I know, I know. I know I said "I'm kinda cupcaked-out," but I just can't seem to tear myself away from these adorable little treats! How could I? They're just so cute, I could eat 'um all up. And I do! I have the growing waistline to prove it!
Tuesday was my good friend and softball teammate's birthday. Since last night was our first game of the summer season, I wanted to bring a sweet snack to share with the team. I asked Jessica (that's the birthday girl) what her favorite dessert was and she replied with "cupcakes or eclairs." Since it was way too last minute to attempt something new and challenging, I went with the former (Jess - I'm hinting that, when I have some more spare time, I'll take a stab at eclairs for you). I decided to go with a couple recipes I found on Coconut & Lime. This is a fabulous food blog by Rachel Rappaport. I've had great success with her cupcake recipes in the past, so I knew she would be a safe bet. I did some browsing and was very intrigued by her Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, since I've never actually baked with a whole vanilla bean before. I decided to compliment the cupcakes with her Caramel Frosting. Here are the recipes:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1 vanilla bean, cut length-wise
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
In a small saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean together until the milk just boils. Remove from heat and let cool for about 1 hour. Then remove the vanilla bean. Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the milk. Discard the remaining bean pod. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together the salt, flour and baking powder. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Alternately add the flour and milk mixture until well combined. Divide batter into about 20 lined or greased cupcake wells. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the middle cupcake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and then ice.
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbs butter
3 tbs milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter then add the milk and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar. Cool slightly, then very vigorously* whisk in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost cakes while the frosting is still slightly warm.
*if you have problems doing this by hand, use an electric mixer, it is very important to whisk very quickly or it will not be smooth.
I ended up doubling the frosting recipe so I would have enough to pipe a large amount on the cupcakes. Once the frosting was all mixed and smooth, I kept adding in more confectioners' sugar to get the thick consistency for piping. I probably added about 3 more cups. The frosting turned out SO amazingly yummy and check out the cake and all of its vanilla-beany-goodness...
We won our game 25-5 last night and ate these scrumptious treats at the bar afterwards. Pretty sweet birthday, if you ask me!
We won our game 25-5 last night and ate these scrumptious treats at the bar afterwards. Pretty sweet birthday, if you ask me!
A word on Jessica the birthday girl. She's a blogger too! Actually, her blog Pandering Words was one of the first blogs I started reading, before I even considered starting a blog of my own. She's been an inspiration to me as a writer and as a person. Working hard to balance starting a family with a demanding career, she speaks honestly about the frustrations and happy moments we all face every day. Happy Birthday, Jessica. You Rock!
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That caramel frosting sounds and looks so good!
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