Heavenly Cream Puffs

Guess what! Today, January 2nd, is National Cream Puff Day here in the U.S.! My dad loves cream puffs, so I figured it was my destiny to make cream puffs today! I chose a recipe I came across yesterday while Josh and I were browsing through the copy of Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook that Old St. Nick brought for me. These aren't your everyday, average cream puffs. Noooo, these little babies are topped with a little halo of heaven. A perfect circle of sweet, crunchy tart dough. It took almost all day to make all the components: pastry cream, tart dough, and pâte à choux. My tart dough cut-outs were just a little too small, so they browned before the choux was fully baked. The pastry cream is deeelicious. It's lightened up by some fresh whipped cream. The crunchy tart dough on top lends the perfect amount of that golden pastry flavor, as well as a burst of sweetness. Yum! I'm gonna go have another cream puff just as soon as I click "Publish Post!" What a great way to say "suck it" to the most common New Year's resolution!

Ingredients + my new cookbook stand...
PS: You gotta get that vanilla extract! Sooo good!! Whisking cornstarch and egg yolks for the pastry cream
Waiting for the pastry cream to thicken...
Mmmmm... butter makes it better!
Vanilla brains!
The tart dough
Making the pâte à choux
They remind me of short, chubby snowmen!
Pâte à choux topped with tart dough
Cooling.....
The finished cream puffs!
Well worth an entire day's work!!

Recipes from MarthaStewart.com and Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook
(I halved the recipes and got 14 puffs and just the right amount of pastry cream!)

Cream Puffs
Makes 3 dozen

All-purpose flour, for marking (I skipped this part)
Pâte à Choux (recipe follows)
1 cup granulated sugar, for sprinkling (You won't need 1 cup; I only used 3/4 cup and it was a lot)
1/2 recipe Tart Dough (recipe follows)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions
It doesn't say this anywhere, but here's the best way to take this on. Make your pastry cream first. It needs to chill for about 2 hours. As soon as you get the pastry cream in the fridge, get started on the tart dough. It also needs to chill for 2 hours. During the last half hour of the chilling process, go ahead and start the pâte à choux.
Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or with nonstick baking mats, such as Silpats. Dip a 2-inch round cookie cutter in flour, and mark circles 2 inches apart on prepared sheets. Transfer pate a choux to a pastry bag fitted with a 5/8-inch plain tip (such as an Ateco No. 808), and pipe puffs to fit in flour circles. Smooth peaks with a moistened finger, rounding tops to ensure even rising. Freeze pastry puffs on baking sheets until firm, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, sprinkle a clean work surface with 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and place tart dough on top of sugar, patting it into a round. Sprinkle another 1/2 cup sugar over dough, and roll to a scant 1/8-inch thick, coating both sides of dough with the sugar to keep it from sticking. Using a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter, cut out 36 rounds, and place a round on top of each frozen puff. Return to freezer until firm, at least 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds.
Bake puffs until pale golden brown all over, 25 to 30 minutes (Mine took almost 35 minutes) . Let cool completely on baking sheets on wire racks. Puffs can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature overnight.
Put heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Whisk the pastry cream to soften. Working in 2 batches, fold whipped cream into pastry cream. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as an Ateco No. 806). Insert tip into bottom of each puff, and fill. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Cream puffs are best eaten within a few hours; refrigerate in an airtight container.

• Pastry Cream
  Makes about 2 1/2 cups
  
  2 cups whole milk
  1/2 cup sugar
  1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
  Pinch of salt
  4 large egg yolks
  1/4 cup cornstarch
  2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  
  Directions
  Bring milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
  Whisk egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Whisking, slowly pour about 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture into yolk mixture. Slowly add remaining milk mixture until incorporated. Pour mixture back into the saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat, whisking, until it begins to bubble in center and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; discard vanilla bean.
  (No need to dirty another bowl, but if you want you can follow this next direction) Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add butter; beat on medium speed until butter has melted and mixture has cooled, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Just before using, beat on low speed or whisk by hand until smooth.
  
