The only thing better than a cupcake is a cupcake with a rich cream filling. So, when you start out with a cupcake that is well known for having a delicious frosting - such as red velvet, which is almost always paired iwth a cream cheese frosting - you know that it can only get better when you manage to incorporate more into the cupcake.

Red velvet cake is a buttermilk cake with a light cocoa flavor that gets its name from its color: red. The red in the cake comes from food coloring and the more you use the redder your cake will be. This recipe is adapted from a Cook’s Country recipe for a red velvet cake. They call for using 2 tablespoons of food coloring, which is an entire little bottle of the stuff. You can get away with using half that amount, but don’t skimp too much or you’ll lose a lot of color. If you leave out the food coloring completely, the cake will have a reddish brown tinge to it (thanks to the combination of cocoa powder and baking soda, this is where the idea of a red cake came from in the first place).

These cupcakes are moist and tender, with a distinct cocoa flavor to them. It isn’t enough to make them taste like a chocolate cupcake, but it is enough to give the cupcakes a good, solid flavor. I really like this about these cupcakes because it is too often that red velvet cupcakes don’t have much flavor at all and simply trade off their unique color. With the cream cheese filling (the same as the frosting), the cupcakes become even more moist. They will keep well for a couple of days in an airtight container.

If you’ve never made a cream-filled cupcake before, I have a filled cupcake tutorial that will guide you through the process. It involves removing a piece of cake from the center of the cupcake and adding filling. With this method, which only takes a few seconds per cupcake to do, you get a lot of filling in each. An alternative is to simply stick the tip of a pastry bag or a can of frosting into the cupcake and squeeze, but you don’t get nearly the same amount of filling and it doesn’t save very much time. You don’t need to do anything special to finish these off, but if you dye a little bit of frosting red, or have a red gel frosting pouch, you can add a little squiggle to the top that is reminiscent of the squiggle on the classic, cream-filled hostess cupcakes.
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A lemon glaze is one of the most popular ways to finish off a loaf of freshly baked gingerbread. Lemon makes a great contrast to all of the spices in gingerbread. It is bright and cuts right through those dark flavors - and even though the spices themselves are nice, it is much easier to taste them when you have something to compare them to.

Many gingerbreads are baked in a loaf pan or as a single-layer cake, but this one is a layer cake with a billowy lemon frosting to go with it. The cake is moist and spicy, with a fairly complex flavor thanks to a combination of ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, ground black pepper and molasses. There is even a bit of lemon zest in the cake to help it tie in with the frosting. The cake is flavorful, but isn’t too heavy, so you won’t feel weighed down after a big slice of this.

I made a very light frosting to top off this cake. It is a meringue-based frosting made with egg whites, and has a consistency similar to that of marshmallow fluff, but smoother and less sticky. I added a lot - 1 tablespoon - of meyer lemon zest to infuse the lemon flavor into the frosting. Feel free to use regular lemons in place of the Meyer lemons, but expect to have a slightly stronger lemon flavor in the finished frosting. The cake can be prepared a day in advance and stored, well-wrapped, at room temperature. The entire cake can be frosted in advance, but I think that this light frosting is at its very best on the day it is made (even if you make it several hours before serving). A regular buttercream frosting with added lemon zest can be substituted if you want something a little bit faster that still has lemon flavor to it.

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Although it will always be my favorite use for it, maple syrup can be used for so much more than just topping pancakes and waffles. I’ve used it to sweeten cookies and homemade granola before, where it accents the other ingredients with its rich, sweet flavor. But there is no reason to keep maple as a background flavor and here I’ve made it the star flavor of a batch of Maple Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream, where there is real maple syrup in both the cake and the frosting.The cupcake recipe uses some brown sugar and some maple syrup for sweetness. The brown sugar helps give the cupcakes a tender consistency, and it also goes well with the maple syrup. There is no maple extract in here, so all that maple flavor comes from the syrup. I used Grade B maple syrup, which has a slightly stronger flavor than Grade A syrup. You can use either, but I’ll recommend B if you’re going out to buy some syrup. Do not use pancake syrup in these cupcakes.

The frosting also has some maple syrup in it. Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature when you mix them together so you get a very smooth frosting. Often, maple syrup is stored in the fridge, so consider this a quick reminder to take it out before you start to bake!

These have a great maple flavor to them, with a buttery undertone. I don’t think that they taste like pancakes, but if that is where you usually use maple syrup, the cupcakes might remind you of them! The cake has a slightly firm, tender crumb and holds up really well to frosting and to traveling, so consider these as an option for winter or holiday get-togethers.

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I have been meaning to make a tiramisu for a while now, but I’ve been having a hard time finding a decent brand of ladyfingers lately. Since espresso-dipped ladyfingers are the primarily structural element of a tiramisu, it goes without saying that I didn’t get around to making one. Instead, I made something that had all of the elements I wanted to incorporate into my tiramisu: a tiramisu flavored bundt cake.

