Easy Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting {Secret Recipe Club}

Sometimes you just need a cupcake.  Or a few cupcakes.  I feel that I need cupcakes often, but it's rare that I actually need a dozen, full-size cupcakes.  Unless I have a party to take them to, making a whole batch of cupcakes can often end in disaster, with me deciding that a cupcake with coffee is a great breakfast, a cupcake with a side of fruit is a perfect lunch, and dinner is best concluded by eating another two cupcakes, and so on for the next few days.

That's why I love small-batch baking.

This delicious recipe for a small batch of easy vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting comes from Asiya at Chocolate and Chillies.  I was assigned her blog for my first month participating in the Secret Recipe Club, and had so much fun perusing her recipe index and deciding what to cook (if you haven't heard of the SRC, it's basically a club where each month you're assigned a blog to cook from, and someone else is assigned your blog, and it's a fun surprise on the reveal day to see who had your blog and what they decided to make).

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream (Paleo, Gluten-free)

I really enjoyed the spiced honey & corn cupcakes I made the other day, but they also left me craving a more classic cupcake.  To me, vanilla beans are the epitome of classic elegance in dessert flavor form.  I ordered half a pound of vanilla beans online months ago, used half of them to make a bunch of little bottles of vanilla extract, and still have a bunch left.  I highly recommend ordering beans online in bulk, since it's much more economical and they're likely to be much fresher than overpriced grocery store beans.

These cupcakes are light and fluffy, because they're made with coconut flour instead of almond flour.  Of all the paleo & gluten-free treats I've made, these may be the closest in taste and texture to their gluten-laden cousins.  I highly recommend them!  They're also perfect for people with nut allergies or for bringing to birthday celebrations in nut-free classrooms.  This recipe makes a very small batch (good for people like me with no restraint), but can easily be doubled.

Spiced Honey & Corn Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream (Gluten free, Paleo)

I wanted to make a fabulous end-of-summer, beginning-of-fall cupcake, and here it is!  These have corn kernels baked right in, and a batter laced with fall spices.  The frosting is my favorite part: butter and coconut cream are delicious together, with a little honey and maple sugar for sweetness.  I tested the frosting with and without butter, and it's great both ways.

Some people don't include corn in their paleo diet, so feel free to leave it out.  If you wanted to substitute something else, I bet these would also be delicious with little chunks of apple instead.  Let me know if you try it!

Oh, and do you love these parchment cupcake cups as much as I do?  I got the idea from this post on Alexandra's Kitchen.  They take a few minutes to make, but I love their rustic look.  The BEST part is that NONE of the cake crumbs stick to the paper!  And, the cup unfolds into a nice little placemat to put your cupcake on between bites.  You can also use parchment to line a loaf pan if you are making banana bread or something like that, and you don't even need to grease it.

Lemon Blackberry Cupcakes

Blackberries are one of my favorite fruits.  They are juicier than raspberries, and seem more elegant, perhaps because of their sleek purple-black color.  So, I was really excited to discover that blackberries were this month's ingredient for the Get Your Chef On challenge hosted by White Lights on Wednesday and Four Marrs and One Venus.

I knew I wanted to make a delicious blackberry dessert.  At first I was thinking about blackberry galettes, but I just made galettes recently, and I realized it had been TOO LONG since I'd made cupcakes.  Initially I was planning to make chocolate blackberry cupcakes, but I was over at my mom's, and she really wanted vanilla.  Since she was nice enough to let me heat up her kitchen on a hot day, I had to agree.  Since the blackberries I've been getting are so sweet and juicy, I decided lemons would be a nice counterpoint.

This cake is adapted from a lemon bundt cake recipe in Cook's Illustrated The Science of Good Cooking, which is an awesome book with recipes that were rigorously tested to make the most of the scientific principles at work in the kitchen.  The blackberry frosting is my own creation.

There was almost a disaster when I was decorating these cupcakes.  I thought glaze with frosting on top would be delicious (and I was right), but I didn't realize the frosting would try to slide right off the glaze.  Disaster was averted when I cut little cone-shaped holes into the top of the cupcakes to hold all the buttery frosting.  Phew, that was a close one.

