White Chocolate Chip Lemon Cookies

A new McDonald’s opened up this week 5 minutes from my house.  Before it’s opening, the closest McD’s was 40 minutes away… so we hardly ever went there.  The McCafe serves giant white chocolate chip lemon cookies that are SO YUM!  They are crisp on the edges and soft in the middle and full of lemon flavor.  Unlike like cookie I’ve ever had at a fast food restaurant before.  I just new I had to recreate these cookies at home!

And what better time than right before my hubby is going away for a few weeks to train for his upcoming deployment.  A big platoon of soldiers needs cookies to fuel themselves while training, right? :) So into the kitchen I went this morning to whip up a batch.

You could have these cookies made in about 30 minutes – they’re that simple yet so super delicious!  I made a bunch of little cookies so they would go further, but you could easily make them bigger – like the one I got at McD’s!

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Chip Lemon Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
  • 2 cups white chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  3. In the bowl of your stand mixer, press the lemon zest into the white sugar until it's fluffy and fragrant. Add the brown sugar and butter and cream until smooth and fluffy.
  4. Beat in the egg.
  5. Mix in the lemon juice.
  6. Add the flour and mix until just combined.
  7. Fold in the white chocolate chips.
  8. Roll golf ball size (1in) balls of dough in your hand and gently press them onto the cookie sheet 1-2 inches apart- slightly flattening them.
  9. Bake 9-11 minutes or until air bubbles form and the edges SLIGHTLY turn golden.
  10. Remove from the oven and cool on the cookie sheet 3 minutes. NOTE: If you remove them before 3 minutes, they will be too soft and will break.
  11. Move to a wire rack to cool completely.
  12. Store in an air tight container for 3-4 days or EAT IMMEDIATELY!
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Red Velvet Valentine Brownie Bites

Red Velvet Valentine Brownie Bites by JavaCupcake.com

Next week is one of the most popular holidays of the year… Valentine’s Day!  And I wanted to create something super special to celebrate the day!  Red Velvet Valentine Brownie Bites is what I made for you!

Two years ago for Valentine’s Day, I made chocolate cupcakes filled with cream and topped with a chocolate ganache and buttercream.  Last year I made (I was about to have a baby and was nesting!) Dark Chocolate Raspberry Hug Cookies, Sweetheart Sugar Cookie Bars,  Baked Sour Cream Donuts,  and Frosted Sugar Cookies!  This year needed to be different.

Red Velvet.  Yes… but I’ve done Red Velvet cupcakes and brownies before, so I knew I had to mix things up a bit with this recipe.  For the brownie, I adapted a recipe from How Sweet It Is  and baked them in a larger pan so they’d be a bit thinner.  I cut them into heart shapes, and piped white chocolate cream cheese frosting between two hearts to create a sandwich.

These are DEFINITELY a winner!  The chocolate is subtle in the brownie but the white chocolate is explosive in the frosting… put the two together and you’ve got YUM!

Enjoy!

Red Velvet Valentine Brownie Bites by JavaCupcake.com

 

Red Velvet Valentine Brownie Bites

Total Time: 1 hour, 29 minutes

Yield: 24 brownie bites

Ingredients

    Red Velvet Brownies
  • 3 Tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp Wilton Christmas Red food coloring Gel
  • 2 tsp vanilla, divided
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup white chocoalte chips, melted
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbsp milk
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Instructions

    Red Velvet Brownies
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line a 9x13 cake pan with parchment paper that hangs over the edges and grease with butter or shortening. Flour lightly.
  2. In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, red food coloring, and 1 tsp vanilla to create a paste.
  3. Using your stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
  4. One at a time, add the eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
  5. Add the cocoa paste and mix until combined thoroughly. At this point, you can add more coloring if the batter is not red enough for your taste.
  6. Add flour and salt and mixuntil just combined.
  7. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Ensure batter is level and flat, especially on the sides. Since there is no leavening in this recipe, the brownies won't rise very much.
  8. Bake 23-25 minutes.
  9. Let brownies cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Use the parchment paper to lift the brownies from the pan.
  10. Using a small heart shaped cookie cutter, cut brownies into heart shapes.
  11. White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
  12. Using your stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth - about 2-3 minutes.
  13. Add the melted white chocolate and mix until incorporated.
  14. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, milk and salt and mix on medium-low until smooth.
  15. Beat 2-3 minutes on high until light and fluffy.
  16. Assembly
  17. Using a small star tip (like Wilton 1M), pipe frosting onto the top of one heart. Make sure to pipe to the edges of the heart.
  18. Place another heart, face up, on top of the frosting and gently press down.
  19. Sprinkle with powdered sugar to garnish.
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White Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Biscotti

There are two things you don’t know about me.  1) I’ve never had biscotti.  2) I’ve never made biscotti.

