Author: Amy

Classic Sprinkle Cupcakes

classic sprinkle cupcakesThere are plenty of super-fancy cupcakes out there…filled, artfully frosted creations that look incredible and, sometimes, taste incredible too. But I’ve been fooled by many a super-fancy cupcake in the past; they look amazing, but when you take a bite…it’s only okay. Not the delicious creation you’d expected.

This, my friends, is not a super-fancy cupcake, but it’s certainly the delicious creation you’ve expected. Using a basic vanilla cupcake recipe, vanilla almond buttercream, and some fun sprinkles, these treats are the type of cupcake everyone should know how to make. The recipes are fairly simple, though I admit that most folks probably don’t stock cake flour in their pantries the way I do; still, you can find it easily at your local market and can use it in many cake and cupcake recipes, so it’s worth the buy.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup sour milk*
  • 1 recipe vanilla almond buttercream
  • Sprinkles for topping**

*To make sour milk, place 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar in a glass measuring cup and add enough milk to equal one half cup total. Stir; let stand for 5 minutes before using. 

**I use the Betty Crocker Parlor Perfect Confetti variety. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe makes about 21 cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Place eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat for another 30 seconds.

Add vanilla and canola oil and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.

Add flour mixture and sour milk alternatively in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Batter will be very thin.

Using a quarter-cup measuring cup, scoop batter into prepared regular-sized cupcake liners, filling about half full.

Bake for 12-13 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.

Prepare your frosting and fit a 14-inch pastry bag with the Wilton M1 piping tip. Pipe generous swirls of frosting onto each cupcake.

Top each cupcake with sprinkles; I find it helpful to place each cupcake in a bowl for sprinkling so you don’t get sprinkles everywhere.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

 

Vanilla Orange Cheesecake

vanilla orange cheesecakeAdapted from the Better Homes & Gardens Baking book, this cheesecake – which tastes very much like a creamsicle – made a nice addition to last night’s Passover seder.

While it is delicious, I must say that for me, this cheesecake has some textural issues. Not that the texture is bad – it’s just more fluffy than a standard cheesecake, which makes it difficult to slice. I suspect that this texture results from the use of sour cream in addition to cream cheese, rather than just all cream cheese in the batter.

I made a few changes to the original recipe, starting with switching out the graham cracker crust for a Passover-approved version using matzoh meal and toasted almonds. The original recipe also called for layering the orange batter on the bottom and floating the vanilla batter on the top, then covering the baked, cooled cake with orange marmalade. I tried to swirl my vanilla and orange layers for a marble look, but it didn’t turn out as marbled as I would have liked. I also omitted the marmalade, but you could certainly add that as the top garnish if you, like Paddington Bear, are a marmalade fan.

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 3/4 cup blanched almonds, chopped, toasted, and cooled
  • 2/3 cup matzoh cake meal or ground matzoh meal*
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled

For the filling

  • 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
  • 1 8-ounce tub sour cream
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • zest of 1 medium orange
  • Orange food coloring

*If you can’t find matzoh cake meal, you can make your own by grinding regular matzoh meal in a food processor to a fine texture. To make the 2/3 cup of matzoh cake meal in this recipe, measure out 2/3 cup and add about 3 or 4 tablespoons of additional matzoh meal, then pulse in a food processor until you have a fine texture.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine almonds, matzoh cake meal, sugar, and salt. Pulse until finely ground, then transfer to a medium bowl and drizzle in the butter, mixing with a spoon to incorporate evenly. Mix with your hands to combine fully; you want a sandy texture.

Press the crust mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. I use a small measuring cup to get as even a layer as I can.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until one shade darker in color. Cool completely on a wire rack before filling. If you’re short on time, you can place the crust in your refrigerator for about 10 minutes to cool it down – just be careful that you don’t leave it in too long. You want a room temperature crust, not a cold one.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and allow cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs to stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Split your vanilla bean in half lengthwise, then scrape out the seeds. Set the seeds aside and discard the pod.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and flour and beat on medium, then high speed until completely combined.

Lightly beat eggs, then add to the cream cheese mixture, beating well to combine.

Divide batter in half; stir vanilla seeds into one half, and orange zest into the other. Add orange food coloring to the orange batter.

Pour vanilla batter in first, then top with orange batter, or add smaller amounts of each batter alternatively and swirl to make a marble.

Place pan in a shallow roasting dish or on a cookie sheet with sides. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a 2 1/2 inch area on the outer edge appears set when gently shaken.

Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; use a sharp knife to gently loosen crust from the pan. Cool for another 30 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

 

Coconut Lime Macaroons

coconut lime macaroonsWhy would you put the lime in the coconut? Perhaps to make delicious coconut lime macaroons.

