Oh St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner and I was so
excited to test out some of my skills for St. Patty’s day themed cupcakes. I saw a tutorial on YouTube on how to make
the two toned/rainbow icing. I decided
to keep it simple since it was my first time and just do green and the regular
icing. I had to add a lot of food
coloring to get the icing this green color but hey, at least it came out ok
right? I made three different types of
cupcakes. The first one is a vanilla
cupcake, second one is a mint cupcake, and the third is pistachio. All of the icing is a cream cheese icing the
only difference is some has food coloring and some don’t. Since I made three different types of
cupcakes this post will be jam packed with three recipes (sorry), but at least
you have a few different choices to pick from if you would like one more than
the other. Please note that I did find
these recipes online and I will post their links, however I have altered them
somewhat. Less sugar is key for me since
I don’t like extremely sweet cupcakes to begin with, plus they have cream
cheese frosting I think that makes up for it.
The cream cheese frosting I actually did very different from previous
recipes. I added butter and vanilla
extract to it which gives it a nice pop, I’ll add that recipe at the bottom of
this post.
excited to test out some of my skills for St. Patty’s day themed cupcakes. I saw a tutorial on YouTube on how to make
the two toned/rainbow icing. I decided
to keep it simple since it was my first time and just do green and the regular
icing. I had to add a lot of food
coloring to get the icing this green color but hey, at least it came out ok
right? I made three different types of
cupcakes. The first one is a vanilla
cupcake, second one is a mint cupcake, and the third is pistachio. All of the icing is a cream cheese icing the
only difference is some has food coloring and some don’t. Since I made three different types of
cupcakes this post will be jam packed with three recipes (sorry), but at least
you have a few different choices to pick from if you would like one more than
the other. Please note that I did find
these recipes online and I will post their links, however I have altered them
somewhat. Less sugar is key for me since
I don’t like extremely sweet cupcakes to begin with, plus they have cream
cheese frosting I think that makes up for it.
The cream cheese frosting I actually did very different from previous
recipes. I added butter and vanilla
extract to it which gives it a nice pop, I’ll add that recipe at the bottom of
this post.
Cupcake Number 1:
Vanilla Cupcake with Green and White Icing (Original Recipe found here)
Vanilla Cupcake with Green and White Icing (Original Recipe found here)
Ingredients
·
1¼ cups cake flour or
Canadian bleached all-purpose flour-I used regular unbleached flour
·
1¼ tsp baking powder
·
½ tsp baking soda
·
½ tsp salt
·
2 large eggs
·
¾ cup sugar-I used about ½
cup
·
1½ tsp pure vanilla
extract
·
½ cup canola oil
·
½ cup buttermilk
1¼ cups cake flour or
Canadian bleached all-purpose flour-I used regular unbleached flour
·
1¼ tsp baking powder
·
½ tsp baking soda
·
½ tsp salt
·
2 large eggs
·
¾ cup sugar-I used about ½
cup
·
1½ tsp pure vanilla
extract
·
½ cup canola oil
·
½ cup buttermilk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a
cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners.
cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners.
1.
In a medium bowl, whisk
together 1¼ cups cake flour (or Canadian flour), 1¼ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp
baking soda and ½ tsp salt. Set flour mix aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk
together 1¼ cups cake flour (or Canadian flour), 1¼ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp
baking soda and ½ tsp salt. Set flour mix aside.
2.
In the bowl of an
electric mixer, beat 2 eggs with the whisk attachment on medium speed (15-20
seconds).
In the bowl of an
electric mixer, beat 2 eggs with the whisk attachment on medium speed (15-20
seconds).
3.
Add ¾ cup sugar and
continue to beat on medium speed (30 seconds).
Add ¾ cup sugar and
continue to beat on medium speed (30 seconds).
4.
Add vanilla and oil and
beat on medium speed (1 minute)
Add vanilla and oil and
beat on medium speed (1 minute)
5.
Reduce mixer speed to
medium/low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half
of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mix and the rest of the milk.
Beat until just combined and smooth, scraping down the sides of the mixing
bowl. The batter should be thin.
