Olive Oil Cupcakes with Lemon, Thyme, and a Balsamic Vinegar Whipped Cream: Weird Thyming

Olive oil cupcakes with balsamic vinegar whipped cream don't taste like salad dressing. If you love olive oil and balsamic vinegar, don't be afraid to try them in something sweet. You won't regret it!

My olive oil cupcakes were made with lemon and thyme. They were dense and crumbly, yet plenty moist and tasted like a lemon pound cake without the pound of butter. The fresh thyme gave them an even more Springy feel and the balsamic whipped cream blew me away! I could eat that stuff on anything!

How Did I End Up Making the Olive Oil Cupcakes with Lemon and Thyme?

Rachel of Coconut and Lime and I have again and again blogged about things at the same "thyme":

• Rachel posted her absinthe cupcakes on March 12. I posted my absinthe cupcakes on March 17.
• Rachel posted a recipe for key lime frosting on March 25 and I posted my key lime cupcakes on March 27.
• Rachel posted her chocolate cream cheese frosting on April 6. I posted my chocolate cream cheese frosting later that same day.

I am very lucky that Rachel didn't brand me a copycat. I wasn't copying - really, honestly, truly I wasn't. I hadn't even read her posts yet when I made any of my cupcakes. The thyming was just eerie.

Rachel and I talked about it and decided that since we clearly like the same kinds of things and it was bound to happen anyway, we should plan to post something at the same thyme. Since the whole thing was about thyming, we decided to both make cupcakes with thyme! (Fine, we didn't know what to bake and Rachel suggested an herb and we ended up with thyme. I like my made- up version better though.)

Shopping for Ingredients

I knew I wanted to use fresh thyme. I opted to buy a thyme plant so that I could use what I needed and plant the rest. Jonathan and I also bought some tomato plants. Not surprisingly, I got a twitter from Rachel saying that she had bought some tomatoes to plant the same day. That one wasn't so weird, but still, I'm going to have to meet her some day. We are living parallel lives.

The most fun part of my ingredient shopping, however, was for olive oil. A new olive oil store, Extra Virgin, opened near us in Clayton, Missouri. At Extra Virgin, you can do olive oil tastings just like you would do wine tastings. The variety in olive oils is astounding. The owner was incredibly helpful and recommended an olive oil that is perfect for baking - Jovia Groves' 2007 Arbequina. Apparently she isn't the only fan of this olive oil. Read the review of it from the blog "I Love Olive Oil".

You can bake with any olive oil, however the oils vary greatly in the pungency and strength of the olive flavor. The Jovia tasted really buttery and had only a mild olive flavor. When the cupcakes were baked, you would never know that I had made them with olive oil. The owner told me that she uses olive oil as her vegetable oil in any recipe that calls for vegetable oil. I never would have thought to do that.

The Olive Oil Cupcake Recipe

I got the recipe for the olive oil cupcakes by slightly modifying an olive oil cake recipe from Cafe Fernando. The recipe with my modifications is listed below, but be sure to check out the original recipe on Cafe Fernando as well. He's got a great pic of a slice of the cake that will give you a good idea of what the texture is like.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 2/3 C extra virgin olive oil (I recommend Jovia Groves' 2007 Arbequina, but any olive oil will do. You can order Jovia from Extra Virgin.)
• 1 T lemon zest
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 C lemon juice
• 2 T finely chopped fresh thyme
  

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest and rub together to extract the fragrant oil from the zest.
3. Add olive oil and mix on high speed until completely combined (preferably with the whisk attachment).
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on slow speed.
6. Add half of the lemon juice and continue mixing.
7. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the rest of the lemon juice and the remaining flour mixture and beat until combined between each addition.
8. Stir in the thyme.
9. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
10. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until they bounce back when touched.

The Balsamic Vinegar Whipped Cream Recipe

I've always said that I don't like whipped cream. What I meant was that I don't like Ready Whip. I love spraying the whipped cream from that pressurized container as much as the next gal, but the taste just isn't there. Fresh whipped cream is so easy to make and is in such a different league that I have no idea why everyone doesn't make it.

I was going to make a lemon whipped cream for this recipe. When I tasted the cupcake and realized just how lemony it was, I knew that more lemon would be too much. I found a recipe for balsamic whipped cream on Sugarlaws and thought it would be a perfect complement to the cupcakes.

