Oreo White Chocolate Cupcakes

I'm back!  For good this time, I hope :)

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of atypical schedules.  Right after Thanksgiving, we entered tech for the last show of the semester, for which I choreographed a piece.  On top of that, my poor fiancé got food poisoning so he needed care.  After that, final practicals and exams began, so studying took top priority (yaaaaay...).  Only an hour after I picked up my last exam, a take-home test for my criticism class, I was in the car on the way to the airport.  After two hours of insanely fast typing, my semester was officially finished; another two hours later, I landed in Florida to reunite with Jon, meet his dad, and go to his best friend's wedding.  We spent a fantastic weekend at Universal Orlando together and had a great time hitting the parks and celebrating the marriage with everyone - it was honestly the best time I've had in months!  I wish we could've stayed there longer.
My parents came down and met us Sunday night, and the next morning I continued south with them to Vero Beach to visit my brother and his wife (and their new dog!) for the next week.

And that's where the cupcakes come in.

Thanks to crazy schedules and an insanely long distance between us, I missed my brother's birthday at the end of November, but I promised him a treat of choice while I visited.  I knew he loved white chocolate so I wanted to include that, and Oreos were a natural choice since he keeps them in the house all the time.  I had made the cupcake base before, but I decided to use a white chocolate frosting on them this time.

It was a good choice :)

The cupcakes are fluffy and full of vanilla flavor and huge chunks of Oreos - including an entire Oreo half on the bottom!  (I'd suggest finding someone totally ace at twisting apart Oreos to help with that part, or you can use a paring knife to separate the halves.) The white chocolate cream cheese frosting has fabulous flavor without an overpowering sweetness from the white chocolate - this is the stuff I could eat with a spoon.  Or a bunch of animal crackers.  Together, the combination is delectable!

If you're already all cookie'd out for Christmas or you're looking for something unique for the dessert spread, try these!  Maybe use the winter Oreos and some holiday sprinkles on top for a festive touch!  Regardless, I can tell you that they'll be enjoyed by everyone with tastebuds.

Oreo White Chocolate Cupcakes

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Source: slightly adapted from Annie's Eats
Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
12 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached
1 heaping cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 + 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
10 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped (quartered is a good place to start)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚F.  Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and place an Oreo half in the bottom of each cup, cream side up.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt with a fork.  Set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.  Add the egg, mixing until it's fully incorporated, then mix in the vanilla extract.  Add half the flour mixture, beating until just incorporated.  Beat in the milk until just combined, then the rest of the dry mixture.  Fold in the chopped cookie pieces with a spatula.
Scoop the batter by quarter cup-fulls into the prepared muffin cups.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow to cool five minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack until ready to frost.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: adapted from Baking Bites

Ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 oz white chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp heavy cream (more if needed)
2-3 cups confectioner's sugar
5 Oreo cookies, crushed (for topping)

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and melted white chocolate.  Mix in the cream, then gradually add powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency - make it stiffer if you plan to pipe it onto the cupcakes.  Frost the cupcakes as desired and top with cookie crumbs.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cake Squares

I'm back!

And it feels amazing.  I've missed this so much.

The second of this semester's three shows ran this past weekend, and what an experience that was.  After what seemed like the world's longest rehearsal process, we finally opened a world-premiere musical revue of David Shire's music to a packed house and enthusiastic praise.  Furthermore, David Shire and his wife Didi Conn, also known as Frenchie in the film version of Grease, came all the way from New York City to see the premiere!  Performing for and meeting them was unforgettable, especially seeing how touched David was to see what our directors did with his music.  The looks on their faces made the insanity of the last two and a half months worth it :)

And Didi is officially the cutest person alive.  Seriously.

If you feel so inclined, you can read more about the whole experience in Playbill.  And look at my picture.  Sorry, I'll stop now.

The hardest day of tech week is always Sunday: the "10-out-of-12".  As actors, we spend 10 hours of a 12-hour block working onstage.  I'd worked them as a technician before, and they're always rough.  So, since we had the previous day off from rehearsal (or at least from the musical - I was rehearsing for another show that morning), I decided to bake something for the cast to make the long day a little easier.

