Orange Cupcakes: Cupcakes Grilled in an Orange

Orange Cupcakes on the Grill? Were They Any Good?

Before you think my orange cupcakes grilled in an orange were just another kooky failed experiment, I want to say right up front that these were delicious. I made plain vanilla cupcakes but because they were grilled in the orange, they took on an orange flavor and gained a lot of moisture.

Bride 2.0 called baking in the orange "ingenious" and my friend and taster extraordinaire, Ran, said the cupcake in an orange was "the most fun I've had eating a cupcake in a while." Ran complained a bit about the texture. It was a bit different than normal because of grilling, but overall they were a hit. Bride and Groom 2.0 both preferred the vanilla cake grilled in the orange to the same cake in a normal cupcake liner. However, I am not going to be grilling cupcakes for their wedding.

Where Did I Get the Idea to Grill Orange Cupcakes in an Orange?

The idea for these orange cupcakes made in an orange came from Sylvia, a friend/reader. Sylvia left a comment on my packing peanut post saying, "I was talking to a park ranger about outdoor cooking once and he mentioned a great way to make a cupcake-like thing at a campsite -- bake a spice cake mix in a hollowed out orange over coals or fire (I can't remember which)." As soon as I saw her comment, I knew making cupcakes in an orange was in my future.

I had no plans to go camping, but I figured a grill was the second best thing.

How to Grill Cupcakes in an Orange

To grill cupcakes in an orange, you'll need the following:

• Half as many oranges as cupcakes you want to make. I bought a bag of 10 seedless navel oranges.
• Your favorite cupcake batter. I used a basic vanilla cupcake from Chockylit.
• A cupcake tin or some foil.
• A grill.

The cupcake grilling steps:

1. Cut the oranges in half and scoop out the insides. You don't have to be perfect about it. If there is some orange left in there it will just be a tasty treat at the bottom of your cupcake.
2. Fill the orange halves 3/4 full with cupcake batter.
3. Place the oranges in foil directly on the wood or coal as shown in the picture on the left or set the oranges in a cupcake tray on the grill as shown in the picture on the right. I tried both methods. I think the cupcake tray worked better but the tray got a bit charred and is a pain to clean. Use an old one if you have one.
4. Monitor the cupcakes really closely. The cooking speed will vary depending on the heat of your grill. You may also need to rotate the tray or the individual cupcakes to account for uneven heat. You know they are done when a toothpick comes out dry. It took mine about 10 minutes to cook.

Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

I used a vanilla cupcake recipe from Chockylit. I liked it because when the vanilla flavor mixed with the orange, the combination tasted like a creamsicle. However, you could use any recipe you like in your orange.

Here is Chockylit's recipe with my modifications and notes:

Makes 20 cupcakes.

• 3/4 C (1-1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 2/3 C vanilla sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 2/3 C flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 3/4 C + 2 T milk
• 1 t vanilla bean paste

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, and salt into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
5. 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.
   Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
7. If you were to bake this in the oven, scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes for about 22-25 minutes at 350 F or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Orange Frosting Recipe

I frosted the cupcakes with orange buttercream frosting. It worked perfectly!

Buttercream Frosting Recipe - Orange Frosting

This buttercream frosting recipe for orange buttercream frosting is sweet and tangy. I love how the little orange bits look in the buttercream frosting swirl. Orange buttercream frosting would be a great way to fancy up a plain vanilla cupcake. I sort of did that on my next cupcake, but with a surprising twist - stay tuned!

Orange buttercream frosting would also be great on mimosa cupcakes or with any clove cupcake.

Orange Buttercream Frosting Recipe

The orange buttercream frosting is a Cupcake Project original recipe.

• 1/2 C (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 3 oz (about 1/3 C) orange marmalade (try to find one with orange bits in it)
• 1 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 1 T heavy cream
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 t orange extract

1. Beat butter until creamy.
2. Beat in marmalade.
3. Beat in powdered sugar.
4. Add heavy cream and extracts.
5. Taste and smile. It should frost about 12 cupcakes, depending on how much you use.

Microwave Cupcakes: About What You Would Expect

Microwave cupcakes were the obvious choice when browsing the site of my June Taste & Create partner, Tangerine's Kitchen. Why not try microwave cupcakes? I have already made crockpot cupcakes and steamed cupcakes.

Why Not Try Microwave Cupcakes?

After making microwave cupcakes, I now have a good answer to the question, "Why not try microwave cupcakes?"

1. Did you ever microwave a bagel? Did you notice how it got all oddly rubbery? The same thing happened to my microwave cupcakes. The texture was not right!
2. Strange things can happen in the microwave. I put my test cupcake in the microwave for two minutes and it came out as you see on the right. That's not chocolate - it's burnt. It was also hard as a rock! I couldn't cut it with a sharp knife. Obviously, I adjusted the microwaving times for the other cupcakes and that didn't happen again.

Big Disclaimer: My issues with microwave cupcakes could be due to the specific recipe I was using. The recipe didn't have any butter or vegetable oil (which I thought was a bit unusual) and that could have contributed to its dryness. Maybe some of you have had success with cupcakes in the microwave - do tell!

Bigger Disclaimer: In trash-talking these microwave cupcakes, I mean no harm to my wonderful Taste & Create partner. She's got a slew of recipes on her blog that look great and maybe even this one would have been great if I had made it as a cake as she did rather than as cupcakes. From her picture, her cake did have a very different consistency than mine. It actually looks fluffy and has brown on the edges.

Huge Disclaimer: As I was writing this post, I realized that I didn't completely follow the microwaving directions. I was supposed to use medium power for part of the time and full power for the rest of the time. Grrrrr. How did I miss this? I am now beginning to question whether these were awesome cupcakes that I just screwed up. I'm not questioning this enough, however, to make them again. Also, I stopped and started the microwave (to check on and rotate the cupcakes) every minute which some say is the same thing as half power.

I should also point out that not everyone disliked them. One of Jonathan's cohorts went out of his way to tell Jonathan that they were "quite yummy." To each his own.

The Microwave Cupcake Recipe

I present this recipe so that maybe you can learn from my mistakes or give me a hint about how you make microwave cupcakes work for you. See also my failed doughnut cupcakes.

As noted above, the recipe is from Tangerine's Kitchen. I have reprinted it below with my adaptations.

Makes about 12 cupcakes.

• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 C whole wheat flour (I used graham flour)
• 3/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
• 1 C ripe mashed banana
• 1/4 C milk

1. Line a silicone cupcake tray with paper liners. Obviously, you can't use your regular metal cupcake tins in the microwave.
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
3. Stir whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt and set this aside as well.
4. Beat eggs, vanilla and banana.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture alternately with milk, beating lightly.
6. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
7. The amount you need to microwave will depend on the strength of your microwave. After my burnt tester (shown above), I was overly cautious. I microwaved at 1 minute intervals and rotated after each minute. It took a total of 7 minutes to cook completely.

The Honey Meringue Frosting

I topped these cupcakes with my honey meringue frosting. I then added a banana slice and torched both the frosting and banana. Not all was lost - the cupcakes looked really pretty!

My Favorite Banana Cupcakes

If you are looking for a yummy banana cupcake recipe (not in the microwave), check out:

• Banana chocolate cupcakes with macadamia nut frosting
• Banana cupcakes with vanilla cinnamon granola cream cheese frosting

Honey Meringue Frosting Recipe: You'd Better Eat It Quickly

I decided on a honey frosting for upcoming cupcakes when I received honey in my CSA package last week. I had made a honey frosting before. The problem, however, is that I don't like using both honey and powdered sugar in honey frosting recipes - way, way too sweet. Last time, I ended up using mead (honey wine) in the frosting recipe with very little sugar. This left me with more of a glaze than a frosting. I then drizzled honey on top of that to give the honey frosting more texture and a sticky sweetness.

For this cupcake, I searched the Web to find a honey frosting recipe that did not use powdered sugar at all. I found a fluffy honey frosting recipe on Big Oven which was originally from the American Bee Journal. It used a full cup of honey and no powdered sugar.

How I Ended Up Making Honey Meringue Frosting

What I failed to consider was that the honey frosting recipe I chose involves beating egg whites until they are stiff and then adding a sugary substance - just like when I make meringue. Regular readers may know that I don't like meringues because they remind me too much of marshmallows (something else I'm not a fan of).

The fluffy honey frosting did end up being a honey meringue. I have never heard of a honey meringue before. It worked, though! It tasted like a honey marshmallow - especially after I torched it on the cupcakes like you'll see soon.

You'd Better Eat The Honey Meringue Frosting Quickly

About an hour after I frosted the cupcakes, something started to happen. The honey meringue frosting started to drip. The frosting became messy and gooey - not at all appetizing. If you like honey and you like meringue, I do encourage you to try making this frosting, but only if you are going to serve it immediately after you frost. Do not wait or you will be sadly disappointed.

The Honey Meringue Frosting Recipe

As noted above, I found this recipe on Big Oven. I am reprinting it below with my slight modifications.

Makes enough frosting for 24 cupcakes

• 1 C honey
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 t vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

1. In a small saucepan or double boiler, heat honey to boiling.
2. In a bowl, combine egg whites, salt and vanilla.
3. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until whites are stiff but not dry.
4. Slowly pour in hot honey.
5. Beat for 5-7 minutes until frosting holds shape.

Final Vere Chocolate Winner

Friday's Vere chocolate winner was Bldrnrpdx. Congrats! Please be sure to email me with your contact info.

I hope everyone enjoyed Vere week as much as I did. Thanks again to Kathy for making it all happen!

More cupcakes are coming soon!

Raspberry Cupcakes with Lemon and Chocolate: A Vere Inspired Cupcake

Raspberry cupcakes with lemon and chocolate wrap up Vere week. Start back on Part I to read all of the Vere week posts.

The details of the raspberry cupcakes are after the break.

The Raspberry Cupcake Inspiration

The raspberry cupcake was based off of Vere's raspberry lemon organic dark chocolate bar. When Kathy first sent me the sample bar, I could barely taste the raspberries. However, when she sent me the full-sized bar, I could taste the berries and I was in love. First, you taste the chocolate, then the raspberries, and then it finishes with the lemon. The flavor combination was incredible.

I wanted a cupcake that would do the same thing!

Choosing the Raspberry Cupcake Recipe

Bon Appetit recently featured a lemon raspberry cupcake. It looked great, but it used raspberry jam. I wanted to use fresh raspberries.

I ended up turning to the now-retired-from-blogging but still ever useful Chockylit. She had a recipe for raspberry ricotta almond cupcakes that sounded amazing. Of course, modifications would need to be made - most notably, I used no ricotta and I added lemon extract and chocolate. I'm sure my cupcake tasted nothing like hers, however I must give credit where credit is due. Her recipe got me going in the right direction.

What's Happening On Top of Those Raspberry Cupcakes?

To accentuate the lemon flavor on the raspberry cupcakes, I baked some lemon cookie dough (well, it's not really cookie dough as you'll see later, but close enough) on top of some of the cupcakes. I made the cupcakes three ways:

1. With cookies in cookie shape. Unlike the cookie on the snickerdoodle cupcakes, this one kept its shape and did not meld into the cupcake. It has a completely different taste and texture from the cupcake. It almost looks like I just put the cookie on top of the cupcake, but it's actually baked on. It was topped with a small swirl of chocolate whipped cream and a fresh raspberry.
2. Crumbles of cookie dough on top. This cupcake kind was also topped with the chocolate whipped cream and raspberry combo.
3. No cookie dough. I simply covered the top with lots of chocolate whipped cream and of course the fresh raspberry.

How'd the Raspberry Cupcakes Taste?

I was excited that the raspberry cupcakes left me with a similar experience to the chocolate bar. I could taste all three flavors (raspberry, lemon, and chocolate) at different times, but also the wonderful combination of them together. The cupcakes were extraordinarily moist, but not so much as to be messy.

Check back for additional tasting notes and Bride and Groom 2.0's thoughts. Things have been vere busy and they haven't been able to taste the cupcakes yet.

Update: People raved and drooled over these cupcakes. They were a huge hit! Everyone loved their moistness and complex flavor. One friend and frequent taster even said that if it were his wedding, he would choose these!

Everyone, however, does not include Bride and Groom 2.0 and the friend that tasted with them. Bride and Groom 2.0 thought they were too dense and not moist enough. I will not judge their comments, but note my comments above about everyone else and moisture. Bride and Groom 2.0 also didn't like the texture of the raspberry seeds. That's definitely understandable. It's not for everyone. Groom 2.0 was, however, excited about the chocolate bits in the cake: "Oooh - chocolate bits!" Lastly, Bride and Groom 2.0 both enjoyed the frosting.

