I know I said that maybe 2012 would be the year of the cupcake, the year I finally conquered the miniature cakes that have taken the world by storm. As it turned out, however, there was still some cupcake left in The Sweets Life 2011. A manager in Ryan’s group has been enjoying the treats I’ve sent into work with him (most recently
pumpkin snickerdoodles and a pie that you do NOT want to miss…to be posted soon!) and asked if I’d be willing to make 3 dozen cupcakes for him to take to a Halloween party.
At first I balked. Cupcakes? Me? I even mentioned that Ryan might want to convince him to bring something else, like pumpkin whoopie pies. According to Ryan, Rex was set on cupcakes and so I crossed my fingers and accepted the job!
He asked for 1 ½ dozen white cupcakes and 1 ½ dozen chocolate cupcakes. I settled on a chocolate cupcake recipe pretty easily, which you’ll be privy to tomorrow (dare I say the best cupcake to come from my kitchen?). When it came to white cupcakes I was stuck. I debated for awhile between fellow STL blogger Stef’s Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake and Baked Perfection’s Sugar Cookie Cupcakes, two totally different recipes. I went with the Sugar Cookie Cupcakes because I was so intrigued by the description, having never heard of or tried a sugar cookie cupcake. That being said, I have big plans to make the ultimate vanilla cupcake sometime soon, as I have no doubt the Cupcake Queen’s creation is indeed ultimate!
To be honest, I think people would have been perfectly happen eating little cupfuls of the batter…I’ve tasted a LOT of batter (and consequently raw eggs, I realize) and this was by far one of the best! The finished product was equally successful. The cupcakes were a little denser than you might anticipate in a cupcake, but the flavor was spot-on in capturing both “sugar cookie” and “cupcake”. To up the Halloween factor on these cupcakes, I divided the batter in three and layered orange, yellow, and white batters to make CANDY CORN cupcakes. Topped with creamy buttercream and a few pieces of candy corn, these are particularly festive. Halloween is still two days away—you have more than enough time to whip up a batch!
Thank you Rex for forcing me to continually work on my cupcake skills and thank you Grandma for the perfect dish to photograph these on!
One Year Ago: Cranberry Bliss Bars (Just like Starbucks!)
Candy Corn Sugar Cookie Cupcakes
cupcake recipe from Baked Perfection, candy corn tutorial from Treats
Ingredients:
-1 cup butter, softened
-2 cups sugar
-3 eggs
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-3 cups all-purpose flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 cups sour cream
-buttercream frosting (recipe below)
Directions:
1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. in a mixing bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
3. Add the dry mixtures to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick).
4. Divide the batter evenly into 3 mixing bowls. With food coloring, make one bowl orange and another bowl yellow. Leave the last bowl white.
5. Beginning with the yellow batter, divide it evenly among paper lined muffin pans (recipe makes ~30 cupcakes). Continue with the orange batter and finish with the white batter.
6. Bake cupcakes at 350F for 25-30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Once cupcakes have cooled completely, frost with buttercream and top with candy corn.
Vanilla Buttercream
from Baked Bree
Ingredients:
-2 sticks butter, at room temperature
-3 cups confectioners' sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2-3 tbsp heavy cream
Directions:
1. Cream butter in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, at least 3 minutes.
2. Add confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla and 2 tbsp of heavy cream. If the frosting is too thick, add a little more cream until it is the desired consistency.
