Iron Cupcake: Earth - Apple!

So, it's already that time again! Time for my Iron Cupcake: Earth submission... I can't believe November's already almost over! Really, where does the time go??

Anyway, I don't quite want to let go of Fall yet, (I have a thing about winter. If it's gonna be that cold, the least it can do is snow.) so I was excited to see that this month's ingredient was apples!

But, in keeping with the "not letting go of the seasons" theme, I decided to make a cupcake based on a dessert that is usually served in July....

APPLE PIE!

So, here is my adaptation of an apple pie cupcake.

Recipe adapted from the New Best Recipe Cookbook

1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 c. unsweetened applesauce (this was my addition because A, I didn't have any eggs. whoops. and B, I wanted to add some more apple flavor to the cupcakes!)
1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon (also my addition, to give it more of an "apple pie" taste)

Preheat your oven to 350. If it's like ours, you might have to preheat it before you even pull the ingredients out of the cabinets, because it takes forever to preheat. While it's heating, whisk together (or throw in your stand mixer) flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well blended. Add in the butter (I cut it into chunks as I tossed it in to help it stir in better), sour cream, vanilla, and apple sauce, and mix well, pausing to scrape down the sides every once in a while. Then throw in the cinnamon and mix a few seconds more until it's evenly distributed. Spoon batter into 12 cup baking pan lined with cupcake cups, and pop into the oven for about 20-22 minutes.

When the cupcakes are done, they won't have a rounded top, because the eggs usually provide that estra bit of fluff that the applesauce obviousl doesn't. But that's okay, just remember to tip them out of the pan almost immediately, so you don't end up with sticky and torn edges, like I did.

It was okay though, they still tasted delicious, and were super moist!

Now you can do one of two things. You can let them sit, which is what I did (I baked them the night before a dinner) or you can continue making them while they're still warm, which I think would probably be delicious.

Heat up some yummy pre-made apple pie filling (I used a sugarless one that was still amazingly delicious). You may need to cut the larger chunks up into smaller pieces. I just kind of chopped haphazardly around the bowl to make them a bit easier to work with.

Then, spoon the filling over each cupcake,

And add the pie crust top! (I bought premade, rolled pie crust at the super market. I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the crusts, and then baked them for about 10 minutes at 450.)

A little ice cream or whipped cream, and you're set!

And, as always,

Don't forget to vote for my cupcake on Iron Cupcake:Earth starting November 27, on No One Puts Cupcake In the Corner!

I am competing for these prizes:
The Demy by Key Ingredient
"Hello, Cupcake" by Maren Tack and Alan Richardson
Bella Cupcake Couture
Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
"The CAke Mix Doctor Returns!" by Anne Byrne
Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House
Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery & Cupcakey Supply

Bon Apetit!

My Very First Daring Bakers Challenge!

...and what a challenge it was!

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.
First of all, when did it get to be November?? Holy Mackerel!Anyway, cannoli. Apparently "cannoli" is the plural of the word "cannolo." So all these years I've been saying "cannolis" and been totally wrong. What else is new?

Anyway, these were very interesting to make, for a number of reasons. First, I didn't exactly have all the supplies I needed. We don't have a deep fryer at my house, so I was using a normal pot. Then, we only have a meat thermometer, not an oil/candy one (hint hint, Christmas!) so once the temperature got above 200, I was kind of guesstimating. Third, I don't have cannoli forms, so I was REALLY behind the proverbial 8-ball.

Nonetheless, here are how my cannoli turned out.

*Note: I am an idiot, and totally forgot to take pictures of the filled cannoli. Duh. so, no "finished product" photos this month.... sorry.*
These were chocolate cannoli disks which would be topped with mint filling. A little too minty for me, but everyone else seemed to enjoy them. The chocolate flavor was good though!

These were regular cannoli shells in the shape of little bowls (I used a mini muffin pan turned upside down and baked them instead of frying) which were filled with pumpkin filling. I thought the pumpkin filling was super delicious, and probably could've eaten them all day!

