Baked: Devils Food Cupcakes with Angel Frosting

I have never managed to make it out to Baked Bakery in Brooklyn when I go to NY.  Apparently it’s quite the trek from Manhattan, and when you are only there a couple days, you know how it goes…  However my East Coast foodies assured me that this Bakery was something special.  A couple months ago I bought their second cookbook, Baked Explorations. 

I made these cupcakes for my bosses birthday and we named them Heaven and Hell Cupcakes since it combined a Devils Food Cake and Angel Frosting.  Sorry for the lack of pictures, I think I had made these really late at night and just wanted to crank them out!  

“Heaven and Hell Cupcakes”
adapted from Baked Explorations

Devils Food Cupcakes
1 oz. high quality chocolate (at least 65% cacao)
1/2 cup Valrhona cocoa powder
2/3 cup hot coffee
1/3 cup milk
1 1/3 cup AP flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 cubes
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract

1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line the cupcake tin with liners.  Place cocoa and chocolate in a heat proof bowl and pour the hot coffee over the mixture.  Whisk until combined and add in milk. *I made around 20 cupcakes with this recipe*

2.  In a second bowl sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. 

3.  In a third bowl beat butter and sugar on medium until fluffy.  Add in the eggs one at a time (while still beating) and add in vanilla.  Mix until ingredients are well combined.

4.  Slowly add in the flour mixture (in three parts), alternating with the chocolate coffee mixture.  (Begin and end with the flour mixture).

5.  Pour batter into cupcake liners and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until done.  Remove cupcakes from the oven and let them cool completely. 
 

Angel Frosting
5 egg whites, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

1.  In a medium sauce pan over low heat, combine 1 1/4 cup sugar, corn syrup and water.  Let the sugar dissolve and then increase the heat to medium-high. Clip on your candy thermometer and let the mixture get to almost soft ball stage.  *Don’t stir the mixture too much, you can just swirl the pot.  Soft ball stage is about 235 degrees- it should be marked on your thermometer.*

2.  While waiting for the mixture to reach soft ball stage, start whipping the egg whites in another bowl.  Whip the eggs on medium speed until soft peaks form.  *Whether you are using a mixer or hand held mixer, use your whisk attachment. *

3.  Once the mixture reaches soft ball stage remove it from heat.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup sugar over the egg whites and whip on low.  Slowly stream in the hot sugar syrup.  Once it has all been added increase the speed to medium high and beat the icing for approximately 7-8 minutes.  *Mixture should be thick and shiny*

4.  Add in the vanilla and beat again for another 10 seconds. 

Assembly

1.  Using a knife or apple corer, remove the core of the cupcake.  *The apple corer is so easy to do this with!* 

2.  Put the frosting in a piping bag and fill the cupcake center and frost the cupcake. 

This was seriously so delish!  The frosting was so light and airy, it was like a huge marshmallow was melting in my mouth.  Since this frosting is basically like a marshmallow, the frosting is best made the day that you are serving them.  I had frosted the cupcakes the night before and they still held up really well, if anything I think they may have deflated a little by the time that we ate them. 

My boss was super happy and touched that I made her cupcakes and frosting from scratch!  She is a great boss and mom and I was totally happy to do this small gesture for her.  I am one of those annoying few people that actually really enjoy what they do for work and don’t dread going back to work every Monday.  (Hate me – it’s ok)  My boss and co-workers play a large part in keeping me feeling that way, so even when I do have a day where I dream of retiring at 31 years old, they keep me coming back the next day with a smile on my face.  Thanks work peeps!    

Pretty Delicious, Blueberry Oat Muffins

Have you ever read a cookbook from cover to cover?  I had read a blurb about Candice Kumai's cookbook, Pretty Delicious a couple of weeks before it came out and headed over to her blog to check her out.  Nicknamed the Stiletto Chef, this former Top Chef contestant has the cutest style and has a quality about her that makes her so likable.  Her cookbook offers practical tips to cut calories and fat, great recipes and is jam packed with great information.

Trained at Le Cordon Blue, Candice puts her years of experience as a chef and a former fashion model together and presents food that is delicious, appealing and good for you!  The best thing about her book is she believes in good for you natural ingredients, some thing she called Food With Benefits (FWB).  Her recipes are kept lean without sugar substitutes, or crazy ingredients that you have to go to a speciality store for all made with a handful of ingredients (not a huge laundry list of stuff you'll only use once).  I wanted to try out one of her recipes ASAP (I leafed through the book every couple of days trying to decide which one), and if you like this one she has a couple more on her website too!!

Blueberry Oat Muffins
adapted from Pretty Delicious

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup quick oats
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp honey
1 cup frozen blueberries (or raspberries)

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line muffin tin with paper liners, or coat with baking spray. 

2.  Mix flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt together in a large bowl.  In another bowl mix eggs, applesauce and honey. 

3.  Stir the applesauce mixture into the flour mixture until incorporated. 

4.  Gently mix in berries.

5.  Bake for 20 minutes, rotating half way through, cooking until the muffins are golden brown.  Let cool for 20 minutes and transfer to wire rack to cool completely. 

Best of all her book comes with nutritional info!  These babies only have 180 calories per muffin, compare that to the lowfat options at Starbucks (380-420 calories).  I took them to work and everyone loved how moist and juicy they were, no one even knew that they were "healthy".  Most people were surprised that there was no butter or oil in the muffins as well.  I can't wait to try more of her recipes, on the list are Portobello Fries, Sesame-Ginger Chicken Strips, and one of her many Quinoa recipes!