The Raspberry Cupcake Recipe

As I noted earlier, the raspberry cupcake recipe was an extreme modification of a recipe by Chockylit:

Makes about 18 cupcakes

• 1 C almond flour
• 1 C sugar
• 1/4 C plain yogurt
• 1/4 C sour cream
• 1/2 C (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 t lemon extract
• 2/3 C flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 C finely chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
• 1 C raspberries

1. Mix almond flour and sugar.
2. Slowly add yogurt and sour cream.
3. Add butter, one tablespoon at a time.
4. Gradually add the eggs.
5. Add lemon extract.
6. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder.
7. Fold in the flour mixture.
8. Fold in the chocolate and raspberries.
9. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full. These cupcakes will not rise very much. If you want them to be taller, you can fill them ever higher.
10. If you are not putting the lemon cookie topping on the cupcakes, bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until the top bounces back when touched. If you are putting the lemon cookie topping on the cupcakes, don't put them in the oven yet! After you put the cookie topping on, follow the same baking instructions.

The Lemon Cookie Dough Recipe

The recipe that I used for the lemon cookie dough is actually tart dough from A Treasury of Great Recipes by Vincent Price. I've used this recipe as a pie crust for apple pies since I was a kid. It's a lousy pie crust in that it doesn't roll well at all, but it tastes so good that I just don't care. One of my favorite parts of preparing this recipe is that everything is mixed by hand. Get messy and lick your fingers!

• 1 1/4 C four
• 4 T sugar
• 1 stick (1/2 C) butter, room temperature
• 2 egg yolks
• Grated rind of 1 lemon

1. Put flour on a pastry board or any clean surface.
2. Make a well (basically a hole) in the center of the flour.
3. Put all the other ingredients in the well.
4. Use your hands to work all of the center ingredients into a paste.
5. Knead in the flour.
6. Keep working the dough until you can make it into one big ball.
7. Do with it whatever you want! I made little patties with some of it and laid them directly on the cupcakes before baking. I crumbled some of it over other cupcakes. I still had some left, so I rolled it into little balls and baked them on a cookie sheet at 350 F for 15 minutes.

The Chocolate Whipped Cream Recipe

As you can see from the photos of the cupcakes, on 2/3 of the cupcakes I used vere (will I ever stop spelling it like that?) little frosting. If you want to cover your cupcakes in frosting, be sure to double this recipe.

The picture above is of my frosting staging area. Every time I frost, I use a little test plate to pipe a bit before piping onto my cupcakes. This gives me a chance to play with ideas and get a better feel for the consistency of the frosting.

• 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
• 2 T sugar
• 2 T cocoa powder

1. Beat whipping cream until soft peaks form.
2. Beat in sugar.
3. Beat in cocoa powder.
4. Pipe or spread or just lick the beater.

Vere Week Interview and Giveaway Part IV - About Kathy

This post is part of a 5 part series on Vere chocolate. To get the most out of this series, start on Part I.

Part IV: About Kathy

How much chocolate do you eat? Do you eat chocolate all the time?

Yes! The thing is, I was never a sweets person. I love flavor. I love things like salt and vinegar and all that but I really don’t like sweet. I say to my husband, “It’s a good thing we make chocolate, because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to eat any.”

I did eat chocolate before this. I would eat La Maison Du Chocolat - their darkest chocolate. But, now that we make chocolate, I have quite a bit of chocolate every day. I found that I really need it every day now.

Do you only eat your own chocolate?

Exactly - since we made it to my tastes. You tweak it and it suits you, so it’s nice to be on the receiving end. When you make something and you become really familiar with it and make it a lot of times, you can taste subtle differences that other people don’t in terms of appreciating or not appreciating something. It’s like you look for different things.

What do you look for when taste a piece of chocolate?

I look for not tasting sweet first. I think if you taste the sweet first you are already probably missing out on some of the other subtler flavor profiles. Chocolate is like wine - if you added sugar to any wine, even a wine that was naturally sweet, you would taste less of that wine than you would ordinarily.

I also try to taste whether it’s fruity or does it have more of a tobaccoy, earthy, or a different flavor to it. Then, the texture. I hate dry chocolate. I really hate dry chocolate, so if a chocolate is dry, right there it goes against me. It has to have a nice consistency when it melts - not be grainy, have a kind of luscious quality to it, and make your mouth water as you’re letting it melt.

When you are not making chocolate, what are your hobbies?

Starting a new business is like having a baby, you pretty much don’t have time for anything else. But, my loves are visual things. I love looking at art and looking at fashion. I love shopping with my eyes and I love movies and eating.

I really have through this come to appreciate food in such a new way. I think when you are in the food business it’s in a way very humbling. You start to really understand how much goes into something that’s really artisinal. You really start to appreciate the farmers and what they do - how hard their lot is and everything that it takes to bring something to you in a natural form.

Then, the food business itself. So many of the buyers in the food stores work so hard. When I go to call buyers, some of them will say you can reach them tomorrow at 6 am and this is on the weekends. They also might have a late shift. If you want to call, you need to call at 11 at night. It’s a hard business.

How does being a visual person come into play when you are designing the packaging?

A lot. I appreciate what Erika does. She does these incredible caramels. Each of them is hand decorated. There is somebody there putting little lavender pieces on top or cacao nibs or whatever. They are like these little works of art.

If you look at the rest of our line [the packaging] is very classic and so much of my background comes into play. I love that part! I love to get to play with the packaging and those ideas.

Even the bags you are giving away are so cute!

I know. Whenever I get too stressed out, I think, I’m going to make some bags. It’s just so therapeutic. I feel like so much of our food is packaged. Unpacked food is so luscious and beautiful. You want the package to at least kind of represent what you hope your product is or is going to taste like or stands for. It would be like if you had to hide your beautiful cupcakes in a box and you couldn’t see them. You’d want the box to evoke the deliciousness of the cupcakes and the whimsy or whatever you are putting into that particular one.

If you were Bride 2.0, what would your cupcake choice be?

My cupcake choice would probably be like the cayenne and cacao nibs bar - a spicy chocolate cupcake with a chocolate frosting. That’s probably what I would love.

A ganache?

Yes! And the frosting wouldn’t be spicy, but the cupcake itself would have the chipotle chili. It would be spicy.

It's been so much fun talking to you. Thanks so much for your time and your chocolate. On behalf of all of my readers, we appreciate it so vere much!

Continue to the Vere inspired cupcake

Vere Week Interview and Giveaway Part III - Choosing Flavors

This post is part of a 5 part series on Vere chocolate. To get the most out of this series, start on Part I.

Part III: Choosing Flavors

How do you come up with your flavors? Where do you get your inspiration?

I have a really great chocolatier, Erika Erskine. She’s really amazing. She’s young, maybe 23, but she studied at La Cordon Bleu in London so she’s classically trained. But, because she’s young, she’s really open and interested in health. She’s up on all the latest stuff and she happens to have a really good talent for flavor combinations. She knows how to layer flavors so you get one flavor, then the other. She’s really responsible for the flavor profiles.

