For my niece Anna’s high school graduation, it was all cupcakes, champagne and lemon curd. I haven’t made lemon cream (aka curd) in ages and I thought it would make for a nice accompaniment with these vanilla cupcakes and fresh berries. Of course chocolate cupcakes and champagne are nice too!
Really Vanilla Cup Cakes
Recipe makes 24 cupcakes
6 eggs, room temperature
1 stick of butter, softened
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 vanilla beans
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat the eggs, butter, oil and the sugar together until light and foamy. Add the insides of the 2 vanilla beans and the vanilla extract. While that is whipping up, sift the flour, salt and baking powder together.
Stir the creme fraiche or heavy cream into the egg mixture, then add the flour in 1/4 cup increments until fully incorporated. Place cupcake liners in your muffin tin and scoop the batter in to 3/4 full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until they come clean when a tooth pick is inserted in the center. Allow to cool slightly. These are especially good when eaten warm.
Serve these with fresh berries and Homemade Lemon Cream.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache
Recipe makes 36 cupcakes
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups hot water
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs at room temperature, beaten
3/4 cup Mini chocolate chips (mint ones are a nice touch too -optional)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Dissolve the cocoa in the hot water, whisking until smooth. Stir in the sugar. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and powder.
Pour the cocoa mixture into the flour and stir well. Add the vanilla, oil and eggs and stir until smooth. You can add the mini chocolate chips now and then scoop the batter into cupcake liners leaving a good 1/4 inch to the rim. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely before proceeding.
Ganache Glaze
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate
3/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (mint ones are a nice touch too -optional)
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Remove from heat. Whisk in heavy cream and allow to set up slightly. Dip the tops of the cooled cups cakes into the ganache. Sprinkle the tops with some mini chocolate chips.
[…] Whip the cream until nice, soft peaks form any way you wish. I like to do it by hand when only using 1 cup heavy cream. It doesn't take that long. Set the whipped cream in the refrigerator while you make the ganache. For that recipe, click here. […]