Root Beer Float Cupcakes

My love of root beer started from spending hot Texas summers at the lake. I remember a big container with ice and bottles of IBC root beer just calling my name. I think my parents had to limit me on how much I drank because I could down a 6 pack like it was nothing.

So, now that I’m older (and still obsessed with root beer) the natural thing to do was to make root beer cupcakes! I saw this recipe and couldn’t wait to make them! I honestly didn’t know there was such a thing as root beer concentrate, but there is! (Don’t doubt that I have thought about taking shots of it!)

These cupcakes were super easy and REALLY delicious. My only advice is to at least double the icing recipe…maybe triple it if you plan on using the cone method and piping it on. I ended up just using a little bit of the root beer frosting on top of the cupcake instead of coning the cupcakes because I wouldn’t have had enough.

And, while you all know I worship my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, it was kind of nice not to have to lug it out of the closet to make these. Everything was done by hand. This certainly was a different way of making cupcakes, but I enjoyed something different.

Root Beer Float Cupcakes from How Sweet Eats 

makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/8 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons root beer concentrate

1/3 cup root beer

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add cream, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Add root beer concentrate and root beer. Mix until batter is smooth. Line a muffin tin with liners and using a heaping 1/4 cup measure, add batter to each cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool before frosting.

Vanilla and Root Beer Frosting

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon root beer extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter until smooth. On low speed, add powdered sugar one cup at a time, increasing speed to bring the frosting together. Add milk and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Remove almost all of the vanilla frosting, leaving behind about 1/3-1/2 cup in the mixer. Set vanilla frosting aside. Add root beer extract to remaining frosting in the bowl and beat until it comes together.

Prep two pastry bags (or you can simply use spoons) and fill one with vanilla frosting and the other with root beer frosting. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, fill each one with root beer frosting (I simply plunge the pastry tip into the cupcake and squeeze), then top with vanilla frosting. Top with hot fudge or cocoa syrup (I didn’t do, because, let’s be honest…I forgot. I was too excited to dig in to the cupcakes!)

Cocktails and Cupcakes: Beach Party

Holy crap. It’s July. Where did June go? Seriously. I don’t know what happened to June, but I want it back!

In May, my very best friends in the world went on a girls trip to St. Thomas without me. Rude, right? Well, no. They tried everything they could to make it so I could go, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work out. So, I made one rule….Make a video assuming the camera is me and include me in on everything you do!  And that they did!

When they got back, we decided to have a watching party so we could all view the video. I wanted to make it feel like I was at the beach with them the whole time, so I decorated my dining room to be a beach party! 

On their trip, they drank a lot of pina coladas, so of course I had to make pina colada cupcakes!

Some were decorated to be a beach and the others were decorated to be sharks in water. I thought they turned out really cute!

The recipe I used really wasn’t that great of a recipe. It left a lot to the imagination and left me guessing about what to do. The icing was REALLY sweet, so I didn’t put much of it on the cupcakes. Also, it said to use EITHER cake flour or AP flour, which is weird. They really aren’t that interchangeable. I used cake flour and think they turned out a little TOO fluffy. I think AP flour would be the best.

The recipe below reflects my changes.

Pina Colada Cupcakes adapted from Mermaid Sweets

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup rum

2 ½ c. AP flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1½ sticks (3/4 c.)  unsalted butter at room temperature

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

5 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1/3 cup crushed pineapple, drained well

· Combine coconut milk and rum in a liquid measuring cup and set aside.
· In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
· Cream butter and sugar in mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 6 minutes.
· Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape as needed.
· Add vanilla, coconut extract and mix until incorporated. Add one-third of the flour mixture and mix until incorporated.
· Add half of the coconut/rum mixture and mix until incorporated. Continue to alternate dry and liquid ingredients, ending with dry ingredients. Scrape sides of bowl.
·Ggently fold in the crushed pineapple.
· Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Fill each one about 2/3 full. Bake until cake springs back when lightly pressed or skewer comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.

Rummy Buttercream Frosting

(double the recipe to pipe frosting)

½ cup butter, softened to room temp
2-2 ½ cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
coconut milk as needed (i definitely needed to add the coconut milk.)

Beat butter, sugar, and rum together with a handheld mixer at low speed until moistened, then beat at high speed to cream. Stop after a minute to scrape bowl and add vanilla. Beat till thick, fluffy and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Add small increments of confectioners’ sugar if too wet, dribble in a little coconut milk if too dry.

Sew Sweet

I bought the candy molds a loooonnnng time ago. I was waiting for the perfect occasion to make the precious little button candies. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. If these things were going to get used, then I was going to have to make it happen. It worked out that it was my turn to host Cocktails and Cupcakes, so I couldn’t think of a better time than then! The theme would be Sew Sweet and we would all wear our cute Anthropolgie aprons! (I had high hopes of setting up my sewing machine and having the girls sew something, but, alas, time got away from me.)

Of course, it was a wonderful night. We were sad to miss Erin and Mary C., but Jovi and Macee K. were able to fill the void. We ordered pizza from our FAVORITE LA Gourmet Pizza. (Shout out to Rafic, the precious delivery driver who drove out of the way to deliver to us because he recognized our names from when we used to live down there. He’s the best!)

I decided to make Red Velvet cupcakes. I felt like they were classic and festive enough for the occasion. They were delicious and oohhhh SEW cute!

I couldn’t have such a cute themed party and not decorate just a little bit! Thanks to knitting needles, yarn and some different sized hurricanes, it turned out pretty cute!

 

Jill found some really cute chalkboard wine glasses, that were perfect for C&C! We came up with some great nicknames for the night!

We had a great night, as usual. I am amazingly blessed to have such wonderful friends!

Finally, the recipe!
Red Velvet Cupcakes from Annie’s Eats

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2½ cups cake flour
1½ cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. cocoa powder (I would increase to 2-3 T. I think they needed a little more cocoa flavor.)
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1½ cups vegetable oil (I used half vegetable, half canola, only because I ran out of vegetable oil! Couldn’t tell a difference!)
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp. (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring *
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

For the frosting:*
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar.  Beat on medium speed until well blended.  Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. * Be careful with the food coloring. It will stain everything it touches!

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners.  Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.  Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract.  Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. (I used a large, unlabeled star tip to frost these cupcakes.)

This is Annie’s hint, and I followed it. Definitely plan on making extra if you’re going to pipe the frosting.*If you are big on frosting as I am, you may want to increase the quantities by 50%.  That is what I typically do for a batch of 24 cupcakes.  I usually end up with some left over, but I would rather have too much frosting than not enough!

Cheers and Beers! Lane’s 30th

It’s official. My husband is in his thirties! Does this make me a trophy wife?? Lane insisted that nothing BIG was planned for his birthday. He just wanted a nice dinner at home and then to go to Waco and tailgate for the Baylor vs A&M football game. I begrudgingly obliged. I did want to do a bunch of little things because, let’s be honest, this is a big birthday! If he didn’t want to go big, then I would do lots of little things that could add up to be big… On Thursday, I had my 7th period kids call him and, all together, say “Happy last day of your 20’s!”. That evening, we ordered Italian food from our favorite local joint, ate dinner by the fire and had lots of wine. It was a nice birthday eve.

On Friday, his birthday, I took the day off and spent it in the kitchen where I’m most happy, especially cooking for him. It started with breakfast, where his request was biscuits and gravy with an over-easy egg on top! Ok?! I can do that. I haven’t mastered eggs yet. They say that while eggs seem like the most simple thing to cook, they are actually one of the hardest. I believe it. I was really nervous to try to flip the egg in my pan, but it worked! Lane and I were both shocked! So, the day started off with a good breakfast…

He left after breakfast to run errands and do a little work, so I put fun sticky notes all over the house. They started at the front door with “30 reasons I’m glad you were born”. It then led him on a little scavenger hunt around the house. It was fun, and “not too big”.

That evening, we planned dinner at home. On the menu, we had:

-Bungalow Salad

-Baked Potatoes

-Filet Mignon

-Sour Cream Apple Pie

(All recipes previously posted) except the baked potato recipe.

I have a confession. This is shameful. Very shameful. Are you ready??

 

 

I’ve never baked a potato before!!! SHHH…

 

I just don’t prefer baked potatoes. I will eat them, but prefer mashed instead. Lane, is the opposite. So when he asked for baked potatoes I had to call my mom and ask (which I immediately forgot what she said) and then had to rely on the internet. Thankfully, the internet let me to Alton Brown, which led me to the perfect baked potato.

Baked Potatoes courtesy of Alton Brown

1 large russet potato (If it looks like Mr. Potato Head(r), you've got the right one.)

Canola oil to coat

Kosher salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees and position racks in top and bottom thirds. Wash potato (or potatoes) thoroughly with a stiff brush and cold running water. Dry, then using a standard fork poke 8 to 12 deep holes all over the spud so that moisture can escape during cooking. Place in a bowl and coat lightly with oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and place potato directly on rack in middle of oven. Place a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any drippings.

Bake 1 hour or until skin feels crisp but flesh beneath feels soft. Serve by creating a dotted line from end to end with your fork, then crack the spud open by squeezing the ends towards one another. It will pop right open. But watch out, there will be some steam.

NOTE: If you're cooking more than 4 potatoes, you'll need to extend the cooking time by up to 15 minutes.

Served with cheese, sour cream, bacon bits and green onions.

With dinner,  we opened up a bottle of wine that I bought in Napa Valley, days after Lane and I got engaged. I bought it at Merryvale, which is where we planned to have our rehearsal dinner. Sadly, our plans to marry in Napa Valley were changed due to a significant amount of family that wouldn’t be able to make it.  However, I still have such great memories of Merryvale and can’t wait to take Lane there one day! He’s had their wine several times before and requested this bottle for his birthday. I agreed, only on the notion that we’d have to go back soon and get more!

For your viewing pleasure, here’s a peek at the Merryvale Cask Room…Someday, we hope to have an anniversary party there to make up for our planned rehearsal dinner that we had to cancel.

We went to bed that evening, fat and happy!

The next day, we packed up the car and headed to Waco for the A&M/Baylor football game. Lane and I have been to every A&M/Baylor game together, except for one, since we met six years ago. So this was a fun way to end his birthday weekend.

We have good friends that own a school bus that’s been converted to an RV and painted green and gold! They take it to most home games in Waco and we planned to tailgate with them. I made a few snacks for the day since we wouldn’t really be able to eat a real meal. It was really fun to see a bunch of RANDOM people crowded around our table scarfing down my food. It was flattering! I made Pumpkin Cream Cheese dip, Caramelized Onion Dip, Banana Nut Bread and S’Mores Cupcakes (recipes below).

We had such a fun weekend and Lane said it was a great birthday. We were so happy to share it with friends. My friends, Banner and Jill came down to celebrate, as well as Lane’s best friend (and Baylor Bear!) Raymond and his girlfriend, Ashleigh. We were blessed to share the day with them.

Jill, Banner and Me, holding our “Beers and Cheers, Lane’s 30” cups I had made!

Raymond and Ashleigh

What a great birthday weekend! Happy Birthday to my best friend, husband and partner! I love you!

Recipes

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip from Creating Nirvana

(sorry, no picture. Just imagine an orange dip!)

2 cups of roasted pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin puree
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ cup brown sugar

Blend all the ingredients together. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour before serving. Serve with crackers or fruit.

(I served it with pretzels and really liked it!) This was so easy. I’ll definitely make it again.

