MSC: Orange Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Candied Oranges

It has been a long time since I baked in the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club, but when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it.  It required two things that I have never worked with before -- candying citrus and vanilla beans.  For some reason, I have always had a fear of vanilla beans, but they are much less scary than I thought!  I don't know if I got all the seeds out, but it was not that hard to slit it and scrape the seeds out (and I put the rest of the pod into some vodka and am making homemade vanilla extract, which I will post about in a month when it is done).  Now, for candying citrus.  All you do is make some simple syrup (water and sugar) and float the orange slices in it and 20-30 minutes later -- candied orange slices.  I haven't tried to eat one, but they smelled so delicious that I am sure they will be good.


I joined this baking group both to try new baking skills and also to try my hand at some decorating.  These candied orange slices are so pretty and so easy and I am glad I learned this trick for decorating future baked goods.  If you want your house to smell amazing, I would highly recommend baking these cupcakes.  The combination of the orange and the strong vanilla bean was heavenly!  Thanks to Jamie from Cookin' with Moxie for a choice that allowed me to expand my baking horizons!  

MSC Club: Raspberry Swirl Cheesecakes

These almost didn't happen (I realize this is often a theme with baking groups).  In fact, I made them yesterday morning beginning at 6:30am.  Often, if I have all the ingredients, I feel guilty not baking, especially if one of my fellow bakers is hosting.


Anyway, this month's selection for Martha Stewart's Cupcake club was raspberry swirl cheesecakes.  The last mini cheesecakes we made for this club, the oreo ones, were so delicious, that I knew these would be good too.  They were easy to put together -- graham cracker crust, quick cheesecake batter and raspberry puree swirled in before they went in the oven.  However, this was a case of read the whole recipe before starting because I learned that they have to be baked in a water bath.  I don't have a roasting pan big enough for my cupcake tins, so I lowered the temperature and baked them without the water.  They puffed up beautifully, but once they started to cool, the majorly sunk, which I assume was related to my baking method.


I haven't had a chance to try them yet, but I assume they are delicious.  Cheesecake and raspberry -- what could be bad about that?  Many thanks to Gem of Cupcake Crazy Gem for hosting.  Check out the MSC website for all the other bakers.

MSC Club: Mint (and Caramel) Filled Brownie Cupcakes

Martha Stewart Cupcake Club is back...on this blog anyway.  I have been absent for the last couple of months, but when Rachel of Simple Girl posted a chance for people to pick new flavors, I jumped on it.  I really enjoy being part of baking groups and I wanted to get back connected to this one, so I got to make a pick.  

I chose Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes from page 122-123 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.  I really like a cupcake where there is a little surprise in the middle and I have had my eye on these for a while.  While I was in the store buying peppermint patties, I saw rolos and thought that they would also go well in the cupcakes.  My little one and I had a great time making these together.  These are a great pre-school baking project.  We mixed the batter and he had a great time pressing the candy into the cupcake tins.  We made half with peppermint patties and half with rolos and I enjoyed both.  

The mint ones infused the brownies withe a nice mint flavor throughout and the caramel ones had nice caramel chunks studded throughout (I used two rolos, but I think I would use three in the future).  The brownies had a nice texture, between fudgy and caky and were definitely chocolatey.  

I hope everyone enjoyed baking along with me.  I look forward to seeing how everyone else's turned out.  I am looking forward to next month's raspberry swirl cheesecake.

MSC Club July Bonus: Red, White and Blue Cupcakes

This month's bonus assignment for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club was to do 4th of July cupcakes, either just like the ones in the cookbook or inspired by them.  I decided to go the "inspired" route and create red, white and blue cupcakes.  The beauty of these cupcakes is that on the outside they look normal, but on the inside...red, white and blue surprise!


I know these look complicated, but they are actually pretty easy to make.  I made one recipe of Dorie's Perfect Party Cake (sorry Martha) and then divided it into three bowls.  I tinted one bowl red, one bowl blue and left the other one white.  You really need a white cake as a base, not yellow.  Then you spoon in some of the red batter, until the bottom is covered.  Then, put some white batter right on top of that and some blue batter after that.  It should form concentric circles, not layers.  Then, bake away and frost as you wish.  These baked for 20 minutes, but you should keep checking on them to make sure they don't burn.  I got 19 cupcakes out of a recipe for a 2 layer cake.  


I used cream cheese frosting and colored sugar to decorate these, but you could use berries, food coloring, flags or whatever you would like.  I think they look very cute and very patriotic.  Happy 4th of July!

