White Chocolate Blueberry Cupcakes

WHITE CHOCOLATE BLUEBERRY CUPCAKES

You know that moment when you are looking for a really nice recipe to celebrate friendship? I was experimenting a bit these days and those little cupcakes are the fruit of my efforts. There is no such pleasure than welcoming friends with freshly baked cake. However, practically speaking, little cupcakes leave way more choice when to devour them. Whether it be with a great coffee at home, or on the go as a little companion during the country visit.

It is definitely no secret that white chocolate and berries make a lovely combo. To keep it seasonal, I opted for blueberries. Markets are full of blueberries, which launch a wave of recipe ideas in my head every time I do food shopping. 'Yet another blueberry recipe' I imagine some of you think. Well, that's part of the challenge, to take old recipes and give them a relook, or rather a retaste. 

I really cannot complain. I had them tasted by the German fan-block at the World Cup finals; I spoilt some of my colleagues as well. They have all agreed that they are delicious. Mission accomplished I would say… and the journey to blueberry heaven can continue. 

For 18 cupcakes you need:

125g plain yogurt

240g flour

180g sugar

4 medium eggs

120g butter

50g white chocolate

200g blueberries

2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 165°

In a large bowl whisk together the ingredients in the following order: yogurt, flour, baking powder, eggs, sugar and butter. Mix until you obtain fluffy dough. 

Chop the chocolate, and then add it to the dough as well as the blueberries.  

Place the paper cups into the cupcake molds. Pour the dough into the molds and bake for 25 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have the feeling that at the moment everyone is talking about red velvet cupcakes. And especially for Valentine's Day all the food blogs were full of red velvet cupcakes, brownies, cake pops and so on. So I got curious, and wondered what is so special about that red sweet dessert. 

I started checking out recipes, and in the first place I thought, well except from the food coloring there is nothing special about these cupcakes. And then two weeks ago, again, a friend was talking about red velvet cupcakes. This is when I thought: OK you have to try them.

But which recipe would now be the perfect recipe? Most of the recipes I found were quite similar, except for the frosting. Either there was too much sugar, or too much butter, or too much food coloring. I have to say, usually I don't like artificial colors when it comes to food. Especially these flashy blue or green ones. But I decided to give it a try.

I just purchased a book called "Cantine California" which has a lot of American recipes in it. I don't know if you already know the concept. It's a truck in Paris, moving from one square to another, selling American tradition with French quality of food. As far as I understood is the Author and Manager of the concept an American who grew up in France and tried to combine French quality with American tradition. So far I can say I am convinced of the recipe, and I will try a lot more from that book.

For 12 cupcakes you need:

60g butter

150g sugar

125g flour

1 big egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1pinch of salt

1tsp baking powder

10g cocoa powder

1tbs red food coloring

12cl buttermilk

1/2 tsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp baking soda

For the icing:

330g cream cheese

100g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°

In a large bowl soften the butter with a hand mixer. Then add the sugar and mix again until you get a light mixture. Now you can add the egg and the vanilla extract and mix again. In another bowl whisk together the flour, the salt, the baking powder and the cocoa powder. Add to the butter mixture. In a small bowl mix the buttermilk and the food coloring and pour onto the dough. Aside, you should now mix the baking soda and the vinegar and then add them to the dough. Take the hand mixer again and mix until you get an even dough. 

Put cupcake cases into your cupcake mold and pour the dough up to 2/3 into the cupcake forms and bake for 25 minutes.

Let them cool down 10 minutes in the mold before putting them on a baking rack.

For the icing mix the vanilla extract, the cream cheese and the icing sugar until you get an even mixture. Fill the latter into an icing bag and start decorating the cupcakes. Usually I put a little decoration on the cupcakes but this time I chose not to do because I tried to form a rose-like icing

Enjoy!!!!!

Raspberry white Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CUPCAKES

There would be no perfect birthday without cupcakes. Already my cupcake friend Anne sent me a lovely cupcake postcard with even lovelier birthday wishes. So thank you first of all. I have to mention her when I talk about cupcake happiness, because she was the one who opened the world of cupcakes to me. Yes, cupcakes are not only a good-looking dessert; no they also have emotional value. And on this special day, my birthday, which I am supposed to enjoy, and I definitely do, cupcakes have to be part of it.