Caramelized Onion Dip from Rachel Ray, via Peace, Love and French Fries

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp thyme
1 beef bouillon cube
1/2 cup water
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
16 oz sour cream (I used reduced fat)
3 oz cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)

Heat butter and oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat (I went between medium and medium-low). Cook onions and garlic until soft and brown, between 20-20 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes.
Add beef bouillon and water, cook until mixture is combined. Season with Worcestershire sauce, thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until combined. Cool and refrigerate mixture.
Combine sour cream and cream cheese, stir until smooth. Add chilled onion mixture and stir to combine. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

THIS IS DELICIOUS! I served it with the Cracked Pepper Triscuits, and they were perfect with it. It was GONE by the end of the tailgate.

Banana Nut Bread from Thyme and Traditions Cookbook (Glenwood Church of Christ in Tyler, Texas)

1/2 c. Sugar

2 Eggs

2 c. Flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 c. buttermilk

3 medium bananas, mashed

1 c. nuts (I used pecans)

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream sugar and eggs until fluffy. Sift together flour and baking soda, then add to butter and sugar. Ad buttermilk, bananas, nuts and vanilla. Bake 50 minutes at 350 until done.

I can’t tell you how this tasted, because, well, I never got any! I set it on the table and never saw it again! Who knows. So, if you had any or make it, let me know! I’m sure I’ll make it again soon, though, because I always have leftover bananas from my lunch. (I only like green bananas! I don’t like when they brown!)

S’Mores Cupcakes

(I don’t know where I found this recipe, so I can’t site a source! I’m so sorry. If it’s yours, let me know. I’ll be happy to credit you.)

Graham Cracker & Milk Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup finely crushed graham crackers

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (I reduced this to 1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk (room temp)
4 hershey's milk chocolate bars (I pulsed mine in the food processor to make them a lot smaller)

Swiss Meringue Marshmallow Frosting (NOT BUTTERCREAM)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 egg whites
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix flour, crushed graham crackers, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and milk and beat until batter is almost smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Spoon batter into cupcake papers, filling cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool.
5. To make the frosting: Combine egg whites and sugar in the top of a double boiler (or a glass bowl over but not touching a pan of simmering water). Whisk constantly over medium-high heat until mixtures reaches 160°F, about 5 minutes. Pour egg white mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high for 6 minutes or until room temperature. Add optional vanilla extract 1 teaspoon at a time until desired flavor.
6. Frost cooled cupcakes and sprinkle with grated milk chocolate or graham cracker crumbs.

I actually ran out of eggs, and didn’t make the meringue frosting. I ended up making just a basic cream cheese/buttercream icing. I also molded hershey’s into the lego shape with a lego ice tray! Lane LOVED Legos as a child, so I thought it was a fun touch.

I have amazing friends.

I speak the truth. I am so blessed to have truly amazing friends. It blows my mind that some of those friends I’ve known for more than 15 years. Some of the others, we’re working on 10 years of friendship (which sadly means that we’re getting old because we met in college). I am beyond blessed to have a group of about 6 women that love me unconditionally and want to actually hang out with me. I still don’t get it, but I’ll continue to be their friend until they realize how big of a dork I am.

My very best friend, Mary C., had a birthday last week and even though she cooked dinner for us on her own birthday, I had to make her birthday cupcakes. I searched and searched for the perfect recipe for her and came across this one. And, let me tell you, these are definitely perfect. The three pieces don’t exactly taste great on their own, however, when you put them all together, they will blow your mind. If they didn’t take 4 hours to make, I might make them every day. They are so delicious. I thought about leaving out the ganache, and I’m so glad I didn’t. It’s the glue that pulled everything together. Enjoy!

Guiness and Bailey’s Irish Cream Cupcakes from Annie’s Eats

Yield: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the Guinness chocolate cupcakes:
1 cup stout (Guinness)
16 tbsp. unsalted butter
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Bailey’s ganache filling:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. Bailey’s Irish cream

For the Bailey’s buttercream frosting:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-8 tbsp. Bailey’s Irish cream

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.  Combine the stout and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the eggs and sour cream to blend.  Add the stout-butter mixture and beat just to combine.  Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed just until incorporated.  Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling them about 2/3 to ¾ full.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the ganache filling, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Heat the cream in a small saucepan until simmering, then pour it over the chocolate.  Let sit for one minute and then whisk until smooth.  If the chocolate is not completely melted, place the bowl over a double boiler or give it a very short burst in the microwave (15-20 seconds).  Add the butter and Bailey’s and stir until combined.

Set aside to let the ganache cool until it is thick enough to be piped.  (You can use the refrigerator to speed the cooling process, but be sure to stir every 10 minutes or so to ensure even cooling.)  Meanwhile, cut out a portion from the center of the cupcake using the cone method (a small paring knife works best for this).  Once the ganache has reached the correct consistency, transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a wide tip and pipe it into the cupcakes. SIDE NOTE: the cone method makes me so sad! It’s such a waste of delicious cupcake. You could definitely keep the little cones and make a trifle type dessert or little bite sized dessert.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Gradually add the powdered sugar until it is all incorporated.  Mix in the Bailey’s until smooth.  Add more if necessary until the frosting has reached a good consistency for piping or spreading.  Frost the cupcakes as desired.

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes

I love fall in Texas. The weather is perfect, people are happy and the food just seems to taste better. I love the flavor of pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cake…I just love it. Every year, however, there seems to be a canned pumpkin shortage (guess I’m not the only one that loves me some pumpkin!) so when I came across this recipe, I immediately went to the store and bought my pumpkin…we’ll just say that there will be no pumpkin shortage in this house this year!

A dinner was planned with my very best girlfriends and I knew that would be the best place to try out this recipe. These cupcakes were delicious! Lane said they were some of the best he’s had. They are moist and flavorful and just perfect. I will be making them again very soon!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes from Martha Stewart via Sing for your Supper
*Makes 32 cupcakes (I halved the recipe, because Lord knows we don’t need 32 cupcakes in our house!)

4 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed (I used my stand mixer with paddle attachment), cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until just combined. Add pumpkin; beat until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.
Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be refrigerated up to 3 days in airtight containers.

Frost with cream cheese frosting, if desired.

Weddings are F.U.N.

This past weekend, Lane had the honor of serving as a groomsman for one of his best friends, Brandon. I of course, was so excited to join! Brandon and Courtney got married overlooking beautiful Lake Travis in Austin and we had an amazing weekend. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to catch up with some of Lane’s friends that we don’t see very often.

(Sadly, I took lots of pictures at the rehearsal, and not a lot at the wedding)

One of my favorite parts of the weekend, though, was that Lane and I were both reminded of how wonderful marriage is and how blessed we are to have each other.  This was our first wedding to attend together since our own, so it was really amazing to get a new perspective on how special of an event it is. We were so excited for Brandon and Courtney to experience this magical thing called marriage! Listening to the ceremony really made my heart smile. To have a partner and best friend for life is such an incredible thing. I know B & C are going to love being married!

It was also  really fun to catch up with our friends Bobby and Leslie. They live on the other side of the state and have crazy schedules, so we really enjoyed spending time with them…especially at 3 a.m. driving around Austin. :-)

 

So, yay for weddings. Fun for all and what an incredible gift from God!

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." …For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:18 & 24

And finally, I couldn’t post without mentioning my new obsession..Hey Cupcake! I’ll spare you the story, but I call little Airstream RV’s “nuggets” and really want one. Well, when I came across a Cupcake Nugget…I almost had a heart attack. I really want one!! Sadly, they were closed when we went so I didn’t get to taste, but you can guarantee that I will be back!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Chocolate ButterCreamCheese icing!Yes, please!

(sorry for the crappy picture. My tiny camera is not as awesome as my mom's Nikon D90 that I was using.)

