Iron Cupcake: Earth - Coffee

Happy Family Day everyone!

Tomorrow will be a work day and you might need... Cocoa Coffee Cupcakes!

As you may already know, last December we joined Iron Cupcake: Earth (similar to Iron Chef, but with cupcakes) and this month's ingredient challenge is Coffee! Interestingly enough, we don't drink coffee on a regular basis (or wine, which is why we didn't do January's challenge). Maybe one or two times a year at the most! So we were planning on just buying coffee at Tim Horton's, but my mother said she could make us coffee. Sure enough, she had these lovely coffee beans that smelled great. She then grounded them up and filtered them for us. "Thanks mom!"

We've actually noticed a number of chocolate cake recipes that include coffee. So... why not right? Even if we're not huge fans of coffee, we love chocolate!

Perfect fit: Coffee filter and measuring cup!

Chocolate Butter Cupcakes
Recipe from Little Cakes from the Whimsical Bakehouse
(Makes about 20 regular cupcakes)

1/2 cup of hot coffee
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 cup of cold water
1 1/2 cups of cake flour
1 teaspoons of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and have all ingredients at room temperature. Also have your cupcake liners and pans ready.
2. In a bowl, mix the hot coffee and cocoa powder together - no lumps!
3. Whisk in the cold water.
4. In another bowl, sift the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
5. Using your electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Slowly add in the eggs and the pure vanilla extract.
7. Alternate the two bowls (coffee mixture and flour mixture) into the batter.
8. Mix until smooth. Then using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into your cupcake liners.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

We finally found a wholesale place that sold these cups in bulk! Needless to say, we picked up quite a few (the drive is semi-far). We think they look good, they stand for themselves, and they cater to different eaters. For example, at the pleats they can be easily pulled and eaten like regular cupcakes. Or you can take advantage of their sturdy cup form and eat the cupcake with a fork, spoon, or spork. Here, we show a step-by-step pulling of the pleated sides:

Chocolate Coffee Buttercream
(Makes enough to frost a dozen cupcakes and a few more.)

1 tablespoon of coffee
1/2 cup of chopped chocolate
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 stick of butter
2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1. Heat the cream over a double boiler until it bubbles. Mix in coffee.
2. Remove from heat, pour heated coffee and cream over the chocolate.
3. Let the mixture sit for about a minute and then whisk until smooth.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and confectioner's sugar until fluffy.
5. Slowly add in chocolate coffee mixture.
6. Mix until smooth and scoop into a piping bag.

This is what happens when we're low on frosting!


We haven't done a cross-section before, so here is our first photo of a cupcake half!


Yummy! I am bringing this to work!

You can vote for us HERE between March 1st to March 6th. The winner will receive these awesome prizes:

• Artwork from Etsy artist DIANAEVANS
• A pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
• Original artwork from Etsy artist CAKESPY by Jessie Oleson
• A variety of cupcaking supplies from SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY
• Head Chefs from FIESTA PRODUCTS
• HELLO, CUPCAKE, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
• an apron from JESSIE STEELE APRONS
• a cookbook from TASTE OF HOME
• a T-shirt from UP WITH CUPCAKES

Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers.
You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.

Vote for Iron Cupcake: Earth!

Hello and happy holidays!
As you may already know, we submitted our "Chocolate Fondue Cupcakes" for a contest, the 5th Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge, CHOCOLATE with a Twist!

VOTING is now open for December's Iron Cupcake: click HERE!

The voting poll is on the right-side column of this website.

Voting begins now and ends on January 2nd at 12 noon.

Each time you vote for us, we get an entry for the grand prize package draw.

To view our "Chocolate Fondue Cupcakes" entry again, click HERE.

Thank you! We look forward to the results of our first Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge! The winner will receive the following prize package:

• Artwork from Etsy artist BETTY TURBO
  
• Cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
• Artwork from Etsy artist CAKESPY by Jessie Oleson
• Cupcake pin cushions from SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY
• Head Chefs from FIESTA PRODUCTS
  
• HELLO, CUPCAKE, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
• Apron from JESSIE STEELE APRONS
• The CUPCAKE COURIER
• Cookbook from TASTE OF HOME

Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers.

You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.

Iron Cupcake: Earth - Chocolate with a Twist!

Happy holidays everyone! This season is all about sharing and giving, so we give you...

We recently joined Iron Cupcake: Earth (similar to Iron Chef, but with cupcakes) and this month's ingredient challenge is Chocolate with a Twist! So we did some thinking... so many possibilities with chocolate! So what is our chocolate twist? Instead of the usual application of chocolate ganache, we are doing chocolate fondue! So what are some of the most common item for chocolate fondue? Fruits, candies, strawberries, and pound cake! So for our Iron Cupcake entry, we made white chocolate pound cupcakes frosted with strawberry buttercream dipped in chocolate fondue.

Above image: Baking powder, butter & sour cream, cream cheese & vanilla extract, salt, white chocolate, and sugar & eggs. This collage was featured on foodgawker!

Above image: White chocolate pound cupcake, batter in cupcake liner, empty egg shell, and stack of white chocolate.

White Chocolate Pound Cake

Recipe adapted from The Whimsical Bakehouse

(Makes 8 cups of batter)

2 sticks of unsalted butter

8 ounces of cream cheese

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 tablespoons of sour cream

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

2 1/4 cupcakes of cake flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

8 ounces of melted white chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350F) and have all ingredients at room temperature.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and continue mixing at high speed. Add the sugar and mix until it is light and fluffy again.
3. Add the sour cream and the vanilla extract, mixing at medium speed.
4. Add the eggs one at a time ensuring that they are mixed well before the next addition.
5. In another bowl, mix the cake flour, baking powder, and salt togther. Then add the dry ingredients with the wet mixture. Mix on low until smooth.
6. Fold in the melted white chocolate. Pour into pan and bake the cupcakes for 25-30 minutes (I recommend baking them without the cupcake liners). Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes before removing them.

Above image: Strawberries ready to be made into buttercream. The strawberry photo was featured on Photograzing!

Strawberry Buttercream

(Makes about 2 cups)

1 stick of unsalted butter

2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

5-8 strawberries

1. Cream the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until well blended.
3. Dice up the strawberries and mix on high until the buttercream is smooth and light.

Above image: Heavy cream and chocolate, chocolate fondue, and fondue burner.

Chocolate Fondue

(Chocolate ganache)

1/2 cup of chopped milk chocolate

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1. Heat the cream over a double boiler until it bubbles.
2. Place chopped chocolate in fondue pot.
3. Pour heated cream over the chocolate.
4. Let the mixture sit for about a minute and then whisk until smooth.
5. Allow the mixture to cool and enjoy!
6. Light the fondue burner when the mixture becomes too thick for dipping.

You can vote for us HERE until January 2nd at 12 noon Central time.

The winner will receive these awesome prizes:

• Original artwork from Etsy artist BETTY TURBO
  
• A pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
• Original artwork from Etsy artist CAKESPY by Jessie Oleson
• Cupcake pin cushions by Moda Home from SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY
• Head Chefs from FIESTA PRODUCTS
  
• HELLO, CUPCAKE, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
• Apron from JESSIE STEELE APRONS
• The CUPCAKE COURIER
• Cookbook from TASTE OF HOME

Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers.

You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.