White Chocolate Pomegranate Cupcakes

I may have said this in this past but this time I really really mean it. These are hands down the best cupcakes I've baked. Free Spirit Bloggers are into their 4th month together (already!) and Lataji chose this month's theme. She gave us all a choice to pick a number between 1-12 and revealed secret ingredients to work with. Mine were white chocolate and pomegranates.

The timing couldn't be more perfect because I had this bar of white chocolate I had bought from Tokyo a year back and since I was in India, I could buy a pomegranate and bring it back with me! Things fell in place beautifully and one Saturday evening, these cupcakes were born.

I searched a lot for a good white chocolate cupcake recipe and although there were quite a few that came up, I finally nailed one from Epicurious. Although a lot of the reviews said the cupcake sank in the middle, got ruined, etc, I had a nice feeling about it. I used a lower baking temperature and they came out ridiculously well. The coconut milk in the batter was intriguing too, and its my first time baking cupcakes with coconut milk in the batter!

The pomegranates gave a nice crunch to the texture and added to the appeal of the otherwise dull-looking cupcakes. One word of caution here. I only had brown sugar in hand so my cupcakes are beige in colour. If you use regular white sugar like you are supposed to, the cupcakes will be white and gorgeous like white chocolate cupcakes are supposed to look.

White Chocolate Cupcakes with Pomegranates
Makes 20 cupcakes
Loosely adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients:
8 oz / 240 gm white chocolate
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup regular white sugar
3 egg whites
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 cup fresh pomegranate seeds

*Optional Mascarpone frosting recipe below. 

How I Made It:

1. Preheat oven to 320F / 180 C. Line cupcake pans with liners and set aside.

2. Melt white chocolate by placing it in a bowl over another bowl of boiling water and stirring frequently, or in a microwave at low heat until just melted and smooth.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and vanilla in large bowl until blended. Add hot white chocolate to sugar mixture; stir to combine. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with coconut milk in 2 additions, beating batter just to combine between additions.

4. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in a bowl until soft peaks form. Be careful not to overbeat. To check done-ness, I lift the whisk and see if a soft peak forms and gently collapses back into the mixture. Gently fold egg white mixture into batter in 3 additions.

5. Pour batter into the lined cupcake pans until 3/4 filled. Bake in preheated oven for about 25 mins or until the cupcakes don't stick to a skewer passed through their middle.

6. Cool completely and frost if desired. I thought the cupcakes were a bit too plain so decided to whip up a very simple frosting with some mascarpone cheese I had in hand.

Mascarpone Frosting Recipe

Whisk together 6 tbsp mascarpone cheese, 4 tbsp milk, and 14 tbsp icing sugar. Adjust each of the ingredients until the frosting is of pouring consistency yet not too watery. Pour over completely cooled cupcakes and place some pomegranate seeds over the frosting before serving.

The cupcakes lasted me four days, refrigerated. 

martha stewart cupcake REDUX

Sara and Sean's awesome baby, Dashiell, turned ONE and when I came over to celebrate and help decorate the cupcakes, she had her laptop on the kitchen counter opened to THIS, which warmed my heart... Anyway, had to share the results:

The hedgehog returns, perhaps as a porcupine:

I personally really liked the vibe this cat was giving off. (Wish I could say the same about the monkey/bear (??).)

But this really says it all:

I think Sara should send this in to Martha Stewart with the following note: My son hates your cupcakes.

fauxstess cupcakes: a vegan adventure

This recipe came to me via my friend, Corinne (who also helped in the baking, assembling, and gathering of the strange and sometimes expensive staples of vegan cooking (11 dollars for soymilk powder? say whaa?)), and her vegan cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Here is her version:

And here is ours.
Despite the lack of the cute, flowered tablecloth, I think this might be my biggest success to date, especially since the multi-step recipe reminded me a lot of the peppermint cake that started this whole thing.

(one of the weird vegan ingredients...albeit the grosser but cheaper hydrogenated version.)

The cake batter called for an electric mixer, but seemed to come together fine with just Corinne and my combined massive arm strength.

