These cute little football cupcakes are perfect for any Superbowl party! I mean, who doesn’t love cupcakes?! And they couldn’t be any easier. I actually used a boxed mix because cupcakes haven’t been my friend since we moved to 6,000 feet. (The boxed mixes have high altitude directions and always work perfectly.) I also used canned frosting because… well, butter is expensive and canned frosting is cheap!
So the whole project took less than an hour!
To frost football cupcakes: Use a small star tip (I used 21 from Wilton) to pipe chocolate lines back and forth across the cupcakes. You want the lines to be touching but not on top of each other. Use a small round tip (I used 6 from Wilton) to pipe white lines across across the chocolate frosting to make it look like a football.
It’s the day we’ve been anxiously awaiting since the end of the last college football season: Alabama’s first game! I’m (hopefully) making something special for today’s game so I wanted to share what I’ve made for the last 2 seasons.
The crimson (pretend with me) and white cupcake up there is a white chocolate cupcake with strawberry and white chocolate cream cheese frosting and you can find that recipe here.
Two years ago I made these red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (recipe here) and they were awesome.
Roll Tide! :)
Which team(s) are you cheering for this weekend? And are you making anything special?
I took a short break from Project Pastry Queen while we moved and got settled but I’m back and ready to bake! I’m coming back just in time for the Peach Queen Cake with Dulce de Leche Frosting which was chosen by Shawnda.
So… peaches and dulce de leche? Not exactly two things I’d combine normally but I’m so glad I didn’t chicken out. It works somehow. Like really works. Like I could eat 5 of these cupcakes at once. They kind of reminded me of Millionaire’s Cake which I now want to make after looking up recipes!
Shawnda will have the recipe for you but I thought I’d share the changes I made. I did cupcakes instead of a 3 layer cake – I halved the recipe (ended up with 12 and enough batter for another 1 or 2) and baked them for about 25 minutes. I also used buttermilk instead of sour cream because that’s what I had on hand, and I doubled the vanilla. Because I wanted to.
For the dulce de leche, I used the crockpot method. All you do is put a can of sweetened condensed milk in your crockpot with enough water to cover it completely and then cook for about 8 hours. It’s like magic.
It’s my turn again to choose the weekly Project Pastry Queen recipe! I tend to mull over my PPQ choices for hours or even days but with this one, I literally opened the table of contents, saw the word strawberry, and my decision was made.
The cake is supposed to be a domed 3-layed cake but as you can see, I went for cupcakes. I filled the cupcakes with the ricotta filling but – wait for it – I added chopped strawberries to the ricotta mixture because you can’t have strawberry in the title of a recipe and only have strawberries on top. It’s just not right. It turned out to be a great decision and the ricotta mixture, after sitting for a couple hours in the fridge, tasted like strawberry frozen yogurt! It also kept the cupcakes super moist.
If you want to do cupcakes like I did, fill the liners to the top because these really don’t spring up much. Also, baking time – I’d say 15 – 20 minutes. Just keep a close eye on them. I halved the recipe and ended up with 12 cupcakes, only needed about 1/4 of the filling recipe, and 1/4 of the whipped cream so keep that in mind if you are doing cupcakes. I’d hate for you to waste ingredients! To fill the cupcakes, I took a paring knife and cut a small triangle out and spooned the filling in. Because of the texture of the angel food cake, it was more difficult than a regular cupcake but well worth the trouble. I promise.
Make sure you visit the rest of the Project Pastry Queen ladies to see how they did with the cake!
1 1/3 cup sifted cake flour (sifted then measured)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup superfine sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
zest of 2 oranges
zest of 2 lemons
14 large egg whites (1 3/4 cup), at room temperature
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Filling
4 cups whole or part-skin ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Whipped Cream Frosting
2 1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
25 medium-size fresh strawberries
powdered sugar, for garnish
Instructions
To make the angel food cake: Set the oven rack on the lowest level and preheat the oven to 350F. Combine the flour, salt, and 1/4 cup of the sugar into a medium bowl. Combine the lemon juice and zests in a small bowl.
Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl on low speed until frothy. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high until all of the sugar is added and the egg whites are stiff and shiny. Overbeating will create a tough crumb and dry cake. Use a large rubber spatula to gently but thoroughly fold in the flour mixture and the lemon juice and zest. Spoon the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan. (The cake will not rise properly unless the pan is grease free.)
Bake the cake for about 45 minutes, until it is golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert the cake pan and place the neck of a large soda bottle through the pan’s center hole to hang the cake upside down. (The idea is to keep the cake from touching any surface as it cools.) Cool completely, 1 to 2 hours.
To make the filling: Line a 2-quart bowl with plastic wrap. (Don’t obsess about the bowl’s size; I use a slightly larger 72-ounce plastic bowl with fine results.) Combine the ricotta, cream, vanilla, powdered sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir vigorously until well mixed. Using a serrated knife, cut the angel food cake horizontally into 3 layers. Press the bottom layer lightly into the bottom of the prepared bowl. Spoon half of the ricotta mixture, about 1 1/2 cups, evenly over the cake layer. Top with the middle layer of cake and use the remaining ricotta mixture to cover it. Lightly press the last layer of cake on top.
At this point you may cover and refrigerate the cake up to 1 day. When ready to assemble, flip the cake over onto a serving plate (remove any plastic wrap that has stuck to the top.)You’ll have a perfect little domed cake.
To make the frosting: Using a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cream in a medium bowl on high speed until thick, with medium-soft peaks forming when you lift the mixer out of the bowl (this takes about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes with a handheld mixer, and even less time with a stand mixer). Be careful not to overwhip the cream, or it will separate. Stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
Use a spatula to cover the cake with the whipped cream frosting, mounding a little extra on the top to accentuate the dome shape. Wash the strawberries and dry them thoroughly with paper towels. Cut off the green stems, set each strawberry stem end down, and cut each into as many thing, vertical slices as possible. Starting at the top of the dome, push the strawberry slices gently into the whipped cream frosting in vertical lines. The tops and bottoms of the slices should overlap as you decorate the cake with strawberries. (Visualize the way roof shingles are laid.) Using this method, cover the entire cake with the sliced strawberries. Sprinkle the cake lightly with powdered sugar. This cake is best served immediately. It will keep for several hours in the refrigerator, but it should be eaten the day you make it.
I know, I know… everyone else is talking turkey, cranberries, and stuffing and I’m posting cupcakes that have absolutely nothing to do with Thanksgiving. It’s very hard to get into the season when it’s still HOT outside and that’s what I’m experiencing now.
I made these cupcakes a couple weekends ago for a family party and they were a big hit with the under 3 bunch. I didn’t try the actual cake but I will say that the batter was delicious. The frosting, as written, is very thick so leave out some of the sugar if you don’t want it that thick. I obviously had trouble getting it to pipe.
cupcakes from AllRecipes, frosting from Williams-Sonoma
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
2 cups brown sugar
½ cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1½ cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 pinch salt
For the buttercream:
8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 cups confectioners sugar
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons. milk, plus more, if needed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
To make the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a cupcake pan with paper liners, or grease and flour cups.
In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, shortening and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter alternately with the milk. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the buttercream:
Have all the ingredients at room temperature.
Put the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler set over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter, the 6 tablespoons milk, the vanilla and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, then reduce the speed to low. Add the chocolate and beat until combined, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute more.
If the frosting is dry, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until it is creamy but still holds peaks. Makes about 4½ cups.
