Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I will not even comment on how long it has been since our last post. I refuse to think about it. The guilt is too much for me. Gah.

But on a happier note, here we are with cutsie post. I would like to call this the 'Finnish Flag Cupcake' Very original and creative, I know. But it is what it is.

 So it was the Finnish Independance Day on the 6th of December. Hurrah for Finland! And I was in the mood to make something blue and white and YUMMY. So without any delay here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:

1 Cup Granulated Sugar
113g Butter, softened
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Butter Milk (1 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar = 1 cup buttermilk)

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

400g cream cheese, softened
113g butter, softened
2 ½ cups powdered suger
1 tsp vanilla 
Pinch of salt  

Instructions:

For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Line your cupcake tin with liners and set aside.

2. Cream together the sugar and butter with an electric mixture, for about 4 minutes.

3. Add the eggs and vanilla and cream together for another 4 minutes, until you get a smooth mixture.

4. With the speed on slow, add the dry ingredients (baking powder, salt, flour) and slowly add the milk and mix everything to combine. Do not overmix!

5. Scoop the batter into your lined cupcake tin, make sure its only filled ¾ of the way up because they will rise.

6. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool for about 45 minutes before frosting.

For the Frosting:

1. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until smooth, about 1 minute. 

2. Add sugar, vanilla, and salt. Blend on low speed for 30 seconds and then beat until fluffy.

Ok these cupcakes may not depict the true nature of that flag -_- but they were yummy! And in the end that's what matters! The cupcakes were moist and delicious and I'm always a strong lover of cream cheese so they were perfecto!

Try and enjoy!

Love,
K

Apple Strudel Muffins

 Greetings Earthlings!

It's Autumn!! And here in Finland, Autumn is just another synonym for Winter. And here we are shivering out little butts off :)

But on a happier note! We have a lot of apples at home. I mean A LOT of apples and frankly I'm at a loss as to what to do with all of them. I'm sure more experienced bakers would have a million and a one ideas but as for little Keshi, I'm still taking my baby steps. WEE. So for Girls Connect Group, I decided to make Apple Strudel Muffins. I gotta say they were quite yummy and when eaten warm, it makes you forget all about how Winter deceived us by calling itself Autumn ;) So hey give it a go...

Ingredients:
 
For the Muffins:

1 Cup Granulated Sugar
113g Butter, softened
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Baking Powder
A pinch of Salt
A pinch of Cinnamon
1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Whole Milk
2 cups of chopped up Apples 


For the Topping

1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 tbs All Purpose Flour
1 tbs Butter
A pinch of Cinnamon

Instructions:

For the Muffins:

1. Preheat your oven to 175C / 350F
2. Line your muffin tin and set aside
3. Cream together the butter and sugar. 
4. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat well.
5. Add the dry ingredients while mixing slowly (DO NOT OVERMIX!)
6. Add the milk and incorporate well
7. Finally stir in the chopped apples
8. Fill the liners and then prepare the topping

For the Topping:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon
2. Cut in the butter and mix until you get a crumbly texture.

Combine:

1. Sprinkle the topping over the muffin batter in the liners
2. Pop into the oven and let it bake for about 20 min or until it passes the toothpick test
3. DEVOUR!

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did and HAPPY AUTUMN!! :)

Love,
Keshi


 

Pebble Cupcakes

Glee.

While we were on a little holiday in Sri Lanka, Juho and I had a small dinner for our family and friends and I was thinking what would be a good dessert! I decided upon chocolate cake and Pebble Cupcakes, which are basically Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting and Pebbles!

Now for those of you who don't know what Pebbles are, they are a Sri Lankan version of M&Ms :D And these little cupcakes were a big hit! They looked cute and they were so soft and moist and yummy!

 Ingredients:

For Cupcakes:

1 Cup Granulated Sugar
113g Butter, softened
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
1 1/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup Butter Milk (1 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar = 1 cup buttermilk)

For Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar (or as needed)
4 tsp cocoa powder
60g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla


Instructions:

For Cupcake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Line your cupcake tin with liners and set aside.

2. Cream together the sugar and butter with an electric mixture.

3. Add the eggs and vanilla and cream together until you get a smooth mixture.

4. With the speed on slow, add the dry ingredients (baking powder, salt, flour) and slowly add the milk and mix everything to combine. Do not overmix!

5. Scoop the batter into your lined cupcake tin, make sure its only filled ¾ of the way up because they will rise.

6. Bake for 20 minutes and let cool for about 45 minutes before frosting.

For Frosting:

1. Cream together the butter and vanilla

2. Add the cocoa powder and mix well

3. Add powdered sugar until desired consistency

4. Frosting using piping bag or knife

....and voila! Great for kids parties even! Although I was suprised at how much the older folk liked them ;)

Enjoy the child in you!

Love,
Keshi

Banana Oat Muffins

Oh the comfort of a Banana Oat Muffin!

Aloha!

What a lovely, dovely Wednesday it is! Today Juho went to work after 2 days of being sick and thus I was inspired to make something warm, comforting and yummy for his return :) So I made some little bread rolls (the recipe will soon be revealed!!) and Banana Oat Muffins. I mean what is more comforting that a warm Banana Oat Muffin with abit of butter that just melts in your mouth...mmmm...so here's the recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup Cooking Oats
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• ½ tsp Nutmeg
• 2/3 cup Sugar
• 2 Mashed Banans
• 2/3 of a cup of Milk
• ½ cup of Melted Unsalted Butter
• 2 Tbps of Buttermilk (1 cup of milk+1 tsp vinegar = 1 cup buttermilk)
• 2 Eggs
• 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 190C / 375F, line your muffin tin with liners and leave aside.

2. In medium bowl, stir together the flour, oatmeal, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the mashed bananas, milk, buttermilk, melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.

The riper the banana, the better!

4. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

My little workspace!

5. Spoon the batter into muffin cups.

6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center muffin comes out clean.

7. Let them cool for awhile or while hot, apply some butter and eat to your heart's content!

And if the taste is not good enough, the mere fragrance of banana oat muffins filling your house is worth it! So go ahead and try these....you will not be disappointed!

Love,
Keshi

Chocolate Choco Chip Muffins

chocochocchipsmuffins.

Well hello there!

So we have been super busy moving houses and THIS just happens to be our first post baked in our new house ;) So let's get on with it shall we?

Tonight is Girl's Solu (connect group) and I was thinking of a simple, easy-to-make recipe and with the few ingredients I had at home I decided to make Chocolate ChocoChip Muffins! If you didn't realize it by now, I like chocolate.

 So here's the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 cups of Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
1 Tbsp of Baking Powder
½ tsp of Salt
1/8 tsp of Ground Cinnamon
1 cup Chocolate Chips
2/3 of a cup of Whole Milk
½ cup of Melted Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp of Butter Milk (1 cup of milk+1 tsp vinegar=1 cup of buttermilk)
2 Eggs
½ tsp of Vanilla Extract
1 cup of Granulated Sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 200C/400F and line a muffin tray with liners and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3. In another small bowl, mix the chocolate chips in a few tablespoons of the dry flour mixture. Coat them well. (This is to ensure that the chocochips are evenly distributed throughout the muffins and do not sink to the bottom)

4. Prepare the buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk on hand!)

5. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, whole milk, buttermilk, 2 beaten egg, vanilla extract and sugar. Mix them well using an electic mixer or whisk.

5. Finally, add the dry flour mixture and the chocochips to the wet ingredients. Do NOT overmix but just fold the flour mixture in with a spatula until it's combined.

6. Fill the liners with the batter either using 2 spoons or an ice-cream scoop.

7. Bake for about 15-18 min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

8. ENJOY!

Easy peasy! And it goes perfectly with a warm cup of tea or coffee....mmmmm!

 
Love,
Keshi

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

Some Lemony Lovin'

Yumminess ALERT!!! You are about to enter the world of Lemon delight!

