Yellow Cupcakes (Cross Cupcake Cake)

My godchild was confirmed earlier this month, and I made her a cross cupcake cake for her party afterward. She is very plain (which is what I love about her) and only likes vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream (which just so happens to be my favorite as well). I also made Hershey's perfectly chocolate cupcakes, too, to mix things up a bit. I decided to cast aside my go-to vanilla cupcake recipe for a new one. While there is nothing wrong with the recipe I typically use, it does sometimes turn out a little dry. I decided to try Cook's Illustrated's yellow cupcake recipe (I didn't try the white cake recipe mostly because I didn't know what to do with the leftover egg yokes). While the cupcakes looked a little muffin-y and were a tiny bit dense, the flavor was quite good! They got rave reviews. I'm still on the hunt for a lighter vanilla cupcake recipe, so I think I'll be trying CI's white cupcake recipe soon.

Yellow Cupcakes
Source: Cook's Illustrated via Can You Stay for Dinner?

1 and 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a cupcake tin with 12 paper cupcake liners.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric stand mixer.

Add butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Beat everything at medium speed for about 30 seconds until the batter becomes smooth and satiny. 

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix by hand until all ingredients are incorporated and the batter is smooth. The batter will be slightly thick.

Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake about 20 - 22 minutes, until cupcakes are golden. 

Cool cupcakes completely on a wire rack before icing.

Random Cupcakes

I have been busy the last two months with a few cupcakes orders for various events. Though I've made these recipes before, I wanted to share some new pics. I hope you enjoy! 

Chocolate cupcakes with Irish Cream Buttercream

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
for my friend Becca's birthday

Red Velvet Cupcakes
for my cousin Ky's confirmation

Finding Nemo Cupcakes

I was asked to make cupcakes for a Finding Nemo-themed baby shower. The host asked me to incorporate blue and green for the baby boy and the design was left up to me. I scoped out a few images on the Internet but nothing caught my eye. I didn't want to decorate each cupcake to look like Nemo or the other characters from the movie, but I did want them to look pretty. In the end, I decided to decorate the cupcakes with a pretty swirl of icing and top each of them with a cheddar Goldfish cracker to represent Nemo. The cupcakes were vanilla and chocolate topped with vanilla buttercream.

Cinco de Mayo Recipe Roundup

I love Mexican food, and with Cinco de Mayo just a few days away, I'm looking forward to indulging in some margaritas, sangria, and Mexican cuisine. I decided to share some of my favorite Mexican-inspired recipes. Enjoy!

Tamale Pie

 

Chicken Enchiladas or Beef Enchiladas

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Cheesy Chile Cornbread

Creamy Taco Mac

Margarita Cupcakes

Slow Cooker Carnitas

Mexican Sour Cream Rice

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes

Enchilada Stack

Tequila-Lime Shrimp Tacos