This month for cupcake hero the theme is squash! As you know I made spaghetti squash muffins last night they were good but these are even better!! yum!! So I'm putting these up for the cupcake hero vote! As for the jam I used in these, you'll have to bribe April or myself for the jams... both are super tasty :)

pumpkin bran muffins... i mean cupcakes... with jam centers
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
dash salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup bran flakes (i like to do 3 big handfuls, crumble them in your hand before filling with next handful)
1/4 cups splenda brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree -- fresh or canned
about a 1/4 cup really good jam (i used home made raspberry jam made by yours truly, and a peach vanilla bean made by the wonderful April from abby sweets!)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 convection). Spray muffin tins with non-stick oil. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. In separate bowl, beat together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and the egg. Slowly add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture. Beat well, until smooth. Stir in crushed bran flakes. Fill muffin tins two-thirds full. Make a little dent in the middle and fill with a dollop of jam. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of muffins comes out clean.

mmmmmmmmmmm I love pumpkin... yum

chow!

i'm making myself hungry with all these close ups!

So this month for cupcake hero we got to mix things up and pick 2 ingredients from the last year in one cupcake! It's funny I've actually used more than 1 featured ingredient in things before... but I wanted to try something new this round!! I decided on jalapeno and lime... sounded like a mixed drink to me :) and had good potential. And so I present to you...


First lets make the cake
Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Simple Recipes
Ingredients

• 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
3. Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
4. Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets (I didn't use the silicon ones this time but the paper cups) and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
   

Now for the key lime pie topping!

Skinny key lime pie
One 4-serving package (or half an 8-serving package) Jell-O Sugar Free Lime Gelatin
dessert mix
2 cups Cool Whip Free, thawed
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 no-calorie sweetener packet
8 low-fat honey graham crackers (2 sheets)

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup boiling water with gelatin mix and sweetener. Stir for at least 2 minutes (until completely dissolved). Then add 1 /2 cup cold water, the lemon juice, and the vanilla extract. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes, until slightly thickened but still mixable.

Next, stir in the Cool Whip. Mix until thoroughly blended (a wire whisk works best). Divide mixture among 5 dessert dishes. Refrigerate until firm (at least 3 hours).

Scoop key lime pie ontop of a cooled cupcake and serve immediately.

OK so I also want to submit the thing I made last month because I LOVED it THAT much. And I think it's better then the above recipe (which is good but this one is ... SO FREAKIN GOOD!!!!)

Cupcake hero is being cohosted this month by Rachel of Tangerine Tart and Teri of the 90/10 rule and they made a very interesting choice this month... one you don't normally see in the sweet/dessert isle.. Jalapenos!

We can use the jalapeno in any form... I chose the powder form... jalapeno powder (also known as chipotle powder) it isn't always easy to find, but wegmans being the best super market in the world carries it! I thought about what flavor combination would go well. I know the Aztecs are known for hot hot chocolate... so I started there. I found an interesting recipe for a chipotle flourless chocolate cake... mmmm. But I wanted to add something to cool off the taste buds after setting them on fire! This made me looking for some kind of liquid based milky cream to drizzle on top... hmm what else goes well with chocolate... coffee of course... ahhhh an espresso cream perhaps!? yes yes that is it! The best part is it uses silken tofu as the base of the cream, that means it's healthy right? Ehhh not so much, this recipe isn't really bad for you but it does have a good amount of chocolate and sugar... not that that is a bad thing! In this case it's a very very tasty good thing! I was able to reduce the amount of butter though :) and I used sugar not my normal splenda since I was baking these for some very special ladies I work with and one is pregnant and I wasn't sure if she's stearing away from artificial products or not. OK ok I know you want to know the recipe! Here it is!!


Chipotle Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Simple Recipes
Ingredients

• 5 oz. of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
   
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
3. Whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl, and then slowly, a bit at a time, whisk in the melted chocolate. Add the salt and spices and taste, adjusting the spices if needed.
4. Pour into 8 cupcake liner filled cupcake sheets (I didn't use the silicon ones this time but the paper cups) and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack.
   

Now for the Espresso Cream!

Espresso (French Vanilla) Cream
slightly adapted from myrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup firm silken tofu (about 1/2 [12.3-ounce] package)
• 6 tablespoons fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 cup brewed espresso(I used strong browed french vanilla coffee), cooled
  

Method
To prepare espresso cream, combine tofu, condensed milk, and 1/4 cup of brewed espresso in a blender; process until smooth. Chill.

