Carrot cake was the first thing I baked in my life.
I think. Or was it banana cake?
I was a student away from home for the first time and the kitchen held so much promise. And trepidation. Cooking was a lot cheaper than eating out, let me tell you. I got the recipe off a classmate and it turned out ok and I rejoiced. I have since lost that recipe but found this one on the net. Just the cake recipe, mind you. The cream cheese frosting was from my go to recipe.
I find that as I grow older (I refuse to say mature), my tastes have changed. When before I would have avoided them like the plague, these days I love my carrot cake with plenty of chunky nuts. It adds a very interesting texture to the cake. So delicious too.
Can’t quite see the nuts but they’re there. Trust me
Always one rebel in every bunch
Perfect rosettes. Not so perfect photography.
That’s better
The verdict: Top pick of my friends and family. The cream cheese frosting is a winner and goes so perfectly with the spicy nut-filled carrot cake.
I’ve posted another recipe before which used lemon curd, Lemon Curd Cheesecake but my first attempt at a recipe using lemon curd was these lemon cupcakes. I thought the whipped cream frosting looked ever so pretty and that the curd inside would be a delightful surprise.
Again, I turned to Joy of Baking for the recipe which was so simple I had to try it.
Home made lemon curd. So easy to make and so delicious
I used an apple corer to bore holes in the cupcakes and filled them up with lemon curd.
The batter only required butter and no oil. I’m used to making cupcakes with some oil and cake flour so the eventual cupcake had a more coarse and drier texture than I was used to. However, this texture went very well with the lemon curd. I did have some of my standard vanilla cupcakes leftover and the moistness of those did not go as well with the curd.
The frosting looks like snail shells
The frosting was a little tricky for me. In the hot weather, cream is a b*tch to work with (like so many of my colleagues). Underbeat and you get liquid, overbeat for just a second and you get butter. And don’t even get me started about stabilising. I used gelatine to stabilise. Note to self: Use vegetarian alternatives next time for vegan friends.
The verdict:
Everyone loved the lemon curd and thought there should have been more in the cupcakes so next time, I’ll be boring a larger well! Personally, although the clouds of whipped cream frosting looked so lovely, I could do without the hassle or the taste. Next time, I might just glaze the top of the cupcakes with lemon curd and do without the whipped cream.
What a match made in heaven. Oreo and cheesecake. In cupcake portions. Heart.
There are many recipes out there, all quite similar. Some suggest putting an Oreo cookie in the base which looks so brilliant and some suggest putting one on top of the frosting which was interesting. But I thought starting your bite with the soft texture of cheesecake and then ending it with the hard cookie base wasn’t quite up my alley. I’m actually not sure if the cookie would retain its texture after baking so it’s all assumption on my part. I am more of a traditionalist and would prefer the cheese-crumb combo so I went with this recipe at Brown Eyed Baker.
The recipe is actually for Oreo cheesecake bars. When I research a recipe, often times I just transform a cake recipe into cupcakes. So much easier to transport and share. There is just so much my family can eat so I bring most of my experiments to work for my colleagues. They are only too happy to be my guinea pigs. So ease of transport is crucial for me. Therefore, I turn every recipe into cupcakes.
I left out the sugar from the base because I thought surely the white centres would provide enough sweetness, which they did.
Oreo cookies as base after being pulverised in the food processor and mixed with melted butter.Coarsely crushed Oreos. I put them in a Ziplock bag and go at them with my pestle.
Some aggression is required when bashing up the cookies for the filling but not too much or you’ll end up with powder. Think more: “car that cut you off this morning”, and less of “that (former) best friend who shamelessly flirted with your crush”.
These are cheesecakes and not regular cupcakes so fill them up to the brim. They deflate a little after cooling too.Stick the mini Oreos in as decor so people know what they’re going to eat
Here’s the thing. This recipe yields 24 small (not regular-sized) cupcakes BUT the mini Oreos come 23 in a pack. Brilliant marketing strategy. So that last one without the mini Oreo is always MINE.
The verdict:
These cupcakes are a smash every single time I make them. People who eat them treat me like some sort of goddess who creates heavenly treats with divine skill. I am not exaggerating. Everyone just loves these. They ask for seconds, they ask for the recipe and they ask that I bake them as a gift to friends. Bake them.
nafisms 