Food ‘n Flix – Bridesmaids

This month for Food ‘n Flix our movie is Bridesmaids, hosted by Cheap Ethnic Eatz.  This movie is hysterical, with a lot of heart.  I’ve seen it multiple times and I still lose it during the scene where the main character drives back and forth in her car doing various illegal things to get her cop friend’s attention.

Kristen Wiig plays a woman whose bakery fails because of the economy crash.  There is a very memorable scene of her making a gorgeous single cupcake and then chowing down on it.  So I knew that I definitely wanted to do a cupcake for this post.  There is also a lot of drinking in the movie, so I thought – what about a boozy cupcake?  Perfect.

I ended up making Moscato Cupcakes with sweet wine in both the cake and the frosting – so good.  Though I made a lot of changes to my inspiration recipe – subbing half melted butter and half coconut oil for vegetable oil, subbing vanilla sugar for regular sugar, and subbing whey (from all that cheesemaking) for buttermilk.  I also made a simple syrup from equal parts moscato and vanilla sugar to brush over the warm cakes to boost the flavor.  And I used half cream cheese and half butter in the frosting (I’m not a big fan of too sweet frosting).

The resulting cakes were moist and dense with plenty of moscato flavor, balanced with vanilla (thankfully the coconut oil didn’t lend too strong of a coconut flavor, I was a bit worried about that), and not overly sweet.  Perfect!  I topped them with some fresh strawberries for color and sweetness.  My neighbors/taste testers thought I should open a cupcake shop, so I guess I did Wiig’s character proud!

Moscato Cupcakes
adapted from Brooke Bakes
yields 24 cupcakes

For the cakes:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar (I used vanilla infused)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup Moscato wine
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used whey)
2 large eggs
1 tsp white vinegar

For the syrup:
1/3 cup Moscato wine
1/3 cup granulated sugar (I used vanilla infused)

For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
8 oz cream cheese (I actually used 12 wedges of Laughing Cow light cream cheese, because that’s what I had), room temp
6 tbsp Moscato simple syrup
4 cups powdered sugar.

Optional: fresh strawberries for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Put cupcake liners in two cupcake pans (or spray wells with baking spray if you run out of liners, like I did).

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar, and whisk together.  In a separate bowl, combine the butter, coconut oil, Moscato, buttermilk, eggs, and vinegar.  Slowly pour the wet ingredients into dry and mix until it is just blended.

Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake pan, filling each about 3/4 full.  Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

Meanwhile, make the simple syrup: combine the Moscato and sugar in a small saucepan and heat to a simmer, stirring frequently.  When the sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat.

Set the warm cupcakes on a wire rack and brush with the Moscato syrup, reserving 6 tbsp to use in the frosting . Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Make the frosting: Cream the butter and cream cheese with a hand or stand mixer.  Add the reserved Moscato syrup and mix until completely combined.  Add the powdered sugar a little at a time.  Taste at 2 cups, then add more as desired (I used about 3 cups), up to 4 cups.

Transfer the frosting to a ziplock bag, cut off one corner, and use the bag to create spirals of frosting on top of the cakes (make sure that they are completely cool first).  Top with cut strawberries, if using.  Enjoy with a glass of Moscato.

One Year Ago – Fresh Homemade Pasta
Two Years Ago – Foccacia w/ Grapes & Rosemary
Three Years Ago – Shrimp, Leek, & Spinach Pasta