Let's just say they were grateful.

The cake squares are personal servings of fall flavor.  The cool, creamy, vanilla mascarpone frosting adds the perfect sweet contrast to the moist and spicy pumpkin cake.  If you don't keep mascarpone on hand like I do (yes, I'm crazy) then go ahead and substitute cream cheese, but I think the mascarpone is beyond worth it.  It's a fantastic fall snack, or it could be a great last-minute addition to your Thanksgiving dessert table - it only takes 15 minutes to get it into the oven!  I guarantee any friend or relative would be grateful to help you eat it.

Pumpkin Cake Squares with Mascarpone Frosting
Source: adapted from Brown Eyed Baker, originally from How To: Simplify
Yield: 1 9x13" pan

For the pumpkin cake squares:
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 15oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1-2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
2 eggs
1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 large, but I used the stuff from a carton!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚F with a rack on the middle position.  Grease a 9x13" pan and set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.  Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, oil, eggs, and egg whites until smooth and uniform.  Pour the dry ingredients on top of the pumpkin mixture and gently stir or whisk to combine until smooth.
Transfer the batter to the greased pan and smooth the top, making sure the batter is distributed evenly.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Transfer to a rack to cool completely before frosting.

For the Vanilla Mascarpone frosting:
Ingredients:
8 oz mascarpone cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I recommend Nielsen Massey Tahitian Pure Vanilla)
approximately 1 tbsp half-and-half (I used fat free)

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and mascarpone on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.  Decrease the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until fully incorporated and smooth.  Add the vanilla extract and the half-and-half.  Increase the speed of the mixer to medium and whip until desired consistency is reached, adding more half-and-half one teaspoon at a time if necessary.  Spread evenly onto the cooled cake.  Slice into squares and enjoy!

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Story time:
Once upon a time,  a young girl new to the blogging world had two ripe bananas to use up.  She thought and thought, tossed and turned, and still couldn't come up with a unique way to use them.  First she tried to find healthy recipes, but those wouldn't satisfy her sweet tooth.  She thought of a bundt cake, but then realized her bundt pan was far, far away in the land of Buffalo.  Whatever could she do?
But then, she stumbled upon a magical cookbook.  It was small, but within its pages it held recipes of every flavor and taste she could imagine.  And inside this book, she found a recipe for Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting - the answer she had been seeking!
She followed the recipe directions to the letter, scooped the batter into the pan, and slid the pan into the oven.  When the DING of the oven timer came, she took them out...only to discover 12 strangely colored, misshapen little cakes!  She began to despair, but then remembered that they were meant to be quite brown, and their shape would not matter once they were topped with swirls of rich and creamy frosting.  Just a few twirls of her mixer later, the cupcakes were finished.
And my, were they delicious!


Another GEM from Alice's Tea Cup.  I'm convinced the Fox ladies can do no wrong.  Just remember - they're supposed to get darker than most cupcakes.  And honestly, who cares what they look like underneath the frosting?  The flavor combination most definitely makes up for the oddness of their shape, and they actually only get better with time!

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: Alice's Tea Cup by Haley and Lauren Fox
Yield: 12-18 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2 very ripe bananas
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I used Tahitian vanilla, but you don't need to be that fancy)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (12oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. 
Mash the bananas in a small bowl, then set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine the oil and sugar until fully mixed.  Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla; mix until smooth.  Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl.  With the mixer running on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture a little at a time, mixing until it's all combined and the batter is smooth.  Fold in the bananas with a rubber spatula.
Fill a nonstick or paper-lined muffin pan half-full of batter and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.  Set aside to cool completely in the pan.
As the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese until fully combined and smooth.  With the mixer set on its lowest speed, slowly add the confectioners' sugar, mixing until it is completely incorporated and the frosting is smooth (and delicious!)
Use an offset spatula or piping bag to frost the cupcakes generously with the cream cheese frosting.
Enjoy!