I made these cupcakes for a friend's birthday. I had asked if I could make her a birthday treat and she said she liked pecans and chocolate. However, she thinks coconut is "ick" so German Chocolate Cake was out of the running.
The cake is vegan, the frosting is not.
Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from Chef Chloe's Recipe for Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon chocolate extract
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/2 cup chopped roasted pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Sift or whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, oil, vinegar, vanilla, chocolate extract, and espresso powder until smooth.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix with a fork or small whisk. Add the pecans.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners until each cup is 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
5. Cool cupcakes completely.
To fill the cupcakes:
I used store bought fleur de sel caramel sauce from Trader Joes and more pecans. Use a sharp knife to cut out the center of each cupcake. Don't cut all the way through (leave a layer of cake at the bottom). If you desire, save the centers to make cake pops. Fill a piping bag with caramel sauce (easier said than done...it was very sticky!) and pipe into the holes. Fill the top with a few more pecans.
Ingredients for frosting:
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Bailey’s
Directions for frosting: - This is the hardest part to do by hand but it can be done!
1. Cream the butter with an electric mixer or by hand.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar.
3. Add the desired amount of Bailey’s (or milk, if you don’t like Baileys) to the frosting to make it a little creamier.
4. Ice the cupcakes and decorate. I used a piping bag because it is fun!
Notes:
-The caramel kind of disappeared into the cupcakes but was still delicious.
-For those of you that thought i was joking on St. Patty's Day about putting Bailey's in all of my frosting from here on out, this should prove I'm not! See Irish Car Bomb cupcakes here.
-Did you know fleur de sel (flower of salt in French) is sea salt that is hand harvested from the top layer of salt before it sinks into salt beds? Now you do!
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix with a fork or small whisk. Add the pecans.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake liners until each cup is 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
5. Cool cupcakes completely.
To fill the cupcakes:
I used store bought fleur de sel caramel sauce from Trader Joes and more pecans. Use a sharp knife to cut out the center of each cupcake. Don't cut all the way through (leave a layer of cake at the bottom). If you desire, save the centers to make cake pops. Fill a piping bag with caramel sauce (easier said than done...it was very sticky!) and pipe into the holes. Fill the top with a few more pecans.
Ingredients for frosting:
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Bailey’s
Directions for frosting: - This is the hardest part to do by hand but it can be done!
1. Cream the butter with an electric mixer or by hand.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar.
3. Add the desired amount of Bailey’s (or milk, if you don’t like Baileys) to the frosting to make it a little creamier.
4. Ice the cupcakes and decorate. I used a piping bag because it is fun!
Notes:
-The caramel kind of disappeared into the cupcakes but was still delicious.
-For those of you that thought i was joking on St. Patty's Day about putting Bailey's in all of my frosting from here on out, this should prove I'm not! See Irish Car Bomb cupcakes here.
-Did you know fleur de sel (flower of salt in French) is sea salt that is hand harvested from the top layer of salt before it sinks into salt beds? Now you do!
No comments:
Post a Comment