Oreo cheesecakelets

Oreo cheese cupcakes

Cuspcake rating: 4.5

My second recipe from Martha's cupcake book, the batch of banana cupcakes I made put me off (through no fault of hers, my sour cream was off and they gave me a stomachache, thankfully I'm in the habit of taste-testing my cuppies before I give anyone else food poisoning. Note to self: Sour cream doesn't smell sour), so it's been a while since I felt my appetite stir while reading her book.

These are also a request, someone in the office suggested cheesecake, and since my last attempt (whole Oreo cheesecake, baked too long at inaccurate temp) didn't work out so well, I thought why not.

They were easy to put together, just a matter of lining the cups with whole Oreos (a cute and easy touch), mixing all the rest of the ingredients then baking at low temp and fridging overnight.

Enjoyed these alot, although not sure why mine are so much yellower than the photos in the book, and than the average oreo cheesecake you see outside – perhaps my cheese or eggs? I personally ate more of these than any other cuppie I've made yet, or maybe I had as many melt-in-the-mouth choc ones.

Tasters were much amused by the whole cookie as the base. These tasted best the first two days, then got progressively denser and harder, though no less tasty.

Fantasy cupcakes v2.0

Vanilla vanilla cupcakes

Cuspcake rating: 3

Probably unfair to rate these, as I needed 22 and only had 22 38mm cups, so am not getting to taste the actual product. Moreover, the real success of these depends only on how much my almost-five-year-old patron and her friends like these.

Baked the leftover batter in larger cups (44mm, I got another 9) and left them in the oven too long so they went crispy on top. They're very tasty, and I'm a weird one who likes my cakes crispy and golden so, again, probably not entirely fair to rate these (they tasted like big, less-sweet kueh baulus – one of my favourite snacks). The buttercream was pretty, light and easy to spread, but waaay too sweet for my grownup tastebuds, hopefully the kids will feel otherwise.

From the Primrose Bakery book – have to say I am pleased with the recipes I've tried so far, it's turning out to have been a great budget birthday gift to myself, at least, I certainly can't think of anything else that could have given me as much entertainment and pleasure for $15.

Update: These were a hit, I'm pleased to report. The kids asked for more cupcakes, and even the boys thought they were pretty. :)

The earl of grey

Earl Grey Cupcakes with Milk custard
Cuspcake rating: 2.5

I love Earl Grey tea, and it also reminds me of afternoons spent working over my favourite things – travel stories while I was freelance writing, sipping inspiration while designing cushions and rooms, trying to stay awake manning my little store, and many a post-lunch lull editing stories in sleepy Emerald Hill. A box of Twining's is the first thing I bought for my desk drawer, along with a noisy squeeze bottle of condensed milk our British editor used to wrinkle his nose at – I'm sure it offended his English sensibilities! :)

Earl Grey icecreams are one of the flavours I'm most likely to try at icecream parlours as well, so I've been keen on trying this cupcake recipe from Primrose Bakery.

It was surprisingly easy to put together, I think I must be getting used to the process, but it also has slightly fewer ingredients, no baking powder, soda and vanilla extract, so I suppose that's a little less measuring to do.

The tops didn't rise till they cracked as they usually do, I still wonder why my cupcakes always do that. I made sure to beat the butter and eggs for a longer time, and the consistency of the batter did change – it became somewhat stickier – which I have not observed it doing before. Perhaps that made a difference. Or maybe it's because this recipe also calls for a lower temp – 160ºC – than usual. Or the self-raising flour instead of baking powder?

Anyway the batter filled 16 of my 50mm cups, and smelt deliciously of the tea. Texture is good, the top crusts a little and you can taste the sugar, while it's springy and light and slightly fragrant of tea. There seem to be slightly larger air bubbles than usual, but not huge and not detrimental, wonder why it is. The crumb isn't as velvety and fine as the chocolate were, springier instead. Didn't think these should be kept in the fridge, they seem like they'd go heavy, but unfortunately keeping them outside didn't seem to stop them going heavy either. They were much yummier fresh from the oven, but I think this is in part because I didn't bake them long enough, as they looked somehow undercooked the next morning, which is far more offputting when they're cold.

