I FINALLY DID IT!!!
Since the very beginning of my baking blog, everyone has been encouraging me to make up my very own recipe to post, write about, and sell. I finally did it!
I LOVE coffee (I literally have to drink a cup every day to stay alive) and hazelnuts are probably my most favorite kind to eat. You will also find me switching it up at Dunkin Donuts with hazelnut iced coffee and then at Starbucks with a hazelnut non-fat, no whipped, no foam hot latte (yup, I'm one of those folks!)
Why not put the two flavors together into a cupcake? Why not do so during my very first time making homemade, from scratch, not even glancing at another recipe, experience!?
I knew the basics of a cupcake recipe which made it that much easier to come up with my very own.
I knew that sour cream, milk, and/or oil make a batter moist.
I knew that flour thickens batters. Cake flour is even better!
I knew that baking powder makes things rise.
Eggs are part of every recipe and make the batter smoother.
Butter makes cupcakes fluffier.
I've never known what salt does to a recipe but I added some anyways!
Knowing all of these facts, I still didn't know how MUCH to add of each ingredient--this was the trickiest part of my journey.
I sat down and wrote out how much of each ingredient I THOUGHT I would need for about six cupcakes. I envisioned recipes in my brain that yield 12 cupcakes and thought about the most common measurements of each. I didn't want to make 12 so I cut everything down to what I thought would yield about 6 cupcakes.
Here's what I came up with at first:
1/2 cup sifted cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup softened butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp full fat sour cream
½ tsp pure coffee extract
Frosting:
¼ cup butter
(No idea how much yet) Powdered
Sugar
(No idea how much yet) Hazelnut
extract
(No idea how much yet) Milk
And so I began! Below are the directions I wrote out for myself.
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven for 350 F.
2. Line six cupcake cavities with liners of your choice
3. Sift cake flour and then measure it out. Combine the cake flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl.
4. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and sugar. Cream the two together for about 2 minutes.
5. Add the egg and mix well.
6. Blend in the sour cream and coffee extract. Mix until creamy.
7. Slowly add the flour mixture and make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl while mixing. Do not over mix as the batter may become "tough"
8. Using a spoon (I like to use an ice cream scooper), fill each cupcake liner 3/4 of the way with batter.
9. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean (or with no wet batter on it)
While making the batter, I noticed that it wasn't smooth enough and it would probably not make 6 cupcakes. I immediately realized more flour was needed. I added 1/4 cup sifted cake flour, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 more tablespoon of sour cream, and also 1 more egg. Surprisingly, the egg made a huge difference; the batter immediately became smoother/creamier. Since I was adding more flour, I had to add a bit more of baking powder to even it out. I got out my ice cream scooper and filled away. It made exactly six cupcakes with a teeny, tiny bit of batter left over! Woohoo go meeee!!!
I ended up baking for 20 minutes (I first put 18 on the timer) and they came out perfect. I let them cool for about 10 minutes and bit into one un-iced cupcake.
What I would change next time: I would only change a few things about my recipe. They could have been a tad more moist--no one likes a dry cupcake! However, I believe this is probably the trickiest part of perfecting a recipe. To do so, I would add maybe one more tablespoon of sour cream as well as about a 1/4 cup of milk. This would add moisture to each. I would also add a 1/4 teaspoon more of coffee extract to capture more of that rich, coffee flavor.
As for the frosting, it came out scrumptious! I made the well-known vanilla butter cream and added some hazelnut extract. I knew I wouldn't have known the exact measurements of powdered sugar, milk, or extract until I actually went to make it. I ended up with the following:
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 plus a dash of hazelnut extract
1 tbsp milk
Making the frosting:
1. Cream butter in a mixing bowl until smooth
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar, mixing well after
each addition
3. Blend in the hazelnut extract
4. Slowly add the milk or whipping cream to the
frosting until you feel that it’s the right consistency. My test: If the
frosting doesn’t move one bit when you tilt the bowl, then it’s ready!
5. Pipe or spread icing onto the cupcakes and
decorate as desired
I would probably not change a thing about the frosting. Next time, I may
try a different type of butter cream that involves egg whites and
regular sugar instead of powdered. I believe it would probably be less
rich. Although, the richness of the icing adds A LOT more flavor to the
cupcake that isn't too sweet to begin with. To make cupcakes fluffier: I may try to whip up the egg whites separate from the yolks and add one more egg white alone to the batter. I've read online that this makes for fluffier, lighter cupcakes!
That's all for now folks--I am very proud of my VERY FIRST attempt at making up my unique, most original, Liv's Bakery "Hazelnut Coffee Lovers" cupcake. This recipe will be tweaked, practiced, and perfected in no time. Stick with me!
Cheers!
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