A New Take on Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is a funny little creature.

It is cherished and loved as a classic of American baking in the United States, yet it surprises more than a few here in France. Just like zucchini cake, when I excitedly mention that it's on the menu for this weekend, I get strange stares.

"You mean... carrot. In a cake? With sugar?" Cue strange looks and eyebrow raises. Just try adding that the frosting is made with cream cheese, and now you really sound weird.

"How can a cake made with vegetables and covered in cheese mixed with sugar actually be good?" The only way to answer that question is to give everyone a taste. Or, you could tone it down a bit and pair a carrot cake with another kind of frosting.

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting used to be une évidence. I couldn't think of enjoying it with a regular buttercream frosting, let alone some kind of whipped cream. No siree, I needed the lightly sweetened tang of a true cream cheese frosting. However, as I got ready to host a pre-Halloween party this year, images of carrot cake and chocolate sour cream frosting started blossoming in my mind. Why not change things up for once? I'll admit another reason was that none of my other desserts had any chocolate in them. And a party without chocolate, well, it's just not a party.

The sour cream in the frosting imparts a very slight acidic note that, like its cousin cream cheese frosting over there, is a welcome complement to the warm spices in the carrot cake. Sour cream in the cake also guarantees you've got a super moist crumb.

In the form of mini cupcakes, they're the perfect size not to scare anyone away: bite by bite, I'm on a quest to reconcile everyone with vegetables in sweet desserts. Up next: bell peppers? Broccoli? I might just stick with pumpkin.

Carrot Cupcakes and Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

makes 24 cupcakes

for the cake:

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 heaping TS baking powder
1 TS baking soda
1/2 TS salt
1 TS ground cinnamon
1 TS pumpkin pie spice
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
3/4 c. sour cream
1 lb. carrots, grated

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Line a muffin pan with liners or grease pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugars until mixture is frothy. Slowly add in oil and sour cream; whisk until well combined. Add flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in carrots.

Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost when cool.

for the frosting: right here!

Blown Out of Proportion

It's easy to make a big deal out of nothing.

A quick sideways glance can become a declaration of love for some.

In other cases, it's all about the crumb. You dropped that cookie crumb on the ground? And pretended like you didn't see it? The perfect start to a dramatic tirade. Not like that's my type or anything.

When I get tired of things being blown out of proportion all day long, I react in a manner that is perfectly bizarre. I blow other things out of proportion--in an outburst of complete giddiness. Well, first it starts with a childish temper tantrum. But it all becomes filled with rainbows and blue skies when I pick up a spatula and preheat the oven.

Let's get it on, food processor. 

It's easy to make a big deal of cupcakes: who doesn't? Sure, you've got the ones who rain on the cupcake parade all the time, with statements along the lines of "Cupcakes are overrated", or "They aren't really anything special". I beg to differ: yes, they are. When you've had a rather annoying day for various reasons, a pink and sprinkle-laden baked good is an amazing little thing. 

Eating a cupcake becomes an act akin to deep meditation. You look at it closely, taking in the color of the frosting and its apparent creaminess. It's like a treasure chest waiting to be opened. First, the wrapper, followed by a first bite. It can be tricky to get just the right amount of frosting and cake in that first bite, but don't despair. When you succeed, the creamy taste of butter melds with a smooth vanilla flavor and a just-right sweetness for an unforgettable few seconds.

Am I blowing things out of proportion? Probably, but rightfully so. 

Don't pay attention to all those cake crumbs I'm dropping on the ground, though.

 Vanilla - Vanilla Cupcakes

makes 12-14 cupcakes

cake recipe adapted from Rose Levy Berenbaum's Heavenly Cakes

for the cake:
3 large egg whites
2/3 c. milk
1 1/2 TS vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. granulated sugar
2 1/2 + 1/8 TS baking powder (I only used 2 1/2 TS)
1/2 TS salt
1 stick (1/2 c.) unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.


Note: All ingredients should be room temperature.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites, 3 TB milk and vanilla until lightly combined.

In a stand mixer or food processor, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt for 30 seconds. Add butter and remaining milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Raise speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes.

Gradually add the egg mixture to the batter in two parts, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.

Scoop into prepared cupcake pan, filling each liner about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until a knife inserted in the centers comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool in pan for 10 minutes, and cool completely on a wire rack.

for the frosting:
3 TB all-purpose flour
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 TS vanilla
food coloring, optional

In a saucepan, heat flour and milk, stirring constantly, until thickened. The resulting mixture should be very thick, like glue. Let cool completely.

