Previous Cupcake Success

One day for work, I made pumpkin spice and pecan cupcakes with maple glaze icing! They were an absolute hit, and will definitely make them again:



And this is a recipe I just found that I can't wait to make:

Guinness Cupcakes
adapted from Dave Lieberman

Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) bottle Guinness Stout
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used Scharffen Berger Cocoa)
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the Guinness, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the sour cream.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, and baking soda. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet Guinness mixture.
4. Butter 24 muffin tins and divide the batter among the muffin tins.
5. Bake 25 minutes, until risen and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Cool before turning out of the tins.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream
1 stick salted butter – room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter – room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
4 tablespoons very cold milk

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.

Blue Moon Cupcakes

My sister found this recipe from the Bitchin' Kitchin' blog a few weeks ago, and since we both love Blue Moon and cupcakes, it was a "DUH!" moment for both of us:

Blue Moon Cupcakes

3/4 a stick/6 tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
4 oz buttermilk
6 oz Blue Moon beer
2 tsp vanilla
zest of one orange
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp baking soda

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Melt butter and set aside to cool down.

3) Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, beer, vanilla, and orange zest in one bowl, and mix together the sugar, flour, coriander, and baking soda in another.

4) Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two parts, using a mixer to combine. Add the melted butter and combine.

5) Pour batter into cupcake cups and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool.

Unfortunately, Kroger only sells oranges in packs of 12+! We only wanted one...so we purchased orange extract instead and they actually turned out really yummy.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package(s) (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup(s) (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon(s) fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon(s) grated orange zest
5 cup(s) confectioners' sugar
1.5 oz Blue Moon beer

1) Blend the cream cheese, butter, orange juice, orange zest, and Blue Moon in a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at medium speed, until smooth.

2) Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy -- about 3 more minutes.

The icing was, by far, the best part of the cupcakes.

Here are the Bitchin' Kitchin's Blue Moon cupcakes. She iced the cupcakes right after making the icing, without refrigerating it:



Here are our's: