I'm pleased to announce that everyone loved my cupcakes! A couple of people stopped me and said "Oh my god, they were so good!" Not from family members or friends but from random folks I didn't know.
The bride-to-be went all out and decorated her party with unique and creative ideas. At every table she had a piece of paper explaining how they met and fell in love (or in other words, how he totally pursued her!) and provided a video booth where guests got to perform a music video for the bride and groom. Isn't that cute???
Her wedding is considered the "event of the year" in our family and I'm so excited to see what ideas she has planned. All I know is that it'll be creative, trendy and open bar. (Yes!)
And of the course the one thing I forgot to do was take pictures AT the party but don't worry, here's a couple of "before" pictures for all you doubters out there.
Top left: Carrot Cake batter Middle: Red Velvet batter Top right: Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Below: Done and decorated!
So my first day of baking went according to plan. The cupcakes turned out wonderfully moist and none of them ended up in the trash. (which is rare...under cooked, ugly etc.)
But by day two I started to panic. My white chocolate cream cheese frosting wouldn't set and kept running down the sides of my carrot and red velvet cupcakes! I refrigerated the frosted ones and within a couple of hours, it stiffened up.
Tip: It really helps to bake your cupcakes a day beforehand and store them in an airtight container (at room temperature, not refrigerated). They stayed nice and moist which made the decorating part of this process easy peasy.
So, in conclusion, I walked away from this experience with a new found respect for home bakers. It takes a whole lot of time, dedication and taste buds for things to run smoothly because seriously, I lost all sense of taste in my mouth and was on the verge of vomiting cupcake by the end of the night.
Don't get me wrong... I still love to bake but it's gonna be a while until I bust out my muffin pan again.
On a side note, (and totally unrelated to cupcakes) I wanted to share a somewhat frightening experience that happened last Sunday.
I walked into my four year old's room and found her choking on a pretzel. I sat in front of her and hooked my finger to release the pretzel that was lodged in the back of her throat. After what felt like an eternity, she immediately started to breathe again and a sense of relief rushed through my body. I'm not trying to sound super dramatic but it scared the living sh*t of me.
It's funny because a couple of nights ago I was messing with my iphone and read the First Aid app out of complete boredom. I happen to stumble upon the choking section and had no clue that I'd be using this procedure a couple of days later.
And in case you're wondering, pretzels are no longer allowed in my house... except maybe for Auntie Anne's or Wetzels. Those are delicious.
All I know is that I'm grateful she's OK and pretty much did what any mother would do. To make the long story short, I fell asleep with swollen eyes and watched an episode of Family Guy before bed.
Isn't Family Guy the cure for everything? *Stewie took Brian's Prius out for a joyride but wrecked it trying to win Justin Bieber tickets on the radio. Best.Story.Ever*
Well here's the recipes for three of my yummy cupcakes.
Make them. Eat them. Hide them from your husband because he'll eat all of them.
Tiramisu Cupcakes
Source: Adapted from Your Cup of Cake (Cupcake and filling only)
1 box White Cake Mix
2 egg whites
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup strong coffee
Filling:
8 oz mascarpone
1 tablespoon strong coffee
1/2 cup powdered sugar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with cupcake liners.
Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, gently whisk egg whites, egg, oil, buttermilk, sour
cream and vanilla.
Stir cake mix into wet ingredients.
Using half of the batter, fill cupcake liners about 1/3 full.
With the remaining cake batter, add the strong coffee and mix. *I added
2 tablespoons of flour to thicken the batter.
Scoop the coffee cake batter over the regular batter so that each
cupcake liner is filled about 3/4. (So you have one layer of vanilla cake and a
top layer of coffee cake.)
Bake for 16-20 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
Filling: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl using a spoon.
To assemble, cut a cone shaped piece of cake out the top of each
cupcake (make sure cakes are cooled). Generously spoon in your filling.
Pipe your frosting (recipe below) over the hole with the filling and
top with chocolate shavings and cocoa powder.
Coffee Buttercream Frosting
Source: Adapted from The Kitchen is My Playground (Frosting only)
1 1/2 T. instant coffee granules
1 1/2 T. water
1 1/2 T. vanilla extract
3/4 lb. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 c. confectioners' sugar
3 T. milk
DIRECTIONS
Combine water, coffee granules, and vanilla
extract in a small bowl; stir to dissolve coffee. Set aside.Beat butter in bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute.
Reduce mixer speed to low. Add confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating for a few seconds between each addition.
Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3
minutes.
Add the coffee mixture and milk; beat on low speed to
combine. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl. Increase mixer
speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 4 minutes.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Source:
Adapted from "Carrot Top" Mom (cupcake only)
2 1/4 cups flour (I use all-purpose)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat
oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix
flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
Beat
butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or
until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream,
milk, food color and vanilla.
Gradually
beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat.
Spoon
batter into 24 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
Bake 18
to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean.
Gently
remove from oven (these are super-moist, and will collapse if you aren’t
careful).
Cool in
pans on wire rack at least 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.
Frost
with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. (recipe below Carrot Cake Cupcake recipe)
*Do not
frost until totally cooled, or the frosting will slide off!*
Frost
the cupcakes generously, and serve at room temperature.
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Source: Adapted from Your Cup of Cake
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/8 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ cup oil*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded carrot, raw
½ cup crushed pineapple
1 ½ cups flour
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon*
½ teaspoon nutmeg*
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Beat eggs, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth.
Mix in oil and vanilla.
Fold in carrots and pineapple
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
Mix the dry ingredients into the
carrot mixture until just moistened. Do
not over mix.
Fold in nuts if desired.
Bake 20-25 minutes until the tops spring back.
Let cool and frost.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: Adapted from Your Cup of Cake
2 oz white chocolate
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream *
In a saucepan on LOW heat, melt white chocolate.
Stir until smooth and let cool until at room temperature.
Beat together cream cheese and butter, mix in white chocolate and
vanilla.
Gradually beat in powdered sugar until fluffy.
Mix in heavy cream.
Refrigerate in a piping bag to chill if the frosting is too soft.
Happy Baking!
Anna
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