YJ’s Mochi Cakes

Ingredients

• 1 pound mochiko (glutinous rice flour)
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 3 cups whole milk (1 can of coconut milk and the rest milk to reach 3 cups)
• 5 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut

Directions

1. Gather ingredients. Preheat the oven to  350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
   
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and milk. In a separate larger bowl, stir together the rice flour, sugar, and baking powder.
   
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir to blend. (The more you mixed the more air you put into the batter making it lighter and fluffier - it’s all personal preference). Mix in melted butter and coconut. Pour into the prepared cupcake pan.
   
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool completely, then cut into squares to serve.
   

Moist Yellow Cupcakes (from scratch)

I rarely bake from scratch...it's one of those things I really want to do, but never have the courage or time to do it. I decided to start testing recipes to find the ones I like. I like this one very much. It's a yellow butter cake that is moist and tender. I didn't have real buttermilk on hand, so I made some with lemon juice and low-fat milk. I think if I had real buttermilk, this recipe would be even moister. It was pretty easy to put together and the batter came out silky and beautiful!

I got 36 cupcakes out of this recipe:

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk , well-shaken

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two standard muffin pans with cupcake liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Fill cupcake pans 2/3 full, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 16 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Pistachio Cake w/ Pistachio Swiss Meringue Buttercream

For Bao's birthday, she requested pistachio cupcakes with pistachio swiss meringue buttercream. We've made the buttercream before but I don't remember making a cake. I found a good one on Allrecipes.com and copied it down below. The batter is really runny but it actually rises fine. I even used leftover batter in my Babycakes Cake Pops Maker and it was perfect.

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
7 drops green food coloring (I omitted this and it was still pretty green)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
In a large bowl mix together cake mix and pudding mix. Make a well in the center and pour in eggs, water, oil, almond extract and green food coloring. Blend ingredients, then beat for 2 minutes at medium speed.
Pour into prepared 10 inch tube pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes (16-18 minutes for cupcakes), or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Simple Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Curd

Makes 2 dozen

• 1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist Yellow Cake mix
• 1/3 cups canola oil
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 3 large eggs
• 1/3 cups lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 330 degrees F. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat on low oil, water, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and sour cream until mixed.
3. Slowly add cake mix. When entire bag is added, increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes until thoroughly combined.
4. Fill each muffin cup half full with batter. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, 18-22 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely before topping with lemon curd and then swiss meringue buttercream. Garnish the cupcakes with a sprinkle of finely grated lemon zest.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Matcha Green Tea Buttercream

Makes 2 dozen

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups sugar (*tip: try reducing this to 1 1/2 cup, it was a bit sweet)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup plus scant 1/3 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixere fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; beat to combine. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Sift together both flours, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture; mix until well combined. Add sour cream; mix until well combined.
4. In a clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter.
5. Fill each muffin cup half full with batter. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, 18-22 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Green Tea Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Follow recipe for Swiss Merginue Buttercream, at the end when you add the vanilla, add 1 tablespoon of matcha green tea powder.

Moist Carrot Cake (from Scratch)

For mah-mah's birthday, Tina and I made her an awesome, super moist, not-too-sweet carrot cake from Allrecipes.com.
I topped it with a whipped cream cream cheese frosting I also found on Allrecipes. This will be my go-to carrot cake recipe now!

Yield 1 - 8x12 inch pan (I made a two layer 6-inch cake with 11 cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups shredded carrots (about 2 large carrots)
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
• 1 cup golden raisins, soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x12 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
4. In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts, pineapple and raisins.
5. Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
6. Pour into prepared 8x12 inch pan, and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour. Check with toothpick.
7. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Haupia Cupcake

For a cupcake throw down challenged by my very own husband, I knew I had to up my game because he's not only good at everything, the kitchen is his turf...usually. I ate a haupia cake at Zippy's when we were in Maui a month ago and I remember telling Jackie, "I HAVE to learn how to make this filling! I could drink it!" So when I had to come up with a kicked up classic flavor, I decided on coconut and to kick it up with the haupia filling. It was sooo good it actually won the throw down for me. The whipped cream frosting kept this delicate cake super light and refreshing...especially for a cupcake.

Makes 20-24 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

Cake:

• 1 box white cake mix
• 2/3 cup coconut milk
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 eggs

Haupia Filling:

• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tablespoon corn starch
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:

• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• shredded coconut, to top

DIRECTIONS

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put cake mix, coconut milk, water and eggs into a large mixing bowl. Mix well and fill cupcake pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes.