Wow. Seriously, these are amazing cupcakes. I wanted a recipe for vanilla cupcakes, but really wanted it to be extraordinary. I wanted people to tell that they were homemade and not from a box. So, when I came across Annie's Eats version, I was sold. Everything Annie makes is amazing, so I knew these would be as well! Plus, I got to use a vanilla bean, which I have always seen used on cooking shows so I felt super chef-like using one. I had a bit of a hard time locating the vanilla bean in my mega grocery store (no thanks to the man who said "no, i've never seen one in the 5 years I worked here." Little did he know, they were right over his shoulder. It was really fun to be able to split it and reveals its amazing goodness. This batter makes at least 28 cupcakes so my little KA stand mixer was working hard, but I am glad I had a stand mixer to make them. I don't know if it would be possible without one because it takes quite a bit of time to make them and it's nice to walk away while everything's mixing.

I first made them for Jake's birthday sports cupcakes but I'm not sure Jake's 5 year old classmates had the palate to distinguish the vanilla bean goodness, but they ended up looking cute!

After Jake's birthday cupcakes, I decided to make them again for my monthly Cupcakes and Cocktails girl's night, and our family's crawfish boil. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the finished product until after they had been tossed around in their storage container, hence the horrible picture above. Anywho, they were even more delicious the second time around. The girls couldn't get enough at C&C! The chocolate buttercreamcheese (you have to say it all as one word!) is AH.MAY.ZING. I have to really talk myself out of making a batch just to eat with a spoon by itself. I discovered it from the genius that is Bakerella and it is my new favorite icing recipe! Enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes from Annie's Eats

3 cups cake flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. Set aside.In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together and set aside. Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the bowl of the mixer with the butter and discard the pod (or reserve for another use.) Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and creamy in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for one more minute.

 Add the sugar to the butter mixture, ¼ cup at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Mix in the eggs one at a time until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Combine the buttermilk and the vanilla extract in a liquid measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

 Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners, filling each about 2/3 of the way full (you will likely have batter left over after filling 24 wells.) Make sure you don't over-fill the liners. It makes for a mess...trust me. Bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Replace paper liners and bake remaining batter if desired. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Yield: approximately 30 cupcakes

Chocolate ButterCreamCheese Icing adapted from Bakerella

1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ( I used the normal Hershey's Cocoa powder)
1 box (1 lb) confectioner’s sugar (I find that Domino is the best)
1 tsp vanilla
1-3 Tbsp whipping cream

Cream the butter and cream cheese with a mixer, about 1 minute. Add the cocoa and vanilla. Add the confectioner’s sugar in small batches and blend on low until combined. Scrape down sides with each addition. Add 1 tablespoon of cream at a time until you get the consistency you desire. (I add the cream after the cocoa and vanilla and after each addition of sugar, but just a teaspoon at a time.)

This icing is great because it sets really well and doesn't melt like a normal cream cheese. And, did I mention, IT'S AH.MAY.ZING!

Purple Power

In my quest to further my obsession  knowledge of cupcakes, I came across The Great Purple Cupcake Project. Normally, I would just think that it was a great cause (it benefits epilepsy awareness) and move on. However, I recently have become very aware of epilepsy.

I am fortunate to work at a school with a staff of some of the most incredible people. It's amazing the amount of love and compassion that can develop between a group of strangers and I am so thankful to be a part of that staff. One of those incredible people is Christine. Not only is she an amazing teacher (special ed, none the less) but she is an incredible mom. Her son, Jake, was diagnosed with epilepsy almost two years ago and her everyday life involves watching her son seize. Christine also has a blog and she posted a video of Jake seizing and it broke. my. heart. I cry when my dog throws up or is acting weird...I can't even imagine watching your child go through something like this.

So, on Friday, epilepsy awareness day, our entire staff wore purple and we sold purple cupcakes as a fundraiser. Again, I was overwhelmed by the generosity and character of our staff. We sold cupcakes at $2.50 each and raised over $170! It was so fun to come together and support Christine and her family's battle against epilepsy.

In order to make 6 dozen cupcakes and icing on a weeknight, I used box mixes. I know. I know. But honestly, I somtimes find that box mixes are just as good, if not better, than some homemade recipes. Plus, it was easier and faster. I did, however, make the frosting from scratch. I made strawberry with vanilla buttercream, chocolate with coconut buttercream and champagne (just substitute champagne for water in the instructions) with vanilla buttercream.

