Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcakes

So this weekend I made cupcakes. There wasn't much in the house to play around with, and I wasn't feeling particularly inspired by any one recipe anyway, but I just wanted to bake something. So, after looking through countless cupcake recipes that all looked delish, and rejecting them because they called for sour cream, yoghurt, buttermilk and etc, I finally found a recipe that called for basic, simple ingredients that I had at home. Got the basic cupcake recipe here, and, was inspired by a bar of expensive but absolutely delish Green and Black's Maya Gold Dark Chocolate, to add a little something to the recipe. The bar is 55% cocoa, so it's not extremely dark, which is nice, and its scented with a light spice mix of nutmeg and cinammon, and a hint of orange flavour. Check out their gorgeous website here. So I added about a tablespoon of ground cinnamon to the recipe, and the hint of spice in the cake was just totally excellent. I topped them with a dark chocolate frosting of butter, cocoa powder and icing sugar, with a half-tablespoon of cinnamon for good measure, and it was just yummy. I really love the way these turned out. :)

Earl Grey-Lemon Teacakes

I've been toying with the idea of earl grey-lemon as a cookie or cupcake flavour for some time now, and when I discovered this recipe, I figured with a small change, I'd have what I wanted. The basic cake recipe is a really really good one, in more ways than one. the flavour and texture are fantastic, and the cakes have a bouncy, springy texture that is really excellent. plus, it's a very forgiving recipe. i made two separate batches (because my mother, the earl grey fanatic, loved them), and the first time, i accidentally forgot to beat the eggs into the butter and sugar before adding the flour and milk. so, i actually added them after about a third of the flour and milk had gone in, but the results were still great.
i'd most definitely make these again, but the only thing i would do differently the next time is i'd probably not add the frosting. It's a little too creamy and thick for my taste, and i think the cakes on their own are nicer. If I had madeline moulds, I'd make them in those instead, too.

These'd be great as breakfast, or tea, with a steaming hot cup (or pot) of tea. something warm and vanilla-scented, i think, would be great. or a blisteringly hot cup of black coffee.

looking lovely and golden brown, sans frosting

Cupcakes Galore

Seeing as how I spend many moments during work clicking around looking at food-related things, it isn't really surprising that I plan my baking/cooking schedule during work-time. Sadly, it isn't often that I get to bake two days in a row, since it does take time for the stuff to get eaten. This week, however, has been different.

On Sunday I made the One-Bowl Buttermilk Chocolate Cupcakes that I've been eyeing for a few weeks—I finally got around to buying buttermilk. They tasted okaay, if a little on the slightly dry side. I left them alone, but I was not very happy with them, since they were not "light and moist" as described. When I woke up on Monday, however, I woke up thinking that something on the top would take care of the dry problem. So I found a vanilla buttercream recipe and added cocoa powder to it, ending up with a reallly good, yummy, chocolatey cream to top my cupcakes with. yum.

Then, yesterday were pretty, fun Confetti Cupcakes made for M and my cousins. rather funny that the same thing can make both an almost-20-year old and two preschoolers so happy. Yes, M is rather perplexingly enamoured with coloured sprinkles and 100s-and-1000s. go figure. but well, whatever makes a person happy, right?

The recipe calls for vanilla and almond essences, but I know M doesn't like almond essence, so I put lemon zest instead, and topped them with lemon buttercream. The two elements tasted pretty good on their own, but together, somehow, it didn't quite work. They were a little better the next day, but still, they didn't taste as good as they looked.

I don't have a picture of the inside, because I finished one before I realised why I even picked it up to eat in the first place. Not that they were that good, I was just preoccupied with other things. For both a picture of the inside, and the recipe, check here.

When I gave them to M today, we both agreed that the chocolate ones were better. She even asked me for more, making me a very happy girl. I came home, with only one cupcake left after giving them to the various people, and a very good excuse to bake more cupcakes.

So here are the yummy chocolate cupcakes, complete with that mmmm-mmmm chocolate frosting. It's a testament to how good it is that my mother, who usually hates frostings and such, was scraping the bowl with her finger and eating the last bits.

Another happy thing: I tried the 'cone' method of filling cupcakes today, and wow, it's really fun. and cool.
and a really nice plus point is that, for people like me, who sometimes only get to eat one out of 12 of the cupcakes i bake, there's lots of soft cake to eat. :)

rich, chocolatey frosting topped with 100s and 1000s

pretty swirl!

happy yy.

limbo

Well, it's that last night before that last exam, and I cannot wait for it to all be over. Am already dreaming of the stuff I want to cook. Here's a list:

1) Apple Cinnamon Pancakes. v excited about these. was supposed to make them last weekend when i went home, but alas, there were no apples. How unbelievable is that?? but well, yes, apple cinnamon pancakes. yay.

2) A nice big, warm salad—the unhealthy kind, loaded with ingredients such as sauteed mushrooms, bacon, a fried egg, cheese, and whatever else catches the eye—and imagination— when I'm at the supermarket.

3) Cupcakes! mannn. I cannot wait. there's the candied ginger one from 101cookbooks, you can check them out here. and there's this other dark chocolate and peppermint bark one from here, although if i'm lazy, there'll be no bark, just crushed candycanes. or mints.

4) French toast! found this funky recipe and it looks funky-tastically delish.

and loads more! i don't particularly want to eat very much, i just want to cook! so if you're craving anything and want to eat, just tell me/find me a recipe and i'll cook for you! especially M and E, seeing as how i'll be seeing you guys most everyday..
yay i cannot wait for the weekend to come!

but ugh. packing. :(