Haupia Filling:

1. In a sauce pan heat coconut milk (do not boil).
   
2. Mix sugar, salt, and cornstarch with water; stir into hot coconut milk.
   
3. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens (cook over low heat to avoid curdling). Stir in vanilla and cool.

Frosting

1. Soften gelatin in 1/3 cup coconut milk; dissolve over hot water.
   
2. Cool.
   
3. Whip cream; fold in gelatin mixture and sugar.
   

Assembly

1. Use cone method to create cavity for filling in cakes.
2. Fill cavity with about a tablespoon of filling.
3. Put cake cap back on.
4. Chill for 30 minutes to set filling.
   
5. Top with generous dollop of whipped cream frosting.
6. Top with shredded coconut.

Spumoni Cupcake

Slight adapted by a recipe I got off of "How to Eat a Cupcake" blog. Only difference is I didn't use cherry extract and opted to do a mix of maraschino cherries and canned cherry because I thought the canned cherries tasted too much like prunes plus when I eat the maraschino cherry, that tastes more like the cherry ice cream in spumoni to me. I also halved the recipe to make only twelve cupcakes.

This cupcake is half cherry batter and half chocolate batter topped with pistachio buttercream to finish off the three classic flavors in spumoni ice cream.

Cherry Batter

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup + 6 tbsp. flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon cherry extract (I didn't have any)
  
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/8 cup chopped cherries (canned or frozen, thawed)

Chocolate Batter

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon cherry extract (I didn't have any)
  
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/8 cup chopped cherries (canned or frozen, thawed)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan, or use paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add cherry flavoring and mix until combined. On low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, followed by milk; end with remaining flour mixture and chopped cherries. Mix just until incorporated (do not overmix).
Fill muffin cups with 3 tablespoons of each batter, side by side. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan, 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Banana Cupcakes

Super delicious and moist I made these cupcakes for Jackie's 26th birthday. I originally was going to do a tres leche cupcake but had 3 overly ripen bananas that I had to do something with. I topped it with my new Swiss meringue buttercream recipe and added around 4 tablespoons of mashed bananas to it at the end to make Banana Swiss Merginue Buttercream. The results were delicious!

(Cupcake recipe from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella.)
Makes 18-22

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (About 2 bananas)
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan.
2. With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs to the creamed mixture and beat well. Add the bananas and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add all the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix until completely integrated.
5. Add the milk and vanilla. Mix for 1 minute on medium speed.
6. Fill cupcake liners one-half to three-quarters full (take this seriously, I underfilled and they didn't rise enough) with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

I tried it...I baked from scratch. Besides breads and cookies, I like the semi-homemade approach to things but for some reason, I felt like trying it so I started slow with this easy recipe from Martha Stewart. It was easy to do and yielded a pretty moist cake!

Makes 18 to 24

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons safflower oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
2. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

I got this recipe off of Allrecipes.com for chocolate cake and modified it slightly for cupcakes! It's so moist and chocolatey! I'm definitely using it again.

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (rotating the pans half way through, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cupcakes thoroughly in pan at least 10 minutes. Take out of pan and completely cool on a cooling rack before frosting.
   

Triple Strawberry Cupcake

I made a cupcake bouquet for Angie for V-day for a friend. Her friend likes strawberry cupcakes with vanilla frosting. So I made this cupcake from my Cupcake Doctor book called Pretty in Pink. I'm going to call it a Triple Strawberry Cupcake so it makes sense. Hahaha. I topped it with my favorite Swiss Meringue Buttercream and it was delicious. Very moist from the real strawberries.

Triple Strawberry Cupcakes (AKA Pretty in Pink)
Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix (I used strawberry cake mix...that made it triple)
  
• 1 package (3 ounces) strawberry gelatin
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries with juice from 1 1/2 cups whole berries (see “The Cupcake Doctor Says” below)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.
2. Place the cake mix, gelatin, strawber­ries and juice, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat 2 minutes more on low speed, scraping down the sides again if needed. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. Place the pans in the oven.
3. Bake the cupcakes until they are lightly golden around the edges and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cup­cakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your finger­tips. Place them on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

The Cupcake Doctor Says…
“Although these cupcakes put the season's best berries to good use, they are also perfect for those berries that arrive at your market from far away and have little juice and less flavor than good local berries. If you are using juicy berries, drain them well and use only the juice that clings to them when the berries have been chopped for the cake and the frosting. A pinch of cinnamon picks up the strawberry flavor in the cup­cake batter.”