I guess you got it. I love cupcakes. And for former birthdays, my friends offered me recipe books of all kinds, indicating the best looking and the tastiest cupcake recipes. The one I chose is a combination I really like: white chocolate and raspberries. I allowed myself to change the recipe a little bit. Normally I am not that courageious when it comes to baking. With cooking no problem, but with baking I am always a bit hesitating to change things. But so far, I cannot complain about the outcome.

Anne, if by chance you read this during your holidays, please do know that I would have given a lot to share these with you!!!! But for all the others, I am totally willing to share with you. The only thing you have to know is, that you have to be fast enough otherwise there won't be any left. I can tell from experience, that they disappear quite quickly. 

For 18 cupcakes you need:

225g butter

225g sugar

225g flour

1 ts baking powder

4 eggs

18 raspberries

100g white chocolate chips

For the icing you need:

200g cream cheese

175g icing sugar

1 ts vanilla extract

3 tbs butter

18 raspberries

Preheat the oven to 175°

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, the sugar and the butter. Then add the flour and the baking powder. Now you can add the white chocolate chips.

Place the paper muffin cups into the mold and add 1tbs of dough. Then add one raspberry onto the dough and fill the muffin cup 3/4 full with dough again. Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes.

********

Whisk the cream cheese and the icing sugar together. Add the butter and the vanilla extract until you get a creamy paste. Put the icing cream for 10 minutes into the fridge. Then decorate the cupcakes. To put another fruit element on top, decorate each cupcake with a raspberry.

Enjoy!!!

Passion Fruit Cupcakes

PASSION FRUIT CUPCAKES

Passion fruit Cupcakes for PassionMeetsCreativity Fans.

I know, I promised April would be a savoury month. Don't worry there are three lovely dishes coming ahead but I thought as spring keeps spoiling us so much I should post a cupcake that is on the par with the weather. 

Don't they look like little sunshines? For me they totally do. The recipe differs a little bit from the previous recipes because with every bite you have the feeling that summer comes closer. I love passion fruit this is the reason why I had to shoot the pictures quite quickly. Otherwise there wouldn't have been any leftovers for the blog.

I brought some of the cupcakes to work and the feedback was very good. There is a lot of food sharing going on in the office but this was, at least so far, the lightest dessert anyone brought. People felt less guitly I guess, especially after the Oreo cupcakes. So if you are looking for a lighter dessert or teatime treat you should not miss the passion fruit cupcakes. 

I decided to change the original recipe a little bit, which was only a vanilla cupcake with the passion fruit topping. I found that there has to be a little more passion in these little cupcakes. That's why I decided to put another passion fruit into the dough. Of course this changes the consistency of the cake, but the taste is really perfect.

For 12 cupcakes you need: 

 150g butter

150g sugar

150g flour

3 eggs

1/2 ts baking powder

1 ts vanilla extract

5 passionfruits

150ml liquid cream

150g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°

In a large bowl whisk together the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla extract with the hand mixer or around 1 minute. When obtained an even dough add the pulp of one passion fruit. Mix again. The dough will slightly change its texture, but this is normal.

Put the cupcake cases into your cupcake mold and pour the dough up to 2/3 into the cupcake forms and bake for 25 minutes.

******

While the cupcakes are cooling down you can prepare the cream. Cut 2 more passion fruits in two and put their pulp in a bowl. Mix the pulp with the liquid cream and 1 Tbsp of icing sugar. 

Take the cupcakes out of the cases and cut them in two. Spread the  cream on the bottom half and  top with the other half.

*******

Last but not least, take the pulp of the two remaining passionfruits and add the icing sugar. Mix until you get an even mixture. Coat the cupcakes with the icing.

Enjoy!!!!

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Oreo Cupcakes

OREO CUPCAKES

According to the newest statistics Oreos still remain the world’s favourite cookies! This is definitely not a surprise, especially because the use of the dark chocolate and milky cream cookie varies a lot. They appear in cheesecakes, cupcakes, milkshakes and the more adventurous even put them into chocolate chip cookies.  