I’ll come up with an idea like Crunchy Stuff. My idea was to make this crunchy stuff like a snack food but with chocolate that has healthy ingredients and that’s delicious. I’ll give her a concept and she’ll work it out. She’ll solve a problem.

I’ll come up with some of the ideas for some of the bars. I think the anise espresso was mine, but she’s really the flavor genius. I am more a concept person and do the groundwork, but really in terms of the product itself, she’s really vere, vere talented.

Are you working on anything new?

Just these 70% bars. [Note: In Part I, Kathy talks about how they now only have 75% bars.]

I think I sent you some of the little 10 gram chocolate boxes. [Note: She did. I wrote about the 10 gram vere chocolates here.] I might rework some of the packaging on that. They are really cute and great but it is so hard for the people to make them and package them. [I would like to] find a way that I can deliver them where they won’t get broken, etc. or do less packaging on them because I love that little format. I always like to put a couple in my pocket. When I want something, I just break one of those open.

In the banana bar, I was disappointed that I couldn’t taste the banana.

It may be one of those things where the banana quickly takes on the chocolate flavor. There is a little crunchiness in the banana bar. It’s not like nuts. It’s kinda like the crunchiness of halava, but it might be one of those things where the chocolate just kind of overwhelms the banana flavor. We might have to put more bananas in the next batch!

What’s your favorite flavor?

My favorite bar of the bars we make is the cayenne and cacao nibs. What I love with that one is that I’ll put it in my mouth and I’ll let it start to melt. I get the lusciousness of the chocolate itself and it's smooth and creamy. Then, I start to get some heat. As its melts more, the little cacao nibs get exposed and so I feel that texture – another thing I love is texture that has to do with ingredients. Then, I’ll bite on the nibs which are kinda fruity. That bar has all the qualities I love.

Continue to Part IV

Vere Week Interview and Giveaway Part II - Running a Chocolate Company

This post is part of a 5 part series on Vere chocolate. To get the most out of this series, start on Part I.

Part II: Running a Chocolate Company

How large a company is Vere?

It’s not very big. I have a factory in Manhattan where we make our artisinal products. The factory is a nice size – it’s 5000 square feet. We only have about 6 people working in the factory and we’ve only really started selling our products about 2 years ago. It took about 2 years to do the research - to find the beans and build the factory. We’re still small. My focus now is getting into retail stores around the country.

How’s that going?

Good. The people who get what we do are places where you have an educated consumer - where people really read the package and care about what they are putting in their body. We just started to get into the various Whole Foods in Manhattan. We are in a smattering of stores around the country. We do very well in gourmet stores and we do really well in health food stores where people look for organic particularly.

I’m trying to target that customer who really understands the difference between chocolate and candy. I’m really focusing on the chocolate person. I just started to approach and get into some higher end coffee shops and also wine stores. Since dark chocolate isn’t very sweet, it pairs really nicely with wine.

How does running Vere compare to your experience with HUE?

It’s so different - I can’t tell you. Fashion is really fast. About 8 week after we had our first product, we had orders from Bergdorf Goodman, Macy’s, and Neiman Marcus. With food, it’s so slow. People have already set their shelves so they’ll say, “Call me in 6 months” or “Call me next year.” It’s really, really different.

I think it’s more that [in food] the consumer drives the store rather than the store driving the consumer - which is what happens in fashion. In fashion, they don’t want anything that they think is going to sit in the stores for more than 3 months. In food, they’ll say if you can’t give me at least six months shelf life, I don’t want to take you in. It’s like totally opposite. In fashion, they want something new all the time. In food, once they get you in with something, they’ll pretty much keep that. There are pluses and minuses to both.

Do your bars have a particular shelf life to them?

The stores really want a year shelf life. With some of ours, we can get more than 6 months. Our artisinal products can only get 6 months because we use a lot of nuts and stuff in them. The stores would love a year, but it’s like I tell the stores, “I’d rather have you order less and order more often because we make the stuff fresh.” You don’t really want your stuff sitting on the shelf for more than 6 months. Who wants to buy anything that’s been sitting there that long?

Many people think chocolate can just sit around. They don’t think about their bars going bad.

It can, but once you start adding things - like if you start adding nuts (certain nuts are hardier than others) - after a while the nuts have oils in them so they can go rancid. If you use fruit, if it’s a dried fruit it’s OK. If you use freeze dried fruit, you want it to be crisp - you don’t want it to go soggy. We try to use other kinds of ingredients in our chocolate, not just essential oils. We do use nuts and seeds and different spices and stuff, so we really would prefer that they would be fresher.

It sounds like you’ve had a lot to learn with the food.

Yes! Of course! One other thing, in fashion you just have to say what the ingredients are: 100% cotton, made in the U.S., etc. In food, it’s such a different thing - all the nutritional testing, all the allergen information, plus your packaging is a big part of it. Whereas in fashion, your image is a big part, but you might have to just make a label.

Continue to Part III

Vere Week Interview and Giveaway Part I - The Vere Beginning

Vere week is here - your chance to win free chocolate!

The following winners have already been drawn: Ivy, mrschloesmom, Verena, and Gina!

But, it's not too late to enter. Read the interview, then comment on the post for the correct day of the week to enter. Even if you already entered, you can enter again for another chance! A winner will be drawn each day!

• Monday - Interview with Vere founder, Kathy Moskal, Part I: The Vere Beginning
• Tuesday - Interview, Part II: Running a Chocolate Company
• Wednesday - Interview, Part III: Choosing Flavors
• Thursday - Interview, Part IV: About Kathy
• Friday - A cupcake inspired by a Vere chocolate bar flavor combination

The interview begins after the break.

I interviewed Kathy Moskal by phone and split the transcription of that interview into the four sections you will read this week. I made a few changes to the order of the conversation just to make for a better flow, but other than that and the removal of "ummms," "well, you knows," and laughter we both had, it should be just as if you were listening in on our conversation.

Part I: The Vere Beginning

How did you become interested in chocolate and starting a chocolate company?

My entire life was in the fashion business. I had co-founded a legwear company called HUE and my partner and I sold that. I had retired basically for ten years and then a family friend was dying from the aftereffects of diabetes. She was a great gourmand. She loved to eat. She was a great baker. As a matter of fact, she was the one who taught me how to make truffles many years ago - she was real chocoholic.

At that point, she couldn't walk anymore and I thought since her only pleasure left was eating, I’m going to get her the best chocolate in the world that she could eat. I searched the Internet, I looked in Europe, and I looked all over the States. Everything I found was really awful – it was filled with chemicals even a well person shouldn't eat. All of the chocolates that weren't filled with chemicals had way too much sugar.

