Cherry Pie in a Cupcake....cupcakes

Okay so my bestie came to visit shortly after the Christmas holiday.  Since her hubby was making me his most delicious jambalaya, in response I made them my Caramel Pretzel Cupcakes and the Cherry Pie ones.  I had been wanting to make the cherry pie ones for awhile but never got around to it.  The following is a little step by step on what I did and at the end the ingredients and recipe and such for making them.  They turned out really yummy!  I love cherries.  So this was right up my ally!

First you need some pie crust.  I bought the refrigerated brand because I didn't have time to make my own pie crust.  These work just as well if not better and there are two 9" rounds in the package.  You also will need a mini cupcake tin.  Cut circles out to fit the cavities in the tin.  I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup (in the background there - the silver thing) and using the hollow side, cut the rounds out.

Then place them in the tins - press them down and along the sides a bit.  I didn't use any butter or flour inside the tins as they always seem to come out without any issues.  I did this with the Pumpkin Pie in a Cupcake too.  You can "pull" the dough so it comes up higher on the tin if you want but I don't find it a necessary thing. Technically you are suppose to bake the crust first before filling it - I didn't do that.  I forgot.  It doesn't matter much but if you want to bake it first, pop them into a preheated oven at 400F and bake for about 5 - 10 minutes.  Keep an eye on it as the directions on the box is for a full 9" piece of dough and this isn't that.  ONWARD....

Anyhow, get yerself a can of cherry pie filling and fill the pie crusts - if you already baked the crusts - pop them back in the oven for about 5 minutes.  If not, NOW put them in a preheated oven at 400F and bake for about 5 - 10 minutes.  Again, keep an eye on them.  Each crust took about 4 cherries from the can plus some sauce.

Viola!  Mini cherry pies.  The one all the way to the top right I ate....oh yes I did.  And it were yummy!  * I used a small icing spatula to pop them out of the tin.  DO NOT turn the tin over and let them fall out.  This does not work in your favor.  Use a spoon or something to get them out.  They should come out really easy.  However, like in my case, I had two or three where the filling bubbled over and stuck to the tin - you'll need to carefully cut it away from the tin with a knife.

Next, line the tins of a standard cupcake tin with liners.  Mix your batter (I used simple vanilla because vanilla and cherry I think go hand in hand) and place about 1 - 2 teaspoons in the bottom of each liner just to coat it.

Carefully place a mini cherry pie in each batter filled liner and press down just a bit.

I use an ice cream scoop but you can use what you want.  But fill the cupcake liners making sure the pies are covered.  Remember that this batter is going to rise a bit so don't over fill the liners, like I did in two (it just creates a flat top on the cupcake that you may or may not have to cut away when done).

Place in an oven at 350F and bake for 22 minutes.  Mine actually required 28 minutes but I've been told ovens may vary.  So just keep an eye on them.  An inserted toothpick at the end that comes out clean means they are done.

Here is one of the finished cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream and cherry pie filling.

And here is the inside!

You can substitute the cherry for apple, blueberry, peach...whatever.  The instructions would be the same for each.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients

1 box vanilla cake batter

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 tblspn vinegar added to 1 cup whole milk - let sit for 5 minutes)

Mix all ingredients together.

1 box refrigerated pie crusts

1 can pie filling (cherry, apple, blueberry whichever)

Following steps above for making the mini pies

Buttercream

1 cup plus 2 tblspn sugar

5 egg whites

1 1/4 tspn vanilla extract

4 sticks unsalted butter

Place sugar and egg whites in bowl from mixer and over boiling water, whisk until sugar is dissolved (don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water or it will cook).

With whisk attachment, whisk sugared egg whites until bottom of bowl is cool to touch.  Add butter by tablespoon to the mixer.  Once butter is fully incorporated, add vanilla.

Remove whisk attachment and add paddle.  Mix on medium-high until buttercream thickens.

Then pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

Milano Melts Cupcakes

Chocolate.....just saying the word invokes a euphoria....although I have many favorite cookies, milanos have been on my list for a very long time.  Sooooo when Pepperidge Farm came out with Milano Melts....I thought I'd died.  Crunchy yummy cookie with melted chocolate inside....I find myself licking the inside more than just eating the cookie sometimes.

So of course I couldn't resist a Milano Melts Cupcake.

This is a simple vanilla cupcake, with a chocolate ganache center and a swirled chocolate and vanilla buttercream topped with a milano melt cookie.

Mmmmmmmmmmm............

The recipe is below!  Have fun!

