White Wine Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting and Raspberries

White Wine Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting and Raspberries

First up, I have to admit that these cupcakes didn't turn out very well. The texture was great, but they tasted extremely yeasty and musty. My thinking is that I used the wrong kind of white wine -- I know that's where the taste came from, and I assume that the kind I used was not actually meant for baking. The recipe suggests using a reisling, so maybe that is the way to go. On the other hand, although I didn't like the taste, one of my taste testers loved these, so maybe it's up to individual preferences. You be the judge!

Cupcakes:

2/3 cup (13 2/3 tbsp, or about 1 and 2/3 stick) butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 3/4 cup flour

3 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup sweet white wine

6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In one bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. In another, sift together flour and baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients into the butter, alternating with the wine.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

Bake for 10 minutes, turn tins, bake 10 minutes. Let cool.

Makes about 22.

Frosting:

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter

6 oz. white chocolate

2 1/2 cups xxx sugar

1 1/2 tsp sweet white wine

Melt your white chocolate either over a double boiler or in the microwave; if you use a microwave, remember to do it in small increments, stirring often, so it doesn't burn. Let cool somewhat.

Cream butter until fluffy. Add in white chocolate, then sift in xxx sugar and wine. The icing may get somewhat runny because of the warm chocolate; if necessary, sit it in the fridge for a little while to cool.

When the frosting is the correct consistency, frost your cupcakes. This recipe makes more icing than is strictly necessary, so I was extremely generous with the frosting. I do think it can balance the cupcakes well.

To finish:

Garnish with fresh or thawed frozen raspberries. I used black raspberries because they're in season right now, but red raspberries and white wine are a classic combination.

As I said, the biggest problem with this recipe was the yeasty taste from the wine. I think with a more delicately flavored wine they could be really good. And the cake was wonderfully light from all the egg whites. I'd love to hear from anyone who tries this recipe and see whether you had more success!

Recipe adapted from We Are Not Martha.

Red Velvet Three-Chocolate Hi-Hat Cupcakes

Red Velvet Three-Chocolate Hi-Hat Cupcakes

Happy birthday to my great friend Dal.

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups flour, sifted

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 tsp red food color (or as much as you need to make batter red)

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Whisk together flour and cocoa. With an electric mixer, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs one at a time. Add food color and vanilla.

Add flour in three batches, alternating with buttermilk.

In a little bowl, stir together the baking soda and vinegar until combined. Add to the batter and mix for 10 seconds.

Divide batter into cupcake tins. Bake 10 minutes, turn, and bake another 10.

Makes 24.

Frosting:

3 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

In a heatproof bowl, combine sugar, water, egg whites, and cream of tartar. Beat until foamy, about 1 minute.

Set bowl over a pan of simmering water, and beat on high speed until frosting forms stiff peaks, about 12 minutes; use a candy thermometer to make sure frosting is 160 degrees. You definitely want an electric handheld mixer for this. I had to do part of it by hand because my handheld broke, and yeah, it was miserable.

Remove from heat, stir in extracts, and beat for two more minutes.

Using a piping bag with a large tip, pipe a spiral of frosting into a cone shape about two inches high.

Once the cupcakes are all frosted, stick them in the freezer for an hour.

Chocolate coating:

1 bag dark chocolate chips

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1 bag white chocolate chips

6 tbsp vegetable oil

Melt together each chocolate with two tbsp of oil, each in a separate bowl, being careful not let the chocolate burn (I used a double boiler, but the microwave will work fine here too as long as you take it out and stir often).

Let it cool down to room temperature, about fifteen minutes.

When the cupcakes and the chocolate are cool, remove the cupcakes from the freezer. Carefully turn them upside down and dip them into the dark chocolate until it covers all the frosting. Lift it out, let it drip for a few moments, then turn it right side up again.

WARNING: the frosting, for some horrible reason, will try to melt anyway. I don't know, it's mean. So you will need to be quick with this step. Once you have coated all the cupcakes, return them to the freezer for 10 minutes.

Once the first layer is solid, repeat this with the white chocolate. You may have to heat the white chocolate again -- it solidifies faster than the other two, maybe because it's not real chocolate. Make sure you don't cover up the dark chocolate. Then back into the freezer!

Finally, dip the very tops of the cupcakes into the milk chocolate, making sure to leave a line of white chocolate showing, then freeze again.

It is best to serve these cupcakes chilled, because the chocolate gets melty again with very little provocation. On the other hand, they look super cool, and they taste pretty great! :D

Cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.
Frosting adapted from marthastewart.com
Chocolate coating instructions from bakeitinacake.