Category: Cakes + Cupcakes

Crazy Chocolate Cupcakes (Vegan!)

mo cupcakesMy goddaughter Maureen, also known as Mo, just turned three. Mike and I traveled to Maryland this weekend for her party and Mo and I baked these cupcakes together, which was great fun. She’s very good at mixing, but even better at eating. At the end of her party, she sat down by herself at the table and proceeded to eat all of the icing off of two cupcakes…a girl after my own heart.

Mo’s mom, my cousin Barb, sought a recipe that was both dairy-free and egg-free to accommodate some guests with food allergies, and she got this recipe from a friend whose sons can’t have milk or eggs. Cakes like these are also known as Depression Cakes, given the scarcity of dairy products and eggs during the Great Depression. As always, the resourcefulness of bakers never ceases to amaze me; the end result of this recipe is a delicious, moist cake that reminds me somewhat of devil’s food, but better. And, because there are no animal products in either the cake or frosting recipes, these treats are vegan! 

Note: the recipe below yields 36 cupcakes with enough frosting for generous portions on each cupcake. 

Crazy Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 4 1/2 cups flour
  • 9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 3 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons vinegar
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 15 tablespoons vegetable oil (7.5 ounces, just shy of one cup)
  • 3 cups water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well-blended, then make three wells for the wet ingredients.

Place vinegar, vanilla, and vegetable oil in the wells; add water and mix until batter is smooth. The mixture will bubble slightly when you add the water; just keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency in the batter, which will be fairly thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill each cupcake about half-full. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients

  • 1 cup shortening
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 8 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, combine shortening, 1 teaspoon vanilla, water, and 4 cups powdered sugar. Mix on low speed, then increase to medium-high and beat for 10 minutes, until smooth. Add remaining powdered sugar and additional teaspoons of vanilla extract, beating until smooth.

About Maureen

mo bakingMo is an active three-year old who loves her parents, her dog Sukey, making messes, and referring to herself in third-person. She’s an avid fan of bacon, enjoys watching Octonauts, and has been known to wear tutus over skinny jeans.

 

White Cake with Sweet Lemon Frosting

white cake with lemonLast week’s cookie-baking extravaganza left me with six egg yolks, which of course I turned into lemon curd, which I then needed to use up in some creative way. Hence, white cake with lemon curd filling and sweet lemon frosting.

Recipes for single-layer cakes like this one are quite useful, especially if you’re baking for a date night or a small gathering. Tonight, Mike and I will celebrate New Year’s Eve, and this little treat will be perfect for our dessert.

Just a few items to note: my sweet lemon frosting is similar to lemon cream cheese frosting, and it’s based on another lemon frosting recipe I saw recently, with different ratios to increase the sweetness. Appearance-wise, don’t worry if your lemon curd filling and frosting drip over the sides of your cake; this just makes the end result a more charming, old-fashioned-looking dessert.

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 a 9-inch round cake pan with baking spray; line with a parchment circle 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.

Pour batter into prepared pan; bake for 25 minutes, until top is golden and a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool cake completely before filling and frosting.

Lemon Curd Filling

  • 1 recipe lemon curd, prepared in advance. Reserve about 2 tablespoons prior to filling the cake for the frosting.

Sweet Lemon Frosting

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 ounces cream cheese
  • 2 tablespoons lemon curd
  • About 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, beat butter and cream cheese until very well blended, about 3 minutes.

Add 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon curd; beat on low to begin, then increase speed and beat on medium until well-blended. Add additional cup powdered sugar and additional tablespoon lemon curd; beat on low to begin, then increase speed to medium and beat until very well-blended. Taste; add another 1/4 cup powdered sugar if desired.

To assemble the cake:

Using a very sharp knife, cut cake in half horizontally. Flip top half onto a cake platter top-side down and spread lemon curd in an even layer. Lemon curd will drip over the sides; this is fine.

Top with the remaining cake half and frost the top of the cake only, so you’ll be able to see the sides. Store in the fridge.

