Chai-Tea Mini Cupcakes

I like tea. I might like chai tea if I actually knew what it is. I've seen it on the Starbucks menu on the rare occasion that I'm in a Starbucks. I'm not a coffee drinker and don't frequent places like Starbucks because I find them intimidating, there isn't anything on their menu that interests me (unless we're talking about desserts which I don't need) and I don't see the point in spending $4 or more on something I can get at home or at work for free. Call me crazy. After making chai-tea mini cupcakes (no recipe on Martha's website) I'm still not sure that I know what chai tea is, but my guess is something like black tea infused with milk, or maybe just black tea. Or maybe none of the above. Who knows.

Because I didn't (and still don't) know what chai tea is before I made these cupcakes I wasn't confident that I would like them and therefore I wasn't really looking forward to making them. But, the nice thing about this recipe was that I had pretty much everything I needed on hand other than black tea bags and sweetened condensed milk. Martha suggested the type of tea to get, Ceylon, but I just looked for the cheapest black tea I could find. We have a Keurig so we don't really use tea bags much anymore and Bobby is more of the tea drinker in the house, and he doesn't like black tea. So, I found a box of black tea bags for $1.25, used the 2 I needed and took the rest to work and left them in the mini cafe. Someone is bound to use them.

First order of business was steeping the tea. While the milk simmered and then steeped with the tea bags in it I combined all the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, and lined my mini cupcake pans with mini cupcake liners. Another recipe that didn't require me to butter and flour pans, I'm on board. Once the tea had steeped and cooled I combined everything together. The batter wasn't a pourable consistency so I used a tablespoon to fill each of the liners. The recipe said I would get 46 cupcakes but I would say I got around 36 or so. I may have filled the liners fuller than I needed to (Martha said three-quarters full) but the cupcakes all came out a good size, not too big, nice and rounded just like I like them. So, I was fine with it.

The recipe said to bake the cupcakes for 10-12 minutes and turning the pan once halfway through the baking time. Because you can't unbake something I started with 10 total minutes of baking time for the first batch. This ended up not being enough time so I added 2 minutes to the first batch and baked the second for 12 total minutes from the start. Perfection. The cupcakes cooled in the pans on a wire rack and then on a wire rack by themselves while I debated in my head about whether or not I wanted to ice them that day, or wait until the next day.

Eventually I decided to just make all my mess at once and get everything done. After all, the condensed-milk icing wasn't very difficult to make. It also yielded way more icing than I needed for the amount of cupcakes I had. Even if I had gotten 46 cupcakes from the recipe I still would have had more than I needed. It may have been that I didn't use enough icing on them, but I certainly wasn't stingy. I dipped the top of each cupcake into the icing and then placed them back on the wire racks so the icing could set. Of course I taste tested throughout the process and at no point did the cupcakes taste like tea. They just tasted like another variation of a spice cake which I very much enjoyed. Probably a little too much since I ended up eating way more than I wanted to. They're just such a perfect size for snacking, you forget how many you're eating. Good thing I had run 5 miles earlier in the day to balance it all out. Shedding for the wedding is going strong! Minus my mini cupcake episode of course. Shh... don't tell.

Pumpkin-Brown Butter Cupcakes

I suppose it's not really the season for pumpkin, but I personally don't believe that pumpkin-flavored foods should only be consumed in October and November. Pumpkin is delicious (when combined with butter and sugar) and should be enjoyed the whole year through. So, Martha... bring on the pumpkin-brown butter cupcakes (this is not the exact recipe from the cookbook, but it's the closest thing Martha has on her website)!

What is pumpkin puree? Great question. I don't know either. I hit my first road block before I even really got started. While looking over the ingredients I saw pumpkin puree (not pie filling) listed. My first thought was crap... is pumpkin puree different from what I buy when I'm going to make a pumpkin pie? Where am I ever going to find that? I actually had a can of Libby's pumpkin on hand that was leftover from a pie I didn't make for Thanksgiving (oops) so I was excited that I wasn't going to have to buy it. But first I wanted to make sure it was what I needed. I did a little Google searching to ensure that what I had was not pie filling and in fact pumpkin puree. After some research I decided that what I had was what I needed and if it wasn't, oh well. The only ingredient I opted out of was fresh sage leaves, cut into chiffonade. I had no idea what that meant and Martha said it was optional (hooray!) so I opted out.

