Thomas the Tank Engine Birthday

It was my friend’s nephew’s third birthday and he was having a Thomas the Tank Engine themed birthday. Three year olds really like Thomas – evidence here!  They wanted vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and a small cake to put candles on.  Since there were going to be a lot of adults at the party, I thought I’d class up the cupcakes a bit by stuffing them with a raspberry frosting and topping them with Swiss meringue buttercream instead of the American buttercream that I normally use.  We made cupcake toppers with Thomas the Tank Engine stickers and since I’m really into bunting right now, I included one for the cake.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Chocolate cupcakes and cake layer

I used this go-to recipe and made 12 cupcakes and a 5 inch cake layer. 

Fill the cups 2/3 full and bake or 12-14 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

For the cake, cut out a parchment round for the bottom of the cake pan and grease and flour the sides.  Fill 2/3 full and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Vanilla cupcakes and cake layer

I made 1.5 times this recipe to make 12 cupcakes and a 5 inch cake layer.  The only addition I made was the addition of a ½ up for whipping cream whipped to a stiff peak and folded into the batter at the end.

For the cake, cut out a parchment round for the bottom of the cake pan and grease and flour the sides.  Fill 2/3 full and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Recipe from here times 1.75

Ingredients

262g (about 9) egg whites

437g (2 cups + 3 Tablespoons) sugar

795g (3.5 cups) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Combine egg whites and sugar in the bowl of a standmixer.  Place bowl over simmering water while slowly but constantly stirring by hand with a whisk.

2. When the mixture reaches 140 degrees F., place in the standmixer with the whisk attachment and whip until stiff glossy peaks form and the meringue is cool.

3. Switch to a paddle attachment and mix on medium while dropping cubes of butter one a time.  The mixture will curdle, but mix on high and it will become smooth eventually.

4. Add vanilla and salt and mix.

5. Take out 1 cup for the raspberry filling (below), 1.5 cups to colour green, and divide the remaining amount in half for blue and yellow.  Add gel food colouring and whisk until blended.

Meringue ready for butter.

Buttercream ready for food colouring.

Raspberry filling

Mix 1 cup of Swiss meringue buttercream with ½ cup of fresh raspberries with the whisk attachment until smooth.

To fill cupcakes, fill pastry bag with an elongated tip such as Tip #18. Insert the tip into the middle of the cupcake and squeeze until the cupcake expands a bit.  There should be enough to fill the 5 inch cake.

5 inch Chocolate and Vanilla Cake

Use the chocolate and vanilla cake layers for the bottom and top of layers of the cake.  Fill with remaining raspberry frosting.

Frost the bottom half with remaining blue frosting and top half with green.  Check out a tutorial here.

Use Tip #233 for the grass.

Verdict: These cupcakes were absolutely delicious and were a huge hit at the party! The cupcakes and cake were really moist (because I made the ahead of time and froze them) and the filling was a surprising burst of flavour.  The thing that made them, though, was the Swiss meringue buttercream.  I got so many complements on the frosting and its marshmallow creaminess.  I had made Swiss meringue buttercream before but wasn’t a fan, until now! I don’t know what’s changed in me, but it’s exactly what I’m looking for in a frosting – not too sweet, doesn’t crust, is silky, melts in your mouth, and doesn’t overwhelm the cupcake/cake.  A super successful adult cupcake that the kids also liked! Yay!

Lemon Birthday Cupcakes

Another birthday and this time for a birthday boy (maybe not boy but man?) who loves lemons.  Last year I made him lemon squares that he really liked. This year, I went with lemon cupcakes with lemon frosting with cream cheese.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Lemon Birthday Cupcakes

Adapted from here.

Makes 14 cupcakes.

Ingredients

½ cup salted butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cup cake flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup milk with a small slash of vinegar

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

1 Tablespoon juice

Direction

1.       Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with liners.

