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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

A Week in Review

This past week has been a busy one for me.  As promised I have come up with every avenue possible to have an excuse to bake and decorate cupcakes.  Any birthday, holiday, tv event, get together, etc, I am now known to bring cupcakes.  People expect nothing less :)

Last Wednesday, I went out on a much needed girls night at Sublime Ale House to celebrate a friends belated birthday, of course cupcakes were a must.  For the first time, I tried a batch of mini cupcakes using the Guinness recipe I posted last week, but instead of Irish Cream ganache, I used Malibu rum for a slight coconut flavor and regular vanilla buttercream for the frosting.  I finally decided to try out my buttons and ribbons mold by Wilton that I got a while back at Michaels.  The cupcakes turned out great and tasted fantastic...so much so that we had the waiters coming back for seconds.

On Sunday, of course the Super Bowl wouldn't be complete without some cupcakes.  Since I didn't really have a preference for either team, I decided to go with a neutral football themed cupcakes.  I tried a new white cupcake recipe with vanilla bean buttercream...AMAZING (recipe to follow).

Lastly, today marked my very first PAID cupcake order out the door.  I was proud, nervous and excited and very happy when the customer loved the cupcakes.  I cannot wait to see how this venture of mine pans out.  At least I know it is something I love and I hope my passion is shown through on the cupcakes!


Until next time, I will leave you with this great white cupcake recipe that i found from Good Life Eats:


Vanilla Bean Sour Cream Cupcakes

Makes approximately 18-20 cupcakes (about 48 minis)
 

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Bean Sour Cream Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
4 large egg whites, room temperature
seeds scraped from one vanilla bean
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Vanilla Bean Buttercream:
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
seeds scraped from one vanilla bean
2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract (to maintain the bright white color)
1 ½ pounds (24 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Directions:

For the Vanilla Bean Sour Cream Cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the racks in the center position. Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Set aside. *see below for mini directions

In a large bowl combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.

In a medium bowl whisk together the milk, sour cream, and egg whites. Set aside.

Fit a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or use a hand mixer (I got a better dome with the hand mixer). Add the butter, sugar and vanilla to the bowl and beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, or until light. Scrape the sides as necessary.

Add the vanilla extract and one third of the flour mixture while beating on medium speed, again scraping the sides as needed. Beat in half of the sour cream mixture. Alternately add the remaining flour mixture and sour cream until all the wet and dry ingredients have added, beating until the batter fully incorporated and smooth.
Use a large scoop (about 3 tablespoons), evenly divide the batter between 18 lined muffin tins filling each about 2/3 of the way full.

Bake for 15-24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers come out clean. Cool on wire rack.

For the Vanilla Bean Buttercream:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the butter and vanilla bean seeds. Beat until fluffy. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add the confectioners' sugar while continuing to beat.

Once well blended, add in the vanilla and 4 tablespoons heavy cream or milk. Mix on low speed until well combined and moist. If desired, an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until your desired consistency is reached. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

*for mini cupcakes, bake at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Cheers,

Lacey Cakes



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