Meanwhile, in a stand mixer or food processor, beat sugar and butter together until fluffy and creamy.

Add flour mixture, vanilla and beat until smooth. Mix in food coloring if using.

Use immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Cupcakes Chocolat-Fluffernutter

Des cupcakes, des cupcakes, et encore des cupcakes. A Paris en tout cas, il semble difficile de tourner la tête sans voir apparaître de petits gâteaux recouverts d'une épaisse couche colorée. Pour les plus légers, il s'agit de crème chantilly mais ça, ce n'est pas un vrai cupcake.

On parle quand même d'une petite douceur bien traditionnelle aux Etats-Unis. Pour être totalement honnête, "dessert d'outre-Atlantique" ne rime pas souvent avec "léger". Prenez la pie américaine, qu'on traduit littéralement par tarte mais qui est tout de même bien plus riche en beurre et en sucre. J'admets que c'est exactement ça qui fait un bon dessert américain: la sensation d'extrême satisfaction lorsqu'on a terminé son assiette (ou qu'on en a repris une seconde fois...ou une troisième). Pour les cupcakes, c'est la même histoire, sauf que pour moi ça a toujours été différent.

Lors des kermesses à l'école qu'on appellait "cake walk" ou "fun fair", les parents apportaient des cupcakes par plateaux. Et là, rien à voir avec ce qu'on a en France: des cupcakes plus fluos les uns que les autres, de la crème au beurre bien riche en beurre...enfin la plupart du temps en margarine. Pour une petite fille de six ans dont la couleur préferée etait le violet, c'etait un peu le paradis. Mais voila le hic: je n'avais pas le droit d'en manger. Eh oui, je suis la fille d'une maman qui aime que ses enfants mangent bon et sain, et surtout qui aime savoir quelles mains ont fabriqué ce qui rentre dans la bouche de ses enfants. Alors ces cupcakes de parents inconnus, c'etait non. 

Fast-forward à une quinzaine d'années plus tard. Maintenant je vis toute seule et je ne suis plus au primaire, donc je ne passe plus mes après-midis entourée de petits gâteaux fluos. Une seule solution: les faire moi-même. 

Et là, frappée par un peu de nostalgie du Midwest, où j'ai grandi, j'ai décidé de revisiter un classique du goûter américain: le fluffernutter sandwich. Au départ, on prend deux tranches de pain. Une tranche sera badigeonnée de beurre de cacahuètes, et l'autre de marshmallow fluff, sorte de crème de chamallows. On colle le tout ensemble et on déguste. Si si, c'est bon. En cupcakes, ça donne quoi? Une base chocolat ultra-moelleuse et un véritable frosting à l'américaine, autrement dit avec du beurre. Du beurre, mais aussi du beurre de cacahuètes, de la crème de chamallows, et du sucre glace.

Pas besoin d'une journée kermesse pour faire ces cupcakes. En plus, ceux-là ne sont pas nés sous X, alors régalez-vous. Et si personne ne vous regarde, vous pouvez même en prendre plusieurs: promis, je ne dirai rien.

Cupcakes Chocolat-Fluffernutter

pour 50 mini-cupcakes

le gâteau

125 ml eau bouillante

55g beurre

230g sucre

55g cacao non sucré

345g farine

1 oeuf

125ml (115g) crème fraîche, allegée si vous voulez

1/2 c. à café sel fin

1/2 c. à café levure chimique

1/2 c. à café bicarbonate de soude

1/2 c. à café extrait de vanille liquide

glaçage

115g crème de marshmallow (on en trouve à Monoprix sous le nom Fluff)

115g beurre de cacahuètes

75g beurre ramolli

1/2 c. à café sel fin

1/2 c. à café extrait de vanille liquide

230g sucre glace

1 à 2 c. à soupe de lait

Préchauffer le four à 180°C.

Dans un grand bowl, mélanger l'eau bouillante, le beurre, sucre, et cacao. jusqu'à ce que le sucre soit  bien dissous.

Ajouter la farine, le sel, bicarbonate et levure chimique en trois temps, en alternant avec l'oeuf, la crème fraîche, et la vanille.

Beurrer un moule à mini-muffins ou y placer des caissettes passant au four. Remplir chaque espace à moitié et cuire 10 à 15 minutes. Laisser refroidir sur une grille avant de glaçer.

Faire le glaçage: mélanger la crème de marshmallow, le beurre, beurre de cacahuètes, sel, et vanille avec un mixer à vitesse réduite.