2.       In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

3.       Add eggs one at a time and beat.

4.       In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, and salt. 

5.       Add flour mixture to butter mixture in thirds, lightly blending after each addition and alternating with milk.

6.       Add lemon zest and juice and blend just until mixed.

7.       Scoop into baking pans and bake for 16 minutes.  Cool before frosting.

Lemon Two-Toned Frosting

Adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook

Ingredients

½ cup butter (original recipe calls for ¼ cup of shortening and ¼ cup butter)

2 oz/55 g cream cheese

1 Tablespoon glucose (or 2 teaspoons corn syrup)

1 Tablespoon corn syrup

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 ½ cups icing sugar

Pinch of baking powder

Rind from ½ a lemon

Directions

1.    Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy.

2.    With the mixer on low, stream glucose, corn syrup, and lemon juice.  Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 2-3 minutes until silky.

3.     Mix in icing sugar and baking powder and beat until smooth.  Add lemon rind and mix.

4.     Divide frosting in half and add yellow food colouring to one half.

5.     Add both colours of frosting to a pastry bag.

Vanilla soak

Mix 2 Tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract in a small bowl.

Assembly

With a pastry brush, apply vanilla soak to tops of cupcakes.

Pipe frosting.

Verdict: The birthday boy loved these lemony cupcakes.  They were a bit dense for my taste, a tad reminiscent of a pound cake. I prefer light fluffy cupcakes like this (link here) lemon chiffon cupcake.  But these got great reviews from the entourage!  If I had time, I would’ve gone out to buy those jelly candies that look like lemon slices and topped the cupcakes with them, and stuffed them with lemon curd – next time, next time.

Funfetti Birthday Cupcakes

It was my birthday and I wanted to bring cupcakes to work for my co-workers – reminiscent of those grade school days when your mom would bake cupcakes for the whole class on your birthday.  There’s a birthday layer cake recipe in the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook that I’ve been wanting to make (*surprise!) and I thought this would be a good opportunity.  What makes this a birthday recipe is the rainbow sprinkles and the vanilla theme (btw, the recipe calls for clear vanilla extract to keep the cake white, but you can use regular extract if you don’t mind the colour).  The cake recipe comprises 4 mini recipes: the cake, the cake soak, the frosting, and the cake crumb.  I took these components, adapted them a bit, and made cupcakes instead of a cake.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Funfetti Birthday Cupcakes

Makes about 20 cupcakes

Birthday Cake Crumb (Make this first, or even a few days before putting the cake together)

Ingredients

¼ cup sugar

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

¼ + 2 Tablespoon cake flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon rainbow sprinkles

3 Tablespoon oil

½ Tablespoon clear vanilla extract

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

2.       Mix sugars, flour, baking powder, salt and sprinkles in a bowl.

3.       Add oil and vanilla and mix until there are small clusters.

4.       Spread the clusters on a lined baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Cool before using.

Before baking.

After baking.

Funfetti Cupcakes

Ingredients

¼ + 1/3 cup salted butter at room temperature (original recipe calls for 1/3 cup shortening instead)

1 ¼ cup sugar

3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

3 eggs

½ cup buttermilk

1/3 cup oil

2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract (regular extract is fine, but will darken the colour of the cupcakes)

2 cups cake flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup  + 2 Tablespoon rainbow sprinkles

Direction

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.       Beat butter and sugars in a bowl with a hand-held or stand mixer until fluffy (2-3 minutes).

3.       Add eggs and mix for 2-3 minutes.

4.       With the mixer on low, stream buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.  Increase sped to medium-high for 5 minutes.  The mixture should be doubled in volume and homogenous (no streaks of fat).

5.       On low speed, add cake flour, baking powder, and ¼ cup of sprinkles until it comes together (60 seconds max).

6.       Scoop into cupcake pans, and sprinkle the remaining sprinkles on each cupcake.  Bake in oven and check for doneness at 15 minutes with a toothpick.  If it doesn’t come out clean, bake for an extra minute or two.  Cool completely before frosting.

Before baking.

After baking.

