Classic – Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

March 17, 2011 12 Comments

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I plan on celebrating BIG tonight. I’m moving to Switzerland in two weeks for 5 months so my girlfriends and I are celebrating to the max. Green beer, shamrock patterned shirts, green cupcakes. My life is good.

These cupcakes are a traditional vanilla cupcake with smooth and creamy buttercream frosting. I decorated them with a random assortment of green Jelly Belly’s and they turned out perfectly. Enjoy!

Vanilla Cupcakes
Adapted from the Joy of Baking
Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup milk
1-1 ½ recipes vanilla buttercream frosting

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners. Set pan aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides and beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest, if using.
3. 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 mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. Fill the muffin cups with the batter 3/4 full and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in pan 5 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
5. Prepare frosting. Decorate cooled cupcakes as desired.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Recipe from Bakerella and makes enough for 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups icing sugar
1-3 tsp cream

Directions:
1. Using a mixer, cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth.
2. Add sugar gradually, allowing butter and sugar to cream together before adding more.
3. If you want your frosting a little creamier, add a teaspoon of cream/milk one tsp at a time and beat on high until you get the right texture.
4. Use your favorite icing colours to tint the frosting!…Irish green in my case.

Filed Under: Cakes/Cupcakes, Themes Tagged With: , ,

Sexy Red Velvet

February 12, 2010 1 Comment

Whoaaaa cupcakes! Cupcake fever is NOT over yet. You’d think it would be considering the Olympic Cupcakes I just decorated the crap out of. But no. Nothing says “I love you” like a moist, tasty, red velvet cupcake. Decorated to a tee I might add.

Cupcakes are great because they’re a way to express how you feel about a subject simply by decorating it out. By looking at my designs you can see some of the fun colours, and sayings that remind me of Valentines day.

I must say that I haven’t always been a fan of Valentines day. Of course I liked the seasonal chocolates that came out, but “single Katrina” found this day kind of depressing. Eventually though, I started spending this lovey-dovey day with my girlfriends, and found it rather enjoyable. So whether you’re hitched, dating, or single, mix up some yummy Valentines day treats and share them with your loved ones. Heck, make the treats together!! It’s a blast and will surely be a day to remember. It doesn’t have to be the actual 14th either. I celebrated my Valentines day on the 11th, because the 14th is going to be too busy. But it’s not the DAY that matters, it’s the person/people you spend the day with that do :)

Red Velvet Cupcakes
This Red Velvet cupcake recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker, and yields 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons red gel food coloring
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Directions:
1. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Turn mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

2. In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets colour.

3. Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

4. Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar. Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.

5. Spoon batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.

6. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting with buttercream frosting.

Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons cream

Directions:
1. Using a mixer, cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth.
2. Add sugar gradually, allowing butter and sugar to cream together before adding more.
3. If you want your frosting a little creamier, add a teaspoon of milk at a time and beat on high until you get the right texture.
4. Use lots of food colouring to tint your frosting the colour of your choice!

Filed Under: Cakes/Cupcakes, Themes Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Olympian Cupcakes

February 11, 2010 3 Comments

Who’s excited for the olympics?? I am, I am! And guess who’s going to win every event? CANADA! Duh…

To kick off the Olympic beginnings I knew I had to make something decorative. So naturally my mind turned to cupcakes. All week I’ve been planning these sugar-babies out. I’ve been thinking about their colours, and batter flavours, and it made me feel like a little girl again. When I was younger my Nanny would always let me use whatever I wanted to decorate the cupcakes, and like me (or should I say like her?), she loves decorating for themed events. Guess it runs in the family!

When it comes to themes, I go absolutely nuts. I love any excuse to bake something fun and try out different variations of whatever it is I’m doing. In this case I chose to make two kinds of cupcakes – a chocolate cupcake, and a yellow buttermilk cupcake both topped with a yummy buttercream icing. They were a blast to make.

The black and white cupcakes are the symbols of some of the main sports (alpine skiing, bobsleigh, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, ski jumping, snowboarding) that will be played this winter, and the coloured men are the symbol for the entire olympics this year.

My favorite winter olympic sport has always been figure skating. Yes, another childhood dream that was crushed at an early age. Recently, I’ve tried to re-live that dream on the Rideau canal (huge outdoor skating rink in Ottawa) and realized I would probably need to learn how to stop before becoming Elvis Stojko’s partner. A girl can dream.

So, if you like to bake, decorate, and pretend you’re in the olympics, these cupcakes are for you.

The BEST Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cups vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and line cupcake tins

2. In a large bowl sift together dry ingredients. Add eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for a couple of minutes until smooth and silky. Stir in boiling water until blended.

3. Fill cupcake tins with batter and bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes.

Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes

From Martha Stewarts Cupcakes book

Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cake flour
3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/8 tsp vanilla
1 1/8 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/8 cups sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line cupcake tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. With an electric mixer cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add yolks, and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each. Beat in vanilla.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups.

4. Bake until cake tested comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool for 10 minutes, then turn the cupcakes out onto the racks to cool completely.

Smooth Buttercream Frosting

Taken from the amazing Bakerella

This recipe will be enough for 18 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups icing sugar
1-3 tsp cream

Directions:
1. Using a mixer, cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth.

2. Add sugar gradually, allowing butter and sugar to cream together before adding more.

3. If you want your frosting a little creamier, add a teaspoon of milk at a time and beat on high until you get the right texture.

4. Use your favorite icing colours to tint the frosting!

Filed Under: Cakes/Cupcakes, Themes Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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