Guest Post: Cinnamon Swirl Cupcakes

Last fall I discovered the blog, Une-deux Senses, when Michelle made my Ferrero Rocher cupcakes, and I immediately fell in love with it's unique mix of delectable sweet and savory food, edgy fashion highlights, and spot-on music recommendations. With a sweet tooth like mine, it's been impossible to resist such gorgeous desserts as her open-faced blueberry pie and creme brulee cupcakes. So I'm beyond delighted to welcome Michelle here today to share these lovely cinnamon swirl cupcakes with us!

I love cupcakes, but then again, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a person who didn't! I've been oobering (if that's a word) over Xiaolu's numerous cupcake creations for ages. So when Xiaolu, the cupcake master, asked me if I was interested in doing a guest post, I was pretty flabbergasted - you should have seen my face! Me? The homely, little college blogger?

I make cupcakes, sure, but I don't think they compare much to Xiaolu's cupcakes - I mean she's a winner of Cupcake Hero for pete's sake! So when choosing what to write my guest post on, I knew it had to be something good, real good. The day I made these cinnamon swirl cupcakes, I fell in love and I knew they'd be the perfect thing for this little guest post.

At first glance, the ingredient list of these cupcakes seems a bit long, well, longer than I usually like my cupcake ingredient lists to be. But reading words like cinnamon, sugar and cream cheese quickly assuaged my fear. Let's just say, thank GOSH I made these cupcakes! They are now one of my all time favorites.

What I love about them is that they have this warm, home-y feel - like something your mom would make, something simple and comforting. The cake itself is super light and airy with a gorgeous swirl of cinnamon all throughout it and it's literally perfect. The cream cheese frosting though, is the killer but when is this ever not the case? I could eat tubs of cream cheese frosting and not feel guilty about it! But seriously, the combination of the cinnamon, airy cake and cream cheese frosting is beyond words.

Here's to Xiaolu and great cupcakes! Thanks for allowing me to share my love of all things flour + sugar + butter.

Cinnamon Swirl Cupcakes [Printable Recipe]
Yields: 15 cupcakes
Original recipe here.

For the cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 cups sugar
1/2 tbsn. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup or 1 stick unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk, divided
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
1 tsp. vanilla

For the filling:
3 tbsn. sugar
3 tbsn. light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cocoa powder

For the frosting:
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick or 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
vanilla bean seeds, from 1/2 a vanilla bean

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with liners, set aside. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the butter and 1/4 cup of milk. Mix on medium speed until smooth, about 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. In another bowl, blend the eggs, egg white, remaining 1/4 cup milk and vanilla. Add to the batter in 3 additions, mixing for 2 minutes on medium speed after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl in between additions.

To make the filling, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside until ready to fill the cupcake tins. When ready to fill, place about 1 1/2 tbsn. of cake batter into each muffin liner. Sprinkle with about 1/2 tsp of filling, then top with 1 1/2 tbsn. more of cake batter over the filling. Smooth the surface with the back of a spoon then use a toothpick to drag through the batter to distribute the cinnamon filling. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. To make the frosting, use a mixer to blend all of the ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Pipe or spread onto the cupcakes. Top with coarse sugar and cinnamon if desired.