Lovin' From the Oven

Junior Mint Cupcakes

by 3 Comments

mint-3

mint-7

mint-2-2

mint-3-2

mint-5

mint

mint-2

mint-4

mint-6

I was playing the game “never have I ever” with a couple of friends the other night and was intrigued by all the information I learned about others. Here’s a couple of facts that you may not know about me:

  1. I’ve never had a manicure or pedicure.
  2. I’ve never broken a bone.
  3. I’ve never been skiing.
Have you ever done any of those? As for breaking a bone, it’s definitely a boy thing. Most girls haven’t done it and most boys have. What’s something you’ve never done?
These cupcakes come from Domestic Fits and turned out beautifully. The cupcake rose with ease and the frosting was the perfect consistency for piping. The cupcakes were a little lighter than I’d hoped, but the taste was spot on. I used dark cocoa instead of regular cocoa, which explains the darkish color.

 

Print
Junior Mint Cupcakes

Ingredients

    Chocolate cake:
  • 2 2/3 cup flour
  • 1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used hershey's special dark cocoa)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 1/4 cup of brewed coffee, cooled
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter
  • 2 1/2 cups of sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
    • Mint Buttercream:
  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
  • 5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/4 tsp natural mint extract

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line 24 muffin tins.
  2. In your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla, eggs, buttermilk, coffee, and vegetable oil. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.
  3. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
    4. Mint Buttercream
  4. In a stand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy.
  5. Mix in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Slowly beat in the milk and mint until you get a smooth consistency. You can add more powdered sugar or milk depending on your taste.
https://lovintheoven.com/junior-mint-cupcakes/

Happy 4th of July:: From Scratch Funfetti Cupcakes & Vanilla Buttercream

by 4 Comments

DSC_7356

Sprinkles!! Can you guess what I did with them?

DSC_7396

DSC_7378

DSC_7420

Cupcakes, of course!
First, you have to get some festive sprinkles for the holidays (I found these at Homegoods).

DSC_7337

Bake your cupcakes and then whip up some frosting!

DSC_7345

DSC_7346

Here’s how I chose to frost mine: Using an offset spatula, throw a slab of frosting onto your cupcake.

DSC_7351

Then spread it to the rim. Don’t worry if it gets all over the place, you just need to cover your top.

DSC_7353

Holding your offset spatula at an angle against your frosting, spin the cupcake around so you get a slanted side, as so:

DSC_7354

Dump some sprinkles out onto a plate (make sure they don’t jump all over the place!)

DSC_7359

And roll the side of the cupcake in the plate:

DSC_7361

Voi-la! A much easier decorating method than piping (maybe not as pretty, but oh well, they all end up in the same place).

DSC_7367

Peel and eat!

DSC_7423

DSC_7432

DSC_7427

DSC_7409

DSC_7417

DSC_7370

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I’ll be spending mine bbq’ing by the pool in my red, white, and blue. What do you guys have planned?

With any party/get together, I’m expected to bake something. I decided to go all out and do what I hate doing… decorate cupcakes. Plus, I saw these sprinkles at HomeGoods and needed an excuse to buy them. I used jimmies to throw into the batter and nonpareils to decorate the tops. I decorated the cupcakes the lazy way, and provided a step by step on what to do (Is that something you guys would like more of— step by step photos?). Hopefully that helps the decorator haters out there like me!

The cupcake itself was extremely moist and fluffy. It was a little on the sweet side for me, so I’d reduce the amount of sugar next time I make them. The buttercream frosting was actually good— and I don’t normally like buttercream. Though, I must admit that I added probably another 2 tablespoons of milk or so to tone down the powdered sugar taste. Frosting’s forgiving.. add a little more milk and balance out with a little more powdered sugar until you get the taste you desire.

This recipe is slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is, which makes approximately 12 cupcakes. Have a safe 4th, everyone!

  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1/3 cup assorted brightly colored sprinkles + more for top of frosting
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
  3. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients. Fold in assorted sprinkles.
  4. Pour into cupcake tins and fill 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream

  • 2 sticks of butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon of milk, if needed
  1. Cream butter until it is completely smooth. 
  2. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
  3. Beat in the vanilla for 2-3 minutes.
  4. If the frosting is too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached. If it’s too thin, add a little more sugar until it thickens.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

by 11 Comments

DSC_4159

First… you bake your cupcakes. Then, you cut out a dome shaped chunk from the middle:
DSC_4107

DSC_4108

And stuff with cookie dough!
DSC_4114

Frost and decorate:
DSC_4126

DSC_4137

DSC_4166

DSC_4158

It’s that time of the year. The time of the year where I always deny that I’m sick. I never get sick. I worked at the Boys & Girls Club for six years; my immune system is immaculate. There’s no way that I can get sick. The truth of the matter is that I’m congested, I can’t sleep comfortably, my throat is swollen shut, and my nose won’t stop dripping. Sorry for the visual… I know they don’t go well with baked goods.
It just so happens that this sick time conveniently meshes with the one week where I’m supposed to work the most days in a row. Am I complaining? A little bit. But I have no reason to complain… I’ll be in San Francisco in 6 days, Paris in 19, and Hawaii in 59. It’s better to be sick now than then, right?
Okay no more complaining. Suck it up, Kim. Just one look at these cupcakes and they’ll make anyone feel better. Cookie dough filling, cookie dough frosting, and a cupcake?! I’ll just knock myself into a sugar coma and sleep it off like a champ.
I used a yellow cake box mix for the cupcakes since these involved enough work as it is, but feel free to use your own from-scratch recipe. The mini cookies that I topped the cupcakes off with were made from Nestle cookie dough (The huge tub from Costco). Ahhh, now that’s a cupcake.
Cookie dough filling from Quick Dish

  • 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
  • 6 Tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips, plus more for decorating
  1. Cream butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
  2. Gradually mix in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until combined.
  3. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 15 minutes or until slightly firm.
Cookie dough frosting from The Family Kitchen

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
  1. Beat together butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
  2. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar, flour and salt. and mix until combined. Add milk and vanilla until frosting is smooth.

Categories