recipe to sweet mandy B's cupcake and frosting (2024)

I got it from someone who is friends with someone who took a class at the Chopping Block.

I actually prefer the cupcakes at Southport Grocery and Cafe (http://www.southportgrocery.com).

Wow...if this is really the recipe I feel like I just won the lottery! Thank you for posting it!

Any chance you can find Sweet Mandy B's recipe for macaroons? Those are so good!

It's possible that I was mislead, or that things have changed, however, I've been going to Sweet Mandy B's since it opened, and in the early days, when I asked about the frosting, I was told that they used cream rather than milk, and that they double sifted the confectioner's sugar. These two things are part of what supposedly make the frosting so rich, yet fluffy.

If that is true, then I'm wondering if this is maybe an altered version for use at the Chopping Block. Has anybody tried making this?

The joy factory
Leah Eskin
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Cupcakes are happy food. A truth that inspired social worker Cindy Levine to open Sweet Mandy B's, named after daughter Mandy and son Brian. The bakery stocks other charms-the oversized whoopee pie, the gummy worm-graced dirt cake. But the cupcake defines and sustains its mission. The cupcake, that is, with sprinkles.

On a typical workday, head baker Josephine Oliveras turns out 1,000 tiny cakes, each of which flaunts the excess of frosting and studied sloppiness that suggests homemade. Who better to divulge the secrets of mastering the art of the cupcake?

Oliveras, slim and intent, moves through Sweet Mandy B's basem*nt kitchen with confidence earned during her Easy-Bake days in Bucktown and her petit-four nights at Tru. Scooping deftly from huge plastic bins, she shakes 48 cups of sugar and 40 cups of flour into the bowl of the mixer. One that looks like a standard kitchen model, grown 5 feet tall. "It's my guy," she says. "It's my friend."

Shifting into low gear, Oliveras adds water, milk and vanilla, pouring straight from the bottle with fearless precision. Now eggs. Oliveras smacks two at a time against the stainless-steel counter-top, opening each cleanly with a single hand. Soon glossy black streaks of batter slap the rim. Machine off, she grabs a scraper and plunges elbow deep in batter.

Now frosting. Oliveras slides behind one colleague clumping marshmallows into proto-s'mores. Another sets out pucks of dough to quell a scone emergency upstairs. Oliveras unwraps 20 pounds of butter and chucks it, quarterback style, into the bowl. Risking baker's asthma, she shakes in cocoa and powdered sugar. She dips a finger into the fluff. Frowns. Then pronounces: "Perfect."

The red ice cream scoop is reserved for portioning cold batter. Oliveras hoists a 24-count pan to her shoulder and climbs to the bright upper level. The din of preschoolers spooning up pudding is hushed, momentarily, by the thud of toddler against floor.

As the cakes bake, Oliveras turns her attention to the frosting operation, which takes place, mesmerizingly, within view of the munching public. She selects a cupcake from the cooling rack and plunges a small offset knife into a bin of buttercream. She shoves the frosting on with swift strokes, forming an unruly updo. Then pushes it down into Sweet Mandy B's signature swirl. Plus sprinkles. Another cupcake, ready for happiness duty.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Serves 24

1-1/2 cups flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa

1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup hot water

3/4 cup milk

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a heavy mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add sugar.

2. Turn the mixer on low and add, sequentially: water, milk, eggs, oil and vanilla. Scrape down sides. Beat on medium, briefly, to achieve a smooth batter.

3. Scoop the batter into muffin tins lined with paper baking cups. Each cup should be half full. Slide tins onto a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frosting.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter

3 tablespoons dark corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted

1 pound confectioner's sugar, sifted

1/2 cup whipping cream

Sprinkles, optional

1. Cream the butter in the bowl of a sturdy mixer, using the paddle attachment. Beat in the corn syrup, vanilla and salt.

2. With the machine off, spoon in the cocoa. Carefully turn the mixer on low so as to avoid cocoa asphyxiation. Do likewise for the sugar, in three parts. Last, add cream. Beat until fluffy.

3. When the cupcakes are cool, frost copiously. Shake on some sprinkles, if you like. Rejoice.

- Cut down from the massive production effort at Sweet Mandy B's