A TALE OF THREE CUPCAKES

What a great weekend!  It was busy, but rewarding.  Heading into the weekend, there were three major events to prepare for: Kennedy's recital and Nick's birthday get together on Saturday, and the McKenzie Family Reunion on Sunday.

On top of the events and celebratiosn, I knew this weekend would be filled with cupcake baking.  I just did not know how much.  It started at 6am on Saturday.  There was so much baking to do, my mind and body woke up without an alarm, ready to create sweetness!

Nick requested the Carrot Cake Cupcakes for his birthday, so I was glad to oblige.  I started with these on Saturday morning.  The smell of carrot cake on a cool Saturday morning makes you happy to be alive!  While the Carrot Cake Cupcakes were baking, I started on the Angel Food Cupcakes with Whipped Cream topping and fresh strawberries, which were going to be for the Reunion.  I had made this recipe once before for Bill's birthday.  His birthday falling in February, the stawberries are fresh, which complement the angel food and whipped cream wonderfully.

Let me just tell you right off....this recipe is quite a challenge.  To say the least.  A wonderful sweet treat, when it's done right.  The first batch (at about 7am), did not turn out well.  I think my problem was not using the stand mixer.  I somehow thought I was going to get enough horsepower from my arms to blend 12 egg whites to a medium peak.  WRONG!  So, take my advise, if you're trying this recipe: use the mixer!

While my epic fail Angel Food Cupcakes were baking, I had started on the cookie dough balls for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes.  I decided to make these because this is Phillip's FAVORITE cupcake.  He's mentioned it a few times since I made it originally.  It is quite a process to make, but it's sssssooo worth it.

The dough ball recipe makes quite a bit more than the 24 needed for the cupcakes.  So, this time I made larger than usual dough balls.  I thought they might provide an extra punch of flavor to the cupcakes. 

With the dough balls in the freezer, I moved back to finish the Carrot Cake Cupcakes and Cream Cheese Frosting.  I was able to get them baked and frosted before heading to Kennedy's recital.  I was not going to be late for this special day!!!

The kids did not disappoint.  Kenendy, Emma, Ian, and Marissa did an awesome job at the recital.  Emma's and Kennedy's classes each did a tap and a ballet routine.  Marissa's class did a cool jazz number to Men in Black, complete with surprise ending! :)  Emma and Ian's Hip Hop class did an amazing mash up that had all the kids dancing, skipping, and jumping all around the stage: Bow Chicka Wow Wow!  If you ever have a chance to attend such an event, I highly encourage you to go.  The kids are so full of heart and talent!

Kennedy and Marissa waiting backstage before the recital.



Ian and Emma all dolled up!

 

Emma and Kennedy posing before rehearsal.

After the recital and lunch, I got up the courage and tried the Angel Food Cake recipe again.  I was not going to let this recipe beat me.  I have not met an baked goods recipe I feared.  From a young age, I've enjoyed baking.  I entered a baking contest with a strawberry muffin recipe when I was in 4H and won.  Also, when I was younger (don't ask my age at the time, because I've slept since then), Ms. Ethel (Bill's Mom) and I made a Stollen for fun one weekend.  From scratch.  What a nice memory she gave me.

Anyway, back to 2012....I find that baking in general is very scientific.  The recipe has to be precise with just the right amount of salt, sugar, and levening agents required to make the perfect treat.  Angel food cake recipes are even more of a science project than other cupcakes.  If you've not worked with meringues or egg whites, be patient.  Give the mixer time and don't rush the process (like I obviously did the first time).

With more patience, these turned out much better!!!  I must warn you, though, this recipe makes 24+ odd-shaped cupcakes.  The cake rises and expands, then contracts after baking, causing them to look deformed.  The paper liners don't have much form.  I think next time I'll try to find stiffer liners, or may make them in a cup or mason jar.  Stay tuned....

After the sense of accomplishment on the Angel Food cupcakes, I knew the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ones would be a breeze.  So, I mixed up the batter and proceeded with confidence.  As you can see, the cookie dough balls are quite large.  The larger dough size makes for a nice filling.

Even unfrosted, the cupcakes look YUMMY!  See the cookie dough peaking through???

Finally, the finished product!!

When the kids tasted these on Saturday night, the reaction was amazing.  They all said "These are the best cupcakes we've ever had!".  I must admit, they are pretty amazing.  I took a sampling of the three cupcakes to the McKenzie family reunion and they were also well received.  It's great to see the smiles and to have the happy customers. 

The McKenzie Clan were also happy because of the ribs and brisket Pops made.  Pops put the meat on at midnight and was up every two hours thereafter tending to the precious meat.  What a wonderul treat!!!  The meal and the company was quite memorable.  Thanks to all the folks that came out and celebrated our kinship.