These cupcakes take a little bit of time, but you should make them because they are so summery and so delicious--creamy, buttery, fruity, and tart at the same time.  If you buy a lot of blackberries, which you should, hang on to some--I have another delicious, but much healthier, blackberry recipe coming up soon. 

Ingredients (makes 12 cupcakes; cake and glaze adapted from Cook's Illustrated The Science of Good Cooking):

For the cake:

1 lemon
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Scant 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, at room temperature
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool (60 degrees)
1 cup sugar

For the glaze:

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the frosting:

1 heaping cup fresh blackberries, plus 12 blackberries for decorating
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla, divided
1 teaspoon lemon zest
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 and grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin (or use papers--I didn't because I knew the glaze was going to drip down the sides).

Zest the lemon and squeeze one tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of juice (save the rest of the lemon for the glaze).  Put half the zest in a small bowl with the juice, reserving the rest of the zest for the frosting.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  In another medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon mixture.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until very fluffy and light (take a full 3 minutes to do this).  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, mixing to fully combine between the additions.

With the mixer still on low, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of the buttermilk mixture and scraping down the bowl as needed.  Give the batter one more stir by hand to make sure it's mixed.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, being careful not to fill them over 3/4 of the way full--without cupcake papers, it's hard to remove a cupcakes that's baked over the edges of the cup.

Bake for 12-18 minutes, or until the cupcakes are light golden around the edges and a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for five minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack, using a small sharp knife to loosen the cakes if necessary.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the glaze.  Combine all the ingredients and whisk until smooth.

While the cupcakes are still warm, pierce the top once or twice with a fork and pour the glaze over.

To make the frosting, heat the blackberries, water, granulated sugar, half a teaspoon of vanilla, and the remaining lemon zest in a saucepan over medium heat.  Simmer, using a spoon to help break up the blackberries, until the berries are turned to mush and the liquid around them is syrupy, 15-20 minutes.  Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, using the back of the spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.  Discard the seedy pulp and set the blackberry syrup aside to cool.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth.  Add the blackberry syrup, powdered sugar, salt, and the remaining half teaspoon of vanilla.  Mix until smooth.  If the frosting seems too liquid, put it in the refrigerator for half an hour or so to set up.

When the cupcakes are completely cool, use a paring knife to cut a small cone-shaped piece of cake out of the top of each one (see a picture in this post).  You're doing this because you don't want the frosting to just slide right off the glaze!  Use a spoon or a frosting bag to fill the cavity with frosting, letting it spill over a little.  Place a blackberry, stem end down, in the cavity with the frosting.  Enjoy!

I kept these cupcakes in the refrigerator because it's been so hot and I didn't want the frosting to melt.  They still tasted great on the third day, and there were none left after that.  They will also keep up to 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.  The cakes texture becomes denser over time (like a pound cake), but it's still delicious.

You might also like:

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Triple Berry Almond Clafoutis

Lemon Coconut Cupcakes

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Okay, this is it!  My best cupcake ever.  If you haven't jumped onto the salted caramel train yet, now is the time.  These are light and delicious vanilla cupcakes (my new favorite white cake recipe) filled with salted caramel sauce, topped with salted caramel buttercream, and sprinkled with a little more sea salt to finish.  They're amazing!  I recommend that you make them right now.  If you prefer, you can use chocolate cupcakes as the base--I tried that, too, and it's also amazing.

To make these, you'll need to some salted caramel sauce.  You might want to make a double recipe so you can stash some in the fridge or drizzle it over ice cream.  If you make a single recipe, it should be just enough to fill the cupcakes and make the frosting.

You'll also need cake flour.  I know, I also wish all-purpose flour could really be used for all purposes, but this time you're going to need the cake flour.  It makes the cupcakes really light and gives them a nice fine crumb.  If you don't have any cake flour but you do have cornstarch, use this post from Joy the Baker and turn some of your regular flour into cake flour.

I made these for an event we had at my Quaker meeting last night.  Every Wednesday in the summer, my meeting hosts a Wellesley Wednesday cookout, where everyone brings something to share and then someone presents on an interesting topic.  Well, yesterday, the interesting topic was THIS BLOG!  I had so much fun telling everyone all about A Calculated Whisk and how it all works--some of them did not even know what a blog was!

After the discussion, we made frosting together!  I showed everyone how to stuff a cupcake with salted caramel, and how to use sugar, butter, a little milk and salt, and flavorings to make a delicious small batch of buttercream.  I brought all kinds of fun things for people to flavor their frosting: grenadine, vanilla, vanilla beans, cinnamon, cocoa, almond extract, peppermint extract, salted caramel, and lime and lemon zest.  We had a blast!

Salted Caramel Cupcakes Recipe
Yield: 20 cupcakes
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients for the cupcakes (adapted from this recipe at Cookies & Cups):

1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks), at room temperature, cut into chunks
4 eggs
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup salted caramel sauce, for filling

Ingredients for the frosting:

1 cup salted caramel sauce
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 and line your muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Use a mixer to beat the mixture on low speed for about a minute to make everything light and fluffy.

With the mixer still on low, add the butter a couple of pieces at a time.  Mix until it looks like coarse sand.  Slowly pour in the milk and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing all the while and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.  Raise the mixer speed to medium and beat for about two minutes until the batter is really smooth.

Fill your cupcake liners about 2/3 full.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cupcakes are puffed and set, but not browned, and a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove to a rack to cool.  Make sure the cupcakes are completely cool before you fill or frost them.

To fill the cupcakes, use a small paring knife to cut a small cone-shaped piece out of the top of the cupcake, making sure you don't cut too close to the bottom of the cupcake.  Spoon salted caramel in to fill the cone.

To make the frosting, mix all ingredients by hand or with a mixer until smooth.  Spread or pipe onto cooled, filled cupcakes.

If desired, drizzle some salted caramel and sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on top of the frosted cupcakes.

**Did you know you can support A Calculated Whisk by clicking here to visit Amazon?  When you access Amazon through my link, I receive a very small commission based on any items you purchase.  It won't affect the prices you pay at all.  Thank you so much for your support!

You might also like:

Lemon Blackberry Cupcakes

Carrot Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Neufchatel Frosting

Margarita Cupcakes

Brownie Sundae Cupcakes

These cupcakes feature the essential elements of a brownie sundae in a convenient, easy to serve and eat form.  I made them for the kids and they were a big hit at the pajama dance party we had today (we filled the dinosaur jar again).  Some kids were guilty of just licking the ice cream off the top and leaving the brownie, but most of them polished off the whole thing.

You could just make this with your favorite brownie recipe and your favorite homemade or store bought ice cream to save time.  I ended up making my brownies with olive oil because it was the ONLY thing left in my kitchen, but they turned out great!  Nobody noticed anything at all, and I felt a little less guilty about enjoying several of these cupcakes over the last 24 hours.

I got the inspiration and ganache for these from Joy the Baker, modified this ice cream recipe from Annie's Eats, and adapted this brownie recipe from food.com.  I can't wait to make these again with a different flavor of ice cream.  And then maybe with blondies instead of brownies?  The possibilities are endless.  And some whipped cream on top, maybe?  I totally wanted to do that, but all the cream was used up making the ice cream.

Ingredients (makes about 30 brownie cupcakes):

For the brownies:

1/3 cup chocolate chips, melted
1 cup olive oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder

For the vanilla bean ice cream (makes about 2 quarts):

3 cups heavy cream, divided
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the ganache:

1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk or cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

To make the ice cream, heat half the cream in a medium saucepan with the salt, sugar, and vanilla bean (scrape in the seeds, then throw the bean in, too).  Stir occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved.  Remove from heat and stir in the remaining milk and cream.  Chill the mixture thoroughly, remove the vanilla bean, then freeze in your ice cream maker.

