Cupcake Overload

You’d think by this point, I’d be sick of cupcakes. It’s certainly been a bit of cupcake overload here this week, what with Cupcake Camp last Sunday, and then spending the rest of the week recovering from it. However, I managed to find a bit of gas left in the tank to crank out three more dozens of cupcakes for my classmates yesterday. Thursdays are long days for us, and I thought we’d probably be in need of a sugar-boost by mid-afternoon.

I had some leftover frosting and caramel sauce from Cupcake Camp that I had thrown into the freezer, so I knew that one dozen of the cupcakes would be the Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting.



The second dozen I made with my friend Jenna in mind. A few of us went for brunch at 7 West earlier this week, and while we were waiting for our meals to arrive, the waiter came out with this massive cake and displayed it on the counter. What was it? Banana chocolate. Which then resulted in the two of us fantasizing about chocolate banana cake for the next couple of minutes. After seeing that cake, I couldn’t get the image out of mind, and I knew the only way I could was to bake the cake myself. Out came my trusted banana muffin recipe (from the Williams-Sonoma collection), in which I replaced the walnuts with chocolate chips, and frosted them with a rich chocolate fudge icing.

My last dozen was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I had originally wanted to make coconut cupcakes, but was distraught when I discovered my local Sobey’s had a very, very pathetic selection of extracts available in their equally pathetic baking section (granted, I can’t really complain since it is a small store…). It was close to being a blizzard out there, and I was already went and cold so I made the executive decision to go home and simply whip up something with whatever I had in my fridge. I had Maltesers, and I had half a carton of whipped cream. Thus I baked Chocolate Malt Cupcakes with Chocolate Malt Whipped Cream.



The chocolate malt cupcakes were incredibly rich and dense, having a brownie-like crumb that melted in your mouth, which paired nicely with the light whipped cream on top. (It’s is so delicious on its own! I’m definitely guilty of having eaten half a bowl of the leftover cream.) The banana chocolate cupcakes were pretty incredible though. It really does make a Cinderella story out of my simple and plain banana muffins. Topped with the fudge frosting and packed with chocolate chips, it’s in a whole different class. And we all know how chocolate and banana make a great pair together, and this fudge frosting is an absolute killer with the banana muffin.

Ok, now I’m officially cupcaked-out. At least for the next few weeks…