Cupcake & Frosting Recipe

Okay, as promised, the recipes for the cupcakes (and frosting) I made yesterday.  You're gonna love them!

Tried & True Vanilla Cupcakes

1 1/4 cake flour

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325-degrees.  Line muffin tin.  In a big mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Then add one stick of butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, mixing until you've got small pearls.  In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients: eggs, milk, vanilla.  With the mixer on medium (or, if your like me, with a wooden spoon), add wet ingredients slowly, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.  Mix as little as you can, just until everything's incorporated.  Divide batter evenly into muffin tin and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Makes 12 cupcakes.

Variations: Add a dash of any extract you can think of: lemon, lavender, they're all good.  White chocolate chips never hurt anybody.  Try adding two bags of dry Earl Grey tea for a really elegant little cake.

Dream Buttercream Frosting

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter

In a large metal mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Place a mixing bowl over a saucepan simmering with one inch of water and begin to whisk.  Whisk until the egg mixture is the texture of a velvety custard, technically 160-degrees if you have a thermometer.  Remove from heat, and beat for five minutes, or until eggs are light and fluffy and cooled to room temperature.  Then, add butter a tablespoon at a time, waiting for each pice to incorporate before adding the next.

The secret here is to just keep whisking.  If your frosting isn't setting up, try popping the whole bowl into the freezer for five minutes, and then beat some more.  When it happens, the frosting will come together all at once: satiny and beyond delicious.  Frosts 12 cupcakes.  (In my experience, it could have frosted probably 24 cupcakes.  I'll use the leftover for a cake.)

Variations: Here, as with all vanilla frostings, the sky's the limit.  Cocoa powder, maple, molasses, lemon and orange extract, rose and lavender -- the choices are endless.  But the beauty of this frosting is the delicacy of the vanilla flavor.

If you do decide to make the cupcakes, let me know how yours turned out!  Especially if you do any of the variations... the Earl Grey sounds particularly intriguing.

Cupcake Heaven

My sweet little recipe boxes from Fab.com arrived today -- Small Bites, and Cupcakes.  I was eager to dive right in, but a little nervous, because baking just isn't my thing.  Ask my boyfriend how those "ready to bake" cookies turned out the other day... ugh.  But I was determined, absolutely set on making my cupcakes and frosting from scratch.  Birds & blokes, I was not disappointed.

I sprinkled a little bit of orange ginger sugar on the "taste testers" -- heavenly, just perfect and delicious and fantastic and incredible.

I won't kid you, these were not easy to prepare.  I've never made cupcakes from scratch, but aside from accidentally using 4 eggs instead of the called-for 2, I did alright.  But the frosting?  That is a true exercise in patience. And, arm strength.  But it paid me back ten-fold in the end, with the most delicious cupcakes in the world.  I'll post the recipe soon, but until then, drool in envy at the sight of my gorgeous creation.

What I Ate... Fourth Week of April

I did manage to make one good meal at home this week.  Last Sunday was spaghetti and meatballs, much to the delight of my 'fella (who always asks "Is there meat?" when I tell him what I'm making for dinner).

We also had garlic bread with fresh garlic and parsley, which was pungent, but very good.

A co-worker was selling cupcakes to raise money for breast cancer, so I did indulge in a few of those...

Another co-worker brought biscotti and Italian wedding cookies back (from Spiaggia?), which was an absolute delight with my morning coffee.

On Friday I indulged in a very expensive -- (for me... $9!?) cobb salad, but the thing was HUGE, and so so yummy -- from Pauly's Pizzeria.

Seriously, look at the height on this salad!

I have sort-of plans to get some groceries tonight, and possibly actually make dinner, but I also have a hankering for salt and pepper tofu or shrimp, so I might only get as far as calling for Chinese take-out.  Sigh... laziness, I know.  :)