Adventures in baking

Lately I have been baking constantly. I have always loved to bake but lately I blame my sister and her new found love for baking, as well as a cookbook Jenny "rented" entitled, 5000 cupcake recipes, or something ridiculous like that! I am still determined to bake them all and make corrections.

Last week, being the lovely Melissa's birthday, I decided to search for some new recipes. I stumbled across a frangelico cupcake recipe, mmmm, frangelico! I also had some Nutella laying around so I combined the cupcake recipe with a Nutella/coffee frosting recipe I found. The frosting was delicious!!!! The only issue was...I could tell there wasn't going to be enough so I just started adding more stuff and the consistency got a little wet.....

The cupcakes themselves were really moist but I thought once you added the egg whites it took away from the rich chocolate flavor. I think I would add more almond extract next time and maybe more coco powder. Also, I substituted some of the sugar for agave nectar but seeing that I didn't measure it out, I figured I should post the recipe as is.

Here is the cupcake recipe I adapted from How to eat a cupcake

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used a generous 1/2 cup of dark coco powder)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.

2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, cocoa, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and creamy, 3-5 minutes. Add egg yolks and beat for 4 minutes.
3. In a small bowl mix water and Frangelico and almond extract.
4. In another large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternating with the Frangelico mixture. Mix on medium speed until ingredients are almost combined.
6. With clean beaters and a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until they form soft peaks. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar to make a meringue. With a rubber spatula, fold the meringue into the batter.
7. Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes. Finish cooling on wire rack.


Nutella Coffee Frosting: adapted from The cupcake review

Ingredients

· 2 tablespoons butter, softened

· 2 1/2 tablespoons Nutella

· 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

· 1-2 tablespoons half and half or milk

· 1 teaspoon instant coffee

· 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Method

In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon cream/milk with 1 teaspoon instant coffee and stir until coffee is dissolved.

In a separate bowl, combine butter, Nutella, sugar, salt, vanilla, and the 1 tablespoon coffee-milk mixture. Mix well with electric mixer, adding more milk as needed to make a fluffy spreadable frosting.

Makes enough to frost 10-12 cupcakes if just spreading it on with a knife.