Words of Wisdom From "Modern Family"

On a recent episode of ABC's excellent new show "Modern Family," the wise-beyond-his-years mini-man Manny declares:

"If you're gonna be stranded, might as well be in a place full of cupcakes."

It's just so, so true.

Peanut Butter-Filled (?) Chocolate Cupcakes

Among other difficult issues and conundrums, I often have this debate with myself: Which is the better flavor combination, chocolate & peanut butter or chocolate & mint? I can never decide. I may, in fact, go to my grave without ever resolving this. But I will also spend my remaining days here on earth doing scientific experimental taste tests in pursuit of an answer.

So, I made some chocolate & peanut butter cupcakes.

Look! I have a camera that actually takes pretty pictures now!

Good old Martha titles this recipe "Peanut Butter-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes," and it's true that there is the chocolate "cupcake" part and then there is a separate gooey deliciousness that could be classified as "filling," but rather than the filling actually filling the cupcake, it's more like swirled around to create a marbleized effect.

See? Swirling 'n' combining:

And here is the final product, which I tested with my swanky new tester:

Whatever they are (hyper-fancy muffins? Frosting-less cupcakes?), these things were insanely delicious. The mint-chocolate combo has some tough competition.

Have Your Cake and Deep-Fry It, Too

Have you ever looked at a delicious cupcake and thought, "The only way this could be any more awesome is if I speared it with a stick and deep-fried it"? Me too! So it's crazy and exciting that someone (Cakespy over on Serious Eats) did just that, and they've shared the recipe.

I appreciate the nod to Paula Deen in Cakespy's post. I really think Paula might be trying to kill us with butter. But everything in moderation, right? One little deep-fried cupcake can't be too bad. . . . (And if you have leftover batter, Cakespy recommends deep-frying peanut butter cups. It's like I've died and gone to the greasiest — and most delicious — heaven imaginable.)

Many thanks to my friend who writes the scrumptious blog Brooklyn Plated for the tip!! :)

A Gingery-Molasses Letdown

I'm the first to admit that this particular cupcake attempt did not yield the most excellent results. There are a few reasons for this. For one thing, I over-filled the liners and I went without a cupcake tin. I mean, that's just leaving way too much in Fate's hands. I acknowledge that.

Thus, there was much spillage and the cupcakes came out all wide and wonky-looking. Like so:

Also, while the outer sides of the cupcakes were chewy and tasted exactly like the best gingerbread cookie you can possibly imagine (I think the use of fresh ginger is an awesome idea), the middles were so moist they were borderline soggy. I love me some butter, but I don't like to think about how much butter I'm chewing on. So while the taste was really good, there was a greasiness factor that I can't quite chase from my memory.

Finally, there was the whipped cream topping which was, literally, just whipped cream and a dash of ground ginger. I'm not a huge fan of whipped cream topping on cupcakes in general (unless it's like a version of strawberry shortcake or some such thing), and in this case I was so not digging it. It's just so bland and icky.

(This is the best-looking one, so at least there was one that looked okay.)

It's okay. This is how we learn. And the nice, spicy ginger-molasses flavor was festive and seasonal a few weeks ago when I made these little guys. So. Happy holidays! (?)

Applesauce Spice Cupcakes, Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

Whenever the season shifts from autumn to winter, so many of the delightful flavors of fall (apple, pumpkin, etc.) seem to vanish, replaced by holiday flavors (gingerbread, peppermint). Now, I loooove the holiday stuff, and I'm excited to get going on Christmas treats, but I wanted to squeeze in one more autumnal recipe before the holiday insanity sets in. Hence: Applesauce Spice Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting.

I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's hefty tome (which I am loving, btw). The cupcakes came out light and airy, with a subtle apple flavor and a bit of spice. On their own, they'd make for good breakfast cake. But here they're made even better by cream cheese frosting that includes brown sugar in place of confectioner's sugar. I was worried at first because the texture seemed to be grittier than "normal" cream cheese frosting, but the taste is awesome. The brown sugar lends a sort of maple-y caramel-y flavor to the rich cream cheese. Stupendous!

My friends enjoyed them. Here's Alana on the verge of a taste-test, which ultimately got a thumbs-up:

Salivation Snapshot: Mission Minis

It's been a long time since I've posted, I know, I know. And now that I'm back I'm just posting one measly photo? Yes. It's true. But there's more to come. And this picture is so cute! A friend sent me this photo from the San Francisco bakery Mission Minis. Adorable.

A CupKate's Birthday — The Big 2-9

The penultimate birthday before Things Get Serious in the 30s is not necessarily a cause for insane debauchery. (Though I would like to point out that for just another month and a half I'll be able to remove the "00"s from the year — say, 2009 — to produce my age. That was so cool! :( Sad. But now it's kind of cool because for the next several decades (... um, probably until I die), you can split the year in half, and add those two halves to create my age — 2010 is 20+10 = 30! and so on. Yes, I know that that only works for 1.5 months per year, but whatevs! Math magic!)

Anywho, my 29th birthday (today) has been a relaxing, quiet affair during which I've enjoyed many a call/email/text/facebook messages, I've written a bit, I sat in the sun for a while trying to withstand the cold in an effort to get a tan, and, of course, had a few cupcakes.

Let's start in the morning, shall we?

My birthday breakfast included coffee (note the mug, follow its advice) and cookies-and-creme cupcakes courtesy of the highly talented Malerie (the flowers are also her doing — thanks, Malerie!). On the bottom of each cupcake is half an Oreo — it's seriously fun.

For part of my lunch I enjoyed a cupcake from Rocco's Italian pastry shop near my folks' place in Hamden. Delicious chocolate cupcake with what appears to be a chocolate ganache topping and a chocolate mousse filling. Ridiculous....ly amazing.

And finally, with evening came a chilled bottle of Riesling from this winery that I recently wrote about! What's more, I got to drink it in my brand-new cupcake wine glass. So awesome. :)

This was a very happy, cupcakey birthday.