Milano Melts Cupcakes

makes 2 dozen

Cupcake Ingredients

3 cups cake flour

1  1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2  1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1  1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

2  1/4 cups sugar

5 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature

2 cups buttermilk, room temp

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

24 milano melts cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 24 cupcake tins with liners.

Directions:

1. Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Reduce speed to medium.  Add whole eggs, one at a time.  Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.  Add yolks and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beat until combined.  Add vanilla.

3. Divid batter into cupcake liners.  Fill each about 2/3 full.  Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean - about  15 - 20 minutes.  Let cool before adding ganache and buttercream.

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients  (Do this first as it needs to sit in fridge)

6oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (I use Bakers Chocolate)

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Directions:

1. Over medium heat, cook heavy cream and corn syrup.

2. Place chocolate in heat proof bowl.  Once heavy cream comes to a boil, remove from stove and slowly pour over chocolate.  Stir until well incorporated and ganache starts to thicken.  Place in refridgerator until thick but stirrable.

3. Once the ganache has thickened and cupcakes are cool.  Cut a coned shape piece out of the center of each cupcake and spoon a tablespoon (or more, up to you) of the ganache in the middle.  Replace the piece that was cut out.

Swirled Swiss Meringue Buttercream Ingredients

5 egg whites

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1.  Place sugar and egg whites into a heat proof mixing bowl.  Set over a pan of simmiering water and whisk until sugar is dissolved.  Mixture will be smooth when rubbed between fingers.

2.  Whisk with whisk attachment on medium speed until egg whites form stiff but not dry peaks.  Add butter a little bit at a time until well incorporated.  Add vanilla.

3.  Replace with paddle attachment and mix on medium high.  Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing until frosting is smooth.  Takes about 5 minutes.

4.  Remove about 1/2 cup of buttercream from mixer and set aside.  Add 2 tablespoons of the chocolate ganache to the buttercream still in the mixing bowl and swirl with spoon.  Do not mix.  Add more buttercream if it starts to turn too chocolatey.  Add more chocolate by teaspoons if you need more swirl.

5. Place in piping bag and pipe onto cooled cupcake. 

Decorate cupcakes by placing a whole or half of a Milano Melts on top.  Variation:  chocolate cupcake, with chocolate buttercream and chocolate Milano Melts.

Enjoy with a cup of coffee or a nice glass of milk! :)

>> Short Cut - Box<<

1 box yellow cake or french vanilla cake mix

3 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup oil

Mix together and pour into liners.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Snickers Cupcakes

This one was a doozy.  Since it took some time to make all the components that make up the cupcake.  But OMG did they come out gooood!

As you can see my sister enjoyed them.  There wasn't a crumb left.

 The cupcake is a devil foods cupcake with a peanut nougat (handmade) and caramel cream center topped with a caramel cream buttercream and garnished with a nougat piece dipped in chocolate and crushed peanuts.  The taste a lot like a snickers bar I'll tell you!  I would, however, like to find a softer nougat.  So if anyone has any recipe recommendations I'm open!

This is my first candy bar cupcake.  I still want to make a Kit Kat, Milky Way (will reuse this caramel cream recipe it was awesome) and Rice Krispies Treat cupcakes.

Please share if you like!  These were although time consuming, fun to make!!

I'll have the recipe and instructions soon.  So join my blog and stay tuned!

Cherry Dr Pepper Cupcakes

Ok so this was on a wimb.  A friend on Facebook posted a status about needing to drink Dr Pepper to keep herself awake and I thought....hmmmm....cupcake.  But of course I couldn't do JUST Dr Pepper so I bought the cherry Dr Pepper. I am not a huge fan of Dr Pepper but I like the cherry one.

The cake is a dark chocolate cake infused with cherry Dr Pepper and topped with a cherry Dr Pepper buttercream and a cherry soaked in cherry Dr Pepper (overnight) and dipped in chocolate garnished with shaved dark chocolate.  Wow that's a mouthful.  The cake came out nice and airy and Dr Peppery.

The casualties of being OH SO YUMMY!

Below is the recipe for anyone who would like to make it.  I added the box short cut too.  The buttercream is a true swiss meringue (I make all my cupcakes with swiss meringue buttercream.  I very rarely deviate.) so if you want a simple confectioner's buttercream - I added that at the bottom too.   Enjoy!

BTW - the from scratch and meringue buttercream are very time consuming.  So if you want to make them quickly, use the box version and confectioner's sugar buttercream below.

Cherry Dr Pepper Cupcakes

Box version ingredients

1 box dark chocolate / fudge cake mix

1 box chocolate pudding (4oz)

3 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup canola oil  

1/2 cup cherry Dr Pepper

Mix all until well incorporated.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way and cook for 12 - 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Makes 18 cupcakes.