Serve cream in a spoon or small dish next to the cupcake.


I love the idea of serving the cupcake unwrapped with a spoon full of the cream on the side... then your guests can pour as much cream as they want on top and chow!

The ladies I made these for had to say this...


Hope everyone loves this one as much as I do!!

Chow!!

It's cupcake hero time again! This month is being hosted by I heart cuppycakes and Crazy Delicious, the theme is "Red White and Blue" I immediately thought of my blueberry muffins I made twice last week... and again this weekend... but this brought on an interesting discussion between John and myself...

steph: i made cupcakes want one!
john: they look like the muffins you made last week... those were yum
steph: actually they're blueberry "cupcakes" let me put the topping on so you can have one!
john: wait... is it the same recipe as last week? are they still healthy?
steph: well it's the same recipe but they are cupcakes now...
john: why are they cupcakes now if it's the same recipe
steph: because they are for cupcake hero... not muffin hero...
john: but what makes them cupcakes now???
steph: they have a topping and aren't naked... if it's naked it's a muffin, a topping makes it a cupcake...
john: you're a nut
steph: is true
john: can I have a muffin now...
steph: cupcake

So! Back to the cupcakes :D These are super moist and delicious. They have quickly become my favorite muffin or cupcake that involves fruit. These things are perfect for a nice hot summer day. Made with fresh blueberries and covered in a pile of cool whip and strawberries... it doesn't get any better then this!


Blueberry Cupcakes
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2.5 Tb splenda blend (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 cup apple sauce
2 6 oz containers ff lemon yogurt (so 12 oz total)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
1.5 - 2 cups blueberries, rinsed and patted dry
1-2 cups fat free cool whip
12 strawberries
12 large blueberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners, or in my case I just used silicon baking cups.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl blend apple sauce, yogurt, egg and vanilla thoroughly. Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be very thick.


Add the blueberries and stir gently. Divide the batter between the 12 silicon baking cups (or lined baking cups) (they will be very full cups) and bake for 6 minutes at 425, reduce heat to 350 and continue cooking for 12-14 minutes, or until tester inserted into center comes out mostly clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Once completely cool use a spatula to pile on a healthy serving of cool whip. Quarter strawberries and add in a pinwheel pattern on top, add another little blob of cool whip and top with the largest blueberry you can find.

Chow!


Eating these things results in many giggles and faces covered in blueberries and cool whip. If you want to avoid such a fun mess you can do something my Nana taught me. Simply break (or cut) the top of the cupcake off, take the stump of a bottom and place it on top of the frosting, broken side facing the frosting, to make a nice little sandwich! No more frosting in your face :)

Happy Earth Day everyone! It's absolutely beautiful here. AMAZING weather for april. It's been in the 70's and even 80's (normally it's in the 50's this time of year here).... yeahhhh so wonderful but kind of makes you stop and think... global warming much???? Ohh the irony of my earth day theme cupcakes!

Yes it's that time again cupcake hero time!! This is my third time competing and I must say it's wicked fun. The first month theme ingredient was liquor, the second marshmallow, and now... EARTH DAY!!! So immediately my mind went to dirt cupcakes with gummy worms (compost cupcakes love it!), then something vegan and all locally grown ingredients(excuse to hit the farmers market) Pistacio cupcakes (get it they are green haha)... perhaps a no bake to save on oven energy use??? I thought and thought and really wanted something different that hopefully no one else would think of.

Then my mind wandered to the cute pictures of penguins and polar bears on the reseeding ice caps... poor cute fluffy things sitting on a tiny little ice cube thinking "where'd all the ice go?" With that image in mind I decided to plead the case of the polar bears! So people stop global warming and save the polar bears!!


I also decided since my earth day was more about decorating I'd pay homage to my last two months of cupcake hero and make new versions of the theme ingredients... so we have a liquor based Amaretto cupcake, with a marshmallow seven minute frosting on top! See it's all about brining it full circle. Hope you guys love this one or at least get a laugh. I left the above image with sign in the refrigerator for my roommate (also named stephanie) and her boyfriend (also named John) to find. They were rolling hehe. And yes I know only I would live with someone with the same name who is also dating someone of the same name.. makes it super interesting when we are all there and someone is trying to call someone else ha!