Ajouter le sucre glace, battre jusqu'à absorption complète, et rajouter le lait pour atteindre la consistance voulue. A l'aide d'une poche a douille, glaçer les cupcakes.

Dégustez!

Chocolate Fluffernutter Cupcakes

Last Saturday, 9 p.m. I place 48 mini-cupcakes on a tray in my apartment.

Same day, 10 p.m. Where have all the cupcakes gone?

I've rarely seen something disappear so fast. Well, unless you count every time I make a pan of blondies, because they seem to evaporate in less than an hour. The problem with those, however, is that I know exactly where they went: in my stomach.

In the case of these little guys, I only had time to munch on one before I handed the last one out, so I'm guessing they were a success! Like I explained right here, I organized a Valentine's Day get-together for twenty or so friends last week. I wanted my guests to taste something new, that you wouldn't really know about in France. One distinctly American flavor combination went straight to my mind: the Fluffernutter. You may remember me discovering this a little while ago, and now I can't really get my hands off it. 

I definitely wanted to incorporate a sour cream chocolate base because I haven't found a single chocolate cake recipe I enjoy more than this one. Next, I thought that playing around with the frosting would be fun. I browsed around the web, my cookbooks, and especially my cupboards. See, you can't just go out to the nearest grocery store and buy a jar of Marshmallow Fluff around here. (I'm not complaining, though, because we have delicious things like crème de marrons that more than make up for it.) And it turns out I had exactly 1/2 cup of fluff left, so that pretty much structured my frosting recipe.

I would, however, recommend making mini-versions of these unless you're used to having rich peanut-butter-laden pastries. I could probably eat ten full-sized ones, but mini is probably the way to go for a party. Unless you're planning on serving cold jugs of milk instead of cocktails, which is an idea. But then you have to deal with all the lactose intolerants, the people who only like chocolate milk, or those who refuse to have anything but warm milk. I'd rather take the easy way out: gin and tonics.

P.S.: You might notice that the same post is going to appear in French in a little while. No, I'm not becoming a learn-by-baking language teacher, but I'm participating in a French "cupcake day". I am thinking about writing some posts on a French version of this blog--what do you think?

Chocolate Fluffernutter Cupcakes

makes approx. 50 mini-cupcakes

for the cake

1/2 cup boiling water

1/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups flour

1 egg

1/2 cup sour cream (I used 4% crème fraîche)

1/2 TS salt 

1/2 TS baking powder

1/2 TS baking soda

1/2 TS vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.

In a large bowl, combine boiling water, butter, sugar, cocoa. Beat until sugar is dissolved.

 

Add dry ingredients, alternating with egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract. 

 

Fill cupcake cups about half full and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

for the frosting

1/2 c. marshmallow fluff

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1/3 c. butter, softened

1/4 TS salt

1/2 TS vanilla extract

1 c. confectioners' sugar

1 to 2 TB milk

Combine fluff, peanut butter, butter, salt, and vanilla with a mixer on low speed. 

Add confectioners' sugar, beat until blended, and add enough milk to reach desired consistency.

Blondies, Cupcakes, and Fudge, Oh My!

You didn't seriously think I would only talk about the quiche and cake au chorizo I made the other day, and not the sweet part, did you?

My daddy was mentioning how it seems that the French attach a lot more importance to the difference between le salé and le sucré in a meal, and eating sweets before dinner, for example, is pretty uncommon. Even if I can eat any candy you want before dinner--I guess that's the American side of me--I do make a point to have both types represented when I cook for guests. Hey, my sweet and salty even get different tables in my teeny-tiny apartment.



Even though I love cooking main courses, the real fun always starts when I make dessert. This time around, I wanted to change things up and stray away from the temptation of my sour-cream chocolate cupcakes. They're so easy to make and super moist, but it was time to try something new. I was pretty disappointed with my red-velvet cupcakes when I first made them over a year ago, so I was determined to get them right this time around. And when it comes to getting a recipe right, the perfect thing to do is often to turn to Cook's Illustrated, or in this case the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. The only thing I changed from the recipe was to add less food coloring--and obviously my cupcakes were less-than-red--but they were indeed delicious.

I also baked what I like to call my blondie, adding a little more butter than usual for a successful result. For once, I "only" had three bite-size blondie squares, explaining why there is finally a picture up.

Here it is!

