Our first attempt at cupcaking was somewhat of a success.  Cupcake were made I should say.  we made for different recipes from a cook book I had at home.  Overall the cupcakes were good, however there were none that I felt were "Oh my God" spectacular cupcakes.  Good frosting possibilities however!

This is what we made:
White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cupcakes
1 C sweet butter, softened
1 C superfine sugar
2 C self rising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C white chocolate chips

Frosting:
1 C white chocolate chips
5 T milk
1 1/2 C confectioners sugar, sifted
3 T chopped, macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place 18 muffin cups in muffin pans.  Combine cake ingredients, except for chocolate chips, in large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Spoon batter into the cups.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove pans from the oven and cool for five minutes.  Then remove cupcakes and cool on rack.  to make the frosting, melt the chocolate and milk in a double boiler, stirring frequently.  Remove from the heat and beat the confectioner's sugar until smooth.  Spread over the cupcakes and sprinkle with nuts.  Store in container for 2 days.  Makes 1 1/2 dozen.

Comments:
Not a bad recipe however the cupcake itself was a bit dry.  Maybe could have done with about 2-3 minutes less baking time.  I had some issue with the frosting being a bit runny, so I had to add some additional powdered sugar.  Tasted pretty good though.

Key Lime Cupcakes
1 C sweet butter, softened
1 C superfine sugar
2 C self rising flour
4 eggs
1 t vanilla extract

Filling:
1/3 C key lime juice
14oz can sweetened condensed milk

Frosting:
3 egg whites
1/4 t cream of tartar
1/3 granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place 18 paper cups in muffin pans.  Place all the cupcake ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Spoon the batter into the cups.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove pans from the oven and cool for five minutes.  Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.
For the filling, combine the key lime juice and condensed milk in a small bowl.  remove the top of each cupcake and hollow out a small hole.  Spoon the filling into the hole and replace the top.  For the meringue, beat the eggs and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.  Add one third of the sugar and beat for 1 minute.  Repeat until all the sugar has been added.  Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees.  spoon or pipe the meringue on top of the cupcakes.  Bake for 5 minutes until golden.  Store for no more than 1 day in airtight container.

Comments:
Once again, this recipe tasted pretty good!  Baking time could have been reduced by a couple of minutes for both the cakes and the browning of the meringue.  The cake itself was again a bit dry.  However with a few tweaks I would definitely make this one again!

Mini Expresso Cupcakes
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 C malted milk powder
1/4 C dark espresso coffee
1 C superfine sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C sweet butter, softened
Frosting:
1 C sweet butter, softened
3 C confectioner's sugar, sifted
1 T instant coffee granules
2 t hot coffee
1 t vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place 18 paper cups in espresso cups or mini muffin pans.  Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.  combine the milk powder and coffee in a small bowl.  Beat the sugar, eggs and butter in a medium bowl until light and creamy.  Add the flour and coffee mixtures alternately to the egg mixture.  Spoon the mixture into cups.  Bake for fifteen minutes.  Remove cups from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Then remove the cupcake to cool on a rack.
To make the frosting, beat the butter and confectioners sugar in a bowl until soft and creamy.  Add the coffee granules to the hot coffee and stir.  Beat into the butter and sugar mixture, and then stir in the vanilla.  Spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.  Store unfrosted for up to 2 days in airtight container, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Comments:
VERY RICH!  Warning: You must like coffee to enjoy these.  My daughter thought they were phenomenal however I was like "caffeine, coffee, overload".  Ache!  Although very tasty, she did make the comment that the batter look like 'poop'.  HAHA!  We also learned the importance of not overfilling the muffin cups!

Pop Rocks Cupcakes
1 C sweet butter, softened
1 C superfine sugar
2 C self rising flour
1 t baking powder
4 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
Frosting:
1/2 C sweet butter, softened
2 C confectioners sugar, sifted
1 t vanilla extract
2 sachets fruit flavored pop rocks

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place 18 paper cups in muffin pans.  Combine all cupcake ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and pale, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Spoon the batter into the cups.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove pans fro the oven and cool for five minutes.  Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.  To make the frosting, cream the butter, confectioners sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth.  Smear onto the cupcakes and sprinkle with pop rocks candy.  Store unfrosted in an airtight container for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Comments:  This one was REALLY yummy and would be great for a birthday party.  Very fun when the pop rocks start popping as you are eating the cupcake.  Maybe 2-3 minutes less baking time once again!

Thank you all for reading up!  Hope you enjoy and we will be back for more next week.  I am going to attempt to add picture to this blog as well! :)