The most traditional tiramisu will be made with espresso and wine or spirits, something like marsala wine, Vin Santo or a coffee-flavored liquor. To make the cake, I added layers of espresso and Kahlua flavors to a vanilla cake base. I really like the flavor of Kahlua, especially in baked goods, and I thought that it would work out better in the finished bundt than marsala would. The plain cake batter was made first, then divided up into separate bowls and Kahlua and espresso were added to flavor some of the batter. After the cake was baked, I used mascarpone cheese and more Kaluah to make a frosting to finish it off.

The trick to getting the swirl in this cake is layering the batter in the bundt pan. Take your time and add the batter into the pan with smaller dollops of batter or a very even pour, gradually building an even layer. Don’t just dump the batter in an expect to spread it into place with a spatula. This will work for the bottom layer, but the subsequent layers have slightly different consistencies and it is best to just create the layers as you go.

The cake has a tight, even crumb and, while it is not as heavy as some pound cakes can be, is similar in its consistency. It slices beautifully and holds up very well to the frosting. The frosting is light and creamy, with a lovely Kaluah flavor. It brings out the flavor of the Kahlua layer in the cake, but doesn’t mask the flavor of the espresso layer, either. It may not be a traditional tiramisu, but it keeps the spirit of the original! It also keeps well for several days, so it can be made in a day in advance if you intend to serve it at a party or gathering.

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It’s just not fall without some kind of pumpkin dessert. How can you not think of pumpkins when the stores are filled with them and people put them out on their porches as decorations? Getting in the spirit of pumpkin desserts, as well as the Halloween season that prompts their presence, I used pumpkin in this beautiful orange and black Pumpkin and Chocolate Layer Cake. The cake is moist and satisfying, as well as spicy and chocolaty. I topped it off with a cream cheese frosting that blends in well with all of the flavor in the dessert. As if the flavor weren’t enough, this cake looks very dramatic and makes a great centerpiece for a seasonal party.

The cake has four layers, two each of pumpkin and chocolate. These layers come from two cakes that are split and stacked. Both the pumpkin and the chocolate cake start with the same basic recipe and both use pumpkin puree. The difference between them is that one includes a bunch of pumpkin-friendly spices, such as cinnamon and nutmeg, with the other has cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate mixed in. Both types of cake have very different flavors, but they have just about the exact same texture and consistency, so they work together in the finished cake perfectly.

I recommend mixing up the batter for these two cakes at the same time so that they can be baked side by side in the oven. This way, the cakes are done at the same time and you can assemble the finished cake that much more quickly. Otherwise, prepare the second cake while the first is in the oven. You won’t have that much of a time difference when cooling the cakes and the oven will already be preheated and ready to go. The cakes, for the record, can be made a day in advance and wrapped in plastic wrap before slicing and frosting.

I kept the top of my cake plain, but if you want to dress up the presentation, you could garnish it with some pumpkin-shaped candy corn (a.k.a. mellowcremes) to give people a hint as to what is inside of the cake before you cut into it.
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A lemon drop is a cocktail that is made with vodka, lemon juice and sugar. They are bright and refreshing, and since the acidity of the lemon takes the edge off of the vodka, they’re very easy to drink. These cupcakes are inspired in part by lemon drop cocktails and in part by summer strawberries - making them a sort of adult strawberry lemonade cupcake. There are lots of fresh strawberries in the cupcakes and quite a bit of vodka, too. I really like these as a bit of a grown-up alternative to classic cupcakes and cocktail-inspired cupcakes are usually a big hit at parties.

The cupcakes themselves are very moist and fairly sturdy, as cupcakes go. This means that the strawberries remain suspended in the cupcake batter and don’t all sink to the bottom. The cakes actually look gorgeous when they’re unfrosted and you can see bits of berry sticking out all over. The cupcakes are also not too sweet, thanks to the fact that they don’t include an excessive amount of sugar and because the vodka doesn’t lend any additional sweetness. This gives the berries another chance to stand out. Only a bit of lemon zest is included in the cupcakes and it doesn’t make a big impression on its own, although it does allow the cupcakes to tie in very well with the frosting.

The buttercream frosting has lemon zest, lemon juice and a bit of vodka. I’d say that you can get a hint of the vodka even with the lemon in the frosting, but it is very subtle. In fact, you don’t get more than a hint of the vodka in the cupcakes themselves even though there is about a 1/2 cup in the recipe. If it is necessary for you to leave it out, you can replace it with milk if you have to, but I don’t think that anyone at the party will get tipsy from these, even if they eat the whole batch. I used Ciroc vodka for these cupcakes, but feel free to use any brand that you like.

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