The Ultimate Lime Cupcake

I like using full-size limes just for ease of use, but you can easily use Key Limes to add an extra little kick to this cupcake. The idea for the frosting comes from my friend Anne. Thanks Anne!

What you will need:

-vanilla or plain cake batter
-2 limes or about 10 key limes (12 cupcakes)
-cream cheese frosting
-lime zester or fine cheese grater
-piping bag with large star tip

Step 1:

Zest one full lime.  The lime is not fully zested if you still see green anywhere on the body of the lime (it may be too difficult to zest the tips of the lime).

Step 2:

Squeeze all juice from the zested lime as well as the second lime.  You should have about 4 tablespoons of juice, but exact measurement is not necessary.

Step 3:

Mix up your cake batter and add 1 tablespoon of lime juice as well as half of the lime zest.

Step 4:

Line your cupcake pan with liners, fill with batter, and bake until toothpick can go in and come out clean. Let cupcakes cool to room temperature.

Step 5:

Once cool, poke holes all through the tops of the cupcakes.  A fork is perfect for this, but you can also use a skewer or chopsticks.

Step 6:

Spoon an equal amount of the remaining lime juice onto the tops of each cupcake.  This is technically an optional step, but it will add a kick of lime flavor to the cupcakes that is just unparalleled.  Trust me, it's totally worth it!

 Step 7:

Stir your remaining lime zest into your cream cheese frosting.  If you are serving the cupcakes immediately, it is a good idea to prepare the frosting ahead of time so that the lime zest has time to infuse flavor into the frosting.

Step 8:

Add your frosting to a piping bag with a large star tip and swirl the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Step 9:

Enjoy!

The Chocolate Covered Strawberries Cupcake with Champagne Frosting

Being that I'm obsessed with both cupcakes AND chocolate covered strawberries, I figured I would try combining the two into one single perfect dessert.

What you will need:

-Chocolate cake batter
-Small size strawberries
-Sweet whipped cream or whipped cream frosting
-Semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (chips or broken bar)
-Splash of champagne (around 0.25 cups for 12 cupcakes)
-Piping bag with large star tip


Step 1:

Mix up your cake batter. Line your cupcake pan with liners, fill with batter, and bake until toothpick can go in and come out clean. Optional: Add a handful of chocolate chips or chunks to your batter before baking for extra chocolatey flavor.


Step 2:

Let cupcakes cool to room temperature.


Step 3:

Core cupcakes using a paring knife. Cut in a circular fashion about one half cupcake deep such that you get a nice empty cone shape in the top of the cupcake.


Step 4:

Rinse one strawberry per cupcake and cut off the tops. Place each strawberry into a cored cupcake. You may need to force it into place.



Step 5:

For a light sweet cream frosting, I like to use one cup of whipping cream and one eighth cup of powdered sugar. Whip until fluffy, then add champagne one tablespoon at a time until you get the flavor you want. Once fully whipped, one cup of whipping cream can withstand about 6 or 7 tablespoons of champagne before the whipped cream is no longer strong enough to form peaks. Unless you are a pro at stiffening your whipped cream with gelatin, try not to go overboard on the champagne.



Step 6:

Add your large star tip to a piping bag and fill with the champagne whipped cream. Swirl the frosting onto the cupcakes.


Step 7:

Make and cool chocolate covered strawberries to top the cupcakes. Pour chocolate chips or chunks into a double boiler and stir until smooth. Holding the top of the strawberry, swirl the strawberry in the melted chocolate and place on wax paper to cool. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to harden the chocolate. If you only have medium or large strawberries, try cutting the strawberries in half before dipping in chocolate.


Step 8:

Top each cupcake with a chocolate covered strawberry. Optional: If the idea of making a chocolate covered strawberry is too overwhelming, try cutting the strawberries into tiny little chunks to put over the cupcakes like sprinkles. You can then drizzle the cupcakes with chocolate syrup or add mini chocolate chips to complete the cupcakes.



Step 9:

Enjoy!

The Tiramisu Cupcake

This is a simple rendition of a non-alcoholic Tiramisu cupcake suitable for all audiences. To make a version with alcohol, just add your favorite spirit to the cupcake at step 4.

What you will need:

-Any sponge cake or light vanilla cake batter
-A cup of coffee, sweetened (see step 3)
-Sweet whipped cream or mascarpone frosting (or tub of whipped cream with enough powdered sugar mixed in to sweeten)
-Unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
-Piping bag with large star tip


Step 1:

Mix up your cake batter. Line your cupcake pan with liners, fill with batter, and bake until toothpick can go in and come out clean.


Step 2:

Let cupcakes cool to room temperature.


Step 3:

Sweeten cup of coffee until lightly sweet (just enough to get a hint of sweetness, but not enough to lose the coffee flavor) and let it cool. Use sugar, honey, or anything else you have lying around that might be an appropriate sweetener. My fave: sweeten the coffee with dulce de leche! If you will be serving cupcakes to anyone who is caffeine-challenged like myself, try using decaf.


Step 4:


Once cupcakes are cool, poke holes in the top of the cupcakes with a fork and brush on or spoon on coffee.



Step 5:

Let cupcakes stand long enough for the coffee on the top layer to seep down into the cupcake. If you want strong coffee flavor, add a second (and even a third) layer of coffee and let stand once again until it has all seeped into the cupcake.



Step 6:

Add your large star tip to a piping bag and fill with the whipped cream or mascarpone frosting. Real tiramisu is made with mascarpone frosting, but whipped cream frosting is a nice substitute (and so much cheaper!).


Step 7:


Swirl the frosting onto the cupcakes. If you have an abundance of frosting, this is a good cupcake for heavy-handed frosting usage.


Step 8:

Add cocoa powder to a sifter, sieve, or a wire pasta strainer and sift a thick layer of powder over the top of the cupcakes. This will give it the distinctive tiramisu look.



Step 9:

Enjoy!

The Jello Cupcake

This one can be messy, but it is simple and will be so much fun! Use multiple different Jello flavors to add color and variety.

What you will need:

-Any sponge cake or pound cake batter
-A package of your favorite flavor Jello (I like cherry!)
-Vanilla buttercream frosting (if you are buying canned, any creamy vanilla frosting will do)
-A piping bag with large star piping tip


Step 1:

Mix up your cake batter. Line your cupcake pan with liners, fill with batter, and bake until toothpick can go in and come out clean.


Step 2:

Let cupcakes cool to room temperature.


Step 3:

Mix half of the Jello powder into solution (follow directions on the box, using half of the water directed to dissolve half of the Jello powder).



Step 4:


Once solution is thoroughly mixed, spoon it over your cooled cupcakes. To get the best penetrance of the Jello solution throughout the cake, poke holes in the cupcake using a fork/skewer/chopstick before pouring the solution. If the cake is sufficiently light, you will not need to poke holes. For heavy or dense cakes, always use a skewer or chopstick for larger holes.


Step 5:


Refrigerate cupcakes until Jello is solid (2 hours should be sufficient).


Step 6:

Take remaining Jello powder and mix it into the frosting. This will increase the sweetness of the frosting, so, if you are making your frosting from scratch, you may wish to substitute some of the powdered sugar for the Jello powder instead of simply adding it on top. Try adding a little bit of powder at a time until you get the flavor you want in your frosting. I like to put half a pack of mix into enough frosting for around a dozen cupcakes, but this can be cloyingly sweet depending on the frosting you are using.



Step 7:

Add a large star tip to a piping bag and fill the bag with the frosting. Swirl the frosting onto the cupcakes.



Step 8 (optional):

Consider adding a little piece of fruit on top for garnish. For example, I like to use cherry Jello, so I might serve the cupcakes next to a small bowl of cherries for people to add on top if they so choose.


Step 9:

Enjoy!

The Snickers Cupcake

Just like the oreo cupcake, you can't go wrong to offer guests a snickers cupcake. Just beware of anyone with nut allergies!

What you will need:

-Any chocolate cupcake batter
-Any caramel or brown sugar cupcake batter
-Your favorite nougat
-Chopped peanuts
-Chocolate chips (or any chocolate you don't mind melting)
-Heavy cream

If interested, go to our recipes page (here) for a nice chocolate batter, caramel batter, and/or peanut butter nougat.


Step 1:

Mix up your cupcake batters. Add chopped nuts to the caramel batter. If you like a lot of peanuts, add a lot. If you're not a huge peanut fan, just add a little.


Step 2:

Line your cupcake pan with liners, and fill halfway with chocolate batter. Fill the rest of the way with caramel/peanut batter.

(Note: If both batters are about the same consistency, you will get two distinct flavor layers, but if your caramel/peanut batter is heavier, it may sink in spots, giving you a swirly looking cupcake. If you want distinct layers, but your batters are two different consistencies, add the heavier batter to the pan first with the lighter batter on top.)


Step 3:

Bake cupcakes until a toothpick can go in and come out clean. Cool cupcakes to room temperature.