This Sunday I decided to go for the cupcake version of the world’s beloved cookie. At the beginning I couldn’t really imagine what the outcome would be like. How do the Oreo-crumps stand out of the strong vanilla flavour of the cupcake dough itself? And wouldn’t the frosting be too sweet for this little cupcake? The answer is clearly: NO! I have eaten a lot of cupcakes so far and I dare to say that the Oreo cupcakes are one of my favourites.

There is not much more to say except that they’re perfect. Soft yet crunchy is the cupcake and the frosting is creamy yet not too heavy. From my family to my friends to the office colleagues, this is by far the best feedback I got regarding my beloved cupcakes! So if you’re a fan yourself, do not hesitate to recreate these little delights.

And now hurry to the recipe, your friends and family are secretly waiting for them already!

For 16 Cupcakes you need:

230g butter

230g sugar

220g flour

1 ts baking powder

4 eggs

1ts vanilla extract

10 crushed Oreos

Preheat the oven to 175°

In a large bowl whisk together the softened butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla extract and the eggs. Beat them fast until you get an even dough. Now carefully incorporate the Oreo crumbs.

Put the cupcake cases into your cupcake mold and pour the dough up to 2/3 into the cupcake forms and bake for 20 minutes. 

 ******

For the icing:

350g icing sugar

220g butter

1 pinch of salt

10 Oreos cut into little pieces

Whisk the icing sugar, the butter and the pinch of salt together for about two minutes until you get a silky mix. Carefully add the Oreo pieces. Take a knife and decorate the cupcakes.

Enjoy!!!!!

Coffee Walnut Cupcakes

COFFEE WALNUT CUPCAKES

Since the birth of Passion meets Creativity, I have only lived 6 months in Luxembourg. And from these six months I travelled 2. So let's say for 4 months I have been back for good. My family but especially also my friends are following very closely what happens on the blog and on the Passion meets Creativity's Facebook Page. 

However it occurred, that not many of them had the chance to taste the things I prepare. Well this is mostly due to the fact that I prepare things on Sundays and until the next gathering my family or those which I meet on the first week-days as well as my colleagues from work ate all of it.

This is why I decided I would organize a little Passion meets Creativity Feast. This is basically a win win situation. I mean, I can prepare 3 kinds of cakes, cupcakes, tarts etc... and it will be eaten for sure afterwards and my friends can taste as much as they want. The first feast was a great success I'd say, so this calls for another round. 

The winner of this event was the Oreo Cupcake. Those following me on Facebook know what I am talking about. For the others just have a look at this picture.  The Oreo Cupcake was the winner. And the Coffee Walnut Cupcake definitely deserves the second place. What I really like about the Coffee Walnut Cupcake is the fact that it is crunchy and soft at a time. I chose to crush the walnuts not into too little pieces so it keeps a certain crunchiness. 

The coffee buttercream is not heavy at all and still has a well-defined taste. I have a new icing bag, so this was also the first time I was decorating with it and I have to admit I am quite proud. I was always wondering how they get this well-defined decoration on a cupcake and now I find out. There's still space for improvement but for a first I am already happy.

For 12 Cupcakes you need:

4 tbsp espresso

125g butter

125g brown sugar

2 eggs

150g flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

50g crushed walnuts

For the icing

4 tsp espresso

100g butter

150g icing sugar

walnuts for decoration

Preheat the oven to 180°

Prepare a cup of espresso. In a large bowl whisk together the butter, the eggs, the sugar, the baking soda and the flour until you get an even dough. Now add the chopped walnuts and mix again. Finally add the espresso and mix for at least one minute. 

Pour the dough into the cupcake molds and bake for 20 minutes

Meanwhile you can prepare the icing. Whisk together the butter and the icing sugar. When obtained  a silky cream add the espresso. Mix again. 

******

Let the cupcakes cool down before you start decorating the cupcakes. With your icing bag put the cream on top and decorate with a walnut.

Enjoy!!!!

CHOCOLATE - SPECULOOS CUPCAKES

CHOCOLATE - SPECULOOS CUPCAKES

It's been a while since I last posted on my foodblog. This is not due to a lack of motivation, but I was traveling a lot during my last month in Belgrade. Moreover the extreme heat in general and the high temperatures in my flat, didn't motivate me to put something into the oven. As our air conditioner couldn't handle the natural heat I didn't really dare to test its competences with artificial heat. But now I am back in Luxembourg, home sweet cold home!

