Banana-Topped Vanilla Cupcakes

Since I enjoy baking so much, I once again made cupcakes for a lab meeting at work. This recipe comes from my new book Cupcakes (Collection Cuistot), and I found the cupcakes so cute that I had to try it. I really liked the taste of these simple yet adorable cupcakes!

Ingredients for cupcakes:

80 g unsalted butter, at room temperature (RT)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for frosting:

80 g unsalted butter, RT

1 cup icing sugar

2 bananas, sliced

Chocolate, grated

Yellow food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Place muffin liners in miniature cupcake pan.

2. Beat together the butter and brown sugar until mixture is homogenous and fluffy.

3. Add the egg and combine well.

4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

5. Add the flour mixture, milk and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. Mix thoroughly.

6. Fill the 24 muffin cups and bake for 10-15 minutes, until cupcakes are firm to the touch. Let cupcakes cool down before frosting.

8. To make the frosting, beat together the butter and food coloring. Gradually add in the icing sugar until desired consistency is reached.

9. Spread frosting on cupcakes and top with a slice of banana sprinkled with grated chocolate.

Yield: 24 small cupcakes

Triple Chocolate Cookies

A couple of days ago my friend Émilie posted a recipe on her blog for succulent triple chocolate cookies. They looked delicious so of course, being a chocolate fan and loving to bake, I had no choice but to try it. Hence I did and, like my friend said, they did in fact taste like heaven!! So chocolaty, so tasty, miam. I am definitely keeping this recipe in my favorites. Go visit her blog, it's full of great recipes!

N.B. I forgot to add the brown sugar when I did these, but they still tasted very good. The recipe is better with the latter, but if you don't have any you can still try out this recipe.

Ingredients:

150 g flour

50 g unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pinch salt

115 g butter, unsalted

100 g sugar

100 g brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100 g white chocolate chips

100 g semi-sweet dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.

2. Beat together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until mixture is homogenous and fluffy.

3. Add the egg and vanilla extract.

4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

5. Combine the flour mixture with the butter mixture. Be patient, the dough will be very thick.

6. Add the chocolate chips and mix well.

7. Place a teaspoon of the dough on a baking sheet for each cookie. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

8. Enjoy!

Yield: about 30 cookies (plenty to share! or not... :p )

Melted Marshmallow Cupcakes

Last weekend I was unable to resist and bought a cupcake recipe book! The book is Cupcakes (Collection Cuistot) and contains recipes for more than 70 delicious-looking cupcakes. As such, I could not wait to try a recipe with my new cookbook and my new KitchenAid hand-mixer (a birthday gift from my dad!). I chose a recipe for marshmallow cupcakes because it sounded delicious. Although my coworkers generally found them to be a bit too sweet, they seemed to like them nonetheless. Beware though, this recipe is very messy while cooking! The marshmallows ooze out of the muffin liners. Do not stop this from trying the recipe though, I don't think you will regret it.

N.B. I am currently trying out the method of weighing ingredients for better accuracy and consistency between each batch. So far it's seems to work out.

Ingredients for cupcakes:

2 eggs

125 g butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk*

2 cups self-rising flour*

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

100 g mini-marshmallows

Ingredients for frosting:

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

125 g butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100 g mini-marshmallows, melted*

* If you do not have buttermilk, you can substitute it using the following recipe: for each cup of milk, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice. Let sit for 10 minutes prior to using.

* If you do not have self-rising flour, you can follow the following recipe for a substitute: for each cup of flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

* To melt the marshmallows, heat in the microwave in 20-second intervals, mixing well between each.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Place the muffin cups in the pan.

2. In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs.

3. Add the butter and sugar. Mix until the mixture is light and smooth.

4. Add the buttermilk, flour and vanilla extract. Mix well for at least 2 minutes.

5. Add the marshmallows to the mixture and combine well.

6. Fill the muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes. WARNING: extremely messy. Wait until the cupcakes are entirely cooled before frosting.

7. For the frosting, combine the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Add the melted marshmallows and mix until frosting is fluffy. You may add coloring gel at this point.

Enjoy!!

Yield: 12-14 cupcakes

Classic Carrot Muffins

This recipe is pretty basic, but carrot muffins are one of my favorite things to eat (ever!), so I just had to add a recipe for it. I obtained the recipe from my desert cookbook Irrésistibles Biscuits!. This one is simple and ensures that the resulting muffins will be moist and tasty!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup liquid honey

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 cups carrots, shredded (∼ about 3 large carrots)

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the muffin cups in the pan.

2. In a bowl, combine the sugar, honey and vegetable oil. Mix well.

3. Add the eggs, mixing after each addition.

4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk together the ingredients and add them to the honey mixture.

5. Incorporate the carrots and walnuts.

6. Fill each muffin cup to 3/4 full and bake for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Yield: 18-20