Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes

These cupcakes were inspired by Starbucks' caramel macchiato. They are chocolate flavored cakes with an espresso flavor Italian meringue buttercream frosting and drizzled with homemade caramel sauce. Enjoy! Happy Baking! :)

Servings: 1 dozens
Cooking time: 20 mins at 350 F


Ingredients:
1 C + 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 C cocoa powder (dutch processed)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C light brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 C vegetable oil
1/2 C buttermilk
1/2 tsp espresso powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp vinegar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

2. Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt.

3. In a separate mixing bowl mix wet ingredients on slow-medium speed:

• mix sugars together
• add eggs one at a time to sugars, then
• add vegetable oil, buttermilk, espresso powder, vanilla extract, and vinegar

4. Still on slow-medium speed, at the dry ingredients to wet mixture gradually, stopping to scrape sides of mixing bowl when needed. Increase speed to medium-high and blend ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Do not over mix.

5. Then, fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Place in over and bake for 20 mins. Let cool for at least 30 mins before frosting.


Caramel Macchiato Frosting recipe
Follow the recipe HERE  and add 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder.


Homemade Caramel Sauce recipe
You could also use store-bought caramel sauce.

Ingredients:
1 C granulated sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp corn syrup (light)
1 C heavy whipping cream

Directions:
1. Make sugar syrup: In a sauce pan on medium-high heat mix sugar, water, and corn syrup until golden brown in color.

2. Add cream slowly, stirring as you add it. The sauce will bubble up so be careful. Make sure you keep stirring.

3. Let it cool completely before adding to frosting.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe




Before: My red velvet cupakes when I started baking :(

Now: Practice makes perfect!



This is my MOST popular flavor! And I am so delighted to share my recipe for it. It took me many tries to perfect the recipe. So here you go. Happy baking! :D

Servings: 2 dozens

Cooking time: 20 mins at 350 F

Ingredients:

2 1/4 C + 2 T all-purpose flour

1/4 C + 2 T cornstarch

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 Tbsp unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa power

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

1/2 C instant vanilla pudding (powder)

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 C vegetable oil

1 C buttermilk

4 large eggs

1 1/2 Tbsp red food coloring

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract, or plain vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

2. Mix dry ingredients and sift them all together: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, pudding, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a mixing bowl, mix at medium speed the wet ingredients: oil, buttermilk, eggs, red food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla extract (do not over mix).

4. Then in low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until all ingredients are incorporated together (do not over mix).

5. Place batter in cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20 mins at 350 F.

6. Let cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Serving: good for 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 lb unsalted butter, softened (4 sticks)

6 oz cream cheese, softened and at room temp (very important that it's at room temp for a light and fluffy frosting)

3 1/2 C powdered sugar

1 tsp Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. At medium speed, cream butter first. Then, add cream cheese and cream them together.

2. Lower speed and add powdered sugar 1/2 C at a time waiting for the sugar to mix in before adding more.

3. Once all the powdered sugar has been mixed in, add vanilla extract.

4. Increase speed to med-high and whip until light and fluffy (the color of the frosting will appear light). If it's not whipped to that right consistency your frosting will lool like the top image above :(

5. Now it's ready to be piped onto the cupcakes!

Italian Meringue Buttercream Recipe

Italian meringue buttercream (IMBC) is great for cupcakes, covering cakes, cake decorating, and more. It has a different taste from regular buttercream based frostings because of its key ingredient: egg whites. IMBC is very tricky and complex to make, I think, because you have to get the sugar syrup at the right temperature in order for it to work. It took me a few tries to finally perfect it. But once you get it, you're gonna wanna keep make it! It's such a versatile buttercream and the flavors you could make with  it is endless! Below is a simple recipe of a vanilla IMBC.


Vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream
Sugar Syrup:
1 C granulated sugar
1/4 C water

In a sauce pan, mix sugar and water on med-high until sugar thermometer is 245 F (between firmball and softball). It has to be at that temp when it's added to the merinue.While you wait for the thermometer to read 245 F, start on the meringue.

Meringue:
5 large egg whites
1/2 C granulated sugar
3 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temp
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Beat egg whites in high speed and add sugar GRADUALLY. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
2. Then, carefully, add the sugar syrup to egg whites, still on high speed. Continue beating until temperate of merignue is warm-cool (you could tell by touching the mixing bowl).
3. Once it's at the right temp, lower speed and start adding butter 1 Tbsp at a time. Then add vanilla extract.
4. Increase speed to high and continue beating until right spreadable consistency, about 7-10 mins.

**It might look thin and "liquidy" at first but that's okay. As it beats it will cool down completely and become more frosting-like consistency. If you get anxious (which I did the first time I made it), you could also put it in the fridge for 5 mins, take it out and continue mixing again on high speed to achieve that frosting consistency. Or, be patient and just let the mixer do it's job for 7-10 mins.

And viola! That's it. It's ready to go on top of cupcakes or cakes. You could always freeze it for future use and thaw it before frosting it on your cake.

