London Fog Tea Cakes

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Carrie Hoke

I have discovered the tea of all teas.

The most magnificent drink in all the land.

I’m serious here people… It has changed my life forever.

May I introduce you to the London Fog Tea Latte.

I first discovered its existence on Instagram. A friend of mine had posted a photo of her latte and just went on and on about it. So the next day, I stopped in at my neighborhood coffee shop to try it for myself. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if they would know what I was talking about. I live in a pretty small town compared to most. But here’s a secret, if you go to Starbucks, they call it the Earl Grey Latte. It’s all the same though. Earl Grey tea with lavender, vanilla, and steamed milk or rather soy for me.

HEAVEN. IN. A. CUP.

After I had drank about 5 or 50 lattes, I decided I needed to step it up a bit. I needed to somehow take my new favorite drink and turn it into a cute, little cake-y dessert. It had to be light and fluffy and lavender. Oh, and it had to be pretty. So I made these…

The first step is to make your earl grey infused tea butter. I melted 1 cup or 2 unsalted sticks of butter in a nonstick pan over low to medium heat. Then I added 2 Tazo Earl Grey tea satchels to the melted butter and let it steep for several minutes. Even though the recipe only calls for 1/2 cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter, I used 1 cup of butter because some of the butter will get lost in the process due to evaporation and then you will inevitably lose a bit trying to transfer it from the pan to the bowl. I have infused butter with tea before when I made these and absolutely loved the flavor, so I couldn’t wait to do it again for my London Fog Tea Cakes.

So I have to share a secret with you guys. My most favorite part about these cakes is the lavender. Not only did I use lavender extract, but I also added lavender sugar. I know I know. Lavender is an acquired taste. I have heard people say, I love lavender, just not in my desserts. But to me, it is absolutely delightful with the Earl Grey tea infused butter.

I am also totally obsessed with my new tea cup cupcake mold. Aren’t they adorbs?!I just couldn’t wait to find the perfect reason to pull these babies out…

London Fog Tea Cakes

Ingredients

For the cakes:

1/2 cup {1 stick} unsalted butter, steeped in Tazo Earl Grey tea
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vanilla lavender sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lavender extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream

For the frosting:

1 cup {2 sticks} unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb. confectioner sugar
1 tablespoon meringue powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lavender extract
splash of heavy cream

Instructions

For the cakes:

Preheat oven to 350° and line a standard 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.
In your stand mixer bowl fitted with your paddle attachment, combine flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt.
Add tea infused butter, sour cream, eggs, and extracts; beat at medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix again for about 30 seconds.
Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared muffin pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from muffin pan and transfer to wire rack.
Allow cakes to come to room temperature before frosting.

For the frosting:

In your stand mixer bowl, cream the butter on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes making sure to stop to scrape the bowl once or twice.
Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the confectioner sugar and meringue powder.
Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla.
Add a splash or two of heavy cream until you achieve the desired consistency.
Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
Any unused frosting can be stored in an airtight container and placed in the refrigerator until future use; let frosting come to room temperature before using.

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White Chocolate Pecan Cupcakes

Posted on September 1, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

I love sugared pecans, but in all my years of baking on this planet, I have never had the opportunity to make them. I usually pick them up at a state fair or at a theme park, but it didn’t occur to me to make them myself.

Well…that is until these cupcakes.

Now, awhile ago, the Hubs and I had picked up a bag of whole pecans somewhere passing through Georgia, I think. I honestly can’t remember where or when because I am notorious for picking up random yummy things when we travel. You should see how many jars of jams and jellies I have in my pantry. It is ridiculous.

Anyway, seeing as how I have never made sugared pecans, I honestly didn’t know how to shell them either. So I asked my super-southern-grew-up-crackin-nuts Hubs to help me out. Well, that was a big mistake. He thinks that I am just crazy for never having the opportunity to crack me open some pecans{best southern accent}. And he has told everyone so for the past week.

Well now I know and I can check that off my baking bucket list.

Ok….time for the cupcakes.

This girl likes a thick layer of ganache, so I choose to dip each cupcake 2-3 times, letting them cool on a wire rack for a few minutes in between each layer.

White Chocolate Pecan Cupcakes

Yield: 1-1/2 dozen

Recipe by Carrie

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking spice or cinnamon
2/3 cup chopped pecans
8 tablespoons {1 stick} unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg, plus 2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

For the white chocolate ganache:

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350° and adjust an oven rack to the middle position.
Line standard muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking spice/cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
In your stand mixer bowl, cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanillas.
On low speed, slowly add 1/2 of your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients until just combined.
Add your sour cream and then add remaining dry ingredients.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix again on medium speed for 30 seconds or so.
Fold in your pecans.
Divide the batter evenly among the cups of your prepared tin using a ice cream scoop or spoon.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cool completely on a wire rack before adding the white chocolate ganache.

