Cupcakes not Football

Apparently it's football time again... woo hoo (dripping sarcasm)...

I'm not a sports person but I am just about to marry one and we bred one too. So, on an evening like tonight, it appears that, despite all the movies Not-So-Ex rented, I'm stuck listening to them yell and holler. Oy.

It's been a weird kinda day so, to try to improve my mood, I did some baking. And I have a way to get rid of the cupcakes too since we're having a "you're not going anywhere" party for a coworker (he was planning on quitting with tomorrow as his last day and changed his mind... today... LOL).

Anyway, I had one request for Chocolate/Chocolate Chip cupcakes and one for Strawberry. So that's what I made. The strawberry frosting made a ton so I topped some of the chocolate/chocolate chip cupcakes with it and it was really tasty. So I figure these are mix and match recipes, since the frostings will taste good on either cupcake.

So for the cupcake recipes:

Strawberry Cupcakes:

1 3/4 c self-rising flour

8 oz cream cheese (softened)

1 stick butter (softened)

1 1/2 c sugar

3 egg whites

1/4 c pureed strawberries (I put them through a strainer to remove part of the seeds but not all)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 and put cupcake liners in the cupcake pans.

Mix the cream cheese and butter then add sugar and beat till fluffy. Add egg whites. Add a third of the flour, then half the strawberry puree, then another third of the flour, the other half of the strawberries, and then the rest of the flour. Mix in vanilla.

Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 to 3/4 full and bake for 22 minutes.

Chocolate/Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

1 1/2 c flour

3/4 c cocoa

1 1/2 c sugar

2 eggs

3/4 c buttermilk

3 Tsp oil

vanilla

3/4 c warm water

1 bag mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and put cupcake liners in the cupcake pans.

Mix the flour, cocoa, and sugar together. Then add everything except the hot water and mix till blended. Add the warm water and mix. Then add chocolate chips.

Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 to 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes.

Strawberry Frosting

1/4 c butter

8 oz cream cheese

3 Tsp strawberry puree

5 c confectioners sugar

Mix em together and put on cooled cupcakes.

Chocolate Frosting

1/2 c butter

1/4 c cocoa

vanilla

3 c confectioners sugar

2 Tsp milk

Melt the butter and add cocoa and vanilla. Then add sugar (gets really thick here) and add milk. Put on cooled cupcakes.

Cupcake Experiment #... aw hell I lost track...

So this one doesn't even get a picture. 

A co-worker, who's birthday is tomorrow, mentioned their love of strawberry cake so I decided to make some strawberry cupcakes.  The cupcakes taste ok, but the frosting is a bit too thin so it did not turn out to be the prettiest of cupcakes (of course the fact that the Not-So-Ex refused to put them in the fridge for me didn't help either... prick... LOL).

Anyway, here's the recipe for the cupcakes (from allrecipes.com):

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups white sugar 1 (3 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin 1 cup butter, softened 4 eggs (room temperature) 2 3/4 cups sifted cake flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup whole milk, room temperature 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup strawberry puree made from frozen sweetened strawberries

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and dry strawberry gelatin until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the batter alternately with the milk. Blend in vanilla and strawberry puree. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
3.	Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a small knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool in their pans over a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, before tapping out to cool completely. And here's the recipe for the frosting I used (modified from allrecipes.com): INGREDIENTS: 4 ounces cream cheese 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 cup confectioners' sugar 2 tablespoons strawberry puree 2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar DIRECTIONS: 1. Beat cream cheese and butter in a bowl until combined. Beat in powdered sugar and lemon juice. 2. Beat in 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 cups more of powdered sugar till frosting is of spreading consistency.

I've used this frosting recipe a million times with a million different flavors but this is the first time I've ever had it turn out so runny.  I doubled it, so I guess that could have something to do with it but I don't know for sure.  But damn I'm disappointed!