Making yogurt more artsy: Strawberry Banana Cupcakes

I apologize for the grainy pics... my camera died so I used my cell phone :)

I love yogurt. And not the fat-free, loaded with pro-biotic stuff that is attempting to eliminate a need for fiber. I mean the real, thick yogurt that seems so hard to find now-a-days. To be honest, yogurt has been on my mind a lot recently. I'm sure you've seen the new Fage yogurt commercial; if not, you should! I love it! Where else can you find really good poetry set to artistic images. It teeters the border between artsy and fartsy, but I'm still loving it to the point that I will stop fast-forwarding my commercials on DVR to watch it. So here is the poem that has enraptured me in yogurt dreams:

Plain was the same as it ever was the same:
Plainly plain, samely same.
But then, someone lit the flame.
Plain rode away on lion's mane,
Where plain met fruits with strangely names,
Such wonderful things they did contain.
A shot of life to a hungry vein,
The captive beast that broke the chain,
And there upon that fruited plane
Is where plain become more than plain:
So much more than more than plain.
Plain will never be the same.

In honor of my new favorite commercial, my favorite flavor of yogurt in cupcake form: Strawberry Banana Cupcakes. It may not be fruits with "strangely names," but my fellow medical students remarked how different the flavor was for a cupcake. Hoping you'll find it "more than plain," too. :-)

Don't mind those cookies in the forefront... I'm mention those next post!

Strawberry-Banana Cupcakes

makes 20 cupcakes

Cake:
-1 1/2 sticks or 12 T. butter, room temperature
-1 1/2 c. sugar
-2 very ripe bananas
-2 t. vanilla
-2 eggs + 2 yolks
-2 1/4 c. flour
-1 t. baking powder
-1 t. baking soda
-1/4 t. salt
-12 T of milk

Strawberry filling:
- 3 c. frozen strawberries (if you use fresh, please see note in instructions)
-1/4 c. sugar
-2 T. corn starch

Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing:
- 1/2 (4oz) pkg cream cheese
-3 T. butter, room temperature
-4 cups powdered sugar
-2 t. vanilla
-2-5 T. milk, or until desired consistency is achieved

Make the filling first so it has time to cool: In a medium sauce pan, heat the frozen strawberries until almost softened. Add the sugar and corn starch. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened, like pie filling. Let cool. If using fresh strawberries, simply combine all ingredients in pan, stir to combine, and cook until thickened.
Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin pan with cupcakes liners.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Add in half of flour mixture. Stir in milk. Add in rest of flour mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 18-20 min. Let cool completely before filling and cooling.
Meanwhile, prepare frosting by first creaming together the cream cheese and butter. Add in powdered sugar a 1/2 cup at a time until all incorporated. Add in vanilla and enough milk to achieve the desired consistency.

Now that your cupcakes are cool, you can either puree your filling until smooth and pipe-able, or leave as is. If pureed, using a long tip, pipe filling into cupcakes. If leaving as is, cut out a cone in the top of the cupcake and fill. Frost as desired.

Enjoy!

Cannolis, Champagne, and ...Cough Syrup?

March has been a month of recovery, be it from the massive blizzards we had in February, from finally having my wisdom teeth removed, and from a massive flu bug. It's crazy to think I've been away from my kitchen for a month... and strangely... I still haven't baked in it. Like the flu, when the baking bug hits you, it hits you hard, and this time, it hit me in my parent's lovely kitchen. While I'm proud of my rental oven, cabinets, and counter space, I will always love my mom's double oven, island, and two sinks. So, as I put away my tissues and cough drops, I gathered my parent's input, and they're favorite flavors, and let the next bug hit me. (I also hope you will all appreciate the pictures, mum and dad are diving into their photography hobby. The wonderful staging is their doing.)

Now, you may be wondering, why cannolis and champagne? First the cannoli: whenever mom and dad come back from their home state of Pennsylvania, they always talk about the amazing sweets, treats, and baked feats they got to try (the Amish still have the taste category won). This trip was a cannoli cake. To make it cuter, I tried to replicate it with cannoli cupcakes. :-)
As for the champagne: every year, twice a year, I model for a wedding runway show for David's Bridal. And every year, twice a year, I gorge myself on the wedding cake samples that accompany the wedding show. This year, mom and dad came with me, and shared in the cake gorging festivities. The winning flavor was, what else, but champagne. Again, I thought it was cuter as a cupcake. :-)
Both recipes were delicious! I would definitely recommend them for your next party, or the next time the baking bug hits you.

Cannoli Cupcakes

makes 16 cupcakes
adapted from Sugarcrafter

Cake:
2 1/2 c. flour
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, room temperature
3 eggs
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 T. Marsala wine
1 c. milk
1 c. ricotta cheese
1 t. orange zest
2 T. powdered sugar

Filling:
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 T. orange zest
1/2 c. finely chopped chocolate

Icing:
10 T. butter, room temperature
1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/8 t. salt
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 T. heavy cream
1 c pistachios, finely chopped, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Sift together all dry cake ingredients. Set aside. In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, vanilla, Marsala wine, milk, zest, ricotta cheese, and powdered sugar. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 min. Cool completely before filling and icing.
Meanwhile, in a med bowl, stir together all filling ingredients until well combined. Set aside until cupcakes are ready to fill.
To prepare icing, beat butter with vanilla bean seeds and salt. Mix in powdered sugar. Add vanilla and cream. More cream may be added to achieve desired consistency.
To assemble. cut a cone out of the cooled cupcake. Fill with ricotta mixture. Frost with icing. Garnish with pistachios.

Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Icing

makes 12 cupcakes (or 36 mini cupcakes)
adapted from Allrecipes

Cake:
2 3/4 c. flour
3 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
2/3 c. butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. champagne
6 egg whites

Icing:
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter, room temperature
1/2 t. vanilla extract
3 T. champagne

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare muffin tin with cupcake liners. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Alternate adding dry ingredients and champagne. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites into soft peaks. Fold into batter. Divide batter into prepared pan and bake 18-20 min. Cool completely before frosting.
Meanwhile, prepare icing by beating butter. Slowly add the powdered sugar until well incorporated. Add in vanilla and champagne.  If icing is too stiff, add milk until reaches desired consistency. 

Enjoy your bug!