I know.  I’m weird.  I mean, for a girl who drinks so much coffee you’d think that I’d have biscotti all the time.  Nope.  I guess it’s probably because the only biscotti I’ve ever really seen is full of nuts.  And well, I’m allergic to nuts.

This season though, I’ve been seeing all kinds of recipes pops up for biscotti that didn’t include nuts.  Cinnamon sugar, gingerbread (in the picture above), chocolate peppermint and this one… White chocolate dipped cranberry biscotti.

The recipe I’m using is inspired by a recipe I found on What Gaby’s Cooking.  She uses dried cranberries, but since I only had fresh berries, I used those.

Dipped in the white chocolate, this biscotti is a perfect treat to go with my coffee!

I also made Gingerbread Biscotti and have two more delicious flavors planned to make in the coming days!

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Biscotti

Ingredients

    Cranberries
  • 250g fresh cranberries
  • 1/4 cup cranberry juice
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • Biscotti
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cup cranberry mixture
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • Sugar in the Raw
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips, melted for dipping

Instructions

    Cranberries
  1. In a medium pot over med-high heat, combine the cranberries, sugar and juice.
  2. Heat until simmering. The berries will begin to pop and split. Stir occasionally.
  3. Reduce to med-low heat and continue to cook until the berries have just begun to reduce. You want the berries to reduce by about a 1/3 with most of the berries still whole.
  4. Remove from heat, strain out as much juice as you can and allow to cool.
  5. Biscotti
  6. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  7. Sift together the 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt.
  8. In the bowl of your stand mixer, press the lemon zest into the sugar... releasing the oils of the lemon into the sugar. Press the zest until the sugar becomes fluffy and fragrant.
  9. Add the butter and cream together for about 3-4 minutes.
  10. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until just combined.
  11. Add the flour mixture and mix on low until all the flour has been absorbed. Do not over mix.
  12. Fold in the strained cranberries and additional 1/4 cup flour. Mixture will be VERY sticky... the additional 1/4 cup of flour should help with this.
  13. Form the dough into a long rectangle, approximately 10 inches long and about 4 inches wide. I used an offset spatula to help spread and shape the dough. (Really, shape it as wide and as long as you like. I wanted long cookies, so I made mine wider.)
  14. Sprinkle Sugar in the Raw over the top of the dough.
  15. Bake about 35-40 minutes or until top and bottom are golden brown. Remove, transfer to wire rack and allow to cool about 15 minutes. (If the bottom isn't too brown, you could leave it on the cookie sheet to cool. Remove it if it's already brown.)
  16. Transfer to a cutting board and slice into 1/2" slices. Lay each slice on it's side and place back on the cookie sheet.
  17. Bake for 15-20 more minutes or until golden.
  18. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
  19. Melt the white chocolate and spread it on the bottom of each cookie using an offset spatula or knife. Set on wax paper to until hard.
  20. Serve with coffee to your friends or give as gifts!
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White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

I never knew before this year how much I loved cranberries.  In years past, I equated them to that canned jellied cranberry sauce that got served with Thanksgiving dinner.  Yuck.  So, you can see how I thought that all cranberry would be equally as disgusting.

That was until I made cranberry sauce from scratch for Thanksgiving dinner this year.  Oh Em Gee.  SO GOOD.  I just about fell out of my chair when I tasted it.

This passed weekend my husband and I stopped at two more Starbucks in Germany… Mannheim and Heidelberg.  When in Heidelberg, I ordered their white chocolate cranberry muffin and was amazed at how delicious it was.  The pairing of the white chocolate and cranberry went perfectly together and I decided right then that I needed to make them at home!

