Chocolate Basil Cupcakes With Toasted Almond Buttercream Frosting

This is my second guest post at Meals; for Moderns, my friend Becky's awesome vegetarian food blog. As I mentioned before, I'm doing a series of three recipes that highlight fresh herbs in tasty baked goods.

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Over the past year or so--since I've started exploring the potential of the kitchen, especially in the realm of delicious and interesting baked goods--I've learned (from experience, mind you) that the following items do not substitute for a food processor:

• A Kitchenaid mixer--neither the whisk nor the knead attachment
  
• A fork
• Two forks
  
• A hammer

I've I wanted to try a basil-chocolate cake recipe for a while now (something about how basil borders on an almost licorice-like flavor made it seem like a good complement to a velvety chocolate cake). I knew I'd need a food processor (not a hammer) to do it--I kept reading over and over that the way to go is to finely chop basil with granulated sugar using a food processor. I wasn't so sure I was ready to commit to an actual food processor, though. It seems like something that adults get when they're comfortable and settled in a place, and I'm not ready to admit that I'm an adult who's never leaving San Francisco (even though it's true).

But, because I kind of promised Becky that I would blog about using fresh herbs in baked goods, and because I told her about the basil chocolate cupcake idea and she got excited, I felt like I had no choice. I had pretty much backed myself into a corner, and probably on purpose so I would actually do it. And I did: I broke down and bought a cute, 3-cup, royal blue food processor this weekend. I immediately fell in love.

To really take the food processor thing to the next level, I came up with a frosting recipe that would use it, too. (I might as well call these "food processor cupcakes.") But if you're not a nut fan, a simple vanilla buttercream would pair nicely with the cake as well (and wouldn't require additional food processor time).

Chocolate Basil Cupcakes With Toasted Almond Buttercream Frosting

(Note: I accidentally bought jumbo baking cups at Safeway, so I ended up making 17 gigantic cupcakes instead of two-dozen or so normal-sized cupcakes. That also explains why they turned out kind of ugly and misshapen. In a non-jumbo world, this recipe would probably make 24-36 cupcakes.)



The Cupcake Part

This recipe is adapted from epicurious.com. It rivals my all-time favorite chocolate stout layer cake recipe from the same place--in fact, I might go so far as to say it's better.

2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c unsweetened baking cocoa
1/3 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c boiling water
2 c sugar
1 c fresh basil leaves
3 large eggs
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 c whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with (NOT JUMBO! Please!!) baking cups.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. In a smaller bowl, add cocoa and chocolate chips. Pour the 1 c boiling water over the cocoa/chocolate chip mixture and whisk until smooth.

In a food processor, chop 1 c of sugar and the fresh basil until the sugar turns an even bright green color.

In a mixer, beat the 1 c basil/sugar mixture, the remaining 1 c sugar, and eggs until light and fluffy. Add butter to the mixture and beat until blended. Beat in the cocoa mixture. Add whipping cream and vanilla; beat to blend. Mix in dry ingredients on low until just blended.

Fill muffin tins until about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes (I think--the jumbo cupcakes took 30 minutes...), or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean.

The Frosting Part

This is a simple, straightforward adaptation of the quick buttercream frosting recipe on the Food Network website.

2 c raw almonds
3 c confectioners' sugar
1 c butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread almonds out on a baking sheet and toast for 5-10 minutes, or until the almonds brown. Let almonds cool for 2 minutes, then grind in food processor with 1 c of confectioners' sugar until fine.

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, mix, on low speed, almond/sugar mixture, the remaining 2 c of confectioners' sugar, and butter until well-blended. Increase speed to to medium and beat for 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and whipping cream and continue to beat for another 1 minute more. Add more cream as necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency.

Cupcakes With Bacon Cream Filling

You heard me.

In early November, we celebrated girlfriend's birthday, our decision to shack up together in cozy San Francisco bliss, and my new life as a cat-mom with a fancy little shindig at the apartment. This is the same occasion where I discovered the to-die-for chocolate stout cake recipe on epicurious.com. I also decided to try my hand at filling cupcakes with tasty vanilla cream.

And I bought all of the implements to complete my project, finally replacing the muffin tins I had lost and picking up some pastry bags and tips for the filling portion of the program. I found a basic vanilla cream filling recipe online from a fellow baker-blogger and felt satisfied enough with the positive comments to try it.

It didn't turn out great (so thank god for that chocolate stout cupcake recipe I can't stop talking about). First of all, the filling recipe called for a lot of powdered confectioners sugar, which I had on the shelf, but apparently hadn't touched in a year. The result: Really lumpy confectioners sugar, which not only didn't blend well, but also clogged the tips on the pastry bags. Some cupcakes got tons of filling, some got zero. Second problem: Shortening.

I totally hate shortening. Shortening tastes like slippery. This filling recipe called for shortening and I knew I shouldn't do it but I did it anyway because it was my first time doing it. And so the filling--at least in the cupcakes that didn't fall victim to the clogging--tasted like white vanilla slippery. When girlfriend and I sampled one before the guests arrived, I said,

"I hate shortening. It tastes like slippery." [Pause, thinking about my soft fat alternatives.] "Wouldn't this be great with bacon fat instead?!"

