Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes (35)

When I saw this recipe in Martha Stewart's book, I immediately put these cupcakes (cheesecakes, actually) off the list, because I thought it was impossible to find Oreos in Slovenia. Imagine my surprise when I was randomly looking at the cookies at a german store and found them! That has got to be the only store in the country that has them, because they import these things from Germany. I just HAD to buy them. Then, when I got home, I realized that I don't have any plain white paper liners. I had to go out and buy them (and finding them wasn't easy either).

I only bought one pack of Oreos (16 cookies) because they were pretty expensive and I wasn't sure about their taste (and if anyone would actually eat them). That was enough cookies for 11 cheesecakes because 5 cookies had to be chopped and added to the batter at the end.

The recipe was really easy to make and the batter was almost liquid, so it was easy to fill the paper liners with it. There was enough batter for 13 cupcakes but I only had 11 cookies :S. I tried filling them to the top but there were still leftovers. After baking them I was supposed to leave them in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Well, my mother ate one two hours after I made them and she loved it. I left them in the refrigerator overnight. At first I didn't even want to try them because I don't eat cream cheese and I was sure that I would hate the taste. How much more wrong could I possibly be!? These were by far one of the best cupcakes I've ever made! They were gone so quickly that I (unfortunately) only got to eat one. I'll definitely be making these again, probably in the summer, because they're best served cold. Next time I make them, I'll only chop 4 cookies and leave the rest of them in the paper liners, so I can make 12 cupcakes.

Look: 3/5 (I didn't like the yellow color at the top)

Taste: 5/5

Approximate cost of one cupcake: 0,50 €

Marble Cupcakes (27)

On saturday, I made the first cupcakes from my cupcake challenge: marble cupcakes.
First, I went out and bought these colorful paper liners. It's very difficult to find beautiful and not very expensive liners, but I found these in a nearby store in the summer and they have packs of 4 colors (usually gray, orange, blue and green; right now they have red liners instead of green ones, I guess that's because of Christmas).

I didn't use the red ones this time, because I want to use them for something more holiday-ish.

 

This is how they looked before I put them in the oven:

And the result:

I must say that I expected a bit more from this recipe. The cupcakes tasted too ordinary. Way too much work to make the swirls and a boring outcome. I didn't like them. They were dry and the yellow batter was a bit too dense. Other people who tried them said they were good, but I don't know if that was because they didn't want to sound mean, or they really liked them. I definitely won't be making these again. Maybe I should have added an icing, but I wanted to make them the same as they are in the book.

The recipe actually made 20 instead of 16 and they all rose a bit too high.

Look: 3/5 (but maybe I didn't make the swirls the right way)
Taste: 2/5 (too ordinary)
Approximate cost of one cupcake: 0,20 €

The List of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

These are the recipes from Martha Stewart's book that I decided to try out:

1. Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
2. Carrot Cupcakes
3. Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes
4. Coconut Cupcakes
5. Red Velvet Cupcakes 29/1/2010
6. Rhubarb Cupcakes with Whipped Cream
7. Devil's Food Cupcakes 12/2/2010
8. Tiramisu Cupcakes
9. Blueberries-and-Cream Cupcakes
10. Mocha Cupcakes
11. Tres Leches Cupcakes
12. Date-Nut Mini Cupcakes
13. Ginger and Molasses Cupcakes
14. Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
15. Brown Sugar Pound Cakes 26/3/2010
16. Streusel Cupcakes
17. Triple-Citrus Cupcakes
18. Coconut-Pecan Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
19. Iced Pistachio Cupcakes
20. Apricot-Glazed Black and White Cheesecakes
21. Mrs. Kostyra's Spice Cupcakes
22. Sticky Toffee Pudding Cupcakes
23. Chai-Tea Mini Cupcakes
24. Chocolate-Spice Cupcakes
25. Coconut Rum-Raisin Cupcakes
26. Lavender-Iced Brownie Cupcakes
27. Marble Cupcakes 19/12/2009
28. Tiny Cherry and Almond Tea Cakes
29. Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes
30. Peanut Butter Cupcakes
31. Oatmeal-Raisin Cupcakes
32. Raspberry Marble Cheesecakes
33. Blondie Cupcakes
34. Blackberry-Cornmeal Cupcakes
35. Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes 23/12/2009
36. Pistachio-Raspberry Tea Cakes
37. Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes 30/11/2010
38. Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes 24/6/2010
39. Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes 12/2/2010
40. Strawberry-Jam Tea Cakes
41. Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes
42. Martha's Meyer Lemon Cupcakes
43. Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes
44. Lemon-Yogurt Cupcakes with Raspberry Jam
45. German Chocolate Cupcakes
46. Meringue Cupcakes with Berry Compote
47. Amaretto-Pineapple Cupcakes
48. Jumbo Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes
49. Black Forest Cupcakes
50. Snickerdoodle Cupcakes
51. Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
52. Orange-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
53. Strawberry Cupcakes
54. Chocolate Salted-Caramel Mini Cupcakes
55. S'mores Cupcakes
56. One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes with Gumdrops 31/12/2009
57. White Cupcakes with Pastel Buttercream Peaks
58. Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
59. Dotted-Letter Cupcakes
60. Gelato-Topped Mini Cupcakes
61. Ladybug Cupcakes
62. Buttercream-Blossom Cupcakes
63. Cookie Monogram Cupcakes
64. Mini Menagerie Cupcakes
65. Dinosaur Cupcakes
66. Beetle and Butterfly Cupcakes
67. Coconut Chick Cupcakes
68. Ice-Cream Cone Cupcakes
69. Flock of Sheep Cupcakes
70. Maple-Sweetened Carrot Cupcakes
71. Cupcake Caterpillar
72. New Year's clock Cupcakes 31/12/2009
73. Springerle Easter Bunny Cupcakes
74. Easter-Egg Cupcakes
75. Chocolate-Walnut Cupcakes for Passover
76. Mother's Day Hummingbird Cupcakes
77. Creepcakes
78. Wicked Witch Cupcakes
79. Marshmallow Turkey Cupcakes
80. Maple Cupcakes
81. Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cookie Cutouts
82. Fruitcakes with  Meringue Mushrooms
83. Wreath Cupcakes
84. Nesting Baby Bluebird Cupcakes
85. Meringue Bouquet Cupcakes
86. Chrysanthemum Cupcakes
87. Graduation Day Cupcakes
88. fresh Flower-Topped Pound Cakes
89. Sunflower Cupcakes
90. Honey Bee Cupcakes
91. Strawberry Basket Cupcakes
92. Piped-Buttercream Rose Cupcakes
93. Candied-Hazelnut Cupcakes
94. Spun-Sugar Crowned Cupcakes

94 recipes... that's quite a long list. I hope it won't take me 10 years to bake all of them.

I left out all the recipes that include bananas because I don't like them. I also left out the recipe that includes malted milk, because I don't think I'll be able to find and buy it anywhere. If I do find it, I'll be sure to include that recipe in my list too.

10 down, 84 to go!

My cupcake obsession

It all started six months ago when I decided to order Krystina Castella's book Crazy About Cupcakes from eBay. I have never baked (or cooked) anything before that, other than cookies (once) and blueberry muffins (twice), and that was in 2002.

These were my first cupcakes, soon after I got the book. Chocolate, with a white chocolate frosting. Everyone said they were delicious, and they were fun to make, although I spent almost three hours in the kitchen.

After these I baked something almost every week. I'm not an experienced baker, so all recipes take me an hour more than you would expect them to. And sometimes I find it very hard to get some of the ingredients, because they aren't available here (like buttermilk, shortening, cake flour, pecans, condensed milk...), so I have to look for substitutions of everything. The problem is, you can't substitute everything. Like this, I would probably only bake about 10 percent of the recipes in my book (the chocolate ones of course).
Two months later, I bought another cookbook: Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. I couldn't resist. I mean, who could possibly not buy this after seeing the cover picture?

That's when I decided that I needed a challenge. I want to make (almost) every recipe from Martha Stewart's book. And other books too (like Rose Levy Berenbaum's Heavenly Cakes that I'm getting for Christmas...). I really like the idea, even if it's going to take me 10 years to finish, because I can only bake on weekends when I'm at home. The important thing is that baking makes me happy, and it makes people that have to eat what I bake happy too. I think. Searching for the unusual ingredients in the stores has almost become an adventure for me and I'm always excited when I find something new.

I'm also a chocoholic in search of a perfect chocolate cake recipe (I haven't found it yet). I mostly make recipes that include chocolate, but that's about to change. I'm really looking forward to this challenge and I hope I'm going to have a lot of fun, and eat a lot of delicious cupcakes.