White Cupcakes with Sprinkles Cupcake's Strawberry Frosting!

So last week, I told my boyfriend that I would bake dessert for dinner with his family.  I was dreaming up different cupcake/frosting combinations, and I finally decided I would use white cake batter and strawberry frosting (white cake batter is my favourite, and I just LOVE strawberry anything!). I went with my semi-newish book, The Cake Book by Tish Boyle, again for the cake recipe.  However, I had to search around on Google for a good Strawberry Frosting recipe.

Google brought me to Oprah's website, where there was an article on Sprinkles Cupcakes, the "world's first cupcake bakery" located in Beverly Hills.  Lucky for me, the owner shared a recipe AND video  for strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting.  I figured this MUST be trustworthy, so I went for it!

Again, I have made a few cakes using the recipes in Tish Boyle's book, so I am used to the process and consistency of the cake batter.  Her directions are quite simple to follow, and there are multiple chapters in the beginning explaining everything including accessories, different types of ingredients, methods for frosting and decorating, and even a troubleshooting guide.

As I looked for inspiration for my cupcake and frosting flavor combination, I knew I had to check out Danelle's blog.  She writes about her personal baking and graphic design experiences.  In one post, I read that she put white chocolate chips in vanilla cupcakes.  I was sold --- I knew it would be the perfect addition to the white cake batter.

I totally forgot to mix them IN the batter for the first dozen...

But I did remember to sprinkle them on top for both at least!

They settled in nicely after baking, they were such a tasty addition.

 Now strawberry frosting obviously requires pureed strawberries.  This was a perfect opportunity for me to try out the food processor my best friend's mom found for me at a yardsale!  The food processor worked perfectly, looks like someone just needed to clean out and make more room in their kitchen! 

The flecks of strawberry look pretty!

The strawberry puree gave the frosting a lovely pink color, but I would have loved to add a tiny drop of red food dye for some more color. However, I forgot since I didn't give myself enough time.   Piping the frosting on was pretty simple.  After my first attempt, I had gotten used to using the Wilton frosting bags and 1M star tip.

Not kidding --- I could eat probably about 4 in one sitting, because they are so delicious.

The recipe for the frosting is listed below, but the whole article on Oprah's website can be found here.  It DOES say that the frosting "makes enough for 1 dozen", but I found that I had plenty for two dozen the way I frosted them.  You should consider visiting the site, because the recipe for the strawberry cake batter and another cake batter can be found there, yum! 

Sprinkles Cupcakes - Strawberry Frosting
 .5 C frozen whole strawberries
1 C unsalted butter, firm and somewhat cold
Pinch of salt
3.5 C confectioners' sugar, sifted
.5 tsp. vanilla extract

"Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix, or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream."

All done!

Rainy Days Mean Time for Baking!

It has been a rainy week. Non-stop thunderstorms and rain, boo.  The one good thing as a result of such days? Baking.

 

Well, it WAS my driveway...

So I was able to check another item off my baking to do list. The other morning, my boyfriend and I made these Double Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins.

The recipe made 2 dozen. It was more than enough to share with my boyfriend's family!

I found the recipe on a blog that I follow called Sprinkled With Flour.  I really enjoy reading this blog because the author, Amber, is always seeking ways to make recipes healthier and tastier! She tweaked the original recipe that was printed in the Oprah Magazine Cookbook.  I followed Amber's suggestion (or rather, original mistake) of adding the entire can of pumpkin.  The result was a wonderfully tender and yummy muffin.  Mmm these were quite delicious, and the raisins really added to them! I can't wait to try more muffins!

This is before I added butter... it is a weakness of mine.

Strawberry Smoothies and Blueberry Pancakes!

Today --- I have the entire day off. No work, no plans, just me doing what ever I want.  Unfortunately, it has been a little bit since we have gone grocery shopping, so we are low on some key baking and breakfast ingredients.  My options this morning: cereal (love it, but let's be real --- it gets old when you can have this any day at school, but at HOME you can make anything your little heart desires) and Bisquick pancakes (I halve the batch, meaning I only need the ONE egg we have in the house).   So, I chose the pancakes.

Yummy - Blueberry Pancakes!

The other day, my best friend said she was craving Strawberry Daiquiris and that we should make them when we hang out.  I LOVE strawberries, SO much --- so obviously I agreed.  We were a little short on strawberries so we added a peach, and I brought a key ingredient to add as well...  Anyway, we enjoyed them on her patio in the sunshine.  So on this bright shiny morning, all I could think of were those daiquiris. 

