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Candy canes melt in the cold. Take a candy cane, stick it in a cupcake, and place in the fridge. It turns into a dripping candy cane icicle looking thing.
If you like the icicle effect, by all means stick them in the fridge. Otherwise, place your candy canes in the cupcakes right before serving.
Many of my tasters pointed out that I shouldn't have used candy canes at all given my "no mint on cupcakes" policy. I saw the candy cane as more of an accessory though, not a cupcake flavor. It was something that would not affect my ability to taste the cupcake and determine if it was good or not.
Unfortunately, when they melted on the icing, I was foiled by the evil mint. The mint flavor (that I equate to the taste of toothpaste) infiltrated my delicious frosting!
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The Bride and Groom wanted me to try creating an eggnog cupcake for them. Like all good Jewish people, I gladly accepted the opportunity to create a new Christmas classic (according to interfaith family, over 1/2 of the top Christmas songs were were composed, co-written or performed by verifiably Jewish artists).
If you love coffee, you will love these cupcakes. It's a bold statement I know, but market research on my friends proved that 100% of coffee lovers loved these (well, at least the frosting).
My mother-in-law, who has tasted almost every cupcake I have made and is also a true coffee fan, said this was the very best frosting I have ever made. My good friend over at Everybody Loves Cheese (and coffee) said she could have eaten the icing with a spoon.
What about the eggnog? The eggnog flavor was definitely there, although it was somewhat mild. It went really well with the latte. Thanks, Starbucks, for the idea.
My only complaint about these cupcakes is that they could have been a bit more moist. These are definitely cupcakes that you will need to have with a glass of milk or, of course, eggnog!
The Cake
The cake is a recipe with I modified from here.
- 4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups eggnog
- 1/4 cup dark rum
Preheat oven to 350°F. and line twenty-four 1/2-cup muffin cups with paper liners.
Into a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy and beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and with mixer on low speed beat in eggnog and rum until just combined. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, beating until just combined after each addition.
The Frosting
I got the base recipe for the frosting from the winning recipe of the cupcake hero clove contest.
I loved the texture of this frosting so much that I had to use it again. I just modified the ingredients slightly to create my latte frosting.
- 1 cup chilled whipping cream
- 8 oz mascarpone
- 2 teaspoon coffee extract
- 1/4 cup coffee grinds
- 2 to 3 cups confectioner's sugar (depending upon how thick you prefer frosting)
The Sprinkles
I got those adorable snowflake sprinkles at Shop Bakers Nook. I don't see them there any more, but these are pretty similar, just blue and white.
13 comments:
Why "no mint on cupcakes"? That seems rather silly.
I am just one of those people who refuses to bake or cook anything that I don't like and I don't like mint. The other big one is peanut butter. I just don't like it. I know it's popular, but too bad.
I love how firm you are on the no mint policy. I happen to be a fan of mint, but I appreciate the firm stance anyway.
This cupcake was made for me. I would probably sell my soul for an eggnog latte. My favorite is when they have the stuff left over after the holiday season and they let you have an eggnog latte even though its no longer on the menu.
This is adorable! And I love the post name, hehe.
I personally enjoy the Starbucks gingerbread lattes. Got a cupcake for those? :)
Sara - Hah. Glad you like them!
Hillary - That's so funny. The Bride just told me today that she wants me to make a gingerbread latte cupcake so I guess one will be coming up!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE what you did with the frosting- but I'm a certifiable coffee addict. Starbucks knows me by name. They may even have rights to my first born. Makes me think of Tiramisu- maybe try this frosting on an amaretto cupcake??
My lil' beastie is a certifiable eggnog addict (what 10 year old asks for eggnog on her Christmas list anyways?!?!) so I'm gonna have to do some good ol fashion recipe stealing, errr, borrowing on this one me thinks... Thanks much!
Ok, so I am a baking novice. Where does one find mascarpone and how do I get coffee extract?
Tempered Woman - Thanks! Couldn't have done it without your yummy frosting base! It would be great on an amaretto cupcake. Great idea!
Manda - You can find mascarpone at most supermarkets that have a good cheese counter. As for coffee extract, that's harder. I ordered mine online.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002PHE8O/104-2558985-5799145
It would probably be fine without the extract, just maybe not quite as strong a coffee flavor.
Define 'coffee grounds'...do we mean actual ground coffee, or instant?
Actual ground coffee.
i live in a country where store bought egg nog does not exist , would it be ok to use the kind you make yourself ?
Anya - I don't see why that wouldn't work. However, if your homemade kind has rum in it, I wouldn't add the extra rum in the recipe unless you want it really rummy.
I loved, loved, loved this cupcake ... it was my favorite of all the ones I tried.
I must make some of these too ... soon!
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