Finally! A day where I have both a special occasion AND a day off! Lucky me! Tomorrow is the birthday of my favorite sister. She deserves way more than cupcakes, but giving cupcakes has been very gratifying for me! On Tuesday, we celebrate my co-worker, Sarah, but since I don't work on Tuesdays, Monday will have to do! Also, Jon comes home from his vacation tomorrow, so a cupcake or two won't hurt his welcome.
Well, for starters, my sister has been confined to a dairy-free diet for her daughter's allergy. Talk about a challenge! But one I wanted to go for, for sure. I Google-d my heart out until I found a cake recipe that seemed to be decent. One stop at the grocery later, I was a baking diva! The batter was super moist, which is just right in this 5,280 altitude. My only issue was the flavor was lacking, but we'll see how the cupcakes turn out:
With my handsome assistant in Iowa, I was all alone! I'm sure my parents LOVE it when I do experiments in their kitchen!
Here is the batter, placed, of course, in the Royal Queen paper cups!
Then, the frosting: A banana dairy-free frosting! (Thanks to Google, yet again!)
Banana, butter (dairy free), squeeze of lemon, and lots of powdered sugar!
YUM YUM YUM!!
I think I'll try this frosting a few more times, it is fabulous!
The cake recipe was called at 350* and 30-35 minutes, but with cupcakes, I figured turning it down would be smart. I checked it at 25 minutes and they were PERFECT. I repeat: PERFECT!! Let us just remember the good days in January with the exploding cupcakes! I am amazing!
My other challenge: Sarah. She is somewhat picky, so birthday cupcakes have to be fit for her! I focused on Cookies and Cream Cupcakes (Yes, OREOS!!) with a Marshmallow Frosting! One thing the author left out of this recipe is to make sure the cup of milk is at room temperature. Have you ever seen milk fly? Me neither, until today. The butter was at room temp, but the milk was straight from the fridge and cooled the butter down, so when I went to mix, everything (including me!) got covered in milk. Birthday wish list: A large apron. I thought about writing the change in my book for future endeavors, but I think the splatters will do for a reminder. Holy cupcake! The batter was very worth it. I may or may have put a little more Oreo's in the mix, because those little cookies are my weakness!
Alrighty, so the cupcakes have cooled and are ready to get glamorous! The banana frosting was VERY liquidy, but just a dribble on each cake did the trick. I then became a genius. I wanted my new colored sugars to decorate these pups, and found the best way:
Sugar in an olive oil dipper, cupcake dipped in sugar! Aren't they beautiful?!
The Marshmallow Frosting gave me a little more run for my money! BUT--it is delicious! (And gooey)
Getting the 'mallows ready! (Double boiler to soften them)
Happy Birthday, Girls! Here's to many, many more!
Well, if you made it through all of this: You're a trooper! Just think of it as a two-for-one deal!
Thanks for reading this. I love to hear your thoughts in comments.
Credit to mi madre: To make frosting more thick: beat it more!
Lesson learned today: When using measuring cups, rinse immediately. You never know how soon you'll need the 1/4 cup, again!
Recipes used today:
Dairy Free Banana FrostingCookies and Cream Cupcake (Crazy about Cupcakes by Krystina Castella)
Marshmallow Frosting (Crazy about Cupcakes by Krystina Castella)