For other flavor options:
Coffee/mocha/espresso: 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder
Chocolate: 2-3 oz of melted chocolate, cooled down per cup of IMBC
Raspberry: 1 tsp raspberry extract

Cookies n' Cream Cupcakes Recipe

You've been asking for it, so here you go--the recipe for my cookies n' cream cupcakes. These cupcakes are vanilla flavored cupcakes with Oreo cookie chunks in the cake and a surprise waiting at the botton of each cupcake. Happy baking! :D

Servings: 2 dozens cupcakes

Cooking time: 25-28 mins at 325 F

Ingredients:

2 3/4 C cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 C unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

4 large egg whites

1 tsp Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract (or plain and simple pure vanilla extract)

1 C buttermilk

2 packs of Oreo cookies (I like ALOT of cookies in mines)

Frosting: Cookies n' Cream buttercream frosting

1 lb unsalted butter, soften (4 sticks)

6 oz cream cheese, softened and room temp (*very important it's at room temp for a smooth fluffy frosting)

3 1/2 C powdered sugar

1 tsp Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract (or plain and simple pure vanilla extract)

Directions:

1. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liner and preheat oven at 325 F. Separate 12 Oreo cookies and place each half of cookie on cupcake liner (for totally of 24 cupcakes). Chop up Oreo cookies for batter (as much as you'd like to add to your cupcake). I like mines chunky :) Set aside for now.

2. Whisk together dry ingredients in bowl (cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). In a separate bowl with a mixer, blend butter and sugar; adding sugar gradually at medium speed. Once all the sugar has been added, increase speed to med-high and cream butter/sugar mixture until light and fluffy (it's ready when it looks light in color ivory to white)

3. Then set speed to low and add egg whites one by one, waiting for each to blend with mixture before adding another egg white (*don't over mix)

4. Once eggs are blended to mixture, add vanilla extract.

5. At low-med speed, add dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with buttermilk. Mix until all ingredients are blended together (*dont over mix)

6.Fold in slowly chopped up cookies in batter (**don't mix it or you'll lose air in the batter and your cupcakes will sink)

7. Place cookie-cake batter into cupcake liners about 3/4 full.

8. Bake for about 25-28 mins., and until toothpick comes out clear.

9. Let it cool. Top with frosting, cookie crumbs, and half an Oreo cookie (sliced in half).

How to make the frostings:

1. Cream butter in mixer at low-med speed.

2. Add cream cheese and continue mixing at low-med speed until butter and cream cheese are well blended together.

3. At low speed, add powdered sugar gradually.

4. Once the sugar is mixed in well, add vanilla extract mixing at low-med speed.

5. Increase mixer speed to med-high until frosting is light and fluffy.

6. Then crush Orea cookies into crumbs and fold it in frosting--saving some crumbs to top frosting (I don't fold or mix it in too much because I still like to see the white frosting in contrast to the cookie crumbs). And it's ready to be piped on cooled cupcakes. The tip I use is the Ateco 808.

Peppermint Cupcakes

These are my "Christmas" cupcakes. Most people may hesitate in tasting peppermint flavored cupcakes, but once they've tasted these cupcakes they loved it! It's a very rich and moist dark chocolate cupcake with peppermint buttercream topped with white chocolate peppermint crumbles. The frosting isn't too sweet and the semi-sweet taste of the dark chocolate cake balances the sweetness from the frosting and white chocolate/peppermint crumble anyway. For the crumbles, I used white chocolate-peppermint Hershey's Kisses candy.

Servings: 12

Cook time: 20 mins at 350 F

Ingredients:

1 1/4 C + 2 Tbsp C all-purpose flour (replace 3 Tbsp of this with 3 Tbsp cornstarch)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 C unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder

¼ tsp salt

½ C firmly packed light brown sugar

½ C granulated sugar

2 large egg

½ C buttermilk
3/4 C vegetable oil

1/2 tsp espresso powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp vinegar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven at 350 F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pan. Mix dry ingredients; flour, cocoa power, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2. Blend wet ingredients: mix sugars together, then add eggs, and blend together until thoroughly combined (do not over mix). Add buttermilk, vegetable oil, espresso powder, vanilla extract and vinegar with the rest of the wet ingredients. Mix together, but do not over mix; just enough that all the ingredients are blended together.

3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients gradually, and mix until ingredients are combined. Do not over mix batter (overmixing batter could result to sunken cupcakes). Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 of the batter.

4. Bake for 20 mins and cool for 30 mins.

Peppermint Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 C unsalted butter, softened

3 C powdered sugar

½ tsp peppermint extract

2-3 tbsp whipping cream (add for desired spreadable consistency)

Chopped white chocolate peppermint and topped on side

Directions:
1. Mix butter until smooth, 3-5 mins. at medium-high speed.

2. Decrease speed to low and gradually add powdered sugar, scraping sides of bowl.

3. Add peppermint extract. Increase speed to high and mix until fluffy, 3-5 mins. Add whipping cream by 1 tbsp at a time, until you reach desired spreadable consistency.

4. Once cupcakes have cooled add frosting. Garnish with white chocolate/peppermint crumble.
Note: to add red stripes, draw 3 lines inside pastry bag with red gel paste color.