White Buttermilk Cupcakes with Pineapple Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting

White Buttermilk Cake

Pa. Grange Cookbook
Submitted by Mrs. Frank Jacobs
Deemston Grange No. 1372

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
2 cups buttermilk
4 cups sifted cake flour
4 egg whites, beaten stiff
3 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Cream shortening and sugar. Add about 1/2 cup of the buttermilk and beat until fluffy. Sift dry ingredients and add alternately with the rest of the buttermilk. Add vanilla. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Bake as cupcakes at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Test with toothpick for doneness.






Pineapple Filling


Ingredients:

1/2 cup white sugar
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
3/4 cup pineapple juice
1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS
In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, combine sugar, flour and salt. Stir in egg, pineapple and pineapple juice. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture has thickened. Stir in butter. Remove from heat and allow to cool.


Cream Cheese Frosting

Pa. Grange Cookbook
Submitted by Mrs. John Espey
Center Grange No. 1870

I doubled this recipe and added enough powdered sugar to make the frosting stiff enough to pipe it.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pkg ( 8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup confectioners sugar

Let cream cheese and butter warm to room temperature. Beat them together and add vanilla. Gradually beat in sugar.

Irish Cream Cupcakes with Coffee Frosting

Makes: Approximetly 20 cupcakes
You will need:

• 1 package super moist yellow cake
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package chocolate pudding mix
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup Irish cream (you can use any brand)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Coffee frosting (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Sift together cake and pudding mix. Whisk in remaining ingredients until smooth. Mixture will be somewhat thick.
3. Line a cupcake pan with liners. Fill liners 2/3 full of cupcake mixture.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool completely. Frost with coffee frosting.

Coffee Frosting

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 pound powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 3 tablespoons strong coffee

1. Beat the butter with a hand held mixer. Continue beating as you gradually add in the powdered sugar. Add in the milk and coffee until frosting is stiff but spreadable.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Adapted From Paula Deen’s “The Lady & Sons Just Desserts”
Makes 36 cupcakes

• 1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
• 1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
• 1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed (I wound up buying two 10 oz. packages and using some of the leftover strawberry puree in the frosting.)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup strawberry puree (Measure it from the leftover puree you made for the batter.)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Up to 7 cups confectioners’ sugar

Garnish (optional):

• Freshly sliced strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 3 (12-cup) muffins pans with cupcake papers.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. (The batter might seem runny. Just roll with it.)
3. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake for about 20 minutes, turning the pans once, halfway through. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.
4. For the Frosting: In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.
5. Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or spatula, or pipe on the frosting with a big star tip. Garnish with fresh strawberries, if desired.

Bananas Foster Cupcakes

Bananas Foster Cupcakes
makes about 17 cupcakes
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 recipe for Bananas Foster, bananas mashed, sauce set aside
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in bananas, then eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition.
4. Add vanilla.
5. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt and add alternately with buttermilk to mixture.
6. Beat just until blended.
7. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
8. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
9. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Bananas Foster
recipe adapted from Alton Brown
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 tbsp water
4 under ripe bananas, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 cup light rum
Isn't that cool? This was done under the supervision of Fire Marshall Bill, aka my husband.
Melt butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over low heat.
Add brown sugar, allspice and nutmeg and stir
until sugar dissolves.
Add water and bring sauce to simmer.
Add bananas and cook for 1 minute on each side, carefully spooning sauce over bananas as they are cooking.
Remove bananas from pan to a serving dish.
Bring sauce to a simmer and carefully add the rum.
If the sauce is very hot, the alcohol will flame on its own.
If not, using stick flame, carefully ignite and continue cooking until flame dies out, approximately 1 to 2 minutes.
If sauce is too thin, cook for 1 to 2 minutes until it is syrupy in consistency.
Immediately spoon the sauce over bananas and serve. Or smash up to make cupcakes!


Bananas Foster Buttercream
adapted from Gale Gand
The added salt in this really adds a nice touch and cuts the sweetness.
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
sauce from Bananas Foster
In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter.
Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
Add vanilla and sauce and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more.

Make your Bananas Foster, bake your cupcakes, make the frosting, toast some coconut, and you're all set! These are really delicious. If you don't want to use the rice flour, go ahead and use whatever you prefer. The cupcakes themselves aren't sweet at all, so the big old heaping pile of icing is very nice, not to mention the toasted coconut!

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
4 ounces white chocolate, melted
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Filling:
8 ounces frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
Frosting:
If you're brave, try this recipe (and let me know how it turns out!). If you want something less complicated, use American buttercream, instructions below.
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/3 cup cream cheese or tofutti cream cheese
3 to 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, seeded, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon soymilk
6 ounces white chocolate, melted
12 fresh raspberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350ËšF.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add sugar and brown sugar and mix. Slowly mix together melted chocolate and oil. Whisk together soy milk, coconut milk, lemon zest, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth. Fill cupcake liners with a scant 1/4 cup of batter (should be just under 2/3 of the way full - my cupcakes overflowed, so err on the under-filled side here). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
To make filling, combine frozen raspberries with water, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until raspberries begin to break down. Add 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixture and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, and strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve, pressing as much through as possible. Return strained mixture to heat once again. Add another tablespoon of cornstarch mixture, and bring to a simmer. If mixture still seems thin, add more cornstarch as necessary. It will thicken more upon cooling. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
Cut out small cones from tops of cupcakes (holes should be approximately 1/2" across and 1/2" deep), saving removed cake. Fill holes with raspberry filling, and replace cake on top.
To make frosting, beat butter or margarine and cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, until creamy. Melt white chocolate as before, and mix in vanilla seeds or extract. Add to frosting and mix well. Add extract and soy milk, and beat until fluffy (add more sugar and/or soymilk if you need it, until you get the right texture). Generously pipe or spread onto filled cupcakes. Top each cupcake with a single fresh raspberry.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Red Velvet Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Yes, it will fizz! Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter (they should be 2/3 – 3/4 full). You may not fill all the cups, I ended up with 20 cupcakes. Place muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don’t overbake!
5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting. Frost cupcakes with cream cheese icing (recipe below) and decorate with red sprinkles if desired. The cupcakes above were decorated using the Wilton Cupcake Decorating Kit and Valentine’s Sprinkles. They can usually be found at craft stores like Michaels or Joann.

Peach Cupcakes with Peach Buttercream

Cupcakes
2-2 ½ cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup sugar
1 cup fresh peach puree
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons vinegar

Buttercream
¾ cup butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
¼ cup peach puree
Vanilla, to taste


×××

Cake
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin, or lightly grease and flour a 9-inch round or 8-inch square cake pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar into a bowl. In a measuring cup, mix together the peach puree, oil and vanilla. Add the peach mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined. At this point, you may want to add some yellow and food colouring to achieve a peachier colour. When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly. The batter will foam slightly where the baking soda and vinegar are reacting. Stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 20 minutes if making cupcakes, or 25 to 30 minutes it making cake. Allow to cool before glazing or frosting.

Peach Buttercream
Whip the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until well combined. Add peach puree and vanilla and beat again until smooth. You may want to add some yellow and red food colouring to achieve a peachier colour.
Can be piped or spread onto cakes.