Cupcakes: A Buttercream's Best Friend

Last week I showed you how to make the perfect buttercream.  This week, I thought I’d show you a fabulous conveyance for said frosting.  Even as good as the buttercream is, you still can’t just eat it with a spoon.  Not if there are other people present, anyway.  These cupcakes are soft and tender and I’d say they fall into the category of a sponge cake. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup oil
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Start by preheating your oven to 350° and lining/spraying your muffin pan.  Next up, measure all of your dry ingredients into a large-ish mixing bowl. 

Whisk those together and set it aside.  Next, you need to separate the eggs.  (Seeley has the perfect tip for that here.)  If you measure all the rest of your wet ingredients first, you can just drop the yolks in with them and save dirtying an extra dish.  

Beat the egg whites until you get stiff peaks.  <giggle>  Sorry, I just can’t help myself.  But if you don’t laugh at the term ‘stiff peaks’, then you’ve never read a really bad romance novel.  Some of the descriptive phrases that people come up with are simply amazing.  I have yet to actually come across stiff peaks (HA!), but I guarantee it’s out there somewhere.  Oops, I got sidetracked.  Where was I?  Oh yes, egg whites. 

Set those aside and whisk together the other wet ingredients and pour them over the dry stuff. 

Stir until it just comes together. 

Add about ⅓ of the egg whites. 

Fold that in until it’s mostly incorporated before adding the next third. 

Stirring will deflate the egg whites, so make sure you’re gently folding them in.  Cut through the middle with your spatula.

Then scrape along the bottom of the bowl and up over the top. 

Continue that with the remaining egg whites until they’re all incorporated.  Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each one about ⅔ full.  I always put my muffin tins on a sheet pan.  It makes them easier to move around, and it’s also insurance in case I’ve filled them too full.   

Now, just before you put the cupcakes into the oven turn the temperature up to 425°.  Bake them at that temperature for 5 minutes, then turn it back down to 350°.  Bake them for an additional 10 – 12 minutes. (That’s a total of 15 – 17 minutes.)  They’ll be just starting to brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the middle of one should come out clean.  Allow them to cool in the pan for only 2 or 3 minutes before relocating them to a cooling rack. 

When they’ve cooled completely, top each one with a generous amount of delicious buttercream. 

The interior of these cupcakes is fabulous.  They’re light, fluffy, and moist without feeling oily. 

What perfectly innocent phrase makes you crack up?  Come on, we all have our sophomoric moments. 

Pudding For Breakfast?

Seeley made a dessert pudding last week, but puddings don’t always have to be sweet.  With Easter coming up next weekend, many of us will have lots of leftover ham to find uses for, so I thought I’d put it in a savory bread pudding.  Eggs benedict bread pudding is just the thing.  You can even put it all together before bed and just pop the pan into the oven in the morning for an easy and delicious breakfast for the whole family. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 6 English muffins
• 1 cup diced ham
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups half and half
• 1 cup milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

The first thing you need to do is butter a 9x13 pan.  This is probably a good place for me to say, do as I say, not as I do.  Yes I know that is a square pan in the picture, but trust me, you want a 9x13. 

Tear up half of your English muffins and scatter them in the pan. 

Sprinkle on half of the ham. 

Then half of the cheese. 

Repeat.  Muffins, ham, cheese. 

And now you see why I told you to use a 9x13 pan.  Then you don’t have to dirty two of them when you figure out the square one is too small. 

There we go.  Much better. 

Now for the custard part.  I like to mix it in a large measuring cup so that it’s easy to pour.  Crack in your 4 eggs.  (yeah, ignore the picture again.)

Whisk them together, and then pour in the half and half and the milk. 

Add the salt and pepper and whisk some more. 

Pour that over the bread mixture. 

Press everything down so that every piece is soaked with the custard, then cover the pan and refrigerate it for at least a few hours, or overnight. 

When you’re ready, preheat your oven to 350°.  Bake for 40-50 minutes.  It should be starting to brown on top, and a knife inserted in the center will come out clean. 

That needs to cool for 20 minutes before you cut into it, so while you’re waiting, go ahead and whip up some hollandaise sauce to drizzle over the top.  Now how’s that for pudding? 

How do you like your pudding?  Sweet or savory? 

Update on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 8:55AM by Taneasha

So after eating both the fresh out of the oven version, and the reheated leftovers version, I've decided this dish is much better after being chilled.  I would recommend making and baking it before bed, then refrigerating it overnight and reheating it in the morning.  Don't get me wrong, it's really tasty either way, but the texture of the reheated version is better.