Peaches and Cream Cupcakes

My Dad tells me that when I was a baby, my parents called me "Peaches and Cream." I was born with peach fuzz on my head and my skin was creamy white. I often call my son "Sweet Pea." Thank goodness it has nothing to do with his skin or hair being a pale green - scary!

Groom 3.0 requested more cupcakes with fruit. Dutifully listening to his request, I decided to give these seasonally-inappropriate peaches and cream cupcakes a go (with canned peaches) so that they could be in the running for Bride and Groom 3.0's May wedding.

The petite slice of peach perched on the rim of these cupcakes makes me happy. It's so bright and cheery! Truly, I could skip the cupcake entirely and just eat a bowl of peaches -perhaps with some cottage cheese. But, this is a cupcake blog, so cupcakes it is - airy vanilla cupcakes with hints of peach, topped with a vanilla buttercream frosting accented with peach jam.

Peaches and Cream Cupcake Recipe

To make these peaches and cream cupcakes, I used the vanilla sour cream cupcake recipe from Seriously Simple Holidays by Diane Rossen Worthington with peaches and cream blended in. If you don't want to make a peaches and cream recipe to blend into the cupcake, you could mix in peach jam instead. While I have not tried it, I think that the peach jam would give the recipe a stronger peach flavor.

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 C flour
  
• 1/2 t baking powder
  
• 1/4 t baking soda
  
• 1/4 t salt
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 1 C sugar
  
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
  
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
  
• 1/2 C sour cream
  
• 2 C peaches and cream blended into a mush (see this peaches and cream recipe) or 1 C peach jam (try to find high quality jam with lots of real peach pieces or, if the season is right, make your own peach jam)

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar for about 2 minutes, or until light and creamy.
   
3. Add the butter and vanilla and beat on low speed for about 1 minute, or until well blended.
4. Beat in the dry ingredients on low speed until blended.
   
5. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth and well blended.
6. Mix in peaches and cream or peach jam.
7. Divide batter evenly among 12 cupcake liners.
   
8. Bake at 350 F for about 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean and the tops are firm.

Vanilla Peach Buttercream Frosting

• 3 C confectioners' sugar (add more until it reaches your preferred consistency)
• 1 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 t vanilla bean paste
• 4 T peach jam (try to find high quality jam with lots of real peach pieces or, if the season is right, make your own peach jam)
  

1. Mix together sugar and butter until they are blended and creamy.
2. Add vanilla bean paste and continue to beat for another minute.
   
3. Mix in peach jam until just combined.

Peaches and Cream Recipe You Can Make In the Microwave

Until now, I'd never made a peaches and cream recipe. In fact, prior to my making it, neither Jonathan nor I had ever had peaches and cream. We both weren't even sure what peaches and cream was supposed to taste like. I have to wonder if we are freaks or if the the romantic notion of peaches and cream pervades our culture more than the actual dish.

Peaches n' cream (pronounced like one long word - peachesncream) can be found everywhere except as a simple dish of peaches with cream; witness Peaches & Cream oatmeal, Peaches n' Cream lip balm, and even Peaches N' Cream Barbie.

The product description for the Peaches N' Cream Barbie says that it "Makes you feel all warm on the inside and fuzzy on the outside!" I'm not sure how a product can make you feel fuzzy on the outside unless it's a fur coat or Rogaine.

Unlike Peaches N' Cream Barbie, the dessert form of peaches and cream is not a thing of beauty. When Jonathan first saw it, he questioned how anyone could, with good conscience, plate and serve it to company. But then, we took bites and we saw what all the reverence was about. At the bottom rests a layer of thick sweet crust, then comes a layer of sweet, juicy peaches (I used canned, but it would be even better with seasonal, fresh peaches), and a layer of thick cream with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar tops it off. It's hard to resist plopping gobs of the stuff into your bowl and then going back for seconds. If the Barbie shown above were a true Peaches N' Cream Barbie, she would be far more rotund.

Peaches and Cream Recipe

I got the peaches and cream recipe from Dragon Musings, this month's Taste & Create partner (the monthly event where bloggers get paired up to make recipes from each other's blogs). I love Dragon Musing's blog header. You should go check it out! It's funny that the item she made from my blog was also peach-related. She made my peach cup-pies (here's her version).