This was in the fall of 2003. Now, there is a lot of dark chocolate on the market. But, at that point there really wasn't. I just thought, "OK, I’m going to hire a pastry chef," because I really am not a cook and I’ll start with just 100% dark chocolate (plain chocolate) and I’ll have the pastry chef just make some things that are healthy and minimally sweetened for my friend, Carol.

I just started doing research about chocolate. I became really fascinated with chocolate as a food. It is this incredible foodstuff with all these vital chemicals and all these great healthy things - that if you don’t degrade the chocolate – are available to you.

I just got hooked and I thought, well I’m going to go from the beans. So, I did a lot of research and found that the Arriba bean (sometimes called the Nacional bean), which is what I use in all my chocolate, is really high in antioxidants. It only grows in Ecuador and it has a really mild, fruity flavor so it doesn't require a lot of sweetening. It tastes very earthy and real. Like wine, it reflects the terroir (the place that it was grown).

One of the reasons I picked it, besides that I really liked the flavor of it, was that the first step in making chocolate is fermenting the bean and that’s also the first place that the antioxidants get degraded. Since this one [the Arriba bean] has a short fermentation cycle, it doesn't need a long fermenting to develop the flavor and it also doesn't degrade the antioxidants as much - so it starts out with more antioxidants.

How did you find out about that bean?

Just really by doing a lot of research, but I had tasted the Arriba bean in a chocolate that someone was doing. It was a plantation chocolate (Vintage chocolates). This French guy, Pierrick Chouard, made a line of chocolates using the Arriba bean. That was the first time I tasted it and I liked the kind of flavor and the mildness of it.

What makes Vere different from other chocolate companies?

We’re different from a lot of chocolate makers in a lot of ways. First, we do make our own base chocolate and we make a real high grade of it where the [particle size in] microns is really small. We add more cocoa butter so it’s called couverture which is like the most premium chocolate. Most chocolatiers don’t make their own couverture, they buy their chocolate. If they are buying good chocolate, they buy from Valrhona or Michel Cluizel or they'll buy chocolate from Guittard or various other producers. Then they will melt it and make their chocolate. Even companies like NewTree make chocolates in California, but they use a Belgian chocolate. (Update: I received an email from NewTree with a correction: "NEWTREE manufactures all of its chocolates in Belgium and imports and distributes them in the U.S. They are truly Belgian chocolates in every sense of the word.") They don't make their own couverture. Probably in most chocolates that you've tasted, the people don’t make their own couverture. People are starting to do that more though. Theo chocolates makes their own couverture.

Also, we are probably the only company in the world that makes all of the products from 75% cacao content. We are going to make some bars of 70%, but that will be it because to get the benefits of chocolate you really need it to be 70% or higher.

What about companies that are doing chocolate from bean to bar?

Well, we don’t process the beans ourselves. People are doing a lot of good stuff in a lot of ways, we chose to process the beans in Ecuador because you leave more money in the local economy so instead of taking their precious resource out at the lowest possible price, which is the beans, we make the couverture there. This is just part of our philosophy. That’s another way that we are kind of unique and different.

Do you have a relationship with the people in Ecuador?

Not a business relationship, a hand-shake friendly relationship. It’s interesting because there are three men who have spent their lives in the chocolate industry so they know a lot, but their dream when they retired was to have their own chocolate factory. They are small like we are and so they try things for me and have done things for me that a larger company would never make the effort of doing. We’re kind of moving along together here.

Continue to Part II

Announcing Vere Week: Giveaways, Interview, and a Cupcake

Last month, I wrote about the free Vere chocolate I received from Kathy Moskal, Vere's owner. While I had a few complaints about the strength of the flavors in their flavored bars, I found their chocolate quality to be top-notch. Many of you wrote that you enjoyed reading the review. Now it's your chance to review - read on!

Monday through Friday of next week is going to be Vere week around here. Each day I'm going to share some of a phone interview I did with Kathy. You'll get to learn about Kathy, her company, and her chocolate. I'll be making a Vere inspired cupcake too (don't worry, the cupcakes will always be here)! Best of all, each day - Monday to Friday - one lucky commenter will win this:



In case you couldn't tell, that's four full sized Vere chocolate bars in a vere cute gift bag! All that I ask is that if you win, you share on your blog (if you have one) or in an email to me what you thought of the bars. I'll do a small round up of the winners' reviews. You don't need to be an expert chocolate reviewer. I'll even take, "YUM!" if that's your review.

Kathy is an amazing person. She has a huge passion for chocolate and I hope you will all enjoy reading about her and her company as much as I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with her.

What's That Again?

To summarize:

• There will be a prize winner every day from Monday to Friday.
• You can enter once per day by commenting on that day's post.
• If you win, you need to write a short review which can be shared on this blog.

The Supreme Spice Extract Winner Is ....

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the Supreme Spice extract giveaway contest!

The winner was determined by a random number generator program written in GAWK by Jonathan (he's multi-talented).

$ gawk 'BEGIN { srand(); print int(rand() * 84 + 1); }'
69

In case you don't feel like counting, the 69th commenter and therefore our winner was Hannah Bluma. Hanna said, "Wow! those extracts look incredible. the incredible edible... (i know i know, i had to)."

Congrats, Hanna! I'll be contacting you to get your address and Anjali will get the extracts off to you right away. Please stop by again and let us know how you end up using them!

I will be announcing the next interview and giveaway tomorrow. Be on the lookout.

Multigrain Cupcakes with Strawberries: Revisiting the Strawberry Cupcake

About a year ago, I made strawberry cupcakes. I used an award-winning recipe and I joked that I should have left well enough alone. I messed up the recipe by adding some jam, which made it too moist. Did I follow the strawberry cupcake recipe this year? Nope!

• I converted it to a mutigrain cupcake.
• I used olive oil as my vegetable oil.
• I used milk and balsamic vinegar instead of buttermilk.
• I used ginger extract from Supreme Spice instead of vanilla extract.

It's pretty much a completely different cupcake at this point.

How Were the New Multigrain Cupcakes with Strawberries?

People enjoyed the moistness and the fresh berries as well as the earthy flavor brought on by the multigrain flour. The ginger extract flavor was more noticeable in the aftertaste than the initial bite, so it was a fun surprise. I liked them, but definitely found them to be more of a breakfast cupcake than a dessert cupcake.

Groom 2.0 said he couldn't taste the difference between the multigrain flour and the regular flour. I promised him that I would no longer place value judgements on his tasting notes, so I have no further comment about his feedback. Bride 2.0 asked to be exempted from this tasting after she told me that she didn't like strawberries. Clearly, they won't be picking this one.