Easy Vanilla Buttercream from Cooks Illustrated
The buttercream frosting can be made ahead and refrigerated; if refrigerated, however, it must stand at room temperature to soften before use. If using a hand-held mixer, increase mixing times significantly (at least 50 percent). This recipe can be doubled to make enough for a two-layer cake. It's really easy to work with and quite delicious. Makes 3 cups.

20 tablespoons (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2½ cups Confectioners’ sugar (10 ounces)
1/8 tablespoons table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or coconut extract)
2 tablespoons heavy cream

In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

Snickerdoodles + Cupcakes= Sweet, Sweetness

Snickerdoodles are my favorite cookies. And cupcakes...well, we all know how I feel about those little bits of heaven. So, when I came across a recipe for snickerdoodle cupcakes, I just had to try them. The cupcakes were delicious and moist. You could leave the icing off of them (reminder: muffins are just ugly cupcakes) and have them for breakfast with coffee, but why would anyone do that?

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes adapted from Martha Stewart, via The Tiny Tyrant's Kichen
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla (I used Mexican Vanilla from my mother in law)
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, one at a time until well incorporated. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and half the milk. Beat until combined. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and milk, ending with the flour mixture. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 16 - 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for a few minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Frost with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing (recipe below).

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 pkg (8 oz) Cream cheese, room temp
Pinch of salt
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy. Add salt, cinnamon and vanilla and beat until combined. With your mixer on low, add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until well mixed. Pipe or spread on cupcakes and dust with cinnamon.

Cupcake crazy...

For the past several years, I have wanted to attend pastry school at the CIA in Napa and then open my own bakery. The name of my bakery is going to be Cupcake Lane (hence the name of this blog). The reality of that dream is, well, not so real. Instead, I like to pretend that I know how to bake and decorate cakes. I just love it. I especially love cupcakes. I honestly don't know where my obsession (which Lane tells me is unhealthy) came from. But now, my life is surrounded by cupcakes...Big, small, dark, light...I love them all.

I especially have become obsessed with the giant cupcake cake pan by Wilton. They are just fun to look at! They aren't the easiest things to bake...in fact, I cross my fingers for each one and hope and pray that it turns out. Here's a few recipes for them:

For the candy shell, I used this wonderful website to learn how to do it:
http://ohsugarcakes.blogspot.com/2009/03/candy-liner-for-giant-cupcake.html

Strawberry Cake (Adapted from Paula Deen's recipe)
Ingredients
1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix
1 (3-ounce) box strawberry-flavored instant gelatin
1 (15-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
4 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
Strawberry cream cheese frosting, recipe follows


Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed
1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
7 cups confectioners' sugar
Freshly sliced strawberries, for garnish, optional


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. I use Pam for Baking spray and LIBERALLY coat the cake pan. It will stick if you don't.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix and gelatin. Add pureed strawberries, eggs, oil, and water; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour mixture into the "top" side of the cake pan first. It needs to be about 3/4 full. Pour the remainder into the "bottom" side of the pan. It will end up being about 2/3 full. Put the pan on a baking sheet and when you put it in the oven, place it so the "bottom" side of the pan is towards the back of your oven and the "top" side is towards the door. It will bake for about 55 -75 minutes. I check mine every 25 minutes. If the top starts to brown, but the cake is not done, cover with foil. Cake is done when a toothpick or skewer can be inserted and come out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. I typically will freeze my cake. Not only does it make it easier to frost, I think it actually makes it more moist.


For the frosting:


In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating until smooth.


To color the icing, I use Wilton icing colors. They are less messy and easier to use than trying to mix food coloring. To fit it into the candy shell liner, you might need to trim the "bottom" down a little so the shell doesn't crack. I also always push a skewer through both layers when I put the "top" on the "bottom". Decorate cake any way you wish!