Reduce mixer speed to
medium/low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half
of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mix and the rest of the milk.
Beat until just combined and smooth, scraping down the sides of the mixing
bowl. The batter should be thin.
6.
Pour batter into a lined
muffin pan. Fill to about ½ full.
Pour batter into a lined
muffin pan. Fill to about ½ full.
7.
Bake for 12 -14 minutes
at 350°F. Let them cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then remove.
Bake for 12 -14 minutes
at 350°F. Let them cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then remove.
8.
Once the cupcakes are
cooled to room temp, pipe on the frosting.
Once the cupcakes are
cooled to room temp, pipe on the frosting.
Notes
A note about the flour: all-purpose works, it
just does won’t produce a cupcake quite as soft as cake flour or Canadian
Flour.
just does won’t produce a cupcake quite as soft as cake flour or Canadian
Flour.
This recipe was in very close competition with cupcake
number 3 which is the pistachio cupcake.
You will read more about my reasoning behind the pistachio being my favorite
but this vanilla cupcake was very delicious.
It was soft, light, and fluffy.
It is a very refreshing taste if you are looking for a subtle tasting
cupcake. I’ve already made this cupcake
quite a few times and each time it gets tastier and tastier.
number 3 which is the pistachio cupcake.
You will read more about my reasoning behind the pistachio being my favorite
but this vanilla cupcake was very delicious.
It was soft, light, and fluffy.
It is a very refreshing taste if you are looking for a subtle tasting
cupcake. I’ve already made this cupcake
quite a few times and each time it gets tastier and tastier.
Cupcake Number 2:
Shamrock Shake Cupcake with White Icing (Original recipe found here.)
Shamrock Shake Cupcake with White Icing (Original recipe found here.)
Ingredients:
· ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons cake flour -> I just
mixed the amount with the below and used all purpose flour since I didn’t have
any cake flour on hand
·
½ cup+ 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
·
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar-I used ½ cup
of sugar
·
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
·
½ teaspoon kosher salt
·
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut
into ½ inch cubes
·
2 eggs
·
½ cup whole milk
·
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
·
1 ½ teaspoons mint extract (NOT peppermint)
·
6 drops green food coloring-I used about 8
mixed the amount with the below and used all purpose flour since I didn’t have
any cake flour on hand
·
½ cup+ 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
·
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar-I used ½ cup
of sugar
·
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
·
½ teaspoon kosher salt
·
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut
into ½ inch cubes
·
2 eggs
·
½ cup whole milk
·
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
·
1 ½ teaspoons mint extract (NOT peppermint)
·
6 drops green food coloring-I used about 8
Directions:
1.
Preheat
oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan
with paper liners.
2.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flours,
sugar, baking powder and salt, and mix together on low speed for 1 minute. With the mixer on low, add the butter, a few
cubes at a time, continuing until all the butter has been added and the mixture
resemebles coarse sand.
3.
Keeping the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one
at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Slowly pour in the milk, vanilla and mint
extract, and mix until combined. Add the
green food coloring and mix until color is evenly dispersed throughout the
batter. Increase the mixer speed to
medium and beat for 2 minutes, until batter is smooth, scraping the sides of
the bowl as needed.
4.
Fill the liners two-thirds full (about ¼ cup of
batter) and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the centers are set and a toothpick
is inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool
completely.
This was probably my least favorite recipe of the
three. I feel as though the mint was too
subtle so I would probably add one more teaspoon in the future and maybe even
add some andes mints to the batter mixture or sprinkle it on top. The actual cupcake itself wasn’t as moist and
soft as the other two. This may be my
baking but the other two came out fine so I think there’s something slightly
wrong with the recipe, maybe a little too much of something or maybe it shouldn’t
be in the oven for that long. Next time I’m
going to alter this recipe a little bit and I’ll give an update on what I
think.
three. I feel as though the mint was too
subtle so I would probably add one more teaspoon in the future and maybe even
add some andes mints to the batter mixture or sprinkle it on top. The actual cupcake itself wasn’t as moist and
soft as the other two. This may be my
baking but the other two came out fine so I think there’s something slightly
wrong with the recipe, maybe a little too much of something or maybe it shouldn’t
be in the oven for that long. Next time I’m
going to alter this recipe a little bit and I’ll give an update on what I
think.