• Tart Dough
  Makes enough for 3 dozen cream puffs (I dunno why it says this; You only need 1/2 this recipe)
  
  6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
  2 large egg yolks
  1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  1/4 teaspoon salt
  2 teaspoons heavy cream
  
  Directions
  Put butter and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks, and mix until combined, about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup flour, and mix just until flour is incorporated. Add remaining 3/4 cup flour, the salt, and cream; mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
  Shape dough into a disk; wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
  
• Pâte à Choux
  Makes enough for 3 dozen cream puffs
  
  1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  1 teaspoon sugar
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  4 large eggs, plus 1 large egg white
  
  Directions
  Bring butter, sugar, salt, and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in flour. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from sides and a film forms on bottom of pan, about 3 minutes (It only took about 15 seconds for me) .
  Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until slightly cooled, about 1 minute. Raise speed to medium; add whole eggs, 1 at a time, until a soft peak forms when batter is touched with your finger. If peak does not form, lightly beat remaining egg white, and mix it into batter a little at a time until it does. Use immediately.

Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes... Again!

My cousin Stephanie L. (the one from North Carolina) stayed at my house for the past 2 weeks. She is the most fabulous person on this earth. She's always fun to be around, and she's a great partner in the kitchen. She's funny and she loves to do dishes! Last weekend she went home. I've been pretty sad, because now I'm back to my normal life of having nothing to do until Josh gets home from work around 7. I was really uninspired to make cupcakes Tuesday. I almost used a box of plain yellow cake mix, but we didn't have any. So I settled on Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes. I've made them a few times, and I really like the recipe. The flavor is fabulous. But they always come out a tiny bit dry. I check them a few times near the end of the baking time, and I take them out as soon as a toothpick comes out dry (duh, I know how to bake). But they're always slightly dry and crumbly. Does anyone else have that problem with this recipe? The cake flour is probably the reason behind the fine crumbs. And I know cakes made with butter instead of oil are usually a little less moist. If you get a big mouthful of cake and frosting, you can't tell, but I always like to taste-test the cake by itself to form a fair opinion. Anyways, maybe I'm just weird. Here are some photos and the recipe (for like the 3rd time). The frosting is "Special Vanilla Buttercream." You can find the recipe in the drop-down menu on the left side of the page.

IngredientsCombine all the dry ingredients (including sugar) in the mixing bowl.Add softened butter 1 piece at a time.Add liquid ingredients in three parts.Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl often.Fill cupcake pans and bake.This is a familiar sight in the laundry room every Tuesday! =]Mmm... cooling and smelling so tasty!Topped with vanilla frosting. Delish!Inside!

Recipe from marthastewart.com

MY NOTES: I reduced the sugar to 1 1/2 cups, and they were still plenty sweet. I got 23 cupcakes. Don't forget to rotate the pans halfway through. Mine baked for 18 minutes.

Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes
Makes 24-ish (I got 23, Martha's site says it makes 30, hmm?)

1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar (I used 1 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into tablespoons
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour (Make sure the butter pieces are no larger than a peanut).
In a large measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl with each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat (I finished mixing with a rubber spatula after the last addition of wet ingredients).
Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. (I topped mine with Special Vanilla Buttercream. You can find the recipe in the drop-down menu on the left side of the page.)

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 4
Tenderness: 4
Frosting: 4

Sprinkles® Vanilla Cupcake Mix

Don't get caught in the hype and waste your money. These cupcakes aren't very delicious, and the mix takes all the fun out of making them yourself. The thing I said about the Sprinkles Red Velvet mix goes for this Vanilla mix too; Betty Crocker cake mix tastes 1 million times better and costs less than $2/box (Betty Crocker makes 24 cupcakes, and Sprinkles at $14/box only makes 12-16). So anyway, that's my review. Here are the photos. Oh yeah I topped these babies with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting to cover up the flavor of the not-so-yummy cupcakes.
EDIT: After actually eating one of these and not just nibbling on crumbs, I change my opinion from "not very delicious" to barely edible. Sick. Really, please don't waste your money! For some reason my mom's co-workers liked them. I have a feeling they were just being nice.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons heavy cream

1. Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
2. Slowly add sifted confectioners' sugar and salt and mix until smooth.
3. Add melted chocolate and vanilla and mix until combined.
4. Add heavy cream and mix on medium-high for 30 seconds.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 2
Tenderness: 2
Frosting: 4

Cupcake Poll #18 - Sprinkles Cupcake Mix

One of my favorite birthday presents from last year was definitely the Sprinkles Cupcake Mixes, one vanilla and one red velvet. I wanted to save them for a special occasion, but everytime a special event came up I thought of something else. So now I'm going to use them before they begin to fossilize. I'm leaving it up to you to decide which one I use first, but both will be used within the next 2 weeks. Feel free to comment here, but votes only count in the poll on the left-hand side!

From SprinklesCupcakes.com:

"Savor a Sprinkles cupcake from the comfort of your own kitchen!

Introducing Sprinkles Cupcake Mixes made from the finest ingredients,

including Callebaut cocoa and Nielsen-Massey vanilla,

and complete with our trademark modern dot decorations."

White Velvet Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

When I wrote last week's poll, I really wanted the Yeti Cupcakes to win. Sadly they did not, but I got many messages and comments from people asking me to make them anyway because they sounded interesting. Well, as you can see, the title of this post is not "Yeti Cupcakes." That's because Sunday when I made these, I don't know where my brain was. This is going to be a long story. Let's start from the top. (Oh yeah, Rocky Road cupcakes will be made and posted soon. DON'T WORRY!)

The Yeti Cupcakes were supposed to have coconut in and around the frosting. Josh (my boyfriend) was helping me bake, and he really wanted to get a fresh coconut. He saw on Survivorman how to crack open a coconut, and he wanted to prove his manliness by doing it too. We drove all the way to Kroger to get one, because the grocery stores near my house didn't have them. We got home and the internet wasn't working so we were both clueless about how to begin. I remembered last week on Good Eats, Alton Brown drilled two of the eyes out to drain the coconut water, so we did that. Actually Josh drank it out with a straw. Should've gotten a picture of that! Then Josh decided to go outside and put the Survivorman technique to the test. I wish I couldn've watched him put all his brut strength into opening that coconut, but I was in the kitchen effing up the cupcake batter. Anyway, after 2 tries he came back in with a coconut perfectly cracked into 2 pieces. What a man! :) He got to work peeling and shredding the coconut (by hand, because our food processer is from the Stone Age and the shredding blade was dull).

Meanwhile, I wanted to dye the "white velvet" cupcakes green for St. Patrick's Day, but I forgot to do so. Then marshmallows were supposed to get folded into the batter at the last minute. Of course, I forgot that too. I didn't realize it until all the cupcake liners were full and ready for the oven. I tried to salvage half by pressing 4 mini marshmallows into each cup and covering them up with batter using a toothpick. Wait until you see how that monstrosity turned out!

The next eff up was when I made the "Snow Frosting." I guess I skipped the instruction to "delicately fold in the coconut by hand." I ended up with soup because I'm a genius and used the hand mixer.

After all was said and done, I ended up with White Velvet Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting... no marshmallows in the batter... no coconut in sight... not even green for St. Pat's Day... definitely not Yeti Cupcakes... but they really are tasty. ENJOY!

ingredients egg whites ready to be folded
folding in the egg whites

egg whites are blended, batter is smooth... but where are the marshmallows?

This is also when I should've tinted the batter green for St. Pat's Day... not green is it?

They're just chillin' on the counter while the cups are being filled 2/3 full...

16 cupcakes cooling

I added 4 marshmallows each to the cupcake batter in one of the pans. Not so pretty...

Don't use a mixer to incorporate coconut into 7-minute frosting... You'll get 7-minute soup.

I trashed the soup and made Marshmallow frosting. I decorated one...

...Threw some sprinkles on it

And Josh did the rest. Ladies, that's the kind of man you need in the kitchen!

He works diligently while I stuff my face.

Mmmm the frosting is so soft, and the cake is a perfect vanilla cake!

Good flavor and texture. I know I'll use the recipe again.

Josh put some fresh coconut on the one he ate.

After all, he did spend about an hour with that coconut from start to finish.

The recipe for Yeti Cupcakes is from Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman.
The recipe for Marshmallow Frosting is from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski.