I forgot to take a picture of just this cream portion, which we piped into the center of the cupcakes and which, was definitely the least successful component due to its makeup: crisco, margarine and sugar. The recipe called for superfine sugar and now I totally understand since our regular sugar never really blended properly/ tasted very grainy.
Next, we dipped the cupcakes into a chocolate ganache made with soymilk instead of whipping cream:

Then, we let the faux-cream-stuffed, ganache-dipped cupcakes chill out in the refrigerator (and think about life for a while) while we whipped up the Royal Icing component (using soy milk instead of the $$$ soymilk powder) and then practiced making those famous swirls on a black plate so that by the time we were ready for the real deal, we were old pros:

Of course, then we became complacent and overconfident. Note bottom left cupcake.

Overall though, I will definitely label this under success...and Bill Cosby (why not?).

thank you, martha stewart

Martha's version:

my version:

I give the edge to Martha in the above pictures, though I took that picture before making some of my favorites from the whole process.

My pal and fellow cupcake adventurer, Alison, created many of these including both that adorable brown bear and the one previously labeled as Fozzy.

A closer look

My hedgehog goes head to head with Martha's.

Is that a real puppy or just a cupcake version of one?
One with sideswept, 80's hair

ok, this one is just pretty.

And finally: Alison's coup de grâce...I mean, who could top this? Any takers? Martha?

Maple Walnut Cupcakes

Today we went to a local maple syrup festival--plenty of maple candy, maple cotton candy, and litres and litres of maple syrup. Plus, there was plenty of small town fun to be had as well: horse drawn wagon rides, local music, Amish baking, and arts and crafts booths. We had a great time, stuffed ourselves with maple treats, and brought home several litres of syrup. Tonight we went to an end-of-year BBQ at a colleague's house and brought (what else?) these maple walnut cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. They are awesome.

Jelly Donut Cupcakes

Isa is a freakin' genius. A donut cupcake? You better believe it! These tasty treats from Veganomicon were the perfect end to an intensely busy work week. Not only are they delicious, they are fun to bake. The filling is placed on top of the batter and it magically sinks into the cupcake as it bakes. I actually ran out of jam (time to go shopping), so I pressed a few chocolate chips into the center of the remaining cupcakes. The boys loved them.

Candy Cane Cupcakes

Today is Son #1's 7th birthday. Hard to believe, but true. He wanted to bring in cupcakes for his class (increasing his popularity exponentially), and wanted them to be Christmas cupcakes. I had some mints leftover from the gingerbread house, as well as a few candy canes. I know I saw this idea on some other blog, but I can't remember which one. I ground up 2 large candy canes in my coffee grinder (about 1 cup), folded it into the buttercream frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, spread it over the basic chocolate cupcakes, and topped with a mint. I think these would be great for holiday parties.

Brooklyn vs. Boston Creme Cupcakes

Tonight the boys and I made cupcakes. (Mom, if you are reading this, we are holiday baking/class party mode. We usually don't make this many desserts) I have wanted to make these cupcakes since I got Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World but have never been able to find the agar powder the recipe calls for. And the chances of finding it here in northern Ontario are pretty much nil. So, I improvised. I substituted 1 tbsp of cornstarch for the agar (and still kept the arrowroot powder), and used firm tofu. I blended everything in a saucepan with an immersion blender, then whisked it over medium heat until it thickened. Once cooled, I piped it into the cupcakes as directed. I am not sure what the real version is supposed to be like, but this was pretty tasty.

Banana Split Cupcakes

We are still chowing down on the leftovers from Indian night, so I thought I would showcase the banana split cupcakes we made for my brother's birthday on the weekend. The recipe, of course, comes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and the results were spectacular. I can't remember the last time I felt so happy eating a dessert. The tender cake, bittersweet chocolate, and crunchy nuts all combined for a taste that immediately caused an endorphin rush. The recipe called for pineapple preserves in the batter, but we used strawberry jam instead (not a big fan of pineapple).

Birthday Cupcakes!

We celebrated my niece's 4th birthday yesterday with cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. They were a big hit and sent the kids off on a sugar high that lasted for hours. With our holiday visitors this weekend that meant six hyper kids tearing up the place. Totally worth it for these awesome vegan treats.