12 Days of Christmas Cupcakes: Egg Nog Cupcakes w/ Rum Syrup

I made these cupcakes to give to my old coworkers.  The rum syrup really makes these delish (and grownup.)  I'm not much of an egg nog girl, but these tasted rich and satisfying little holiday cupcakes.

Egg Nog Cupcakes (Makes about 12)

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon rum

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup egg nog

 Preheat oven to 350. Line one cupcake pan with liners.

1. Cream together the butter & sugar.  Beat well, until light & fluffy (4-5 minutes)

2. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well.  Scrape down sides of the bowl.  Add rum, vanilla, and almond extract, and beat for 30 seconds.

3. In  a large bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Mix well (if time, I'd advise to sift).

4.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a little at a time.  Alternate the dry ingredients with the egg nog.  

5.  Fill liners full, and bake until a  stick inserted comes clean-17-20 minutes, depending on how full the liners are.

When cupcakes have cooled, ad rum syrup to the tops.  Let dry on a rack, so that excess syrup may drip off (put a paper towel or cookie sheet underneath the rack to catch the sticky syrup.)

Rum Syrup (Krystina Castella)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons rum

1. make a simple syrup: in a sauce pan, add water and sugar.  Stir constantly over medium-high heat, so sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil.

2. Boil syrup for 5 minute.  Add remaining ingredients, and continue to cool until syrup become thick.  Stir to avoid burning.

3.  Cool syrup for about 1-2 minute,s then apply to top of cupcakes. 

12 Cupcakes of Christmas: Gingerbread Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

1.

It could be an ornament...

To get the full scoop on the occasion I made these cupcakes for, check out my BFF Kimberly's post.  The girls got together for some good eats and to catch up during the holidays.  Being an unemployed, but soon-to-be brand new certified teacher, I opted to gift food love.  I whipped up some gingerbread cupcakes.  Thankfully, Wilton makes these adorable little Gingerbread sugar men, perfect for garnish, at a very affordable price.  They totally make this cupcake.

Gingerbread Cupcakes (adapted from Krystina Castella)

1 stick butter, softened

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

2/3 cup molasses

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup sour cream

 (Directions (Makes 12 full cupcakes)

1. Preheat the oven to 350, and line one muffin tin with 12 liners.

2.  Using a stand mixer, cream the butter & sugar together.  The batter should look fluffy.  Add the egg and molasses, and beat well. 

3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger. 

4. Add the dry ingredient mixture a little at a  time, alternating with the sour cream.

5. Fill each liner at least 3/4 full.  Bake for 16-18 minute,s or until you insert a stick (I use a plastic drink stirrer from the Hard Rock Cafe) and it comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting (from the Cake Mix Doctor)

1 package cream cheese softened

1/2 stick butter softened

2 1/2-3 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Cream together the cream cheese and butter. Blend on low.

2. Add the powdered sugar, a little at a time. When the frosting begins to thicken, add the vanilla.

12 days of Christmas: Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

The computer I am using to type this blog entry is pretty old.
                         In fact, when I got it, I looked like this:

I got my computer back in my Wahoowa days.  It was the fall of 2002, and I was in my first year at college, living in possibly the most amazingly decorated dorm room ever, with my awesome roomie Nitty.  I have no idea what paper I was writing at the time of the photo...it couldn't have been my History of the Middle East final, because I didn't even come up with a topic for that one until midnight, the day before it was due.  My first all-nighter made me feel like such a grown up, and so miserable, all at the same time.

So, why am I getting nostalgic about my time as an exhausted paper-writing undergrad?  Because my computer is about to breathe its last breath.  Thanks to an amazing entourage that has solved all my computer problems for nearly a decade, my computer still runs.  But not very well.  And once agsin, I have enlisted the assistance of a friend to switch from the dark ages, one-working-USB port-in-the-very-back computer to a brand new one!  I bribed hm with cupcakes.  Not just any cupcakes, but chocolate stout (Guinness) cupcakes.

The cupcake recipe I followed is from Baked Perfection (under Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.)

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

1 cup Guinness

1 cup butter

3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

Diections:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with liners. Bring Guinness and the butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat.  Then, add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Allow to slightly cool.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a  medium bowl.  In another bowl, combine eggs and sugar, and beat with an electric mixer.  Add the beer/butter.cocoa mixture to the creamed egg/sugar.  Then, add the dry ingredients, a little at a time, stopping to scrape down the bowl.
Scoop about 1/3 cup batter in each liner.  Bake 18-20 minutes. This batter is runny, so use a stick to test.  When it comes clean, the cupcakes are done.

I *had* a fabulous idea for a Guiness-reduction buttercream.  But I think I reduced it too much.  I read that if you add a tablespoon of sugar to about a bottle of Guiness, and simmer it until it reduces to about a tablespoon of liquid, you add this to frosting for beer flavor.  I would have reduced it to more liquid, because you could not really taste the Guinness in the frosting.  And the frosting was not fabulous anyway, so I used it as glue for the little Root Beer barrels. My plan B? I dipped the cupcakes in dark chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Ganache:
I heated about a cup of heavy cream in a pot on the stove.  When it was hot, but not boiling, I added broken up Ghiradelli 60% Cocoa bar, and stirred until melted.  Dark chocolate ganache=heaven!

To garnish, I added Root Beer Barrel candies benetah a ball of frosting and some chopped nuts. Yummy!