Flash forward a few weeks. It's Sunday, one week after having made a fantastic breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast at home. I've got a few tablespoons of bacon fat in the fridge, and it's a few hours before Colleen's birthday potluck. I decide to give the bacon cream filling concept a go.

I scour the interwebs for a different decent chocolate cake recipe, just to switch it up a bit. All signs point me to a devil's food cake recipe from that lady Martha. I'll summarize the recipe with two words: Big. Disappointment. The cake really lacked the deep chocolate flavor I was looking for. I guess I also could have made it wrong, too.

But no matter, because it was the bacon cream filling that was really supposed to shine anyway.

I adapted this recipe from the Delish blog
(note that there's not a spec of slippery shortening in sight, yay!). I have no idea if it's really okay to just dump a bunch of bacon fat into a recipe and call it even. But no one vomited or immediately died, so I'm assuming it's not a short-term problem. I can't make any guarantees about long-term artery health, however.

Bacon Cream Cupcake Filling
fills up to 36 cupcakes

3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 tbsp bacon fat [note: Some potluck people complained that the bacon flavor wasn't strong enough. I might next time take this up to 4 tbsp fat and 2 tbsp butter to really make it pop.]
1 1/2 c confectioners sugar
3/4 c marshmallow creme
1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream

Using a mixer, beat the butter and bacon fat with the confectioners sugar, marshmallow creme and heavy cream until fluffy and bacon-y. Transfer filling to a pastry bag with 1/4 inch tip.

Insert the tip of the pastry bag into the middle of each cupcake; squeeze lightly for about 5-7 seconds to fill with cream.

Chocolate Cupcakes With Faygo Root Beer

My home base is Michigan (metro Detroit, to be exact), and it's where I'm spending a long holiday break this year. Growing up, I always thought it was so fantastic that Michigan was the only state you could really identify from space. (Okay, maybe our nation's other distinctive peninsula, Florida, feels that way too.)

I admit that I totally took for granted the awesome culinary/junk food delights that came from this state, especially this area. Better Maid potato chips? My mom lusted over those because there's always a healthy dose of brown chips in every bag. To a kid, brown chips are gross. (But my adult palate tells me they're actually kind of wonderful: earthy and honest.) Stroh's ice cream? The parlor we went to after softball games in the summer, where I'd binge on my favorite flavor: Superman (to my surprise, also a Michigan thing).

I could go on, but I'll stop at Faygo. I tried to explain Faygo to the girlfriend and she said, "oh, like Crush? Orange Crush? Grape Crush?"

I mean, kind of, if you have to compare it to something. It is a brightly colored, ambiguously fruity carbonated beverage, like Crush. But unlike Crush, it has a product that is so simply and descriptively named, yet so complex to describe. Redpop. I want to say that it tastes like strawberry, cherry, and raspberry mixed together, but it's not, really. It actually just tastes like red, and thus, Redpop.

I wanted to make Redpop cupcakes in my parents' Michigan kitchen today--the ultimate homage to a local favorite--but unfortunately had some problems finding it, which is quite a tragedy. I actually had some problems finding Faygo at all, which shocks and saddens me. I mean, this stuff, in all its brightly colored, high fructose glory, was all over the supermarket shelves growing up. I was finally able to track down Faygo root beer--the "classic" version in a throwback glass bottle (the label a 1909 replica) and sweetened with cane sugar (yay!).

I've adapted this recipe from my friends over at Epicurious.com--their Chocolate Stout Layer Cake beauty.

Faygo Root Beer Chocolate Cupcakes With Chocolate Root Beer Frosting (duh!)
makes 24 cupcakes



[Note: The cupcakes I made had a very, very subtle root beer flavor--it was the frosting that stood out more. If you're looking for more of a punch in your cake, try more root beer. Be sure to reduce the amount of sugar you use, though, since root beer is pretty darn sweet.]

The cupcake part

1 c root beer (preferably of the Faygo variety)
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c all-purpose flour
1 c sugar
1/2 tbsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 c sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm root beer and butter until butter has melted. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

Using a mixer, beat eggs and sour cream until blended. Slowly add cocoa mixture to the egg and sour cream, mixing well. Finally, mix in the dry ingredients in portions, making sure to mix well between additions.

Fill the cupcake tins approximately 2/3 full. Bake for 13-18 minutes, testing with a toothpick when done. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frost when cupcakes are completely cool.

The frosting part

This is a really basic chocolate frosting recipe. It's extremely sweet, which is why I'm glad I exercised caution on the sugar levels in the cupcake batter itself.

3 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 c root beer
3 c confectioners sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk

In a small saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over medium heat. Stir in root beer and let mixture cool for 5 minutes. Using an electric mixer, combine the chocolate mixture with the confectioners sugar; add the vanilla and milk and mix until fluffy.

Frost the cupcakes while the frosting is still slightly warm from the chocolate mixture. I lightly sprinkled a red sugar and cinnamon mixture on top--but beware, the frosting cools pretty quickly and hardens a bit, so the sugar didn't stick as well as I would have liked.