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Red velvet cupcakes

In search of several cupcake recipes for last weekend, I usually stop at Annie's Eats first. She has several fun options to choose from. With a special ingredient added, these cupcakes were super moist and tasty. My friend Joyce filled me in on a little something she adds to the batter - mayonnaise. Whaaat? Yes. You can't taste it. It's pretty amazing. You should try it next time you make cupcakes. It makes the cake super moist. 1/2 cup will do for any recipe.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CUPCAKES

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar

FOR THE FROSTING

1 block of cream cheese, softened
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

DIRECTIONS

FOR THE CUPCAKES

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, mayo, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

FOR THE FROSTING

Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Adapted from: Annie's Eats from Apple a Day

I linked up at:

tasty tuesdays - for the love of blogs

sweet shot tuesdays - life with my 3 boybarians
tuesdays around the world - communal global

Read More 15 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

This is my new favorite cupcake. I made these last weekend with my friend Naomi. The church service we go to, Ekklesia, was celebrating its two year anniversary and we were asked to make cupcakes, of course we said yes. We made three different kinds, and this was my favorite. This past Friday my friend Joyce and I got together to make four dozen to give away for Mother's Day today. Baking with friends is such a fun experience. Plus the dishes are clean before we even finish decorating! These are not overpowered with lemon flavor but just enough to keep you wanting more. Did I mention the frosting has cream cheese and lemon in it? Nuff said. This recipe makes 24 delectable lemon cupcakes.

Lemon Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CUPCAKES

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

4 large egg whites

1 1/2 cups sugar

lemon zest from 2 lemons

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. pure lemon extract

FOR THE FROSTING

12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
2 lbs. powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. lemon extract
juice of one lemon

DIRECTIONS

FOR THE CUPCAKES

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, Whisk the buttermilk and egg whites together.

In a mixer bowl, add sugar and lemon zest. Mix together with your hands, rubbing together with your fingers, causing the sugar to become moist and fragrant.

Add the butter to the sugar-lemon mixture and mix for 3 full minutes on medium speed.

Beat in the extracts, then add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Add 1/2 of the egg-milk mixture, and then 1/2 of the flour mixture until incorporated. Add the rest of the egg-milk mixture until well mixed, then add the last of the flour mixture.

Finally, beat the batter for two more minutes for thorough mixing and aerating the batter. Place the batter into the cupcake tins.

Bake for 18 minutes, or until the cupcakes are well risen and spring to the touch.

Cool on a wire rack.

FOR THE FROSTING

Using a mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese together until well combined, about three minutes. Add in the vanilla, lemon extract and lemon juice. Gradually add in the powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Decorate cupcakes after they have cooled.

Adapted from: My Baking Addiction

Read More 5 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Wordless Wednesday

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Princess and the Frog cake

Last weekend I worked on one of my last cakes. As much as I love creating these dimensional cakes, they are very time consuming. I am one busy chick, and I'm trying to change that. I still have a few more cakes coming up over the next few months, but it won't be as many as you've seen lately.
This is the frog from Disney's Princess and the Frog. The most challenging part of this cake was getting the fondant to wrap around the pieces. The fondant batch was very soft and would tear easily. I made mini cupcakes for lily pads, plus I wanted to make sure they didn't run out of cake for their guests.

I started out with two domed-shaped cakes and the rectangular cake. Fortunately, the round cakes baked quite tall. I was able to use the halves separately instead of joining them together; one for the head and one for the body.

Head and body

The arms and legs were tricky. The character has very thin arms and legs but I wanted the cake to have some volume.

The frog wrapped in fondant. I thought the final product looked more like a ninja turtle. Jokingly, my friend said why is that cat green?

I linked up at:

tasty tuesdays - for the love of blogs

sweet shot tuesdays - life with my 3 boybarians
tuesdays around the world - communal global

Read More 20 comments | Posted by Anonymous |

Graphic designer, baker and a photo taker. Inspired by Jesus, photography, stellar design, all things creative, cooking, the arts and funny stuff. I prefer to visually tell stories through photographs; whether a trip I was on, a dessert I made or a recent vintage find. Art is all around me, and I capture it whenever I can.

Red velvet cupcakes

Lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Wordless Wednesday

Princess and the Frog cake

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