My love for cupcakes started when I went to see a good friend in Paris back in 2010. She really loves cupcakes too and took me to that lovely little cupcake place near Pigale called Chloé S. As pink is one of my favorite colors I liked the place immediately. From the counter to the cutlery everything is pink. It's a really cosy place and the staff is really friendly. You can also buy cupcake accessories in the shop.

Chloé S. has become really successful with her little cupcake shop. She published her first book in March 2012 and I couldn't wait to buy it.

This is only the first cupcake recipe of a long long long long series!!

For 20 cupcakes you need :

140g flour

6 eggs

1/2 bag baking powder

160g sugar

400g dark chocolate

240g butter

1 jar of speculoos spread

For the icing you need:

250g soft butter

3 tbs icing sugar

1 tbs speculoos spread

5 speculoos biscuits

 Preheat the oven to 165°

Dough:

In a middle-sized bowl whisk together the flour and the baking powder. In a large bowl beat the eggs and add the sugar. Melt the chocolate over a hot water bath, then add it to the eggs and sugar mixture. Mix the three ingredients very well and add the butter. Finally add the flour & baking powder mix.

Place the paper muffin cups into the mold and add 1tbs of dough. Then add a tsp of speculoos spread onto the dough and fill the muffin cup 3/4 full with chocolate dough again. Bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes.

Icing:

Mix the soft butter and the icing sugar until you get an even mixture. Then add the speculoos spread and mix again. Fill this mixture into a pastry bag and start decorating your cupcakes. Place a piece of speculoos biscuit on top of every cupcake.

Enjoy!

APPLE OATMEAL MUFFINS WITH A TOUCH OF ALMONDS

I just realized it's been a while since my last blogpost! I've been quite busy over the last month, and actually wasn't that much in town. From Beirut to Skopje to Sarajevo and back. Unfortunately, spending much time in transportation, didn't really leave me much time for baking or cooking. However on this sunny morning I was preparing some food for the upcoming week and I thought would be great to have nice desserts to bring to work. And these lovely little apple muffins are the outcome. As you might notice, again, the oats made it into a new recipe. I think I have to face it, I'm about to become a huge fan of these tiny flakes!!! 

 

For 10 muffins:

1 medium apple

10 g crushed roasted almonds

30g oat flakes

60g brown sugar

1 package vanilla sugar

100g flour

1 ts baking powder

1 egg

6cl milk

50g melted butter

Preheat the oven to 180°

Cut the apple into small cubes.

In a small bowl mix the butter, the egg and the milk until you get an even mixture. In a large bowl whisk the flour, brown sugar, vanilla sugar, baking powder, crushed almonds and the oat flakes. Add the liquid mixture and mix until you get an even dough. Now add the apple cubes and mix again. Put the mix into muffin cups and put them into the oven.

Bake the muffins for 15-20 minutes

Enjoy!!!

APPLE HAZELNUT CUPCAKES

Over the last months I stated a lot of negativity towards cupcakes among my friends and other food bloggers. The reason: they are too sweet, overloaded with many different flavours at once and too many artificial ingredients such as food coloring and glitter. I cannot blame them to have that opinion because when you look all over the internet or go to cupcake shops around Europe; it's all there is. Shiny little cakes with multiple layers of all you can imagine.

Is this really what the cupcake is all about? NO! A cupcake actually is the cup-sized version of a cake. The quantity of a whole cake's dough, divided into little bites. To give the little cake a little extra, toppings are added. Whether in the shape of little flowers or spirals, it does not matter at all. Over the last few years though, cupcakes have become what has just been described in the paragraph above. I honestly have the feeling that bakers try to outdo one another without realising that what really is to the cupcake is being completely lost. As a consequence, cupcakes have become little accessories whose taste no one really cares about anymore.

