I found out tonight that some of my stitchery friends were hoping I was making those small Halloween Carpenter's Wheel quilts for them. Ha! Boy, were they bummed when they read I gave the quilts to the guests at my Halloween House Party last Saturday!
No, I have something else in mind for them when we get together this Sunday. And really, they should know by now that I try to keep that kind of little gift a secret until after we've had our get togethers; which explains, a bit, why I haven't shown you what I've been working on lately.
When I unpacked all of my Halloween decorations this year, I found I had two heavy cardboard cupcake/treat stands I'd purchased last year but hadn't used, so when it came time to think about what I wanted to take to our stitchery get together this coming Sunday, I thought cupcakes would be perfect. The only problem is that I don't have a tried and true cupcake recipe.
The last few times I've had cupcakes, they've come from bakeries (two separate bakeries), and they've been different from the cupcakes I've had before. Maybe it's a trend in the rather trendy (but quickly becoming passé) cupcake industry. At first, I wasn't certain I liked them, but they rather quickly grew on me (and I don't just mean my hips). These "new" cupcakes were more dense and crumbly than the cupcakes I'd eaten before.
An internet recipe search wasn't very helpful. It seems that most reviewers associated "dense and crumbly" with "heavy and dry." Nope, heavy and dry cupcakes aren't what I'm looking for. Just nice, moist, dense vanilla cupcakes.
I ripped off the photo above from a recipe for Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes at Food.com. It really LOOKS like the cupcakes I want to make. Some reviews were positive and some were negative, but overall it seems to have received four out of a possible five stars.
What do you think? Should I go with it? Or do you have a cupcake recipe you can point me toward that sounds like it's what I'm looking for? I really can't let my stitchery friends down now, especially since I already disappointed them when I made those cute Halloween quilts for other people. After all, they'll be armed with scissors, rotary cutters, and sharp pins and needles on Sunday, and I'd hate for the day to devolve into a scene similar to the one where angry villagers march on Dr. Frankenstein's castle with burning torches.
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8 comments:
A simple but so yummy and delicious cupcake you shared with us. Me and my sister doing a new arrangement with cupcake in each year on her or my birthday.
The Magnolia Bakery cupcakes are amazing! I got the recipe from Thimbleanna's blog. Here's the hyperlink to her specific entry: http://thimbleanna.com/index.php?s=magnolia I've made it twice, once as cupcakes, and once as a birthday cake for our son. I am an occasional baker, and these turned out great both times.
My go-to cupcake at this time of year is pumpkin cupcake with a nice cream cheese frosting. Ok I lied, any time of year!
I have a book called "Cupcakes" by Elinor Klivans. It is published by Chronicle and it has the most delicious yellow cake recipe in it that I have ever had. Anytime I make them everyone wants the recipe. They have sour cream in them which makes them moist and scrumptious. I think it also makes them a little more dense than store bought cake mixes. I don't know what the protocol is with sharing recipes from someone's book would be but I would be more than willing to share if you think it is ok to do so.
I have heard that cake flour helps when making cakes and cupcakes.
I'd go with the Magnolia Bakery recipe as they are famous for being good. I live near Sprinkles so I always prefer them! Janet
I use Betty for my cupcakes/cakes but I have the best ever homemade frosting recipe that came from the Bee about 20 years ago. I have actually made the frosting all by itself just to eat it, keeps very well in the freezer. If you would like to try it let me know.
I use a box mix and a small box of instant vanilla pudding. It gives it a little more ooomph. I also use instant vanilla pudding in homemade chocolate chip cookies and reduce the granulated sugar. Always have soft cookies that don't dry out.
Deb W.
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