Funfetti Cupcakes
I was looking for a way to jazz up Funfetti cupcakes. Of course, making them from scratch already helps--but I wanted more pizzazz. So I came up with the idea to add a cherry marshmallow filling to the center and to top them with cherry ganache before swirling on the buttercream. Success! A truly festive cupcake celebration with an explosion of flavor!
The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake (Baked by 50 Bakers
and Counting)
Yield: 16 cupcakes Ingredients
• 1 cup (225 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 3/4 cups (175 grams) cake flour, not
self-rising
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room
temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup (75 grams) full-fat sour cream (room
temperature)
• 1/4 cup canola oil or vegetable oil (60 ml—55
grams)
• 1 tablespoon pure (not imitation) vanilla
extract
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) whole milk (room temperature)
• About ½ cup confetti sprinkle quins, assorted
colors (may use assorted shapes as well)—plus more for topping Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
2. In a small bowl, combine sugar and seeds from
the vanilla bean. Using the back of a spoon, move around the bowl and apply
pressure to break up any clumps of seeds and to better infuse the vanilla
flavor into the sugar. Set aside.
3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl or bowl of a
stand mixer, mix together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add the vanilla bean sugar and mix until well
combined.
5. Add butter and mix on medium-low speed for
three minutes. Because there is so little butter, you'll end up with a very
fine crumb texture.
6. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs,
sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.
7. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and
beat on medium speed until just combined.
8. Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just
combined. The batter will be liquid. (Don't worry, you didn't do anything
wrong. It's supposed to be that way.) For confetti cupcakes, add quins to
batter.
9. Fill cupcake liners just over 1/2 full.
Sprinkle each cupcake with additional quins.
10. Bake for 14 minutes and then test to see if
they are done. They are done when a toothpick comes out without wet batter
stuck to it. The cupcakes should appear white with specks of vanilla bean. They
should not turn a golden brown. If they are not done, test again in two
minutes. If they are still not done, test again in another two minutes.
11. When the cupcakes are done, remove them
immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack (or just on your
counter if you don't own a cooling rack) to cool.
Cherry Marshmallow Filling
• 2 cups marshmallow creme
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room
temperature
• ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• Pinch of salt
• Cherry candy flavoring
• Pink gel food color
To make the filling, combine the marshmallow creme
and butter in a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until smooth. Blend
in the confectioners’ sugar and salt and whip until the mixture is light and
fluffy, about 1-2 minutes more. Blend in a few drops of candy flavoring and gel
food color. Transfer the majority of the filling mixture to a disposable pastry
bag. (You will cut the tip off the bag just before filling the cupcakes.)
Cherry Ganache
336 gm white chocolate, chopped
112 gm heavy whipping cream
Few drops cherry candy flavoring
Pink gel food color
In stainless steel bowl, combine ingredients. Heat
over hot water bath until white chocolate has completely melted, stirring
frequently. Let cool until consistency is correct for topping cupcakes.
For frosting, use either the Whipped Vanilla
Frosting (from Sweetapolita) or the Swiss Style Meringue Buttercream (from
Woodland Bakery). Both are delicious. The whipped vanilla frosting is by far
the faster one to make. For the pictured batch I used Swiss Meringue Frosting, but the first time I made these cupcakes I used whipped vanilla frosting.
Whipped Vanilla Frosting
Yield: enough for about 36 cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 lb + 4 ounces (575 grams) unsalted butter,
softened & cut into cubes
1 lb + 5 ounces (600 grams) confectioners’ sugar,
sifted
70 mL (4 ½ tablespoons) milk
1 ½ tablespoons (23 mL) vanilla
Pinch or two of salt
Sprinkles as desired (for decorating)
Method: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted
with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed (4 on
KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale and creamy. Add remaining ingredients
and mix on low-speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting
will be very light, creamy, and fluffy. If you want all of your frosting the
same color, add a drop of gel color and mix gain, adding one drop at a time
until desired shade is achieved. Top cupcakes with a swirl of frosting and
sprinkle with confetti quins.
Swiss Style Meringue Buttercream
Yield 6 cups (Recipe from Woodland Bakery) (enough
to ice 30 cupcakes, or fill and ice 1- 8″cake)
**Yield may differ in results from person to
person due to the volume of the meringue, whether you weighed your ingredients
or use volume measure, so this yield is approximate
Fresh Large Egg Whites 180g (6Lg)
White Sugar 300g (1 1/2 cups)
Confectioners Sugar 240g(2cups) (sifted—even though
it is an extra step, it really is necessary)
**Shortening 170g (3/4 cup) (I definitely
recommend High Ratio Shortening—such as Sweetex. Crisco just doesn't work the
same.)
Unsalted Butter 454g (2cups)
Vanilla Extract 1T
MIX METHOD:
Over a double boiler, in a large metal bowl whisk
together the granulated sugar and the egg whites stirring constantly until the
mixture reaches approximately 115 degrees F and the sugar grains have dissolved
and are no longer gritty to the touch. Pour this mixture into the metal bowl of
your Kitchen Aid Mixer with the WHISK attachment and whip on high speed until
it is thick, glossy and white in color. The peaks should be as firm as firm can
be. In the meantime you can sift your confectioners sugar, and once you have
achieved STIFF peaks meringue, add the confectioners sugar all at once with the
mixer on very low speed to avoid having a snow shower of sugar all over your kitchen!
Once all of the sugar has been incorporated you can turn the mixer speed to
med-high until it is all nicely mixed in. Be sure your butter and shortening
are at room temperature and they are the same consistency. Add it in about 2-3
additions, but FAST Additions. 1-2-3 fast fast! To add colors to this
buttercream, I recommend using Gel Paste Colors like Americolor or Chefmaster
or an oil based color is great too, since this is a high fat recipe. The gel
paste color should be added at the end after you have achieved Buttercream
Greatness!! After you get to the point of done, you will then switch to paddle
attachment and add color. You may color the whole batch, or divide it up and
color smaller portions at a time. Gel paste colors are the best since a little
goes a long way and they do not add extra liquid to the recipe like food colors
do. Turn the speed up to high and let it mix smooth. Add the vanilla extract at
the end, and you are DONE! Best Buttercream EVER! ***THIS RECIPE CAN BE STORED
4 days room temp, 2 weeks fridge, 2 months freezer **its fine to store it in
the fridge/freeze, but just know that you will now have to bring it back to
room temperature before re using. Take it out HOURS before you need it, and let
it get to room temp, then you will put it back on the mixer and with the PADDLE
attachment on low- medium and let it mix, it will look as if it is BROKEN, and
curdled, don’t be alarmed this is NATURAL, it will come back together
eventually, you can turn the speed up to med-high and it will mix out smooth.