Thankfully we are numerous thinking the same way. Today's little cupcakes are my newest creation. I love the combo apple-cinnamon but it somehow always remains the same flavour whether you put them into cookies, pies, or cakes. To add a little something, I added hazelnuts. I do not exactly remember how the idea came to my mind, but I guess it was because I wanted to prepare apple cinnamon cupcakes on one hand and on the other hand I really wanted something nutty and fruity. Am I now being contradictory to the two previous paragraphs? Wanting too much and then putting it all into one cake? Am I hereby forcing too much out of these little treasures? Again, NO! The flavours are all natural and you will taste a smooth transition between all of them. 

For around 12 cupcakes you need:

120g butter

120g sugar

120g flour

125g applesauce

1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

50g crushed hazelnuts

80 raisins

1 apple

In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, flour and the eggs until you get a smooth cake batter. Now add the applesauce, cinnamon, the hazelnuts as well as the raisins. 

Pour the dough into the cupcake molds. Cut the apple into small slices and place them on top of each cupcake. 

Bake the cupcakes for 25 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

CHEWY OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

It's been a while since I baked my last cookies, and here we go again with the next load! I guess man is a creature of habit. For more than two weeks now I've had my little cookies as a desert after my healthy lunch at work. I have to admit that I cannot resist sugar and I always need a little sweet element after a savoury dish. So this time I was thinking about the straight opposite of last time's crunchy chocolate chip cookies. Dried fruits, some walnuts and a lot of oat seemed to be the perfect solution.

When I tried the first cookie I knew that these would be regular guests in my cookie jar. The combination of cinnamon oats and raisins couldn't be any better especially with that gooey texture. If you don't like raisins, you can just replace them with dried cranberries.

 For 15-20 cookies you need:

100g butter

150g brown sugar

75g flour

1 egg

1/2 ts vanilla extract

1/2 ts baking powder

1/2 ts ground cinnamon 

1/4 ts salt

120g rolled oats

100g raisins

50g chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 175°C

In a large bowl, put together the butter, brown sugar, egg and the vanilla extract until you get a smooth mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Then stir the dry ingredients into the sugar-butter mixture. Stir in the raisins, walnuts and oats. 

It depends on how you prefer your cookies but if you like them thick and chewy, chill the dough in the fridge for a bit before forming the cookies on your sheet. 

The baking time needed for your cookies depends on your oven and on how long you chilled the dough. In general you should bake them for 10 to 12 minutes. Take them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. For those not used to making cookies here a little advice : Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for 3-4 minutes before you transferring them to a plate.

Prijatno! 

Vanilla Whoopies with Chocolate Spread

It's time for something new!! While browsing other foodblogs or online shops to buy new recipe books I got really curious what these Whoopie Pies (Whoopies) really are. Some look very sophisticated, others funny. At the beginning I thought they were just a variation of the famous Macaroons, but the dough is completely different.

Originally, Whoopie Pies were made out of chocolate cake, gingerbread or pumpkin cake with a sweet and soft creamy filling or frosting. However this recipe makes me think more of a very soft cookie dough. Depending on what dough you take, you can also shape them with a decorating bag. For this time, I used cookie cutters. 

Depending on the size you can serve them with a coffee, or as I did, because my cookie cutters were just so big, make an entire dessert out of it. The vanilla dough allows you to take almost whatever filling or icing you want. The recipe suggests chocolate spread, but I also tried it with Speculoos spread and raspberry jam. Depending on how big they are, and for what purpose you want to serve them, you can vary between the different fillings.

For 25 whoopie pies you need:

Dough

500g flour

1 bag of baking powder

3 eggs 

150g sugar

125g soft butter

2 bags vanilla sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

Filling and Decoration

1 jar of chocolate spread

black melted chocolate

sugar hearts (or other sugar decoration)

Preheat the oven to 170C°

In a middle-sized bowl whisk together the flour and the baking powder. Add the eggs, the sugar and the butter. Mix the ingredients with your hands. Now add the vanilla sugar and the vanilla extract.

Roll out the dough on the work surface and cut the cookies out with a cookie cutter. Place the cookies on the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes until they get golden brown. Let them cool down before you start decorating. 

******

Put the chocolate spread into a decorating bag. Put the spread on the inner side of a cookie. Take another cookie and decorate it with the melted chocolate and the sugar hearts. Now put the two halves together. 

Enjoy!!!!