Carousel Cupcakes Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar. Add egg; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice; add to the creamed mixture alternately with milk. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle., Roll out dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Trace body and tail patterns onto waxed paper and cut out. Position patterns on dough; cut out four horses and four tails. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool. (Bake remaining dough for additional cookies to serve on the side or refrigerate dough for another use.), For icing, in a small bowl, beat meringue powder, confectioners' sugar and water on high speed for 5-7 minutes or until smooth and thickened. If too stiff, add more sugar. Place 1/4 cup frosting each in two bowls; tint one purple and the other pink. Leave the other remaining icing white., Wrap the 15-in. ribbon around the 3/4-in. dowel, leaving 2-1/2 in. at end of dowel unwrapped. Use icing to attach ends of ribbon. In same way, wrap each 13-in. ribbon around a 1/4-in. dowel., Attach tails to horses with white icing. Spread white icing over one side of horses. Use pink icing for manes, forelocks, tails and saddles of two horses; use purple icing for the other two horses. Attach chocolate chips for eyes. With icing, attach each horse 2-1/2 in. from the top of a 1/4-in. dowel. Let dry, about 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining icing., When icing on horses is dry, decorate other side in the same way; let dry., For cake, in a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with applesauce. Spoon into three greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., Place 1 cup whipped frosting in a bowl; tint purple. Place 1/2 cup frosting in another bowl; tint pink. Leave the remaining frosting white. Place one cake on a 10-in. serving plate. Frost top of cake white; top with a second layer. Frost top white and sides purple. Place remaining cake on a thin lightweight plate or 9-in. round piece of cardboard; frost cake top white and sides pink., Cut a hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag. Insert star tip #21; fill with white frosting. Pipe evenly spaced vertical stripes on sides of cakes. Using pink frosting and star tip, pipe rosettes between each strip on pink cake., Insert large dowel in the center of purple cake. Insert remaining dowels evenly spaced around cake. Place pink cake on top of dowels. For more stability, attach top cake to dowels with cookie icing if desired.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line 4 6-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners. Sift together the flour, soda, salt, and cocoa powder and set aside. Use a standing mixer or hand-mixer to cream the butter. Add the sugar and vanilla and mix to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one until smooth.
• On the lowest speed, alternately add the dry ingredients in three additions and the milk in two. Beat only until smooth and fully combined, you don't want to overwork the batter.
• Scoop the batter into the prepared pans filling each about two-thirds full (don't bother to smooth the tops--the batter will level itself as it cooks). Bake the cupcakes for about 25 minutes, or until the tops are puffed and spring back when lightly pressed. Be careful not to overbake the cakes, but know that if you take them out too early they may sink a bit. Cool the cakes in the muffin tins for about 5 minutes and then remove them to a rack and let cool completely.
• To make the ganache, put all the ingredients in a small, deep saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, whisking occasionally to combine, until the chocolate and butter are nearly melted. Take the pan off the heat and whisk continuously until all the chocolate is melted; the ganache should be shiny and without any lumps.
• When the ganache is about room temperature, use a butter knife to spread it evenly on top of the cakes; sprinkle with nonpareil if you like. The cakes can be made a day in advance and refrigerated (they actually get better) or frozen in an airtight container.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. Mix the flours together in a bowl. In a glass measure, mix the milk and vanilla.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk and the vanilla, beating well after each addition. Spoon the batter into muffin cups about 3/4 full.
• Bake until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched, 20 to 22 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the pans and cool on a rack before icing.

Steps:

• For the cakes: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the interior of a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a mixer, beat the egg yolks with the oil, .5 cup of the sugar and 2 tablespoons water. With the mixer at low speed, add the cake flour mixture and beat until smooth; set aside.
• In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until stiff and glossy. Mix .25 of the whites into the batter, then fold in the remaining whites until no streaks remain. Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling them halfway. Bake until risen and lightly firm, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
• For the filling: Using a mixer, beat together the butter, confectioners' sugar and Marshmallow Fluff. Add cream and beat just until smooth. Fit a pastry bag with a round .25-inch tip, and fill bag with all but .25 cup of the filling. (Put the extra .25 cup in a pastry bag fitted with a .125-inch round tip, or in a small Ziplock bag, and reserve.) Plunge the tip into the side of a cupcake, filling just until you feel the cupcake swell. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.
• For the frosting: Heat the cream just until bubbles begin to form on the edges of the pan, add the chocolate and remove from heat. Stir until melted and smooth. Add the butter, stirring to combine. Dip the top of a cupcake into the frosting, flip and set aside. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. Allow frosting to set, about 20 minutes.
• With the small pastry bag of filling, or snipping a tiny corner off the Ziplock bag, pipe a tiny squiggle across the top of each cupcake. Place in an airtight container until serving.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 12-hole cake tin with paper cases.
• Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla extract. Briefly mix in the flour until just combined, and stir in the milk until the batter just falls off the beaters.
• Divide the mixture between the cases, leaving about 2 tbsp batter in the bowl. Add a pinch of salt to the caramel sauce if it's not salted caramel, then add ½ tsp to the tops of each cupcake. Use a teaspoon to cover the caramel sauce with the remaining batter. Bake for 15-20 mins until springy and golden. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, make the icing. Beat the butter and half of the icing sugar together, then tip in the remaining icing sugar and whisk vigorously until pale and fluffy. Stir in half of the caramel sauce, then spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a round or star nozzle.
• Pipe swirls of icing on top of the cooled cupcakes. Stir the remaining caramel sauce with a pinch of salt, if unsalted, then use to drizzle over the icing. Sprinkle over a small pinch of sea salt over each, if you like.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 and prepare a dozen muffin cups - either outfit a muffin pan with paper or foil liners, or use a baking sheet and set out 12 paper liners nested inside foil liners, or else use silicone muffin cups.
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the soy or rice milk, vinegar, sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. In another bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, pausing two or three times to stir, and keep stirring until all the large lumps are gone.
• Pour the batter into the cupcake liners until they are about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
• When cool, whisk the chocolate glaze ingredients until smooth and spread the glaze on the cupcakes. If you choose, top with sprinkles.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, water, eggs and oil with mixer on low speed 1 min. Beat on medium speed 4 min. Pour into greased and floured 12-cup fluted tube or 10-inch tube pan.
• Bake 50 to 55 min. or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 min.; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely.
• Transfer cake to plate. Drizzle with Semi-Sweet Chocolate Glaze; top with sprinkles. Let stand until glaze is firm. Decorate cake with crackers and straws as shown in photo.