Amaretto cupcakes

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking
1/4 cup finely chopped sliced almonds, toasted (about 1 ounce)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 Tbs butter or stick margarine, melted
1/4 cup amaretto (almond-flavored liqueur)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine milk, butter, amaretto, and eggs; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spoon batter into 6 lightly greased and floured muffin tins and 10 mini muffin tins (we aren't using paper holders, come on we are being green!).

Bake mini's for 10 minutes, regular size cupcakes for 16-17 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.

Marshmallow, or Seven Minute Frosting

2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled.

Assemble the polar bear cuBcakes
6 regular + 10 small cooled cupcakes
batch of frosting
coconut (amount will depend on how heavily you coat your bears! I used half a small bag)
11 large white gumdrops 5 small white gumdrops
chocolate chips (regular and mini) (I just cut a normal chip in half for the mini ones)
6 m&m

First, frost the top, sides, and bottoms of both a regular-size cupcake and a mini cupcake with white frosting. For each cupcake, frost the bottom first; then use a fork stuck into the bottom to hold the cupcake while you frost the rest of it.

Roll the cupcakes in shredded coconut; then, working on waxed paper, set the cupcakes on their sides with the top of the smaller cupcake stuck to the bottom of the larger one (use the icing like glue) to form the bear's head.

Add 2 horizontal slices from a large white gumdrop for ears, a m&m for a nose, and 2 chocolate chips for eyes. For each cub, frost a mini cupcake and a large gumdrop, then roll them in coconut and arrange them on their sides as shown. Add 2 horizontal slices from a small white gumdrop for ears, a chocolate chip nose, and 2 mini chocolate chip eyes.

seriously how freakin cute are these cupcakes!

It's cupcake hero time again! This month is marshmallow!! When I think of marshmallow my mind immediately goes to campfires and smores. Thus came smore cupcakes flambe! It's a chocolate cupcake with a layer of graham cracker crumbs, mini marshmallows, that is then covered in melted marshmallows and torched to a nice crisp then covered in chocolate chips and more graham crumbles. Did someone say YUM!!!!!!???



smore cupcakes flambe!
Ingredients for cupcakes
Makes 2 dozen

• 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 vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 96 mini marshmallows
  

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed. 2. Put 1 Tbs of batter into each cupcake liner, then add 1 tsp graham cracker crumbs and 4 mini marshmallows. Divide remaining batter to cover marshmallows, filling each about one-third full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Ingredients for frosting

• 1/2 of a 16 oz bag plain marshmallows (the small ones, not the jumbo ones)
• 1 Tbsp water
• shortening, for greasing bowls
• 2-4 cups confectioner’s sugar
  
• pinch of salt

Place the marshmallows and water in the greased microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 60 seconds. Stir in confectioners sugar a little at a time until desired "gooiness" is reached.

Cover cupcakes with frosting, flambe with a creme brule torch (or if you are ghetto like me and don't have one on hand a long fire place lighter will do in a pinch HA), top with chocolate chips and some more graham cracker crumbs. Delicious!!



Before the frosting went on the cupcakes looked a bit sad... marshmallows fluffing out the tops to a nice crisp! But ohh so tasty.

Bring on the amaretto! Wendy came over to join in the cupcake making fun :) I had everything laid out and ready to go for my double chocolate cupcakes with amaretto sauce.

Here is the recipe for the cupcakes.


Double chocolate cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated splenda mix for baking
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup egg substitute or 4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons skim milk
2 tablespoons half and half
2 ounces dark (70 percent cocoa) chocolate, finely chopped plus a little extra for shaving


Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir with a whisk.

Place splenda and apple sauce in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well combined. Add egg substitute and vanilla, beating well. Add flour mixture and milks alternately to granulated sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in chocolate. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups lined with muffin cup liners. Bake at 350° for 18 minutes tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.


While the cupcakes are cooking it's time to make the amaretto sauce!

Amaretto chocolate sauce

Ingredients

1/3 cup half and half
2/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup amaretto

Bring half and half to a boil in a saucepan, add chocolate chips and stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat and pour in amaretto, stir until incorporated. Place in the refrigerator to let it cool (about 20 minutes).


Once the cupcakes are cool enough so you don't burn yourself trying to eat one :) Poke a few holes in the center of them (I use a skewer) and pour the amaretto sauce into the holes letting it overflow and cover the cupcakes. Take some leftover dark chocolate squares and using a vegetable peeler shave some chocolate on top of the cupcakes.

Sit back and enjoy!


oh so tasty!!


the aftermath!