Strawberry Kiss Cupcakes

A few nights ago, my younger brother, Ryan, had his girlfriend and her mom over to meet our family. His girlfriend's mom didn't really like the idea of her daughter dating but she wanted to get to know Ryan before making a decision on their future together (which is just ironic since they are only in 10th grade). My mom decided I should make dessert since I was going to work and unfortunately missed out on telling embarrassing stories about my brother. I decided to make a white cupcake with strawberry filling, a whipped cream frosting, chocolate drizzle, and a fresh strawberry on top. I came home from work to not only find that all of the cupcakes were gone but also that the girl's mom had stayed for hours just hanging out. I guess she loved Ryan and decided it was great that her daughter was dating him! Now my brother would like to take all the credit for this, saying it was his "charm." That's not the case though. We all know this miracle was performed by the warm, fuzzy feeling my cupcakes gave his girlfriend's mom. So this is my conclusion.... Strawberry Kiss Cupcakes are the perfect date cupcake. From meeting your significant other's parents to having a first date, these cupcakes should always tag along! Enjoy a Strawberry Kiss!

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Strawberry Kiss Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients

5 ½ ounces cake flour (yes, cake flour. NOT all-purpose flour)

5 ½ ounces sugar

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and place 12 muffin cups in a muffin pan. If you don’t have muffin cups, spray the pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixture until fluffy. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and slowly combine them with the butter-sugar mixture. Add vanilla.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Combine the dry ingredients in the wet ingredient bowl. Scoop into muffin cups, 2/3 full, and place in the own. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean.

Let your cupcake cool and then cut a hole out of the center of each cupcake. I like to use the smallest spoon I have because this prevents the cupcake from crumbling around the hole in the center. You can discard the middle sections that you remove, or have a little cake snack! :) Fill each hole with the strawberry filling at then top with the whipped cream frosting. To finish off your cupcake, top it with a chocolate drizzle and a whole fresh strawberry.

Strawberry Filling Ingredients

1 cup of strawberries

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon gelatin

2-4 teaspoons hot water

To make the fantastic strawberry filling, slice the strawberries into small pieces and set them aside. In a separate bowl, combine the gelatin with hot water until it dissolves. Start with 2 teaspoons but if the gelatin starts to form into a solid mass make sure to add another tablespoon.

IMPORTANT TIP: Gelatin is not fun to work with. You might be thinking: But I loved Jello as a kid or maybe even today! Jello and gelatin are a little different. If your water is not HOT the gelatin will become a gooey solid. Gooey solids do not mix into anything well!

Mix the strawberries into the gelatin-water mix. Then stir in the sugar. The filling should be able to move as a liquid. If the filling begins to gel make sure to mix it again. Put the filling in the refrigerator until you are ready to stuff your cupcakes.

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

One square of melting chocolate

Mix together the whipping cream, vanilla extract, and sugar. Beat on high until the mixture becomes fluffy and peaks form. Chill for about 10-15 minutes and then frost your cupcakes. Melt the chocolate (about one square of melting chocolate) and drizzle over the top of the cupcakes. Top your cupcake with a whole strawberry (make sure to wash them first).

Tips!

In order to melt chocolate you can either use a double boiler or your microwave. I prefer the microwave personally because I think its time-saving. When melting chocolate in the microwave start at 30 seconds. After that put the chocolate in for intervals of 15 seconds, mixing in between each interval. This will help you successfully melt your chocolate without burning it.

To drizzle chocolate over a cupcake, place an individual cupcake on a surface you don’t mind getting dirty. I use a butter knife to create a drizzled effect by placing the end of the knife in the chocolate and then swinging it back and forth over the cupcake.