Source: The Cupcake Doctor, by Anne Byrn

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

From the Cake Doctor, I used this recipe to bake up the Cookie Monster cupcakes for the babies' 1st birthday. This was a favorite among Vil and Shanielle. If the skinny people ate more than one, you know it's good! Combined with the Swiss Meringue buttercream, it was delicious.

Jackie did an variation of this using mint oreos and devil's food cake mix that was also killer.

Ingredients

• 30 Oreo cookies
• 1 package (18.25) plain white cake mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Buttercream frosting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Count out 12 Oreos and separate top and bottom. Make sure some of them still have icings on it. Put the half cookie with icing side up on the bottom of the cupcake liners.
   
3. Put the other 12 half and remaining Oreos in a large ziplock bag and crush. Set this aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and crushed Oreos.
   
5. Fill liners with batter 3/4 full.
   
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool then frost!

Classic Buttery Yellow Cupcakes

I like this recipe because it's a firm cake so it will make decorating easier. Plus it has a very nostalgic taste. Makes you feel like a kid again!

Ingredients

• 1 pkg (18.5 ounce) plain butter recipe yellow cake mix
• 1 pkg (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.
2. Throw all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Blend on low with an electric mixer for 30 seconds until all the ingredients are well blended then stop the machine and scrape down the sides. Increase the mixer to medium and beat for 1 to 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should be smooth and thickened. Spoon or scoop 1/4 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it two thirds of the way full. Place the pans in the oven.
3. Bake until they are golden and spring b ack when lightly pressed with your finger, about 24 to 27 minutes.
4. Remove and cool on wire racks for 5 minutes in the pan.
5. Remove cupcakes and cool on wire rack alone for another 15 minutes.
6. Frost then serve.
   

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcake recipe courtesy of The Cake Mix Doctor and Lamb decoration courtesy of Martha Stewart.

This cupcake recipe is a hit! I've made it a dozen of times and so has my sister. My sisters actually made these lamb cupcakes for my lamb theme baby shower. So cute! Too bad I was pregnant with pregnancy diabetes and couldn't eat one...ugh. The cream cheese frosting used is actually the recipe on the back of the Sprinkles red velvet cupcake mix.

Piping the little lamb faces.

The finished product -- so cute!

Red Velvet Cupcakes
(courtesy of The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook)
24 paper liners for cupcake pans (2 1/2 -inch size)
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain German chocolate cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup sour cream (see "the Cupcake Doctor says")
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring
3 large eggs
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon or scoop N cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans in the oven.

3. Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the White Chocolate Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting.

5. Place a heaping tablespoon of frosting on each cupcake and swirl to spread with a short metal spatula or a spoon, taking care to cover the tops completely. Place these cupcakes, uncovered or in a cake server, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. The cupcakes are ready to serve.
Store the cupcakes, in a cake saver or under a glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze them, wrapped in aluminum foil or in a cake saver, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cupcakes overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
The Cupcake Doctor Says
Use reduced-fat sour cream, and you'll sacrifice only fat and calories, not flavor. If you can't find plain German chocolate cake mix, buy the pudding in the mix version and forgo the added pudding. For more chocolate flavor, use chocolate pudding mix instead of vanilla, but the cake won't be as red in color.
Cream Cheese Frosting
(from Sprinkles red velvet mix)

8 oz cream cheese
4 oz butter
3 3/4 c. confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/2 tea. vanilla extract
1/8 tea. salt

Cream the butter, cheese and salt in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar until incorporated, then add the vanilla.

Lamb Decorations
(from MarthaStewart.com)

2 ounces mini marshmallows, halved crosswise
6 full-sized marshmallows, halved lengthwise, then diagonally to create lamb ear
24 brown mini candy-coated chocolates (we piped frosting noses)
3 pieces pink bubblegum, cut into 12 small triangles (we piped pink heart noses)

Arrange the halved mini marshmallows around the perimeter of each plain-buttercream cupcake, in two concentric circles. Leave room for ears on the edges, and an empty circle in the center for the face. Place halved full-sized marshmallows in reserved spots for the ears. Place two mini chocolate candies in upper half of each empty circle to make the eyes, and a bubble gum triangle for the nose.