Beer Cupcakes!

So - I know that i am four days late. I apologize - but i have been kind of busy. It was my little ladies birthday so I was baking for her, a pair of Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-man birthday cakes.


Check them out.

She dug into the cakes before i could frost the chocolate chip heart or Mrs. Pac-man's bow... but the thought was there.

So on to Septembers recipe.

Many of you don't know me, but those that do - know i love to imbibe in the occasional spirit, so for your consideration -- I give you Guinness Cupcakes.

The beer adds a richness and moisture, and balances the sweetness of the sugar. Now you don't need to make cupcakes in fact when i make this recipe i think i will just throw the whole thing into my spring form pan. (which i know everyone should have now right?)

The cake is topped with a cream cheese glaze, which is also super-easy.

Cake
1 cup Guinness
1 stick, plus 1 tb, unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tb vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda

Glaze*
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350; butter a muffin tin.

Combine the Guinness and the butter, chopped into 1-inch chunks, in a large sauce pan, and heat to melt the butter. Remove from heat, and whisk in the cocoa and sugar.

In a bowl, whisk the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla, then add to the beer mixture. Sift together the flour and baking soda, and fold into the batter. Pour into muffin molds and bake for 25 minutes, or until inserted cake tester comes out clean.

Let stand 10 minutes, remove from tin, and cool completely on a rack.

Using a mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth, sift in sugar, and beat. Add milk, and beat until smooth. Spread glaze over cooled cupcakes.

*To create a thinner glaze, use a tablespoon or two more milk; for a topping more akin to icing, use less milk, and perhaps more sugar. In either case, add a little sugar or milk at a time, mix, and check for desired consistency.

Hope everyone enjoys -- and also i know any dark beer should work - look for Stouts - try a local microbrew if you have one -- could make for a different taste.

I'll make some this weekend - and post up my pictures.

This is one from the website I borrowed the recipe from.

Enjoy !

Labor Day is still summer!!

Since today is the officially start of September, I thought it was high time I posted for the August recipe (especially considering I'm the one who posted the darn thing in the first place!). In reading over everyone else's posts, it seems that my experience was similar to most - I had to let the cake cook a bit longer than the hour called for by the recipe, and found that the solo cake was somewhat lacking in sweetness and flavor (and mind you, I am not a fan of uber-sweet desserts so this is saying something).

So here's how it all happened...

Ingredients pre-cake batter

Mixing the ricotta...

Pouring the batter into the springform...

Baking! My oven is on the smaller side and becomes hot very quickly, so I always need to set it about 25 degrees F lower than what is called for

Out of the oven and cooling

After allowing the cake to cool in form for awhile, I chilled it in the fridge overnight. The following evening, this is what it looked like when I took it out of the tin.

Voila! All done

Not sure when I plan to make this again, but a couple of thoughts for when I do...

• The flavor of the ricotta is so light, it really needs something more to heighten the taste. Maybe more lemon and cinnamon, and perhaps I'd add more in the way of spices - like cloves or nutmeg.
• Another way to compensate for the light "blank canvas" nature of the cake is to go for more flavor and interest in the topping (which many have already touched upon). My mom also made the cake, and having had vast quantities of blueberries she recently picked at a berry farm, she decided to go with a sort of blueberry compote as a topping. As for me, I am huge fan of honey - and so I simply drizzled a good bit over the piece I'd eat.
  
• My little sister is a pastry chef at a resort in Wisconsin and mentioned to me that they recently made a ricotta cheesecake that actually uses a blend of cream cheese and ricotta (granted, I think they also import fancy buffalo's milk ricotta... which I have no intentions of doing). Could be a fun experiment though. And who doesn't love more cheese.
  

So there you have it. Happy Labor Day, everyone!