It was quite a weekend.  I had an awesome time making the sweet treats, juggling the events, and sharing the special times with everyone.  There is never a better excuse for celebrating than gathering with family and friends.  Make it special.

Now for the recipe...

Angel Food Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 c. super fine sugar (alternatively, blend regular sugar in food processor for 3 minutes)
• 1 c. cake flour, not self-rising 
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 12 egg whites (the closer to room temperature, the better)
• 1/3 c. warm water
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine one cup of the sugar with the cake flour and salt.  Sift to remove any clumps and lumps.
• Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, in a large bowl, whisk egg whites, water, vanilla extract, and cream of tartar until frothy.
• Slowly mix in the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar.  
• Keep beating until the mixture looks like a fluffy white cloud (medium peaks).
• Dust the top of the foam with a little bit of the flour mixture and, using a spatula, gently fold it in.
• Continue adding flour and gently folding it in until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.
• Fill cupcake liners almost all of the way to the top.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.
• Let cupcakes cool in pans on wire racks.
• Top with Whipped Cream and fresh strawberries.

Yields 24 cupcakes

Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 1 c. white sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

• Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, blend all ingredients together until thick.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cookie dough:

• 2 sticks softened butter
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 4 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2-1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:

• 3 sticks softened butter
• 1-1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
• 4 large eggs
• 2-2/3 c. all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the cookie dough:

• Combine the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 mins.
• Beat in milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth.
• Beat in the flour and salt until just combined.
• Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Using a 1.5 tbsp scoop, shape the dough into balls or tubes.
• Freeze on a parchment lined baking sheet overnight.

 To make the cupcakes:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
• Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total).
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar.
• Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl, as needed.
• Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir together to blend.
• Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated.
• Blend in the vanilla.
• Fill the prepared cupcake liners 2/3 full with the cupcake batter.
• Place a frozen cookie dough ball on the top center of each cupcake.
• Bake at 350 for 16-18 mins.
• Let cupcakes cool in pans on wire racks.
• Top with Brown Sugar Buttercream.

Brown Sugar Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 3 sticks softened butter
• 3/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
• 3-1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

• Combine the butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the powdered sugar until smooth.
• Beat in the salt, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.
• Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips!

A TASTE OF PARADISE

It's a special day because it's the day a wonderful person was born!  A person I'm pleased to call a friend.  Lisel and I share a special bond because of our children.  We were pregnant with our daughters together.  We celebrate milestones in our and their lives.  She's just a fun and vibrant person to be around. 

So, in honor of her special day, I wanted to make a sweet treat to remind her of her childhood.  At the request of the birthday girl (thanks for the Post Lis) some really awesome Guava Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting were born!

As usual, it started with finding just the right recipe.  The cream cheese frosting from the carrot cake cupcakes is my new favorite, so it was a natural choice for these cupcakes.  As for the cupcake recipe, my search of the web found that there are lots of recipes with guava paste, guava filling, and pretty guava decorations, but I wanted something that had the guava flavor throughout.  So, when I happened upon a recipe that called for guava jam in the batter, I knew it was the one.  To make sure they're extra flavorful, I decided to put a bit of guava paste in the center and on top.  THAT should do it!

I've seen guava in the ethnic foods section of the grocery store, but I've never worked with ANY form: paste, jam, nothing!.  As expected, standing in front of the shelves of foods that I only get in restaurants, there were quite a few options.  I found a funny looking can of paste and, in a method similar to how I select my wines, the packaging was the deciding factor!  Instead of guava jam, there was guava preserves, which looked like it would do the trick. 

After I made it home with everything I needed, I mixed up the batter.  I filled about 1/2 of the cup with batter and placed a slice of the guava paste.

I was anxious to find out how they would turn out.  From the taste of the batter and the aroma during baking, I knew they just HAD to be wonderful.  Just seeing them sitting there cooling on the rack it was hard to resist.  But I did....



They finally cooled and I frosted them and topped them with the extra punch of a piece of the guava paste.  They were done! 

I just had to try one.  So Phil and I shared.  The cake is sweet and moist (similar to the effect of applesauce).  The piece of paste in the center makes it ooey, gooey and sweet!  It's another keeper! 

I was so excited for the morning when I could get the cupcakes to Lisel.  This morning I showed up at 7am at her door.  Ian greeted me, all dressed in his school uniform.  He and Emma were having breakfast.  The Birthday Girl was still getting ready.  I think she was surprised and I know she was thankful.  I'm thankful...for all the great people in my life: friends and family; friends that are like family.

Take a chance and do something unusual during the middle of the week to make the week extra special for someone else.

Angie

Now for the recipe...

