Wine Cupcakes Part 2 - Red Wine MiniCupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Here are the second set of cupcakes that I made in the test run for my friends Wine and Cheese party. I decided to make the red wine cupcakes into mini cupcakes basically because I am not a huge fan of red wine and thought it would be less overpowering in a smaller form. I used a Cabernet Sauvignon because that is my friends preferred type of wine. I chose not to do a wine frosting with these because red wine seems more overpowering than white wine. Whereas the white wine frosting helped enhance the wine taste of the white wine cupcakes, I was afraid red wine frosting on a red wine cupcake would overpower it. Instead I chose a basic cream cheese frosting.

Cupcake Ingredients:

* 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
* 5 oz. Chocolate (1/2 Cup plus 1 Tablespoon)
* 1/2 Cup Boiling Water
* 1 Cup Unsalted Butter
* 1 1/2 Cup Sugar
* 4 Eggs
* 1 1/4 Cup Flour
* 1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
* 1 Teaspoon Salt
* 3/4 Cup Red Wine

* In a small heatproof bowl, combine Cocoa Powder, Chocolate, and Boiling Water.Stir until Chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.

* In a separate bowl,  sift together Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt. Set aside.

* In the bowl of your mixer cream together butter and sugar.

* Add in Eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

* Slowly add Flour Mixture to Butter Mixture until combined.

* Add half of the Chocolate Mix.

* Add the Wine, then the other half of the Chocolate Mix until blended.

* Fill prepared muffin pans.

* Bake for 20 minutes and let cool before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:

* 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
* 8 Ounces Cream Cheese
* 2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
* 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

* In the bowl of your mixer, cream Butter and Cream Cheese until smooth.

* Add Powdered Sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

* Add Vanilla and beat on high until Fluffy.

* Since this was just a test run for the cupcakes, I did a basic frosting job with a spoon.

* Enjoy!!

Wine Cupcakes Part 1 - White Wine Cupcakes with Wine Buttercream Frosting

My friend brought up the idea of wine cupcakes for her birthday party. She is thinking of doing a Springtime in Paris, wine and cheese party. I said I would help in any way I could, and we got to talking about doing a wine cupcake. I have a bunch of recipes I found for cocktail cupcakes, but none with wine. I found some and decided to a test run of the cupcakes this weekend for her to test out before the party. The first one I made was a white wine cupcake, with a wine buttercream frosting. I used a moscato, because thats what I had waiting in my fridge, but I think any sweet white wine or even a sparkling champagne would work well. These cupcakes came out super light and fluffy, almost like an angel food cake. The frosting also came out light and fluffy, with just a hint of wine. This is definitely a recipe I would make again.

Cupcake Ingredients:

* 2/3 Cup Unsalted Butter
* 1 1/2 Cup Sugar
* 2 3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
* 3 Teaspoon Baking Powder
* 1 Teaspoon Salt
* 3/4 Cup White Wine
* 6 Egg Whites

* Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit and line 2 muffin pans with paper liners.

* In a bowl, sift together the Flour, Baking Powder and Salt. Set aside.

* In the bowl of your mixer, beat together the Butter and Sugar until light and fluffy.

* Add the Flour Mixture to the Butter Mixture, alternating with the Wine.

* In a separate bowl, beat the Egg Whites using the whisk attachment, until stiff peaks form.

* Fold the Egg Whites into the batter.

***The Egg Whites will make the batter kind of watery, just keep carefully folding the batter with a rubber spatula. Be careful not to over mix the batter.***

* Fill prepared muffin pans with batter.

***The amount of batter only filled about 22 of the muffin cups, you can fill the cups a with a little less batter  for smaller cupcakes if you want the full 24.***

* Bake for 20 minutes and let cool before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:

* 5 Cups Powdered Sugar
* 2 Cups Unsalted Butter
* 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
* 5 Tablespoons White Wine

* In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter.

* Add Powdered Sugar one Cup at a time.

* Beating well after each addition.

* Add Vanilla and Wine and beat for another minute on Medium until frosting is combined and light and fluffy.

* Since this was just a test run with the cupcakes, I did not do any fancy frosting or decorating, just used a spoon. They still came out yummy!

* Enjoy!

Cherry Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cherry Whipped Cream Frosting

My sisters birthday is coming up this weekend so I decided to try something new for her. She is a big fan of the black forest cake and cherry cheesecake, things like that. I was going to do a black forest cupcake, but then decided on these instead. They are lighter and not as rich as a black forest cupcake would be. And I am not a fan of the sugary sweet frostings (I know, whats wrong with me?) so I decided to try a whipped cream frosting spiked with cherry juice for an added kick. This way the frosting was lighter and not as sugary sweet. However, I do think a butter cream or cream cheese frosting would also have worked with these cupcakes. I guess it just depends on your personal preference. :)

Cupcake Ingredients:

* 1 Cup Unsalted Butter
* 1 Cup Sugar
* 1/2 Cup Maraschino Cherry Juice
* 1/2 Cup Milk
* 2 1/2 Cups Cake Flour
* 2 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
* 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
* 4 Egg Whites
* 1 Cup Chocolate Chips
* 24 Maraschino Cherries (without stems)

***If you do not have Cake Flour you can make your own with All Purpose Flour and Cornstarch - For every cup substitute 2 Tablespoons Flour with Cornstarch***

***When Baking, unless specifically called for to use low fat, you should always use whole milk***

 * Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit and line 2 muffin pans with 24 paper liners.

* In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

* In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.

* Mix together Milk and Cherry Juice.

* Add about 1/4 to Butter/Sugar mix and beat until incorporated.

* Add about half of the Flour Mixture and beat until combined.

* Add the rest of the Milk Mixture, followed by the rest of the Flour Mix and beat until smooth.

*** Since I only have one bowl for my mixer, I moved the batter to a separate bowl and cleaned the bowl of my mixer for the next step***

* Using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.

* Fold in the egg whites and chocolate chips to the batter.

* Fill prepared muffin cups.

* Push a Maraschino Cherry (without stem) into each cupcake. Its kind of like a hidden surprise inside!

* Bake for approx. 20-25 minutes and cool before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:

* 1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
* 4 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar
* 2 Tablespoons Maraschino Cherry Juice
* 24 Maraschino Cherries (with stems)

***This recipe can be altered easily depending on how much or little cherry flavor you want. I actually made 2 versions - the first with the recipe above, and the second adding more cherry juice and powdered sugar. Just play with it until it comes out the way you want it! If you add more juice, add more powdered sugar to help keep the frosting firm. I liked the version with a little more cherry flavor better.***

* Beat the cream and cherry juice with whisk attachment, starting on low.

* Once the cream begins to get frothy, begin adding the powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time, increasing the speed until you hit med-high.

* Whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks.

Decorating the Cupcakes:

* I attempted to pipe frosting onto the cupcakes instead of just spreading it using a spoon.

* After the cupcakes have been frosted, add a Maraschino Cherry (with stem) to the tops.

* Enjoy!!!