C is for Cupcake

I have seen these on the internet a lot. They are so adorable! I love the Cookie Monster, he’s awesome. He’s one of the best characters on Sesame Street…I think…unless they’ve added new characters, I haven’t seen it in years. One of my classmates birthday came, so I decided to make her some Cookie Monster cupcakes. Yum! I thought these were really cute, fun, and tasty! Also, thanks to http://photographybyme44.wordpress.com/ for taking some of the pictures for me! She’s great, you should check out her blog.

Here’s the recipe:
Vanilla Cupcakes:

Servings: Makes 15 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups cake flour or Canadian bleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canola oil (vegetable or extra light olive oil also work)
1/2 cup buttermilk or (According to Glorious Treats, you can substitute the buttermilk with 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice- add acid to the milk then set aside for 5 minutes before using)

How to Make the Best Vanilla Cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners.
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 1/4 cups cake flour (or Canadian flour), 1 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Set flour mix aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 2 eggs with the whisk attachment on medium speed (15-20 seconds).
3. Add 3/4 cup sugar and continue to beat on medium speed (30 seconds).
4. Add vanilla and oil and beat on medium speed (1 minute).
5. Reduce mixer speed to medium/low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mix and the rest of the milk. Beat until just combined and smooth, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. The batter should be thin.
6. Pour batter into a lined muffin pan. Fill to about 1/2 full.
7. Bake for 12 -14 minutes at 350 degrees F. My oven takes 14 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then remove.

Once the cupcakes are cooled to room temp, pipe on the frosting. I used this amazing cupcake frosting recipe. When piping on the frosting, I didn’t have the right frosting tip so I just used the coupler and made about circles working from the outside in. It was perfect and super easy!

* A note about the flour: all-purpose works, it just does won’t produce a cupcake quite as soft as cake flour or Canadian Flour.

Then I made some blue buttercream frosting,

That picture doesn’t look very good but…oh well!

Buttercream:
Ingredients:
6 cups confectioners’ sugar (I actually used 2 cups and it was fine)
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 1/2 Tbs. milk, plus more, if needed
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
Food colorings (optional)
Directions:
Have all the ingredients at room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the confectioners¿ sugar, butter, the 4 1/2 Tbs. milk, the vanilla and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

If the frosting is dry, add more milk, 1 tsp. at a time, until it is creamy but still holds peaks. Tint with food coloring as desired. Makes about 4 cups.

My classmate really liked these, I think. I believe you will too, you should try them.