Pink Flower Cupcakes

IMG_1812Cupcakes may be trendy, but they’re also quite practical for special occasions. They require no plates or forks, so they’re easy to serve and eat. They can be easily customized in flavor pairings, in that you can bake a batch of almond cupcakes and frost half with vanilla buttercream and the other half with chocolate to meet the varied preferences of your guests. Cupcakes can also be decorated very simply to look fun, whimsical, or elegant, whatever you choose.

These cupcakes were baked for a friend of a friend who is hosting a baby shower this weekend and were very simple to make, requiring one batch of almond cupcakes and one batch of vanilla buttercream. And, as this shower is celebrating the impending arrival of a baby girl, they are also very, very girly.

When tinting your frosting, keep in mind that gel food coloring yields bolder colors than liquid food coloring, so you probably don’t need as much as you think in order to get the color you want. You can always make a color darker, but it’s next to impossible to make a color lighter once you’ve tinted it.

Ingredients

White Cupcakes

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 3/4 sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 1/3 cup buttermilk
  • 1 recipe vanilla buttercream
  • Pink gel food coloring
  • Leaf green food coloring
  • White and yellow flower-shaped sprinkles

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

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

In a mixing bowl, beat shortening and sugar together until creamy. Add vanilla and beat until combined, then add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternatively, starting and ending with the flour, beating until just combined after each addition.

Using a 2-inch cookie scoop, scoop batter into prepared tins, filling no more than half-full.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until tops are light golden and a cake tester inserted in the middle of a few cupcakes comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack before frosting.

To frost:

Prepare vanilla buttercream.

Reserve about 1 cup of frosting to tint green. Tint the remaining frosting light pink and frost each cupcake, creating a relatively smooth surface.

Add more pink food coloring to the pink frosting to darken the color. Fit a 12-inch pastry bag with a star tip and pipe flower shapes on each cupcake; mine were off-center to look more whimsical.

In the center of each dark pink flower, place a white or yellow flower-shaped sprinkle.

Tint the reserved frosting green by adding a very small amount of leaf green food coloring. Fit an 8-inch pastry bag with a plain tip, then pipe on flower stems. Remove the plain tip and replace with a small leaf tip; pipe on leaves.

Peppermint Pattie Cake

peppermint pattie cakeDark chocolate and peppermint are great friends. Perhaps the most famous product with this combination is the York Peppermint Pattie, another amazing confection pioneered right here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the 1940s.

This cake tastes much like a York Peppermint Pattie, even though the candies aren’t used in the recipe. Next time, instead of crushing red and white mints for the cake’s garnish, I’d like to cut Peppermint Patties into halves or quarters and place them along the edge of the cake for the border. One other item to note about this recipe: the original recipe that I found online called for 3/4 cup of boiling water to be stirred in by hand once all of the other ingredients were blended. This seemed like far too much liquid to me, so I used 1/2 cup…which in hindsight was still too much liquid. Although the cake turned out well, the center fell significantly during cooling, so next time I’ll use no more than 1/4 cup.

Ingredients

For the dark chocolate sheet cake:

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup boiling water

For the peppermint vanilla buttercream frosting:

  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • red and white peppermint candies, crushed (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with baking spray.

Place sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until very well combined.

Gently stir in boiling water by hand; batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan before frosting.

To prepare the frosting, place butter in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for 1 minute using a paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until the sugar is fully incorporated; this will take several minutes. I cover my mixer with a kitchen towel to prevent a powdered sugar storm.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and add peppermint extract, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Beat until well combined, scraping sides of the bowl frequently; beat in additional tablespoon of heavy cream and continue beating for 1-2 minutes for a smooth, even consistency.

Frost the cake and sprinkle the edges with crushed peppermint candies if desired.

Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

lemon poppy pound cakeYesterday, I met my dear friend Carrie and her family in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. One of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday is browsing in the Strip, and I was so glad to get to share this experience with Carrie, her husband, and their two children. Carrie’s family lives in State College and we don’t get to visit as often as I’d like, but we had a nice time among the fascinating foods, spices, and treats on Penn Avenue.

At lunch at a seafood restaurant, Carrie and I marveled at the things that people imagined they could eat—mussels, lobsters, crabs. Poppy seeds are among such ingredients for me, as I have no idea why someone once looked at a poppy and thought, hmm, I bet I could cook with those seeds in there.