First thing to tackle was the brown butter that was going into the cupcake batter. I also made brown butter icing for the cupcakes, but we'll get to that later. I remember the last time I had to brown butter when I made icing for these cupcakes and I wasn't sure of what I was doing that time around. But now, after having made it once I was feeling confident that I would know what I was doing. I was wrong. I was still unsure of what I was doing and worried I was going to burn the butter. So I stared and swirled, and stared and swirled some more until I felt confident that the butter was sufficiently browned. While I was staring and swirling the browning butter I put together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. After the browned butter had cooled I mixed it in with the wet ingredients and then mixed the wet and dry ingredients together.

The batter was tasty! For the first time during this little project of mine I haven't used cupcake liners. I instead buttered and floured the tins. I don't really like this method because it's much messier than using a paper liner, but I wanted the full pumpkin-brown butter cupcake experience. At first I thought I was going to be able to use my Pyrex measuring cup to fill the tins, but as I continued to mix in the dry ingredients I realized that dream wasn't going to come true. I broke out my trusty tablespoon and as always used about 1 1/2 scoops to fill the liners.

I baked these cupcakes a little longer than 20 minutes. I think I made them a little larger than I was supposed to so it took a couple extra minutes for them to be done. I would say each batch got about 22 minutes with a turn halfway through the baking time. Before I tried to remove the cupcakes from the pans I let them cool completely. In my experience if things are still warm, it's harder to remove them from the tins and they can often stick in the bottom. Since I only yielded 15 cupcakes from the whole batch, I didn't want to lose any in the process. Once they were cooled some cupcakes popped out right away, others were a little more difficult to remove. I used a knife to help get some out, for others I flipped the tins over and knocked on the bottom to pop them out. Worked like a charm.

I put the cupcakes in a tupperware overnight (not the Cadillac) and made the brown butter icing the following day. One reason was because I didn't have enough confectioner's sugar on hand (I know, major dropping of the ball by me), and I just didn't want to make any more of a mess since I had already finished washing one set of dishes. Sometimes I just don't have the energy to clean up all my messes and I didn't want to leave a mess overnight. I felt a little better about browning the butter this time since I had just done it for the cupcake batter. I would dare to say I am becoming a pro but we all know that's not true. This icing typically sets pretty fast so as soon as everything was combined I started dipping the tops of the cupcakes in it. It's a pretty easy method and I like how the finished product looks. I had a little icing left over, but not too much. I managed to hold myself back from scraping the bowl clean, but it was hard. It's really good. As were the finished cupcakes. I just had to keep reminding myself about the wedding dress I'll be wearing in about 6 months, and all the work I've put into shedding for the wedding up until this point. It's amazing what one single article of clothing can keep you from doing.

Chocolate Chip

I have flipped through this cookbook many times, contemplating which cupcakes I might like to try. I love chocolate, and chocolate in cute little chip form. But, for some reason I thought Chocolate Chip Cupcakes wouldn't do it for me. Especially a recipe that calls for regular-sized chocolate chips, not mini ones. Using regular-sized chocolate chips in cupcakes just can't be right, can it? I even hesitated in the grocery store when buying the chocolate chips. I was so close to throwing the mini ones in the cart, but told myself that wasn't the point of this project. It's to do things Martha's way and see how I like them the first time around. If I don't like the results then I can make changes next time. So, the mini morsels stayed on the shelf gazing longingly at me as I walked away. They're just so cute!