Dragon Musings found the peaches and cream recipe in an Australian Women's Weekly Menu Planner from 1987. I am reprinting the recipe below. Other than Americanizing it a bit, the only change I made was to add much more cinnamon than the original recipe called for - I don't think you can have too much cinnamon.

Yield: An 8 x 8 baking dish full of peaches and cream.

• 1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 C + 2 t sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
  
• 1/2 cup milk (I used 2 percent)
• 15 oz can of peaches, drained
• 1 1/4 C heavy whipping cream
• 1 t cinnamon
  

1. Beat butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg, flour, baking powder, and milk in small bowl using an electric mixer for a few minutes or until smooth and changed in color.
2. Pour into greased 8 x 8 microwave-safe baking dish.
3. Top with peaches.
4. Microwave on high for 8 minutes.
   
5. Mix heavy whipping cream and two eggs until combined.
   
6. Pour over the peaches.
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon and two teaspoons of sugar.
8. Microwave on medium high for 5 minutes.
9. Serve warm.
   

Next Up

Next, I'll be making peaches and cream cupcakes (as if you couldn't have guessed).

Mango Rum Cupcakes - Four Baking Lessons and One Life Lesson

I didn't like these mango rum cupcakes. But, don't stop reading here. This is a post of many lessons.

Baking Lesson 1: Even if you don't love a cupcake, others may love it!

Like I said, I didn't like these mango rum cupcakes at all - even the look of them bothered me (they look a bit like pee in the snow, don't they?). But, when I gave them to a visiting taster, I was told that they were fantastic! "They get better with every bite. Love the chunks of mango! Wow!"

One thing that bothered me about the cupcakes was that even with mango in the frosting and chunks of mango in the cake batter, the cupcakes did not taste mango-y. Which brings me to lesson two...

Baking Lesson 2: Mango flavor disappears when you bake with it.

I should have learned this lesson the last time I made mango cupcakes and they ended up tasting like corn muffins. But, I thought I would try again. The chunks of mango in the batter definitely helped, but I still was not satisfied. If anyone has a really mango-y cake recipe, please share. Groom 3.0 would love a mango cupcake for the wedding.

Baking Lesson 3: Pieces of wet fruit cause the wrapper to separate from the cake.

While the chunks of fruit helped with the mango flavor, the wet fruit caused the wrapper to separate from the cake - not attractive.

Baking Lesson 4: Things may appear different in the morning. (This could also be a life lesson.)

I don't have a before picture, so you are going to have to imagine a thick white meringue frosting on top of these cupcakes. When I returned to my cupcakes the next morning, all but a tiny layer of meringue had been absorbed into the cake. I think the culprit was the wet mangoes that I mixed into the meringue; they caused the meringue to deflate and dissolve.

Cupcakes changing overnight is nothing new in my house - see my Christmas cupcakes where my candy canes melted.

Life Lesson 1

Again and again, baking teaches me to roll with the punches (or the dough). Things don't always work as planned; but I will experiment, experiment, experiment because when we stop trying new things, we stop really living.

Think you'd like these cupcakes? Here's the recipe:

Yield: 24 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 1/4 C dark rum
• 1/2 C pureed mango
  
• 3 C all-purpose flour
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/8 t salt
• 1 C sour cream
• 2 mangoes, chopped into chunks
  

1. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy.
   
2. Add eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat until well-blended.
   
3. Gradually add rum and mango puree. Beat well.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Add to batter alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition.
6. Mix in mango chunks.
7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
8. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes.

Mango Meringue Frosting

• 2 egg whites
• ½ C sugar
• 2 T pureed mango + extra mango as desired
  

1. Combine the egg whites and sugar in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Set mixing bowl on top of a pot of boiling water.
3. Whisk until sugar has reached 110 F on a candy thermometer.
4. Remove mixing bowl from the pot and place on mixer.
5. Whisk for 10 minutes on medium speed using the whisk attachment.
6. Whisk on high speed for another five minutes (you should see stiff glossy peaks).
7. Whisk in mango until just integrated.
8. Spoon onto cupcakes.
   