Interestingly enough, Carrie and I also just had a discussion about the difference between cupcakes (small cakes) and muffins (small quick breads), because though this recipe was billed as a bread I believe it to be much more of a pound cake, given its inclusion of butter and its method of preparation. Once it is completely cooled, I might whip up some lemon powdered sugar drizzle icing for the top, but I believe it’s going to be quite tasty either way.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 cups flour, sifted
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • zest of 1 medium lemon
  • 3 tablespoons poppy seeds
  • 13 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

For the lemon syrup

  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray an 8 x 4 loaf pan with baking spray, line the bottom with parchment, and spray the parchment.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and milk; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds until combined.

Add butter and half of the egg mixture, beating on low speed until moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 1-2 minutes, until ingredients are very well-incorporated.

Scrape down the bowl and add remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating for about 30 seconds after each. You may need to scrape the bowl a few more times to fully incorporate all of the ingredients and to make sure there are no lumps in the batter.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 30 minutes, then cover with foil and bake another 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. The edges of the cake will be very dark, but that is okay.

In the last 10 minutes of baking, prepare lemon syrup; combine lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan, stirring and boiling until the sugar dissolves.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick it with a cake tester or thin wooden skewer and brush half of the lemon syrup over the top. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan, invert on a cooling rack sprayed with baking spray, and prick the bottom and sides, brushing with remaining syrup.

Cool completely, then wrap in foil. Store overnight before serving so that the lemon syrup has time to absorb; top with lemon drizzle icing if desired.

 

Apple Cider Cupcakes

apple cider cupcakesApples are cultivated throughout the world, from the United States to Italy to India. There are literally thousands of different cultivars of apples, ranging in color, flavor, texture, and usage. For the same kind of fruit, it’s pretty amazing to think about how different each apple can taste from the next, from a tart Granny Smith to a sweet Honey Crisp. I’m a fan of the Rome, Gala, and Golden Delicious varieties, but I always prefer to bake with a blend of sweet and tart apples in pies.

To me, apple cider is like apple juice’s tangy sibling, and I’ve seen it in a variety of recipes lately, mostly for doughnuts. I came across this cupcake recipe on Pinterest, though the original was paired with a caramel buttercream. I’ve frosted these cupcakes with my traditional caramel frosting, but I have to admit: I think a simple glaze icing, or even just a sprinkling of sifted powdered sugar, would have been a better choice. The cupcakes themselves are light and spongy, and while the caramel flavor in the frosting pairs well with the spicy apple flavor in the cupcakes, it’s a bit denser than necessary. Next time, I’ll likely opt for a different frosting, if I frost them at all.

Ingredients

  • 1 2/3 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup apple cider

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line one 12-count cupcake tin with paper liners.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the bowl frequently.

Add flour mixture and cider alternatively, in thirds, beating until just combined after each addition and ending with the flour.

Scoop batter into prepared tin, filling cups about 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely before frosting or serve plain. These cupcakes are tasty enough on their own!

 

 

 

Honey Cake

honey cakeSometimes, you encounter a treat that becomes your nemesis. Until last year, honey cake was mine.

I first read about honey cake in Miriam’s Kitchen, an excellent book by Elizabeth Ehrlich that explores the connection between food and family, history, and tradition. The author described her Great-Aunt Dora’s honey cake as a rich, aromatic confection that was baked to celebrate Rosh Hoshannah in the hope of a sweet new year, and it sounded exactly like something I’d love to add to our holiday table.

Great-Aunt Dora’s recipe was included in the book, but when I baked it the outside burned, while the inside remained gooey and inedible. Years of honey cake experiments ensued, during which I tried different recipes each time, all with similar results. Last year, I scoured the internet for a new recipe, and I found this one, which yields a very successful, spicy orange honey cake.

Honey cake is still a bit tricky because of the amount of liquid and sugar (from both the honey and the white sugar in the recipe), so I recommend the following tips for baking:

  • Bake your cake at 340 degrees; the slightly lower temperature allows the cake to bake through without burning.
  • Check your cake for the first time at 33 minutes; the center will likely still look very wobbly, so continue baking for 3 minutes at a time, checking frequently, until a cake tester comes out clean. My cake bakes for about 43-45 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • zest of 1 medium orange
  • 1 cup orange juice

Preparation

Preheat oven to 340 degrees.

