Cupcakes anyone?

So we all love those mini morsels of cake-iness. I mean...really who doesn't?

My very good friend J had a birthday a few weeks ago and I told her I whip up some cupcakes for her party. I had a plan for 24 mini cupcakes (you know...those one/two bite ones?) of each flavour; Devils Food(I used a box cake mix for this one) with Nutella icing and Lemon with raspberry icing(all from scratch). Well the batter kept going and going and by the end of baking night I had 96 mini cupcakes AND 2 6" cakes.

The same over abundence carried on into icing day. I managed to ice all the cupcakes (except for the 6 or so that my fiance Cody and daughter stole the night of baking) and the cakes and STILL have icing leftover.

Here are the recipes:

Nutella Buttercream Icing source: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/nutella-cupcakes/

Yield: enough buttercream to frost 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 13-ounce jar of Nutella
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
6-8 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and Nutella until well combined. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.

2. Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 3-5 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

****My notes****
This icing turned out fabulous and was everyone's favourite. I had a TON of this icing leftover...I put it into a yogurt container and froze it. When I get around to baking again I'll whip it out and see how freezing went.


**warning...this is three recipes in one**

Lemon Pound Cupcake with Raspberry(and blackberry) Buttercream Icing:
source: http://www.cakespy.com/blog/2009/8/14/guest-blog-post-lemon-berry-cupcakes-by-patisserie-natalie.html

Lemon Pound Cake

* 3 cups all purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 sticks unsalted butter; softened
* 2 cups sugar
* 3/4 cup plain yogurt
* 3 tablespoons lemon zest
* 2/3 cup lemon juice
* 5 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk together in a large bowl thoroughly, and set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until smooth.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
5. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar one at a time, beating in between each addition.
6. With the mixer on a low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the yogurt mixture in 2 parts. Start and end with the flour mixture.
7. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and scoop even amounts of the batter into the cups, filling almost to the top.
8. Bake for 16 minutes, rotating the pan after 8 minutes. Once golden brown around the edges, remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for at least 2 hours before icing.

Blackberry & Raspberry Buttercreams

* 2-1/2 sticks unsalted butter; softened
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar; sifted
* 1/4 cup blackberry sauce
* 1/4 cup raspberry sauce

1. Beat butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar until smooth. Divide into two parts, removing half from the mixer bowl. Add the blackberry sauce to the mixer bowl, along with 3/4 cup of powdered sugar. Place buttercream in a piping bag and pipe a circle around the outer edge of the cupcake top, spiraling in towards the center.
2. In the same mixer bowl, add the remaining half of the butter and powdered sugar that was set aside. Add the raspberry sauce and 3/4 cup powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Place in a piping bag and pipe an extra dollop on top of the blackberry buttercream.

Blackberry Sauce

* 1 cup blackberries
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

Combine ingredients in a sauce pan and place over medium heat. Stir frequently until juices from berries boil. Using a wooden spoon, crush the berries in the pan. Let boil for 2 minutes to make sauce more dense. Strain the mixture if you prefer to have smoother frostings. Cool in refrigerator.

Raspberry Sauce

* 1/2 cup raspberries
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

Combine ingredients in a sauce pan and place over medium heat. Stir frequently until juices from berries boil. Let boil for 2 minutes to make sauce more dense. Cool in refrigerator.

****My notes****
J only liked raspberries so I did JUST raspberries...I actually did 2 cups of frozen berries.
These turned out really good. The cupcake part is pretty dense(at least it was this time...) much like a pound cake.
The buttercream seperated a bit but I also didn't whip it on a high speed like the Nutella one. I think that if I had it wouldn't have seperated...maybe.

All in all super good. Everyone liked them and there was enough that we gave the 6" cakes away as we just didn't need any more cake.