Yet another failed custard buttercream attempt resulted in a milk custard cream topping, which worked although it looked awful – I like taking my Earl Grey with milk, and this is what it tasted like. The wetness of the cream also helped with the heaviness of the cake. Pity, because I think this recipe tasted great out of the oven. Will try cooking them longer next time.

Chocolate cupcakes v2.0

Chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel filling

Cuspcake rating: 3.5

So, everything you've read about poorly designed muffin pans being a pain in the arse is right. My $20+ muffin pan from Cold Storage (double what I expected to pay in a supermarket) has no "handles", which led to me dropping it and ruining five cupcakes.

I kinda like my souffle cups better.

It also makes it a real pain to turn, or to hold at all with an oven glove on. (Although I'm certain it'd be more of a pain without one). Absolutely annoying.

Tried the chocolate cupcakes from primrose bakery, have to say, was a little disappointed with them right out of the oven. They were very fluffy and the texture is great, seemed perhaps a touch dry (which might be my genius pan, anyway), smell fantastic, but tasted somehow...bland. Decided to make the salted caramel filling to zing them up.

Strangely enough both the cupcakes and caramel taste better the next day. Perhaps I was tired? The cupcakes are chocolatey and the texture is velvety (it settles down a little overnight, i kept them in a box at room temp), like red velvet. I did mix in cake flour, perhaps that makes a difference too.

The caramel that I filled the cupcakes with the night before got half absorbed by the cakes, I suppose because it's meant to be a sauce not a filling. The sauce was rather a pain to make, but I think my mistake also is making all the components of more complicated cupcakes at the same time rather than spacing them out at a more leisurely pace. It took much longer to reach all the stages described than you'd think – from the sugar dissolving to the caramelising to the thickening.

Also, I tried the custard buttercream I made successfully on my birthday morning, but it was runny and ugly because I mixed the butter right into the custard before creaming it with sugar. Heh. At least I've learnt that doesn't work :) It tasted good but looked awful though.

All in all, they seemed a hit at work, I was surprised, until I ate one myself. They taste pretty good, even after they've been fridged, and do keep well for three days out of the fridge as well. Could this be the chocolate cuspcake recipe I've been looking for? Perhaps. Will have to try them in my regular souffle cups to see if the slight dryness can be managed, and with a plainer topping to see if they can hold their own.

Thoughts

Just some odds and ends I wanted to record.

Watched Julie and Julia today, and was inspired to roast some chicken parts and new potatoes for dinner. One thing I'd forgotten about cooking, which makes me realise why I'm enjoying baking so much – there's no sharp knives, cuts and chipped nails!

Wanted also to document a buttercream attempt, at 5am on my birthday, I tried making the custard buttercream I'd read about, somewhat like Magnolia Bakery's buttercream (yes this is what I do when I can't sleep!). I doubled the milk paste, reduced the sugar, and I believe I have finally arrived at a buttercream I can eat. It's light, tasty and smooth, and not too sweet. Finally!

Have only to try colouring it, swirling it, and piping it now to understand its versatility. It doesn't melt in this weather, so that's a plus. Will have to test storage methods and how long it stays fresh for too. Pleased.

My to-do list for now:
1. Test and perfect vanilla buttercream - ease of frosting and piping, how well it takes colour and flavour, and how well it keeps.
2. Find the perfect chocolate cupcake. This seems to be a basic, and while the melt-in-the-mouth ones are yummy, they are not an everyday or a crowdpleasing recipe. I also had high hopes for cupcakeblog's old-fashioned choc recipe, but turns out they aren't to my taste. I'm thinking of adapting my parents' failsafe and very yummy chocolate brownie recipe, it's already rather more cakelike than an average brownie, so I think it's not too far off. Also want to try the Primrose recipe, I somehow have a good feeling about this book! And probably will try some Devil's Food recipes.
3. Perfect the perfect vanilla cupcake. There's that yellow cake recipe I want to try too from repressedpastrychef, and the lighter, cake flour version of Magnolia's, with fresh milk instead of evap like I did last time.
4. Devise my own perfect cream cheese icing. This shouldn't be too hard.
5. Red velvet. Cupcakeblog's recipe?
6. Stock up on exciting Halloween candy when it goes on sale, for topping off cuppies. Order some fun toppers from Bake It Pretty. Buy a proper muffin tin and cups? I wonder if it makes a difference than doing them in the souffle cups...