To make the brownies, preheat the oven to 350 and line 30 muffin cups with paper liners.  Mix together the oil, sugar, and melted chocolate chips in a large bowl.  Stir in the eggs and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, whisk together all the remaining dry ingredients.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients until no floury spots remain.  Divide the batter among the cupcake cups (don't add too much--you want the batter to just cover the bottom of the cupcake paper so you'll have room for the ice cream later).  Bake for 8 or so minutes until set.  It's better to underbake these a little since they'll harden up in the freezer later.  Cool to room temperature, then transfer to the freezer for at least 30 minutes before adding the ice cream.

To make the ganache, set the chocolate chips aside in a bowl and heat the milk or cream until scalded.  Pour it over the chocolate chips, cover, and let sit for a few minutes.  Stir in the vanilla.  If your chocolate isn't totally melted, microwave in 15-second intervals and stir until smooth.  Cool to room temperature before using.

To put the cupcakes together, spoon softened ice cream (right from the machine is perfect) over chilled brownies to fill the cupcake papers.  Freeze cupcakes for at least an hour.  Using a spoon, top each cupcake with a teaspoon or so of ganache.  Store in the freezer, and remove about five minutes before serving.

Vanilla Bean Financiers

Ever since I found out about financiers, I've been wanting to make them.  They are French cakelets made with brown butter and almond flour, and traditionally baked in a financier mold (I really want one, but haven't gotten myself one yet).  Some people say a bakery near Paris' financial district started making these cookies and calling them financiers because they're shaped like bars of gold.  Others say they are called that because they're so rich that only financiers can afford to eat them.

Either way, I knew I was going to love the combination of brown butter and almond flour, and I did!  I added vanilla bean because I love the taste of vanilla and almond together, but to be more traditional you could leave the vanilla out.  If you make this version, you'll notice beautiful little flecks in two shades of brown: dark brown from the vanilla bean seeds and golden brown from the brown butter.  So pretty!

Once I get my financier pans, I want to try making some fruit-studded financiers--maybe a few raspberries or thin slices of peach on top.

These financiers are best warm and fresh from the oven, but are also delicious the next day, especially dunked in some milk or coffee.

Ingredients (makes 18 mini-muffin sized financiers; adapted from Dorie Greenspan's recipe):

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup almond flour
6 egg whites
1/2 vanilla bean
1 cup flour*

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Continue to cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter comes to a boil and browns.  As soon as the butter browns, remove the pan from the heat.  (If you haven't browned butter before, check out this step-by-step tutorial from How Sweet It Is.)

In another saucepan, stir together the sugar and almond flour.  Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean.  Using your fingers, rub the mixture to evenly distribute the vanilla.  Stir in the egg whites.  Heat the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is runny, lightened, and hot.

Remove from the heat and stir in the flour.  Gradually mix in the butter.

Refrigerate the batter for at least one hour, or up to three days, with plastic wrap right on top of the surface to keep out air.

Preheat your oven to 400.  Butter mini muffin tins or financier molds, then dust with flour and tap out any extra.  Fill molds almost to the top with batter and bake for 10-13 minutes, until puffed, golden brown around the edges, and set.

Turn out financiers onto a wire rack and cool to room temperature (or enjoy them warm).

*The recipe only called for 2/3 of a cup and I meant to follow it exactly except for the addition of the vanilla bean, but read the quantity wrong when I glanced at the recipe before adding the flour.  The cookies still turned out great.  You could try them with 2/3 or a full cup of flour; I just wanted to report exactly what I did.  Next time I'll check twice!

A Cupcake Party and Simple Chocolate Buttercream

We had a decorate-your-own cupcake party last night!  I got the idea from this post on A Beautiful Mess.  People had so much fun choosing a cupcake flavor and heaping on toppings inside the ring of frosting.  Carrot cupcakes were the most popular, and I saw lots of people spooning on strawberry curd.  It wasn't too bad waking up to leftovers this morning, either.  I am a big fan of cake for breakfast.  Maybe the decorate-your-own cupcake station can become a permanent feature around here?

In case you want to throw your own cupcake party, here are the recipes I used:

• Carrot Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Neufchatel Frosting
• Double Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes
• Vanilla Bean Cupcakes from Annie's Eats
• Strawberry Curd
• Salted Caramel Sauce

For the chocolate cupcakes, I was too lazy to make the Swiss meringue buttercream that's in the post for the Double Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes, so I made a simple chocolate buttercream.  Here's the recipe in case you want to make it!

