Brittany's PantryChocolate Cupcakes W/Orange Buttercream & A Celebration
Brittany wrote this on 22 May 2013
buttermilk, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, orange
So, yeah. Things have been pretty busy around my house this week.
My husband is off after a long crazy run at work and my daughter is finishing up first grade this week. I have a birthday in a few days, my daughter has a birthday in a few days, and we are in the middle of completing several random house projects that have needed attention for about a year now! Add in the fact that we still have to actually live our lives everyday with laundry, schedules, appointments, and plenty of playtime with a rambunctious 1 year old little boy, a blue eyed four year old that boomerangs back and forth between being a dinosaur, a ninja, and a race car…phew!
Oh! And of course, I moved this little ‘ol blog to a new site! DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE AWESOME GIVEAWAY! Just comment on the previous post and you could win a great prize package! Giveaway closes at noon, May 25th!
I could not be happier with my crazy, hectic, and wonderful life and with all this happening now I feel like I should be celebrating! I do like to buck convention a lot of the time, but in this case I am sticking to the classics and making cupcakes!Not just any cupcakes. Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream. And lets see…how do I put this….they are freaking AWESOME! *ahem* I mean, super good.
What I think is interesting is that so many other blogs make it a point to post recipes for cupcakes because they are a major crowd pleaser. Readers love a good cupcake recipe, wether they are actually turning around and baking them or not. Put a cupcake recipe on Pinterest and you can just stand back and watch the craziness ensue! Me? I just don’t make them that often and this blog is a direct representation of what comes out of my kitchen. But I do like to make sure I let you know when I have a good one. That is why I have an ultimate Red Velvet Cupcake recipe on this site. It is the best one I have ever made! But I am always looking to master the basics, and I have been working on finding the perfect basic recipe for chocolate cupcakes for awhile now.
A few months ago, a friend approached me and requested chocolate and orange buttercream. So really, it was about the best type of challenge ever! When I started testing recipes, I was kind of surprised at how picky I had become with my cupcakes. If I was going to post a straight up chocolate cupcake recipe here, it was going to have to finally do the leg work and narrow it down to find my ultimate. I have several cake recipes that I love, but cupcakes sometimes bake up differently, and therefore, often need a separate recipe all their own. They have to be firm enough for you to pick them up and hold them and without being so moist that they just collapse under the weight of frosting!
And speaking of frosting, all I am going to say on the matter is that orange buttercream made with real orange zest and real ingredients does not compare to anything made with artificial flavoring and chemically dyed orange color. My version is outrageously good. Just take my word for it. A fellow Mom, aka volunteer taste tester, tried it and rolled her eyes to the heavens, exclaiming, “Change nothing! Its perfect!” I took her advice.
So that outrageous buttercream is paired here with my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe. It is THE recipe I use when I want a plain chocolate cake that I can top with anything that suits my fancy. They are moist, but not fragile; incredibly chocolatey, but not overly sweet. I love them way more than a person should love a cupcake.
So what is your favorite kind of frosting to put on a chocolate cupcake?
One Year Ago: Shrimp Cobb Salad
Two Years Ago: Sweet Potato Salad W/Vinaigrette
Chocolate Cupcakes W/Orange Buttercream
Cupcake recipe adapted from Zoe Bakes, Buttercream recipe by Brittany’s Pantry
3 c sugar
2 3/4 c flour
1 1/8 c cocoa powder, sifted to remove lumps
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 c buttermilk
3/4 c canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c hot coffee
Preheat the oven to 350.
Whisk all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a large measuring cup, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla until blended. Whisk into the dry ingredients until totally incorporated. Slowly whisk in the hot coffee until smooth. The batter will be thin. Pour batter into paper lined, muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The batch makes about 3 dozen cupcakes!
Orange Buttercream
1 c (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1/2 c vegetable shortening
5 c powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 orange
1/4 c milk, more or less depending on desired consistency
Be sure to zest the orange directly over the mixing bowl! Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the ingredients until smooth, only adding milk until you get the desired consistency. Remember, you can always add milk, but you can’t take it back out again! Frost the cupcakes and store any leftovers in the fridge.
Caesar Salad
Brittany wrote this on 17 May 2013 anchovies, chicken, gluten-free, parmesan cheese, romaine
Caesar salad and I have a kind of love, hate relationship.
Up until just a few years ago, I was more of a french or bleu cheese dressing type of gal. I thought caesar salads were quite boring actually. At least with a house salad you get tomatoes, maybe some cheese, a few shreds of carrot, and on a good day, a crouton or two. Caesar salads are always the same; romaine, which has no flavor whatsoever, dressing, parmesan cheese if you are at a reputable place.
But then I got pregnant.