For the white chocolate ganache:

In a double boiler or if not accessible, use a glass bowl atop a saucepan filled with 2-3 inches of boiling water, add your chocolate chips and heavy cream.
Stir until melted and smooth.
Carefully dip your cupcakes 2-3 times into your warm ganache and top with sugared pecan.

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Thomas the Train Cupcake Tutorial

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

I like trains.

I am a huge fan.

I often daydream about boarding the Hogwarts Express with Harry, Ron and Hermione, or riding an old steam locomotive and spending the afternoon gazing upon the English countryside, like in some sorta Agatha Christie novel.

Well, this Saturday was E’s 3rd birthday and he wanted a Thomas the Train themed party. So his Mom and I put our heads together and we decided that I would make these adorably cute Thomas the Train cupcakes.

Since I don’t have small children of my own, I wasn’t sure where to begin, so I scoured the internet for all things Thomas the Train. After a little digging, I found all sorts of ideas to pull from. Not to mention I could tie in all the bits of information I knew about trains as well.

Thomas was easy enough to put together. I started with the large, medium, and small circle cutters you can find in the baking section at Micheal’s. I rolled out white fondant I had tinted blue, to an 1/8 of an inch and used my large circle cutter to cut out my base.

To make my black outline, I rolled out black fondant, again to 1/8 of an inch, and used my medium circle cutter. For the the grey Thomas face, I used a small bit of black candy clay(about the size of a dime) I had and mixed it in with a golf ball size of white gum paste. If you do not have candy clay, black fondant would work as well. Using my small cutter, I cut out his face.

For his eyes, I used the mini circle cutter and then used this circle cutter for his nose. I found it among the mountainous pile of cookie cutters I currently own. It was the perfect size. After I cut it out, I rolled it between the palm of my hands to form it into a ball. Rolling out the dough and cutting it with the same cutter would ensure that every nose would be the same size.

To make his smile, I rolled out my fondant and then used my mini circle cutter to cut out additional circles. Then I used the edge of the cutter to cut out a smile from each circle.

To add the smoke stack, I took my black fondant and cut out 1 inch squares. Using my medium circle cutter, I trimmed one side of the square, so that it would line up with my black outline.

After I had cut out all the pieces I needed for Thomas, I attached them using a gum paste-water adhesive. If you are not used to working with gum paste, then a little water will work just as well. If you would like a stronger bond, then simply drop tiny bits of gum paste into 2 inches of water and let sit for 10-15 minutes. The gum paste will melt and your water will become cloudy. Use a small brush to stir and apply your adhesive to your fondant pieces and let dry completely.

I did add a 1/2 in. by 1 in. red horizontal strip with two black vertical stripes along the bottom like Thomas has, but I forgot to take a picture. To add his black eyes and eyebrows, I used an edible black pen by Wilton.

To mixed things up, I also made a Railroad Crossing sign and a set of railroad tracks. For the railroad tracks, I was able to use my new wood imprinting mat to give it a more realistic feel.

Happy 3rd Birthday E! I hope you had a wonderful day!

Cotton Candy Cupcakes

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Carrie Hoke

Being the Science nerd that I am, I love Tom Lehrer. If you have never heard of him, and many people haven’t, he is a genius mathematician, scientist, and song writer. Every year, during our Chemistry unit, I challenge my students to memorize his now legendary song, “The Elements”, where he sings the names of most of the chemical elements to the tune of the”Major-General’s Song” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. If they can do it, then they win a cupcake. Last year, my students won these Pink Lemonade cupcakes. This year, they voted for these Cotton Candy cupcakes.

These cupcakes are super easy and will take you very little time to make. All you need is your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe or vanilla cake box mix, cotton candy flavoring oil (you can get it here), and fresh cotton candy. Use your flavoring oils very sparingly. A little goes a long way and you don’t want to over do it with your cupcakes. Honestly, they are very similar to the HP Honeydukes cupcakes I made awhile back, but I left out the cotton candy spinning sugar because I felt it didn’t need it. It give the cakes a more subtle taste and lighter feel.

Once I have everything mixed together for my cupcakes, then I add my cotton candy flavoring oil or I add it when I add my vanilla.

I also add a few drops to my favorite butter cream frosting too!

I break off little pieces of cotton candy right before I plan on serving the cupcakes. If you wait too long, then the cotton candy will melt into your frosting. It will make a very artsy swirl into your frosting, but it won’t look, or taste, as great.

**A big thanks to fan, Whitney, for sending me the adorable cupcake dome! It was the perfect way to showcase these cupcakes!