MSC Club May: Tiramisu Cupcakes

I'm back with the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club.  After taking the last few months off (there was a lot going on around the 15th of March and April, with Jewish holidays), I'm back and I'm really glad it is for tiramisu cupcakes.  I love, love, love tiramisu.  Whenever I am in a good Italian restaurant, I will usually order it for dessert.  I have never actually made tiramisu at home, although I have heard it is not so hard, but I have made Dorie's Tiramisu Cake (amazing -- you should totally try it!) and now these cupcakes.

The recipe for these looks really complicated, but they were much easier to put together than it would seem from reading the recipe.  I made 1/3 of the recipe and got 5 cupcakes. I made the frosting and the coffe syrup (minus the marsala wine) this morning.  As you can see in the cupcake cross section, I didn't let the syrup sink in enough.  As a result, the coffee flavor was really concentrated in the top of cake.  The frosting was delicious -- very light, with a little something extra from the mascarpone cheese.  Theses tasted a lot like tiramisu, and I think they would have been even better if I let the syrup sink into the cupcakes.  I may try one in a few hours and see if it made any difference.  Thanks to Jen at The Rookie Baker for the great pick!

MSC: Chocolate Chip Cupcakes (My Pick!)

Yay!  This month Martha Stewart's Cupcake Club pick is mine!  I am super excited about this (in case you couldn't tell) because, while I have enjoyed making all the different cupcakes, sometimes it is fun to make something I choose myself.  And obviously, if I was going to choose something, it was going to be chocolate.  

Anyway, enough about that.  Welcome to the Baking Sisters if you are visiting us for the first time.  We hope you'll stay, look around and read some posts by Sarah, who is really the funniest of the Baking Sisters.  I also hope that, if you baked along with me, you enjoyed these cupcakes.  I tried to pick something that would be delicious, but not to difficult to make.  These cupcakes really fit the bill.  They were light and fluffy (from the addition of whipped egg whites) and had little bursts of chocolate from the chips.

The only thing I didn't love about these was the frosting.  Even though I reduced the butter, I still thought it was too buttery and heavy in comparison to the lightness of the cupcakes.  I think I would either do these with a chocolate glaze or a lighter chocolate frosting.

You can find the recipe here, with chocolate chip frosting.  Maybe I'll have to try that next time.

Thanks so much for baking along with me!  I have had a fantastic time being part of this group and getting to see everyone's blogs and I look forward to making more yummy treats with all of you in the coming months.

MSC: Black Forest Cupcakes

Martha Stewart Cupcake Club is back (at least for me).  After taking last month off, I bring you Black Forest Cupcakes, chosen by Janine at Janine's Crazy World.  When I think of Black Forest Cake, I think of chocolate, cherries and whipped cream.  These had pastry cream instead of the whipped cream.  I was a bit apprehensive about making these cupcakes because I am not a huge fan of Black Forst Cake, but I thought the replacement of pastry cream for whipped cream was really great and I ended up enjoying these.  Don't they look like ice cream sundaes?

These were easier to put together than they looked.  The cupcakes were pretty standard and both the pastry cream and the ganache were straightforward.  I always seem to cook pastry cream about 30 seconds past done and then it gets lumpy, but it didn't matter in this case, since the pastry cream was not the star. I know pastry cream seems scary, but if you follow the directions and watch closely, it is not too bad.  I used flour as a thickener because I didn't have corn starch and it was a totally fine substitute.  The ratio is about 2 tablespoons flour for every 1 tablespoon the recipe called for.  I didn't make any other changes, except that I didn't have cherry liquor, so I just left it out.

I quartered the recipe and got 7 cupcakes.  I didn't turn them all into black forest because there was really no one around to eat such huge cupcakes.  These are something I would make for an event, but they are not exactly your "I think I'll whip up some cupcakes today" cupcakes.  They are more involved than that.  Also, these are best the day they are put together, even though you can make the parts in advance.

Thanks to Janine for a great pick!  The recipe is here.  Next month is my pick, so tune in!

**This blog is going up on the 14th because we don't put up posts on Shabbat.  I look forward to commenting on everyone's blogs on Sunday.**

MSC November: Marshmallow Turkey Cupcakes

Double post day!  It is Martha Stewart Cupcake posting day for November and National Bundt Day, and I am posting in support of Mary the Food Librarian and her quest to make 30 bundts in 30 days.  You can see that post here.  But on to the cupcakes...


When I saw that these cupcakes were the selection for November, I groaned inwardly.  You see, these cupcakes combine many elements that I am not that interested in... coconut, gummy fish and marshmallows (which are fine, but hard to find kosher).  As readers of this blog know, coconut is up there with foods that I really do not enjoy, so when I read that these cupcakes were covered in coconut and involved coconut covered marshmallows (hard to find kosher when its not Passover), I debated not making them.