Baking is like getting married: besides having something blue, it's nice to get a mix of novelty and tradition. In search of a petit plus, a little sweet something that would add to the cupcakes and blondies, I immediately thought of my Grandma's fudge. All that sugar, butter and chocolate is as retro as can be, but also completely addicting. Did I mention that I wanted all of my fudge squares to be, well, square? That meant cutting the edges off. And who was I to decide that the uneven, ugly edges should go in the trash? I found a better place for those, and I'm sure you can guess that it wasn't outside or in someone else's stomach. No way.



Now that my teeth are probably set to hurt indefinitely because of my sugar intake, here are my recipes.

Then maybe we can start a club for people who could eat sweets at any time of day, even if they're French. Don't even think about it if you're the reasonable type.

Blondies
(you can also find the lighter, chocolate-chip version here)

NB: adding more butter makes baking time a little longer, and also makes the blondies thicker.

6 TB melted butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 TS vanilla extract
1 cup m&ms, or Smarties, depending on the country you're in and the supermarket you go to

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Mix melted butter and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, and flour. Mix until just combined.

Add M&Ms and combine. Place in a 8x8 (for thick blondies) or 9x13 (what I have) pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few delicious blondie-pieces attached.

Let cool (if you can resist) and cut into small squares.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
makes 24 cupcakes

2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 TS baking soda
pinch salt
1 cup buttermilk, room temp
2 large eggs
1 TB white vinegar
1 TB vanilla extract
2 TB natural cocoa powder
2 TB red food coloring
12 TB unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks, or approx 170g), softened
1 1/2 c. sugar

For Frosting (this is my recipe, in grams)
300g (2 packs) "nature à tartiner", or St. Moret
1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
2 TB sour cream
2 TS vanilla extract, more if needed

Heat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, vinegar and vanilla together. In a small bowl, mix the cocoa and red food coloring together to a smooth paste.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining buttermilk. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just combined. Beat in the cocoa mixture until the batter is uniform.

Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined. Place 1/4 cup throughout each lined muffin tin and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 15 to 20 minutes. Let them cool in tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting: Beat all ingredients together until light and fluffy, adjusting sugar and vanilla to taste. Spread evenly on cupcakes or pipe.

Grandma's Fudge
I halved the recipe, making enough for a 9x13 rectangular pan and approx 30-40 bite-sized pieces

4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 c. butter (1 stick, or 113g)
1 can evaporated milk (lait concentré non sucré), 12 oz.
12 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate bits
Two 8 oz. Hershey Milk Chocolate Bars (I just went ahead and used Nestlé Dessert for the whole thing--if you've got better chocolate than Hershey's the fudge can only taste better!)
4 TB Marshmallow cream

Stir sugar, butter, and evaporated milk together and put on stove. Boil until soft ball stage (235°F) about 10 to 12 minutes. You will notice that it thickens.

Remove from stove and add chocolates; stir until blended.

Add Marshmallow cream for regular fudge (what I did) or...

Separate into two bowls. Add 2 large TB Marshmallow to one, and 2 large TB of peanut butter to the other.

Stir and put into 9x13 lightly greased pans. Cool in refrigerator, cut and serve.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

One dessert I couldn't bring myself to make in Paris was a cheesecake.

I wanted to be able to try out a true cheesecake, not tweak repeatedly until my combination or ricotta/mascarpone/kiri/St Moret was "almost like a cheesecake". I wanted real cream cheese, but I didn't want to pay it an exorbitant price.

So I waited until I got to New York, thinking I would really get the cheesecake ball rolling out here.

Believe it or not, I haven't had a single slice of cheesecake since I got here almost three months ago. I haven't even baked a real cheesecake. Or even tried. Cheesecake recipes are piling up in my apartment, waiting for me and the day I decide to give it a go. I don't even have a valid excuse anymore--cream cheese isn't really the most expensive commodity around here.

While I put off making a real cheesecake, I've decided to try cheesecake-like associations. I recently got a really great baking book, The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book (whew), and their recipe for black-bottom cupcakes appealed to me right away.

Hey, I thought, this is sort of like a cheesecake! A half-cheesecake without risking a "this is not what a cheesecake should taste like" look from anyone.

It turns out the cupcakes were delicious--the sugar doesn't overpower the cream cheese, leaving the cupcake filling with a tangy taste that balances the strong chocolate flavor really well. Plus, the book's directions are so precise that when correctly followed, everything really turns out perfect. For once, I was actually happy with my oven!

Maybe I'll try to make a cheesecake next.