I know. Not the statement you were expecting, eh? But nevertheless, there I was. Pregnant and sick and tired and not hungry. And for reasons still unknown, I found myself at a deli and ordering a chicken caesar salad wrap for the first time in my life. And it tasted amazing. It was cold and crunchy and tangy and salty and…ghah. After that day, I never looked back. There are some great places with some pretty fantastic salads out there, and I now know which ones to skip, and which ones to order every chance I get.
Now, though not pregnant :), I find myself craving that same salad love at home. But I so rarely purchase bottled salad dressings anymore, I started messing with my own version of caesar dressing. And believe you me! It was quite a process! Too much anchovy, too much garlic, not enough vinegar, too thin-sheesh. But I finally nailed it. Ha! And then I had to go and make it one more time to make sure that I could actually follow all my notes and scribblings and produce a solid recipe! Now, I plan to enjoy the fruits of my labor with all the fresh greens coming out of the Farmer’s Markets. I am quite particular about salads in general and almost always eat my caesar salads the same: romaine (because its traditional), hard-boiled eggs, grilled chicken, and parmesan cheese. I also like to make what I call a ‘loaded caesar salad’ but that is a recipe for another day! And remember when I said that I had a favorite way to eat that Honey-Lemon Grilled Chicken in the last post? Well, voila!
One Year Ago: Hobo Dinners
Two Years Ago: Whole Wheat Cornbread
Caesar Salad
Do not be afraid of the anchovy paste in this recipe! If you have ever purchased it, you can usually find it by the tuna and canned meats at your grocery store and it comes in a little tube. It lasts in your fridge for forEVER and it is not a big deal so just be brave and pick some up! The flavor is unbeatable and it is amazing in so many things! You never know its in there, but you miss it if you don’t use it! Be sure to use it in this recipe too! I prefer to use mayo in place of the egg yolk used in a traditional caesar recipe, but only for the sake of convenience. Feel free to go old school.
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp anchovy paste
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 heaping T mayo
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1 T honey, optional
salt and pepper to taste
Blend all ingredients in a blender or mini food processor. Taste for seasoning, but be careful with the salt. Chill. The dressing will thicken up and become creamy when it is cold, but is more pourable when freshly made! Serve over fresh romaine with hard boiled eggs and Honey-Lemon Grilled Chicken. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Honey-Lemon Grilled Chicken
Brittany wrote this on 13 May 2013 chicken, gluten-free, grilling, honey, lemon
So here it is.
Many of you email me or send messages asking for healthy, gluten-free, dairy free, easy meals. Well, my lovelies, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Much like the oh so popular grilled pork chops, this recipe requires minimal ingredients and minimal effort with a big return. The lemon is bright but not overly tangy and the honey adds more flavor than you would expect! And you know how much I love to cook with honey. It is just. so. good. In a future post I will show you one of my favorite ways to serve this dish, but for now, you get it straight up. Grill it, slice it, serve it. Spring veggies are the perfect thing to share the plate with this chicken so make sure that you have lots of fresh greens, peas, asparagus, or beets piled on the side. Aaahh. The smell of a grill, the snap of fresh vegetables-delicious!
Can I take this time to chat with you a little about your zesting though? I feel as if we know each other well enough to discuss this. In regards to your preferred zesting apparatus, I hope you are all using a Microplane, or something similar. You can buy them anywhere nowadays and they all run about fifteen bucks. Not too shabby for a tool that does so much! Of course I use mine mainly for zesting citrus which means it is pretty much always dirty. But it can turn a block of parmesan cheese into wonderfully fluffy gratings that stir into pasta much easier than the grainy store bought stuff. Back to the whole zesting dealy-o, make sure that you always zest with the grater OVER THE VESSEL YOU ARE MIXING IN, as opposed to zesting onto a counter, plate, or cutting board! Believe it or not, you get way more flavor this way. When you scrape your citrus over the blade, it cuts the rind into teeny tiny little ribbons, spraying the oils-which have a TON of flavor-as you go. That beautiful essence of lemon, orange, or whatever, should be in your recipe, not making your counters sticky.
Ding! Zest lecture complete.
Now go grill something!
One Year Ago: Lemon Quick Bread
Two Years Ago: Black & White Angel Food Cake
Honey-Lemon Grilled Chicken
White meat is more versatile but boneless, skinless chicken thighs are equally awesome in this recipe. Don’t skimp on the black pepper; it adds a subtle heat that is part of what makes this chicken so addictive. Replacing the lemon with orange is just as stellar.
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c honey, preferably local
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2-3/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 c extra-virgin olive or grapeseed oil
Combine all ingredients in a large resealable plastic bag or large bowl. Squish and turn to mix and coat the chicken. Let marinade for at least 4 hours, or up to 8, turning occasionally if you can. Grill chicken over medium, direct heat, letting the extra marinade drain off before placing it in the grill. Grill about 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until chicken is just done, but not dry. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!!
Love a Good Recipe?
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