to calm you down, to satisfy your hunger, to make you happy.

I always wanted to make a “nutella” butter cream. Some might think, well, just do it then…
But as being lactose intolerant, it’s not so easy, because the real nutella is full of lactose. Luckylie I found a substitute. A brand here in Germany makes a non dairy hazelnut spread, that just taste like the original!

Walnut chocolate Cupcakes with “Nutella” butter cream

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup (125ml) lactose free buttermilk
1 1/2 cups (170g) flour
1 cup (225g) sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (115g) butter or lactose free margarine (room temp.)
100g chopped semi sweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 chopped walnuts

Mix the chocolate, brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts in a little bowl and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C) and line muffin forms with paper cups.
Mix eggs and egg yolk with vanilla and buttermilk and set aside. Combine in a bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix with an electric mixer the butter to the flour mix. Beat in the egg mixture just until combined.

Fill your muffin forms with one tablespoon of the batter each. Then sprinkle one tablespoon of the chocolate nut mixture on top and fill the rest of the batter on top of each cup. Sprinkle the rest of the nuts and chocolate on top. Let bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool.

Nutella butter cream

1/2 cup butter or lactose free margarine
1/4 cup nuttella
3-4 cups confectioner’s sugar

In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the nutella beat until combined add as much confectioner’s sugar until you reach your preferred consistency. Decorate the cupcakes as desired.

Njam! Make them, make them, then you see!

Devils Food Cake and Vanilla Cake with two different Butter Creams for a Baby Shower

My favorite, chocolate with strawberry. But the other one’s were good,too.

The directions for both cakes are the same.

Devil’s Food Cake Cupcakes
from BHG Magazines special Cupcakes, makes 24

Ingredients

3/4 cup (170g) butter or lactose free margarine
3 eggs
2 cups (220g) flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (450g) I only used 1 cup (ca.200g) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups milk or soy milk

Vanilla Cupcakes
also from BHG Magazine, makes 24

Ingredients

3/4 cup (170g) butter or lactose free margarine
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups (300g) flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (395g) sugar (I used again only 1 cup/200g)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups (300ml) milk or soy milk

In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius). In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture. Beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Let cool and frost as desired.

Guess, what the baby’s going to be?

for the necessity of a lactose intolerant for a sweet treat!

A lactose intolerant person here in Germany can’t go to a local bakery and order a non dairy piece of cake, there will simply be NONE! With good luck, people would know what you mean, but even the super best organic fanciest store will try to tell you that it is not possible to bake without milk products…. uhm… I hate those people, I hate the fact that Germans are so slow thinking when it comes to food intolerance.

So, I needed cake as a treat for myself, I made those fluffy, nutty, cinnamony, vanilla creamy cupcakes and was very satisfied.

Cinnamon “Roll” Cupcake

Ingredients 

• 2/3 cup (150g) butter or lactose free margarine
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups (280g) flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (70g) chopped pecans
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 cups (175g) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups (300ml) milk, or soy milk

In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating on medium speed until combined. Beat till fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, Beat in vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition until combined.

Spoon about one tablespoon of the batter into each prepared muffin cup. Sprinkle about one teaspoon of the brown butter mixture over batter in cups. Spoon the remaining batter evenly over brown sugar mixture in cups. Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar mixture over batter in cups.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
I made a vanilla butter cream frosting to it.

Dear Germany, it’s time for you to change your cake baking habits!

for a very good friend for his 3rd birthday!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with almond flavored butter cream. Not more to say.
Just wanted to throw that in.

Happy Birthday!

so far my favorites!

Yummy those where so good. I had the pleasure that my mother in law gave me an American magazine with 150 cupcake recipes in it. I love that magazine. I wish I could get it here. And by going through all the pages stuffed with so many good recipes and ideas I saw those and had to make them right away.
It’s fantastic to have three different batter flavors. Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry all in one cake. It really taste kind a like a Neapolitan Ice Cream which I always loved to eat, before I got that damn lactose intolerance.
But now I found a substitute! A good one!

First you need a basic batter. You could also use a yellow cake mix. I used this recipe for Yellow Cupcakes.
(Makes 24)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (170g) butter or lactose free margarine
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups (300g) flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups (395g I used only 250g)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups (300ml) milk

Allow butter and milk to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Beat butter on high speed for 30 seconds and gradually add sugar. At eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

For the second step you need

• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ounce (28g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 1/4 cup strawberry preserves

Divide cupcake batter evenly among three bowls. Let one of them just sit. In the second one stir in cocoa powder and melted chocolate. Mix the strawberry preserves in the third bowl.

Line 24 muffin cups with paper bake cups and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 Celsius).

Spoon one tablespoon of the strawberry batter into the bottom of each muffin cup. Add one tablespoon of the chocolate batter and top each with one tablespoon of the yellow cupcake batter.

Bake about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Make a vanilla butter cream frosting and divide them into two equal parts. Now you can ether use red food coloring to color the butter cream pink or you use artificial strawberry extract or just the strawberry preserves you used for the batter.
Now spoon pink and white frosting side by side into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe frosting over cupcakes.

I turn my head up to the sky
I focus one thought at a time
I do not let the little thieves
under my tightly buttoned sleeve …

Cupcakes!
sounds like Candy to me, like a Cocktail or Lemonade! You want some? You should make some!

Seriously, I want everybody to bake more. What about everybody in my street bakes something on Sunday’s and shares it with the neighborhood? Set your cake outside your door and let everybody sample! Wandering up and down the street and sample cake…wonderful idea, isn’t it? Sometimes I dream about big Cake buffets outside with lots of trees and coffee smell in the air, fresh fruit and cream and sweet cake.

