CHOCOLATE MERINGUE COOKIE CUPCAKES

....And the beat goes on. Another day of culinary school means more creative ways to utilize the products we make, daily.  Case in point: chocolate cupcakes topped with Swiss meringue buttercream and vanilla meringue cookies. Do we see a theme here? Yes, yesterday's lesson was all about meringue. Swiss meringue buttercream, Italian meringue, original meringue cookies, etc etc. If it involved whipping egg whites, we covered it.  I came home with a boatload of freshly baked (by me) meringue cookies and 2 tubs full of Swiss meringue buttercream. So, I baked a batch of Martha's one bowl chocolate cupcakes (my favorite) and topped them with the Swiss meringue buttercream that I seemed to have had an endless amount of.  I then took the simple, yet delicious meringue cookies and topped each cupcake followed by a dusting of cocoa powder. My neighbors are sure enjoying the perks of culinary school; a.k.a. leftovers on a daily basis.

Martha Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

Yields 18-24

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons safflower oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Sift 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.

3. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks, and let cool. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.

TWD: CHIPSTER TOPPED BROWNIES

This is a recipe that you absolutely cannot go wrong with. You've got your brownie underbelly base with a crackly crispy chocolate chip cookie top to create a double whammy of perfection! I swapped out the chocolate chips for mini M&M's to add some color, however, I did make these with the chocolate chips way back when and they were equally as delicious.

I made these for the guys across the hall who babysat my pups Friday night and nothing says 'thank you' better than an M&M cookie/brownie combo.

I undercooked these slightly to get a gooey brownie bottom because I wanted to pair it with a crunchy top.  I froze them whole before cutting them into perfect squares. These were very rich but well worth it!  Thanks to Beth of Supplicious for selecting this week's TWD recipe. Check out her blog for details!

ICE 10:SUN DRIED TOMATO HUMMUS AND PITA CUPCAKES

I've got to make this short and sweet. It has been a very busy holiday weekend and I don't have too much time to divulge into this month's Iron Cupcake Earth; ingredient: SAVORY.

I tried to think of my most favorite food that would convert nicely into a cupcake. For anyone who knows me, hummus and pita are my absolute favorite! I can literally eat hummus plain, all day long.  There's nothing like homemade hummus with warm pita pockets nearby. Mmmm.

So, with that said, I've created a cornbread cupcake studded with sun dried tomato chunks, topped with a sun dried tomato hummus buttercream and a mini pita pocket and sun dried tomato chip for garnish.  I used this cornbread recipe and made 12 cupcakes.  I chopped up sun dried tomatoes from this great gourmet market near me and created my own sun dried tomato hummus buttercream by starting out with your basic buttercream recipe and adding 3/4 c. of hummus.

Voting begins on Saturday May 30th and noon and will continue through Friday June 5th at No One Puts Cupcake In A Corner.  

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus and Pita Cupcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Put in chopped sun dried tomatoes. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus Buttercream

1 stick butter, at room temperature

3 c. confectioner's sugar

2-3 tablespoons milk

1/2 c. hummus

chopped sun dried tomatoes

Beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add confectioner's sugar and beat well.  Add in milk until desired consistency. Beat in hummus and sun dried tomatoes.

Our May ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH,http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
• something sweet and dangly from CHERRYCREEKCHARMS at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6686445.
• a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,http://www.acupcakery.com/
  
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS,http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers,http://www.1800flowers.com . 

 

TWD:FRESH MANGO BREAD

Kelly of Baking With The Boys chose this weeks TWD recipe; fresh mango bread.  I've recently become a fan of mangos and the best time to get them is right now; during the month of May. So all you mango lovers out there; head to the store and buy yourselves some juicy, sweet, super flavorful mangos. They are beyond delicious, and so was this bread.  

The recipe calls for 1 cut up mango, however I put in 2 because the mangos I bought were too good not to use.  After cutting them up a ton of mango juice surfaced which I ended up putting into the bread dough before baking. I think this kept the bread super moist with an extra blast of mango flavor. Raisins were the perfect compliment to this fruit-filled loaf.

Many thanks to Kelly for choosing this recipe and further heightening my mango-loving taste buds. Check out her site for the recipe!

GINGERSNAP SANDWICH COOKIES WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FILLING

I made these cookies today in class as part of an assignment!! The cookies themselves were crisp with a fine caramelized taste on top.  The spices were rationed out perfectly to create a spicy, sweet, gingery flavor.  Everyone in the class brought home their final product and I decided to make sandwiches out of them. I used this basic cream cheese frosting and mixed in cinnamon to create a cinnamon cream cheese filling. Using a plastic pastry bag with a small cut hole, I piped some filling in the middle of one half of the cookies and created very delicious sandwiches by gently pressing the unfrosted cookies on top. Mmm Mmm good.

Unfortunately I can't post the recipes for what we make at culinary school so I hope you enjoy the pictures!