This is how it usually goes down in our house:

I spend hours slaving over a hot kitchen aid, whipping up cupcakes with mounds of beautiful buttercream, sprinkles, fondant flowers, the works. Taylor gets his hands on one, and proceeds to push 2/3 of the frosting (oh the beautiful swirl of frosting!) onto the side of the plate before eating the cupcake. All this effort I put in to the frosting, I may as well leave half the batch unfrosted for him, or heck, just make muffins (boo).

We would have gotten along well as children. I would yearn for the coveted corner piece of the grocery store sheet cake every time one of my classmates had a birthday. The corner piece was obviously the best, because it had twice as much frosting as all the other pieces.

If I had known Taylor, it wouldn’t have been an issue. He’d give me his frosting, I’d give him my cake. It’d be a match made in sugary heaven.

And it wouldn’t stop at just cake. Take corn dogs, for example. I loved corn dogs when I was little, but only the corn part. I’d eat the whole outer coating off of the dog and ceremoniously pass it to my dad when I was done. Taylor, on the other hand (if given no other choice), would peel every last spec of batter off before eating it.

I mean, seriously. How perfect would we have been for each other? (and I’m sure my Dad would have appreciated not having to eat so many mutilated corn dogs).

But these cupcakes were different.

I watched in awe as Taylor practically licked the cupcake clean of frosting. No mound on the side. He ate every last bit (though, I do admit he pulled off the heart sprinkles prior to doing so).

That’s how I know I’ve done good. I’ve done real good.

The frosting is not, in fact, new. You’ve seen it before layered so beautifully inside this cake. Yes, I’m talking about the Tiramisu Buttercream. It’s a basic swiss meringue buttercream with a splash of coffee, and the final result is so unbelievably smooth and buttery and not overly sweet like the typical American-style buttercream. It is SO worth the extra effort.

The cake itself is almost identical to almond-based cupcakes I’ve made before, except I substituted finely ground toasted hazelnuts for the almond. And it surprised me how distinct the hazelnut flavor was, I didn’t expect it. A good pairing with the coffee buttercream.

The perfect treat for your one true love.

Hazelnut Cappuccino Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients
Cupcakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cappuccino Buttercream:
3 large egg whites
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon warm water
1/2 tablespoon instant coffee

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine soymilk and vinegar and stir to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes. Mixture will curdle.

Toast hazelnuts in a dry pan over low heat until one shade darker and fragrant (watch them carefully or they will burn). Remove skins if desired (or if you can). Transfer to a food processor and pulse until very finely ground.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground hazelnuts, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Whisk sugar, oil, and extract into curdled soymilk mixture. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until relatively smooth. Fill cupcake liners with a scant 3 tablespoons of batter (cups should be just under 2/3 of the way full). Bake for 20-22 minutes or until lightly golden, and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

To make buttercream, combine the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 5 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream. Remove from heat and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk on high speed until mixture is completely cooled and stiff peaks form, about 6 minutes. Add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, on low speed, mixing well after each addition. Beat until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

Stir instant coffee into warm water until dissolved. Add, 1 teaspoon at a time, to buttercream, mixing well after each addition. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

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As unique a combination of ingredients as I’ve ever seen put into a sandwich. But you know what? It works.

Just a word of warning – go EASY on the olive tapenade. A thin thin layer on one slice of the bread is all you need. We made the unfortunate mistake of piling on far too much of the tapenade. One bite and both of us could barely stand how salty it was. Like, I’d rather be drinking a glass of sea water salty.

But even underneath all that salt, we saw the potential. And lucky for us this recipe makes way more than two sandwiches.

Take 2.

With a much higher proportion of goat cheese and carrots to tapenade, you have yourself a fabulous sandwich. A little sweet, a little salty, and much more hearty and satisfying than you’d think. We had enough carrots that I ate these for three meals straight. And thoroughly enjoyed it. Not that I’m biased towards anything smothered in goat cheese, because I’m not. Really.

Moroccan Carrot and Goat Cheese Sandwiches with Green Olive Tapenade

Makes 6 sandwiches. Recipe from Epicurious.

Ingredients
For carrots
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 lb medium carrots (8)

For tapenade
1 1/4 cups green olives (6 to 7 oz) such as Cerignola or picholine, pitted
3 tablespoons drained bottled capers, rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 flat anchovy fillet, chopped
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

For sandwiches
12 slices good-quality pumpernickel sandwich bread
6 oz soft mild goat cheese (3/4 cup) at room temperature

Directions
Prepare carrots:
Whisk together sugar, lemon juice, spices, salt, and oil in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved.

Halve carrots crosswise on a long diagonal, then, starting from diagonal ends, cut into 1/16-inch-thick slices using slicer. Cook carrots in a 4- to 5-quart pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 45 seconds. Drain well in a colander and immediately toss with dressing. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, then marinate, covered and chilled, at least 4 hours.

Make tapenade and assemble sandwiches:
Pulse olives with capers, parsley, anchovy, zest, lemon juice, and pepper in a food processor until coarsely chopped, then scrape down side of bowl with a rubber spatula. Pulsing motor, add oil in a slow stream and continue to pulse until mixture is finely chopped (do not pulse to a paste).

Spread tapenade on 6 slices of bread and goat cheese on remaining 6 slices, then make sandwiches with carrots.

Do ahead: Carrots can marinate up to 2 days. Tapenade can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered.

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The Cupcake Hero theme for February is olive oil. After I heard it, I figured it would be absolutely ridiculous if I did NOT enter. You know, seeing as this blog’s name and header is practically and ode to the stuff.