9. If desired, add more mango on top of the meringue. (As noted above, all of this wet mango will make the meringue deflate and get absorbed into the cupcake.)
   

Chat With Me, Chocolate, and Your Chance to Be on the Food Network

Sometimes you have to break the rules. I know that a long blog post is not a good idea. "No one will read it," they say. Well, poo, I'm doing it anyway. This post has three sections: one about an upcoming opportunity to chat with me live about baking with chocolate, another about some recent chocolate bars that I've tried, and a third about a chance to get on the Food Network. Read all or none, as you see fit.

Section 1: Chat With Me

I was invited by Scharffen Berger to be a panelist on Tuesday night's Girls' Night Out (GNO) Twitter Party about baking with chocolate. If you've never attended a GNO before, no worries, neither have I. Together, we'll learn how it all works (here's a tutorial that hopefully will help). It should be fun to get a chance to talk to all of you and meet a bunch of new people. The chat starts at 8 PM CST.

Here is the official invite:

Join the #gno gang and Scharffen Berger, maker of America's finest dark chocolate, this Tuesday, February 16 from 9-11 ET (8 CT, 7 MT, and 6 PT) as we share our passion and tips for cooking with chocolate!

• What: Girls’ Night Out (#gno) Twitter party (Click here to learn about #gno!)
• When: Tuesday, February 16, 9-11 p.m. EST (8CT, 7 MT, & 6 PT)
• Where: Party with us on our very own Custom Tweetgrid! Check back on Monday for the link. (Use hashtags #gno and #sbchocolate.)
• Topic: Cooking with chocolate with Scharffen Berger
  
• Who: @ahhnalin @carrotsncake @cupcakeproject @janemaynard @katefarber
  
• Party Favors: Click here to enter for a chance to win this week’s giveaway. Deadline: 2/17
• RSVP: Use Mr. Linky on the Mom It Forward Site (enter the twitter URL and your twitter ID (e.g., http://twitter.com/jyl_momIF). If you would like to include your blog, please enter it next to your name. Make sure to include your twitter URL in the URL line. Please do not enter your blog URL there.

Note: I will be a half hour late. As much as I love chocolate and Twitter, I don't want to miss my hoop class. I've gotten pretty hooked on hooping recently. I've got to exercise if I'm going to bake with chocolate!

Me hooping in the garage.
It's funny that I don't hoop outside because I don't want my neighbors to watch me
and yet I will post a picture on the blog for thousands of readers to see.

Section 2: Chocolate

While I love baking with chocolate, I also enjoy the fine art of eating chocolate bars. Periodically on this site, I fill you in on some new bars that I've tried from some of my favorite companies.

Section 2A: Patric Chocolate (If you haven't heard of Patric Chocolate, I highly recommend that you read the interview that I did with the owner, Alan McClure, on my now defunct blog, Food Interviews)

Patric Chocolate has two news bars that I've been meaning to write about for quite some time: a 70% Madagascar Bar with Nibs (shown above - isn't it gorgeous?) and a 70% Rio Caribe Superior. If you are someone that likes mix-ins in your ice cream shakes, I bet you'll love the addition of nibs to Alan's perfect-on-its-own Madagascar bar. I'm an anti mix-in person, so I found the nibs distracting, but I could see how texture fans would embrace the nut-like nibs.

The Rio Caribe bar has a completely different flavor than the Madagascar bar. It reminded me of men’s cologne – floral, but in a masculine way. If you can't picture that description tasting good in chocolate - just try it!

Full disclosure: Patric Chocolate is made here in Missouri and Alan has become a personal friend of my husband and me. But, I tell it like it is. If I didn't find his chocolate to be some of the best on the market, I wouldn't recommend it to you.

Section 2B: Amano Chocolate (If you haven't heard of Amano Chocolate, I highly recommend that you read the interview that I did with the owner, Art Pollard, on my now defunct blog, Food Interviews)

The other day, I received a surprise package in the mail from Amano Chocolate with two new bars, Guyas and Dos Rios. I hadn't even heard that Amano had new bars! I tasted the Guyas first and quickly began to plot out how many days I could make that one bar last and who, if anyone, I would be willing to share it with. Like all of the bars that I am writing about here, this bar has no added flavors. However, like the Patric Madagascar and the TCHO Fruity, it tastes like citrus and berries.