Black-Bottom Cupcakes - makes 12

Filling

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 large egg white

1 tbsp sour cream

1/4 c. semisweet mini chocolate chips (I chopped up normal chocolate chips--it's best not to use normal ones without chopping them up, because they sink to the bottom)

Cupcakes

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2/3 c. sugar

1/4 c. Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c. water, room temperature

6 tbsp sour cream, room temperature

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Filling: Beat cream cheese, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl until smooth. Beat in egg white and sour cream until combined, about 30 seconds. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cupcakes: Whisk the four, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt together. Whisk in water, sour cream, melted butter, and vanilla until just incorporated.

Portion the cupcake batter into each muffin using a greased 1/3 cup measure (I just used a spoon...). Add a rounded tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture onto the center of each cupcake (I found there was a lot more filling than a tablespoon per cupcake--more like 2, which was just fine).

Bake until tops begin to crack, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool in tin for 10 minutes. 

Hosting a Halloween Party is Fun...

... and admittedly quite tiring.

This year, I hosted my first ever Halloween party. A Halloween party where everyone comes dressed up and ready to party away isn't French by essence, so the American half of me was really the one hosting it.

Long before I started getting everything ready for the evening, I was already dreaming about intricately-decorated cupcakes, sugar cookies shaped like tombstones lying on a bed of Mont Blanc-ish "worms", and all the other great snack-type desserts that appear in Halloween cooking articles. However, I guess that people do that as a job, or have a few full days ahead of them to make it all perfect. I, on the other hand, couldn't really use my Halloween party as a way to get out of work for two days, so all my work was done starting 7pm on the 30th.

I settled on pretty simple things to start with: salty olive pound cake (green olives look like eyes...right?) and a pesto pasta salad. The sweet part was more exciting, though. Cupcakes and sugar cookies were on the list, with special Halloween sprinkles as toppings. 

Spot the missing cupcake!

Power-cooking is fun, but when you start at 7pm, it gets pretty old fast. In about 5 hours total, I ended up making two olive pound cakes, one pasta salad, 30 sugar cookies, and 36 cupcakes. It probably doesn't sound like much to those who bake for parties pretty often, but for first-timers such as myself it can get confusing. The 36 cupcakes were meant to cater to all of my friends' tastes, and I think they did: 12 vanilla / vanilla, 12 vanilla / chocolate, and 12 chocolate / chocolate.

Once everything was baked and set up, I must say I was happy about it all. My pre-Halloween baking marathon may have been a challenge, but it was just preparation...for next year's Halloween!

Recipes:

"Cake aux Olives"

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup dry white wine

250g flour

125g grated swiss cheese

250g green olives, pitted

10g baking powder

salt & pepper

(sorry about the Metric)

Beat together eggs, oil, wine, salt, and pepper until foamy.

Add flour, baking powder, cheese, and olives.

Bake at 350° for an hour or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Sour cream chocolate cupcakes and Sour cream chocolate frosting

Sour cream vanilla cupcakes: I substituted the cocoa in the above recipe for sugar, and they turned out great.

Vanilla Frosting

NB: I'm really lost. This is my 10th try at vanilla frosting, or something. And it may be French butter, or French confectioner's sugar, or both, but I NEVER get it right. I follow all the directions, have tried making it with a handheld mixer and by hand, but it gets too runny every single time...

(makes 1 cup)

4 tbsp butter

2 cups confectioner's sugar

2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 pinch salt

Sugar Cookies

(makes 10 seriously huge cookies)

1.5 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar & 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1 egg

Mix sugar and butter, then add egg and flour mixture. Bake 15 minutes at 350°.

These sugar cookies are really addictive and very very chewy. I'm just warning you.

Cake Walk Cupcakes

When I think of elementary school cake walks, I think of cupcakes with sprinkles and a lot of frosting.

I also remember that I "wasn't supposed to eat cupcakes made by someone I didn't know". Which meant that most of the time, I didn't even get near them. But those sprinkles, those heaps of frosting... Translated into sugar content, though, I understand how looking at them from afar can be better. But still, the multicolored sprinkles on those cupcakes seemed better than anything. 

For some reason, I have always had a thing for sprinkles--it all started the day my maman and I ended up at the O'Hare Hilton because of a delayed flight. I may have been 5 years old, but I can still picture the donut I ate the next morning. I can't quite remember the taste, but the sprinkles covering the top of it definitely had an impact on my future tastes.

