Chocolate Cupcake Tour of DC? January 30, 2012

I think YES! (At least in Georgetown)

We took at day-trip to Georgetown to get out of the area and do something a bit spontaneous. I was shocked that Sean wanted to go up there considering he’s in northern Virginia all the time now. ( I feel so sorry for him!) Anyway, of course he knows about my love of these small cakes and thought I would enjoy myself in Georgetown, where there are THREE cupcake shops pretty close together. I love this man!

We visited Baked and Wired, Georgetown Cupcake, and Spinkles. I always get the chocolate on chocolate cupcakes so I’m comparing apples to apples (so to speak!).

Baked and Wired

Chocolate Cupcake of Doom

This is a very tall cupcake that, I believe, is wrapped in parchment paper. It had a very rich and deep chocolate flavor but you can’t actually bite into it. It takes two bites to get from the top to the bottom of this cupcake. The frosting is a fudgy frosting but it’s still a little bit creamy, and that I appreciate! This place had the best cupcake names! Just had to throw that in there : )

Georgetown Cupcake

Georgetown Cupcake Top: Choc Salted Caramel, Vanilla2, Red Velvet. Bottom: Toasted Marshmallow Fudge, Chocolate2, Chocolate3

Georgetown Cupcakes are smaller than the other two, mainly because they are flat cupcakes. The price is a little lower for that too, so that’s nice I guess.

Chocolate²

(Bottom middle)

This cupcake is very rich. Good, but rich. I didn’t realize that it wasn’t a milk chocolate buttercream. It’s a whipped chocolate frosting; I’m guessing it’s between a ganache and a buttercream. But it was a little much and I wasn’t sure I could finish it. The cake was nice and moist and very tasty but denser than I was expecting.

I overheard someone else saying that they preferred the milk chocolate, but there’s no chocolate on chocolate milk chocolate cupcake. There is a milk chocolate buttercream on a vanilla cake.

Chocolate³

(Bottom right)

Much more balanced than the Chocolate² cupcake. Just that little bit of ganache works very well. And who doesn’t love small sprinkles? I do. I would get this one over Chocolate² any day. Second favorite of the just chocolate cupcakes.

Toasted Marshmallow Fudge *Specialty for January*

(Bottom left)

Amazing. Best cupcake overall. The marshmallow buttercream on top cut the richness of the chocolate cake and is just the perfect combination.

Sprinkles

Sprinkles Milk Chocolate Cupcake

Milk Chocolate

Also sized in a regular cupcake cup, this cake had a dome and therefore did not have as much frosting. I just barely fits in your mouth…rather, MY mouth. I really enjoyed the milk chocolate cream cheese frosting. But the cake was slightly, very slightly, drier than the others. I think it’s my favorite of the four just chocolate cupcakes.

Other pictures from our trip…

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes December 26, 2011

So, Annie’s Eats is becoming a favorite find on Pinterest and I’m excited to share another awesome recipe!

Are you ready for this?? SNICKERDOODLE CUPCAKES!

If, somehow, you are not familiar with snickerdoodles, they are basically cinnamon-sugar cookies. But this is a cupcake and it’s incredible!

This cupcake is light, moist, airy, and delicious. People have commented that they really liked this frosting. Annie said she would use a buttercream next time, but I’m sticking with this one. I think this was super easy to make. I know I still need to work on my frosting techniques and taking pictures. Bear with me! Please try it and let me know what you think!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Annie’s Eats for having such amazingly yummy cupcakes!

Tip: A candy thermometer or instant-read thermometer really comes in handy with the frosting.

Tip: Keep them in an airtight container…I mean this! It keeps the cake moist and the frosting intact!

Yield: 30 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups cake flour, sifted
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¾ cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1¼ cups milk

For the frosting:
¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
3 large egg whites, at room temperature

For garnish:
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. sugar

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  Combine the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl; whisk to combine.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Beat each addition just until incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each three-quarters full.  Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pans about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup in a saucepan with a candy thermometer clipped to the side.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally so the sugar dissolves.  Continue boiling without stirring until the temperature reaches 230° F.

In the meantime, while the sugar mixture is heating, beat the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whisk on medium-high speed until medium-soft peaks form.  As soon as the sugar mixture reaches 230° F, remove the pan from the heat.  With the mixer on medium-low, pour the syrup down the side of the bowl in a slow steady stream until it has all been added to the bowl.  Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and whisk until the bottom of the bowl is completely cool to the touch and stiff peaks form, about 7 minutes.  Use immediately.

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.  In a small bowl, whisk together the ground cinnamon and sugar.  Sprinkle a pinch of the cinnamon-sugar on top of each frosted cupcake.

Eggnog Cupcakes November 5, 2011

Picture coming soon
Click here for picture and recipe from original blog 

Download the recipe onto recipe cards!

