Healthy Cupcakes! What?!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love cupcakes! I love the fact that you get a small portion of cake with my favorite part, the frosting! I was lucky enough to be in NYC on tour last summer for my birthday and my co-workers surprised me with some of my favorite cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. I wanted to make some festive and somewhat healthy Valentine's Day sweets so I got out this recipe from a saved Health magazine from this summer. These cupcakes are made with a little butter, a few eggs and low-fat buttermilk. The frosting is cream cheese based and has no butter. It's not my favorite frosting but since my favorite is the fattening butter cream, this makes a tasty healthy alternative! Bake up these cupcakes for a sweet treat that is healthier than the traditional cupcake and hopefully they will bring a smile to your face like they did for me!

A Few Tips:
I have been interested lately in learning about Wilton's baking supplies and techniques. I picked up one of their heart candy molds and candy melts at a crafts store. They are so easy and fun to make! All you do is put the candy in a pastry bag, melt in the microwave, pour into the mold, and let sit for about 15min. in the fridge! They look great on cupcakes and cakes. 


I used silicone baking cups for the cupcakes. These are easy to use and clean. Plus, they are very green! No waste is a good thing. I got mine at Sur La Table and I love that they are red. You can get them almost anywhere baking supplies are sold. They come in mini to jumbo sizes. 


Frosting your cupcakes should be fun! Just get some pastry bags and make sure you have a large star tip and a small round tip. Use the star tip for the top frosting and the round tip to fill the cupcakes. When putting the frosting in the bag, place the pastry bag in a wide glass so you have a good sturdy base as you spoon the frosting in. It will be a lot less messy too! Be creative with your decorating but remember: It doesn't really matter what they look like, as long as they taste good!

Raspberry Cream Cupcakes

*adapted from Health Magazine

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 3 drops red food coloring
• 2 batches Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting
• 2 tablespoons raspberry jam
• 12 fresh raspberries, for garnish

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place 12 muffin cup liners in muffin tin.

2. Place flours in a medium bowl. Sift sugar, baking soda, and salt into bowl.

3. Whisk butter and oil. Add buttermilk and next 3 ingredients (through vanilla), whisking until well-combined. Add dry ingredients to wet.

4. Divide batter evenly among liners, and bake in middle of oven about 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool.

5. Mix food coloring into frosting. Transfer half to a separate bowl, and mix with raspberry jam. Pipe about 1 tablespoon of jam frosting into tops of cupcakes with a round-tipped pastry bag.

6. Pipe remaining frosting onto cakes with a star-tipped pastry bag. Garnish with a raspberry.

Skinny it up! Frosting (just make half!) but no filling makes these about 100 calories and 4g fat lighter.

 Lemon-Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest

Preparation:

Combine ingredients. Beat with a mixer until smooth.