Chocolate chips in hand and with the rest of my ingredients ready I got to work. Back when I first started my baking hobby I didn't have many "tools of the trade" if you will. I had a hand mixer that quite possibly was older than me. If it wasn't from the 70s it certainly looked like it was. Think that brownish-orange reminiscent of the interior of an old Winnebago, or that brown carpet that everyone seemed to have in their bedroom as a kid. I had my 1970s mixer until a couple of years ago when my mom bought me a new Cuisinart one for Christmas. That bad boy can mix! I'm afraid of what might happen if I ever actually mix anything using the highest setting. All I picture is dough everywhere. I also have a 15-quart stand mixer and it might be the most amazing kitchen appliance I own, and I own a lot of appliances. My parents got it for me for my 24th birthday and I scream-squealed (that's the perfect union of a scream and squeal) when I opened the box. First out of surprise because I never thought I would own such an amazing piece of kitchen equipment, and second because I was so excited to have one.

I took you on that little journey through my kitchen equipment to bring you here. Normally when I bake I use my stand mixer for things like cakes and cupcakes. I prefer the hand mixer for cookies. Don't ask me why, I don't have a good answer, just a preference of mine. However, for this batch of cupcakes I used the hand mixer because Martha said so, and we've already been over my wanting to follow Martha's directions to a T.

The recipe itself is easy to follow, the hardest part was beating the egg whites to get those pesky peaks to form. It's truly exhausting, even when using a mixer. People who try to do it by hand are just overachieving (showoffs!). And, I never quite understand what constitutes a "soft" peak, so I just beat the eggs until my arm starts to hurt from holding up the mixer, and I can see some semblance of a peak. Then into the batter they go! Probably not how Martha would do it, but I'm trying. So, egg whites into batter, chocolate chips into batter, batter into paper-lined tins, tins into oven and we're on our way.

I always start with a little less baking time than a recipe calls for because all ovens are different and you can't reverse what's already been baked. I can always add more time. So, I started with 20 minutes, but I found that just as the recipe states (that Martha knows her stuff) 22 minutes was perfect. The cupcakes will stay a pale color, don't be alarmed if they're not golden, just make sure that toothpick comes out clean! I let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack and then put the cupcakes in an airtight container overnight and worried about icing them the next day. When I have the luxury of time, I like to spread out my baking. Less dishes to do in one day. I like to make a big mess, but I don't enjoy cleaning one up. Some day when I'm rich and famous (ha!) I'll have someone to clean the kitchen for me.

Making icing is one of my least favorite things to do because I find it to be so touchy (there's a better word for this, but my brain just can't find it. It's tired from work). If you do one thing wrong, the whole batch is no good. When I find a recipe for icing that's good and simple I usually stick with it and don't venture to try something new. But, in the spirit of Martha I embraced her Dark Chocolate Frosting that accompanied the Chocolate Chip Cupcake recipe. I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out, though it was a little thin for my liking so I added a little extra confectioner's sugar... don't tell Martha!

Before the frosting of the cupcakes began I wanted to perform a taste test of the cupcakes sans icing. My goal was to see how much the frosting helped or hurt the cupcake (like it could really hurt). I wanted to know if the cupcake could stand on it's own without icing. Without icing, the cupcake was good. I thought it was a little dense (not a thick dense, more like a jam packed dense, if that makes any sense). Maybe I didn't beat those egg whites enough. Who knows. However, I was pleased that all the chocolate chips didn't sink to the bottom. Baking tip, if you toss the chocolate chips in a little flour before you put them in the batter, it helps them stay afloat. Most importantly, I didn't mind the regular-sized chips.

Normally, I like to use my frosting gun, yes, you read me correctly, frosting gun, to decorate cupcakes. If you don't have one, get one, it's almost as amazing as my stand mixer. But, in the picture from the book, it appeared that Martha just lathered it on. Since my new motto is do as Martha does, I grabbed my knife and spread away! Time for taste test No. 2! Cupcakes with frosting... better than cupcakes without frosting. I can't quite put my tongue on it, but the frosting just completed the cupcake. I suppose that's the point of it. What's your favorite kind of frosting?