Natty Boh Cupcakes Recipe from Cake Gumshoe Jen

CakeSpy Note: This is a guest post from Cake Gumshoe Jen, who lives in Annapolis, Md., just down the road from Baltimore, the home of National Bohemian beer -- or Natty Boh. She was inspired by the adorable man with the mustache to bake these Natty Boh cupcakes for her blog, Eat. Swim. Shop. 

If you’re not from the mid-Atlantic, you may not be familiar with National Bohemian beer — or Natty Boh.

Natty Boh has a long history in Baltimore, and while it’s not brewed in the Charm City anymore, many people consider it Baltimore’s beer. And the super cute one-eyed mascot, Mr. Boh, still winks at everyone from the top of Brewers Hill. So when I decided to bake some beer cupcakes in honor of Baltimore Beer Week, I had to use Natty Boh.

I am not a beer person, but Natty Boh tastes a little like Corona to me. So I thought lime zest would work well with the beer in the batter.

I didn’t whip the egg yolks long enough because I’m impatient. But the cupcakes will be even spongier if you do. So you should.

Don’t be scared by the beer in the batter. The cupcakes just have a slight hint of Natty Boh flavor (and scent), but it’s really nice. I put a little bit of beer in the frosting, too, but you don’t have to.

FYI, it’s probably a good idea to make sure you have enough powdered sugar to make frosting before you start making the frosting… especially if it’s 11 p.m. and your neighbors are asleep.

Since these are Baltimore cupcakes, I used Duff/Charm City Cakes black fondant to make little Mr. Boh-esque mustaches. I just used a small sharp knife to cut the mustaches out, but you could make a stencil from parchment paper if you’d like. I also tried to do an eye, but it looked weird. Alas.

Of course, don't let the extra beer go to waste...

Here's the recipe.

Beer-lime cupcakes (Recipe adapted from a really old edition of the Joy of Cooking. Makes about 15 cupcakes)

• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 cup granulated sugar (sift if there are a bunch of chunks in it)
• 3 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
• 1/3 cup beer
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Stir the sugar and lime zest together in a small bowl or measuring cup.
2. Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl until thick and lemon-colored — this may take a few minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat until well combined. Stir in the beer. (And wash the beaters)
3. In a small bowl or measuring cup (you can use the one you used for the sugar), stir together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to the yolk mixture and stir until combined.
4. Using clean, dry beaters (and a clean, dry small bowl), beat the egg whites until they hold peaks, but are still glossy. Fold the beaten egg whites into the cake batter.
5. Pour or spoon the batter into lined cake pans, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cupcakes start to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean. Allow to cool before frosting.

Beer-lime buttercream (makes just enough to frost 15-16 cupcakes, double recipe if you want to use a lot of frosting on each cupcake)

• 1 stick (1/4 cup) butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2-2 cups powdered/confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon beer
• 1/2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon lime zest (optional)

Procedure

Beat butter and 1 cup powdered sugar together until fluffy. Add beer, lime juice and lime zest and beat to combine. Add additional powdered sugar until frosting reaches desired consistency (or until you run out, like me).

Oh Darling: Cake Darling Sweets, Seattle

You know what rules? 

Getting a surprise delivery of free cupcakes. 

And--surprise--these ones, from CakeSpy Shop geographical neighbor Cake Darling Sweets, a special-order bakery (no retail storefront) in Seattle, were also gluten-and-dairy free.

But as devoid of the usual suspects of delicious as these treats might have been, they did not taste like deprivation. In fact, they tasted downright dreamy: we enjoyed the chocolate creme and lemon custard varieties. The chocolate was dense and had a lovely crumb (sometimes chocolate vegan cakes can be crumbly, have you noticed this?); the lemon was substantial, with an unexpected but nice lightly nutty-tasting cake, and yet refreshing, with a healthy dose of sweet frosting.

And the baker, Chelsea Lauren, is adorable and a dreamer, per her site:

I've got a few secret dreams written on tiny pieces of paper kept in my pockets or in various notebooks around the house. I have a stash of super secret recipes that I have spent hours upon hours in the kitchen perfecting.

I hope to, one by one, be able to share every vegan, gluten-free cupcake and donut and cookie dream that I have hiding up my sleeve! Thanks for checking out Cake Darling - I would love to hear from you sometime!

...but these sweet dreams can be yours if you're in Seattle or beyond -- she ships! Check out the website here, and the Etsy page here.

Seeking Sweetness: Daily Sweet, Allergy-Free Funfetti Cupcakes

Photo: Elizabeth GordonIf you follow my site, you probably know a few things about me, including: I love butter, sugar, cream, flour, unicorns, and rainbows. And if there is a cake that can put all of these things together (OK, maybe not the unicorns), it is Funfetti. This cake might just be my muse, inspiring pancakes, sandwich cookies, cakelets in the toaster oven, and more.

But as it turns out, my muse-cake has also provided some inspiration for someone unexpected: Elizabeth Gordon, owner of Betsy & Claude Baking Co., a baker specializing in allergy-free treats. As she said of CakeSpy on her site in an entry that made me blush,

Mostly... I read her posts and chuckle because they are so funny and witty, drool over whatever she’s put up on Serious Eats that week and then go about my day.  It never occurred to me that one of her wheaty, eggy and dairy-ful ideas would become one of my greatest gluten, dairy, soy, nut and egg-free inspirations.  And then, over Memorial Day weekend, my kids wanted to bake, and I just didn’t feel like making something from scratch, so I let them make a Funfetti cake from a box (we were in someone else’s kitchen). 

Well, looks like this desire led to some delicious creativity, because Elizabeth dreamed up a downright delicious-looking allergy-free variation on the world's most festive cake; even though it is devoid of butter, eggs, and wheat, I'd totally hit this cake. And by that, I mean eat it.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Elizabeth Gordon's website!

Sweet Dilemma: CakeSpy Acts as Tie-Breaker in Ice Cream Cupcake Contest

Hey, remember how I got to judge (along with the lovely and amazing Nicole of Baking Bites and Naomi of Bakers Royale) an Ice Cream Cupcake Contest? You know, that one curated and put together by Scoopalicious and the Cupcake Project?

Well. We all made our declarations of our three favorites, but there was no clear winner (too many awesome entries!).

However, there were two finalists, per Stef:

As a testament to how incredible our entries were this year (check them all out if you haven't yet), there was no entry that was unanimously selected by all three judges.  However, you'll notice that the S’mores Cupcake Ice Cream Sandwiches by Stephanie of 52 Kitchen Adventures as well as the Honey Hazelnut Cupcake with Gianduja Gelato by Vivian of Vivian Macaron each received votes from Nicole (Baking Bites) and Naomi (Bakers Royale) - making them the strongest contenders.  Since Jessie (Cakespy) didn't choose either of them, we decided that she should have the tie-breaking vote to determine the contest winner. 

Now, it was a tough decision, but ultimately I had to go with the Honey Hazelnut Cupcakes with Gianduja Gelato. But I really want you to know that this was like Sophie's Choice (OK, that is excessive, but I just want you to know it was really hard). 

Congratulations to both of the finalists for bringing extreme deliciousness to all of our lives!

For the full roster of entries click here.

CakeSpy Undercover: Cako Bakery, San Francisco

If you are a bakery, and you tell me to come visit, I probably will. 

So when I was in San Francisco recently and Cako Bakery said (via twitter, natch!) “you should visit our bakery” I was all “OK”.

I hit it up with friends Phil and Matt before we went to see Tales of The City, the musical (no, really). The bakery is in an unlikely spot, sort of downtown leaning into the Tenderloin, but there it is, with a pink neon sign and cupcakes in the window. (I later learned they have a second location, too, in Japantown)

When we visited, it was about 7.30 pm but they still had a prettily stocked display. There was a big tattoed fella behind the counter who seemed slightly incongruous with his cupcake setting, but when he asked what we'd like and I said “Well, tell me, what's the best flavor?” he didn't hesitate for a moment: “Strawberry cheesecake.” And he smiled while he said it, like he had been friends with that cupcake before.

Matt had the pleasure of devouring this beauty, which had a strawberry cream cheese frosting, vanilla cake and a cheesecake filling. Like, cheesecake inside! Like whoa. Bake it in a Cake would faint.

Matt is an expert (he is friends with me, after all) and reports that the cream cheese frosting is lighter than usual, which is kind of nice; it is more whipped. The cupcake itself is dense and flavorful, a nice contrast to the light frosting. His overall thoughts: “a different kind of cupcake. I like it”.

That's enough for me to add it to my next return trip!

Cako Bakery, 211 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco; online at cakobakery.com; follow them on Twitter here.

Magic in the Middle: Truffle-Stuffed Cupcakes Recipe for Serious Eats

Chocolate cupcakes are pretty great. But there's a way to make them even better: stuff 'em with truffles. We originally got the idea from Reddit.

It's an easy and quick addition: simply drop a chocolate truffle in each treat before baking. The rewards are many. The gooey little chocolate center not only adds a decadent richness to the cake, but also keeps it deliciously moist.

Note: What kind of truffles? I used Godiva Gems; while I haven't tried this recipe with other truffles, I feel as if it would work well with most truffles containing a more solid filling such as ganache, coconut, or caramel (avoid liqueurs and soft or oozing fillings).

