Iron Cupcake: Earth - Summer Berries

Happy Father's Day!
Happy first day of summer!

Here we fused the two celebrations for our Iron Cupcake: Earth entry! This month's ingredient is Summer Berries! Me thinks you know which berry we picked:
Delicious, fresh, sweet red strawberries. We had tried strawberry buttercream for a previous Iron Cupcake challenge, so this time we decided to bake the strawberry in the cupcake!

Pineapple-Strawberry Upside-Down Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from John Barricelli and Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
(Makes about 24 regular cupcakes)

1 1/4 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of strawberry yogurt

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. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter, cut out rounds from pineapple slices. Then use a 1-inch cookie cutter to cut out a hole in the center of the pineapple.
   
3. Using the 1-inch cookie cutter again, cut out rounds from strawberry slices.
4. Place the cut fruits in a sieve to drain any juices.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat 2 tablespoons of butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Using a spoon, divide the mixture into your baking cups to create an even base. Set aside.
   
   
6. In a bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
   
   
7. Place the 2-inch pineapple round into your baking cup. Add the 1-inch strawberry round into the center.
   
   
8. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. Then on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in two parts. Add in the strawberry yogurt between the two flour mixtures.
   
   
9. Pour the cake mixture into your baking cups, on top of the pineapple and strawberry slices.
10. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. There may be lovely caramel bubbling out, this was a good sign for us that it was ready!
    
    
11. Let the cupcakes cool for a tiny bit, invert, and serve with vanilla ice cream! The perfect summer and Father's day treat!
    The pineapple-strawberry upside-down cupcake was so good! Loved this easy way to make caramel with the melted brown sugar base! The pineapple and strawberry combination was delicious and the cupcake was nice and fluffy. This fruity treat was great with or without the ice cream topping!
    

You can vote for us HERE between June 28th to July 6th. The winner will receive the awesome June Prize-Pack:

• A cupcake ID bracelet from Etsy artist INSANEJELLYFISH
• A groovy linocut piece from Etsy artist BLOCKHEAD PRESS
• A sweet surprise from SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY
• Artwork from Etsy artist CAKESPY
  
• Head Chefs from FIESTA PRODUCTS
• HELLO, CUPCAKE, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
• An apron from JESSIE STEELE APRONS
• Books 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.

Yummm! This was berry good!

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.