I was slightly worried, replacing the typical canola oil with olive oil in this chocolate cupcake recipe. I wanted to buy light olive oil (as I’ve heard it makes a good substitute for canola), but alas, Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry it, and I didn’t want to make another stop for one measly thing. So pure it is. In the hierarchy of olive oils, there is extra virgin, which has the strongest flavor, followed by pure, and then light. I have a feeling there are probably some olive oil experts among us who could enlighten us as to the reason for these differences, and I’m not going to try to bs my way through an explanation.

All things considered I probably should have done a second batch of these with canola oil to compare. The chocolate is a strong flavor, and the orange is a very strong flavor, and as a result I couldn’t really taste if the swapping out of the oil made any difference whatsoever. So if the challenge was to create a cupcake that highlighted the flavor of olive oil, I clearly failed; however, if it was merely to use olive oil in a divine cupcake concoction, well, then I have done my job.

I am a big fan of blood oranges. Not regular oranges, I’ll never sit down and just eat one. But blood oranges… they are different. When they appear for a few short weeks in the middle of winter, I’ll jump at the opportunity to make just about everything I possibly can with them. But I had yet to make them into cupcakes. I figured it was about damn time.

And because I’ve found that nothing is quite as satisfying as a chocolate cupcake (sorry vanilla), the chocolate blood orange cupcake was born. The sunset hued buttercream and the chocolate cake spiked with orange zest were a perfect match. Like they were made for each other.

Olive oil or not, these cupcakes are delicious. Unique and delicious. And you should totally vote for them when the Cupcake Hero voting opens up mid-February. Seriously. I’ll remind you. Don’t worry.

Chocolate Olive Oil and Blood Orange Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup pure olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon blood orange zest, finely grated
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon almond meal
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

For Frosting:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons blood orange juice
1 teaspoon blood orange zest, finely grated
1-2 tablespoons soy creamer or heavy cream (as needed)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

Whisk together the coconut milk, sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and zest until incorporated. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in coconut milk mixture. Stir until just smooth (do not overmix).

Pour into liners, filling each with 3 tablespoons of batter (cups should be no more than 2/3 full). Bake 18-20 minutes (or 10-12 for minis), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

For frosting, cream butter until smooth and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat until combined. Mix in orange juice, zest, and vanilla. Continue adding sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition (depending on the temperature of your butter, you may need more or less sugar or added cream to achieve the proper consistency). Continue beating until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

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Wow. You all sure love cupcakes. Like, seriously. Out of over 400 entries (holy moly!), the lucky winner was randomly selected:

A huge congratulations to Ashley who will be receiving her very own Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit from Bake it Pretty!

Didn’t win? You can still get a Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit for your very own. For the reasonable price of $16.95 it’s well worth it. (And yes, the kits have sold out once again! Have no fear though, Amanda plans to restock them by February 4th. You can request to be notified as soon as the kits are restocked).

Spreading the cupcake love!

It’s obvious to me now that you all love giveaways. Actually, love would probably be an understatement. The way you pounced on the artisan chocolate we gave away last fall, and then this? Well, I get it. I’m in the process of tracking down some more fabulous goodies and prizes to give away in the coming months. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to become one of *those* blogs… the only giveaways I will support are those for items or products that I personally use and adore. Not random stuff to giveaway just because I can. So stay tuned! :)

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Yes, I did just put pork and blueberry in the same sentence. The same recipe in fact. And you know what? It was quite tasty! As someone who didn’t grow up eating the other white meat, I have to say I’ve never been a big fan of pork. Growing up, it’s just not something my family ever ate. Maybe it’s the fact that my mother is Jewish, so obviously she wasn’t raised on a regular diet of pork products (and it’s not like pork was important enough for my dad to actually get up and cook it). Because of that, pork has always tasted “funny” to me. Bacon? Yes please. Pork tenderloin? I’ll eat it, but I won’t love it. Ham? I’ll take turkey. Taylor, on the other hand, could eat (and has eaten) sandwiches piled high with 3-4 different kinds of pork with gusto… on a daily basis… and be perfectly content (and might I say, in heaven).

I typically find pork chops to be the only cut of pork that I actually enjoy, especially if it’s smothered in sweet and tangy blueberry sauce. Maybe that’s because the blueberry sauce is strong enough to put a damper on the porkiness of the pork… but I have to say we’ll definitely be making this one again.

And don’t forget! Tomorrow is the last day to enter to win the Bake it Pretty Cupcake Frosting Kit! I’ll be closing entries at midnight tomorrow, so be sure to get your entry (and bonus entry!) in before then.

Pork Chops with Savory Blueberry Sauce

Makes 2 servings. Recipe from the Kitchn.

Ingredients
4 boneless pork chops
1 shallot, finely diced
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 lemon (zest and juice)
2 tablespoons butter
Fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Salt and pepper both sides of each pork chop. Heat a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in an oven-proof skillet big enough to hold all four pork chops. Brown the pork chops, about 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove the pan from heat and pop it into the oven. Remove when the pork is just cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.

While the pork chops are in the oven, prepare the sauce. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Sauté the shallots until soft and golden. Add the wine and water and let boil down for 1-2 minutes. Add the blueberries. When the skins begin to burst, add the lemon zest and juice. Let the sauce continue to boil and thicken until the pork chops are ready.

Once the pork chops are ready, remove the pan from the oven and place the pork chops on a cutting board and let them rest while finishing the sauce.

Turn the heat off under the saucepan and stir in the butter until it is completely melted. If using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt. Serve the pork chops either whole or sliced, topped with the blueberry sauce and fresh parsley. Since the pork chops were finished in the oven, they should still be nice and juicy.

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