 

Guava Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 c. granulated sugar
• 1/3 c. guava preserves
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. Milk
• 5 oz. guava paste

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
• In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and preserves until fluffy.
• Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
• Add vanilla, and mix well.
• Alternate adding flour mixture and milk in three additions, scraping down the bowl after each. Mix until just combined (be careful not to overmix).
• In a cupcake paper-lined muffin pan, fill each muffin cup 1/2 full with batter.  Place a piece of guava paste in the center.  Add additional batter, covering the piece of guava paste, and fill cup to 3/4 full.
• Cook for 22-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.  Rotate pan halfway through. 
• Let cupcakes cool in pans on wire racks.
• When the cupcakes are cool, top with Cream Cheese Frosting (see LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN) and serve.

 The recipe says it makes 18 cupcakes.  For me there were 15.

LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN

Happy Mother's Day!  This is my first blog post.  How fitting that I've begun my blogging adventure on Mother's Day.  It's my love of baking that I got from the wonderful Mothers in my life: my Mom, my Granny Butler, and my Granny McKenzie.  They've all shared their gifts with me.  I hope to share the gifts with my children.

This week has been THE busiest for cupcakes.  In all, I made 12 dozen of two different types of cupcakes for four events!  Wednesday night church dinner, Thursday wedding shower at work, Friday English tea for the teachers at the kids' school, and Friday fish fry at work.  That's a record for me.  It was quite the gauntlet, but I felt energized and excited for the challenge. 

The first challenge was "what to make"?  As you'll find, I get inspiration of lots of places and often times will blend recipes from different sources to find just the right cupcakes and frosting.  This week was no different.  I chose to make a special cupcake in honor of teacher appreciation week, so I discovered that Ms. Hartsfield (Mack's teacher) really likes Carrot Cake.

I searched for just the right recipe with simple yet flavorful ingredients.  I looked online at various recipes and found a carrot cake recipe that looked moist and a cream cheese frosting recipe that looked simple and sweet.  I'll admit...I've never made carrot cake so I was apprehensive about how they would turn out.  I decided that my first test of the recipe was going to be for Wednesday night church.

Each Wednesday night at our church (Indian Springs Baptist Church), about 60 members and guests join in the fellowship hall for a meal before church services.  Mom and Bill volunteered to make the meal and did not disappoint with wonderful ribs, cole slaw, and corn.  Pops and that new grill are unstoppable. 

The carrot cake cupcakes were a nice complement, along with Mom's coconut cupcakes.  They were very moist (nothing worse than a dry cupcake) and the frosting was amazing.  I think I'll keep this recipe!

For the shower on Thursday, I went more themed.  Alex and Kay are getting married on the May 19th, so his co-workers in Finance & Accounting put a shower together to honor their union.  The colors they chose for their wedding were lavender and cream.  So, the cupcakes were a vanilla cupcake (same recipe I used for the peanut butter and jelly cupcakes I made for Alexandra's pup party), which I tinted a light purple, and the new cream cheese frosting recipe I discovered.  It was a great combination!!! 

Finally, it was Thursday and the last cupcakes of the week were on the agenda.  I thought I was doing well by getting home a little early after the kids' dental appointment.  Started the cupcakes and was making great progress towards not being up until 10pm again.  I had made two batches (4 dozen), which were baking in the oven.  Then...I realized...I forgot the eggs!!  Let me tell you from experience that the recipe without eggs does not work!!!  So, what I thought would be an early night, turned out not to be.  Oh well...more time to perfect my craft.

The final product had a little twist on the decorations from the ones earlier in the week.  Since I was not going to be there to describe the flavor, I wanted to make sure the teachers clearly knew the flavor.  As it turned out, the decorations came in handy for the work cupcakes, since I had to stay home with Mack because of his knee injury (another story).

I'm glad the weekend came.  Phil had to open the store both days, but Kennedy, Mack and I have spent the time just hanging around the house, enjoying each other's company and recovering.  I've opened my gifts (thanks Mom) and Mack made me a cup of coffee!  It was delicious!  We'll enjoy a nice church service and I think a pedicure is on the agenda, too. :)  For all the Mothers in my life, I hope you have a wonderful day filled with love and most importantly time with your children!

Thank you for visiting and reading about my week's cupcake adventures.  I promise to get better at telling the story of my cupcakes and the people I've made them for.

-Angie 

Now for the recipe..

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

·         Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

·         Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

·         Add the eggs, 1 at a time.

·         In another bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

·         With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until blended.

·         Add the grated carrots and pecans to the batter. Mix by hand until just combined.

·         Line muffin pans with paper liners. Scoop the batter into 24 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full.

·         Cook for 30-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

·         When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously with cream cheese frosting, decorate as desired, and serve.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

·         In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy.  

·         Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar.

·         Store in the refrigerator after use.