Step 4:

Using a small knife (or a coring tool, if you have one), cut the middle out of the cupcake. I like to use a paring knife and cut down at a diagonal to make a cone shaped hole in the center.


Step 5:

Your nougat should be gooey. Scoop it up with a small spoon (or even the back of the spoon if the nougat is a little more stiff) and add it to the center of the cupcake. Add nougat until it fills the center completely.


Step 6:

You will need to make a chocolate ganache. Most ganache recipes call for about 1 cup of heavy cream to 9 oz of chocolate, but that will likely make way more ganache than you need.

Using a double boiler setup (glass or metal bowl over a saucepan filled with boiling water), add a couple handfuls of chocolate chips. When chocolate chips begin to melt, add a tablespoon of cream and stir. Continue to add cream in small amounts until the chocolate mix is shiny and easily stirs around the bowl. (Be careful not to add so much cream that you end up with chocolate soup.)



Step 7:

Without removing the cupcake wrapper, turn the cupcake upside down and swirl the top of the cupcake in the warm ganache. You may get the top of the liner chocolatey... that is okay. If your nougat is too thin to turn upside down without dripping, simply allow the ganache to cool down a bit (so it is not so thin that it will make a big drippy mess) and spoon the ganache over the top of the cupcake.



Step 8:

Place cupcakes in the fridge until the ganache topping is firm.


Step 9:

Enjoy!

The Oreo Cupcake

This cupcake is a total no-brainer. People love Oreos, people love cupcakes, and, as it turns out, people love Oreo cupcakes.

What you will need:

-Any chocolate cupcake batter
-Oreo Stuff, Buttercream, or Vanilla frosting
-Oreos (approximately 10 cookies for 12 cupcakes)
-Piping Bag with large star tip
-Small ziplock bag

If interested, go to our recipes page (here) for a nice chocolate batter.


Step 1:

Mix up your chocolate cupcake batter.

Step 2:

Twist all of the chocolate oreo crackers off of the filling, and use your hands to crumble the oreo into bits that are approximately 1/4 of an inch in diameter.

Step 3:

Add the oreo crumbles to the batter. Feel free to add as little or as much oreo to the batter as you wish. If you want to experiment with differing amounts, just split the batter into a few different bowls and add a small, medium, and large amount of crumbles to each bowl.

Step 4:

Fill cupcake liners with oreo batter and bake until a toothpick can go in and come out clean. (Whatever chocolate cupcake batter you use will have a recommended baking temperature and time.)

Step 5:

Prepare a piping bag with a large star tip, and fill with frosting. Any vanilla frosting should do, but if you want more of an "Oreo Stuff" flavor, use an American buttercream or Oreo Stuff frosting (recipes soon to come on the recipes page).

Step 6:

Once cupcakes are cool, swirl frosting on top.

Step 7:

Take leftover chocolate oreo crackers and oreo crumbles, and place in a ziplock sandwich bag. Place sandwich bag between two clean towels or sheets of paper towel and smash until crackers are crumbled into a powder. To do this, you can roll a rolling pin over the top, smash with the side of a can of food, or even smash with a frying pan. Be creative.

Step 8:

Place a cupcake on a plate and sprinkle the oreo powder over the top. Repeat for every cupcake. Use as much or as little oreo powder as you want. If there is excess, hold the cupcake upside-down and tap lightly. Do NOT tap too hard, frosting may fall off.

Step 9:

Enjoy!

Getting Started

As a scientist, I am constantly looking for the most ingenious uses of the tools I already have, but, as a scientist, I also know the value of having the right tools. The methods I will expound upon will sometimes require the use of specialty tools, but don't fret, these items are all readily acquirable at your local craft store, mega-department store (check the wedding aisle), or your fave not-so-local online shopping spot. Trust me, the prices on these items are dirt cheap to pretty cheap, and the right piping tip can make all the difference when it comes to cupcake decor. And hey, if you're not completely committed, maybe just musing over future craft ideas, why not put some of these items on your birthday wish list. It's well worth the fun!

So here goes, some of the items you may need include:

1M (or larger) star tip
Piping tip couplers
Small to medium star tip
Small to medium round tip
Small to medium basketweave tip
Piping bags (disposable or reusable)
Gel food coloring (including black and other hard-to-mix-yourself colors)

Every now and again, I may suggest the use of some ridiculous tool such as a cooking torch (creme brulee cupcakes, anyone?), but these should be few and far between.

Alright! Time to get started...