Mmm Strawberry Daiquiris are best shared with your best friend <3 We did not have any leftover strawberries to garnish with, so we were unique and used lemons?

I thought I would try my luck at the freezer, since I know we also have no fresh fruit at the moment.  And there they were, two bags of frozen fruit. I defrosted them while doing laundry, then made the smoothie to enjoy as I made my pancakes (Which I added blueberries to, from the frozen berries!). 

I ended up blending 5 ice cubes first (my blender is one of the cheapest you can find, so you have to be smart about it).  Then, I added about:

1 cup frozen berries
3 oz. Yoplait Stawberry Cobbler flavored yogurt (.5 of the container I had)
1/3 cup Dole Orange Pineapple Banana juice

You must always use color-changing Friendly's straws for all occasions possible.

 I will probably never repeat this exact recipe again, because of the way I created it.  I created it with my imagination and what I had on hand.  That's the fun part about smoothies --- you are allowed the joy and fun to create absolutely anything you can think of with any of your favourite fruits, yogurts, and juices (or honey as an alternative to take out the bitterness).  And obviously, I would have preferred FRESH strawberries, but they are not quite ready to be picked yet!

All in all, I would say that was a fairly healthy breakfast. And, I used strawberries, as I said I wanted to more this summer! I absolutely can't wait to go pick fresh strawberries soon!!

So.Delicious.

Let the Summer Baking Adventures Begin!

It is finally here... my summer break starts now!  This means, no more dorm rooms and disgusting kitchens that I am scared to cook in.  I am home, and I can start my baking again. I have high hopes, but I know that work will consume most of my time.  Either way, here is a list of things I want to accomplish or attempt this summer!

-  Bake Cinnamon Rolls (and work with yeast for the first time)
-  Teach myself more about cupcake/cake decorating
-  Find the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe!
-  Make Pizza dip.
-  Bake Muffins
-  Make fun things with strawberries!!

I appreciate recipe suggestions!

My First Made-From-Scratch Cupcakes!

I would like to say that my very first attempt at cupcakes from scratch went very well.  It was a fun experience, and I finally got to use some baking gifts I was given for my last birthday and Christmas.

I used recipes from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.  The book was a gift from my boyfriend for my last birthday, and so far I have only made the chocolate cake (yum!) out of it.  Since I am still new at baking from scratch, I kept it simple for these St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes: Yellow Cake and Fluffy White Frosting (some dyed green!).  It goes like this --- my mom buys all the ingredients, I do the baking, and she gets to be my taste tester (obviously the most important role).  So, I made her buy me some Cake Flour.

Making the batter for the cake was fairly simple, since I had previously done a chocolate cake from the same recipe book.  The recipe was detailed and easy to understand.

I really need a new electric mixer.  I swear there is no difference between Speed 1 and 5...

 I filled a ziploc bag with the batter, cut the bottom corner slightly, and used this to fill my cupcake liners.  Much easier and cleaner than using a spoon, like I have been guilty of doing in the past...  Since it was a first attempt and I did not know how many the batter would make, the baking cups were not all filled equally (but now I know for next time!).
 

Mmm smelled delicious!

I think I let them “cool” for too long (wasn’t even that long, maybe an hour and a half?) but they tasted wonderful anyway.

Check out my sweet hot pink timer!

 Making the frosting was definitely the difficult part.  I purchased an Instant Read Thermometer especially for the frosting.  All the ingredients mixed well in the first stage, but I had a hard time heating them to the right temperature.  Directions said to put the bowl with all the ingredients (except the extract) in a pan of simmering water.  First, the bubbles were gathering underneath the bottom rim under the bowl, so it was moving around.  I decided to scrape the mixture into a pot and then returned it to the the pan of simmering water.  It still never reached the right temperature, but it is possible that I did not calibrate the new thermometer correctly.

With all that being said, my frosting ended up perfectly fine :)  I loved it and it looked very pretty when I used the green dye.  Another gift I got for Christmas... all kinds of cupcake/cake decorating kits.  I used the Wilton 1M frosting tip to frost my cupcakes.  This is also my first time using frosting bags/tips.  I really am new at this whole thing.  I can't wait to teach myself or take a class to learn more about cupcake/cake decorating!

Check out  Tish Boyle's blog: http://www.tishboyle.blogspot.com/