{Guest Post} Rainbow Cupcakes!

Hi Friends! Today I have a super special post for you! I'm so excited about it that I couldn't even wait til tonight to post it! I have a very special guest post for you today - let me introduce my lovely cousin Tracey. Tracey is an amazing mother of two kids who is a spectacular cook and baker! She has a heart of gold and is always there to help out her friends and family when they need it. I'm going to turn it over to Tracey to tell you all about how to make her super cool rainbow cupcakes!

Finding the perfect chocolate and vanilla cupcake recipe was starting to feel like a chore, until I looked in my Canadian living baking cookbook.  This is my go to recipe for a good tasting cupcake and it’s a big bonus that it is really moist as well.  These cupcakes freeze really well if you are in a big rush just put them in a good freezable container.  Take them out about 3-4 hours before you need them, that is plenty of time for them to thaw.



 Chocolate Cupcakes:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 ½ cups buttermilk

Prepare two 12 cup muffin pans by lining with paper liners or spraying with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy; beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. In a separate bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Make three additions of dry ingredients and two of buttermilk. Pour into prepared cupcake trays and bake in the centre of 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes or until cake tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

Vanilla cupcakes:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 2/3 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 ¼ cups buttermilk

Prepare two 12 cup muffin pans by lining with paper liners or spraying with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each; beat in vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture alternately with buttermilk. Make three additions of dry and two of buttermilk. Pour into prepared cupcake trays and bake in the centre of 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes or until cake tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

Vanilla buttercream icing:


I love this icing because it is easy to make but it is also tastes really good. Not too much butter and not too much sugar either. It is a very thick icing so it is a great one if you are going to do a lot of piping. If you are not wanting it as thick you can add a little more whipped cream, although I haven’t tried this.

• 1 cup butter softened
• 5 cups icing sugar
• ½ cup whipping cream
• ½ tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar and cream, making 2 additions of sugar. Beat in vanilla. You can also make the icing the day before but take it out at least one hour before you want to use it and make sure you whip it up before using. To make the rainbow colors I used gel food coloring available at Walmart and most baking supply stores. I slowly added the color and kept mixing until I got the vibrant colors that I wanted. You can assemble them as pictured below to create a rainbow shape on a cake board, or just leave them as is.

Thanks so much for preparing this great post and sharing your recipes Tracey! I hope you all enjoyed this post as much as I did! Happy Baking my Friends!

Truffle Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes are obscenely good... like unbelievably good. I will pause to let you drool over the pictures for a moment. Honestly, these pictures make these cupcakes look good, but they taste even better than they look!!! You must try them. Do it on a weekend or a day off when you have a bit of time, but make them! They're soooo good. Your peeps will be impressed that you even made the truffle thats all melty and delicious in the middle of the cupcake!

 The reason I ended up making this recipe is because my friend D who has the same Anna Olson cookbook as I do, made these a while back and raved about how good they were. Well, I was flipping through my cookbook this weekend and saw this recipe and was reminded that I needed to try this recipe out. So, I went out to the store and bought the chocolate and cream I would need for this recipe. Everything else was already in my baking cupboard! Can you tell I like recipes with basic ingredients?!

Truffle Filled Chocolate Cupcakes
Recipe minimally adapted from Back to Baking by Anna Olson

Ingredients:

Truffles:

• 6 tbsp whipping cream
• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Cupcakes:

• 2 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/3 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup + 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Frosting:

• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups icing sugar

Method:

1. To prepare the truffles, heat the cream to a simmer and pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a minute, then gently whisk to blend. Chill this mixture until set, about 2 hours. Spoon this ganache into 20 truffles, shaping them between your hands into 3/4 inch balls. Chill the truffles until ready to use.
2. Preheat the oven to 375F and line 20 muffin cups with paper liners.
3. For the cupcakes, melt the chocolate and butter together in a medium saucepan, stirring over low heat. Then stir in 2/3 cup of the brown sugar and 1/3 cup of the milk. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Pour this mixture into a bowl, whisk in remaining 2/3 cup of brown sugar, and cool to room temperature. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the chocolate mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the remaining 1/2 cup of milk, starting and ending with the four, and whisking well after each addition (the batter will be quite fluid). Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling to halfway.
5. Gently place a truffle in the centre of each cupcake - do not press it in, as it will settle and become completely enveloped by the batter as it bakes. Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when gently pressed. Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.
6. For the frosting, stir the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Transfer this to the bowl of a stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, mix in the sour cream and the vanilla. Beat in the icing sugar until mixture is smooth and spreadable. Spread or pipe the frosting onto each cupcake. The cupcakes should be stored at room temperature in an airtight container and will keep for up to two days. Do not refrigerate.

So, these are a little bit of work, but they are so totally worth the effort. They are decadent and delicious. And if you wish to skip a step, these cupcakes are also delicious with just a fine dusting of powdered sugar instead. The truffle in the middle makes them rich enough and moist enough on their own. :)

This post has been linked up with Fusion Fridays over at Jennifer Cooks. Head on over there to check out some of the great things other bloggers have made this week. :)

This post has also been linked up with the Recipe Party over at the Sweet Spot! Check it out for some great recipes bloggers have posted this week.
Happy Baking my Friends! Here is to having something sweet to start the week. :)