If you like to bake and your circle of acquaintances knows this, the inevitable is going to happen.
"Hey, I have a birthday/bridal shower/World of Warcraft...um...whatever/bake sale/Mary Kay party/Art Show (I need to stop but I am having fun with this)...Can you make some cupcakes?"
Hapless Baker - "Sure, what kind would you like?"
Person - "Oh, whatever you think."
SO not helpful. Not at all. You might not like what I like. I might not like what you like. I just want to make it well and make you happy and how am I to know that you can't actually eat any fruit or that you only like whipped cream frosting but it has to be non-dairy and that you're allergic to nuts and oh one person is vegan so just leave the eggs out of that one, all right?
I guess I'm begging for communication. Goodness knows I am learning enough about everyone and their second cousins on FB so one would think an allergy would be an easy addition to normal conversation.
Actually, nothing of the sort happened with these cupcakes. These were for a friend, and it was her birthday, and I offered to make cupcakes. While she did start off with, "oh...whatever" - I do know her a little better than that so with some poking I got enough to go off and I think she liked them. I dunno. Haven't seen her since.
Making this all about me for a moment, I have let the idea of a cheesecake cupcake flit across my mind a few times, but the truth is, I just don't love cheesecake all that much so it's not high on my list. I do like cherries but I like them really really tart. However, it seems like most people are fans of the stuff, it would be easy to make and eat and is happy and festive for a birthday. With teenagers.
And they are good. I loved the graham cracker crust and the mildness of the graham cake with the cream cheese and cherries combined in the filling, and then on top as well. Sweet, nutty, tart, creamy - I do think they were lovely and I think I need to reevaluate my cheesecake position.
So, I do hope they went over well. Happy birthday, Niki! We love you and miss you very much.
On to the cupcakes!
~ Graham Cupcakes ~
For graham bottom:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup melted butter, salted
1/4 cup sugar
For cupcakes:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole milk
1 cup flour
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 standard-sized muffin cups with baking liners. Set aside 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs for garnishing at the very end. I just figured I'd mention it now since you have them out and everything already. All right. Moving on...
In a small bowl, combine the 1 cup graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 1/4 cup sugar, mixing until crumbly. Press a small amount into the bottom of each muffin cup, dividing the total evenly, and press down with your fingers to form a smooth(ish) bottom layer. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and let cool before filling with cupcake batter.
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Crispy graham cracker bottoms - please don't skip this step
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Cupcakes now:
Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until well creamed. Add the sugars and mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla and mix again.
Combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and powder, and salt into a small bowl. Add in about half of the dry mixture into the butter mixture and stir until combined. Add in the milk and mix well. Finish with the rest of the flour mixture and mix just until combined.
Scoop the batter into the muffin cups (the ones you already have the graham cracker crust baked into, remember?) and bake at 350 for about 15 - 18 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in the muffin tins for 2 minutes or so, then remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.
~ Cherry Filling & Topping ~
12 ounces sweet or sour cherries, pitted (frozen is fine)2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar (you can add more or less depending on how sweet your cherries are. So taste for sweetness, but please do that well before the whole "bring to a boil" step, okay?)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Place all ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, cook it for an additional one to two minutes then remove from heat. Cool completely.
~ Cream Cheese Filling & Frosting ~
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy and fully combined. Beat in the powdered sugar, lime juice and lime zest, and salt, and beat until mixed together and the consistency you want (it's not going to be as stiff as a regular buttercream, and neither should it be). Set aside about a cup's worth to fill the cupcakes; the rest will be for the frosting.
Ready for assembly? You're almost done, really.
Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out a cone-shaped portion out of the top of each cake. Slice off the excess cake from the cone (leaving the flat cap) and reserve the top. Fill the resulting hole with about a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling, top with about a tablespoon of the cherry filling, then replace the cap. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.
~ Frosting the cupcakes ~
Using a pastry bag fitted with the large round tip, or just a recloseable plastic baggie with the tip cut off, pipe a few rounds of frosting around the top of each cupcake. Basically, you're making a nest for the cherry filling. It doesn't have to be beautiful; mine certainly wasn't. Cover the edges of the cupcake and build up the frosting sides high enough to hold the cherries in. Spoon a bit of the cherry filling into each nest. If desired, sprinkle the reserved graham cracker crumbs (remember those?) around the outside of the cupcakes. There. Done. Because of the dairy content of these, store them in the refrigerator but try to let them come to about room temperature before serving.
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| Man, this thing looks ugly. Tastes good, though. This is just so you can see the truth of what you're getting. |
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| Which is why we keep some things that are inside us, well, inside us. |
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