Ingredients (makes enough for 12 cupcakes): 

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Pinch of salt 

Combine all ingredients and beat on high speed until smooth.

I also put out these toppings:

• Shredded coconut
• Chopped pecans
• Chopped strawberries with a little sugar
• Sprinkles
• Mini m & ms

There are so many other things that would be great on cupcakes!  What are your favorite cupcake flavors, frostings, and toppings?

Carrot Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Neufchatel Frosting

I have never been really into carrot cake.  Sometimes there are raisins in it.  It's a way to try to pass vegetables off as dessert.  It doesn't pair well with chocolate.

However, my boyfriend thinks it's the best kind of cake, so I had to make some for the joint birthday party we're throwing tonight.  And, I have become a carrot cake convert!  These cupcakes are so delicious, I wish I had made two dozen.  That way I could eat one dozen myself and no one at the party would be the wiser.



Are you a carrot cake fan?  If not, let this recipe turn you into one!  The moist, perfectly spiced cupcakes paired with the creamy, not-to-sweet, rich vanilla frosting--you're going to love it!



How adorable are these organic carrots I got?  They came with all their greens still attached, but were trimmed and peeled before I took this photo.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.  Double it to make 24.

Ingredients for the cupcakes (adapted from this recipe on Gimme Some Oven):

1 1/2 cups grated carrot (about half a pound of carrots, peeled)
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Rounded 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of allspice
Zest of one orange
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Use a food processor with the disc attachment to grate the carrots.  Measure to get 1 1/2 cups and set aside in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour with the next seven ingredients (through orange zest).

Rinse the food processor, and switch to the regular blade.  Blend the sugars and eggs until well combined, about 30 seconds.  With the machine running, add the oil in a steady stream, and continue to blend until well mixed, about 30 seconds.

Add the egg mixture and the flour to the bowl with the carrots, and mix until combined and no streaks of flour remain.

Scoop into cupcake liners and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Ingredients for the frosting:

8 ounces Neufchatel cheese (you can substitute cream cheese)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 vanilla bean (you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract if you don't have a bean)
1 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, combine the Neufchatel, butter, and seeds from the vanilla bean.  Beat on high until well combined.  Sift in the sugar and beat again until smooth.  Wait until the cupcakes are completely cool to frost them.  Enjoy!

Margarita Cupcakes

What if you could take a margarita and make it into a cupcake?  Guess what--it's really possible!  Your dreams can come true with this lime-infused cake and tequila-lime swiss meringue buttercream frosting.  If you want to get crazy, you can brush the tops of the cupcakes with tequila before you frost them and sprinkle a little bit of coarse salt on top at the very end.  I won't will blame you if you want to wash a few of these down with a real margarita, though.  After all, it's Cinco de Mayo!  No one said you can't drink a margarita and have your cake, too.

Ingredients (adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride; makes 18-20 cupcakes):

For the cupcakes:
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
Zest and juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup tequila for brushing cupcakes (optional)

For the frosting:
2 cups sugar
8 egg whites
3 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
Juice of 1 lime
1-3 tablespoons silver tequila, to taste
Lime zest for topping

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 325.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale yellow.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing to combine thoroughly before adding the next egg.  Beat in the lime zest and juice and vanilla.

With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk.  Mix JUST until combined.  Scoop into muffin cups (I use an ice cream scoop greased with cooking spray for this) and bake until a toothpick comes out with just a few fine crumbs, 20-25 minutes.  I used a combination of full-size and mini muffin pans, and this recipe yielded 12 full-size cupcakes and 16 minis.

If desired, prick the tops of the warm cupcakes with a fork and brush with tequila.

To make the frosting, combine the sugar and egg whites in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler.  Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl is above the water.  Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160 degrees--the sugar will be melted and the mixture will be frothy.

Remove from the heat and beat with an electric mixer until the mixture has cooled to room temperature and holds stiff peaks, 8-10 minutes.