The Dos Rios is different than any chocolate bar that I have ever tasted. The smell of the bar alone is so intense and so complex that I'm not sure you would guess you were smelling chocolate if you didn't know what it was. You might think that it was a pineapple or maybe a bunch of cloves or a sachet of herbs that Grandma kept in a underwear drawer. I wouldn't pick it as the first single origin bar to try, but if you've tried a bunch and are looking for something completely new, this is it.

I admit that half of the time I don't even read the press releases that come with the free stuff I receive. Shame, shame! But, a story in the Amano press release really touched me. "Before Guayas was released to the public, I traveled to Guayaquil, Ecuador, and threw a party for the farmers who grew the beans. This may have been the first time a chocolate company had a 'launch party' with the farmers." Fantastic idea!

From now until the end of March, Cupcake Project readers will receive 10% off any Amano chocolate purchased through their site. Use the coupon code 17V01130R74.

Section 2C: TCHO Beta

I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of the TCHO Chocolate beta program. I've been getting to try and provide feedback on TCHO chocolate before it hits the market. But, since you can't try it yet (sorry to taunt you), I recommend that you check out the TCHO-A-Day. You can get a 30 day supply of quality chocolate for $20. It's hard to beat that price. It's one of my new favorite gift ideas!

Section 3: Your Chance to be on the Food Network

Last week, I received a Facebook message from someone at the Food Network saying that they wanted to talk to me about the show Cupcake Wars. I tried not to get too excited, but I couldn't help but think that maybe they wanted to cast me on the show. After all, fellow cupcake blogger Natalie of Bake and Destroy got to be a judge. I responded to the message and waited on pins and needles to hear back.

It turns out that while the response wasn't great news for me, it IS great news for you! The Food Network simply wanted me to help spread the word that they are looking for amazing bakers to compete on Cupcake Wars.

If I can't be on the show, I'd love it if one of my readers could! To apply,
email your name, phone number (photos and website if available) and what makes you the perfect candidate for “Cupcake Wars” to supercupcakecasting@gmail.com.

All Done

Kitchen Scale Winner

It was harder than I expected for everyone to guess the weight of the chocolate on the digital scale. Most of you thought it was much heavier than it actually was. I assume this was because you either thought the scale was really large or you were just hoping for lots and lots of chocolate.

In ounces, the chocolate weighed:

So, the winner was:

As you can see, however, Meryl did not leave an email address. Call me a pushover, but I know we all forget things, so I am going to give her 24 hours to contact me with an email address. If I don't hear from Meryl, I'll award the prize to the second place winner:

Notice anything missing here? The 2nd place winner also forgot to leave an email address. I am also giving Anglerfish 24 hours to contact me with an email address in order to potentially win a prize.

And if I don't hear from either of them?

If I don't hear from either of them, the prize will go to:


Sweet_tooth left an email address!! (One other person guessed 350g, but they had no email.)

In grams, the chocolate weighed:


Thanks for playing!!

Basil Infused Olive Oil Cupcakes with White Wine

Sometimes I get tired of my star tip (the one I use to pipe big cupcake swirls). So, I pick a random tip from my set and see what I can come up with. For these cupcakes, I used Wilton tip 352 and piped a loose spiral with lots of lines criss-crossing over it. I think it's a keeper!

Note: If you click the link to my tip set above, you'll see that it doesn't have 352 in it. I have no idea how I got 352, but it must have gotten mixed in with the others.

Let's Talk About the Cupcake

These cupcakes are not my first ones made using olive oil and I wouldn't even say that they are the best (my olive oil cupcakes with lemon, thyme, and balsamic whipped cream are some of my favorite cupcakes ever). However, this is the first time that I used olive oil in the frosting. I made a basic buttercream frosting and used olive oil instead of milk. The olive oil makes you pucker just a little bit (especially if you use a bold, fruity olive oil). If you like the taste of olive oil, you'll enjoy the effect, although you may wish that it were even stronger (remedy this by drizzling some olive oil over the frosted cupcakes).

