Red Velvet Cupcakes

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Ahna

Just in time for Valentine’s Day another Brown Eyed Baker Recipe! After a while she’s going to think I’m stalking her. I just love her recipe choices and flavors. I am pretty sure we have the exactly the same tastes. This recipe makes 12 regular sized cupcakes. I doubled the recipe. I also found the icing to sweet so I added twice the amount of cream cheese and 1 more cup of powdered sugar to make the frosting more tangy and less sweet. Enjoy!

For the Cupcakes:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons red food coloring
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons distilled white vinegar

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 ounces butter, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin/cupcake pan with liners.

2. On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

3. In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

5. Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.

6. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center of the largest cupcake comes out clean.

7. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove cupcakes from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

8. To make the frosting: Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.

*Note: This recipe can be doubled to make an 8 or 9-inch layer cake.

(Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker, originally from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook).

Genomic sequence cupcakes!

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Ahna

Today is my first day of class for my Intro to Genomics and Proteomics course and it is also my 40th birthday (yes…I’m getting old). So I had to make my new students something special to celebrate. I baked on of my favorite recipe- the Fudgy Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Mocha Ganache (see below). Then I decided to decorate the tops with DNA nucleotides: G, C, A or T. Hopefully they will like them and me! I always get nervous the first day of class. Anything to break the ice like chocolate cake should work!

Cake

2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ganache

1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Whisk first 4 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Bring 1 cup water to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add 2 tablespoons espresso powder; stir to dissolve. Add chocolate; whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Cool slightly.
In another large bowl, whisk vegetable oil, sour cream, eggs and vanilla to blend. Add chocolate mixture and whisk to blend well. Add 1/3 of chocolate-sour cream mixture to dry ingredients and whisk to blend. Add remaining chocolate-sour cream mixture in 2 more additions, whisking well after each addition. Divide batter equally between prepared pans or cupcake cups. Gently tap each filled pan atop counter to burst any air pockets.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes (DO NOT overbake). If making cupcakes 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Run knife around sides of cakes and turn out onto rack. Cool completely.

For ganache:
Bring first 6 ingredients to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Pour ganache into large bowl; cool until thick enough to spread, stirring occasionally, about 1-2 hours. Sometimes I stick it into the fridge to cool faster. I often make the ganache first before the cakes so it has time to cool to the right thickness.

I also wanted to show a photo of a sculpture of me that my father, Michael Skop, did a few days after I was born in 1972. It has always been one of my favorites.

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake with Cran-Raspberry Compote

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Ahna

just out of the oven

One of my all-time favorite holiday cheesecakes from Bon Appetit. I’ve been making this for years at Thanksgiving. It’s super delicious and will wow your guests. I just love the tartness of the cranberries with the cheesecake. Cake can be make a day or two ahead or even frozen. I usually start the cranberry puree 1 days ahead because it has to chill but make sure it’s not too cold as it will sink in your batter. It should be brought up to room temperature before swirling. You need a 10-inch pan for this and another pan to steam the cheesecake in. Steaming makes all cheesecakes in my opinion better.

Yield: Serves 12

Ingredients

For cranberry purée

2 cups fresh cranberries or frozen, thawed
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

For crust

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 3/4 cups finely ground butter biscuit cookies or butter cookies
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For filling

4, 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping

Cranberry-Raspberry Compote

Make cranberry purée:
Combine all ingredients except vanilla in heavy large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer to processor. Add vanilla. Puree until smooth. Strain into medium bowl. Cover with plastic. Refrigerate at least 6 hours.

Make crust:
Spray 10-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Wrap outside of pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty foil. Blend cookies, sugar and cinnamon in processor. Add butter; blend until moist clumps form. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of pan. Chill crust while preparing filling.

Make filling:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream, whipping cream and vanilla.Transfer 1/3 of filling to prepared crust. Dollop 1/3 of cranberry puree atop filling. Repeat layering of filling and puree 2 more times. Using knife, swirl puree through filling, creating marbled design.

Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake until cheesecake puffs around edges, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 1 hour, leaving oven door ajar.

Transfer cake to rack. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Cool completely. Remove foil from pan sides. Cover cake and chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Remove pan sides. Serve cake with Cranberry-Raspberry Compote.