Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
and a birthday party!
My birthday party, to be exact!
I wanted to tell y'all all about what we did and some of the awesome baking presents I got!
But before that, let's talk cupcakes, shall we?
This was a really easy recipe from Averie Cooks because it only needed one bowl! Now that being said, I don't know if it was the best cupcake recipe or if I just needed to make some tweaks which I did not do. I'm gonna go with a little of both.
First, I should have used cake flour instead of all purpose. I'm just going to say it, cakes and cupcakes turn out better when you use cake flour. It's a thing for a reason, and when I use it I can really see and taste a difference. I've found that using all purpose flour gives my cakes a cornbread-y taste and a drier, coarser texture whereas the cake flour makes light and fluffy cakes with a sweet, cake-y taste.
Second, this batter was extremely thick and the cupcakes came out a little lumpy, almost like drop biscuits a la Red Lobster.
But look at how cute the cupcake papers are! I got a package of 75 from TJ Maxx and they're in three different animal prints! Giraffe, zebra and cheetah prints! Then I also actually got two packages of polka dot wrappers from World Market. One is pink and purple dots and the other is blue and green and they each have 50 wrappers in them! I feel like I never have enough cupcake wrappers, but hopefully I won't run out of these soon.
Those wrappers were just random shopping for my party, though. I got some seriously stinkin' adorable gifts! I got this super cute measuring cup and spoon set and the spoons look like daisies and the cup is a little pot and it has a holder lid for the spoons! And I also got a ladybug kitchen timer! So cute!
Then I got a mini bundt pan and they kind of look like hurricanes but also like swirly swirls! It's super cool and thoughtful and I love it!
And I got a Pioneer Woman cookbook, which I absolutely love!
Then for the non-baking presents, I got a Vera Bradley lanyard which is purple and pink and so pretty and a few gift cards and some other random stuff! I love it all so much and am so thankful to my wonderful friends!
And from my family I got a few baking books, one of which is The Elements of Dessert, which just so happens to be written by a professor at the CIA! And yes, it is that CIA. The Culinary Institute of America, of course! It's super scientific and cool, which I love since I've been lusting over Modernist Cuisine for years and it's up the same alley.
Back to the cupcakes and the party, the original plan was to do a sort of cupcake decorating type thing with different candies and such. So I got mini Reese's cups, Rolos, normal and peanut butter M&M's, sour gummy worms, Swedish Fish and Twizzlers which I cut into bite sized pieces.
Everyone came over and we played games and hung out and ate pizza and carrots and fruit salad (three bowls of fruit salad!) but never really got around to the cupcake decorating. But we ate the candy so it was okay!
Recipe (from Averie Cooks):
Cupcakes
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (you could also use sour cream)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 heaping cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Splash of milk
Melt butter and pour into a large bowl. Let it cool for a little bit, then mix in the egg and yolk, sugar, yogurt and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a different bowl and add it to the wet ingredients in two parts. Scoop batter into cupcake pans and bake at 350 for 18-19 minutes.
Beat butter until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes) and sift in cocoa powder and beat. Add sugar and vanilla and beat together. Pour in enough milk to make it a decent consistency for your needs. You can add more milk to thin it or more sugar to thicken.
My birthday party, to be exact!
I wanted to tell y'all all about what we did and some of the awesome baking presents I got!
But before that, let's talk cupcakes, shall we?
This was a really easy recipe from Averie Cooks because it only needed one bowl! Now that being said, I don't know if it was the best cupcake recipe or if I just needed to make some tweaks which I did not do. I'm gonna go with a little of both.
First, I should have used cake flour instead of all purpose. I'm just going to say it, cakes and cupcakes turn out better when you use cake flour. It's a thing for a reason, and when I use it I can really see and taste a difference. I've found that using all purpose flour gives my cakes a cornbread-y taste and a drier, coarser texture whereas the cake flour makes light and fluffy cakes with a sweet, cake-y taste.
Second, this batter was extremely thick and the cupcakes came out a little lumpy, almost like drop biscuits a la Red Lobster.
But look at how cute the cupcake papers are! I got a package of 75 from TJ Maxx and they're in three different animal prints! Giraffe, zebra and cheetah prints! Then I also actually got two packages of polka dot wrappers from World Market. One is pink and purple dots and the other is blue and green and they each have 50 wrappers in them! I feel like I never have enough cupcake wrappers, but hopefully I won't run out of these soon.
Those wrappers were just random shopping for my party, though. I got some seriously stinkin' adorable gifts! I got this super cute measuring cup and spoon set and the spoons look like daisies and the cup is a little pot and it has a holder lid for the spoons! And I also got a ladybug kitchen timer! So cute!
Then I got a mini bundt pan and they kind of look like hurricanes but also like swirly swirls! It's super cool and thoughtful and I love it!
And I got a Pioneer Woman cookbook, which I absolutely love!
Then for the non-baking presents, I got a Vera Bradley lanyard which is purple and pink and so pretty and a few gift cards and some other random stuff! I love it all so much and am so thankful to my wonderful friends!
And from my family I got a few baking books, one of which is The Elements of Dessert, which just so happens to be written by a professor at the CIA! And yes, it is that CIA. The Culinary Institute of America, of course! It's super scientific and cool, which I love since I've been lusting over Modernist Cuisine for years and it's up the same alley.
Back to the cupcakes and the party, the original plan was to do a sort of cupcake decorating type thing with different candies and such. So I got mini Reese's cups, Rolos, normal and peanut butter M&M's, sour gummy worms, Swedish Fish and Twizzlers which I cut into bite sized pieces.
Everyone came over and we played games and hung out and ate pizza and carrots and fruit salad (three bowls of fruit salad!) but never really got around to the cupcake decorating. But we ate the candy so it was okay!
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| Post Bake |
Recipe (from Averie Cooks):
Cupcakes
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (you could also use sour cream)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 heaping cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Splash of milk
Melt butter and pour into a large bowl. Let it cool for a little bit, then mix in the egg and yolk, sugar, yogurt and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a different bowl and add it to the wet ingredients in two parts. Scoop batter into cupcake pans and bake at 350 for 18-19 minutes.
Beat butter until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes) and sift in cocoa powder and beat. Add sugar and vanilla and beat together. Pour in enough milk to make it a decent consistency for your needs. You can add more milk to thin it or more sugar to thicken.
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