Cupcakes

I detest cooking for people who don't comment on the food. It doesn't even matter if they like it (although that is obviously preferable) I just want to know what they think. A simple 'it's good' or 'not my favorite' does not suffice. Why is it good? What are your favorite parts? Or why don't you like it? What would make it better? I expect a conversation about the food. It isn't even a matter or pride or vanity because most of what I cook is from a recipe, a recipe that someone else created and therefore they get all of the credit. That's why I want to talk about it. I finally discovered why this bothers me so much. Cooking is my creative outlet, my art form. Even when I am using another person's recipe I am practicing skills and learning ingredient combinations. When I cook for a person and they don't comment it is exactly the same as having an art show and watching people look at the art work, your art work that you've spent hours preparing, and never getting any feedback. This has been on my mind for two reason, the first being that we had the perfect food guests over for dinner about 2 weeks ago and they gave ample feedback about the food, which I appreciated. The second reason is because of a gentleman at Church last Sunday who tracked me down to tell me about a cupcake that I had made that his wife brought home for him. I love people who talk about food, because I love to talk about food. They will surely talk about food if you make any of these recipes.

My current favorite frosting recipe by Sarah Magid. I made a fantastic cake for Connor's first birthday but the frosting was a flop, and this recipe saved the day. I've made the vanilla, the chocolate variation, and I added my own brown sugar variation to go with the orange cupcakes. Use a handmixer! I don't know why, but it works much better than a standmixer for this recipe. Her cookbook is lovely and it is called Organic and Chic: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets that Taste as Good as They Look.

Vanilla Whipped Buttercream
2 sticks (1 cup) organic unsalted butter, softened
1 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup organic whole milk
1/4 cup sifted organic all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons organic vanilla extract

Cream the butter on medium speed, with a hand mixer until soft, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of the milk, the flour, and the vanilla extract, and whisk until there are no lumps. Over medium heat, slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup milk, whisking constantly, and cook until the mixture comes to a low boil. Then reduce the heat to low and keep whisking for a few more minutes, until the mixture starts to thicken.

Immediately remove the pan from the heat, but keep stirring. (After you have removed the pan from the heat, the mixture will continue to cook for a minute or two on its own. If you overheat it and get small lumps, try to whisk vigorously to get them out, or pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve.) If necessary, place the pan over a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and allow the mixture to cool. ***I always get small lumps and they always disappear by the end of the recipe.

Once the milk mixture has thickened, set it aside to cool to room temperature. You can stick it in the freezer to rush the cooling.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the milk mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add vanilla to combine.

Brown Sugar Whipped Buttercream: simply replace the sugar with brown sugar.

Chocolate Whipped Buttercream: This light and fluffy chocolate frosting tastes like whipped cream with a hint of chocolate: While the milk mixture is cooling, melt 4 ounces unsweetened or dark chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, or in 30-second bursts in a microwave. Cool to room temperature. With the mixer on low speed, combine the chocolate with the butter-sugar mixture.

Orange Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 c white sugar
3 large eggs
3 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure orange extract (or use extra orange zest)
zest of 1 or 2 oranges
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c milk

Turbinado sugar for decorating

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.

Place sugar and zest in the bowl of mixer and blend with fingers until fragrant. Add butter and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. Add extracts.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, ending with the flour. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Fill cupcake liners with batter and bake 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 3 minutes in pan and then remove to cool completely on a cooling rack.

***I made these in a mini-cupcake pan and so I greased the pan and coated it with white sugar. They make the perfect bite of cake. Frost with brown sugar buttercream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

The other cupcakes I made were for a group of 60 people so I made my wedding cake recipe and the chocolate cake recipe I posted last year. I filled both kinds of cupcakes with this raspberry filling with the addition of a bit more lemon juice. I frosted both with the vanilla whipped buttercream. These are truly divine.

My Wedding Cake
(You may want to cut this recipe in half because the original makes enough for 2 8-inch round cakes and 2 10-inch round cakes which makes a ton of cupcakes.)
12 egg whites
3 1/3 c white sugar
6 1/4 c cake flour (you must use cake flour)
3 T baking powder
2 tsp salt
4 c cold water
1 1/2 c vegetable oil
1 T lemon zest
1 T orange zest
1 T vanilla

If you make the entire recipe you will need a very very large mixing bowl. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Continue beating and gradually add 1 1/3 c sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Mix remaining sugar (2 c), flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in 3 cups of water and all remaining ingredients. When smooth gently fold in egg white mixture, 1/3 at a time. Make sure it is fully incorporated or your cupcakes will not work. Gradually stir in remaining 1 cup water. Spoon into cupcake pan lined with paper liners until it is 3/4 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool in pan for 3 to 5 minutes and then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

The chocolate cake recipe here. Only fill 2/3 of the way full and don't worry if it sinks because you are going to fill them with raspberry filling anyway and then top them with frosting so no one will ever know.

I like to use a pastry bag to pipe my frosting onto cupcakes, it looks much prettier. I'm not the world's greatest frosting spreader.