Making cupcakes, the Butter Lane way

I started my blog to share with others my passion for creating in the kitchen.  I also started it out of hopes of finding a community of like-minded cooks and bakers.  And I think I found *just* that in Food Bloggers in NYC, a group run by Mallory of Total Noms.

Coursehorse and top cupcake shop Butter Lane teamed up to invite Food Bloggers to a bloggers-only cupcake decorating class.  Just having written a post all about cupcakes, where I extolled the joys to be had in such a teensy baked creation, I thought the timing couldn't be better.  On a recent Tuesday evening, I joined nine other bloggers at Butter Lane to learn all there is to know about making the perfect cupcake. Guiding us through the 2-hour class was our bright, cheerful instructor Olivia.

tip on making batter: mix on very low speed, until just combined

another great tip: use an ice cream scooper to scoop up cake batter

We tried our hand at three cupcake recipes (banana, chocolate, and vanilla) and three basic frostings (vanilla, chocolate, and cream cheese).  Along the way, we picked up some great tips (like how to make a batter that results in super-fluffy cupcakes) and learned proper technique on frosting a cupcake.  We even transformed our basic frostings into our very own custom ones, adding raspberry puree, cinnamon, and peanut butter.  

a custom topping: vanilla frosting with raspberry puree

Olivia demonstrating how to frost a cupcake the Butter Lane-way: tap, tap, turn!

The results: the lightest, fluffiest, prettiest cupcakes I've ever made.  My favorite combination: chocolate cupcake with peanut butter chocolate frosting (it is as dreamy and delicious as it sounds).  

the treat at the end of the evening: my very own box of cupcakes to take home!

It was such a fun evening, meeting and baking with fellow food bloggers.  

Thank you, Butter Lane, CourseHorse, Mallory, Olivia, and Kelly and Miachel!