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 sheet cake pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, honey, vegetable oil, eggs, and orange zest. Beat until combined.

Add flour mixture and orange juice alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour and beating until just combined. Batter will be very runny.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 33-43 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely before serving. This cake can be served as-is or dressed up with whipped cream, powdered sugar, or my favorite, a drizzly icing made of powdered sugar and orange juice.

Pound Cake

pound cakeThe Christmas before Mike and I got married, to help me prepare for married lady-ness, my mom gave me the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook. Its red and white plaid cover shelters a binder of classic BH&G recipes—70 years worth, in fact. It is the most useful book that I possess, or have ever read.

A treasure chest of middle-class American cuisine, this cookbook features information about weight and measure conversions, emergency substitutions, the different types of pasta, the merits of butter over margarine in baked goods, a glossary of common cooking terms, and diagrams of the different cuts of meat. Unlike some of the other cookbooks I’ve used, the BH&G has never failed me. Every single recipe I’ve made from it—and believe me, I’ve nearly exhausted the cookie and cake chapters—turns out exactly as expected. This speaks volumes for BH&G’s test kitchens, and makes things so much easier for self-taught cooks and bakers.

This pound cake recipe is a slight adaptation from the one in the BH&G (I tripled the quantity of vanilla) and yields a sturdy but tender texture that would be an ideal base for a trifle. It could be accessorized by any number of glazes, though I highly recommend pairing this cake with whipped cream (or whipped topping, as is pictured above) and the summer fruit of your choice or a handful of chocolate chips.

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Let butter, eggs, and sour cream stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and lightly flour an 8x4x2 loaf pan.

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

In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar and continue beating on medium or medium-high speed until very light and fluffy, about 7 minutes.

Beat in vanilla.

Add eggs, one at a time, and beat for 1 minute after each; scrape the bowl well before adding your next egg.

Add flour mixture and sour cream alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, beating after each until ingredients are just combined.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely before serving.

 

 

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

strawberry lemonade cupcakesToday, Soergel Orchards is having their annual Strawberry Festival. Beyond picking your own berries in their fields, you can get your face painted, go on a hay ride, jump in a bouncy castle, or in my case, enter a strawberry recipe contest.

How does the self-taught baker set out to win her first competition? She thinks about what she’d want to eat, and goes from there. This recipe is a confectionery interpretation of an iconic summer drink, and I’m proud to say that it won first place.

 

Strawberry Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 heaping cup strawberry puree
  • 1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Zest of 1 medium lemon
  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
  • About 1/2 to 3/4 cup lemon curd, at room temperature

Preparation

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line cupcake tins with 16 paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together strawberry puree, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest; set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until light in color. Gradually add sugar and beat until fully incorporated; scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently. Add egg and egg whites, one at a time, and beat until well incorporated.

Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the strawberry mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently and beat for 1-2 minutes after the last addition of flour to make sure all ingredients are well incorporated.

Scoop batter into prepared cupcake tins, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean; cool on a wire rack.

Using the small end of a melon baller, scoop out a small amount of cake from the center of each cupcake; fill with lemon curd (a half-teaspoon measuring spoon works well for filling if you don’t want to use a piping bag). Frost with fresh strawberry buttercream; store cupcakes in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Bring cupcakes to room temperature before serving.

Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • Scant ¼ cup strawberry puree

Preparation

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and lemon juice on low speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Gradually add powdered sugar, in half-cup increments, beating until fully incorporated.

Add strawberry puree, mixing until completely incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.

Using a small cookie scoop, scoop frosting onto tops of cupcakes and spread with an offset spatula. Frosting can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days; refrigerate cupcakes after they are filled and frosted for up to 3 days.

Note: you can adjust the sweetness or tartness of this frosting very easily by adding more lemon juice or puree; you’ll just need to add more sifted powdered sugar so the frosting isn’t too runny.