Honey granola muffins

Honey granola cupcakes (Primrose)

Cuspcake rating: 4

Funny how something can be so different served warm and not! These cupcakes – really, I think they're better called muffins, ingredients like granola aren't expected in cupcakes, plus when you call it a muffin, the cakelike, light and crumby texture is a bit of a surprise and all the more enjoyable.

I love granola, especially on frozen yoghurt (the only topping I'm in the habit of paying for!), but somehow never buy it to eat as a cereal – cereal-and-milk, while one of my favourite foods in the world, somehow isn't a habit of mine, strange, I know. And granola is expensive for a boxed cereal, so I've never bought it I think, and instead nurse a perpetual granola craving.

These are hearty, tasty, and really yummy warm, especially split open and slathered with salted butter and/or cream cheese. Cold (by which I mean room temp) however, they are too sweet, dense, and the honey is sharp and pungent.

All in all, I'd make these with less honey next time, but will have to research a replacement first. Or perhaps with a lighter honey (can't remember what I used this time, though). And I think I'd toast the granola first, so perhaps it'd be crunchy – that'd be perfect, because they were mainly chewy bits of oats this time now.

Not a child-pleaser though, I suppose the lack of frosting doesn't help. But something I'd be pleased to have for a decadent breakfast every so often.

Coconut cupcakes

 

Coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (Ina Garten)

Cuspcake rating: 3

Made these in a hurry to take on board on a day of boating with colleagues (to celebrate my birthday). Been wanting to try the recipe because of all the rave reviews it got on Chowhound. Have to admit that coconut is not my favourite flavour, and strangely enough, although it is an Asian flavour, lots of the people I know don't really like coconut. I think it's just too dense and rich and heavy in our weather. Ironic, I know, but I really prefer coconuts when they're young, and their flesh is translucent, jellylike and refreshing, rather than flaked and sweetened in a packet.

As it turned out, the boating outing was catered, so noone got around to eating these at all. I did have one warm out of the oven, and I have to say it is a really good coconut cupcake recipe. Fragrant, chewy, just a little sticky. The cream cheese is a nice contrast (recipe had too much butter in it though), and I think the coconut topping is overkill.

I'd do these again for a coconut fan (Dad'd love this I think), but bake them till the tops are more golden, possibly use fresh coconut if I can get some (which would cut the sweetness, but possibly the stickiness too...maybe I'll do half-half), serve them warm with just frosting and no coconut topping. The 3 rating in this case is purely personal (they all are, of course, but you know what I mean), because I think a coconut fan might go as high as a 4.5 on these.

Fantasy cupcakes

Old-fashioned chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream

Cuspcake rating: 2.5

Now these were requested by my favourite almost-5-year-old. She gets a cupcake every week at least, usually the prettiest one which is photographed for this blog, and was so enamoured of the melt-in-the-mouth choc mini that she wanted to treat her friends to cupcakes.

Spent rather a long time deciding on a combination of flavours – I wanted to be certain her little pals would be impressed. Settled on the old-fashioned chocolate cupcakes from cupcakeblog, and chocolate buttercream from my new book Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery, a steal at just $15.94 and my 30th birthday gift to myself. Topped them off with hundreds and thousands, and mini M&Ms (rather anally arranged all in the same order too).

In my eagerness to please, I also led to my own first failed cupcakes – I'd stuffed marshmallows in the centre of each of the first batch, hoping for a gooey melted marshmallow filling, but ended up with eruptions all around instead. 

I later discovered with my second batch that this recipe is somewhat prone to coming over the top of the cups and developing a bubbly, sticky top (others have commented on the same on Cupcakeblog). Perhaps this is because of the sugar, or perhaps because my oven has a fan and should be set to a slightly lower temperature (noticed that in Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery temperatures are offered in various conversions and there's usually a 20ºC difference with fan). Thankfully they didn't affect the taste and the little 'uns, it is reported, liked them.