Note: With half of the batch, I took care to ensure each truffle was fully covered with batter; with the other half, I simply dropped the truffles in the center of the cup before baking. The outcome was the same with all of the cakes: the truffles would sink to the lower center of the cupcake either way.

For the full entry and recipe, visit Serious Eats!

Cake Byte: Dozen Bake Shop and Burgatory Bar Collaborate on Cupcake Shakes

In Pittsburgh, a small miracle has taken place.

A deep, dark, secret love between a cupcake shop (Dozen Bake Shop) and a burger bar (Burgatory Bar) has resulted in the sweetest baby you'll ever meet: the Cupcake Shake!

Now, the cake shake isn't necessarily a new thing. The CupShake in Utah inspired CakeSpy's own CupShake recipe on Serious Eats a while back. But this is not to take away from the awesomeness of another CupShake entering the world of sweet treats. In fact, this is news to be celebrated.

And with flavor combinations like the Chocolate Stout Cupcake Shake, it is strong motivation to get your sweet self to Pittsburgh, STAT!

Cupcake Milkshakes, available at Burgatory Bar, Pittsburgh.

Cake Byte: Full Sweetness ahead at Trophy Cupcakes in May

Talk about a totally sweet lineup! Seattle's Trophy Cupcakes has plenty of delicious to offer this month:

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcake (one day only, on Cinco de Mayo!): Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, our Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcake is back for its third year! The perfect blend of cinnamon and cayenne pepper warms up this bittersweet Chocolate on Chocolate Cupcake. Available May 5th. 

Margarita Cupcakes: By popular demand, we will be featuring Margarita Cupcakes every day through the month of May! Our Fresh Lime Cupcake is full of tangy lime zest, fresh lime juice and delicious lime oil topped with Tequila and Lime Buttercream…of course it is finished with candied lime zest and sea salt! Oh my, it is good (if we do say so ourselves!). Available everyday in May.

Lemon Raspberry (one day only, on Mother's Day!): Especially for Mother's day we are featuring Lemon Raspberry…our Fresh Lemon Cupcake is topped with our luscious Raspberry Buttercream and a fresh raspberry. So yummy and so pretty and definitely mom approved! Please order by Friday at 3pm for Sunday pick up.

Available at all three Trophy Cupcakes locations; for availability, directions and hours, visit their website.

Push It: PushCakes by Meringue Bake Shop, Orange County CA

Photo: Meringue Bake ShopWhen push pop meets cupcake, you get something awesome to shove in your gullet: PushCakes!

And I was the very lucky recipient of a sample package of these sweeties, made with love by Meringue Bakeshop in So-cal, which arrived on SpyStep (that's my doorstep) this morning.

Aside from some minor frosting sticking-to-the-top, the cakes arrived in fine form (and really, if you must know, I just licked it off the lid, and am pretty certain you'd do the same if nobody was looking). Also, a small circle of parchment paper would probably do the trick in keeping it from sticking.

While the push pop mechanism doesn't change the taste of cake at all, it does make it fun to eat, and if you ate it in front of someone else, it would probably make them jealous. And Kristin Ausk, the baker behind Meringue Bake Shop, makes a mean PushCake: cake layers kept moist between generous, almost mini trifle-esque layers of buttercream. Favorite flavor so far? The strawberry cheesecake, which tastes a little bit like both flavors, all at once, in a good way.

Here are the flavors that Mr. Spy and I devoured:

• Queen of Hearts (aka red velvet)
• German Chocolate
• Strawberry Cheesecake
• Sweet & Salty (salted caramel) 

...and yes, they were freaking delicious.

Want more? You'd do yourself a favor if you bought some PushCakes--do it here. And follow the baker online here.

Sugar and Spice: Chocolate Chipotle Caramel Filled Cupcakes by Fields of Cake, Maine

I think that right now would be a good time to tell you about something delicious I ate. 

The item in question? The "Vinny" (same Vinny served as inspiration for these cakes as for this art, btw), a masterpiece baked up by Carrie Fields, who you may know better by her stage name, Fields of Cake. When asked what these ambrosial morsels actually consisted of, her response was as follows:

Those yummy morsels were chocolate chipotle cake filled with Hot Damn caramel (cinnamon schnapps and chipotle homemade caramel) and toasted almonds topped with cinnamon sugar buttercream. 

The proper reaction to that, of course, is OMG. If you're in the Portland, Maine area, I suggest you look her up immediately to commission a batch; if not, she also posted the recipe on her blog.

You can find the recipe here!

For more Fields of Cake goodness, visit her site or her facebook page.