The Multigrain Cupcake with Strawberries Recipe

As noted above, the multigrain cupcake with strawberries recipe was created by majorly modifying the strawberry cupcake recipe that originally came from the Good Morning America Weekend Edition's Great American Cupcake Challenge.

Makes 24 cupcakes

• 2 1/2 C multigrain flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 C butter (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 t balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 C minus 1/2 t milk
• 1/2 C vegetable oil (I used olive oil. See my post on olive oil cupcakes for more on baking with olive oil.)
• 1/8 t ginger extract from Supreme Spice (You could use 1 t vanilla extract if you prefer)
• 1 C finely chopped fresh strawberries

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer.
3. Add eggs. Mix until smooth and creamy.
4. Add balsamic vinegar, milk, oil, and extract. Mix until combined.
5. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until just combined.
6. Stir in strawberries.
7. Fill cupcake liners halfway full. Do not fill more than halfway! These cupcakes do not dome. If you fill them too high, they will rise and then sink and look ugly!
8. Bake at 350 F for 18-20 minutes. Let cool.

The Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

I frosted the cupcakes with my strawberry cream cheese frosting recipe.

A Note on the Strawberries in the Photo

The strawberries in the photo above are growing in our lawn. We did not plant them, they just showed up. While you may question our lawn care practices or even if those are really strawberries (I think they are, but I haven't tried one yet), it was nice of them to show up for their photo op!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Strawberry cream cheese frosting is a perfect summer frosting. It's light and refreshing. I don't like my strawberries with too much added sugar so I use fresh strawberries rather than a strawberry syrup in the frosting. Groom 1.0 said that the strawberry cream cheese frosting tasted a bit like strawberry yogurt.

Why Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting?

The strawberry cream cheese frosting was planned because I knew I was going to have lots of strawberries. I was going strawberry picking. Not only was I going strawberry picking, but I was going at 8 AM on a Saturday! I was told that this year has been a bad year for the strawberries and we had to get up early or they would be all sold out.

My friend over at Life in Webster arrived to pick me up and greeted me with the bad news. She had called on the way over and found out that at 7:30 AM, the strawberry farm already had too many strawberry pickers and they would take no more. I had no idea strawberries were in such hot demand!

Luckily for us, there were fresh strawberries to be had at the farmer's market. I could still make my strawberry cream cheese frosting.

The Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Update 6/29/11: Be sure to read through the comments before making this recipe.  You'll see that some people LOVE it and others found it to be way too "soupy".  To help make the frosting less liquidy, drain off the excess liquid after mashing your strawberries and chill the frosting a bit before trying to pipe it.

• 1/4 C butter (room temperature)
• 1 8 oz package cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1/2 C strawberries, mashed up in a food processor
• 3 to 4 C powdered sugar

1. Cream butter and cream cheese.
2. Mix in the strawberries.
3. Add the powdered sugar to the taste and consistency you prefer.
4. Add to your favorite cupcakes! (I used it on my multigrain cupcakes with strawberries)

Food Photography Tips

I interrupt my regularly scheduled cupcake blogging to let you know that Jonathan has a post up on Digital Photography School about food photography. If you are interested in some tips for taking better pictures of your food, go check it out!

Jonathan is usually the one reading all of my blog posts. It is so exciting to get to read one of his!

Baking with Multigrain Flour

Baking with multigrain flour was not something I had considered until I received a package of multigrain flour through the combined community supported agriculture (CCSA) program I am a part of. When I joined the CCSA, I had no idea that I would also get locally milled flour! This flour was destined to go in a cupcake!

The multigrain flour (ten grain varieties, to be exact) was from Kimker Farms. They also sell at a local farmer's market and I was excited to see them there the day of my planned cupcake baking. I had been debating whether I should use half multigrain flour and half white flour in baking or whether I could use all multigrain flour instead of white. The helpful woman at Kimker said I could do direct substitution and use all multigrain instead of white, but did it work?

Can You Directly Substitute Multigrain Flour For White Flour?

I tried directly substituting multigrain flour for white flour, but it didn't work as I had hoped. My test cupcake was far too crumbly - it completely fell apart when I picked it up. It seemed the multigrain flour had absorbed more of the cake moisture than white flour would have.

To solve this problem, I added an extra egg and some extra oil to the recipe. My cupcakes stuck together perfectly.

Note: My friend Lori of Life in Webster Groves used the same 10 grain flour to make a strawberry bread. She also found that she needed to increase the liquid to make her recipe work.

How Does Multigrain Flour Affect the Taste of Your Baking?

Multigrain flour is going to taste different than white flour. The big difference is that it actually has a taste. White flour takes on other flavors of your baking, while multigrain brings its own flavor elements.

How Does Multigrain Flour Affect the Texture of Your Baking?

Not surprisingly, the multigrain flour caused my cupcakes to be more grainy. This isn't a bad thing, just something to be aware of. The change in texture led many to feel that they were more muffiny than cupcakey. However, as noted above, they were plenty moist after my modifications.

Multigrain Has Multi Meanings

Everything I wrote about multigrain flour above will vary depending on the exact mix of grains in your multigrain flour. I highly recommend experimenting with some different flours. Let me know how it goes.

Related Posts

• The multigrain cupcakes with strawberries uses this flour.
• Check out my post on semolina flour for another idea of a different flour to bake with.

Supreme Spice Questions Answered

I'm so glad to see that so many of you have enjoyed the Supreme Spice interview. I had hoped that you all would be as excited about it as I. Remember that you have until the end of the day on Wednesday to enter the giveaway on that post.

A couple of you had some questions that I wanted to post about in case others were wondering the same things. I checked with Anjali to make sure I had the answers straight.

1. Jere was curious about how much extract to use in recipes.

Instructions come with each extract. However, there is also a chart on the Supreme Spice website that details the conversion from traditional spices to extracts. I've reprinted that information:

Cumin: 1 drop = 1/4 tsp powder
Cardamom: 1 drop = 1 pod
Nutmeg: 12 drops = 1 whole nutmeg
Garlic: 1 drop = 1 clove of garlic
Ginger: 1 drop = 1/4 inch piece
Turmeric: 1-2 drops = 1-2 tsp of powder
Fennel: 2 drops = 1/2 tsp of powder
Clove: 1-2 drops = 1 clove bud
Tandoori Masala: 4-5 drops = 1/4 tsp of powder
Garam Masala: 3-4 drops = 1/2 tsp of powder

2. Deah asked if there are any issues shipping in the heat.

No, these extracts need no refrigeration and can be shipped in the summer weather. They just need to be stored in a cool spot, away from direct sunlight.