But, now I have to thank Rachel at Simple Girl, because these cupcakes were really fun to make.  I joined this club because I love cupcakes, but I also enjoy learning new decorating techniques and it was a fun activity to make the turkeys.  I'm not sure how much they actually look like a turkey, but I think they are kind of cute anyway.


I made a few changes to this recipe.  First, I made 1/4 of the One Bowl Chocolate cupcake recipe and got 4 cupcakes, which was prefect because I had no where to bring these.  Second, I could not find coconut covered marshmallows, so I just used orange ones.  I did not use sprinkles for the eyes and instead I used dots of black food coloring.  Finally, 10 minutes was way to long to toast the coconut (burned the first batch and almost burned this one too).  I think I would do a much shorter amount of time, maybe 4 minutes.


You can find the recipe here.

MSC October: Snickerdoodle Cupcakes or Yay for Cinnamon

I love cinnamon, so I was super excited to make these snickerdoodle cupcakes.  Katie from Katiecakes picked these cupcakes for October for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club.  I really liked these cupcakes.  The only issue I had with them is that I had no cake flour, so I had to make a substitution, which made the cupcakes slightly gummy, but they still had good flavor.

I served these cupcakes two different times (I intended to make half the recipe, but forgot when I went to cream the butter).  One time, I used Martha's fluffy white frosting, sprinkled with cinnamon.  I served them on Sukkot and they were a hit with everyone in our very first sukkah.

Then, I put unfrosted cupcakes in the freezer, figuring I would deal with them before the October 15th posting date.  And then, we went to New York for an amazing wedding -- the bride is like our 4th sister -- and when I got back on Monday, I realized it was time for single-mommydom, which is not great for baking.  However, the other day I was finally able to whip up a new frosting.  This time, I decided to make cinnamon, to compliment the cinnamon flavor in the cupcakes. I'm sure there is a recipe out there somewhere, but I just made the fluffy white frosting and tossed in a bunch of cinnamon until it tasted right.  I really liked the way the cinnamon frosting tasted.  I also experimented with piping.  I haven't gotten it exactly right yet, but I'm working on it.

We took the cupcakes to our friends Mike and Kim's house, since they just had a new baby.  We had a yummy (but meat) dinner, so I didn't get to taste the cupcakes, but hopefully everyone there enjoyed them.

You can find the cupcake recipe here, on Martha's website.

MSC September: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes that Almost Didn't Get Made

Imagine for a moment that you just started a new job, and it is at a synagogue, and Rosh Hashanah is 2 days after Labor Day, and the kick-off for the religious school you are running is one day before Rosh Hashanah.  As you can probably imagine, I was super busy and didn't have a lot of baking time.

Then, I saw that this month's Martha Stewart Cupcake Club selection, by Nina from Nina's Cupcakes, was cookies and cream cupcakes -- also known as oreo cheesecakes with oreo cookie crusts.  Yummy.  And, they seemed fairly easy.  I decided I would take some of these to my office and give some to my friend Mike for his birthday.

We had to work on Labor day this year because of the holidays and the start of school, so I thought these would be a nice treat, even if it didn't totally make up for being in the office on a holiday.  The people in my office don't often eat that much.  They eat lunch and everything, but cookies and other baked goods don't seem to hold the same allure as they did in my husband's office.  I thought I would have a bunch left over and would drive them to Mike after work on Labor Day.

The best laid plans...these were devoured in an instant.  There were none left for Mike (sorry Mike!).  I guess people liked these cupcakes a lot.  They weren't too heavy, even for cheesecake and the oreos stayed pretty crunchy on the bottom, which was a nice contrast.  Nina, thanks for the great pick and the people in my office thank you too!

You can find the recipe in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. 

MSC August: Triple Citrus Cupcakes

Welcome to the August edition of the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club, featuring Triple Citrus Cupcakes.  Marthe, of Culinary Delights, chose these cupcakes, which seem just the thing for hot weather (not that we are having any in LA these days, but in theory).  They were tart, with a delicious glaze and you really tasted the orange, lemon and lime.

These cupcakes are a snap to make, especially if you have a micro-plane zester.  As we all know, Sarah loves zesting, so these are perfect cupcakes for her, and anyone else who enjoys that activity.  The one change I made to this recipe was to rub together the sugar and the zest before creaming them into the butter (a trick learned from Dorie Greenspan), which I think added to the flavor.

