Week 24: Parsnip Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Parsnips are one of my favorite tubers.  Yes, a person can have a favorite tuber.  They are wonderful roasted with carrots, drizzled with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Even better, they make a great puree as an alternative to mashed potatoes.  And, as I’m happy to discover, they also work in this delicious cupcake! 

Basically, this is a carrot cake cupcake where you switch the parsnip for the carrot.  I found the recipe pretty simple.  I varied a little from Ming’s instructions for mixing the ingredients.  I mix the wet ingredients separately from the dry, and I sift the flour, baking soda, and spices together.  I added the pineapple and parsnips to the batter last.  For people with the correct attachment for their food processor, grating the parsnips should be no trouble.  I cannot find my attachment, so I grated a LOT of parsnips by hand.  But the result was worth it.  These cupcakes stay very moist, thanks to the canola oil, parsnips, and pineapple in the batter.  And any cupcake is vastly improved with a dollop of cream cheese frosting. 

I hope other people will try out this recipe.  It’s a great conversation cupcake with a yummy taste to boot.  I’m keeping it in my repertoire.

Week 23: Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Filling and Meringue Frosting

Hello Cupcake Lovers! It's time for another blog posting from me, Sarah! Yay! This time I made the Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Filing and Meringue-esque Frosting. First, let me tell you that I was slow to jump on the cupcake wagon, such that I didn't sign-up for specific cupcakes; I just took them potluck, like my freshman roomie. Then, to make matters more complicated for the Amazing Kate (Founder of CC), I asked for cupcakes that didn't have chocolate. (I work with this weird-o who is "allergic" to chocolate). Kate was awesome and obliged. BUT GUESS WHAT, the allergy kid didn't even try these cupcakes! What!?!? I know!

Anyway, for this grand adventure I did not have to scour the globe looking for any unique ingredients, which my husband was very happy about.

The cupcake recipe looked easy enough, until I realized that there was Lemon Filing I made but it never goes into the cupcake. Hmmm….Ming! Why do you do this to me?!?!? I am not a pastry chef. I had no idea when or where to put the goo in. Sad. So, I made it up. I pretty much just followed her filing instructions from my first cupcake (even though that had "preserves" instead of "filing.").

I, again, made a test batch, since I had no idea what I was doing. They were yummy, but all of the filling disappeared into the cupcake batter! So on the next two batches—that's right, I said two—I tried different techniques…less cupcake, more goo…then ¾ full of cupcake, then I put the goo in. Every time it came out exactly the same! (for the most part – some of them were huge and had to be sacrificed to the neighbors.) They were also very dense and heavy, but they tasted yummy enough. I didn't take pictures so here is a creative interpretation of my cupcake and what Ming thinks my cupcake should have looked like.

Week 22: Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

Week 21: Coffee Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting

Armed with a kitchen full of ingredients, and still buzzing from the hours of romantic tension between Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy on display in X-Men: First Class,  I set about making the coffee cupcakes with the type of careless disregard and darn the rules attitude you'd expect from me.  And, as you would also expect from me, things went . . . slightly awry.  While making the first batch I combined the coffee/cocoa mixture, the buttermilk and baking soda, and the egg in a mixing bowl, then added the flour, salt, and sugar mixture in thirds.  The result was a perfectly passable cupcake, if a bit small and dense.

So, armed with the dual weapons of humility and experience, I once again set about making the cupcakes, this time following Ming's actual directions.  This time I added the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl first, then mixed in the coffee and cocoa until the mixture was a bit grainy but integrated.  Then added the egg and mixed until the mixture was smooth.  The buttermilk and baking soda are the last thing to go in, and they mix for only a bit.  Doing it this way allows the baking soda, which is producing CO2 in the acidic butter milk and produces a lighter, puffier batter, and thus a lighter and fluffier cupcake.

So, the icing.  It's pretty much tastes like Baileys.  If you really like Baileys as I do, this isn't a problem, but if you perhaps want to delay your children's adventure in the wonders of alcoholism, you can probably cut the Bailey's with heavy cream or just take the Baileys out all together and replace with heavy cream. My icing was not as runny as the picture.  I don't know why, but my process was creaming the butter in the mixing bowl, then adding the liquid ingredients, then adding the powdered sugar one cup at a time until it was integrated in.  It was a pretty light, normal icing.