Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

I got to make wedding cupcakes again this summer! It was so much fun working with the bride to figure out flavors, colors, etc., and one that we were both really excited about was this Strawberry Lemonade cupcake. There are a lot of these types of recipes floating around on the internet, and all of them are different. The cupcake recipe I ended up using came from my Betty Crocker cookbook, with a few tweaks of my own; the cream cheese frosting recipe was from Cupcakes! from the Cake Mix Doctor.

The combination of the light, moist, lemon cupcake with a not-too-sweet strawberry cream cheese frosting is  amazing. In fact, one of my sisters said it was the best cupcake she'd ever eaten! I'll put that compliment in the books. ;) The cupcakes themselves are very tender, yet they hold up nicely freezing and traveling; the lemon flavor is just the right amount - it doesn't slam your taste buds as soon as you bite into it, but as you chew, the flavor develops in your mouth. And strawberry cream cheese frosting? Enough said.

*On a super-exciting note for me, this cupcake recipe would also make a phenomenal yellow cake. From scratch. I've been searching for years to find one that's moist and flavorful. All the ones I've tried are either too dry, not flavorful, or both of those things. With the few changes I made to the original recipe, this is it! Just make sure you substitute vanilla extract for the lemon and leave out the lemon zest if you just want a yellow cake. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Lemon Cupcakes (adapted from Betty Crocker's Starlight Yellow Cake)
2 1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 1/4 c. milk
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon flavoring
3 eggs
zest of one lemon
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners (should get between 24-28).
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat all ingredients on low speed 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Beat on med./high speed an additional 3 minutes.
3. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full, and bake approximately 18-22 minutes, or until cupcakes are light golden brown on top and spring back went gently pressed with your fingers.
4. Allow cupcakes to cool for a few minutes before removing from pan. Let cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor)
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. butter, softened
4 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. mashed, drained strawberries
1/2 tsp. strawberry extract
1. Beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed 1 minute.
2. Add powdered sugar, extract, and strawberries and mix on low 1 minute until combined. Scrape down bowl, and beat again on med./high speed 1 minute more. Add additional powdered sugar to thicken it if needed, or milk, 1 tsp. at a time if you want it a little thinner consistency.

Hugs and cookies,

Amanda

It's Wedding Season! Part 2

This summer I was lucky enough to be asked to make cupcakes and cake balls for a friend's wedding reception: cue nervousness. But, it was the good kind of nerves that makes you excited, not terrified. I made 160+ cupcakes, and 180+ cake balls. I was also asked to make a small layer cake for the top of the cupcake stand so the bride and groom could have something to cut. All in all, I was really proud of how it all turned out. I so appreciated having the opportunity to do something like that. It was stressful (especially with my paranoia that Asher would get into the decorated cupcakes), but really enjoyable.

I definitely couldn't have done it without Dusty, though; he watched the boys pretty much all day on Thursday as I frosted and decorated cupcakes, and dipped cake balls, and he didn't complain or seem annoyed once. THANK YOU! My mom and sister, Hannah, also came down that weekend to watch the boys while Dusty and I went to the wedding and reception - big thank you to them, too!

The cupcake flavors were white with buttercream frosting, chocolate with Kahlua frosting, and red velvet with cream cheese frosting. The layer cake was white with buttercream, but the frosting between the layers was a raspberry buttercream - yummy.

If you haven't heard of cake balls, they're the new thing in the cake world. You take a warm, 9x13 cake and mix it with approximately 2 c. of frosting. Form the mixture into balls and pop them in the freezer. You can freeze them like this for a while as long as they're in an airtight container. When you're ready to use them, take them out, let them thaw a little, and dip them in either chocolate bark or chocolate chips, or a mixture of both. Totally simple method, and it's so fun because you can literally make any combination you want! Genius. I was asked to make chocolate cake mixed with raspberry buttercream, dipped in white chocolate, and yellow cake mixed with peanut butter frosting, dipped in milk or semi-sweet chocolate. Both were delicious - I'm partial to the PB ones because I love the peanut butter/chocolate combo.

Chocolate Cupcakes
I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe for the cupcakes, which is Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake. You can find the recipe here. The Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Frosting is delicious, too, but I didn't use it for the cupcakes.



Kahlua Frosting

6 tbsp. butter
1 lb. powdered sugar
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
3 tbsp. Kahlua

2 to 3 tbsp. hot strong coffee or hot water

Cream butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and cocoa. Mix slowly until combined, then increase speed to medium and add Kahlua. Continue beating as you add the hot water or coffee, and mix until a thick, smooth consistency. (You can adjust the amount of Kahlua to your taste. I used slightly more Kahlua, and hot water instead of coffee so the Kahlua flavor stood out more against the chocolate cupcake.)

White Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

For these, I used the same recipes that I posted last time, with the exception of leaving out the almond flavoring in the cake. This time I tinted the frosting pink because the bride and groom's colors were pink and gray - so cute. You can find the recipes here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

1 box German chocolate cake mix with pudding

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. water

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 oz. red food coloring

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add all ingredients into mixer. Mix on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl, and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Pour batter into greased or lined cupcake pans (you'll probably get about 20 or so from 1 batch). Bake appr. 22-25 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly with your finger. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. pkg. softened cream cheese

1/2 c. softened butter

3 3/4 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until thoroughly combined, 2-3 minutes. Slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 more minutes. Use to frost cake of your choice!

 

 

It's Wedding Season! Part 1

I love weddings. June seems to be wedding month in my family - one of my younger sisters and her husband celebrated their 1st anniversary on June 12, my husband and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on June 22, and my parents celebrated their 33rd on June 24! Whoa - lots of love to celebrate . . . not to mention Father's Day, which I missed posting on because I was busy-busy baking for a wedding (more on that in a later post)!

First, a note on Father's Day. I am really blessed - I have a great dad. I think I probably take him for granted sometimes. I guess it's easy to do because I know he'll always be a strong support in everything I go through in life. He's proven it time and time again, and it's something I am so thankful for. I definitely get my love of reading from him, and my taste in books. Also, my sarcasm . . . and possibly my lack of patience, haha. It's a great feeling to know I can always call with any problem, and that I'll get honest advice and helpful advice.

Let's not forget about the father of my own boys! I have the world's greatest husband. Dusty is such a wonderful dad. He loves our boys so much and is so attentive to them. I rarely have to ask him to help out with them - he just does it . . . and he enjoys every minute (well, for the most part - there's the occasional tantrum from Asher that's not very fun, and the nights when Aiden refuses to sleep for more than an hour at a time). But, if I do ask for help with something, he never complains. He loves playing with them, and he loves cuddling them - he's the perfect mix. Asher, Aiden, and I are so very blessed to have him.

Personally, I'm thankful that there's a day honoring dads everywhere. I know it's something I should do every day, but it's nice to have a reminder so I really take the time to thank them for everything they do that I often don't remember to say on a day-to-day basis.

Ok, back to weddings.

Last summer I made my first-ever wedding cake for my sister's wedding - LOTS of pressure! Not from her, just from myself. A wedding cake? That's a big deal - everyone looks at it, take pictures of it, watches the bride and groom cut it, etc; I was honored that she and her husband trusted me to do it. I wasn't worried about taste, but I was worried about appearance because decorating isn't my strong point. I'm more of a "Who cares what it looks like as long as it tastes good" kind of girl. Needless to say, that approach doesn't work with a wedding cake. BUT, I think it was a success. They were happy with it, and that's what mattered most to me.

Looks like they're enjoying it, right?

For the cake, I used this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, courtesy of foodnetwork.com.

White Cake

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)

1 1/3 cups water

3 large eggs whites

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 teaspoons almond extract

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, water, egg whites, melted butter, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 2 minutes, or until the batter is well blended. Pour batter evenly in greased and floured 8 inch cake pans. Bake the cakes until they are very pale golden on top, about 24 minutes. Cool cakes in the pans for ten minutes, then cool completely on a cooling rack. You can find the original recipe here, which with the raspberry cream is deeeeelicious.

**Side note - this obviously isn't a "from scratch" cake, but the added ingredients give it great flavor, it holds up very nicely when decorating, and is super moist.

Buttercream Frosting

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c. vegetable shortening

4 c. powdered sugar

1 T. vanilla extract (if you really want frosting to be as white as possible, use clear vanilla)

1/4 tsp. butter flavoring



 1-2 T milk or cream

Beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Slowly add in powdered sugar and flavorings and beat for 1-2 minutes on medium speed. Add the milk, and beat on medium/high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. At this point, you can determine whether you want a thinner or thicker consistency and add more milk or powdered sugar to achieve what you'd like.

Assembling the Cake
Place one cake layer on plate or serving dish.
Spread with 1/4 c. of seedless raspberry jam, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edge.
Mix 1/3 c. of toasted, slivered almonds with approximately 1/2 c. of frosting, and spread over jam layer.
Place top layer of cake on the frosting.
Frost and decorate as desired.