Beat in the butter a couple of tablespoons at a time.  Don't worry if your frosting looks soupy or curdled--just keep beating!

Add lime juice, tequila, and vanilla, and beat until smooth.  Frost cupcakes soon before serving, or store the frosting in the fridge for up to a day and rebeat before using.

Top frosted cupcakes with lime zest and a sprinkling of sea salt if desired.

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

My first graders have a jar of dinosaurs as part of our classroom incentive system.  Every time the whole class does something good, like cleaning up by the end of the clean-up song (it's not a special song, usually just something by Michael Jackson), we put in 10 or 20 dinosaur counters.  When we fill up the jar, we have a big celebration.  The jar holds almost 400 dinosaurs, so it's a really big deal, and today is the day!  Just in time for spring break.  

I like to bring in cupcakes.  Last time, one of my students suggested that we have "Cupcake Wars"--everyone brings in cupcakes, we try them all, and then decide which ones are the best.  Anyway, I said yes because I thought I would be the only one to bring in cupcakes.  Boy, was I wrong!  The next day six kids brought in cupcakes (only one kid brought homemade ones, so I still pretty much won the cupcake war).  There were so many cupcakes that we had to save some for the next day.

This time, I wanted to make something really springy, so I decided to make strawberry cupcakes.  I wanted to go all-out and decorate them with chocolate-covered strawberries.  For the cake itself, I used a version of the quick chocolate cake recipe I used for the chocolate cupcakes I made recently.  But, instead of the water or coffee, I used half water and half strawberry purée.  So, you would need half a cup of strawberry purée for a single recipe of cupcakes.  This recipe would also be delicious with just plain chocolate cake, though.  I omitted the ganache filling, but you can use it if you want.  I frosted them with a recipe based on Martha Stewart's Strawberry Meringue Buttercream.  It was the best part of the whole thing and tasted just like strawberry ice cream in frosted form.  The strawberry purée listed below is used in both the cupcakes and the frosting.

Strawberry Purée (makes one cup, enough for 12 cupcakes and frosting):

1 cup fresh or defrosted frozen strawberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Moscato (optional)

If you have time, mix the berries, sugar, and wine and let them sit for a while.  Then, blend all ingredients in a food processor.

Strawberry Meringue Buttercream

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup strawberry purée
• 
  

Put the egg whites and sugar in a very clean heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler.  Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and heat, whisking constantly, until it reaches 150 degrees and is foamy and thickened.  Remove from the heat and beat on high speed until the mixture is cooled to room temperature and holds stiff peaks.

Add the butter a tablespoon at a time and beat until smooth.  Add the vanilla, and fold in the strawberry purée.

To decorate the cupcakes, I cut small strawberries in half through the stem and dipped those.  I didn't want a huge chocolate-covered berry to stick out too far or overwhelm the frosting.  No chocolate sticks on the cut side of the strawberries, but that's okay because that's the bottom anyway.  You might need a toothpick for dipping strawberry halves, because it can be hard to grab onto them without breaking off the green leaves.  Let the strawberries set on a sheet of parchment paper, and transfer them to frosted cupcakes after the chocolate has hardened.

You barely need a recipe for chocolate-covered strawberries, but I'm sharing this anyway in case you're curious about what I did.  They are delicious plain or on top of any sort of cupcake!

Ingredients:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate (or any kind of chocolate you prefer)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound fresh strawberries, at room temperature

Place first three ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and heat using 20-second intervals, stirring between each one, until melted and smooth.  Alternately, you can use your double boiler.

Make sure your berries are washed and totally dry (any moisture on the berries will keep the chocolate from sticking).  Cut in half if desired.  Dip each berry in the chocolate, turning to coat, and then place the berry on parchment or wax paper or in a cupcake cup.  Once all strawberries have been dipped, you can chill them for an hour or so, but don't store them in the refrigerator because the chocolate might get chalky.

What is your favorite way to decorate cupcakes?  What spring cupcakes are you craving right now?
I'm thinking about these raspberry vanilla cupcakes for next time.