Chocolate and Licorice Cupcakes
February 13, 2009 at 10:42 PM | Posted in cupcakes | 20 CommentsTags: chocolate, licorice
Hallelujah! Its finally Friday!
Its about freaking time! This week seemed to drag for me. Maybe its because I was anticipating the long weekend? *shrugs
I usually spend my Friday nights hanging out with hubs. Sometimes we’ll eat out. Sometimes we’ll eat in. I prefer to eat out. Hubs prefers to eat in. But my little brother (he’s 17 and ALOT taller than me but he’ll always be baby to me) called me last week to see if he could come over tonight so I could teach him how to bake cupcakes for his “friendgirl”. So we ate in. Bacon cheeseburgers. Onion rings. Cherry coke. Just in case you were wondering… (Hey don’t judge me! Friday calories don’t count right?)
Wait! I got sidetracked by burger talk. Friendgirl? Don’t you mean girlfriend?
Nope. Its friendgirl. Friendgirl must be a new term. Its more serious than just dating but not as committed as girlfriend. Whatever you say bro. Either way. I couldn’t pass up the chance to see my little brother AND bake cupcakes so that’s how I spent my Friday night.
When it came to flavor he knew exactly what he wanted. Friendgirl’s favorite candy is chocolate covered red licorice. Um eeewww? I know I said black licorice in my previous post but I guess I was mistaken. It suppose to be red. It doesn’t matter either way. The combination sounds narsty to me. Needless to say I was skeptical. But little brother wouldn’t budge. Not even for red velvet. He wanted chocolate licorice.
What was my husband’s contribution? The name. Chizzler. Get it? Chocolate + twizzler.
I am not making that up. It was either Chizzler or Chocorice.
My husband thinks he’s so funny. But he’s not.
Please stop laughing. You’ll only egg him on.
Chizzler Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski
Makes about 12 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
For chocolate cupcakes
2/3 cup AP flour
2-1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradelli chocolate baking chips)
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
For red licorice buttercream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powder sugar, sifted
2 tbsp milk (I used half-and-half instead)
1/2 tsp cherry oil
INSTRUCTIONS
To make chocolate cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare pan with cupcake liners.
In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over simmering water in a saucepan. Stir frequently until melted, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from saucepan and let cool to room temperature, about 10-15 minutes.
Stir in the sugar until combined. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined. Then add vanilla extract. Gradually add flour mixture and fold into chocolate mixture. Try not to overmix.
Fill the cupcake liners about 1/2-2/3 full. Bake for about 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool before frost.
To make licorice buttercream—
In a stand mixer fitted with flat beater, cream the butter. Gradually add powder sugar and stir to combine. Add milk and cherry oil. Beat until smooth.
[NOTES: I wanted the frosting to be a bright red so I added some red food coloring too.]
Frost cupcakes with a Wilton 1M piping tip. Garnish with sprinkles.
ENJOY!
Husband rating: N/A
Hubs doesn’t like licorice so he passed.
Wifey rating: A
The chocolate cupcake was moist and extra chocolate-y from the cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate. I have to admit the frosting really does taste like red licorice. I am not a huge fan of licorice but if you are, then you’ll love it!
Other rating: A+
Little brother isn’t a huge dessert person (gasp!) but he raved about this cupcake. “It totally works Clara! I told you so!” He was pretty excited to give it to friendgirl tomorrow. Isn’t young love so cute?
Updated 2/15/09: My brother sent me a text message: “She said it was the most delicious thing ever. I got major friendboy points!”
20 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Sponsored Banners
-
Copyright
Photos, Original Recipes & Text ©iheartcuppycakes! 2007-2010 unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved. If you repost any material from this blog, please give credit by including a link back to me. Thank you!Cupcake Hero
Iron Cupcake
Links I Love
Banner colorized by Courtney
(Thanks chicky!)Subscribe via email
-
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
Yum, this sounds terrific!
Comment by sara — February 13, 2009 #
Wow, love this site. I would love to find those white cupcake liners. 2 of my friends and I make treats for shut-ins every month. The problem with the cupcake liners I use is that they don’t transport well. These would. I’ve searched the web but am not having luck finding any. I’ll keep hunting. Thanks for a great site.
Comment by Marilyn — February 14, 2009 #
This sounds interesting… looks delish!
Comment by Amanda — February 14, 2009 #
Aw, your brother’s clever. I like licorice so this actually might be up my alley. What a nice sister you are!
Chizzler works better. *Snort.* Hubby’s got my sense of humor. Chocorice reads like chocolate rice, so chizzler it is!
Comment by Wandering Chopsticks — February 14, 2009 #
SARA and AMANDA, To be honest I was surprised at how yummy it really was!
MARYILYN, They are called party nut cups or souffle cups depending on where you buy them. I buy mine at Smart&Final, 250 for $5. You can also find them in smaller quantities at Michaels in the baking aisle. Have you entered my “Thank You” cupcake giveaway yet? I am giving away 250 cupcake liners!
WANDERING, I am trying to show him the limitations of having a friendgirl and no job but he consistently comes up with creative ways to prove me wrong. Too clever for his own good. So true about choco-rice. Maybe I should have written Chicorice? But chizzler does have a less corny ring to it, no? LOL
Comment by CB — February 14, 2009 #
wow, thanks for the super detailed instructions! sounds good, although i’m not a fan of licorice…i only liked the red twizzlers.
Comment by Sophie — February 14, 2009 #
I just can’t wrap my head around these. Do they taste cherry chocolate maybe? they’re super pretty as usual though!
Comment by Mary — February 14, 2009 #
OK 1) your hubs has the sense of humor of my boyfriend so you two are totally making me roll on the floor and 2) friendgirl??? that is way too funny, love the new word
happy weekend! :D
Comment by stephchows — February 14, 2009 #
“Friendgirl” is hilarious! Never heard that one before.
The cupcakes sound delicious! Question though: I noticed in the ingredients there is no licorice flavoring (the frosting only uses cherry oil). So do these actually taste like licorice or just cherry chocolate cupcakes?
Oh, and I like chizzler – your husband is very creative. :)
Comment by Tanya — February 14, 2009 #
SOPHIE, You’re welcome. I am a visual person so I know I appreciate step-by-step pictures myself!
MARY and TANYA, I guess technically they are cherry chocolate but the cherry oil does make it taste like a red licorice. At first I was gonna buy anise extract or licorice oil but thats more like black licorice so I opted for the cherry oil.
STEPHCHOWS, Yeah apparently my husband is a comedian when it comes to my blog. I think he uses humor to make fun of me and I aint buying his “…but honey I am laughing with you!” gimic. Hruumpph!
Comment by CB — February 14, 2009 #
oh goodness, why are people so scared of commitment? haha, yeah because it’s a big deal! haha — I love the pics though and I’m sure it tasted good!
Comment by Natalie — February 14, 2009 #
Oh Goodness Chizzler! That title alone is Brillant! Eww Cherry Oil, where can I buy that? I love the creative flow behind these and not only do they look fantastic but I am almost smell/taste the Chizzlers!
Comment by Girl Japan — February 14, 2009 #
P.s. I love to eat out but been to lazy to get undressed to get dressed to eat out = (
Comment by Girl Japan — February 14, 2009 #
NATALIE, He’s young and he’s been burned already so I think he’s just being cautious. I still think calling her friendgirl is pretty hilarious though.
GIRLJAPAN, I found cherry oil at my local cake store but if you click the “cherry oil” link that I have above you can get it online too. LOL @ too lazy to get undressed to get dressed. I totally understand! Sometimes I’d settle for ramen than get out of my sweats. haha
Comment by CB — February 14, 2009 #
How creative! Not only do I love your flavor combos, but these look awesome! Your little bro was sure to impress his friend-girl! (And what a good sis for helping him out!!)
Comment by Elyse — February 15, 2009 #
ELYSE, Thank you! You just reminded me that I need to add friendgirl’s rating ;)
Comment by CB — February 15, 2009 #
At first I was thinkin “uhhh?” But then I was thinkin about chocolate + cherry, and it doesn’t seem so bad. They definitely look cute!
Comment by howtoeatacupcake — February 15, 2009 #
HTEAC, Yeah its basically chocolate and cherry but the cherry oil really gives it a red licorice aftertaste so I ran with it for the title to be original. LOL
Comment by CB — February 15, 2009 #
This is really a neat recipe. I think it is nice of him to do that for his “friendgirl” and for you to help out. I love the menu by the way. My kind of Friday night meal.
I am going to look into the cherry oil thing.
I wish I had a friendhubby to bake me some cupcakes like these for V-Day!
Comment by Carolina — February 17, 2009 #
[...] Ingredients for Chocolate Cupcakes (Recipe adapted from http://iheartcuppycakes.com/2009/02/13/chocolate-and-licorice-cupcakes/) [...]
Pingback by Chocolate Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting | My Kitchen Produce — October 14, 2009 #