I started these muffins with a variation on my cranberry sauce.  I didn’t make quite as much as I made when I used it for Thanksgiving and I didn’t cook it as long.  Just enough to begin to break down the berries and extract the juices.  I still wanted chunks of cranberry floating through my muffins… just not whole, bitter berries.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 16 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 24 muffins

Ingredients

    Muffins
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 cup reduced cranberries (see recipe below)
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks
  • Cranberries
  • 250g (about 2 1/4 cups) fresh cranberries
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup (not pancake syrup - can substitute this with 2 Tbsp more sugar if you don't have it)
  • 1/4 cup cranberry juice (or any other juice you have - apple, orange, lemon)

Instructions

    Cranberries
  1. In a large pan, combine the berries, sugar, syrup and juice and bring to a light boil over medium high heat.
  2. Just as it begins to boil, reduce to simmering.
  3. Cook about 10 minutes or until the cranberries have broken down with about half still in tact and a nice thick syrup made from the remaining berries. You will hear a popping sound, have no fear! That's just the berries popping open in the heat... like popcorn!
  4. Cook until it becomes thick. Remove to cool while preparing the batter.
  5. Muffins
  6. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line muffin pan with liners.
  7. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
  8. Add eggs one at a time and mix until just combined.
  9. Mix in the vanilla.
  10. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
  11. With the mixer on low, add the flour in three parts. Between each addition of flour, add half the buttermilk.
  12. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix just about 80% of the dry mixture has been combined.
  13. Fold in the cranberry sauce and the white chocolate chips.
  14. Fill muffin liners 2/3 full. Bake about 16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  15. Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
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White Chocolate Chip and M&M Cookie Bars

If you haven’t already noticed, I have a bit of an obsession with cookie bars.  See, I LOOOOOVE cookies but I HAAAAATE rolling and dropping them and baking 2-3 sheets of cookies per batch of dough.  I’d much rather throw it all into one pan and bake it once, cut them when they’re cool and BAM! Cookies!

So yeah, I make them a lot.  I make them with all kinds of different candies and chocolates in them and I usually end up eating most of them.  Okay, well… not most of them… I always share, but not many.  tee hee

Today’s cookies come from a recipe by I found on How Sweet It Is. Now, she turned this recipe into actual cookies and used different candies and chocolate in it… but the idea is still the same.   It all equals YUM.

White Chocolate Chip and M&M Cookie Bars

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: About 18 cookie bars

Ingredients

  • 2 cups + 2 Tbsp flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 12 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 medium eggs + 1 medium egg yolk, at room temperature (If you have large eggs, just omit one full egg)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup M&Ms
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line bottom of 9x13 pan with parchment paper and grease/butter sides and bottom of the pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars breaking up any large clumps. Add the melted butter and whisk until smooth.
  4. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until incorporated.
  5. Add the flour and mix together using a spatula. Scrape the sides of the bowl often to make sure all the flour is incorporated.
  6. Fold in the M&Ms and white chocolate chips.
  7. Pour dough into prepared pan and spread evenly into the sides and corners. Sprinkle a few extra M&Ms on top and gently press down. (These are so they're pretty when you cut them!)
  8. Place in freezer for 10 minutes to set. (Or if you have longer and aren't impatient like I am, put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.)
  9. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until edges are brown and the center has begin to set and is no longer runny/gooey. Do not over bake.
  10. Allow to cool in pan on a wire rack almost completely before cutting.
  11. To cut, flip pan over onto a cutting board and cut into squares.
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Cowboy Cookies

I’ve only got a few more days of baking until my baby arrives!   And since I cleaned my baking corner this weekend, I realized I have a TON of half used bags of chips, pretzels and M&M’s to use up before they go bad! So today, I decided to make some cookies… Cowboy Cookies!

I’ve often wondered though… what exactly goes into a Cowboy Cookie?   I did a little digging online and couldn’t really find a solid history of the cookie.  I’ve seen them made with everything from nuts and coconut to oats and raisins and of course… chocolate! I kinda always thought of these cookies as a “whatever you’ve got left in your kitchen” type of cookie.  So, that’s what I’m going with today.

These cookies have butterscotch, white chocolate, and semi-sweet chocolate chips, M&M’s and pretzel chunks.  Oh… and a special little ingredient for some added kick: espresso powder! (Everything but the kitchen sink!) I’ve made a cookie before with pretzels in them and everyone who ate them were surprised at how tasty they were… but pretzels in cookies?  Ya just gotta try it! YUM!

I made a double batch of these so I could take them into my husband’s office… made a few jumbo cookies and a few regular size too.  I’m pretty sure the soldiers will love them!

