Cupcakes

I am the cupcake girl- seriously. Everyone on my residence hall staff agrees, as do most of my friends that know me well...I love love LOVE cupcakes.

Well, this is a spotlight on those wonderful, cute, little baby cakes, a perfect afternoon snack.

First of all, how gorgeous is THIS:


I know, it's beautiful...I wish I had the patience to do this!

Next, check out this, from Rose and Radish...


I have been coveting these for almost a year now...and Rose and Radish have now gotten a new shipment in, with all kinds of new colors! They also have a medium-sized cupcake bowl. Really, I can just picture getting four or five of these, and storing my jewelry on my dresser or keeping a holster for paper clips and rubber-bands. Pretty pretty pretty.

And, check out THESE beauts: Banana Butterscotch Cupcakes, with butterscotch frosting...YUM YUM. Me and Pete made these from the book called Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans, for the famous Cupcake Party of August 2007.


These were, by far, my favorite of the five kinds that we made, and the tastiest. I feel as though they are more "muffin-y" than "cupcake-y", but they are delicious, regardless.

Here, make them yourself and see!

Ingredients

cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, @ room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 medium bananas, broken into 1-inch pieces
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk (any fat content)
1 cup (six ounces) butterscotch chips

icing:
1/4 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Makes 12 regular cupcakes.

Make the cupcakes. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until blended and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the banana pieces, mixing until they are blended; you will still see some small pieces of banana. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is blended. Add the vanilla and beat for 1 minute. On now speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the buttermilk. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth. Stir in the butterscotch chips.

Fill each paper liner with a scant 1/3 cup of batter, to about 1/4 inch below the top of each liner. Bake until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In a medium saucepan, heat the half-and-half and brown sugar over low heat, stirring often, until the brown sugar melts. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, and boil for one minute, stirring often. Pour into a small bowl and refrigerate until cool to the touch, about 45 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixture on low speed until smoothly blended, about 2 minutes. At first the mixture will look crumbly, but then it will form a smooth mass. Add the vanilla and brown sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.

Use a small spatula to spread 1 1/2 tablespoons of frosting on top of each cupcake. [For an added effect, Pete and I put one little butterscotch chip on top of each cupcake]

The cupcakes can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Whew! Lotsa typing.

And, lastly, here is one of my favorite vendors of all time: mypapercrane



This lovely, artsy woman makes hundreds of plush products and sells them or displays them all over the place- right now she has a show at Purdue University.