In a strange turn of events, it seems I have baked something with neither chocolate nor nuts. For those of you who are astonished, I think I may have redeemed myself by the presence of cream cheese frosting.
I am further redeemed by the perfection that is these cupcakes. Oh, my, but they’re good. Basically, these lovely little pound cakes are loaded with brown sugar, creating a wonderful caramel-like flavor. Then, they are topped off with an amazingly simple, delicious cream cheese frosting that features even more brown sugar.
The recipe comes from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes, which has yet to steer me wrong. Remember these beauties? Or how about these?
It’s not often I make cupcakes. I can tell you, though, that these are some of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure to eat. If you’re a fan of brown sugar and cream cheese, I think you’ll agree.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 & 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
Instructions
To make the pound cakes:
Preheat oven to 325°. Line standard muffin tins with liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk. Beat until well-combined after each addition.
Fill lined cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks 10 minutes. Then, remove from pans to cool completely.
To make the frosting:
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar until smooth.
Frost cupcakes immediately, or refrigerate frosting for up to 3 days. After refrigerating, bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.
January 2nd, 2012 at 6:28 pm
How delicious!! Would it be sad to admit, I want to jump into a tub of that brown sugar cream cheese frosting and live there for a while :$. Stunning cupcake
January 2nd, 2012 at 7:03 pm
Yum – your pictures and descriptions are making me drool!
January 2nd, 2012 at 7:24 pm
Absolutely divine. I’m so glad that I found this food blog – I can’t stop browsing through all the pages. I’m excited, because now there are a lot more recipes that I can try out.
January 2nd, 2012 at 8:34 pm
Ahhh these look incredible. I’m so obsessed with pound cake, but I’ve never made it with frosting before. Definitely going on my need to bake list!
Happy New Year!
January 2nd, 2012 at 9:58 pm
MMMmmm, yummy! I’ve not had anything likes these so I will be trying them!
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:18 pm
These look incredible! I absolutely ADORE brown sugar — made some brown sugar ice cream last summer for ice cream sandwiches, and it was divine. I’ll bet your brown sugar cream cheese frosting [Lord, just typing those five words in a row!] tastes similar. Can’t wait to try it!
January 3rd, 2012 at 5:36 am
Fantastic!!!
January 3rd, 2012 at 11:05 am
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January 3rd, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Hi, these look tasty and I’m excited to make them with my kids but noticed that you have 2 tsp of baking POWDER listed in the ingredients but, in your instructions say to whisk flour, salt and baking SODA together. Just wanted to let you know about this mistake…and ask for clarification on which it should be. Thanks!
January 3rd, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Anna, thanks for pointing that out. It is indeed baking powder. I have corrected the recipe. Happy baking!
January 18th, 2012 at 7:26 pm
Hi, I made these last week.
The cake is truly a pound cake and quite heavy. People expected them to be more cake-like because they look like cupcakes, so I had to give a “warning” to everyone who tried them that “they are pound cake, not a cupcake”.
If I made them again I would try it as a loaf instead.
Icing was great though — I ate half the icing before I knew it!
January 26th, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Brown sugar cream cheese frosting?! Sign me up! You should enter this cupcake into the Celebrations Cupcake Crown competition. I bet it would be a hit! http://www.celebrations.com/cupcakecrown
February 12th, 2013 at 12:43 am
Sad to say I love the taste of them but mine fall every time I make them… Any reason why???? I LOVE the taste.
February 12th, 2013 at 9:23 am
Angela, check the expiration date on your baking powder.