These had a really good citrus flavor.  I found them to be more like muffins than cupcakes, especially without the glaze, so I think you could be justified in eating them for breakfast.  I made the glaze with less sugar than Martha suggests and they were really tart with the glaze on, but in a good way.  I made lime flavored glaze, but you could make lemon or orange and I think it would be delicious.  I would definitely make these again and may try grapefruit too!

Thanks Marthe for the great pick.  You can find the recipe in Martha Stewart Cupcakes or here.

MSC: Flourless Chocolate Cupakes

Can I just say that I love being part of a baking group?  Although I wish I could commit to something like Tuesdays with Dorie, I just can't make that kind of commitment to bake every week.  That is why I love the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club.  You only make one per month, but you get to see lots of new blogs and, best of all, I get to try things I might not have otherwise.

That is the case with this month's cupcakes, chosen by Lauryn of Bella Baker.  Her blog is really cute and she makes such beautiful stuff.  She chose flourless chocolate cupcakes, which I probably would never have made if it were not for this group.  I have made numerous flourless chocolate cakes before, especially during Passover, and they have all be fine, but nothing special.

Let me tell you, these were special.  These were so good.  They were rich and chocolately, but just the right size to eat without being overwhelmingly rich.  I think these would be just as good parve and they are totally Kosher for Passover, so I will be adding them to my list of Passover desserts.

These were not very hard to make, although folding in egg whites can be tricky. My only advice is to be gentle and don't worry if there are a few streaks of white in your batter.  My cupcakes pulled away from the wrapper as they baked, but it was not a big deal.  I would just plan not to serve them in the wrappers.

Martha suggests serving these with ice cream, which I didn't have, so I used whipped cream instead.  They were very good with the whipped cream and I liked the contrast of the light cream with the rich cake.  I guess this wouldn't work if you wanted to make them parve, but you could probably use raspberry sorbet and it would be delicious.

Thanks Lauryn!  This was a great pick and I am excited to make them again.

MSC: Strawberry Cupcakes and I'm In!

I know you have all been waiting a long time for this day -- I am in the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club!  Check it out!  This week, Sherry of Sherry Starts Cooking chose Strawberry Cupcakes from pages 146-147 of the book.  Last month, I said I thought the cupcakes were getting better and better and these cupcakes continued the trend.  These were delicious.  I brought them to my son's second birthday party and they got rave reviews, which was very nice.  I also got to try one and thought it was delicious, even after sitting out in the 110 degree heat (a record) and then being refrigerated again.  I bet they would be even better fresh.

These cupcakes were pretty easy to put together.  I halved the recipe, which meant using 1.5 eggs and .5 egg whites, but that was not too difficult.  The best part about them was that you fold fresh strawberries into the batter right before you bake them and it gives you a special surprise when you bite into them.

Martha's recipe calls for strawberry swiss meringue buttercream which, in the introduction to the cupcakes she says calls for jam and in the actual recipe calls for fresh strawberries.  I decided to go for the fresh strawberries, but I didn't feel like putting them in the blender because I didn't feel like washing dishes, so I decided to chop them and fold them in.  

However, the fates were against me because our AC had broken that afternoon and it was over 100 degrees, even at night.  I made one recipe of the swiss meringue buttercream and it REALLY didn't work because it was so hot in the house.  I had to throw it out.  Trust me, it was disgusting.  So, I woke up very early the next morning when it was slightly cooler (like 85) and made Martha's fluffy vanilla frosting instead because I didn't feel like turning on the stove to cook the egg whites for the swiss meringue.  At the end, I dumped in some fresh chopped strawberries.  I was a little worried that the water in the strawberries would ruin the buttercream, but it worked out great and tasted delicious.

I highly, highly recommend these cupcakes.  They are delicious and are a great use of strawberries during the season.

MSC Club: Tres Leches Cupcakes

A quick note: This is going up a day early because the 15th is Shabbat and we don't post on Shabbat.  I will comment on everyone's blogs on Saturday night.

Another month, another entry in the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club.  I think these cupcakes get better each month -- I didn't like the first two I made very much, but they have steadily improved.  This month's cupcake was Tres Leches, which can be found on page 48 of the book.  They were chosen by Lisa of Smiley's Sweets and Creations.

Tres Leches means three milks in Spanish.  The three milks are evaporated, sweetened condensed and heavy cream, all of which are easy to find and are generally available kosher.  I made these just after Cinco de Mayo, which is a big deal here on the Mexican boarder and they seemed quite appropriate.  I didn't have high hopes for these cupcakes when I tasted the batter.  In fact, I have never tasted batter that tasted so much like...nothing.  However, these cupcakes get all their flavor after they are baked.  While the cupcakes are still hot, you brush the combination of the three milks over the cakes and it sinks in and gives them a delicious, moist flavor.  It takes a long time to brush all the milk onto the cupcakes, but in the end I thought they were really good and worth the effort.

Martha suggests sweetened whipped cream and a cinnamon garnish.  I think I would make the whipped cream just a little bit sweeter next time.  The cupcakes themselves weren't very sweet, so it would have been ok.

My husband took these with him to a party and they got good reviews (even from people who really know tres leches).  He also got to carry them in my nifty new cupcake carrier that I bought on Amazon.  It makes it so much easier to transport them without crushing the tops!  If you make a lot of cupcakes, I highly recommend this carrier.  It is very sturdy and holds up to 36 cupcakes.

One final note on the recipe.  Martha says that you get 20 cupcakes.  I got 24 and had batter left over.  I think I would have gotten close to 30, but 24 was more than enough and I only have two cupcake pans.

MSC: Regular Sized Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

If you read this blog, you know we have a fondness for hostess cupcakes and trying to recreate them.  This month for Martha Stewart Cupcake Club, Jess from Cookbook Habit chose Jumbo Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes, from page 133 of the book, and you can be sure I was excited to try them.  They helped me to continue my quest for the perfect hostess substitute.

Now, in many ways, I made this cupcake quite different from the one in the book.  First, I don't have a jumbo muffin pan, so I used a regular sized one.  I got 19 cupcakes (although I filled some of them too full, so I should have gotten more) and I baked them for 20 minutes.  They were a little dry, so I think 18 minutes would have been better.  However, the color is awesome.  The ones in the book are really light colored, but I used a very dark cocoa power and I love the color of the cupcakes.

Then, I didn't have any Marshmallow Fluff, which is the only kosher brand of Marshmallow Cream.  I just could not justify buying that huge container for such a small amount, so I used the recipe that Sarah used when she recreated hostess, minus the orange food coloring.  It was delicious and I did not miss the marshmallow flavor at all.  I also did not hollow out the bottoms, as Martha suggests, and instead just shoved a piping bag into the top of the cupcake.  I should have followed her directions though, because the filling to cake ratio was not right.  I wanted more filling, especially since the cupcakes were a bit dry.  I really enjoyed making the squiggles on these, and I think they came out pretty nicely.  I am loving my new piping bag.

Finally, Martha does not put any frosting on hers.  That was not an option for me.  First, I really like frosting.  Second, my cupcakes fell big time in the middle,  and I needed something to cover up their ugliness.  I used the chocolate ganache glaze I had left over from making the s'mores cupcakes and it worked really well.  It did not get too hard and I thought it added a nice flavor to the cupcakes.  I would definitely recommend a chocolate glaze on these.  It also adds to the moistness of them.

Overall, I really enjoyed these cupcakes.  I would like to try them again and bake them less, in order to increase the moisture, but I thought they had a really nice flavor.  I think I am getting closer to my hostess goal.

MSC: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

This month, for The Martha Stewart Cupcake Club, we made Lemon Meringue Cupcakes on page 142 of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.  This cupcake was chosen by Megan from My Baking Adventures.  Check out her blog -- she has some beautiful photos.

This was my favorite recipe from the book so far.  The cupcakes were light and fluffy (unlike many of the other ones I have made) and the lemon flavor is amazing!  As a bonus, these were a lot less work than I thought they would be, given that they had three parts.

First, they involved Sarah's favorite baking activity -- zesting a lemon.  It did not involve combining the sugar and the zest, but you can't have everything.  Second, these cupcakes involved buttermilk.  I love the flavor that buttermilk adds to baked goods -- it makes them so moist and it gives them a nice tang, which goes well with the lemon.   

The second component was the lemon curd.  It was very good and very lemony (although Dorie's lemon cream is still my favorite and would be awesome on these cupakes).  I didn't strain it at the end, and although it was a little lumpy, you didn't notice it in the cupcakes and I don't think I would take that extra step of dirtying up my strainer.

The third component was seven minute frosting.  Regular readers of this blog know that I destroyed my seven minute frosting on the coconut cupcakes, but this time it worked (it helped that I didn't add any extra liquid).  I followed the directions and it came out exactly right.  I thought it was perfect with these cupcakes.  I think actual meringue might have been to hard (crunchy) with the texture of the cupcakes.  I don't have a torch, so I didn't brown the frosting and it still tasted great.

Even though Martha said to serve these immediately, I ate one the next day and it was still good and fresh tasting.  Mmmm...you should make these if you enjoy lemon and lemon meringue.  Great pick Megan!