cups of the confectioner's sugar. After the sugar, add the vanilla, lemon zest, and cherries. If the frosting is a little loose because of the cherry juice, add more of the confectioner's sugar gradually until it's of spreading consistency.

Blueberry Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt

3 to 4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup thawed, drained, wild blueberries

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and salt until fluffy. Gradually add 3 cups of the confectioner's sugar. After the sugar, add the vanilla, lemon zest, and blueberries. The blueberries don't need to be chopped because the mixer will pulverize them enough. If the frosting is loose, add more confectioner's sugar.

Lemon Curd
yield: about 3/4 cup lemon curd

2 lemons, zested
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt

3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup lemon juice

4 tbsp butter, sliced into 4 pieces

Combine zest, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine. Add egg yolks and whisk until pale yellow. Whisk in juice and set pan over low - medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until thick. Usually, this takes 10 minutes of cooking over a medium low flame. Strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, one piece at a time and stir until combined before adding another piece. Cool. Cover and chill. This makes about 3/4 cup lemon curd (and can be used to make lime curd as well). This can be made up to 5 days in advance.

Notes on Assembly

For the cupcakes, both frosting recipes made plenty for the dozen cupcakes they needed to frost. So I may dial those recipes back in the future. I only used the lemon curd filling in the blueberry cupcakes to give them a real lemony bite. Otherwise, I simply used a rosette tip to pipe the frosting on top! Wonderful!