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!

A week of cupcakes

Last week was one of those weeks. A measure of disillusionment. A pinch of self-doubt. Fickle weather (spring is finally here yet it's nowhere to be found). All this conspired to give me a case of the late-winter blues.

In the midst of this, a dose of reality: I wasn't making things better by retreating into myself. Then happenstance; inspiration delivered in the form of a quote:

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink. (Leonardo da Vinci)

Buoyed by those words, I turned over a new leaf.  All this week I woke up uncharacteristically early.  I watched the sun rise.  And in the wee hours of the morning, I baked.  On Monday I baked strawberry cupcakes and topped them with strawberry cream cheese frosting and fresh-cut strawberries. On Wednesday I made chocolate olive oil cupcakes with almond cream cheese frosting.  On Thursday I made some white velvet butter cupcakes with maple buttercream frosting.  These cupcakes I shared with various others: colleagues, friends old and new.  (I brought some to the Baking Makes Friends event hosted by Lillie, of butter me up, Brooklyn!; it was such fun meeting fellow bakers and bloggers!)  I might have remembered to save one or two of the dozens that I baked for me, but smiles, some lip-smacking and second helpings were plenty enough reward.

And so it came to be that a wee little thing called a cupcake - bringing delight to others and in turn to me - helped turn things around.  This is why I bake, after all: I bake because it makes me content and fulfilled and it brings happiness to others.

The recipe for making the white velvet butter cupcakes can be found in an earlier post.  Simply halve the recipe to make about 16 cupcakes.

Maple Buttercream Frosting

Recipe from The Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum

3 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons sugar
1/4 liquid cup maple syrup
1 cup unsalted butter (must be softened)
1 teaspoon maple extract

In a bowl beat the yolks until light and color. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and maple syrup in a small saucepan and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to a rolling boil. Immediately transfer the syrup to a heatproof glass measure to stop the cooking.

Pour a small amount of syrup over the yolks with the mixer turned off. Immediately beat at high-speed for five seconds. Stop the mixer and add a larger amount of syrup. Beat at high speed for five seconds. Continue with the remaining syrup. For the last addition user a rubber scraper to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure. Continue beating until completely cool.

Gradually beat in the butter and maple extract.