Victory! Yep, that’s me with the star of today’s festival, The Strawberry.

strawberry festival

 

Planet Cupcakes

planet cupcakesNot everyone can eat chocolate, and my mom is one of those folks. And because our nephew Roman requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for his birthday party this past weekend, I needed an alternative for Grandma Genny, who was also in attendance. The result: planet-themed vanilla cupcakes.

The most time-consuming aspect of these cupcakes was, quite obviously, the decoration.You need a decent quantity of vanilla buttercream, lots of food coloring, and plenty of time. It was a lot of fun to interpret the planets in frosting, though; I used a few colors mixed together for Venus, Earth, and Jupiter and got out the pastry bag for the rings on Saturn and Uranus, and of course the Sun, which was my favorite (and, incidentally, was the cupcake that I ate).

For the Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup milk

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time; scrape down bowl, and beat in vanilla.

Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Divide batter evenly among liners, about three-quarters full each.

Bake until golden and tops spring back to touch, 20-22 minutes.

Transfer pans to wire rack; cool completely before frosting.

For the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3 to 3 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • Both liquid and gel food coloring; I used yellow and blue liquid coloring and golden yellow, orange, red, royal blue, and violet gel coloring

Preparation

Place butter in a mixing bowl and beat for a few minutes using the paddle attachment.

Add 3 cups powdered sugar.  With your mixer on low, incorporate the powdered sugar into the butter.  (Hint: I find that placing a kitchen towel over the mixer during this stage prevents a powdered sugar blizzard.)

Increase speed and add 1 tablespoon vanilla, salt, and milk.

Beat for 3 minutes, then taste.  If you’d like a stronger vanilla flavor, add the second tablespoon of vanilla, along with the additional ¼ cup of powdered sugar.  Beat until combined and very smooth; you want an easily-spreadable consistency.

To Decorate

You’ll need just a few tablespoons of frosting for each cupcake, but I started out by tinting larger quantities in the colors I knew I’d need more of, like yellow and blue, then darkened them as I went along. Reserve as much un-tinted buttercream as you can so that you can lighten colors if you need to; I also used un-tinted frosting to pipe “Happy Birthday Roman” and some stars on Roman’s chocolate cake.

The Sun

Tint about four tablespoons of frosting using golden yellow gel food coloring. Fit an 8-inch pastry bag with a star tip and pipe lines radiating out from the center of the cupcake to cover the top, then pipe additional “rays” so that they stand up vertically from the surface of the cupcake.

Mercury

Tint about a half-cup of frosting using yellow liquid food coloring; you’ll just need a few drops to create the very pale yellow of Mercury. Frost the cupcake and create a smooth surface.

Venus

Tint a few tablespoons of frosting using orange gel food coloring; apply a thin layer of frosting, then add both yellow and un-tinted buttercream to create swirls.

Earth

Tint about a half-cup of frosting using blue liquid food coloring; you’ll just need a few drops to create a pale blue that you can use for Neptune. Remove a small portion of the light blue and tint it darker, using royal blue gel food coloring. Frost the cupcake using swirls of both blues and some white; add piped white “clouds” if you like.

Mars

Tint a few tablespoons of frosting using red gel food coloring. Frost the cupcake and create a smooth surface.

Jupiter

Using un-tinted, yellow, and orange frosting, frost the cupcake and create band-like effects with your spatula (or knife, whatever you’re using). Using a toothpick, dab some red frosting on to create the dust storm and drag the toothpick through the other color bands to create hints of red.

Saturn

Darken the orange frosting you used for Venus and frost the cupcake to create a smooth surface. Tint a very small amount of frosting violet using violet gel food coloring; fit an 8-inch pastry bag with a leaf tip and pipe very loose rings.

Uranus

Reserve some of the pale blue frosting for Neptune; darken the blue that you used for Earth and frost the cupcake to create a smooth surface. Pipe un-tinted rings using a star tip or plain tip.

Neptune

Using the pale blue frosting you created before you frosted Earth and Uranus, frost the cupcake and create a smooth surface.

What about Pluto?

Yes, I also frosted Pluto using the violet frosting I had for Saturn’s rings, but there was no room for Pluto on my cake plate. And since Pluto was downgraded from planet status a few years ago anyway, I thought that was okay 🙂