Amy Sedaris's Vanilla Cupcakes

I tend to hoard cookbooks and recipes, so of course I have multiple cooking-related apps on my iPhone. My favorite is the Whole Foods Recipes App. I like the features, since you can search by diet (gluten-free, vegetarian, etc.) and the recipes tend to be health-conscious. Recently though, I tried a pancake recipe (not gluten-free) I found on my Epicurious app, and they turned out really well, according to those who had the pleasure of eating them. So when I needed to bake a quick batch of cupcakes for the Cupcake Cuties kit, I again went to the Epicurious app to look for a recipe.

Since these cupcakes were for somebody's birthday, which is a special occasion, I didn't worry about trying to find a gluten-free or more healthy version. I chose to make Amy Sedaris's Vanilla Cupcakes. She's the author of I Like You: Hospitality Under the InfluenceThey're basic, so I had all the ingredients on hand, and the instructions are pretty entertaining, if somewhat sketchy.

Amy Sedaris's Cupcakes

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (as if I'd use anything else)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour (I used cake flour)
1 1/4 cups milk (I used whole milk)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and put baking cups in cavities of cupcake/muffin pan(s).

Beat butter in mixer at medium speed until somewhat smooth. Add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. The recipe doesn't specify this, but I'm pretty sure the eggs, butter, and milk should be room temperature. That's true of most baking.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Now, the recipe doesn't say to combine the flour, baking powder and salt before adding them to the butter mixture, but I did and blended them together with a whisk.

Also, the recipe doesn't instruct you to alternate adding the flour with the milk. But I did. That's how you typically make cakes using the creaming method. Once the batter is mixed, pour into pan(s).

I honestly can't remember how long I baked these for. I think it was around 20 minutes. Also, most cake/cupcakes bake at 350 degrees, but I followed the instructions and set my oven to 375. They came out fine, except some (the ones baked in the darker pans) got a little over-browned on the bottom. If I make this recipe again, I may try baking them at 350. Just to be a rebel.

So here they are in all their thoroughly cooled splendor, just waiting for some hip cupcake sleeves and buttercream icing to wear. Did you want the icing recipe too?

Basic Buttercream

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening (Yeah, I know. Shortening is evil in every way. But it was for a birthday, and Crisco is trans-fat free now.)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons milk or water

Beat butter, shortening, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons milk/water together until combined. Gradually add sugar, so not to create a powdered snow storm in your kitchen. Mix until sugar is incorporated. Add more milk/water to thin icing as needed.

If you's like to see the finished product, check out my Cupcake Cuties review (previous post).

Cupcake Cuties Save the (Birth)Day

I've had a run of bad luck in the kitchen lately, culminating in my most recent disaster. In fact, I'd rather just forget all about it and never mention it again. Except that it was meant to be a birthday cake, and, as usual, I waited until the last minute so I didn't have a backup plan, and time was running out.

As luck would have it, I agreed to do a product review for Cupcake Cuties, and it just so happens that the kit arrived literally within minutes of me realizing the birthday cake was yet another kitchen fail. Wow, talk about perfect timing! Now all I had to do was bake a quick batch of cupcakes and then decorate them with the kit! How insanely awesome is that?

           

I love getting packages, and I couldn't wait to open it up and see what they sent me. I didn't request a specific kit, but nearly all of the Cupcake Cuties kits are pretty much gender-neutral, which is handy.

      

As you can see, the kit comes packaged in an adorable plastic box. The picture on the front indicates which kit is inside. I received the Layered Cake Kit, which is perfect for a birthday. The only way to see what's actually in the box is to peek at the bottom. Still, that wasn't really good enough for me, so I went ahead and unpacked it all on the spot. I took pictures, too.

     

Everything is safely tucked away underneath pink tissue. Included in the kit is all you need to make the design shown on the front of the box, except for the cupcakes themselves and icing. This is great for anyone with dietary restrictions because you can use this kit with any cupcake and icing recipe.

   

The Layered Cake Cupcake Cuties kit includes: a bottle of pastel sprinkles, 24 candles, 24 decorative sleeves that go around the outside of the baking cup, and detailed instructions. The sleeves are self-adhesive, so there's no fuss or mess. Just peel off the backing, wrap them around the sides of your cupcakes, and stick the ends together. Super easy!

Before and after.

One thing I'd like to note is that the adhesive, once attached, stays attached. I found this out the hard way when I wasn't paying attention and put a few sleeves on upside-down. I tried to fix one, but I ended up tearing it and had to reattach it with scotch tape, so I didn't attempt to change the others.

Note thumb marks on edge, grrr.

The instructions say to frost the cupcake first, then wrap the sleeve around it. I tried doing it that way, but I kept messing up the icing on the edge of the cupcake, which was frustrating. So I wrapped the sleeves around the cupcakes first. I'm a rebel that way.

I like to use a 1M tip and piping bag to ice cupcakes, but a few of these were iced using just a disposable piping bag and no tip, so those have smooth tops. Once the icing is on, it's a good idea to go ahead and add the sprinkles. They'll stick better to fresh icing. Then, just place the candle in the middle, and that's all there is to it. This is a great activity to share with the whole family. Everyone can help!

  

I realize that technically these are supposed to have chocolate icing, as per the picture and instructions to match the paper sleeve. But nobody here wanted wanted chocolate icing. Unanimously, it had to be vanilla, so that's what I made.

 

By the way, the sprinkles included in the kit are pastel confetti, which is great for general use, and there are plenty. As you can see, there's still most of the bottle left after decorating all 24 cupcakes. But what I really love is the flip-top lid. There are 2 sides: one for pouring, and one for shaking, depending on the need. Very cool.

 

We had a lot of fun with this Cupcake Cuties kit, and I am very pleased with the results. It was quick, easy, everybody got to participate, and it saved me from having to make another birthday cake!

I received this Cupcake Cuties Kit for free in exchange for my honest review.