First Place St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes!

Dark Chocolate Cupcake with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting--Homemade Sugar Candy Crystal on top

Dark Chocolate Cupcake with Whipped Peanut Butter Frosting

Cupcake decorating/best tasting competition at work for St. Patrick's Day.

Didn't think many people would  enter  and I would be the only fool with cupcakes---I was wrong. Many many submissions.

Some were really pretty---others, not so much.

Some tasted good---most, not so much. Just sayin'...

Didn't think I would win because as the judging was going on most people seemed to be raving about all the cupcakes that were made using boxed  mixes. I honestly think majority of people like the taste of those more because it's what everybody grows up with.

That's cool.

I sat around the conference room joking with some of my colleagues, went back to  my desk to get some work done, walked back  to the conference room because I realized I forgot my favorite pen, and everybody started clapping and saying congratulations.

I did win!

It was kind of exciting.

Wasn't going to put these cupcakes up because I already have similar recipes here, but since they DID win (cupcake carrier caddy was the prize) I decided to put up some pictures.

By some,  I mean the 2 that are at the beginning of this post.

That's all I have.   :)


Recipes:

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes from How Sweet Eats

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting from Chaos in the Kitchen 

Peanut Butter Frosting from All Recipes


 

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

This past Sunday I made cupcakes for no particular reason.

I just wanted them.

I made flourless chocolate cupcakes.



Super duper rich, smooth, and intense cupcakes they were.


I made 3 different types of frosting to go with them as well.

Peanut Butter, Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese, and Chocolate Fudge.

Just ‘cause.


I stuck the chocolate frosting in the fridge for too long and it went bad.

It got all hard and junk.


I don’t know why I forgot it in there.

So, I only frosted with the other two .


I ate one cupcake. Then another. And then one more…on Sunday.

Today is Tuesday.

You figure it out.

They were really good. Like, for real.

They got even better as the days went by…well, the 2 days.


You should make these if you want to impress someone.

Or if you just feel like it.

I then went back into my bed and watched a marathon of “Snapped” on Oxygen.

It was a gluttonous and sloth filled day.


I judged myself a little.

But then I had another cupcake and felt a lot better.



Flourless Cupcake Recipe
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz) bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted (I used a Dutch blend)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Place 12 paper baking cups in a muffin pan. Put the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, or medium bowl over a pan of simmering water, and stir until completely melted. Set aside to cool. In large bowl, cream the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and thick. Gently fold in the melted chocolate and remaining ingredients.

Spoon the batter into the cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

8 oz cream cheese, room temp
8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean pod
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Slit your vanilla bean in half and use the tip of your knife to scrape the vanilla bean paste from each side of the pod.

Whip cream cheese in a mixing bowl until smooth.

Add butter and beat to combine.

Add vanilla and vanilla bean paste.

Beat in powdered sugar a little at a time until frosting is as thick and sweet as you’d like.

Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe

**The chocolate fudge frosting was a fail.