The countdown continues and the clock is ticking! Thanksgiving is just days away. I finalized my menu and my grocery list yesterday afternoon after finally settling on a couple of sweet treats to compliment the traditional pumpkin pie. The last one I chose doesn’t need to reside in the fridge (instead, it will do fine wrapped up and hanging out in the cool of the garage), is tasty, totally portable, and doesn’t require dirtying any dishes!
My inspiration?
Cranberries! (Okay, cranberries and my first blogging challenge!)
The original recipe is actually intended to be a cake that’s topped with a glaze (which I have no doubt would be awesome, too). But, cupcakes are personal, and portable, and – did I mention this already? – don’t require dirtying any dishes. And who wouldn’t love these little beauties?
Recipe after the jump…
White Chocolate-Cranberry Cupcakes
(adapted from Baker’s Chocolate)
6 (1 ounce) squares white baking chocolate
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
6 tablespoons orange juice, divided
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with liners. Chop 6 of the chocolate squares and set aside. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, orange peel, and 3 tablespoons of the orange juice; mix well. Add flour and baking powder; beat until well blended. Fold in chopped chocolate and the cranberries.Bake approximately 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes to wire rack. Cool completely.
Frosting:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 (1 ounce) squares white baking chocolate, melted
3 tablespoons orange juice
3-4 cups powdered sugar
Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Mix in white chocolate. Mix in orange juice and powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Pipe or smear onto cupcakes.
Store tightly covered in a cool place.
Enjoy!
3 responses so far ↓
bit2403 // November 18, 2007 at 11:55 am |
Looks yummy.
The Cupcake Hero: Cranberry Edition « quirky cupcake // December 2, 2007 at 9:14 pm |
[...] start us off, we have Michelle of Culinography, with White Chocolate Cranberry Cupcakes. She made these sweet treats for Thanksgiving. I wish they had been a choice at our dinner! I [...]
Doug Davidson // December 7, 2007 at 11:50 am |
Do you think these would work with semisweet dark chocolate in the cake and white chocolate in the icing?
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Hi, Doug.
I think if I were going to try to work semisweet chocolate (I think I’d stay away from *dark* chocolate) into the cupcake I might forego the white chocolate in the icing and just make an orange/cream cheese icing instead. The white chocolate in the icing is fairly subtle anyway. But, in short, yes! I think you could absolutely make a good quality semisweet chocolate work with this recipe – you could even top them with a semisweet chocolate shaving or two. Good luck and let me know how they come out!