Baking Fun Time Volume 5: Grapefruit Cupcakes
Yeah, I know. Another one this shortly after the last? Well, I got into a bit of a frenzy. Also, I know it probably sounds a little weird to you guys - who on earth would put grapefruit in cupcakes? Well, I'm here to tell you that it is DELICIOUS. :3c They also have a handmade frosting, which will follow the cupcake recipe. Feel free to ignore it and/or use bought frosting, but it's really quite good with the grapefruit frosting. As usual, click for big.
NOTES:
Cupcakes:
1.
As always, ingredients first. :3 Oven preheated to 350º F.
1 1/2 cups flour (In small bowl)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ruby red grapefruit zest (On cutting board - this is the two smaller piles. The rest is for the frosting)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 Tablespoons ruby red grapefruit juice
1/2 cup milk
2.
Start by putting flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the same bowl, then set that aside. No picture because... you shouldn't need one? :p Then, place the butter and sugar together in a big bowl and cream them. It stays pretty lumpy at this point, so don't worry if yours is.
3.
Add grapefruit zest and juice and mix/stir. The directions actually say to make it smooth, but as you can see - mine is still quite lumpy. It'll smooth out as we add the other ingredients, don't worry.
4.
Add the eggs and beat until combined. Hallelujah, it looks like batter, finally!
5.
Add flour and milk SLOWLY, alternating between the two. If you have trouble with it flying all over the place using a mixer, what I like to do is sort of use the beaters to 'envelope' the flour with the wet mixture. It really cuts down on flour spray.
6.
That's it for the batter! Pour into cups/greased muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes. REMEMBER: if you have a darker pan, increase the cook-time a little bit, but I would start with 20 minutes anyway, then check it with a toothpick.
7.
Don't they look fabulous? 8D Once they're cool enough to snag, pop them out of the muffin pan and on a plate/cooling rack to cool fully. During this time, you can make your frosting.
FROSTING:
Ingredients ('cuz I forgot to take a picture, sorry 8D;;):
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons ruby red grapefruit juice
1 Tablespoon ruby red grapefruit zest (NOTE: I only used about a half tablespoon, I think. Too much work zesting those old grapefruits!)
4 cups powdered sugar
1.
Put cream cheese and butter together in your mixing bowl. Cream them until they're as smooth as you can manage, or until you get tired of trying to get them smooth.
2.
Add in your zest and juice, then beat again. Now that we have a halfway decent amount of wet ingredients, it should start to smooth out and come together.
3.
Add in powdered sugar SLOWLY, about one cup at a time. I personally do about a half cup at a time, just so I avoid too much powder flying. See above for a mini-trick to avoid as much flour/powder 'fluff' as possible.
4.
Once you have all the sugar in there, you should have the makings of a pretty good looking frosting. See link above for how to frost, or frost the cupcakes whatever way you feel comfortable with.
5.
EAT YOUR FREAKIN' CUPCAKES, DAMMIT. ♥
NOTES:
- The recipe calls for a surprisingly large amount of grapefruit zest, especially in the frosting. If you're having a hard time zesting your grapefruit (I was, since they're older and a little more squishy,) then you can substitute a *little* extra juice instead.
- If you ARE making the frosting, I would suggest refrigerating it for 5-10 minutes or so, so that it firms up, Working with the freshly-made stuff is okay, but I found it easier to work with when it was a little colder.
- If you want to frost the cupcakes the way I did, it's pretty easy. This youtube video makes a wonderful, simple tutorial on how to apply it. If you want to have a more 'uniform' swirl look, use a plastic baggie filled with the frosting and cut off a tip of the correct size. **PROTIP: If you have cake decorating tips, you CAN attach them to the 'nozzle' of your baggie to make designs.
- Similarly, if you want your cupcakes to have batter ONLY in the cups, paper or direct, also use a plastic bag method to squeeze your batter in.
- NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, absolutely do not frost your cupcakes before they're fully cooled. I know, I know, eeeeeveryone hates waiting, but if you frost them too early, you end up with a goopy, icky mess. And the only thing worse than waiting to frost your cupcakes is a goopy, icky mess. :(
- CONTRARILY, if you want to frost your cupcakes in such a way that they have a smooth, uniform coating, you have two choices. You can either 'dip' the cupcakes in the frosting while the cupcakes can still melt it OR you can take small bowls of frosting, microwave them for about 5 seconds (you can also add A DROP OR TWO of food coloring to make them funky colored!) and dip the COOLED cupcakes into that.
- DO try to scrape down the sides of your bowl every now and then while you're mixing. You don't want to lose anything in your mixing job!
Cupcakes:
1.
As always, ingredients first. :3 Oven preheated to 350º F.
1 1/2 cups flour (In small bowl)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ruby red grapefruit zest (On cutting board - this is the two smaller piles. The rest is for the frosting)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 Tablespoons ruby red grapefruit juice
1/2 cup milk
2.
Start by putting flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the same bowl, then set that aside. No picture because... you shouldn't need one? :p Then, place the butter and sugar together in a big bowl and cream them. It stays pretty lumpy at this point, so don't worry if yours is.
3.
Add grapefruit zest and juice and mix/stir. The directions actually say to make it smooth, but as you can see - mine is still quite lumpy. It'll smooth out as we add the other ingredients, don't worry.
4.
Add the eggs and beat until combined. Hallelujah, it looks like batter, finally!
5.
Add flour and milk SLOWLY, alternating between the two. If you have trouble with it flying all over the place using a mixer, what I like to do is sort of use the beaters to 'envelope' the flour with the wet mixture. It really cuts down on flour spray.
6.
That's it for the batter! Pour into cups/greased muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes. REMEMBER: if you have a darker pan, increase the cook-time a little bit, but I would start with 20 minutes anyway, then check it with a toothpick.
7.
Don't they look fabulous? 8D Once they're cool enough to snag, pop them out of the muffin pan and on a plate/cooling rack to cool fully. During this time, you can make your frosting.
FROSTING:
Ingredients ('cuz I forgot to take a picture, sorry 8D;;):
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons ruby red grapefruit juice
1 Tablespoon ruby red grapefruit zest (NOTE: I only used about a half tablespoon, I think. Too much work zesting those old grapefruits!)
4 cups powdered sugar
1.
Put cream cheese and butter together in your mixing bowl. Cream them until they're as smooth as you can manage, or until you get tired of trying to get them smooth.
2.
Add in your zest and juice, then beat again. Now that we have a halfway decent amount of wet ingredients, it should start to smooth out and come together.
3.
Add in powdered sugar SLOWLY, about one cup at a time. I personally do about a half cup at a time, just so I avoid too much powder flying. See above for a mini-trick to avoid as much flour/powder 'fluff' as possible.
4.
Once you have all the sugar in there, you should have the makings of a pretty good looking frosting. See link above for how to frost, or frost the cupcakes whatever way you feel comfortable with.
5.
EAT YOUR FREAKIN' CUPCAKES, DAMMIT. ♥