Lemoney-Snickitty Blueberry Cupcake

So last night I had a fantastic pineapple sorbet for dessert, but what is dessert without a cupcake! I found only a few lemons, cream cheese, and blueberries in the refrigerator, and not wanting to bake just any old cupcake I had to come up with something different. That's when it came to me... a lemon blueberry cupcake with lemon cream cheese frosting! I added 2 cups of blueberries to my batter but feel free to add less if you would like. I was so excited but when I pulled my cupcakes out of the oven, to my dismay the cupcake had risen flat. In most cases the cupcake didn't even fill the muffin tin! With a little googling I found that some cupcakes are so heavy (i.e., blueberries, lemon, butter, etc.) that they do not rise as successfully as other fluffier batter. So here is my Tip of the Day: with these cupcakes make sure to fill the muffin cups almost completely to the top to make a perfect Lemoney-Snickitty Blueberry Cupcake that just might make you pucker! Happy baking!

Lemoney-Snickitty Blueberry Cupcake

Cupcake Ingredients Yields: 12 cupcakes

1 cup sugar

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (and about 2 tablespoons for the blueberries)

1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder

½ cup milk

3 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh squeezed suggested)

Zest of 1 lemon

1 ½ cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 12 regular-sized muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with cooking spray.

In a large bowl mix together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and lemon zest in a separate bowl. Once combined add to the butter-sugar mixture and beat until combined. Stir in milk until completely combined.

In a separate bowl, toss the blueberries in the 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. Use a spoon to gently fold the berries into the cake batter. Pour the batter evenly in the muffin cups, filling each full. Bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick can be removed clean from the center of the cupcake.

Remove from oven and let cool. Frost with the lemon cream cheese frosting and top with fresh blueberries and a little lemon zest.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients (makes extra frosting)

11 oz. cream cheese (remove from the refrigerator for a few minutes before use)

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoon of lemon juice (fresh squeezed suggested)

Topping

Extra fresh blueberries

Lemon zest

Beat cream cheese and butter in a bowl for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Mix in the lemon juice and gradually beat in the powdered sugar until completely combined and smooth. Put the frosting in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Frost your cupcakes and top with a little lemon zest and fresh blueberries.

Little Monkey Cupcakes

Here is my first cupcake creation! The Little Monkey Cupcake is a spin-off of my mom's banana bread, one of my favorite foods as a kid. This is a fantastic combination of an original classic and a sweet treat. I hope you enjoy! :)

P.S. You can buy monkey muffin cups for a cute little addition to your cupcakes at Kroger!

Little Monkey Cupcake

Cupcake Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted

1 ½ cups mashed bananas

2 large eggs

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin cups or spray them with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate medium bowl, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and mix until well combined. Divide evenly into muffin cups, ¾ full.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. Once cool, top the cupcakes with maple frosting and a slice of banana.

Maple Frosting Ingredients

1 ¾ cups powdered sugar

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temperature

1 ½ tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, beat together all ingredients until smooth or about 4 minutes.

Topping

Sliced bananas tossed in lemon juice (to help the bananas from browning)

Tips:

If you plan on serving the cupcakes immediately and don’t think you will have any left over you can top the cupcake with a slice of banana dipped in chocolate. Melt chocolate and dip half of each banana into the chocolate. Lay each banana on a sheet of wax paper and then place it in the freeze. Wait until you are about to serve the cupcakes and then top them with a frozen chocolate banana. If you let the bananas sit for too long they will get mushy and brown.

If you choose not to freeze your bananas make sure to toss them in lemon juice. Slice the bananas and place them in a bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over the bananas and toss them in order to cover each banana. Make sure not to place the bananas in the refrigerator or a cold area because this will cause the bananas to brown faster.

Welcome!

Welcome to my cupcake adventure! My name is Kristyn Carmichael and I am currently a college student. Free from studying for the summer, I have spent most of my time working. The only problem is, what to do with my free time! I have always loved baking but never really had the time to experiment. On my day off I decided it would be a great idea to make a banana cupcake, just for fun. With a little imagination and a BIG mess "The Little Monkey Cupcake" was born! So here it is... Kristyn's Lil' Cupcakes. Through this blog I hope to share my creations with my friends, family, co-workers, and the World! I will post at least one, unique recipe every week, hopefully inspiring college students and bakers alike. I hope you enjoy a bite of my lil' cupcakes!