Kitchen Mailbox: You ever have a cupcake hangover?
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The holiday season is just around the corner so now is the time to begin planning those parties.
After glancing through the new "Intoxicated Cupcakes: 41 Tipsy Treats" cookbook by Kate Legere (Running Press, $15), I knew I would be making a few of these cupcakes for the holidays. It's different from a lot of the cupcake cookbooks in that the recipes are basic: flour, sugar, and egg recipes with little or no special ingredients -- except alcohol. They're perfect for a party -- adults only, of course.
You can make the cupcakes in traditional cupcake pans or use mini cake pans. You will find that the yield for the cupcakes vary from 12 cupcakes to 16 or 18.
For traditional cupcakes, you will need two pans, but one will be only partially filled. Years ago, I read that the empty cups should be filled with water before placing the pan in the oven. I was never sure why, so I asked the expert, Chef Jeffrey Ward, executive pastry dean at Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts, Downtown. He told me, "You can leave the unfilled cups empty. There is no need to fill them with water." Thank you, Chef Jeff.
I hope you enjoy these cupcakes as much as we did. I got so into it that I also tested Ms. Legere's Limoncello Poppy Seed, Dark Chocolate Stout and Oh-So-Decadent Pear and Hazlnut cupcakes -- and when I brought them into the newspaper office, they disappeared.
A few tips that apply to all the recipes below:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
The cupcake cups should be lined with paper wrappers and filled between 2/3 to 3/4 full. Choose your pan(s) based on the suggested yield for each recipe.
HOT TODDY CUPCAKES
PG tested
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup Long Island iced tea mix (with alcohol)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
First Published November 21, 2011 12:00 am