Supreme Spice Interview and Giveaway

I've been fascinated with Supreme Spice extracts ever since I used the tea masala extract in my bhapa sandesh Indian cupcakes.

Anjali Damerla, the owner of Supreme Spice, agreed to an interview. In this post, I share that interview with you! Anjali also went one step further and offered to give some free spice extracts to one of my readers!

If you comment on this post by the end of the day on Wednesday, you are eligible to win this prize package:



Your prize includes ginger extract, cinnamon extract, and kesar milk extract (a blend of nutmeg, cardamom, saffron and curcumin - a spice found in turmeric). One winner will be selected at random from everyone that comments by the deadline.

What Happens if You Don't Give Me a Photo

The one thing that Anjali wouldn't provide was a photo. I'm forced to assume that she would fit in nicely with the other Spice Girls.

Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh and Sporty - welcome Supreme Spice!

(Note: The *vere* surprising person I am interviewing next is now vere glad that she decided to give me a picture.)

Photo credit: Thespicegirls.com.

The interview begins after the break. Enjoy, and good luck to everyone.

When did you first become interested in extracts?

When my daughter was around 3 years old, she used to catch a cold very frequently and I knew that getting some garlic or ginger in her system would help boost her immunity and reduce her frequent colds. But how does one make a child understand this? Garlic supplements are not for kids and I wanted the ability to control the amount I gave her. I used to think it would be amazing if I could just add garlic liquid to her meals.

That’s when I found something called Spice Oleoresins (extracts) that are in liquid form and have all medicinal properties of the parent spice. I did more research and found that the food industry already was using these extracts in making sauces, salsas, etc. But these were not available in retail stores. And that’s when I thought of starting my own business in Spice extracts, found a manufacturer in India who was already making extracts (also called Oleoresins) for bigger food companies and was able to get these extracts in smaller bottles for retail.

How long has Supreme Spice been around?

I started Supreme Spice around two and half years back.

What has been the most exciting thing for you about owning the company?

Starting and maintaining your own company is not easy. It comes with its own challenges but has far more advantages. But the most exciting thing about owning my own company is the feeling of achievement that I get without sacrificing any family time. I am still able to volunteer at my kids' schools, join a book club and pursue my other hobbies. I can be with kids if they fall sick and do not have to worry about getting leave from office, etc.

What is the advantage of using extracts vs. ground spices? For example, why would someone use cinnamon extract instead of ground cinnamon?

The main advantage of using extracts is that they never lose flavor or fragrance. Ground spices become stale and flavorless within 6 months. Extracts have longer shelf life and contain all the medicinal properties of the parent spice. They blend very well without leaving any spice pockets and let you customize the amount of spice according to individual taste. For example, say, you like ginger tea but your spouse prefers cardamom tea and your friend would like to have masala tea. What you do is make just 1 pot of tea. Add ginger extract to your cup, cardamom extract to your spouse’s and tea masala extract to your friend’s cup. Customize.

Are you working on any new spice extracts?

I am in the process of adding Lemon Grass extract to my product line.

How are extracts made?

The volatile oil of the spice is extracted using solvents. The solvent is then separated from the extract and a emulsifier is added to keep the extract free flowing. Ingredients that are in the spice extracts are only the volatile oil of the parent spice and the emulsifier (to keep the extract free flowing). It contains no preservatives or alcohol. The quality of spices that are used to make the extracts is very important and the spices come mainly from the local farmers and with whom my manufacturer has been dealing for years.

What is your favorite extract?

I will have to say that Tea Masala extract is my most favorite. I am a big fan of Masala Chai and have it everyday.

What do you do when you are not selling extracts?

I am a mother of 2 wonderful kids and I volunteer at their schools a lot. I also love to read (recently joined a book club) and paint (take a look at some of my paintings here).

If you were Bride 2.0, what cupcakes would you want at your wedding?

Hmm.. As a Bride 2.0, I would love to have a cupcake which had some spices in it and since this cupcake is going to be for a wedding, I would choose the most Royal and Aromatic spice of all – Saffron. So, there you have it, as a Bride 2.0, I would choose a Saffron cupcake.

Sneak Preview: Interviews and Product Giveaways

I used tea masala extract in my bhapa sandesh Indian cupcakes. I had never before heard of tea masala extract or many of the other extract flavors offered by Supreme Spice. I wanted to find out more! Anjali Damerla, owner of Supreme Spice, was happy to answer my questions.

On Monday, I am going to post my interview with Anjali about her company, their products, and her background. Be sure to comment on Monday's post because Anjali is going to send one lucky commenter the three extracts featured above: ginger extract, cinnamon extract, and kesar milk extract (a blend of nutmeg, cardamom, saffron and curcumin - a spice found in turmeric).

There will be another interview and giveaway coming soon after this one. I won't tell what it is, but I will say that it will be *vere* exciting.

Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup Results

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the ice cream cupcake roundup. For anyone considering making an ice cream cupcake, here are 17 unique ice cream cupcake ideas. Go visit all of these great blogs to read more about their ice cream cupcake creations! Also, be sure to visit my fabulous ice cream loving co-hosts Bethany and Tina over at Scoopalicious!

Click through to see all the ice cream cupcake roundup entries.

Note: Jonathan (who is not only this blog's photographer, but also its artistic director) was not around when I captioned the photos. You'll notice the ice cream cupcake captions are all different sizes and are highlighted in blue which does not match the colors of my logo. For shame. He is not pleased with this, but I'm guessing you guys just want to see the cupcakes and don't care all that much about my design imperfections. You've seen my non-perfect cupcakes and have been OK with it. I hope I'm right.

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1. Of Monkeys and Cupcakes: Caramel Apple Pie a La Mode


These ice cream cupcakes were Kate's (Of Monkeys and Cupcakes) first entry into a blog event. Go stop by her blog and show her some love. You'd never know she was an event virgin. I love how she turned a favorite pie into a drool-worthy ice cream cupcake.

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2. Confessions of a City Eater: Chocolate Strawberry Bliss Cupcakes

This is a perfect summer cupcake. Fresh strawberries, ice cream, and cupcake - what more could you want? I love how it's overlooking the city. It's thinking, "Aww yeah, you all want me!"

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3. Flour Arrangements: Dairy Free Sticky Toffee Pudding Cupcakes

Sophie (Flour Arangements) made this entirely dairy-free ice cream cupcake! I'm so impressed! I'm sure all the dairy-free folks out there will be very thankful for this entry. There is no reason they should be left out of the ice cream cupcake fun.