Cupcake Number 3:
Pistachio Cupcake with Green Icing (Original recipe found here.)
Pistachio Cupcake with Green Icing (Original recipe found here.)
Ingredients:
·
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
·
2/3 cup of sugar (I used about ½ a cup)
2/3 cup of sugar (I used about ½ a cup)
·
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant pistachio pudding
mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant pistachio pudding
mix
·
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
·
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon salt
·
2 eggs
2 eggs
·
1 ¼ cups 2% Milk (I used whole milk)
1 ¼ cups 2% Milk (I used whole milk)
·
½ cup canola oil (I used Safflower Oil)
½ cup canola oil (I used Safflower Oil)
·
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
·
Green food coloring, optional-I didn’t use this,
only in the icing
Green food coloring, optional-I didn’t use this,
only in the icing
Directions:
1.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar,
pudding mix, baking powder and salt. In
a small bowl, beat the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; add to dry ingredients and
mix until blended.
2.
Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths
full. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-22
minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan
to wire rack. Add food coloring to
frosting if desired; frost cupcakes.
Yield: 1 dozen.
In all honesty I think this cupcake recipe was the absolute
best one. Although, the vanilla one is
pretty close competition I think if I liked vanilla more than pistachio flavor
(I LOVE pistachio flavor) I would like vanilla.
It just comes down to the flavor for me.
Both this cupcake and the vanilla one came out so soft, moist, and very
light. These seem to be a big hit
amongst my taste testers (coworkers, parents, and boyfriend) so I think I will
definitely be making these again the future, plus they are so easy to make.
best one. Although, the vanilla one is
pretty close competition I think if I liked vanilla more than pistachio flavor
(I LOVE pistachio flavor) I would like vanilla.
It just comes down to the flavor for me.
Both this cupcake and the vanilla one came out so soft, moist, and very
light. These seem to be a big hit
amongst my taste testers (coworkers, parents, and boyfriend) so I think I will
definitely be making these again the future, plus they are so easy to make.
Cream Cheese Icing http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cream-cheese-frosting-recipe.html
Ingredients
·
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
·
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
·
2 cups powdered sugar-I used 1 ½ of regular
sugar
2 cups powdered sugar-I used 1 ½ of regular
sugar
·
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese
with an electric mixer. With the mixer
on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and
creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract.
with an electric mixer. With the mixer
on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and
creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract.
For my icing I kind of just kept doing taste tests since I
had to make enough for 3 batches of cupcakes.
I would add a little more butter than cream cheese and not as much sugar
as directed. At one point I even stopped
measuring. Just make sure the icing is
fully smooth because when you start using all the piping tools you don’t want
to start putting icing on the cupcakes and have a piece of hardened butter get
stuck and mess up the whole art of the icing.
I also added on some extra decorations that I got a few months back. They are Wilton and found at Michael’s.
had to make enough for 3 batches of cupcakes.
I would add a little more butter than cream cheese and not as much sugar
as directed. At one point I even stopped
measuring. Just make sure the icing is
fully smooth because when you start using all the piping tools you don’t want
to start putting icing on the cupcakes and have a piece of hardened butter get
stuck and mess up the whole art of the icing.
I also added on some extra decorations that I got a few months back. They are Wilton and found at Michael’s.
Now I really wish I lived near you! These look amazing, wish I could take one through the screen!
Meme xx
New post out now:
'How to advertise your blog with:Vistaprint'
http://thedayinthelifeofmexoxo.blogspot.co.uk/
Yumm!
The Shamrock shake cupcake is making me hungry!!
Your photos are beautiful 🙂
These all look so tasty!! I love pistachio and mint anything so i'm excited to try these out for myself! Definitely pinned them for later. AND i'm linking to your post in my "this week" post coming out tomorrow! Thanks for the great cupcake ideas!