Book club...or an excuse to bake some cupcakes :)

Today was kind of crazy, I was trying to bake cupcakes for book club and get things cleaned up and Lu had friends over to play and the kids had homework after school. Lots to do.

Book club was fun though. We talked about Breaking Dawn and all things Twilight and had a fun time visiting besides. I also had fun getting ready. Anna's ward did a book club and the Sister whose home it was at is the "cupcake queen" and a huge Twilight fan. I borrowed some of her fun ideas and recipes (with her permission) for tonight.

Here are the recipes from Vanessa Contessa and her descriptions:

The Jacob

"This cupcake is dedicated to our favorite sweet, dense, and selfless werewolf. You all know how much I love Jacob. I just think he's greatly misunderstood in this whole thing! So here is my culinary ode to him.I wanted to make a cupcake that was warm an earthy and a total comfort food. The kind of thing that would smell like Grandma baked it and you make you want to snuggle up and take a bite. I wanted to have distinct earthy and spicy flavors, but still be very sweet overall. It needed to remind me of the woods in a way, and also needed a little element of nutty and fun. It doesn't disappoint. This cupcake is delicious.

Cinnamon Spice Cupcake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting and a Pistachio Burnt Sugar Garnish (or THE JACOB)

1 box spice cake mix

1/2 cup melted butter

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup milk

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 TBS cinnamon

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese

4 TBS maple syrup

2 TBS brown sugar

2 cups powdered sugar

Finely chopped pistachios and white sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all cake ingredients together and beat on medium for two minutes. Bake in cupcake liners for about 22 minutes. COOL COMPLETELY

In a small saucepan combine maple syrup and brown sugar, on LOW heat, allow sugar to dissolve and then cool syrup down. In a large bowl whip cream cheese until softened. Add powdered sugar and and syrup mixture a little at a time alternating between them until right consistency is reached. If too thick, add a bit of milk, if too thin, add some more powdered sugar.

Pipe onto cool cupcakes and top with chopped pistachios.

On a silicone baking mat, spoon small amounts of sugar into little circles. With a kitchen blowtorch, heat sugar until it bubbles and caramelizes into solid shapes. Let cool and garnish top of cupcake. ENJOY!"

This frosting was soooo yumm-O!

The Edward:

"I figured this cupcake had to be dark, sweet, rich, dense, a bit unexpected, and a little overwhelming on your palate, but still leave you wanting another bite. I also wanted the frosting to be snow white and sparkley and of course, I figure, for representation purposes, it should be served cold...(The sparkles didn't really show up in the photo, but I have crystal clear sparkles all over the frosting so it quite literally sparkles in the sun.)

The best part; check out the inside. Here's the little unexpected. You know the inside couldn't match the outside... just like our protagonist, he's not what you'd think.

The recipe is below:

EXTRA DARK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE WITH SOUR CHERRY CENTER AND WHITE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM WITH A SOUR CHERRY DRIZZLE (OR--THE EDWARD)Batter

1 box dark chocolate cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

Filling

8 oz package cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

dash salt

1/4 cup sour cherry sauce

red food coloring (optional)

Frosting4 oz. white chocolate1 c. confectioners' sugar4 tbsp. butter1 tsp. vanilla dash of salt (or used salted butter)milk

Preheat oven to 350.

In a small bowl, mix all of the filling ingredients together until smooth and place in freezer to chill. In a separate bow, combine all elements of batter and beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full of cake batter. Remove filling from fridge and spoon into a piping bag. Pipe about a teaspoon of the filling INTO the cupcakes (not on top, put the piping tip actually in the batter and then pipe, the cupcake will swell.) Top the batter off a bit with a spoonful more of chocolate batter to cover over an center you can see. Bake for 22-24 minutes.

COOL COMPLETELY!!

Frosting

Melt chocolate; blend in confectioners' sugar, salt and butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating thoroughly after each. Use milk to thin to proper consistency (only if really needed) Stir in vanilla. Whip for about 5 minutes. (This will frost about 12 cupcakes--double for whole batch)Frost cupcakes generously and drizzle with sour cherry sauce and sprinkle with clear sparkles.

Enjoy!!"