Hottie Chocolate Cupcakes By Sandra Lee Recipes

CHOCOLATE PEAK CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Butter and flour 2 (6-cup) cupcake pans. Stir hot water and coffee crystals in large bowl until crystals dissolve. Let cool. Add cake mix, oil, and eggs to coffee in large bowl. Beat by hand or with a hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until well blended. Fill each muffin cup halfway with batter. Place 1 caramel candy in the center of each. Pour remaining batter over caramels. Bake for 12 minutes, or until cakes have puffed. Cool cupcakes in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully remove cupcakes from pans and let cool completely before frosting.
• Cut off tops of cupcakes, reserving both the tops and bottoms. Frost cupcake tops with chocolate frosting. Spoon 1 tablespoon of chilled marshmallow creme atop each cake bottom. Place cake tops back on top of cake bottoms. Dust tops with cocoa powder and sprinkle with coconut.

HOLIDAY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For the cupcakes:
• Bake according to package instructions for cupcakes, adding 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract to batter and substituting white cranberry juice for water.
• For the Peppermint White Hot Chocolate "CUP" cakes:
• Fill a zip top bag with icing. Snip a small corner of the bag and pipe icing onto each cupcake to look like whipped cream on top of the "cup".
• To add peppermint "handle" for the "cup":
• Poke a small hole in the side of each cupcake using a chopstick or tooth pick and fill the hole with royal icing. Insert one end of the "U" shape candy cane piece into hole and the other end into the icing to make your "cup" cake. Sprinkle with crushed candy cane pieces.
• For the Snowman Cupcakes:
• Using a butter knife or spatula, lightly frost the cupcakes.
• Flatten a large marshmallow on waxed paper with the palm of your hand. Cut a second marshmallow in half horizontally, then stack the first half flat on the first marshmallow to form a torso then the second on it's side for a head. Thread a pretzel stick or toothpick through the bottom to secure marshmallows and stick into cupcake top.
• Use royal icing to attach cake decorating dots as eyes and buttons. Add a wedge cut from an orange slice candy for a nose.
• For the Reindeer Cupcakes:
• Using a butter knife or spatula, lightly frost each cupcake.
• Break the pretzels in half, and insert into the top of each cupcake for antlers. Use blue candy covered chocolates to make eyes. Cut fruit by the foot to make a mouth and place the red gumdrop in the center for the nose.
• With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or extract until frothy. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, smooth, and shiny. Turn to high and beat approximately 5 minutes until stiff and glossy. Add food coloring, if desired, and transfer to a pastry bag to pipe onto cookies or cakes.;

BLACK FOREST CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin tins with paper liners.
• In a large bowl combine cake mix, soda, vegetable oil and eggs. Using a hand mixer combine all ingredients, batter will still be somewhat lumpy. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake 19 to 22 minutes, turning the pans halfway through baking. Remove to a rack and allow to cool completely.
• In a large bowl combine frosting, extract and pink food coloring. When cupcakes are cool ice with pink cherry frosting and top each with maraschino cherry

BOSTON CREME CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Combine milk, instant pudding mix, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat mixture with a hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until it thickens. Place mixture in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Spoon filling into a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size plain tip. Fill cupcakes with vanilla pudding filling by inserting tip into top of cupcake and squeezing a couple of tablespoons of filling into each cupcake.
• Heat cream in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edges. Remove from heat, add chocolate morsels to pan, and whisk until smooth. Spoon or drizzle glaze over cupcakes, or dunk the tops into the glaze. Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour, before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

THE BEST HOT CHOCOLATE EVER

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, add chocolate chips, half-and-half, and cinnamon. Melt chocolate chips stirring frequently with wooden spoon; about 5 minutes. Be careful not to let boil.
• Remove from heat and pour into mug. Add a shot of vanilla vodka or hazelnut liqueur, if you like.

LEMON-FILLED COCONUT CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 (2 1/2-inch) muffin cups with paper liners; set aside.
• Spread 1 cup coconut on a baking sheet. Toast for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, coconut milk, oil, and yellow food coloring; beat with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down the side of bowl. Beat on medium for 2 minutes more. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups and cool completely on wire rack.
• For lemon filling:
• In a medium bowl, stir together 1/2 cup whipped cream frosting and the lemon curd until combined.
• With a sharp knife, make a 1/2-inch slit in the top center of each cooled cupcake. Place lemon filling in a disposable piping bag; snip a small end off one corner of the bag, and pipe filling into cupcakes.
• In a medium bowl, stir the coconut extract into the remaining whipped cream frosting and frost the cupcakes.
• Toss together the toasted coconut and the remaining 1/2 cup untoasted coconut. Sprinkle the coconut mixture over the frosted cupcakes.

TIE-DYED CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-muffin) tins with cupcake papers; set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, water, and oil. Use a hand held electric mixer and mix on medium speed for about 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl and add both bottles of sprinkles. Mix for another 30 seconds.
• Use a ladle to fill each lined muffin cup 2/3 of the way full. Using oven mitts, place cupcakes in preheated oven and bake for 21 to 26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean with no wet batter. Use oven mitts to remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting, about 15 minutes.
• Once cool, spread 2 tablespoons frosting on each cupcake. Using various gel colors, start in the middle of the cupcake, make circles outwards to the edge of the cupcake Begin at the edge of the cupcake and drag the tip of a toothpick to the center of the cupcake to make a spider web effect. Repeat this step, turning cupcake as you go.

JACK-O-LANTERN CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Frost all of the cupcakes with a smooth even layer of the chocolate frosting. Wipe off the spatula frequently, and dip it in warm water, if necessary, to get the frosting as smooth as possible.
• Roll out the orange fondant to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a round biscuit cutter, cut out 12 rounds from the fondant. Using small cutters, cut a jack-o-lantern face of your design in each round. Lay the rounds on top of the cupcakes. Arrange the cupcakes on a serving a platter and serve.

MILK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH DARK CHOCOLATE ICING

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12 cup) cupcake tins with silver foil paper liners.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, cake mix, oil, and chocolate milk. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl to be sure the batter is well incorporated.
• In a microwave, melt 1/2 cup of the semisweet chocolate at 10 second intervals. Add 1 cup batter to the melted chocolate and stir well to combine. Place into a plastic releasable bag and cut off the corner. Take a small ice cream scoop and fill each cup with 1 scoop of cake batter, about one-quarter of the way up the cupcake paper. Pipe about 1 tablespoon batter with melted chocolate in each batter-filled cup. Top each with another scoop of the remaining cake batter.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
• To make the icing, heat the cream in a saucepan over low heat to a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining chocolate chips until completely combined. While still slightly warm, dip the tops of the cupcakes in the chocolate icing. Place on a wire cooling rack, sprinkle with dragees, and allow the icing to set.