Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup Voting Update

I'm not going to tell you who is in the lead, but I will tell you that we've already had over 600 people vote in the 2010 Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup and the top two cupcakes are only 12 votes apart!  Voting ends June 30 at 11:59 PM CDT, so if you haven't voted yet, do it now.  Don't forget that your vote enters you for a chance to win an OXO prize pack!

Cupcake Poop

Occasionally (or all of the time for we messy bakers) there's that little bit of cupcake batter that drips or overflows and sticks to the cupcake tin.  After baking, those little bits (cupcake poop) become secret special treats that only the baker gets to enjoy. Burnt cookie fans may even find that the poop is better than the cupcakes themselves.

Calzone Cupcakes

Take pizza dough, fill it with your favorite pizza toppings, bake it a cupcake tin, and "frost" it with tomato sauce, melted cheese, and a cherry (tomato) and you've got a calzone cupcake! 

Have a peek inside:

And now, the details.

Blueberry Granola Chocolate Chunk Cupcakes on Paula Deen

This month, the folks over at Paula Deen asked me to come up with a blueberry cupcake recipe.  Blueberry has never been one of my favorite flavors.  I didn't like blueberries at all until I discovered that not all blueberries are huge and flavorless - like most of the ones you can find at the supermarket.  Last summer, I bought a bag of fresh, tiny blueberries at our local farmers' market and ate almost the whole bag in one sitting. I'm now a blueberry believer!

I wanted to give Paula Deen's readers a blueberry cupcake that would be special (not interchangeable with all the mediocre blueberry muffins out there) and, as is always my rule, it had to be something that I would like.  I ended up with these:

These blueberry cupcakes have fresh blueberries, granola (I used my homemade blueberry granola), chocolate chunks, maple syrup, and apple butter, and they're topped with homemade whipped cream.

Head on over to Paula Deen's site to get the recipe!

Granola Upside Down Cupcakes

"Splish splash, I was taking a bath," sang granola as it flopped around in some milk - content with his lot only until he saw something else going on in the kitchen. 

"Wheeeeee!" screamed the pineapple while it hung in midair during an upside down flip.


"Yaahoooo!" cried the inverted plum, holding on tightly to a cinnamon cake as it swung around.

Granola looked up at me, pleading, "Can I go upside down, too?"  "Of course, my friend!" 

Vote For This Year's Best Ice Cream Cupcake - Voters Can Win an OXO Prize Pack

Update: Voting is now over and the winners have been posted.

The first round of voting in the 2010 Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup is complete and we are now down to three ice cream cupcake finalists.  Your vote (in the form at the bottom of this post) will determine the grand prize winner who will receive a Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker!

Each of the finalists have won an OXO Prize pack containing an OXO Good Grips Solid Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop, Oxo Good Grips 2-Cup Angled Measuring Cup, OXO Good Grips 1169600 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set, Blue/Green/Yellow, Oxo Good Grips Bent Icing Knife, and an Oxo Good Grips PRO Grater!  And if you vote, you can, too!! Two randomly chosen voters will receive the same OXO pack that our finalists have won! (Sorry, prizes can only be shipped to U.S. mailing addresses.)

And, the finalists are (in no particular order)...

Blueberry Granola Recipe

How do you eat your granola?  I typically use mine as a mix-in for ice cream or yogurt.  I've also mixed granola into vanilla frosting with delicious results! This blueberry granola, however, was reserved for granola upside-down cakes and blueberry chocolate granola cupcakes.  Despite the granola being earmarked, I managed to shovel handfuls of granola into my mouth using long-forgotten skills that I have relearned thanks to Myles.

 Myles after eating beets (We can't give him granola yet or I'd show you that.)

Pistachio Cake Cupcakes with Rosemary and a Cherry Glaze

Seeing some leftover crumbs of this pistachio cake cupcake on a party napkin, one would think that it was a simple yellow cake.  Unlike most of the pistachio cake recipes that you will find with a quick Google search for "pistachio cake recipes", this cake isn't green - there is no green food coloring and no instant pudding.  Interestingly, this pistachio cake recipe doesn't use any pistachios (except on top for decoration).   All of the pistachio flavor in the cake comes from pistachio oil. 

Using pistachio oil gives these pistachio cake cupcakes an intense pistachio flavor (think pistachio ice cream) without adding crunch.  If you like crunch, you could always throw some nuts into the batter.

Rosemary, You Say?

Rosemary is typically found in more savory baked goods, such as focaccia bread.  But, it worked like a cupcake charm with the pistachio cake.  It made the cake taste woodsy like something Hansel and Gretel would have enjoyed in the forest after they grew up and developed more refined palates.  I wish I could take credit for the flavor combination idea, but full accolades go out to The Flavor Bible (more on that book in an upcoming post).

And The Cherry Glaze?

The cherry glaze mostly serves to add a pretty pink top to the cupcake.  The cherry flavor is not particularly detectable, but if you love sugar glazes like I do, this is a nice one to add to your arsenal.

Pistachio Oil - Baking With Nut Oils

Pistachio oil is hardly a common pantry staple.  The wall of oils at my local Whole Foods doesn't contain a single bottle of pistachio oil.  I had to track down a bottle of this green gem - and it was worth the effort and the hefty price tag.  While there are many ways to give baked goods a nutty flavor, nut oil - like pistachio oil - may be my new favorite.  But, let's take a look at all of the options:

Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup Entries Are In!

The 2010 Ice Cream Cupcake Roundup entry period is over and, once again, you have wowed us with your ice cream cupcake creations!  All of the entries are detailed below - but first, a quick reminder about the rules.

Only the ice cream cupcake roundup entrants can vote in the first round of voting and of course they can't vote for themselves.  They will be picking the three finalists who will each win an OXO Prize Pack including OXO Good Grips Solid Stainless Steel Ice Cream Scoop, Oxo Good Grips 2-Cup Angled Measuring Cup, OXO Good Grips 1169600 3-Piece Mixing Bowl Set, Blue/Green/Yellow, Oxo Good Grips Bent Icing Knife, and an Oxo Good Grips PRO Grater!!  If you entered the contest, you'll be receiving an email with instructions on how to vote.  I don't envy you.  It will be hard to choose!

Once the finalists are chosen, the general public will get to pick the grand prize winner of the Cuisinart ICE-30BC Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker.  Look out for your chance to vote next week (two voters will win the same OXO Prize Pack as our finalists)!


As you read through the entries, note that each entry title links to a blog post or Flickr post (if the creator does not have a blog) with details about the cupcake.  If you have the time, I would encourage you to click through and read the stories and recipes behind these masterpieces.