C is for cookie...

For a while I have just been filling my cupcakes with exciting surprises. Mmm these were definitely a hit, but I wanted to move on, go on another adventure. And I thought to myself, cookies have always been the second love in my eating world...hehehe! And who can forget the cookie monster...nom nom nom! And the there are sooooo many different cookies out there, chocolate chip, strawberry creams, wafers...the list goes on and on.

Anyway so the cookie cupcake fad has started. And to kick it off, the most delicious, creamiest, dreamiest, always enjoyed with a glass of milk cookies I can think of, OREOS! My word, I think the only way to describe these cupcakes are: orgasmic! (Someone actually said that...hehehe!) I have made numerous cupcakes and these are really standing out for me at this point. And to play with a different food type that you wouldn’t expect in a cupcake was great. That why I always say: have some fun, create, make, bake! So keep to those words, and get baking in those kitchens of yours.

Double treat!

Its been hectically busy here in cupcake land... been working like a dag, having little time to bake (sad face) so I decided to treat my nagging mother (love her to bits). YES she has been saying: “When are we going to taste your cupcakes? When is it our turn? PLEASE make us some of your delicious cupcakes!”A double whammy was in order, so I started baking away hectically on which was suppose to be a public holiday.

Firstly I made my mothers favourite cake, and I think everybody else’s favourite in the world Red velvet. I put a little surprise for her inside, a rose Turkish delight. What a nice combination, the red velvet taste, with the cream cheese icing and then this little sweet rose flavoured treat in the middle! Mmm we devoured them all!

Then my obsession at the moment is elephants of coarse, and then the thought of amarula cream popped into my head. So I headed to the local store, grabbed some amarula and started the baking craze. And yes the little treat in the middle was this amazing amarula chocolate I found in the store, its so creamy and chocolaty. WOW... and the icing, infused with amarula, tasted delicious, I think I ate more of the icing then anything else.

Cupid’s arrow cupcakes recipe

Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

This recipe is a combination of Buddy Valastro recipes. I absolutely love the Cake Boss, so in all my crazy research these recipes that I combined made the best sense. So please bake these and let me know what you think, I certainly loved it…for my first time!

Cupcakes (24 medium sized)

Ingredients:

375g butter

2 cups sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

20/40 ml red food colouring

3 cups flour (sifted)

¼ tsp fine salt

1 ¼ tsp vanilla extract

1 ¼ tsp baking soda

1 ¼ tsp vinegar

3 large eggs

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

Pre heat oven to 176 °C.

Mix together the butter, sugar, cocoa, food colouring, flour, salt, vanilla extract, baking soda and vinegar in a bowl. Mix together at low speed then on medium speed for 1 minute until well mixed. Add eggs one at a time, mixing through well after each addition. Add the buttermilk in 2 portions. Mix well after additions. Fill each cupcake liner ¾ full with the batter.

Frosting:

500g cream cheese

125g butter

2 ½ cups icing sugar (sifted)

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed until smooth. Add the icing sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Mix well until fluffy.

Decorations:

Heart paper print outs.

Straws

100’s & 1000’s

Red fondant

Cut the straw ¾ of the way. Clamp one end between players and heat with a lighter. The end will see. Fill with 100’s and 1000’s. Close the other end same way as before. Push straw through the baked cupcake which has cooled. Stick heart shaped print cut outs on either end of the straw.

Cut out heart shapes from red fondant. Place on top of frosting

Cupid's arrow cupcakes

So love was all around us this week. Valentines day came and went. Red, pink, hearts and flowers were all around. I literally had hearts in my eyes. But who can forget about the delectable treats that are cupcakes! So with all this love in the air, I decided it’s time to try my first attempt at red velvet and cream cheese frosting.

So I did some research about these wonderful cupcakes, reading about chemical reactions and vinegar, cocoa and buttermilk. Seriously…all these things in one cupcake, I felt like a scientist. But so I did the digging, came up with a few recipes, and then took the plunge. And boy was I rewarded with the most delicious, soft, dense cupcakes. Not even to talk about that cream cheese frosting.

I also have to thank Bakerella, I took some inspiration from her valentines cupcakes with Cupid’s arrow. I just decided to give it a twist, fill the straws with 100’s and 1000’s and poke them through the delicious red velvetness. I personally think that cream cheese icing is the next best thing since sliced bread…but meringue frosting comes a close second.

So please enjoy these Cupid’s arrow cupcakes. Make them for a loved one, for yourself, just anytime you feel like baking. The recipe will be posted soon.