Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

I made these for my cousin's godson along with some Red Velvet Cupcakes. It's a simple Vanilla Cupcake recipe.  I got the recipe from the Joy of Baking website.
It wasn't as light as I'd hoped, but they did rise quite well, and they taste good. 
The recipe calls for lemon zest.  I didn't have any, and used lemon extract.  I think I used too much because the lemon taste was stronger than I'd hoped.  Next time, I'll use Vanilla Extract instead.
The recipe makes exactly 12 cupcakes, so double if you want more.  I topped them with Chocolate Buttercream.

Vanilla Cupcakes from The Joy of Baking:

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2. 2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
3. 3 large eggs
4. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5. Zest of 1 large lemon (outer yellow skin)
6. 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
7. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
8. 1/4 teaspoon salt
9. 1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. If you want flat topped cupcakes then slice off the dome of each cupcake, with a sharp knife, before frosting.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Maybe it's just me, but I don't know what the big deal is about Red Velvet cupcakes.  They taste like chocolate cake - but red.  Why does everyone go gaga over them?
I was asked by my cousin to bake these for her godson's birthday.  Apparently, they are his favourite.
I got the recipe from Joy The Baker.  She has a great blog.  She bakes yummy treats and has a great sense of humor.  Her recipes are fantastic. If you love Red Velvet cake, then try this recipe. These were good, especially with the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Recipes from Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook via Joy The Baker
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Makes one dozen cupcakes, double recipe to make 2 9-inch layer cakes (I doubled it to make 24 cupcakes) 

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 
• 3/4 cup sugar 
• 1 egg 
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 3 Tablespoons red food coloring 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1/2 cup buttermilk 
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar 

 Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Turn mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated. 
In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color. 
Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth. 
Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar. Turn to high and beat a few more minutes. 
Spoon batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean. 
Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.  

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting 

 double recipe to frost a 2 layer 9-inch cake 

• 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted 
• 3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature 
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cold
• scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

Beat the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-slow speed until it comes together and is well mixed. 
Add the cream cheese all at once and beat on medium to medium-high until incorporated. 
Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, or until the frosting becomes light and fluffy. 

Linked To:
Blue Cricket Designs
Someday Crafts
Tea Rose Home
House of Hepworths

I'm OutMANned

Last night I had a glimpse into my future, and I'm not quite comfortable with it. 
While my daughter was at Drama Practice  at church, my husband, son and I watched "The Karate Kid".  During the movie, my son and husband engaged in male behaviour involving bodily functions etc. 

They found this quite humorous and tried to out do each other at who can be more gross.  As the only female there, I was completely disgusted by this caveman behaviour and just wanted it to end.

My daughter will be leaving for College next year.  That will leave just the three of us at Sapphire Ridge.  I will officially be in the minority.  All my life, I have never been in the minority as far as the ratio of male:female in my home is concerned.  What am I going to do?

How will I cope with all of the testosterone? How will I survive the farting contests, booger flings and hands down pants every single day.  I need a plan!
Yes...
Something that will protect me from the belches and spit bubbles. 

But what?

Help me.....please?

Damon-ism

Damon and I have just pulled up the driveway and there is Roxy (the dog) standing in the way of the car.

Me: Damon can you move Roxy out of the way?

Damon as he opens the car door: Well you know what they say...If a woman wants something done...ask a man to do it.
....
....
....
Eh?
Yes, I have a 7 yr. old male chauvinist.

Baby Shower Projects

So the baby shower finally happened on Sunday.  It seemed that although planning and preparation began three weeks ago, Sunday came too soon.  There were a few late nights before the shower.  But I am happy to report that the guests of honour were very happy with the way things turned out, and I must say, so was I.

So here is a rundown of the finished projects I worked on. Some of these photos were taken at 2 in the morning so please forgive the poor lighting:
Cookies for the gift bags:

This was the first time I had decorated cookies.  It was fun (not at 2 a.m. though), and now I'm hooked on cookie decorating.  I got alot of compliments on them.

Flower Balls:

These were time consuming, but worth the effort.  We hung them with wide sheer ribbon.  Unfortunately, I did not get a good shot of them in action. I found the original tutorial on the wonderful site House of Smith's. Shelley has great tutorials on there and I recommend you check her out.

Flower Arrangements:

I am NOT a florist, and I underestimated their job.  It's not as easy as it looks.  We had six arrangements to make for the shower.  The flowers were bought as big bunches and we spray painted some cans to hold them.

This is the best picture I have. We also glued butterflies to  each can.  We gave the arrangements away as prizes for the shower games.

Cupcakes and Tower:

Cupcake towers in The Bahamas are expensive. So I decided to make a tower. Actually, my husband built it and I decorated it.  It isn't the most graceful looking tower, but it worked for the shower.

I also baked the cupcakes.  Banana Spice with Cream Cheeese Buttercream, Chocolate with Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream and Guava with Guava Buttercream.  While I enjoyed the Banana and Chocolate, the Guava didn't turn out the way I wanted them too, but the guests enjoyed them.

I also baked mini-cheesecakes.  You can check out the recipe here.

It took me two days to recover from all of this, but it was all worth it.

I Don't Scrapbook.....

But I LOVE Scrapbook paper! I never knew of the magical powers of scrapbook paper.  It can transform any old ugly object into a thing of beauty!

After I made this lovely for my cousin's baby shower, I had a lot of scrapbook paper left over.

So I turned this boring can on the bookcase that had become the catch-all :

Into this lovely:



When my husband saw it, he immediately asked for one for his desk:

I also turned this :

Into this:

I'm currently looking around to find something else to cover.

Why I'm Up at Two in The Morning

My Dining Table 2:00am

My cousin's baby shower is on Sunday. As you can see from the photo I am in prep mode.
The cookies are for the gift bags and dessert table.  That tower in the back is the diy cupcake tower that my husband put together.  And  to the far right are two of the flower ball decorations.

I also put this together:

Baby Banner

Yes, this child will take a while learning to spell her name, but it's pretty. 

Left on my to do list:

• decorate cookies
• bake mini-cheesecakes
• bake three dozen cupcakes
• spray flower cans
• finish cupcake tower
• take my son on a field trip to The Bahamas Humane Society

Piece O' Cake!!