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And family! Life hacks I wish I knew sooner that might just help you.

I wanted to bake cupcakes but didn’t have a cake mix on hand. I also wasn’t in the mood to bake from scratch. However, I saw my brownie mix and thought, “Hmm, I wonder if those could make some interesting cupcakes?!”

Lo and behold I was able to adapt my brownie box mix using this recipe from Lady Behind the Curtain’s blog. Her instructions were easy to follow.

The cupcakes came out so beautifully (even using a gluten free brownie mix!) that I may even intentionally CHOOSE to make them over a regular cake mix in the future.

Cupcake Recipe

To adapt the mix, you add in a dash of baking powder (1 teaspoon) and extra eggs (3 total) to get the fluffiness necessary for cupcakes. The oil gets substituted with ⅓ cup of melted butter. That’s it!

Extra Flavor

Lady Behind the Curtain also adds in a teaspoon of instant coffee or expresso for a rounded out flavor. I didn’t have either, so instead I ground my decaf grounds into a fine powder using my mortar and pestle.

Another option would be to fill the cupcakes with a whipped cream or ganache. (Ganache is just a version of whipped cream with dark chocolate added).

Icing

I stumbled upon the following accidental icing while repurposing extra frosting from another Thanksgiving cake. Basically, I turned a cream cheese burnt butter frosting into a chocolate icing by dumping in 12 oz of melted dark chocolate chips. And voila! The best chocolate icing I think I’ve ever had! Here’s the full recipe below.

12 oz of dark chocolate chips were melted in the microwave using a glass measuring cup. Short 20-30 second bursts of the microwave were interspersed with stirring to prevent chocolate from burning.

Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Yields enough for a 2-layer cake

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 8 oz cream cheese, cold but slightly softened around the edges
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted (start with 3, add more for thickness)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp salt (important!)
  • Optional: ½ tsp cinnamon or ⅛ tsp nutmeg for a warm fall flavor

Instructions

1. Brown the butter

  1. Place the butter in a light-colored pan over medium heat.
  2. Melt, then continue cooking until it foams, crackles, and turns deep golden with brown speckles.
  3. Remove from heat as soon as it smells nutty.
  4. Pour into a heatproof bowl and cool completely (you can chill in fridge 15–20 min until soft, spreadable, not liquid).

2. Whip the cream cheese

  1. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese 1–2 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
  2. Add the cooled brown butter and beat until fully combined. (If butter re-firms a bit, keep beating — it smooths out.)

3. Add the sugar + flavor

  1. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating well.
  2. Mix in vanilla and salt.
  3. Adjust:
    • To make the icing chocolate → melt 12 oz of dark chocolate chips in the microwave. Let slightly cool. Add to icing until fully mixed.
    • Too soft → add more powdered sugar
    • Too thick → add 1–2 tsp milk or cream
    • Want fall vibes → add optional cinnamon

4. Pipe the icing immediately as the frosting will set as the chocolate fully cools.

Piped from a plastic bag without a metal tip

Additional Resources 

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