I like trying new cupcake recipes. I *really* like trying them because I like eating them. I think Sean just puts up with it because he’s awesome. He’s not a big cupcake fan…well, cakes in general. It’s hard to find one he wants to eat.

HE LOVES IT! He wants his birthday cake (next month) to be this recipe. It’s good. Really, really good. I shared with a friend at the fire department and friends at work who also loved it. So, it’s a keeper! I love when I have “keeper” recipes! I just need more entrées to add…too many sweets.

Here it goes! Found on Pinterest which directed me to Annie’s Eats:

Eggnog Cupcakes

Yield: about 18-20 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
¼ cup dark rum or bourbon (optional)**
1 cup eggnog*
¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

For the frosting:

20 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2½ tbsp. eggnog
1 tbsp. dark rum (0ptional)

For garnish:

Ground cinnamon or grated nutmeg
Cinnamon sticks

*Eggnog is Southern Comfort Eggnog, it made the awesome flavor!
**Rum  Appleton Estate Extra 12 Years is what we used…amazing!

Directions:

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; whisk to combine.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the rum, eggnog, vegetable oil, vinegar, vanilla, and sugar.  Beat on medium-low speed until well blended.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling the cups 2/3 full.  Bake 22-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, 20-30 seconds.  Add in the powdered sugar, salt and nutmeg, and mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and smooth, about 1 minute.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add in the eggnog and  whip on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 4 minutes.  With the mixer on medium-low speed, blend in the rum.

Fill a pastry bag with the frosting and decorate the cooled cupcakes as desired.  Sprinkle with ground cinnamon or grated nutmeg, and garnish with cinnamon sticks if desired.

Chocolate Indulgence March 19, 2011

While in Philly I had planned to taste-test the different chocolate truffle places. There is a chocolate tour of Philly and I thought it silly to pay someone to take me around when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself. Well…that didn’t happen. I wasn’t in the mood for small chocolates. I wanted a cupcake. Then it snowballed. You see 6 wonderful looking chocolate cupcakes. I am going to rank them (they are not ranked in the photo), and recommend which you should not miss if you visit Philadelphia. Also, I don’t have the actual descriptions so these are all based on my tastes.

Number 1

10 Arts! This was an unexpected chocolatey surprise. For the 5 bite lunch at 10 Arts you get a cupcake that Pastry Chef Monica Glass decides to prepare that day. Lets just say we are VERY glad we went that day! It is a chocolate cupcake with chai frosting. But the frosting was more like a flavored whipped cream. It had a wonderful flavor and texture. The cake was perfectly moist and just amazing. I really don’t know what else to say except the server almost forgot Sean’s and he wasn’t going to say anything, so I did. And I think he loves me even more now

 

 

Number 2

Philly Cupcake. This was a tasty and moist devils food cupcake with an awesome creamy frosting. So good! The chocolate butterfly doesn’t hurt my vote either It was just a really good cupcake that I would definitely recommend and I almost bought another on Monday, but they are not open Mondays…probably for the best! Their shop is super small and only takes cash. The cupcakes are display in old china cabinets. You tell them what you would like and they will grab it for you. Definitely don’t try to open the cabinet yourself, they seemed pretty strict about that!

 

 

Number 3

Naked Chocolate Cafe. This was the first cupcake I had while there. It was delicious and I knew that it was a good start to our getaway! It was a regular type chocolate cake with your typical buttercream frosting and small chocolate balls. It all went together so well but I did save some chocolate balls to eat later! Go into Naked Chocolate Cafe and I dare you to try and make a choice!

 

 

Number 4

Brown Betty Desserts. This cupcake was really good, it was just really dense. It was so much to try and eat myself (and that’s saying something!). The frosting is a fudge type frosting, so it’s really heavy as well. I would recommend eating this with a partner and getting a big glass of milk…each. It’s still good, just pace yourself.

 

 

 

Number 5

So, I don’t want one cupcake to be the last one and neither of these were bad, they just weren’t the best.

Flying Monkey. It was a good cake, but I loved the frosting. (I should mention here that I don’t know if there is a different in frosting or icing, so just go with it.) The frosting was creamy and tasty and I love the little chocolate shaving on top, I always eat those things separately!

Swiss Haus Bakery.I loved the frosting and the sprinkles. What a clever way to not get frosting everywhere! The cake was good, but I don’t know how true to the cake I can be…I ate it 2 days later. Bad! I know! It was slightly dry but still a good cake. However, this is a big one…they have a wonderful treat called a Devils Food Chocolate Mousse Slice Dipped in Ganache.

Devils Food Choc Mousse Slice Dipped in Ganache

I wish I got a cross-section picture, but it wasn’t chilled when I ate it so it wouldn’t have come out very well. It was amazing! And since it was protected by the ganache, I think it stayed nice and moist a little better. It was so good. Chocolate heaven. But it’s not a cupcake so I didn’t want to rank it (wouldn’t be fair since nothing would compare).