Frosting

Ingredients

½ cup butter (original recipe calls for ¼ cup of shortening and ¼ cup butter)

2 oz/55 g cream cheese

1 Tablespoon glucose (or 2 teaspoons corn syrup)

1 Tablespoon corn syrup

1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract

1 ½ cups icing sugar

Pinch of baking powder

Pinch of citric acid (I used a squeeze of lemon juice instead)

Directions

1.       Cream butter and cream cheese until fluffy.

2.       With the mixer on low, stream glucose, corn syrup, and vanilla.  Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 2-3 minutes until silky.

3.       Mix in icing sugar, baking powder, and citric acid, and beat until smooth.

Vanilla soak

Mix ¼ cup milk and 1 teaspoon of clear vanilla extract in a small bowl.

Cupcake Assembly

1.       With a pastry brush, apply the Vanilla Soak to the cupcakes.

2.       Pipe frosting (I used Ateco tip 847), and sprinkle with Birthday Cake Crumb.

3.       Store in the refrigerator and leave out for 30 minutes before serving.

Verdict:  The Milk Bar recipe does it again! My colleagues were super happy to receive cupcakes and I was happy to celebrate my birthday by sharing these sweet and very vanilla-y mouthfuls of deliciousness! And, I found my FAVORITE frosting.  This frosting is sooooo good! I NEVER eat frosting out of the bowl, but I was spooning this stuff into my mouth.  I wouldn’t call this a cream cheese frosting, because there is very little cream cheese, but it’s just enough to give the frosting an interesting flavor element.  I’ll definitely be using this recipe again.

Btw, best birthday ever!!!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Another birthday, this time my friend Jerry.  What to make for a guy who has no dessert favorites but is happy with everything?  Last year I made him a black and white cake (see photo below).  This year, I went with another black and white cake, but in cupcake form.  Plus, I’ve been wanting to make a cookies and cream dessert for a while!

Jerry's 2011 birthday cake.

See the verdict at the end of the post!

Cookies and Cream Cupcake

Adapted from here.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

1 pack of Oreo cookies

1 1/8 cup flour and 1 Tablespoon pastry flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter – softened

½ and ¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla syrup or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk – room temperature

2 egg whites – room temperature

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a cupcake pan with 12 liners.

2.       Prep Oreos

   a.       Twist 12 Oreos in half and place the side with cream on the bottom of the cupcake liners (cream side up). 

   b.      Cut other half of cookies for later decorations.  Crush the others into a fine crumb to add to frosting.

   c.       Roughly chop 10 Oreo cookies and toss in 1 Tablespoon of flour.  Set aside to fold into batter.

3.       Whisk 1 1/8 cup flour, baking power, and salt in a bowl.  Set aside.

4.       In a separate bowl, whip egg whites to soft peaks.  Gradually beat in ¼ cup sugar until stiff peaks. Set aside.

5.       In a separate bowl, cream butter and ½ cup sugar until fluffy.  Add vanilla and beat to combine.

6.       Add flour to butter mixture in thirds, alternating with buttermilk, starting and ending with flour and beating between additions.

7.       Fold in egg white mixture.

8.       Fold in chopped Oreo cookies.

9.       Spoon into cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Oreo in the cupcake liners.

Cut the twisted off cookie in half for decorations.

Chop 10 Oreos to fold into batter.

Before baking.

After baking.

Cookies and Buttercream Frosting

In a large bowl, combine 1 cups of butter (softened), 4 cups of icing sugar, 2 teaspoons of vanilla syrup, and 1/4 cup of milk.  Beat until smooth.  Add crushed Oreo cookies (about ¼ cup) and beat until combined.

Ready for delivery!

Verdict: Jerry seemed pretty happy that he got cake for his birthday.  I wasn’t there when he tasted them, but I thought they were super delicious.  The cake is not too sweet, which balances the sweet frosting.  Plus, the cookie at the bottom of the cupcake stays crispy and gives it a change-up in texture.  A success!  I wonder what other cookies I can bake into a cake…