Red Velvet Cupcakes (5)

I hadn't baked anything since december, so I decided to bake something yesterday. It had to be a recipe that included ingredients that I already had at home, because I didn't have much time for shopping. That's why I chose this recipe. It's in the beginning of Martha Stewart's book, and I had everything I needed at home (except cream cheese that I had to go out and buy). I had already made red velvet cupcakes before, from a recipe that I found on the Grab Your Fork blog and they were delicious! 

Red Velvet Cupcakes (makes 24)

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon red gel paste food color
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
Cream cheese frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.
3. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers. 
5. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Cream Cheese Frosting (makes 4 cups)

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth. Frosting can be refrigerated for up to three days.

I spent two hours making this recipe. I had to substitute buttermilk with milk and vinegar, and cake flour with regular flour and starch. I also made only a half of the recipe. Since I don't like using the food coloring in my cupcakes, I used a bit less. The recipe called for gel paste, but I used the liquid coloring. I used two spoons (four times as much as I would have with gel paste, although I was supposed to use much more, like a whole bottle or so), and while the mixture without the flour and milk was VERY red, the color then turned to brown. They look dark orange now. The recipe was supposed to make 12 cupcakes, but I made 17. They didn't rise too high, so they were perfect for putting the frosting on them. When I tried them without the frosting, I didn't quite like the taste. I expected them to be more chocolate-y, but they weren't. I liked the frosting though. The recipe says it makes 4 cups, I only made 1/4 of the recipe and it was enough to cover all (17!) cupcakes, so if you're making the whole recipe (24 cupcakes) it would be best to make one half of the frosting recipe. That's one package of Philadelphia cream cheese.

I'm starting to like cream cheese in my cupcakes a lot, although I have never tried it before.  I won't be making these again in the future, because even though other people liked it, I didn't. I had to try it, because I thought it had the potential of being a great recipe. But it wasn't. Not for me, because I'm a chocoholic and the only thing these cupcakes have in common with chocolate, is the color. 

Look: 4/5
Taste: 2/5
Approximate cost of one cupcake: 0,18 €

New Year's Clock Cupcakes (72) - One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes (56)

These cupcakes looked so beautiful on the picture in the book that I could barely wait for it to be the New Year's Eve to make them! 
I was a bit scared too because I had never worked with buttercream before and I was worried because of the raw eggs in it (I don't want anyone to get sick because of my cupcakes). But since there aren't many frostings or creams that can actually be made without eggs, I had to give it a go. 

Martha Stewart suggests one bowl chocolate cupcakes or buttermilk cupcakes for this recipe. I'm a big fan of chocolate, so of course I chose the chocolate ones. At first I wanted to make the devil's food cupcakes, but I wanted to be done with baking quickly so I could work on the frosting, so I chose the easy recipe.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup warm water
Swiss Meringue buttercream (1/2 recipe)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

2. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream (use only 1/2 of the ingredients) - makes 5 cups which is too much

5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Heat sugar and eggs: Bring a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of water to a simmer. Meanwhile, combine sugar, egg whites, and salt in a large heat-proof mixing bowl. Set bowl over (not in) simmering water, and whisk until whites are warm to the touch and sugar is dissolved, 2 to 3 minutes. (Heating the eggs relaxes their proteins, enabling the eggs to whip up higher and more quickly; the sugar also melts, for a silky smooth consistency.) Test by rubbing between your fingers; the mixture should feel smooth.

2. Whip meringue: Attach bowl to a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on low speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and beat on medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and mixture is cooled completely, about 10 minutes.

3. Mix in butter: Reduce speed to medium-low; add butter 2 tablespoons at a time, beating to incorporate fully after each addition. Don't worry if the buttercream appears curdled at this point; it will become perfectly smooth again with continued beating. After all the butter has been incorporated, beat in vanilla.

4. Finish: Switch to the paddle attachment. Beat on the lowest speed to reduce air bubbles, 3 to 5 minutes. Let stand, covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature. (If not using the same day, transfer to airtight containers and store in the refrigerator up to 3 days or the freezer up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature; beat with paddle attachment on the lowest speed until smooth and pliable, about 10 minutes.)

After that, you just spread the buttercream over the cupcakes and pipe the numbers (1-12) on them.  Making these cupcakes wasn't easy (especially the buttercream). I had never worked with raw eggs before, so in a way it was a challenge, because I had no idea how the frosting was supposed to come out. However, it came out perfect (it tasted good and it didn't drip off the cupcakes, which, for me, means it's perfect). I don't like the amount of butter used in the buttercream, but I guess it wouldn't be called a buttercream if butter didn't have something to do with it. Since I don't own a piping bag, I had to improvise a little with the chocolate numbers, but I soon lost my patience and didn't complete the whole clock. Everyone got the idea of the clock though. And I finally got to use my red paper liners. The idea is very good and I think I'll be making these for New Year's eve again next year. Hopefully I'll have bought some piping bags by then.

The recipe made 16 cupcakes instead of 18, but I did fill the liners too much and all of the cupcakes rose too high. Next time I'll only fill them halfway.

Look: 4/5
Taste: 4/5
Approximate cost of one cupcake: 0,29 €

Surprise Cookies

This year, since I'm suddenly able to bake things, I decided to bake some cookies to give away as Christmas presents. I found the recipe on Martha Stewart's website under ''Kids' Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipes''. I figured it was the most interesting cookie to look at (and to eat), with not as much work as for the other recipes. 


Here is the recipe:
For cookies:


1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.


2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture; mix on low speed until combined.

3. Using a tablespoon or 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies begin to spread and become firm, 10 to 12 minutes.

4. Remove baking sheets from oven, and place a marshmallow, cut-side down, in the center of each cookie, pressing down slightly. Return to oven, and continue baking until marshmallows begins to melt, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

5. Spread about 1 tablespoon of frosting over each marshmallow, starting in the center and continuing outward until marshmallow is covered.

For the chocolate frosting: 


2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Place confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in butter and cocoa powder. Add milk and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.


The recipe was supposed to make about 2 dozen cookies, I made more than thirty. Luckily I had a whole bag of marshmallows so I didn't run out. I didn't want to make too much frosting so I only made 1/4 of a cup and it was THE perfect frosting. However, there was enough to cover only three marshmallows. I had to mix another one but this time it was so runny that the whole kitchen was covered in chocolate afterwards. Oh, well. If I ever make this again (I probably will), I won't add the whole amount of milk to the frosting recipe, because that made it really runny. 


Everyone loved these cookies, even my mother who is disgusted by marshmallows (she didn't even notice they were in there), because they taste like the popular cookies named Munchmallows. I didn't like them though. What a surprise :D