Friday, March 25, 2011

cupcakes on my mind

Why are cupcakes on my mind? Because I can't find cupcake/muffin tins here, so while I was home, I bought like 300 various adorable cupcake/muffin paper cups to bring back here to use for baking. Now it is March and I haven't really used that many up, so I am on a mission to bake through my cute silver big cupcake liners or party themed or pretty red swirl mini cupcake liners. That is the real reason, folks, that I have started a muffin and cupcake streak in the kitchen.

But who's complaining? Not my roommates, yet. So yesterday, unbelievably just yesterday, I made those black bottom cream cheese centered cupcakes. There were 12, the number was down to 6 by bedtime, and the rest were eaten for breakfast or taken in for lunch. Today was a lovely spring day (as was yesterday, so we had our Vonnegut elective outside), so after watching the 10th graders kick the teachers' butts in soccer on the asphalt court (ugh, yeah) and playing a game of bocce outside around the woodsy field between our homes and the campus school buildings, I decided to bake another batch of cupcakes before going out to dinner in Studentskigrad. These were on SK and looked fairly straightforward, so I decided to give them a try. The only thing that didn't turn out so great was that I tried to use food coloring and they didn't really look cute once cooked. What can I say? I've always loved food coloring and my mom has always made fun of me using it in my ice cream and pancake batter and whatnot. It only fits that I would try to turn nice cupcakes into pink and purple blobs.







*I made half the recipe and got 12 regular cupcakes plus 9 small ones


18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 2/3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, two at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Fill the cupcake liners to the 2/3-level with batter. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, I used a different recipe for a very simple butter cream icing.


5 oz (150g) Butter - softened
8 oz (250g) confectioners (icing) sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp hot water

Beat together the butter and sugar with an electric beater.
Once well combined, add the vanilla and water. Beat until smooth and creamy.

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