Happy Birthday Cupcakes!

While up in Big Bear, a neighbor friend of my dad's was celebrating a birthday.  Her husband made a Mexican feast of carne asada, refried beans, rice and sweet delicious peppers sauteed with a little oil and Worcestershire sauce (not sure how "Mexican" that is, but they were delicious!) and invited a few of us over to eat.  To help round out the meal, I offered to bring dessert.  I thought cupcakes would be festive and fun so I went to my "go to" baking cookbook (online) - the Joy of Baking - and found an easy sweet recipe for vanilla cupcakes.  They came out great!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Butter cream Frosting (from http://www.joyofbaking.com/)
Vanilla Cupcakes:
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 large lemon (outer yellow skin)
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

Butter cream Frosting:
2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk or light cream

Vanilla Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.



In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. If you want flat topped cupcakes then slice off the dome of each cupcake, with a sharp knife, before frosting. If you want to pipe the frosting, I like to use a large Wilton 1M star decorating tip.

For the Frosting: In an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed. Tint the frosting with desired food color (I use the paste food coloring that is available at cake decorating stores and party stores).


Makes about 12 cupcakes
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't use the lemon rind because we didn't have any lemons in the house.  Also, after making the butter cream, I thought the cupcakes looked a little too...plain.  Too white on white.  I am not a fan of using food coloring, so I looked around to see what I could add to the icing to make them a little more festive.  I separated the butter cream into two bowls. We had a bowl full of peaches fresh from a friend's tree so I peeled a few of those and added the crushed fruit and juice to half a bowl of the butter cream.  In the other bowl, I added chocolate powder.  The chocolate butter cream was really delicious and super sweet.  The peach butter cream was more of a chunky peach glaze that was really amazing.  Those went quicker than the chocolate, but I am happy to say all twelve cupcakes were eaten pretty quickly.

Do you have a favorite birthday cake recipe?  What do you like to bring to a birthday party?  Feel free to share here!

Chow for Now!  :)

In a Key Lime state of mind

It all started with my cousin sharing a link to a great baking blog after she made home made thin mint cookies.  I started perusing the site and stopped short when I saw a recipe for Graham Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting.  I knew I had to make them!

I happened to pick up a bag of key limes at the grocery store to make a key lime pie for a lunch I'm going to this week and I knew I'd have leftover limes... what better to make with those limes than CUPCAKES!

Key limes are smaller, thinner skinned, seedier, juicier and more acidic than regular limes.  They are not exclusive to the Keys in Florida but they were brought there years ago. I've never cooked with them and have always wanted to try them.  What a treat!

The cupcake recipe is below.  Stay tuned for my key lime pie pictures in a day or two.

Graham Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

CUPCAKES
1 cup flour
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Mix flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Beat in butter gradually. Beat in sugar and mix thoroughly. Beat in eggs, then vanilla and milk until just mixed. Pour into lined cupcake pan. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out almost clean. (Check after 15 minutes so they don't get over cooked).

FROSTING
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 stick butter, room temp.
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 T key lime juice (approx 2-3 limes)

Mix together ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Frost cupcakes. Top with a lime slice and a sprinkle of crumbs.  Makes 12 cupcakes.

---------------------------------------------------------------

They do taste as good as they look.  :)

A hint: I used a coffee grinder to grind the graham crackers down to fine flour-like crumbs for the batter, but you could also just place a few cookies in a ziplock and roll a rolling pin over them.  It's just as effective. 

What should I do with the remaining limes (if I have any?)  Perhaps a cocktail?  Do you have a favorite lime flavored dish or drink that you'd like to share?

Chow for Now!  :)