Okay, so I didn’t literally put the lime in the coconut to make these treats. Technically, I put the lime and the coconut into a meringue and (gently) mixed it all together. This was the first time I’ve used cream of tartar to stabilize my egg whites, and I’m glad I did. It took far less time to reach both soft peak and stiff peak stage during the meringue preparation. Big thanks to The Culinary Chase for this recipe, which I adapted just slightly.

While these baked, my kitchen smelled a bit like a mojito, prompting Mike to call these “mojito-roons.” The end result is a very light cookie with a great balance of coconut and lime flavor. They were a big hit at last night’s seder.

Ingredients

  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • pinch of salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • zest from 1 lime
  • 2 teaspoons lime juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until foamy.

Beat in cream of tartar and salt until soft peaks form, then add sugar, about 2 teaspoons at a time, beating until stiff peaks form (about 5 minutes).

Fold in coconut, lime zest, and lime juice.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of batter onto prepared sheets; you can fit about 8 or 9 drops on each sheet.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, until tops are just golden. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at a cool room temperature for about 3 days. Meringue-based cookies like macaroons will start to break down in warmer rooms, so cooler room temperatures are better.

Caramel Pecan Brownies

caramel pecan brownieI love recipes that come on the backs of tins of cocoa powder, cans of evaporated milk, and packages of candies. They are tried and true, the kind of recipes that bakers have relied on for parties, picnics, and everyday treats for years.

These caramel pecan brownies came from the back of a bag of Kraft Caramels, and they remind me very much of one of my favorite candies, the caramel turtle. They’re gooey without seeming under-baked and have a nice crunch from the pecans. Trust me, toasting the pecans is worth it – toasting brings out a richer flavor, which balances the sweetness of the chocolate and caramel very well.

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 12 tablespoons butter, cut into slices
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 11-ounce package Kraft caramels
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cups pecan halves, toasted and cooled*

*Toast pecans in a 350 degree oven for about 8-9 minutes, until darker brown and fragrant. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with foil; spray lightly with baking spray.

Roughly chop your toasted pecans and set aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Microwave for 2 minutes, then stir; you’ll have a few lumps of chocolate that remain. Microwave for another minute and stir again until mixture is completely smooth. Set aside for a few minutes to cool very slightly.

In a large bowl, combine sugar and eggs; add chocolate mixture and stir until well-combined, then add flour mixture and stir until well-combined.

Pour half of the batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, until the top is set.

While your bottom layer is baking, unwrap caramels and place them in a medium microwave-safe bowl. With about 6 minutes of baking time left on your bottom layer, add heavy cream and microwave for 2 minutes, then stir very carefully – the heavy cream will splash pretty easily. Continue to microwave in 30-second intervals, carefully stirring between each, until caramels are completely melted.

Stir in 1 cup pecans, then pour the caramel mixture over the bottom brownie layer. Top with remaining batter and carefully spread to cover the caramel mixture; I used a small offset spatula and noticed that the heat of the pan and the caramel layer melted the brownie batter slightly, which helped make it more spreadable. Some of the caramel will peek through; that’s fine. Top with remaining nuts.

Bake for 30 minutes, until top is set. Cool completely before serving.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Ruffle Cake

spring ruffle cakeThis adorable ruffle cake was inspired by the clear blue sky, green grass, and budding forsythia I noticed on my walk with Millie this afternoon. It’s a lovely spring day today, fitting for the day before Easter, and this little cake will make a nice addition to our Easter dinner tomorrow.

I watched several videos on ruffle piping before I tried this, including this great one from Cake Style. Although I definitely need more practice, I’m very pleased with how it turned out. You do need a good deal of frosting for this, and while you’ll probably have about a cup left over, it’s better to have too much than too little. You can always use the extra on a small batch of cupcakes, or for another future treat.

White Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3/4 cup milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray two 6-inch round cake pans with baking spray; line with parchment circles, and spray the parchment.

In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together sugar, shortening, and salt until fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla; beat until combined.

Add flour mixture and milk in alternating batches, starting and ending with the flour and beating until just combined.

Divide batter between pans; bake for about 20-22 minutes, until tops are golden and a cake tester comes out clean.

Pastel Ruffle Vanilla Almond Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons almond extract
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • Blue, green, and yellow liquid food coloring

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter for about 1 minute, then add salt and beat another minute.

Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until all of the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this will take a few minutes.

Add vanilla extract and almond extract, beating well to combine. Check your consistency;it should be fluffy, but not too thick or too thin. If you need to thin it, add 1 tablespoon milk and beat for another minute.