MY NOTES: I got 16 cupcakes. Duh, I forgot the marshmallows, so my result will be different from yours if you have an elephant's memory. The Snow Frosting worked until I added the coconut, so don't be afraid of the recipe. It flopped because of my mistakes. In the Marshmallow Frosting, it took closed to 4 minutes for the marshmallows to melt completely.

Yeti Cupcakes
MAKES ABOUT 18 CUPCAKES

WHITE VELVET CUPCAKES
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking power
1 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch for the egg whites
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (you can replace with another flavoring if you prefer: lemon, almond extract, etc.)
3 egg whites
1 cup mini-marshmallows

SNOW FROSTING
2 egg whites
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut (optional)
Sweetened shredded coconut for decoration

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Alternately add flour mixture and milk, ending with milk, and beat until batter is smooth. Add flavoring.
4. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Gently fold into batter. Fold in mini-marshmallows.
5. Spoon batter into cupcake papers, filling cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool.
6. To make the frosting: in a large bowl, preferably the top of a double boiler, mix egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, and salt until combined. Place the bowl over simmering water and whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot. This will take about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and beat for 5-7 minutes until frosting is cool and stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla and delicately fold in the coconut by hand, if desired. The frosting will be ready to spread. Decorate frosted cupcakes to your taste.

Marshmallow Frosting
MAKES 5 CUPS

2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
6 tbsp water
1 tbsp light corn syrup
½ tsp cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, water, corn syrup, cream of tartar, and salt. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch (about 160°F on an instant-read thermometer), about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the mixture until it is very warm and soft (but not dry) peaks form, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer to low and add the marshmallows and vanilla. Continue beating until the marshmallows are melted and the frosting is completely smooth, about 2 minutes more. Use right away.

Neapolitan Cupcakes

My parents just recently got a new cable box with DVR (I think it's kinda like TiVo)For anyone who doesn't know, that's the thing that let's you pause and record TV shows... and fast forward commercials! It's amazing how I ever lived without it! There's a setting that lets you record shows that have a specific keyword in the description. So naturally I set it to record any show with the words "cupcake," "baking," and "cake!" A few days ago I looked at the shows that have been saved so far. I found an episode of a wonderful show I just discovered called "Everyday Baking from Everyday Food." The episode featured three cupcake recipes, one of which I chose to use for these Neapolitan cupcakes. My original proposition for the cupcakes was to make a strawberry/chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream. However, I am not a fan of plain vanilla buttercream, or any flavor of traditional buttercream (butter, confectioners sugar, milk). Instead, I made a chocolate/vanilla cupcake and paired it with the most amazingly silky strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream. With the cake and ice cream flavors, it was like a birthday party in my mouth!

ingredients... except one stick of butter that's sitting on the table behind me......aaannnddd the butter is forgotten again! I'm good.delicious dark chocolate batter and even yummier vanilla batterFill half of each cup with chocolate batter... ...and the other half with vanilla batter.They should look like this!Doesn't it look so perfect and tasty??TADA!And because it's so pretty... here's another picture...

You gotta be dying for the recipe by now!!

Cupcake recipe from MarthStewart.com.

MY NOTES: Measure out the ingredients for both batters first. This way you don't have the first batter sitting out for a long time while you make the second one. I used dark chocolate cocoa powder. My cupcakes were done at 19 minutes.

Black-and-White Cupcakes
Prepare both vanilla and chocolate batters (directions below); fill muffin cups with 3 tablespoons of each, side by side. Makes 24.

Ingredients
Makes 12
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

For Chocolate Cupcakes
Reduce flour to 1 1/4 cups, and add 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Whisk into dry ingredients.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla, and mix until combined. On low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, followed by milk; end with remaining flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated (do not overmix).
Fill muffin cups with 3 tablespoons of each batter, side by side.. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 22 to 24 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
This is my own recipe.

Ingredients
Makes about 4 cups

4 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks), softened, cut into tablespoons
1/3 cup strawberry jam

Directions
Put egg whites and sugar into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees).
Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add strawberry jam and continue beating 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles.