The 15th of the month always seems to sneak up on me. I was so excited to see these cupcakes as the April pick for MSC - thanks to Jen from Cookbook Habit! These cupcakes remind me of the classic Hostess cupcakes of my youth. I've seen variations of them on many blogs and always wanted to try them.
The cupcakes themselves weren't super chocolately... but I thought they were a nice compliment to the marshmallow filling. This was my first attempt at filling cupcakes - after the first couple I got the hang of it and it was pretty simple. Martha tells you to cut the cone shaped hole from the bottom - I've also seen it done from the top, which I think would be even easier. I added a simple chocolate ganache to make these more like the Hostess variety. The one thing I would change would be to use a regular buttercream or royal icing for the classic swirl on top. I used the marshmallow filling as suggested. They looked cute for about 10 minutes... then the marshmallow melted into a big blob on top of the cupcakes! Oh well, they still tasted good! I thought they were good chilled as well.
After missing the December MSC pick (Gingerbread cupcakes - yum!) I am back in action with January's cupcake - coconut. The cupcake itself has finely ground shredded coconut and coconut milk, while the frosting calls for coconut extract. I didn't have coconut milk or extract and we're on a little bit of a budget in the LITK household... so I used regular milk and added extra shredded coconut to the batter. I made a simple vanilla buttercream for the frosting and topped them with more shredded coconut. I only made 1/4 of the recipe and I got 12 mini cupcakes out of it. The cupcakes were really moist with a nice coconut flavor. Mr. LITK gave them a rave review -- he said these are the best cupcakes I've ever made! You just can't go wrong with Martha.
Thanks to Jen from Cinema Cupcakes for a great pick! You can find the recipe on pages 28-29 of Martha Stewart's Cucpakes. Up next month - s'mores cupcakes!
My second MSC post! MS Cupcakes Club is another online baking group where, once a month, we bake cupcakes from Martha Stewart's fabulous cupcake book. Last month was pumpkin cupcakes, and in keeping with the holiday theme, this month's selection is Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes.
Now I wouldn't normally associate sweet potatoes (as much as I love them) with cupcakes. But they made them really soft and moist, and added great flavor. The cupcakes are topped with mini marshmallows that have been "toasted" in the broiler. It was a little tough to get the mounds of marshmallows to stay together long enough to stick the pan in the broiler... and they certainly didn't take long to brown! I was afraid that once cooled the marshmallows would have a funny texture or would harden back up, but they stayed soft and gooey, and were a great addition to the cupcakes.
These would be great for Thanksgiving, or any fall party. Thanks to Karen from Karen's Cookies, Cakes & More for this month's selection!
The cupcakes themselves weren't super chocolately... but I thought they were a nice compliment to the marshmallow filling. This was my first attempt at filling cupcakes - after the first couple I got the hang of it and it was pretty simple. Martha tells you to cut the cone shaped hole from the bottom - I've also seen it done from the top, which I think would be even easier. I added a simple chocolate ganache to make these more like the Hostess variety. The one thing I would change would be to use a regular buttercream or royal icing for the classic swirl on top. I used the marshmallow filling as suggested. They looked cute for about 10 minutes... then the marshmallow melted into a big blob on top of the cupcakes! Oh well, they still tasted good! I thought they were good chilled as well.
