About
The cupcake is America's darling. It's celebrated in upscale bakeries, on Sex in the City, on the cover of Gourmet, and in thou-sands of classrooms-where every day, it seems, a parent has sent in a batch for the kids to share. The very word conjures up whimsy, coziness, pleasure, nostalgia. Not to mention the fact that their diminutive size means you can eat a lot of them.
Once upon a time, a family had only two recipes for cupcakes-chocolate and vanilla. Not anymore. Now Anne Byrn brings them to the next level. And who better? Recognized as the master of cake-mix baking, Anne is the author of The Cake Mix Doctor and Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor, which have a total of over 1.8 million copies in print. In Cupcakes she offers 135 tempting recipes for children and grown-ups, for special days and everyday, lunch bags, holiday festivities, and an unexpected dinner party dessert.
You'll never believe these artful little cakes started with a mix. Coconut Snowballs, Jelly Doughnut Cupcakes, Kiss Me Cakes, Warm Chocolate Cupcakes with Molten Centers, Red Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting. There are surprising additions (tuck a chocolate kiss orpiece of cookie dough into the batter). Creative toppings and easy from-scratch frostings (whipped cream spiked with Kahlua; miniature M&Ms; a creamy malted frosting with crushed malted milk balls).Terrific decorating ideas, from glittering golden dragees or elegant chocolate curls to yellow peeps for an Easter cupcake or-for Groundhog's Day-a groundhog's face made out of chocolate frosting and jimmies. Includes a 16-page full-color opening essay.
Anne Byrn is the author of the bestselling Cake Mix Doctor series and The Dinner Doctor, with over 3.5 million copies in print. She makes frequent appearances on Good Morning America and QVC. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her family. Her website is www.cakemixdoctor.com. It was chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten of New York City who put little chocolate cakes with warm, melting centers on the map. The method he uses is to bake a rich chocolate batter with very little flour at a high heat until the sides of the cake set but the centers are still runny. This method works in a restaurant kitchen, but there is a more practical method for the home cook. This one uses a chocolate cupcake batter with a center of chocolate ganache-that luxurious mixture of semisweet chocolate and hot cream, stirred until smooth, and allowed to cool. The ganache sinks into the batter as the cupcake bakes, creating a creamy molten center. Serve these tout de suite, as the French would say, and have ready to go the dessert plates, forks, sauce, and sugar for sifting.
Cupcakes
Basic Chocolate Ganache (see below), chilled at least 1 hour (see "the Cupcake Doctor says" below)
Cinnamon Crème Anglaise (see below)
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pans
All-purpose flour for dusting the pans
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, for dusting
1. Prepare the Basic Chocolate Ganache, cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to chill. Prepare the Cinnamon Crème Anglaise, cover it with plastic wrap placed right on the surface, and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
2. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly mist 24 cupcake cups with vegetable oil spray and dust them with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.
3. Place the cake mix, water, oil, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and blend 1 1/2 to 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed
Once upon a time, a family had only two recipes for cupcakes-chocolate and vanilla. Not anymore. Now Anne Byrn brings them to the next level. And who better? Recognized as the master of cake-mix baking, Anne is the author of The Cake Mix Doctor and Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor, which have a total of over 1.8 million copies in print. In Cupcakes she offers 135 tempting recipes for children and grown-ups, for special days and everyday, lunch bags, holiday festivities, and an unexpected dinner party dessert.
You'll never believe these artful little cakes started with a mix. Coconut Snowballs, Jelly Doughnut Cupcakes, Kiss Me Cakes, Warm Chocolate Cupcakes with Molten Centers, Red Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting. There are surprising additions (tuck a chocolate kiss orpiece of cookie dough into the batter). Creative toppings and easy from-scratch frostings (whipped cream spiked with Kahlua; miniature M&Ms; a creamy malted frosting with crushed malted milk balls).Terrific decorating ideas, from glittering golden dragees or elegant chocolate curls to yellow peeps for an Easter cupcake or-for Groundhog's Day-a groundhog's face made out of chocolate frosting and jimmies. Includes a 16-page full-color opening essay.
Anne Byrn is the author of the bestselling Cake Mix Doctor series and The Dinner Doctor, with over 3.5 million copies in print. She makes frequent appearances on Good Morning America and QVC. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her family. Her website is www.cakemixdoctor.com. It was chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten of New York City who put little chocolate cakes with warm, melting centers on the map. The method he uses is to bake a rich chocolate batter with very little flour at a high heat until the sides of the cake set but the centers are still runny. This method works in a restaurant kitchen, but there is a more practical method for the home cook. This one uses a chocolate cupcake batter with a center of chocolate ganache-that luxurious mixture of semisweet chocolate and hot cream, stirred until smooth, and allowed to cool. The ganache sinks into the batter as the cupcake bakes, creating a creamy molten center. Serve these tout de suite, as the French would say, and have ready to go the dessert plates, forks, sauce, and sugar for sifting.
Cupcakes
Basic Chocolate Ganache (see below), chilled at least 1 hour (see "the Cupcake Doctor says" below)
Cinnamon Crème Anglaise (see below)
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pans
All-purpose flour for dusting the pans
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, for dusting
1. Prepare the Basic Chocolate Ganache, cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to chill. Prepare the Cinnamon Crème Anglaise, cover it with plastic wrap placed right on the surface, and place it in the refrigerator to chill.
2. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly mist 24 cupcake cups with vegetable oil spray and dust them with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.
3. Place the cake mix, water, oil, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and blend 1 1/2 to 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed