Banana-Choco-PB Cupcakes

I recently started taking cake decorating classes given by Wilton at my local craft store and for one of the classes we had to bring in cupcakes to practice filling and decorating. Thinking of my friend Megan, I decided to make banana cupcakes and fill them with chocolate ganache, then top them with peanut butter frosting. We also learned how to make a shaggy mum out of buttercream and that is what is on top of peanut butter frosting swirl.

I found the banana cupcake recipe on Martha Stewart's website:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/desserts_E0308WELD_T

1/2 c unsalted butter, melted
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 c flour
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add in melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla extract into the well.
4. Stir until combined. Make sure you don't overmix the batter.
5. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter amongst 12 cupcakes.
6. Bake for 20 minutes, checking to make sure an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool on a cooling rack.

While the cupcakes were cooling, I started on the chocolate ganache. The key to working with chocolate is to use good quality chocolate. Do not use chocolate chips because they will not melt properly.

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 whipping cream

1. Place the chopped chocolate into a medium mixing bowl.
2. Heat the cream in a saucepan until it begins to boil. Pour it over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for 3 minutes.
3. Whisk the chocolate and cream together until the mixture becomes smooth.
4. Allow the ganache to sit overnight.

The next day, I filled the cupcakes with the chocolate ganache using a piping bag and a #230 tip.

I made peanut butter frosting to top the cupcakes with:

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 c creamy peanut butter
2 c icing sugar, maybe more
milk

1. Beat the butter until creamy.
2. Add the peanut butter and beat until fully incorporated.
3. Mix in the icing sugar a cup at a time.
4. The mixture will be very stiff. Mix in milk a teaspoon at a time to get the right consistency. At this point you can add in more sugar or peanut butter or milk in order to get the right amount of sweetness or flavour and the right consistency that you want in your frosting.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

One of my favourite treats at Starbucks is their Red Velvet Cupcake, which unfortunately seems to be a seasonal item that is brought in for Valentine's Day. It is because of this cupcake that I have become obsessed with Red Velvet, which I will always choose when given the choice of cupcakes. And when I say obsessed, I mean that I have made a ridiculous number of cupcakes with the intent of perfecting the recipe. I'm not completely sure that my final recipe is perfect but it's pretty close. Let me know what you think!

2 1/2 c cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp instant coffee
2 oz red food colouring
1/4 tsp red icing colour
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Into a medium bowl, sift cake flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a small bowl, mix cocoa powder, instant coffee, red food colouring and red icing colour together into a smooth, thin paste.
4. In a large bowl, beat butter for a few seconds then add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
5. Beat in eggs, on at a time then add vanilla and the red cocoa mixture. Mix until well incorporated and remember to scrape down the bowl.
6. Mix in one third of the flour mixture then add half of the buttermilk. Make sure each addition is well mixed before adding the next. Add the second half of the flour mixture, mix, then add the rest of the buttermilk and mix. Finally, add the last third of the flour mixture and mix. Make sure to scrape down the bowl.
7. In a small bowl, mix baking soda and vinegar which will fizz, and quickly add it to the batter. Mix well to combine.
8. Portion the batter into the cupcake liners using an ice cream scoop. This recipe can make 22-24 cupcakes.
9. Bake for 15 minutes then check to see if an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Make sure you don't overbake!
10. Cool cupcakes completely before icing and decorating.

To decorate these cupcakes I used a Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 c (12 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 c icing sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Beat cream cheese and butter until well mixed and softened.
2. Add 2 cups of icing sugar, one cup at a time and mix thoroughly.
3. Start adding icing sugar half a cup at a time until you get the consistency and flavour that you want. You don't want the frosting to taste like cream cheese and I personally do not like my icing too sweet. Make sure you taste the frosting after each addition. Towards the end you should be adding less and less each time.
4. Add vanilla and mix until smooth.

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Awhile ago, my boyfriend told me that he wanted fried chicken and biscuits for dinner so I decided to attempt to make Cheddar Bay Biscuits, like those that Red Lobster is famous for. A Google search for a Cheddar Bay Biscuit recipe mostly resulted in ones that called for adding shredded cheddar cheese and garlic powder to Bisquick biscuit mix. Since I am morally opposed to box mixes, I began a crusade to find the perfect recipe for garlic cheddar biscuits. The best biscuit recipe I found comes from America's Test Kitchen and produces fluffy, delicious, fall-apart biscuits. The trick is to add cold buttermilk to melted and cooled butter, which makes the butter clump into little pieces. This is an ingenious, fool-proof method of cutting in the butter and is what makes the biscuits so light and fluffy.

Since I normally do not buy or use buttermilk, I add a tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk and let it sit in the fridge, allowing the milk to curdle and imitate buttermilk. To replicate Cheddar Bay Biscuits, I just added shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder and parsley flakes (for colour) to the recipe:

1 c cold buttermilk
1/4 c unsalted butter, melted and slighty cooled
1 c shredded cheddar cheese (or more, depending on how cheesy you like it...I usually end up with a cup and a half of shredded cheddar)
2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp garlic powder (or more!)
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes

1. Preheat oven to 475°F.
2. Mix together dry ingredients with the shredded cheese.
3. Slowly add buttermilk to cooled, melted butter while mixing.
4. Add butter mixture to the dry ingredients and gently mix to combine. Try not to overmix to avoid forming gluten, which can make the biscuits tough. The dough should be a little sticky.
5. Form biscuits about a 1/4 cup in size. You can use a greased 1/4 measuring cup and drop the biscuits onto the baking sheet, however I find it easiest just to use my hands. Again, be careful not to overwork the dough and just loosely form the biscuits. There is no need to waste energy packing it.
6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden.
7. Cool and enjoy!

These biscuits are incredibly easy and quick to make and so delicious, especially fresh from the oven. They can be reheated in a toaster oven the next day. I hope you like them!