At first, I was a balsamic doubter. I actually poured some balsamic vinegar onto some extra cupcake batter to see how the flavors went together. It was perfect! I've reprinted Sugarlaws' recipe below. She served her balsamic whipped cream with strawberries, which is exactly what I plan to do with all the whipped cream I have left over.

• 2 C heavy cream
• 1/2 C sugar (or more, your preference)
• 3 T balsamic vinegar

1. Combine cream, sugar and vinegar in a large bowl or stand mixer.
2. Beat on medium speed for about five minutes, until soft peaks form.

A Present for Making it to the End

I leave you with this photo from J. Pollack Photography. I have to link to him in almost every post. He's my husband and he makes my cupcakes look so good!

Don't forget to go check out Rachel's thyme cupcakes at Coconut and Lime!

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Baby Shower Cupcakes: Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Macadamia Nut Butter Frosting

What Makes My Cupcakes Baby Shower Cupcakes?

• The baby shower cupcakes used an ingredient that is often found in baby food - bananas.
• The baby shower cupcakes are mini cupcakes - baby-sized.
• The baby shower cupcakes are topped with baby talk candy by Wilton (conversation hearts with baby shower themed words on them).

The Baby Shower Themed Non-Broadcast Talk Show

Last Sunday, I was a guest on St. Louis' only live non-broadcast talk show, "Free Candy" (I'm the one on the right). Free Candy is held in a coffee shop, complete with hosts, a theme song, a rotating band, and local guests. Why the name? They give out free candy at the shows!

I was brought on the show because one of the hosts, Amanda (on the left), is a fan of this blog and wanted to interview me about it. She is also pregnant, hence the baby shower themed cupcakes.

Note: You can't get information about future shows on their website. It's totally out of date. You can, however, contact Amanda via the Free Candy site to get on their mailing list.

Interview Number Two

This was my second time being interviewed about Cupcake Project. The first was by a student who was writing a paper about the popularity of cupcakes.

It was also the second time I'd been interviewed on Free Candy. The first time, I was talking about my now defunct group, Zipit Events - St. Louis' only silent happy hour. I've still got the website, but the event listed on May 25th was May 25th of many years ago. You never know when I might want to have a Zipit reunion.

Jonathan's been on Free Candy too. He was crowned as the banana king due to his passion for bananas.

More About the Show, Plus Photos

Like I said, the show was not broadcast or recorded so you can't watch it. However, J. Pollack Photography was on the scene. Type in code "FreeCandyMay42008" on his site to see all the pics. The other guest on the show was Sylvester Brown, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist.

After the break, cupcake reviews and the recipe!

You Were Interviewed, La Dee Da, Tell Me More About the Cupcakes

The cupcakes were banana chocolate cupcakes with macadamia nut butter frosting. They were inspired by a Vere chocolate bar.

I don't like to make more cupcakes until my old ones are all gone. Usually after cupcakes have been sitting around for a few days, I'm happy to be rid of them. These cupcakes, however, I'll miss. They were the perfect mid-morning snack. They were not very sweet, extremely moist, and I even made some that were very lightly frosted especially for me. I don't like eating lots of frosting even if I love the frosting.

What Did The Pregnant Lady Think of the Cupcakes?

I made Amanda a special mama cupcake. It was full-sized among all the minis and in a Wilton silly feet cupcake holder. Her look in the picture is not of disgust at the cupcake flavor, it's in confusion as to how to eat the cupcake in the silly feet. When she tried to get at the cupcake, the whole top came off. Does anyone know of a good way to eat a cupcake in the silly feet without using a fork?

I got an email from Amanda after the event saying: "They truly were magically delicious. Mmmm, macadamia nut: totally the right call." Another friend told me the frosting was heavenly. I like those words! Overall, they were a hit!

What Did Bride and Groom 2.0 Think?

Groom 2.0 has been asking me to make a banana, chocolate, and peanut butter cupcake. Since I don't like peanut butter, this is the closest he's going to get. Both he and Bride 2.0 said that they couldn't taste the banana flavor in these cupcakes. It should be noted that they were the ONLY ones who couldn't taste the banana. These cupcakes had a STRONG banana flavor. Finally, Groom 1.0 pointed out the banana flavor was akin to that of banana bread. Suddenly, Couple 2.0 could taste it.

Fresh bananas do taste different than cooked bananas. I had just assumed a baked banana flavor was what they were going for. I may try another variation that involves chocolate chips (a stronger chocolate flavor), banana pudding (more of a fresh banana flavor) and cashew butter (Groom 2.0 said he'd prefer that over macadamia nut butter). Cashew butter is cheaper and I can buy it already made at Whole Foods so that's fine by me.

The Chocolate Banana Cupcake Recipe

For the chocolate banana cupcake recipe I used the easy banana cupcake recipe from my Grandma and added chocolate.

Makes 18 regular cupcakes or 36 mini cupcakes

• 1 stick butter
• 1 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C sour cream
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 C flour
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 8 oz dark chocolate, melted

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs, sour cream, flour, and baking soda.
3. Add vanilla and mashed bananas.
4. Stir in melted chocolate.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
6. Bake for 20 min at 350 degrees or 10 minutes for minis.

The Macadamia Nut Butter Frosting Recipe

I used the same Allrecipes nut butter recipe that I used on my apricot cupcakes with almond butter frosting. I just subbed macadamia nut butter for almond butter. This recipe would be great with any nut butter.

• 1/2 C butter, softened
• 1 C macadamia nut butter (check out my instructions on how to make nut butters)
• 3 T milk, or as needed
• 2 C confectioners' sugar

1. Place the butter and macadamia nut butter into a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer.
2. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when the frosting starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable.
3. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Another Cupcake Project Baby Shower Cupcake

Looking for another baby shower cupcake idea? Try my Guava Chiffon Baby Shower Cupcakes.

Read the rest of this cupcake post...

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Magic Bullet vs Ordinary Blender: How to Make Nut Butter

Do You Need a Magic Bullet To Make Nut Butters?

I wanted to make some macadamia nut butter for my Vere inspired banana, chocolate, and macadamia nut baby shower cupcakes. Several people told me that the best way to do it was to use a Magic Bullet. Luckily, Groom 2.0 owned a Magic Bullet, so I borrowed it and gave it a go.

What Are You Talking About? What is a Magic Bullet?

Contrary to what the name sounds like, the Magic Bullet is not a vibrator. It is a super intense mini blender/chopper that is featured on late night infomercials. They tell you that it is great for grinding coffee or even making nut butters.

The Magic Bullet Put to the Test

I loaded up 8oz of macadamia nuts into the larger cup of the Magic Bullet. I'd been warned by Groom 2.0 that he had already broken one by blending for too long. "Use short pulses," he said. Clearly, he understands the importance of foreplay. Don't go too strong too fast.

Groom 2.0 also had suggested that I might end up having to use the smaller cup because nuts would get stuck on the side of the big cup and not blend.

I pulsed maybe 10 times or so. Each time, I felt like I was playing a game of Trouble (the one where the dice are in the plastic sphere that you press to make them roll). The Magic Bullet has no on/off switch - you just press the bullet to make it go. Awww, yeah.

The nuts did, in fact, get stuck to the sides. There are no problems with nuts when using a vibrator.

I moved some of the nuts to the smaller cup and pulsed some more. I had to keep pulsing and then shaking the nuts off the sides.

And then...


After 10 minutes or so, I did have a smooth nut butter! This was quite the exciting climax!

Enter the Ordinary Blender

Jonathan came into the kitchen to watch the Magic Bullet fun. What guy wouldn't want to watch? He asked an important question, "Why not make the nut butter in an ordinary blender?"

We loaded the blender up with 8oz of macadamia nuts and used the same pulsing technique. It had the same problems of nut butter getting stuck to the sides and we had to keep sticking a spatula down in the blender to push the nuts to the middle. After 10 minutes, we had smooth, creamy macadamia nut butter.

If your blender is wimpy and can't even crush ice, I wouldn't recommend using it for nut butters. I would, however, recommend getting a new blender over getting a Magic Bullet. Due to its size, your blender will likely be much more useful to you than the Magic Bullet. Size does matter.


Nut Butter Lessons Learned

1. If the nut butter you're looking for is available fresh at the store, I'd recommend buying it rather than making it. All of that poking and prodding in the blender was a bit of a pain.

2. Making your own nut butter is definitely doable and there is no need for any special product like the Magic Bullet.

3. If you like smooth nut butters, keep going even when you think that you're done blending. When I made my macadamia nut butter frosting, I discovered some small nut bits that hadn't gotten blended. These clogged up my piping tip and were an overall nuisance.

Got your own tips for making good nut butter or disagree with my stance on the Magic Bullet? Let me know in the comments.

Do forgive the dirty talk - I couldn't write about nut butter and the Magic Bullet without going there.

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Vere Chocolate: My Latest Cupcake Inspiration

No Vere Chocolate

In March, I wrote about my free gift from Chocolate.com. I talked about how I knew they were going to send me chocolate, but I wondered which chocolate they would send. One of the chocolates I'd hoped they would send was an organic single-origin bar by Vere. That is not what they sent.

Vere Chocolate Situation Rectified

In April, I got the following email:

"Stef . Vere is my baby and I'd love to send you some things to taste Where to?

Best Kathy Moskal founder/owner VERE"

Vere sent me 5 different samples! After the break, I've got comments on each one, plus which Vere product inspired my next cupcakes.



So Good It's Nuts

The biggest surprise in my package was So Good it's Nuts. It is dark chocolate infused with vanilla, ginger, and lime, with caramelized crispy rice and salted roasted peanuts. Jonathan thought it was amazing. However, the peanuts killed it for me. I don't like peanuts and once they enter a product, the taste completely takes over. I know some would love this in cupcakes - but too bad, no cupcake will be made by me based on this combination.

Vere Ultimo Organic Dark Chocolate Bar

Getting the Vere Ultimo Organic Dark Chocolate Bar (photo is from chocolate.com not J. Pollack Photography) was not surprising to me because it was what I had specifically asked for.

How was it?

Yummy! This was some tasty chocolate with the benefit of being organic and single-origin. It's worth a try.

Would I make my cupcake based on this chocolate?

I've done chocolate cupcakes before. My Vere-inspired cupcake was going to have to be a more interesting combination of flavors?

Vere Flavored Chocolate Bars

When I saw the three mini chocolate bars Vere sent, I at first thought they were sticks of gum. Gum is something else I don't like. It has never come up before because no one has asked me to make gum cupcakes. Thank goodness!

Anyway, I was glad they weren't gum.

The first bar was the Vere Raspberry Lemon Organic Dark Chocolate Bar. The chocolate quality was, as noted above, fantastic. However, I could barely taste any raspberry or lemon.

I'm sure Vere wanted the chocolate flavor to come through the most since they have every reason to be proud of their chocolate. Yet, why bother with a flavored bar when you can't taste the flavors.

Raspberry and lemon lovers would be disappointed.

The raspberry lemon chocolate combo would make for a great cupcake, but it's too Springy for a Fall wedding. Raspberries won't be in season.

Next up was the Vere Espresso Anise Organic Dark Chocolate Bar. Unlike the raspberry/lemon bar, both the espresso and anise flavors shined in this bar. The combination of flavors blew me away! I would definitely buy this bar again. I wish there were a store near me that sold it!

The problem: Bride and Groom 2.0 don't like coffee so I couldn't make this into a cupcake for them. Someday, though, I may try it. It would be great!

The last mini bar I tried was the Vere Banana Macadamia Organic Dark Chocolate Bar. I love bananas! Sometimes I feel that chocolate/candy with bananas ends up with a fake banana flavor and not a real one. What would this bar have?

It had no banana flavor. Jonathan and I (yes, I shared) couldn't taste any banana flavor or any macadamia nut flavor for that matter. It's a shame because the combo sounded so great. Again, I still enjoyed the bar because their chocolate is "vere" good (I had to use "vere" like that at least one time in this post, it's a wonder I made it this far). I just wished that as a flavored bar the other flavors would make more of an appearance.

Despite the fact that the bar wasn't all I'd hoped for, I still made a cupcake out of it! Groom 2.0 specifically requested banana, chocolate, peanut butter cupcakes. Since I don't do peanut butter, a banana, chocolate, macadamia nut butter cupcake was going to have to do.

Thanks to Vere for the samples!

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Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup: Enter Your Ice Cream Cupcakes During the Month of May

The weather is getting warm and it's time for ice cream cupcakes! We see ice cream cakes all summer at birthday parties and picnics. However, when I told people that I was making ice cream cupcakes, many of them looked at me like I was crazy. "What's that?" they asked.

An ice cream cupcake is a single serving ice cream cake!

During the month of May, I am co-hosting an Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup with Scoopalicious. Scoopalicious is a blog devoted to ice cream and this is a blog devoted to cupcakes so it seemed like the perfect match for the event!

We want you to send us your ice cream cupcakes. Post about them and be sure to include directions for others. Tell us what worked and what didn't work. Get creative. Try different flavors of ice cream and cake. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Let's take ice cream cupcakes out of the sidelines and make them a top choice for a summer dessert!

To participate:

Post on your blog about ice cream cupcakes sometime in the month of May and link back to this post somewhere in yours to spread the word about the event. Feel free to use the event logo if you'd like!

Send an email to stef at cupcakeproject dot com by May 30st with:

• Your name
• Your blog's name
• The name of your ice cream cupcakes
• A link to your post on ice cream cupcakes
• A photo of your ice cream cupcakes

I will respond to all entries. If you don't hear back from me within a couple of days of sending the email, drop me a note to make sure I got it.

Don't blog? That's ok too! Send us a little note about your ice cream cupcake along with a photo and we'll post a little something for you on our site.

Need some tips to get you started? After the break is my quick and dirty tutorial on how to make ice cream cupcakes.

How to Make Ice Cream Cupcakes

A simple ice cream cupcake is just cake on the bottom, ice cream on the top, and some frosting.

1. Use any cake recipe you like. Just fill your cupcake liners half as full as you normally would. You don't want the cake to come to the top because you want to leave lots of room for ice cream. Bake as normal, although you may need to cut baking times a bit since there is less cake.
2. When the cupcakes are done baking, let them come to room temperature and stick them in the freezer. I froze mine right in the cupcake tins to make it easy.
3. Remove the cupcakes from the freezer and use a spatula to cover the cupcake with ice cream. I worked with ice cream that was out of the freezer for just a couple of minutes. It was still hard but not so hard that I couldn't spread it.
4. Return the cupcakes to the freezer and wait for the ice cream to get hard again.
5. After the ice cream is hard again, you can further smooth the tops by dipping your spatula in hot water and running it over the top of the cupcakes.
6. Frost the cupcakes with your favorite frosting - I think a cream cheese frosting works best. You can also frost the cupcakes with ice cream. The words "Ice" and "Cream" in the photo above were frosted with ice cream. I found this to be REALLY hard. As I tried to pipe the ice cream, it would melt and as soon as it melted it wouldn't hold any shape. If anyone knows a good way to do this, please write about it!

My Ice Cream Cupcake Recipe - The Gluten-Free Orange Cake

For the cake part of my ice cream cupcakes, I used a gluten-free orange cake. Ice cream cupcakes can make a great gluten-free dessert if made with a flourless cake.

The orange cake was a hit, but only with people who like pulp. It was very pulpy.

I got the recipe from Allrecipes. Here it is with my comments:

Makes about 36 ice cream cupcakes

• 2 whole oranges with peel (I used Valencia oranges. The commenters on allrecipes stated that it didn't work well with navel oranges because the peel is too thick.)
• 6 eggs
• 1 pinch saffron powder (optional)
• 1 1/4 C white sugar
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 t finely chopped candied orange peel (optional - I didn't use this)
• 1 1/4 C finely ground almonds (almond meal)

1. Place the oranges in a large saucepan, and add enough water to cover. (This instruction confused me. Since the oranges float, they never get covered. Just fill the saucepan about 3/4 full.)
2. Bring to a boil, and boil for 2 hours over medium heat. Check occasionally to make sure they do not boil dry.
3. Allow the oranges to cool, then cut them open and remove the seeds.
4. Process in a blender or food processor to a coarse pulp.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
6. In a large bowl, whip eggs and sugar together using an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 10 minutes. Use a whisk attachment if available.
7. Mix in baking powder, and saffron if using.
8. Stir in the pureed oranges.
9. Gently fold in almond meal, and candied orange peel if using.
10. Fill cupcake liners about halfway. These don't rise much so they will be just over halfway full when done, perfect for topping with ice cream.
11. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

My Ice Cream Cupcake Recipe - The Ice Creams I Topped the Cupcakes With

I topped the ice cream cupcakes with three different ice creams. I'm sure many of you will make your own ice cream. I was lazy and did not. I did the next best thing though and got some ice creams that used the same ingredients I would use if I made them myself.

Sibby's Vanilla - I had never heard of Sibby's before this cupcake. They use only organic and fair trade ingredients. It's good stuff! The vanilla was my favorite flavor out of the three I used. The combo of vanilla and orange made the ice cream cupcakes taste like a creamsicle.

Pomegranate with Dark Chocolate Chips - This ice cream contains POM pomegranate juice in it. It was also a nice mix with the orange. It made it taste a bit like a Shirley Temple.

La Loos's Goat Milk Black Mission Fig - This one probably went the least well with the orange cupcakes and the big chunks of fig made it hard to spread, but I was looking for an excuse to buy this tasty ice cream. I love figs!

My Ice Cream Cupcake Recipe - The Frosting I Used to Pipe the Word "Cupcakes"

As noted above, "Ice" and "Cream" were piped with ice cream. "Cupcakes" was piped with coffee frosting.

Why coffee?

Because I thought it was vanilla bean buttercream. I thought that I had stashed some extra vanilla bean buttercream frosting in the freezer, and when I took it out to defrost it I even saw the beans. It turns out that the beans were coffee beans. It was extra coffee frosting from the eggnog latte cupcakes.

This was a lose for Bride and Groom 2.0 who don't like coffee, but a win for me! I let the frosting fully defrost before piping it on and freezing it again.

I loved the taste of frozen coffee frosting. It tasted like coffee ice cream! I admit it wasn't the best flavor pairing with the orange cake and fig ice cream, but it worked for me!

Important note: This frosting has been in the freezer for 3 months and tasted just as good as the day I made it. If you ever have extra frosting - freeze it!

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Kentucky Derby Pie Cupcakes: Place Your Bets on Chocolate, Walnuts, and Bourbon

In 2004, I went to the Kentucky Derby for my birthday. There were no Kentucky Derby cupcakes there, just a lot of rain. It rained so hard that they had to shut down the betting systems due to flooding. Jonathan and I had to walk in puddles of floating cigarette butts, beer bottles, and other things I choose not to think about.

We were in the infield. For those not in the know, the infield is not the dressed up fancy hat Derby that you see on TV. In fact, you can't really see the races from the infield except on a big screen. However, it's a big party atmosphere and being there was a blast, especially since I won my bet!

This year's Derby is on Saturday! My Kentucky Derby Pie cupcakes dreamed that they were in the Derby:

It was a photo finish!

What is Derby Pie?

As described on Wikipedia, "The pie is a chocolate and walnut tart in a pie shell usually with a pastry dough crust. It is also commonly made with pecans, chocolate chips and Kentucky Bourbon. Popular additions are butterscotch, caramel, and other types of nuts."

What is a Derby Pie Cupcake?

My Derby Pie cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes with Derby Pie filling mixed in. They are topped with a bourbon buttercream mixed with more Derby Pie filling.

The Derby Pie Cupcake Recipe: The Chocolate Cake

For the chocolate cake, I used chockylit's recipe that I featured in my Better than Sex Chocolate Cupcakes.

Makes 16 regular cupcakes.

• 1/2 C (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 C sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 C flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 C milk
• 1 t vanilla

1. Beat butter until softened.
2. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small bowl and whisk to combine.
5. In another small bowl, measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine.
7. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine.
8. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.

The Derby Pie Cupcake Recipe: The Derby Pie Filling

The second part of the Derby Pie cupcake recipe is a Derby Pie filling recipe that I got from Allrecipes. I made it with walnuts instead of pecans. However, either nut would be good.

• 1 C white sugar
• 1 C light corn syrup
• 1/2 C butter
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 C bourbon (I used a cheap - $6.95 - store brand bottle of Kentucky Bourbon. A higher quality bourbon might have been better, but I can't report back on that.)
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 C semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 C chopped pecans

1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and butter.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.
3. Cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl, combine eggs, bourbon, vanilla, and salt. Mix well.
5. Slowly pour the sugar mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.
6. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.

Kentucky Derby Pie Baking Instructions

1. Set aside half of the pie filling.
2. Fold 3/4 of one of the halves into the chocolate cupcake batter. You don't need to mix it well, just give it a nice stir.
3. Fill 24 cupcake liners about half way.
4. Use up the remaining 1/4 of the first half by putting an additional spoonful or two of the pie filling on top of each cupcake being careful not to fill them more than 3/4.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour the second half of the pie filling onto the baking sheet. This is going to be used in the frosting.
6. Bake both the cupcakes and the filling on the baking sheet for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. I baked mine at the same time on different shelves.

Bourbon Buttercream Frosting with Kentucky Derby Pie Filling

• 1 C (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 4 C powdered sugar
• 3 T bourbon
• 1 t vanilla
• Baked and cooled pie filling (see above for directions)

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add bourbon and vanilla.
3. Stir in baked and cooled pie filling.

Because of the nuts, this is a spreadable frosting rather than a piped one. It won't look as pretty as some other frostings, however it is still sure to be a winner at your Kentucky Derby party!

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