When I found a recipe for sour-cream chocolate cupcakes, I was curious as to whether or not I could transform them into the cupcakes of my cake-walk dreams. I bought some reduced fat sour cream, hoping it would work out just as fine--and it did. The cupcakes were really easy to make, the recipe was very easy to follow, and for once my frosting came out just fine. 

After topping the cake with an ice cream scoop-worth of frosting, I brought out my special sprinkle box. 

It has daisies, hearts, butterflies, and wildflowers--I think the end result is pretty cute.

Even better than those cupcakes from the "unknown parents".

Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes - makes about 14

1/2 cup boiling water

1/4 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup flour

1 egg

1/2 cup sour cream (I used 3%)

1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine water, butter, sugar, cocoa. Beat until sugar is dissolved.

Add dry ingredients, alternating with egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract. 

Fill cupcake cups about half full and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350°F.

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

1 cup chocolate chunks

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups confectioner's sugar

Melt chocolate, stir in butter, sour cream, vanilla and salt. Slowly add confectioner's sugar until achieving desired consistency.

Raspberry-Ginger-Chocolate Sprinkle Cupcake

I guess I could also call these my everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cupcakes.

I finally decided to get back to baking this weekend. There's a recipe I've been wanting to try for a while for poppy-seed cakes, but I didn't have all the ingredients needed.

That's when I thought I would just make cupcakes. I didn't want to make plain vanilla cupcakes, although they sure are good, so I ended up using pretty much anything I could find. I had some fresh ginger root left, and the bottom of a small box of dehydrated raspberries. The chocolate sprinkles come from a very special "delivery" by my maman of cooking utensils: knives, graters, zesters, sprinkles, ice cream toppings, and...chocolate chips! So I'm all set now. I didn't feel like using my chocolate chips in cupcakes though, and would rather save them for cookies, brownies of blondies.

I also wanted to try my new heart-shaped cupcake molds, so I was all set with my new gear. I prepared a simple vanilla cupcake batter, and added everything I had to it at the end. That's when I realized that I had forgotten to add baking powder (I admit I wasn't at my peak of concentration yesterday)... Realizing my étourderie, I proceeded to add the baking powder without a teaspoon and I think I may have added a bit much. 

Anyway, they came out looking more like muffins than cupcakes, and basically made me forget about wanting to frost them at all--yesterday was a lazy day! They make a nice breakfast cupcake, because the ginger and raspberries make them slightly tangy and not overly sweet. And the chocolate sprinkles, well, I don't really know what they add. But who doesn't enjoy hearing about chocolate sprinkles?

Notice my new heart-shaped sprinkles! 

Raspberry-Ginger-Chocolate Sprinkle Cupcakes (makes 12)

1 stick (115g) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup self-rising flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk

1 tbsp fresh ginger

dehydrated raspberries (I added around 2 tbsp)

chocolate sprinkles (why not?)

Cream butter and sugars, add eggs one at a time. Add flour, vanilla extract, and milk. Add the rest of the ingredients, and scoop into cupcake cups. Bake for around 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Not-So-Red Velvet Cupcakes

The day before my British friend Faye left us to go back home, I decided to bake the all-American treat that are Red Velvet Cupcakes.

The nice--but sort of frightening--red color and the deliciousness that is cream cheese frosting made me go ahead and try them, because I had never ever made Red Velvet Cupcakes before.

Without much hesitation, I settled on Chockylit's recipe because the pictures themselves looked so good, and got out my cutest cupcake wrappers to celebrate Faye's last day at work. 

As I started to make the cupcake batter, I got my little vial of red liquid food coloring out of the cupboard. All the recipes I had seen called for gel, and I was sort of afraid that my liquid food coloring would have a strange taste. The only thing is, gel food coloring is awfully hard to find in random supermarkets in Paris, and I wasn't really keen on running out to Mora just for food coloring. So I added about half of the vial and thought my batter was reddish... But they turned out as dark as chocolate can get (the cupcakes aren't really red, the strange light coming in through my kitchen window is to blame):

Oh well. My Not-So-Red Velvet cupcakes weren't red, but that didn't stop me from having one straight out of the oven. In my opinion, they had a strange bitter-like taste and were really dry. As for the cream cheese frosting, I used the same one as for my Carrot Cake (2nd try). 

The next afternoon, I had another one and--surprise!--they tasted great. Not too dry but not too moist, and the weird bitter taste had altogether disappeared. 

My maman got me the adorable silicone heart-shaped cupcake pans, and I can just imagine how good my N-S-RV cupcakes will look in those...