I must admit, I'm not a lemon fan at all. I really don't like lemons or anything that has that citrus taste. But I saw this recipe and I needed to give it a try and with the first bite, I fell in love with it! The lemony cream cheese frosting really sealed the deal for me. So give it and go 'cos I can guarentee you will fall in love!

  Ingredients:

Cupcake:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
120g butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
70g sour cream (kermaviili)
1/4 cup milk
½ freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

Frosting:

30g butter, at room temperature
60g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup confectioner sugar


Instructions:

Cupcake:

1) Preheat the oven to 175C / 350 F, line a 12 piece cupcake tin with liners and set aside.

2) In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

3) In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Add the eggs and let it incorporate well.

4) Add the sour cream, milk, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix until its all well incorporated.

5) Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix them in to combine but do NOT overmix!

6) Divide your batter evenly in lined muffin tin. Bake for about 20 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let them cool completely before you frost.

Frosting:

7) In a large bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until you have a creamy frosting.

8) Pipe or spoon on each cupcake.

 Mmmm they taste so good, right?

Love love love,
Keshi

Brownie Cheesecake Cupcakes

Say Brownie, Say Cheesecake.

Aloha!

So I found this recipe for Brownie Cheesecake Cupcakes. Yes, I know. I love Brownies, or anything with chocolate in them. And then I love cheesecake. So put them together and voila! Brownie Cheesecake Cupcakes!

It's super easy to make so have fun with it!

Ingredients:

100g of Chocolate, chopped into small pieces
¼ cup of Unsalted Butter
2 Eggs
Pinch of salt
½ tsp of Vanilla Extract
2/3 cup of All Purpose flour
1 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder
1 cup Granulated Sugar

For the cheesecake topping:

100g of Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ tbsp of Sugar
1 small Egg yolk

 Instructions:

1) Preheat your oven to 175 C/ 350 F. Line a muffin tray with liners and set aside

2) Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave and stir together.

3) In a large bowl beat together the eggs and sugar until it's a pale, yellow colour. 

4) Add the melted chocolate mixture, vanilla and stir everything to combine.

5) Add the flour, cocoa and salt and mix just until everything is combined.

6) With a spoon, fill each lined muffin cup about 2/3 of the way up.

7) In a small bowl, cream together the cream cheese, sugar and egg yolk. Using a small spoon drop little teaspoon amount of cream cheese mixture on top of each one.

8) Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

 

9) Let them cool completely and pop them in the fridge for a while, before serving.

 So enjoy enjoy enjoy!

Love,
Keshi

Mocha Cupcakes with Whipped Cream

So I have a confession to make. I have never had Tiramisu. You may stop hyperventilating now, thank you very much. But Juho loves it and I found a recipe for Tiramisu cupcakes and I thought let's do this!

To make a long story short, it was an epic fail. They tasted nothing like Tiramisu but they were absolutely yumilicious. Mmmmm. And we decided to call them Mocha Cupcakes.

So here's the recipe for it...

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of All Purpose Flour

¼ tsp of Baking Soda

¼ tsp of Salt

2 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder

3 Tbsp of Instant Espresso Powder or strong instant coffee

1 cup of Warm Water
2 Eggs

1 cup of Granulated Sugar

1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

3 Tbsp of Milk

1/3 cup of Olive Oil 

For the topping:

1 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp of Powder Sugar
Mini Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 175 C/ 350 F and line a cup cake pan with liners and keep aside.

2) In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa and set aside. 

3) In a large cup or a mug, add the warm water and instant espresso and let it sit for a few minutes.

4) In a large bowl, cream together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, milk and olive oil, add the coffee and water mixture and mix everything together so that you have a smooth mixture.

5) Add the dry ingredients and mix them in just enough to combine but do not over mix it.

6) Divide the batter evenly in the lined cupcake pan and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely.

7) To make the whipped topping, whisk the cream until soft peaks form, add the powder sugar and continue to mix until it forms stiff peaks. Top each cupcake with the whipped cream and a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips. 

I'm also on a "diet" so sadly I only got to eat 3 of these little munchies of joy. Yes, only 3.

Nevertheless, try them and enjoy!

Love,

Keshi