Baby Shower Cupcake Project and Melt in Your Mouth Sugar Cookies

The Mommy-to-Be loves chocolate, so I searched for a really good recipe.





















DARK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
Cooks Illustrated, “American Classics 2009”)(makes 12 cupcakes; do not double recipe…make two separate batches if you need more
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz) Dutch-processed cocoa
3/4 cup (3 3/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup (4 oz) sour cream

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-sized muffin pan (1/2 cup capacity) with baking-cup liners.
2. Combine butter, chocolate and cocoa in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate are melted and whisk until smooth and fully combined. Set aside to cool until just warm to touch.
3. Whisk flour, baking soda and baking powder in small bowl to combine
4. Whisk eggs in second medium bowl to combine; add sugar, vanilla and salt and whisk until fully incorporated. Add cooled chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined; then sift in remaining flour mixture and whisk batter until it is homogenous and thick.
5. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.
6. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before icing, about 30 minutes.

The Swiss Meringue Buttercream is smooth, silky and not overly sweet. It pairs beautifully with the dark chocolate. The best part of this particular buttercream is that it isn’t grainy, pipes beautifully, and holds up well even in warm weather. I had tried a meringue buttercream for my previous cake project and it was pronounced "different" This recipe was creamy without being being so "different". It wasn't difficult to make.

SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM
(from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes; makes about 5 cups)

5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 T sugar
pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
2. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
3. With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
4. (optional) To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use the paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too son, as the hue with intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream.

The baby-to-be is a girl so I felt I had to make pink cupcakes too. I used strawberry cake mix combined with a white cake mix and added about 1/4 cup of the strawberry filling mixture to the cake mix. Since I was making cupcakes and didn't have to worry about smoothing frosting I used the cream cheese frosting I had tested for my previous cake project.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons Tahitian vanilla extract
2 TB strawberry filling
Drop or two of red food coloring to make a lovely pink color

In a microwave, double boiler or a metal bowl set over simmering water, melt the white chocolate and butter. Let it cool slightly. In a separate bowl, beat together cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and slightly cooled chocolate.

As a favor I also made large butterfly cookies covered with marshmallow fondant. I think the brown sugar in the recipe really adds a nice flavor and the powdered
sugar does make the cookie melt nicely in your mouth.

Melt in Your Mouth Sugar Cookies

Ingredients: p
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups butter

2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

raspberry jam
marshmallow fondant

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C ).
In a large bowl, cream together sugar, and butter. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar; stir into the creamed mixture. Roll out dough and cut into desired shapes. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

Cut the marshmallow fondant with the same cookie cutter as you used for the cookies. Spread jam on the cookies and then the fondant.

My Ultimate White Chiffon Cake

I finished the cake project in an acceptable manner. Putting it on a cake plate for presentation would have made it look as tall as I had pictured it. It was four 8” layers of what I wound up calling Carolyn's Ultimate Chiffon Velvet Butter Cake!!

In all of my experimenting I learned a few things I probably could have found out otherwise, but it’s good to experiment. Here’s a list of things I discovered:

• A cake comes out very tough if you forget the water.
• Density increases with the use of milk and decreases with the use of water.
• Density increases with the use of butter and decreases with the use of oil (chiffon).
• Mayonnaise can be added to any recipe to increase moistness.
• Superfine sugar makes for a more delicate crumb.

I filled it with a fresh strawberry filling and frosted it with a buttercream icing as requested. The decoration matched the invitations. I was going for minimalist…

Recipe for Carolyn's Ultimate Chiffon Velvet Butter Cake
7 egg whites (7 1/8 oz)
1 cup water
1 TB vanilla
3 cups cake flour (10.5 oz)
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar (10.5 oz)
1 TB + 1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 TB oil
6 TB butter
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add oil and mayo. Wisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Add water and vanilla extract. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter mixture then add half the vanilla mixture. Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape bowl and beater often. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until peaks form. Fold into the batter. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with a metal spatula. Bake cake(s) about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper and let cool completely.

Strawberry Filling
Ingredients
1 cup coarsely chopped hulled strawberries + 2 cups slices or chopped strawberries
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ tsp gelatin
1/2 cup water

Directions
Bring all ingredients to a boil in a heavy small sauce pan. stirring constantly and crushing berries slightly with back of spoon.
Boil 2 minutes to thicken, stirring constantly (mixture will be slightly chunky).
Pour into bowl and cool completely.

Slice fresh strawberries and place on cake layer. Spoon filling over top. It is important to make a dam with buttercream around the outside of each layer to keep the filling from leaking out.

I needed a frosting that tasted good and was able to crust over a bit so that it can be smoothed. I read online about the Viva method using Viva paper towels and your hand to smooth. Wilton teaches a similar technique using parchment and a fondant smoother.

Buttercream Dream Icing (From Repressed Pastry Chef)
Ingredients
1 stick salted butter - room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter - room temperature
1 cup shortening
1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla extract
22 oz confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
4 tablespoons very cold milk
1 tsp meringue powder

Directions
Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk... one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.