From scratch ingredients

1 cup unsweetend dark chocolate Dutch processed cocoa power

3/4 cup hot water

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tspn baking soda

1 tspn baking powder

1 1/4 tspn coarse salt

3 sticks unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cherry Dr Pepper

4 large eggs

1 tblspn plus 1 tspn vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  This recipe makes about 28 cupcakes.  Place cupcake liners in their tins.

Whisk cocoa and hot water together until smooth.  In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Set aside. 

Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir to combine.  Remove from heat and pour into your mixing bowl.  On medium-low speed, beat the mixture until it is cool - about 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time and until well incorporated.  Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.  Add vanilla, Dr Pepper and then the cocoa mix.  Beat until well combined.  Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in two batches alternating with the sour cream.  Beat until combined.

Divide batter and fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.  Bake 15 - 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool completely before adding buttercream.

Dr Pepper Buttercream (Swiss Meringue)

Ingredients

5 large egg whites

1 cup plus 2 tblspn sugar

4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature but still firm

1 tspn pure vanilla extract 

1/2 cup cherry Dr Pepper 

** Confectioner's Sugar Buttercream Ingredients

3 sticks unsalted butter

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1/2 tspn pure vanilla extract

between 1/4 & 1/2 cup Dr Pepper (more if you want but don't make the mixture too liquidy - add more confectioner's sugar if you over do it)   **

fresh or marischino cherries for garnish (as many as there are cupcakes)

8 oz dark chocolate for dipping

1 chocolate bar for curling chocolate pieces

Take cherries and place them in a container filled with Dr Pepper.  Leave them overnight to soak.

When ready, take the cherries out of the Dr Pepper soak and pat dry.  Take a small tray and line with wax paper.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave a little at a time (about 20 sec each) and stir until chocolate is dippable.  Using a fork, dip the cherries in chocolate and place on waxed lined tray.  Put in refrigerator until ready.

Place the bar of dark chocolate into the refrigerator as it will be easier to curl later.

Combine egg whites and sugar in mixing bowl.  Place over boiling water and whisk until the sugar dissolves.  The egg white and sugar mixture will be smooth and silky when rubbed between the fingers.  Add vanilla and Dr Pepper.

Place on mixer with whisk attachment at medium speed.  Mix until bottom of bowl is cool to the touch.  Add vanilla and Dr Pepper.  Add the butter in cubes until it is well incorporated.

Remove the whisk attachment and add the paddle attachment.  Mix on high for about 5 minutes or until mixture turns to buttercream (it will be liquidy for a moment but eventually will begin to look more like buttercream). Pipe or spread the buttercream onto the cupcakes.

** Confectioner's Sugar - cream butter until pale and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add confectioner's sugar 1/2 cup at a time alternating with Dr Pepper.  After each addition of confectioner's sugar - raise the mixer to high speed for 10 seconds, then reduce to low and continue.  Add vanilla and beat until smooth. Pipe or spread on cupcakes.**

Take the cherries and the bar of chocolate out of the refrigerator.  Using a vegetable peeler, scrape or curl the chocolate and then sprinkle on top of the cupcake.  Garnish with one chocolate covered cherry.

Enjoy!

Peach Cupcakes

Nothing fancy but something my father requested.  I had made these in mini form at the South Florida cupcake party and they got thrown out.  They weren't a hit but my father loved them.  I revised them a little and I'm sure they'd be more of a hit this time around.

This is a simple peach flavored cake with a peach mousse buttercream.  It's got a very nice peach taste that hits you the moment you put it in your mouth.  I didn't want to overdo the peach since some people don't like it.  The original was suppose to have a filling too but I like that this cupcake is simple.

Mardi Gras / King Cake Cupcakes

I've always wanted to do a Mardi Gras cupcake but over the years I forget by the chance Fat Tuesday rolls around.

NOT THIS YEAR!

I took a King Cake recipe and basically made my own cupcake.  This is a vanilla / cinnamon based cupcake with a vanilla / cinnamon buttercream.  

The cupcake is filled with a pecan, brown sugar, raisin and chocolate chip crumble mix.  I couldn't resist the chocolate chips. 

The top of the cake is dusted with disco dust and sugar sprinkles in yellow, green and purple.  I had another little decoration to add to the top but alas, as someone once said "Ur such a klutz ;)" I dropped the wax paper with the chocolate masks on it....sighs.  Oh well.  Maybe next year??  :D