Divide frosting into three equal portions; tint each a pastel shade of blue, green, and yellow.

To frost your cake:

Trim each cake so you have flat surfaces; reserve your cake scraps for a little trifle or other snack.

Place the bottom layer of your cake on your platter and top with a medium-thin layer of yellow frosting.

Place the top layer on next and apply a thin layer of yellow for your crumb coat.

Fit a piping bag with a Wilton 104 petal tip and fill the bag with your blue frosting. With the larger end of the tip toward the cake and with your bag at about a 90-degree angle, begin to pipe ruffles from the center of the top of your cake outward. Continue with your blue frosting to cover the entire top of the cake, with one band of blue down the side.

Repeat with your green frosting, then your yellow frosting, covering the entire cake with ruffles.

Store at room temperature.

top of spring ruffle cakeHere’s a nice shot of the top of the cake. 

 

Easter Sugar Cut-Outs

easter cut-outsSearch for “Easter cookies” online, and you’ll find hundreds of images of beautifully decorated sugar cut-outs. While my decorating skills are pretty basic, I think my Easter-themed sugar cut-outs turned out pretty well.

I hope to someday have a carrot cookie cutter, which would go well with my rabbit sugar cut-outs, but this time I chose to go with three standard cutters; a flower, a chick, and an egg, which also ended up serving as a different type of chick cookie. My favorites are the egg-shaped chicks – see below for a close-up of those!

This recipe yielded 4 dozen cookies; the frosting recipe yields about 4 cups.

Ingredients

  • 1 recipe sugar cut-outs
  • 1/2 recipe vanilla frosting
  • Yellow, orange, blue, and violet food coloring
  • Mini chocolate chips
  • Flower sprinkles, if desired

Preparation

Bake cookies and allow to cool completely. Prepare frosting and divide into four portions and tint, as follows:

  • 1 1/2 cups yellow
  • 1 cup blue
  • 1 cup violet
  • 1/2 cup orange

Frost cookies as desired; you can decorate them with sprinkles, colored sugar, or whatever other embellishments you like.

To make the chicks, frost your cookies with the yellow frosting. Place mini chocolate chips for eyes. Fit a small piping bag with a small plain tip and pipe on beaks and feet.

Let frosting harden before storing; you can keep these between sheets of waxed paper at room temperature for about 3 days.

chick cut-outHere’s a close-up of one of the chicks!

 

French Toast Cupcakes

french toast cupcakesMany times, I’ve scrolled past recipes for French toast cupcakes, thinking eh, can they really be that good? Yes. They can be, and absolutely are, really that good.

If you’re skeptical about this adaptation of a breakfast classic, think about it this way: these treats combine a cinnamon nutmeg cupcake – so right there, you’re off to a great start – with a maple buttercream frosting for a wonderful blend of sweet and spicy cupcake goodness. You could certainly sprinkle on some crispy bacon pieces if you like, but I left mine plain for a more mellow creation.

This recipe makes a huge batch, enough for 2 dozen cupcakes and one 8-inch round cake or at least 3 dozen cupcakes.

Cinnamon Nutmeg Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 4 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups sour milk*

*To make sour milk, place 1 tablespoon and 3/4 teaspoon white vinegar in a glass measuring cup and add enough milk to make 1 1/4 cups total. Stir; let stand for 5 minutes before using.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and shortening on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add sugar and vanilla and cream together until well-combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add flour mixture and sour milk alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour and beating until just combined after each addition.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into prepared pans, filling cupcake wells about half full.

Bake for 16-18 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in pans for a few minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

Maple Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar**
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the powdered sugar, all at once, then beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated into the butter; this will take several minutes.

Add salt, vanilla, and maple syrup, then beat on medium speed for about 3-4 minutes, until very light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl very well at least a few times.

Fit a large piping bag with a Wilton 1M tip and pipe blobs of frosting onto each cupcake.

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

**In most cases, I sift my powdered sugar before I use it in buttercream, but it’s not necessary in this case unless you really, really want to do so. This recipe is adapted from one I found at bakingdom.com, and she didn’t advise sifting, so I didn’t bother and the frosting turned out perfectly. 

Pastel Sugar Cookies

pastel sugar cookiesBetty Crocker wasn’t a real person, but I like to think there’s a bit of Betty in all bakers. General Mills now owns the Betty Crocker brand, which was created by another company back in 1921. The marketing folks who came up with the name thought “Betty” sounded all-American and cheerful, and I quite agree.

