Cupcakes - The Cake Merchant

Nutella Bomb Cupcakes

02.12.14

The original title of this post was One Bowl Cupcakes with Nutella Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting, but per my fiancé’s request, I went with a more interesting title. Actually, his exact words were, “These are my favorite cupcakes you’ve ever made. Can you please not name them something boring?” Other reactions included, “Holy @#%! these are good,” and “It’s like a Nutella bomb went off in my mouth!” Hence, Nutella Bomb Cupcakes were born.

You may be thinking that there is entirely too much frosting on these cupcakes. That’s where you’re wrong. Swiss Meringue Buttercream is a magical concoction of which there can never be too much. Unlike American Buttercream, it’s not super sweet, and there’s no powdered sugar involved. Personally, I think a one to one ratio of frosting to cake is perfect.

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Funfetti Birthday Cake Oreo Cupcakes

10.16.13

I was deprived of Oreos as a child. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I feel it manifesting itself on my blog in the form of cupcakes like these and these. And now I’ve added Birthday Cake Oreo Cupcakes to the mix. You see, my mom was convinced that certain foods were the devil when I was growing up, and one of those foods was Oreos. She took one look at the list of ingredients, and decided that they would not be allowed in her house. Oreos, along with soda, Kool-Aid, Twinkies, and other sugar-laden and highly processed foods had no place in the Merchant household.

Even though I wasn’t a fan these rules growing up, for the most part, they’ve stuck with me. I rarely drink soda, and I can’t remember the last time I ate a Twinkie. It’s not that I don’t eat sugar now, but I just cancel it out with things like greek yogurt and coconut oil (that’s how it works, right?). Anyway, I really really like Oreos, so I know I just can’t buy them. When I do, they must immediately be turned into cupcakes and shared with friends, or they don’t stand a chance around me.

So what are Birthday Cake Oreos, you ask? They’re Oreos, but better, if that’s even possible. After one bite, I knew that cupcakes had to happen sooner rather than later, since my willpower would be no match for them.

I wanted to use a vanilla cupcake base for these cupcakes, and since I tend to get stressed out about vanilla cake (I know, my life is hard), I decided not to over think it this time. I wanted to try a new recipe, so I googled vanilla cupcakes and picked the easiest recipe I could find. I fully expected them to be a fail and thought I would have to spend the evening searching yet again for the perfect vanilla cupcake, but these were really good. Despite the mixed reviews, I thought they were the perfect base for a funfetti cupcake- light and fluffy, but still sturdy enough not to fall apart, and they are really easy to make! Just keep a close eye on them at the end so as not to overbake. I plan to use this recipe a lot in the future, and I hope you like it as much as I do.

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Vegan Mini Vanilla and Chocolate Swirl Cupcakes (and how to make mini cupcakes)

10.08.13

I don’t post a lot of mini cupcakes on here, which is a shame, because I make them quite often. Whenever I bake for an event, people almost always request the mini variety, but I’m usually in such a rush to get them out the door, I don’t get a chance to take pictures before I have to pack them up and take them to an event. This time, I made sure to set aside a few moments to take pictures of what has to be one of my very favorite mini cupcake recipes.

It’s a good idea to know to turn any cupcakes recipe into mini cupcakes. Generally, any regular cupcake recipe will yield approximately 3 times as many mini cupcakes. The original vegan chocolate cupcake recipe, which is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, makes 12 standard cupcakes, and I usually get between 36-40 of the mini version. I find that this cookie scoop makes it easy to divide the right amount of batter for mini cupcakes into the pans. Also, the baking time for mini cupcakes is usually around 9-11 minutes, but it’s a good idea to keep a close eye on them near the end of the baking time, since it can be a minute between being done and overbaked.

The swirly frosting was really easy to make. I filled one 16-inch decorating bag with vanilla frosting, and another one with chocolate frosting, making sure that neither was much more than half full. Snip off about an inch off the end of each bag, and place them both side by side in another 16-inch decorating bag that has been fitted with a piping tip (I used Wilton 4B). Close off the top of the bag with a rubber band or twisty tie, and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes as usual. It’s a good idea to pipe some icing onto a piece of waxed or parchment paper to test it out the swirly effect before piping directly onto the cupcakes.

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