Cowboy Cookies

51

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 9 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen jumbo cookies & 2 dozen regular size cookies

These cookies are perfect for all the leftover stuff you've got in your baking pantry! Just throw "whatever" into the batter and you've got some pretty tasty Cowboy Cookies!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 4 tsp vanilla
  • 4 eggs

  • 4 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder

  • 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a combo of mini and regular size chips just because that's what I had on hand)
  • 1/2 cup of M&M's + a few more to put on top
  • 1 cup pretzel chunks + a few more to put on top (I used pretzel rods, but any kind of coarse chopped pretzels will work. You want chunks, not too fine.)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and espresso powder.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar - about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the vanilla and eggs, scrape the sides of the bowl and beat on high for 4-5 minutes. You want this mixture to be light in color and fluffy.
  5. Add the flour mixture and mix on medium until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure it's all incorporated.
  6. Add the chips and M&M's and mix until combined.
  7. Fold in by hand the pretzels - you don't want them to break into pieces.
  8. For larger cookies, scoop 8 golf ball size balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Place a couple extra pretzel chunks and M&M's on top of each ball. Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges and top start to brown.
  9. For regular size cookies, scoop tablespoon size balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Place 1-2 extra pretzel chunks and M&M's on top of each ball. Bake 8-9 minutes or until edges and top start to brown.
  10. Let cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Recipe inspired by: For the Love of Cooking

White Chocolate topped Gingerbread Blossoms

Confession #1:  I love the Holiday season for one huge reason… It gives me an excuse to BAKE ALL THE TIME.

Confession #2:  I HOARD baking supplies.  This is a new thing for me.  Since moving to Germany, the luxuries of American grocery stores, having everything I need, at my disposal, all of the time is not a reality here.  When I see something at my local military commissary, I buy it… in bulk.

Confession #3:  I think “blossoms” may be becoming my favorite holiday cookie.  I have discovered two new ways of making them other than the traditional peanut butter with chocolate on top.  First, was my White Chocolate with Peppermint Kiss Blossoms and now these.  Gingerbread blossoms topped with white chocolate chips.

Confession #4: I’ve come to the realization that I’m not going to make it though the Holiday season without gaining 10lbs just from cookies.  It’s okay though, I’ll blame it on the pregnancy.

White Chocolate topped Gingerbread Blossoms
Makes 3 dozen+ cookies

3/4 cup (12 tbsp or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup full flavor molasses
1 tbsp bourbon whiskey (you can substitute vanilla if you don’t have bourbon)
2 tbsp milk

3 cups flour
1 tbsp ground ginger (fresh if possible)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (fresh if possible)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup sugar
1 cup white chocolate chips

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar for about 2 minutes.
  3. Add the egg to the sugar/butter and cream for another 2 minutes.  Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.
  4. Slowly pour in molasses and bourbon then beat until combined.
  5. In three parts, add the flour mixture.  Scrape the sides of the bowl between each addition.  Mix just until combined.
  6. Add the milk and mix only until incorporated.
  7. Scrape the sides of the bowl and pat the dough into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour to firm.  If you have time, you can put the dough into the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.
  8. When ready to bake your cookies, line cookie sheet with parchment paper and pre-heat your oven to 350 F degrees.
  9. Scoop 1-inch balls of dough using an ice cream scoop and form them into a ball using your hands.  Roll them in the sugar then place 2 inches apart on your lined cookie sheet.
  10. Bake 8-10 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.  Do not over bake!
  11. Immediately press your thumb into the top of each cookie.  Drop 6 white chocolate chips into the well you just created then remove cookies to a wire rack.
  12. After chocolate begins to melt, use a toothpick to swirl the chocolate together into a pretty swirl.
  13. Cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Recipe adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

White Chocolate Candy Cane Blossoms

Halloween is barely over…. Thanksgiving is still two weeks away… but this girl has CHRISTMAS on the brain!  Last weekend I made white chocolate peppermint cupcakes for the craft fair which were a HUGE HIT.  I had some left over Hershey’s Candy Cane Kiss chocolates and figured I’d come up with something delicious to make with them.

Peanut butter blossom cookies are traditionally made with a peanut butter cookie and a Hershey Kiss… but I thought, what about a white chocolate cookie and a Candy Cane Kiss?  PERFECT!

Now, I know that white chocolate liqueur might not be easy to find… so you could make these with vanilla extract and some milk instead of the liqueur.  But, if you can find the white chocolate… use it.  It’s subtle but SO YUMMO.