The Cake is a recipe for Madeira Cake by Donna Hay, I put a frozen raspberry in the center of each cupcake before baking and made a butter cream frosting with artificial mint flavoring.
I got 36 mini cupcakes out of it.

Madeira Cake (from Donna Hay’s baking book)

Ingredients

170g (5 1/2 oz) butter or lactose free margarine (which I used, as always ,of course)
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
3 eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup almond meal

Preheat the oven to 170 (330 F) degrees Celsius. Place the butter, sugar and lemon rind in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and lemon juice, beating well. Sift the flour and baking powder over the butter mixture and fold through with the almond meal.
Line muffin pans with paper cups and bake for 15 Minutes (remember I used mini cupcake pans, for normal ones it might need double the time). Test with a skewer if it’s cooked right.

Everybody deserves a piece of cake every day!

I keep it short.

Just some impressions.

I enjoyed making these ones a lot! It’s my basic chocolate cupcake recipe with butter cream, one flavored with mint and colored green, and in pink with vanilla.

Lovely sugar…

or a Cupcake takes a walk!

I have this amazing carrot cake recipe I always use and this year I tried a new version and added some pumpkin. The pumpkin made the cake very moist. You just have to lick your fingers (or the spoon) after eating!

Since I always shoot my pictures at the same place outside on my balcony, I had the idea to take one cupcake and my camera with me for a little afternoon walk with my family. So it happened that the cupcake ended up on a fence in our neighborhood. We also collected some pretty leaves and brought them home to make an autumn decoration on the plate for the cupcakes.

Carrot Cake (Cupcakes) with Pumpkin (adapted from Cynthia Barcomi’s Baking Book)

Dry ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup (280g) flour
• 1 1/4 cup (250g) sugar (I only use 1 cup, 200g)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Liquid ingredients

• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (250 ml) vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

Other ingredients

• 3/4 cup (175ml) canned pineapple, drained and puréed
• 3/4 cup (110g) Walnuts, roughly chopped
• 75g dried coconut flakes
• 75g raisins
• 200g fresh grated carrots or just 100g carrots and 100g mashed pumpkin

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 Celsius). If you want to make a cake grease a 10 inch (26cm) round baking pan. Or prepare your cupcake forms.

In a big bowl, mix the eggs and oil and stir in the mashed pineapples. With a wooden spoon stir in the dry ingredients just until it’s combined. Add the nuts, coconut, raisins and carrots. Don’t over mix it.

Pour dough dough in your prepared baking pan or cupcakes forms.

If you’re making a cake, bake for 50 minutes. Cupcakes need about 20 minutes. Bake till golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

The frosting is my basic butter cream frosting you can find here spiced with cinnamon.

Fall is here and with that cake you can munch on it!

and so were the Cupcakes!

I had a recipe for champagne cupcakes on my list for a long time. I was just waiting for the right moment and I was really curious how they would turn out.
They were fantastic! These cupcakes would get the category “royal” if I had to put them in one. The cake was sooo fluffy, moist and tender like I had never had before. The wine flavor came out really well and gave it a taste made for kings, queens and princesses!

The party host, my friend who turned 24 made a wonderful Buffet and it was a pleasure to be her guest. The drinks (at least for the women) were sparkling wine and a real good vanilla schnaps. We were all in culinary heaven!

Sparkling Wine Cupcakes with Sparkling Wine Butter Cream adapted from here

(Makes 20)

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup butter or lactose free margarine
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup sparkling wine
• 6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a cupcake pan with paper forms.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with sparkling wine.

In another large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Sparkling Wine Butter Cream

• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2 cup butter or lactose free margarine, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4-6 tablespoons champagne, at room temperature

With an electric mixer, beat together sugar and butter (or margarine). Mix on low until well blended, and then on medium for another two minutes. Add vanilla and champagne, beating on medium for another minute.

Decorate with a piping bag.

I heard a couple “sights” by people who had their first bites of these…that makes me happy!

boosts you up when you’re down!

After all these fruity recipes I tried, I was in the mood for creamy heavy stuff again.

I made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting a lot of times and I love them.
I always been curious about a coffee flavor in chocolate cupcakes. So, I just used my basic chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting recipe and added espresso powder to it and made a peanut butter filling.

Et Voila…

The espresso flavor was there, but not too strong, the taste of chocolate still came through .
I caramelized some shopped almond pieces to sprinkle on the espresso butter cream, that was really a highlight.

Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
• 1 cup (240ml) hot boiling water
• 1 1/2 cup (180g) flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup (115g) butter or lactose free margarine
• 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
• 1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla extract or Vanilla Bean

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 Celsius) and line a muffins pan with paper forms.

Pour the hot water over the cocoa powder stir well and add the espresso powder, set aside.
Mix the flour with the salt and the baking powder and set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs and Vanilla mix until combined. Add the flour and beat on medium speed by adding the cocoa. Mix until you can’t see white spots in the batter.

If this batter seems to you very liquid, don’t worry , that’s the way it should be.

Fill the forms about 3/4 full with the batter and set them in the oven for about 12 minutes.

Now here comes the hint of peanut butter, if you want to, just get a teaspoon and your favorite peanut butter (it should be a “stiff” one, too liquid and oily wouldn’t work with that method) and put a “hazelnut sized” piece of the peanut butter in the center of the batter, before you bake them.

Never forget to test if they’re done by sticking a toothpick in the cupcake. The pick has to come out clean.

Espresso Butter Cream Frosting

• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
• 1/2 cup (115g) lactose free margarine or unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 to 4 cups (300-400g) confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, or vanilla bean

Pour 2 tablespoons hot water over 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder and let cool.

With an electric mixer cream the butter and add the confectioner’s sugar, add the espresso and Vanilla and beat until light and fluffy for about 2 minutes. Use a piping bag with a big tip to decorate.

Chocolate always helps, doesn’t it?