Cupcakes have always been a favorite bake-sale item for school fundraisers, but elegant versions even show up on tiered trays and used as wedding cakes.
With a little sparkle, the diminutive desserts are ideal for holiday sharing.
Here are three reasons why cupcakes should make your baking list — with expert advice from three cooks who’ll do the baking for you, if you prefer.
1. They’re a hot trend.
These sweet treats are the craze in larger cities, and Chattanooga is following suit, with ovens devoted to cupcakes in places ranging from hot-dog stands to gourmet restaurants.
What’s the intrigue? Susan Paden, owner of Good Dog, a hot-dog place on the North Shore, thinks it’s because you get to have a cake all to yourself.
“It’s not a piece of the whole,” she said.
Ms. Paden said she originally wanted to open a cupcake bakery, but she felt the space now housing her hot-dog business was too large for such a venture. So she simply added them as the sole dessert.
She offers three flavors daily — two standard and one specialty, depending on the season. For the holidays, red velvet with cream cheese icing and dark chocolate with peppermint buttercream are on the menu.
2. They’re yummy.
At Market Street Tavern at Miller Plaza, there’s a side business, Belle’s Cupcakes, where chef/co-owner Aaron Long’s mother, Laura Long, makes cupcakes by the dozen.
They’re so delicious, her apple cupcakes with caramel icing — her mother’s recipe — took first place in the recent Nutcracker Sweets fundraiser for Partnership for Family, Children and Adults, besting dozens of other desserts.
3. They’re easy.
Not only are they fun to eat, cupcakes are a snap to decorate. If you’re intimidated by a 13- by 9-inch sheet cake, the 2-inch top of a cupcake should take the pressure off.
Since a standard recipe makes two dozen cupcakes, you get 24 tries to perfect your technique. You can use the prettiest versions for gift-giving or holiday get-togethers.
Pastry chef Denise Ware of Planet of the Grapes, a gourmet eatery in Dalton, Ga., offers two ideas for holiday fare. You’ll need an icing bag to make the frosting really tall.
Pile green icing onto a cupcake, using a star tip to spiral the icing up and away. It should look like a Christmas tree when you’re done. Then, using cinnamon red hots and silver and multicolored balls, hang “ornaments” from the spirals.
Put Rudolph on your cake plate by spreading light chocolate icing on top of a cupcake, with the center slightly higher than the sides. Add a maraschino cherry or red hot for the nose, put chocolate chips in for eyes and make antlers out of pretzels.
“They’re fun,” Mrs. Ware said.
Cherry Cheese Cupcakes
3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
11⁄2 cups sugar, divided
11⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
5 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
11⁄2 cups cherry pie filling
Mint leaves
In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Spoon into foil-lined muffin cups. Bake at 300 F for 25-30 minutes or until set. Cool 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine sour cream and the remaining sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spoon onto cupcakes. Return to the oven for 6-8 minutes or until set. Cool completely.
Top with pie filling. Garnish with mint leaves. Chill. Makes 22-24 cupcakes.
— Taste of Home
Red Velvet Cupcakes
31⁄2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
3⁄4 cup (11⁄2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
6 tablespoons red food coloring
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
11⁄2 teaspoons vanilla extract
11⁄2 teaspoons salt
11⁄2 cups buttermilk
11⁄2 teaspoons cider vinegar
11⁄2 teaspoons baking soda
1 recipe Creamy Vanilla Frosting
Heat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.
In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.
Pour batter into muffin cups. You’ll need 2 muffin pans, each with 12 ( 1⁄2-cup) muffin cups. Arrange the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and bake the cupcakes, switching positions of the pans halfway through baking, until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack before icing.
To frost: Mound about 1⁄4 cup of Creamy Vanilla Icing on top of each cooled cupcake and use an icing spatula to make a swirl on top. If desired, decorate with colored sprinkles.
— www.epicurious.com
Creamy Vanilla Icing
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
In a medium-size saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and, stirring constantly, cook until the mixture becomes very thick and begins to bubble, 10-15 minutes. Cover with wax paper placed directly on the surface, and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
In a large bowl, on the medium high speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 3 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating continuously for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat well.
Add the cooled milk mixture, and continue to beat on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until very smooth and noticeably whiter in color. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes — no less and no longer, set a timer. Use immediately.
— www.epicurious.com
Or login with:
New Account