Throughout my childhood, my mom used both Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines (who was a real person, by the way) mixes to save time in baking. She gave me some Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix recently – probably purchased with holiday baking in mind – and I decided to use it as the base for some creative Easter sugar cookies. I don’t often bake with mixes, but they’re a great way to save time. These treats will be on their way to my darling goddaughter Maureen and her family in just a few days.

Ingredients

  • 1 17.5-ounce package Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix
  • 8 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes and softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • Pink and green colored sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line several baking sheets with foil or parchment. Place colored sugars into separate bowls.

Place cookie mix and softened butter into a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed for about 2 minutes, then add egg, increasing the speed to medium, and beat for another minute.

Add vanilla extract and almond extract; return to medium speed and beat until a soft dough forms.

Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop out dough and roll into balls, then roll in colored sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are just golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheets for a few minutes; remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 30 cookies.

Springtime Cupcakes

springtime cupcakesButtercream frosting requires simple ingredients, but it takes some time to achieve the perfect texture and flavor. I’ve been working on buttercream for years now, and I think I’ve found the perfect recipe, especially for cupcakes. My buttercream requires both vanilla and almond extracts, which I think gives the best flavor. It also requires patience; each step takes a few minutes, and you can’t rush it, or you won’t get a nice, fluffy texture.

These springtime cupcakes were a big hit in the office for St. Patrick’s Day today, and they would also make a great addition to an Easter brunch, a baby shower, or Mother’s Day tea. This recipe would be great any time of year, though.

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcakes

  • 1 1/4 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup sour milk*

Basic Buttercream Frosting

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • Dash of salt
  • 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon almond extract
  • Green food coloring

*To make sour milk, place 1/2 tablespoon vinegar in a glass measuring cup; add enough milk to equal 1/2 cup total. Stir; set aside for 5 minutes before using.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake tins with paper liners; this recipe makes 21 cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Place eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and continue to beat for another 30 seconds.

Add vanilla and canola oil and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.

Add flour mixture and sour milk alternatively in three batches, beginning and ending with the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Batter will be very thin.

Using a quarter-cup measuring cup, scoop batter into prepared regular-sized cupcake liners, filling half full.

Bake for 12-13 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and immediately remove cupcakes to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

To make the buttercream, place butter in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down your bowl, add salt, and beat for another minute.

Scrape down your bowl, then add powdered sugar all at once; cover your mixer with a kitchen towel, and beat on low speed until the sugar is completely incorporated into the butter – this will take several minutes, probably about 4-5.

Once all the sugar is incorporated, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, add extracts, and beat on low speed for about 1 minute, then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 2-3 minutes until the texture is light and fluffy.

Add green food coloring a few drops at a time to create a light, spring green shade.

Fit a 14-inch pastry bag with a Wilton 1M tip and pipe generous swirls of frosting onto cupcakes. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days for optimal freshness.

Note: this buttercream recipe will frost at least 24 cupcakes, as long as you don’t go too overboard with your piping.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream

chocolate cupcakes with pb buttercreamYou know how sometimes you have a chocolate peanut butter dessert and it’s not at all what you wanted it to be? The chocolate is too bitter or sweet, the peanut butter is too sweet or salty, one flavor overpowers the other, or the whole thing is just too heavy and rich?

This is not one of those desserts.

This, my friends, is the most delicious combination of chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter frosting I’ve ever made. The cupcakes, originally from the Nestlé Very Best Baking blog, offer a tender texture and smooth chocolate flavor, while the frosting is just sweet, salty, and peanut buttery enough. If left to my own devices, I could have eaten the entire batch.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted*
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup milk

*I actually use Nestlé baking cocoa and find that sifting it into the flour yields a more even texture, although the original recipe did not call for sifted cocoa. 

For the frosting

  • 12 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • About 2 tablespoons milk

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-count cupcake pans with paper liners; this recipe makes 24 cupcakes.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in vanilla extract.

Add flour mixture and milk in three alternate batches, beginning and ending with the flour and scraping the sides of your bowl well, beating until smooth.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, drop scoops of batter into cupcake wells.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and immediately remove cupcakes from pans, cooling completely on a wire rack.

To make the frosting, beat butter and peanut butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes; mixture will be slightly lumpy. Scrape down the bowl and add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well between each addition. Add 1 tablespoon milk, then beat for 1 minute; if frosting is too thick, add another 1 tablespoon milk to think it out and beat for another 2-3 minutes until very light and fluffy, scraping the bowl well a few times. You want a fluffy texture that will be easy to pipe.

Fit a large piping bag with the tip of your choice; I used a Wilton 1A, which requires a 14-inch pastry bag and large coupler set.

Pipe frosting onto cupcakes in generous swirls or blobs. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days.