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4. Couture Cupcakes: Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes


The last cupcake was dairy-free and this one is gluten-free. Yes, we've got all of our bases covered in this roundup! Let's also notice that Minko (Couture Cupcakes) used two different ice creams, both of which she made from scratch!! The other neat thing is that she served her ice cream cupcakes in a cup. If you read her blog entry, you'll see that she packaged each cup up with a little plastic spoon for easy eating. Very creative!

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5. Little Ivy Cakes: Miss Scarlett

Ivy made her ice cream cupcakes sandwich style. This has to be one of the best looking ice cream sandwiches I've ever seen. She even made her own crème brûlée to make into crème brûlée ice cream. Wow! She also mastered the meringue frosting during this whole process. She's my new go-to meringue expert!

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6. Coconut and Lime: Root Beer Float Cupcakes

So many of the roundup entries were extremely complex. Rachel's (Coconut and Lime) root beer float cupcakes look like something you could quickly whip up to become an instant household hero.

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7. Jesse Morris: S'mores Ice Cream Cupcakes

You'll notice a distinct lack of my caption bubbles on Jesse's photo. It turns out that one of Jesse's readers, Masui, already captioned his photo for him and it was too good not to share. His cupcakes are Christopher Kimball's almost fallen chocolate cake with cinnamon graham cracker crunch ice cream, and marshmallow meringue frosting. In the post, he talks about how he bought his ice cream maker partially because he loved that flavor and it's hard to find. Sounds unbelievable to me!

Update: This cupcake won a prize for best frosting at Cupcake Camp! Jesse suspects that they counted the ice cream as the frosting!

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8. Cooking in Cleveland: Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream Cupcakes

Ohio Mom (Cooking in Cleveland) made her ice cream without an ice cream maker! Don't let not having an ice cream maker stop you from trying your hand at making your own ice cream for ice cream cupcakes! I love the chocolate shavings and the coordinated red wrappers and red strawberries!

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9. Simple Food: Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Cupcakes


I love the title of Kamaile's (Simple Food) post: "Ice Cream + Cupcakes = Yum-O!" I have to agree! This cupcake looks like cherry vanilla nirvana.

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10. Red Kitchenaid : Strawberries and Chocolate

Elizabeth (Red Kitchenaid) made her cupcakes in a star shaped pan. She clearly realized that they would be the star of whatever party she brought them to! Don't you just want to lick the dripping hot fudge?

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11. My Own Sweet Thyme: Chocolate Fire Ice Cream Cupcakes

Lisa (My Own Sweet Thyme) got inspiration for this cupcake from her childhood. "For my cupcake recipe I turned to my vintage 'Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls.' It no longer has a cover or pages 1 through 8 but the rest is still spiral bound and sitting on my cookbook shelf. I remember its recipes so fondly from my childhood that I can still see its illustrations in my mind when I think of easy and fun recipes." I love that she was able to take something she loved as a kid and spice it up to make this amazing treat for all ages.

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12. Küchenatein: Oreo Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Ice cream cupcakes in an ice cream cone - how perfect is that? I love edible wrappers. What a great idea! If you check out Küchenatein, there is a picture of the cupcakes minus the cone that is also worth seeing.

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13. Tempered Woman: Chocolate Cherry Amaretto Ice Cream Cupcakes

Tempered Woman did a series of ice cream posts leading up to this unbelievable ice cream creation. With each one, I questioned whether she was going to use any of that homemade ice cream in an ice cream cupcake. At the last minute, she did. It was worth the wait!

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14. Big Black Dogs: Burnt Sugar Lilac Cupcakes


I have never eaten anything with lilac. The concept of a lilac ice cream sounds so luxurious and the blossoms on top make for a great presentation.

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15. Lick the Spatula: Kahlua Chocolate Crunch Ice Cream Cupcakes

Mara (Lick the Spatula) baked these cupcakes in an oven-safe espresso cup from Crate and Barrel. I've never even heard of an oven-safe espresso cup. She said that they tasted like an ice cream sundae. Mmmmm.

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16. Beantown Baker: Cookie Dough Chocolate Ice Cream Cupcakes


Jen (Beantown Baker) admits on her blog that she suffered through lactose intolerance just to be able to eat these cupcakes. She combined her love of chocolate cupcakes with her husband's love of cookie dough ice cream and came up with the perfect dessert for them both. Also of note is that she was the only one to create a mush layer - a layer of mixed ice cream and cupcake.

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17. I Heart Cuppycakes: Choco-Caramel Fudge Ice Cream Cupcakes

It's fun how Clara's (I Heart Cuppycakes) cupcakes spread out to fill the whole waffle bowl. It looks like you could make each bite contain the cake and bowl and all of the fixins. Like Jen, she hearts cupcakes and her husband hearts ice cream so this was an ideal treat for them both!

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The End for now!

I'm sure all of these cupcakes will inspire even more creations. If you make some more, leave a link to your ice cream cupcakes in the comments so we can all see them!

Update:

Late But With a Good Excuse: I got the following email from Just Jenn after this post was written:

Hi,I know I TOTALLY missed your deadline, but I was having major computer issues (where I couldn't even run my business!) so I...missed it. Phooey. But I still
wanted to send you the link to show you that I did in fact, make ice cream
cupcakes for your challenge.

I totally hate computer problems. I felt her pain. Jenn made Chocolate & Green Tea ice cream cupcakes which are definitely worth checking out, late or not. While you're at it, check out her cute stationary (lots of it is cupcake themed).

Mango Lemonade: A Toast to Coconut & Lime

Rachel of Coconut & Lime is celebrating her four year blogoversary! I not only love her blog, but I've gotten to know her a little bit through email, twitter, and the co-baking project we did together. She seems like a super nice person who I'll hopefully get to meet one day.

To celebrate her blogoversy, she requested that people make either a recipe from her blog or a recipe with her signature ingredients (coconut and lime). I knew I wanted to participate, but I've been swamped so I didn't think I would have time to make anything elaborate. I thought I was in luck when I saw that she had a recipe for mango lemonade - easy! Also, I just happened to have a bunch of leftover mangoes from the mango cupcakes that I coincidentally made for my own blogoversary.

As it turns out, it wasn't as easy as I thought. I misread her recipe. It called for a ginger simple syrup and I just added some ginger. OOPS! The lemonade was insanely sour! Jonathan and I added a ton of sugar to it to try to make it better, but still the sourness was overpowering!

The recipe still sounds great if followed correctly, and I suggest you check it out over at Coconut & Lime - but be sure to read carefully!

I raise my sour glass to give an un-sour toast to Rachel for a blog well done!

Note: Scoopalicious and I will be posting the entries in the Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup soon. We're almost done with it!