Here is my single photo of cannoli filling. Pumpkin filling with chocolate chips. Delicious!

Bon apetit!

Iron Cupcake: Earth - Music Edition!

Well, all kinds of excitement this month. I joined the Iron Cupcake:Earth challenge, and of course this month the theme was "music." Normally it's something like "savory" or "cheese" but this month, since it is the beginning of IC:E's 2nd year, they decided to try to get Ellen Degeneres to invite us to her show!

So the challenge was to create a cupcake based on a song title. Way more difficult than it sounds, I promise. So I thought for days, and consulted my brain trust. Luckily, my dad, Mr. Mike, loves strange challenges and sent me a website of songs with food in them. On that list was a song that my sisters and I used to love dancing around the kitchen to, and was just the perfect song for this challenge. Maybe you've heard it?

So, a banana split for my baby. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Well, it wasn't terrible, but it definitely took some creativity on my part. Which, really, is what this challenge is all about, right? So, I made a "neapolitan" cupcake, with a vanilla chocolate strawberry batter, topped with all the typical toppings of a banana split - pineapple, strawberry, chocolate syrup, nuts, and a cherry! And to hold it all together, banana cream frosting! So, here are my banana split cupcakes!

Banana Split Cupcakes

(cupcake recipe adapted from "The New Best Recipe" Cookbook)

Their recipe makes 12 cupcakes, so I doubled it for 24. These are the doubled measurements.

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

3 tsps baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 sticks butter, softened (I stuck mine in the microwave for a few seconds)

1 cup sour cream

2 eggs

4 egg yolks (in addition to the 2 whole eggs)

These are my additions:

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsps strawberry extract (can be found at Wegman's, Whole Foods, and some Walmarts)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

5-6 drops red food coloring

First, preheat your oven to 350. Place your baking cups into the baking pans and set them aside. I got these super cute ones from Wegman's - how cute??

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the butter, sour cream, eggs, and yolks. Then, separate batter equally into three bowls. Into the first bowl, mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Into the second bowl, mix in the strawberry extract and red food coloring. The extract amount wasn't entirely exact, so just go with your nose - I added strawberry until the batter smelled like strawberries. Then, add red food coloring, a couple drops at a time, until the batter is nice and pink. For the third bowl, melt about a cup of semisweet chocolate chips, and stir them in. I started with about a 1/2 cup of chips, but they didn't really make the batter look chocolatey enough, so I added some more.

Once everyone is mixed up, begin spooning the batter i

nto the cupcake liners. I used a small dinner spoon to measure my batter. I layered the batter:

strawberry

chocolate

vanilla

Once all the batter is in the cupcake pans, place the cuppies in the oven for about 20-24 minutes. Mine took about 25 minutes to cook and brown on the top a bit. When they're done, take them out of the oven, and let them cool.

Banana Cream Frosting

(found on eHow)

I also doubled this recipe for the frosting.

1 cup of butter

2 medium banana

6 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat the butter until smooth. (I softened mine a bit before throwing it in the mixer) Slice the banana and add to butter, beating again until smooth. Add confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time, until blended. Add vanilla extract and mix until blended. (I had to chill mine after this step in order to get it to the right firmness, but I think I might just have worked with the butter for a little too long.)

To assemble:

Put a smear of pineapple topping on the cupcake, followed by a smear of strawberry topping. Follow with a healthy dollop of banana cream frosting. To finish, add chopped walnuts, chocolate syrup, and, of course, a cherry! Bon Apetit!

Don't forget to vote for Iron Cupcake:Earth starting October 30, on No One Puts Cupcake In the Corner!

I am competing for these prizes:

The Demy by Key Ingredient

"Hello, Cupcake" by Maren Tack and Alan Richardson

Bella Cupcake Couture

Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac

"The CAke Mix Doctor Returns!" by Anne Byrne

Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House

Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery & Cupcakey Supply

Whoo Hoo!