The 2nd lap of the Cupcake Marathon

We started with Cookies and Cream Cupcakes, and they were very good. They were sweet and crunchy and warm... some of the best cupcakes I had ever had!






Then we had Strawberry Cheesecake Cupckaes, and they were even better.  Fresh berry flavor, lemony cheese cake flavor too.  By far, this was the favorite of the majority of the taste testers.  Of course we didn't stop here, we continued with several others.

Not pictured are the two failures of the night, the Tirimasu and the Mousse.  The tirimasu might have been successful had time permitted and pan size been available at the right time.  These were baked at the same time as the Cookies and Cream, however they were made in the mini muffin tins.  This meant that they would need to be assembled externally and that was not going to work.

Overcooking the Brownie Mix

The other failure, the Mousse, was due to over cooking of the Brownie mix.  This was a mis-calculation on my part that resulted in these extremely dense, rock-hard oily little pucks that resembled volcanic basalt.  I never got to try the mousse I made, however the assures me it was delicious.

Discussing the negative doesn't diminish the fact that most of the night was filled with wonderful successes. For example, the Apfelkuchen was very very good!

Apfelkuchen?

Cupcake Number 3: Apfelkuchen


Ingredients

• Yellow Cake mix
• Butter
• Water
• Eggs
• Dried Apples
• Turbinado Sugar
• Sliced Almonds
• Oriental Five Spice Powder

 

 Instructions

• Follow instructions on box to make batter
• Take half of cake batter and set aside for other recipe
• Line cup cake pan with individual papers
• Pour enough approximately 1/4 inch of batter on bottom of each cup
• Layer apple slices in center of each cup, leave approximately 1/4 inch space or more around sides and from top.
• VERY SPARINGLY sprinkle 5 spice powder on apples. 1/8 teaspoon should be enough to spice 12 cup cakes.

• Pour remaining batter around sides and on top of apples
• Sprinkle turbinado sugar and sliced almonds on top

• Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick placed in center of cupcake can be removed cleanly.

 

While everyone else went nuts for the first two, these were MY favorite.  These were not as sweet, with a complex flavor and texture. In preparing these, I was concerned about moisture content, however the apples were moist enough that I did not need to rehydrate them.  If they had been hard I was considering using a little Reisling to moisten them.  That would have provided quite an interesting flavor twist.

Cupcake Number 4: Boston Cream

Boston College - I hear it's cream filled too

These were mini cupcakes so they cooked quickly. And since they were so small, they didn't have any calories, right?


Ingredients

• Yellow Cake mix
• Butter
• Water
• Eggs
• French Vanilla pudding Mix
• Semi Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• Milk
• Confectioner's Sugar

Instructions

• Follow instructions on box to make batter
• Take half of cake batter and set aside for other recipe
• Line mini muffin cup cake pan with individual papers
• Fill all cups

• Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until a toothpick placed in center of cupcake can be removed cleanly
• Allow mini cupcakes to cool on a rack
• Make French Vanilla Pie filling recipe per instructions on box
• Using a flavor injector, inject pie filling into center of each mini cup cake.  Do not force or top may crack.
• Make glaze by microwaving 2 ounces chocolate morsels and 1 tablespoon milk for 25 seconds.  Stir.  Microwave again if needed.  Stir. continue to microwave and stir in short burts ntil melted and smooth.  Add confectioner's sugar.
• Dip tops of mini cup cakes into chocolate glaze and allow to harden, approximately 5 minutes.

 

That's all for today...  Tomorrow, the final lap.. things get weird... If you can stuff a turkey, why cant you stuff a cup cake?  Until then, I wish you Peace, Love, and Hollandaise Sauce!