In the kitchen...

I love to be in the kitchen. I love cooking and baking and finding new recipes to try out on Cuinn. Most of the time they work. Some of the time they don't. I'm lucky though, my test subject will eat pretty much anything I put in front of him. So it's pretty good for my self esteem because he usually says it's good. I love it when I see in his eyes that something is REALLY good though. Like dinner tonight. I made some chicken on a stick, which was delicious. I steamed some very yummy (and very local, which is always awesome!) asparagus, brussel sprouts and mushrooms. I also made some fancy rice. Which isn't really all that fancy. It's just rice, some of that hot paste type thing that you find at chinese food restaurants, jamaican salt and pepper, a bit of marg and soya sauce. Pretty simple. I just looked what was in the cupboards, threw some of this in and some of that in and Voila! A meal fit for my husband. While we were eating din dins I was thinking about how I haven't baked anything in a long time. Not since moving to our tiny town anyway. So I was thinking about what was in the cupboards, and if I had enough to make anything yummylicious. I did! I had (almost) all the ingredients to make cupcakes and icing. All from scratch I might add. Here's the recipe if you want to try it!

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Zest of 1 large lemon(outer yellow skin)

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

ButtercreamFrosting:

2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk or light cream

Assorted food colors(if desired)

Vanilla Cupcakes:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. 

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 17 -20 minutesor just until set and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Let ‘em cool, then frost ‘em!

Buttercream Frosting:In an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed. Tint the frosting with desired food color (I use the paste food coloring that is available at cake decorating stores and party stores).

I didn't have butter, I used marg. I didn't have food coloring so I just added sprinkles to make them colorful and lovely. I didn't have enough lemon zest so I just left it out. Also, I don't do the alternating thing with the "flour mixture". I think that's a waste of time. I just dump it all in at once. Maybe there is a reason for doing it that way, but I don't know it. Also, I don't add the eggs in one at a time. Again, I don't understand why recipes tell you to do that. I think it just makes extra work, I just do it all at once. They turned out fantastic. Cuinn had a big grin on his face when he was licking the bowl clean. So I'm happy. 




What did you do for dinner tonight?