Tiffany Blue Cupcakes

Today has been a lazy Saturday for Richard and I. With the best intentions of hitting the gym, going for a walk, cleaning the apartment, making the most of our Saturday - we've managed to read half a book and watch several episodes of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen (a guilty Netflix pleasure).

And a Snuggly Saturday for Kirk as well!

It started off with the best intentions, though - making cupcakes for Sunday lunch at Grandma's tomorrow (or CokeCakes as our Puerto Rican friend calls them!).

Here's my best white cake recipe - the best part about this recipe is how light and fluffy (and forever-moist) these cupcakes ALWAYS turn out!

Cupcakes
4 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
3 cups Flour
5 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
2 cups Whipping Cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
2. Beat the eggs.
3. Add the sugar and vanilla - mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
5. In 3 parts, add dry mix to egg mix, alternating with whipping cream - beginning and ending with the dry flour mix
• Make sure you follow this step - if you throw it all together, it's impossible to mix!
6. Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers
7. Pour batter into papers, filling three-quarters full.
• I use a juice pitcher for all of my batters, but this cake batter is a bit thicker, so using a spoon is nearly just as effective. I suppose it's just habit that keeps me using the pitcher?
  
  
  
  
  
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a cake tester is inserted and removed without any residue. 

And now, for the most delicious Vanilla Buttercream I've ever made (colored to a beautiful Tiffany-blue)!

Frosting
1 cup Butter, softened
3 1/2 cups Powdered (Confectioner's) Sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons Whipping Cream
1 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
2 - 3 drops Blue Food Coloring

1. Whip butter until light and fluffy - and I mean whip it. For at least 7 minutes - it'll turn a nearly white color and be a completely different texture.
2. Add Powdered Sugar - mix well.
3. Add Whipping Cream and Vanilla - beat until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
4. Add Blue Food Coloring - mix until evenly colored.

 At this point, you'll have to bear with me as we all learn together - I've just gotten my first set of frosting tips, attempting to make my delicious baked goods look as good as they taste. As it turns out, this takes a significant amount of practice.

**Lesson #1: Not all brands of frosting tips are created equal. I purchased two different brands, assuming I could mix and match the tips - apparently, this is not the case. Lesson learned!

So I ended up using a tip that was significantly smaller than the one I needed. But no biggie - still sort of pretty. Maybe?

And I tried this one - I think if I had been a bit more careful, this one might have looked nice! Some of these turned out looking a bit like a messy rose.

**Lesson #2: Never bake your husband's favorite cupcakes when he's hungry. He'll "accidentally" knock one or two over and then have to eat them because they've been ruined. 

But the one thing I must impress to all of you soon-to-be expert cupcake bakers - get yourself one of these puppies!

My cupcake holder - it holds 24 cupcakes and doesn't let any of them get mushed during travel! Probably one of my favorite and most-used presents from the wedding.

Enjoy your Tiffany Blue Cupcakes!