I found them rather too sweet and sticky, and the chocolate buttercream wasn't to my taste either (is it ever?). But hey, I'm slowly discovering that baking for kids is a whole different affair. As as long as my tiny was happy, I'm happy. These were my most rewarding batch ever to make. I hear she was delighted when she saw them, and I was thrilled to make them – they brought back lovely memories of being a child in kindergarten and having a cake to share on my birthday, complete with fancy buttercream icing, my name piped on in cursive, and even a fancy topper like a little rubber Strawberry Shortcake figurine. :)

These'll melt your heart

Melt-in-the-mouth chocolate cupcakes

Cuspcake rating: 5

A super-easy recipe with barely any cleanup! Love not having to plough through a ton of dishes after. These were literally one-bowl, and wouldn't have needed the hand-mixer, although I did use it. Now this is what I call an after-work recipe.

Made these because I was craving something chocolate, and sated myself on licking the batter off the spoon :) These are from chocolateandzucchini.com, via cupcakeblog. Made half a recipe, which turned out 14 tiny cupcakes. Adapted baking time to 12 minutes, and left them in the oven after for another 8 (was going to be shorter, but I got distracted).

The tiny size is irresistible – why do women find everything miniature adorable? They look like they'll just be a mouthful or two. Chockylit finished hers off with simple whipped cream and a maraschino cherry, which looked really cute. I plan to dust little icing sugar hearts on mine and call it a day.

The recipe says they should be made the night before, so I'm waiting till tomorrow to taste them. Report back then. Fun! All baking should be this easy.

Update: The cupcakes taste just like my favourite "flourless" chocolate classique cake from French-style patisserie Canele, which obviously excites me a great deal. It always feels something special when you duplicate a recipe that tastes like something you get in a shop, somehow. The tiny size was just right, anything bigger would've been overkill, these leave you satisfied but wanting more. The whipped cream would probably be a perfect, light touch (the one at Canele is served with a side of whipped cream) or even a tiny scoop of vanilla icecream. Delightful, and thoroughly rich enough to satisfy a chocolate craving! The first to attain full cuspcake-hood.

Do you hear the muffin man?

Blueberry muffins with cinnamon crumble

A break from cupcakes this week, I got a request for blueberry muffins so tried my hand at my first muffins instead. Of course, having an excuse to purchase yet another piece of equipment (just a humble 12 muffin pan) helped. I sometimes wonder if I have more fun prepping and shopping for my baking experiments than I do baking!

I sometimes hear people debating whether something is a cupcake or a muffin, but the differences have always seemed quite obvious to me. A muffin is something you'd eat with coffee, or at breakfast with no guilt. A cupcake is something you'd eat mid-afternoon, with tea. (That's not to say you can't eat either of these any other time of course, I eat cupcakes for dinner after all. Just that if you had to pick one occasion and accompanying hot drink, that's what cupcakes and muffins would pair up with naturally). Muffins have puffed up tops (hence the dreaded fashion term, "muffin top") and no frosting.

Have not really eaten a blueberry muffin here that I would eat again, so took a little time researching a recipe. In the end I went with a combination of three: Fine Cooking's Blueberry muffins with cinnamon crumble as my base, with the jam technique from Cook's Illustrated's Best Blueberry muffins with frozen blueberries, and the chopped apple and lemon zest additions from Ottolenghi's Blueberry crumble muffins.

They came out very light and moist, really very cake-like. I'd say they're a do-over. I'd add more blueberries next time, and cut down on the cinnamon and nutmeg even more. Was hoping the flavours of these spices would blend into the rest, as they are not two of my favourites (strange how I can take any number and amount of pungent Asian spices, but these two "Western" mainstays just disagree with me!). In fact they quite overpower everything else, including the zest (another of my not-quite-favourite flavours). But the texture is so delightful that I had no trouble gulping one of these down, warm from the oven.

And they make the house smell amazing!