Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes

Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Cupcakes!!

If you know me very well, you know that over the last couple of years I have fallen in love with making and decorating cupcakes. My friend Elizabeth started this obsession and it has been fun to have a cupcake buddy. Often one or both of us make cupcakes every week. We even have these cute little containesr especially designed to safely carry a cupcake in your lunch.

This mutual obsession continued to escalate until last Valentine's Day when we made over 400 cupcakes for a fundraiser for the adoption fund at my church. You might think that we wouldn't want to make cupcakes after that for a long time, but both of us made a batch later that week!

Me and Elizabeth, the day of our adventure

This is my friend Julie's blog post about it. Her adoption journey was a big part of our inspiration.
http://crattyfamily.blogspot.com/2012/02/church-cupcake-fundraiser.html

I've made a variety of cupcakes...monsters, picnic theme, valentine's day, camoflauge, Fourth of July, black forest, caramel apple, etc.

Here are some of the pics...

Vanilla, vanilla

My friend Anna's favorite...in fact, it is what she wanted for a baby gift

...for me to bring her cupcakes after Isabel was born.

Fourth of July

This recipe stretched me to try a new technique for icing.

I think I understand it better now and could improve, but they turned out okay.

Kinda cool with three colors, I just would like more control of the colors.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

from www.yourcupofcake.com 

(one of my favorite dessert blogs)

I was told, "I've never had a cupcake like this. This is the best cupcake I've ever had!"

Picnic Theme

 Picnic theme birthday cupcake cake for Brenna!

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

We made vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet all topped with Vanilla Buttercream.

It took me a long time to start making my own icing. It just seemed like too much unnecessary work. I'll admit it is more work than opening a can, but it is worth it.
Once I made my own...I decided I would never go back. It's a whole new flavor!

If you have a stand mixer, it's much easier. It makes a big difference when making icing.

I'm not going to spill all my cupcakes secrets just yet. But here is the recipe I use the most for icing, which I got from Elizabeth. It was the first one I tried and is still my favorite.

Martha Stewart's Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients

• 4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch of salt

Directions

1. Put butter in bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium; add sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well, about 5 minutes total. Add vanilla and salt. Raise speed to medium-high; beat until smooth, about 1 minute more.