White Chocolate Candy Cane Blossoms
Makes 2 dozen (and a few extra) cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp white chocolate liqueur
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Green and red sugar crystals
1 bag of Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.
  3. Cream together, with an electric mixer, the butter and sugar.
  4. Add the egg and beat on high for 2 minutes or until smooth and fluffy.  Scrape the sides and beat again for 1 minute.
  5. Mix in the white chocolate liqueur.
  6. Add the flour and mix on medium speed just until combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all the flour is incorporated.  Do not over mix.
  7. Roll 12 1-inch balls of dough in the red sugar crystals and place on cookie sheet.
  8. Roll 12 1-inch balls of dough in the green sugar crystals and place a cookie sheet.
  9. Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes.
  10. Cool on pan for 1 minute then place an unwrapped Candy Cane Kiss in the center of each cookie.
  11. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Triple Chocolate Marble Cupcakes

I had a request for cupcakes this week that included white, milk and dark chocolate.  There are so many different ways to make this cupcake and it was hard to not include every technique in them.  Ha! (Over achiever, I know!) I decided on a marbled cake with white and milk chocolate then I’d fill it with a bittersweet chocolate ganache and top it all with a dark chocolate frosting.

Seriously, if you love chocolate… then this cupcake should satisfy every chocolate craving you will ever have.

The first dozen I made, I also topped them white a swirl of white chocolate.  But… my chocolate wasn’t behaving for me, so I only did a dozen with the white chocolate.  It really looked awesome with the white on top… but my patience was running out by the time I got to the second and third dozen.  :)

These cupcakes are pretty labor intense and cost a little extra because of all the chocolate, but the presentation is gorgeous and they really are heavenly.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cake
Makes 12+ cupcakes

1 ½ cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp clear vanilla extract

3.5 oz white bakers chocolate, melted

¼ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup hot water

Milk Chocolate Cake
Makes 12+ cupcakes
1 ½ cups cake flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp clear vanilla extract

3.5 oz milk chocolate, melted

¼ cup milk
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup hot water

Use the same directions below to make both batters.

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a measuring cup that pours, mix together the milk and sour cream.
  4. Using a double boiler on medium-high heat. Melt the chocolate. Set aside to cool.
  5. In the meantime, using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar.
  6. Add the egg whites one at a time and mix until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
  7. Mix in the vanilla.
  8. On medium, slowly pour the chocolate into the egg/sugar/butter mixture. Scrape the sides and mix until completely combined.
  9. Add the flour and milk/sour cream alternating, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix only until combined.
  10. Add the hot water and mix just until incorporated.
  11. STOP. Make the 2nd batter. When that is completed, continue to the next step.
  12. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of white chocolate batter into one side of the liner. Scoop the same amount of chocolate batter next to it in the liner.
  13. Pound the cupcake pan flat on the counter 2-3 times to help the batter settle. Using a toothpick, swirl the two batters together 3-4 times. Do not over swirl, you don’t want to mix the two together, just create a marble effect.
  14. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  15. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  16. After the cupcakes have completely cooled, core each cupcake and fill with the chocolate ganache. Top with the dark chocolate frosting and a shaving of white chocolate (optional).
Chocolate Ganache
1 cups bittersweet chocoalte chips
4oz bakers dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla
  1. Combine all ingredients in a microwaves safe bowl.
  2. Microwave in 30 second spurts and stir until 85% of the chocolate has melted.
  3. Remove from the microwave and stir until all the chocolate has melted.
  4. Let cool for 5-7 minutes to thicken.
  5. Spoon into cored cupcakes.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted into the cocoa powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted into the powdered sugar
8oz dark bakers chocolate, melted
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream, heaping
1-2 tbsp milk
  1. Melt the chocolate and set aside to cool.
  2. In the mean time, cream together the cream cheese and butter.
  3. Add sifted cocoa powder and powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
  4. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again.
  5. In a slow stream with the mixer on medium, pour in the melted chocolate.  Mix until combined.
  6. Add the sour cream and beat into submission.  :)
  7. Add the milk until you get your desired consistency.
  8. Frost cupcakes immediately.

Cute kitties gone BAD & a few lessons learned

If my cats didn’t have their moments when they were so cute… if I didn’t feel guilty at the thought of getting rid of my cats… if one of them wasn’t a gift to my daughter for her birthday… [Read more...]

Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods

Will Bake for Food is this weekend and I’m in bake-sale mode!  So far I’ve made the Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies and now Chocolate dipped Pretzel rods! [Read more...]

Guest Blogger: “Courtney’s Sweets” makes Trifle Cupcakes

JavaCupcake Note: This is a guest blog post from Courtney of  Courtney’s Sweets.  She has so many amazing recipes that look so good I want to crawl thru my computer and EAT THEM!  hehe You can also find her on Twitter!  Courtney was also the winner of my Blogerversary Giveaway! [Read more...]