I Thought You Said We Were Going to Talk About the Cupcake, Not the Frosting

Ah, yes. The cupcakes. These cupcakes are also not my first cupcakes made with basil (I made vegan chocolate basil cupcakes). However, without the chocolate flavor to serve as a distraction, the basil flavor truly shines here. The basil makes the cupcakes feel light and Springy (as opposed to all the snow we've been getting here in St. Louis), but I will warn you that the cake is quite dense.

My neighbor tasted tasted these for me. She said that she didn't like the first bite because it was too unexpected, but that she enjoyed each subsequent bite more and more and was in love with the cupcake by the last bite.

Olive Oil Cupcake Recipe

Yield: 10 cupcakes

• 1 C extra virgin olive oil
  
• 2 oz fresh sweet basil leaves
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 C sweet white wine
  

1. Soak basil leaves in the olive oil for at least an hour. You can also muddle them to help release the basil's natural oils.
   
2. Pour oil through a sieve to remove the basil. Squeeze out as much oil as you can. No matter how hard you try, some will remain on the leaves. It's OK. You only need to end up with 2/3 cup of oil.
   
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and olive oil and mix on high speed until completely combined.
5. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
   
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on slow speed.
7. Add half of the wine and continue mixing.
8. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the rest of the wine and the remaining flour mixture and beat until combined between each addition.
9. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
10. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until they bounce back when touched.

Olive Oil Buttercream Recipe

• 1 1/2 C confectioners' sugar (add more until it reaches your preferred consistency)
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 T olive oil

1. Mix together sugar and butter until they are blended and creamy.
2. Add olive oil and continue to beat for another minute.
   
3. Add more confectioners' sugar to make the frosting stiffer, if desired.

Cupcake Hero

I made these cupcakes for February's Cupcake Hero! I'm looking forward to seeing all of the other olive oil entries!

Digital Kitchen Scale Giveaway - Guess the Weight

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages*, step right up and guess the weight of this piece of chocolate for a chance to win an EatSmart Precision Pro - Multifunction Digital Kitchen Scale.

Leave a comment by 11:59 PM CST on Tuesday, February 9 with your email address and a guess (you can guess in grams, ounces, pounds, or kilograms). The closest guess wins! If more than one person guesses correctly, I will randomly select the winner from everyone who guessed correctly.

More About The EatSmart Precision Pro - Multifunction Digital Kitchen

Judging by the Guidebook to Calorie Counting that came with the EatSmart Precision Pro - Multifunction Digital Kitchen Scale that I was sent for review, most people use their digital scales for counting calories. Not me! A cupcake blogger counting calories would be like a marathon runner counting each step - it's best not to think about it.

I most often use my kitchen scale for CHOCOLATE! I buy baking chocolate in large blocks, chop off the amount I need with my chocolate chipper (one of my favorite kitchen tools) and use my scale to weigh out the quantity that I need.

My second favorite use of my kitchen scale has nothing to do with the kitchen. I use it to weigh letters so that I know how much postage to use - it's really handy.

Like your bathroom scale, the main point of your kitchen scale is to weigh something accurately; everything else is just bells and whistles. Here are the bells and whistles that make the Precision Pro a nice choice:

1. It can weigh up to 11 pounds.
   
2. It's precise to .05 ounce / 1 gram increments.
3. It measures in four different units: grams / ounces / pounds / kilograms.
4. It has a tare (most digital scales do - don't get one without it). This lets you set the weight of a container to zero so that you can measure only the weight of its contents.

*One guess per person + sorry, but EatSmart is only able to ship to a US winner.

The Ultimate Truffle Cupcake

The Ultimate Truffle Cupcake experience begins with the smell - as the cupcake comes close to your sniffer, a waft of truffle - the fungi kind - hits you hard (Yes, I called it a sniffer; I have a five month old.). You begin to wonder, "Is this a dessert or an Italian entree?" As you take a bite, you reach the rich dark chocolate first. The truffle flavor isn't quite as strong as you would have guessed. Then, the cake itself makes you pause. You realize that while it's a chocolate cake, it's clearly sweetened with honey. It starts to feel like comfort food. But, wait... there is that truffle flavor making it different than anything you've ever tasted before. Did you save the chocolate truffle on top as a chaser? It's not in a box, so you don't know what the flavor is. Here goes nothing... oh yeah!!