THE Cupcake of Cupcakes

I have absolutely missed you! Life has been busier than a swarm of bees around here! Wedding plans are already in full swing. The bride-to-be invited me on a road trip with her and her mother to choose the gown! The mission was accomplished, the gown is beautiful and I loved being part of the process. However, I had also promised firstborn’s girlfriend cupcakes for a baby shower and I could not, would not renege.

Although she loved the cupcakes with fondant flowers that I made for my baby shower (here), I knew this baby shower would not be all about finger sandwiches and sterling trays….a little more nontraditional. This mom-to-be is always on the cutting edge of fashion! SO….I gave the hostess this book I bought at Joann’s a while back and let her pick out the recipe and picture of what she wanted. This book is filled with both classic and unique recipes. The pictures are inspiring!

Her choice was a recipe the book calls “Sweet Sixteen” cupcakes. I refer to them as “Two-Day-Lots-of-Trouble-But Oh-So-Worth-It” cupcakes :). She wanted them to complement her pink and purple color themed shower.

We had the advantage of knowing that this baby will be a girl! The result was this pink confection with edible purple and pink glitter. I put the cupcakes in hot pink and silver foil liners to match her table.

Truthfully, the cupcakes will be much easier the next time (and there will be one) I make them. I learned a few tricks in the process. I am passing them along at the end of the recipe. I am joining Hoosier Homemade for Cupcake Tuesday! You can find the party here!

Golden Sour Cream Cupcakes

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup sour cream or buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with liners. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour gradually , alternating with sour cream and beating on very low speed until just blended. Do not overmix. Spoon batter into into cupcake cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool cupcakes to room temperature.

Note: I used sour cream and this recipe made only eight cupcakes filled as directed. The results might vary with the use of buttermilk.

Custard Filling

1 whole egg

2 large egg yolks

4 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup whole milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small heatproof bowl, vigorously whisk egg, yolks, and sugar until mixture is pale in color. Add cornstarch and mix until fully blended. In a small saucepan, heat milk and vanilla over medium-high heat until it just comes to a boil. Add half the milk to the egg mixture and mix until smooth. Pour egg mixture through a fine metal sieve back into the saucepan, and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until cream thickens. Continue to cook for another two minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and pour into a shallow flat pan. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic touches the surface of the custard to prevent a crust from forming.

Note: I made this a day before assembling the cupcakes. After filling a pastry bag with the custard I rolled the bag in my hands to warm it up and soften the chilled custard. This made it much easier to pipe into the cupcake. I tried using just a pastry tip to fill the cupcake once again. I find that I am able to get very little into the cupcake. I went back to my tried and true method using the apple corer. You can find that method here. This recipe makes more than enough to fill the cupcakes. Eat the rest with a spoon :)

Buttercream Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons whole milk

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Gel food coloring, optional

Cream butter and one cup confectioners’ sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add remaining sugar and mix until smooth. Add milk, salt, vanilla, and food coloring. Beat until creamy. Use immediately or refrigerate in airtight container up to 3 days. If using chilled frosting, allow it to come to room temperature and beat until creamy.

Note: I doubled this recipe to frost 2 dozen cupcakes.

Assembly: I made the cupcakes and custard filling on one day. I made the frosting and assembed the cupcakes on the second day. I used a medium star tip to pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes. I sprinkled with edible glitter!

All recipes adapted slightly from Celebrating Cupcakes and Muffins by Michal Moses

If you have hung in for the entire post, thank you!!! You won’t be sorry! The recipe is long, but not difficult….I made it :) Drop me note!~~Susan

Bundle of Joy Buffet

Last weekend I hosted a baby shower for a surprise baby. NO, the baby is not a surprise, but the sex of the bundle of joy will be unknown until the doctor announces it in the delivery room. What fun and excitement! The way we all used to do it!

The color scheme for the shower was completely pastel—pink, blue, yellow, green, and lavender. Cupcakes, mini cheesecakes in pastel liners, pacifier candy favors, and candy-coated almonds lined the sideboard.

I made pastel marshmallow fondant flowers to top the cupcakes and put them together them in every combination I could think of. I didn’t want to influence the outcome :). You can find details on the fondant here and the recipe here.

The favors are made with Lifesavers, icing for glue, pastel jelly beans for the nipple, and LOTS of pastel curling ribbon. They are completely edible!

The centerpiece was a mixture of fresh yellow and green flowers in this adorable bassinet I found online. I truly had hoped to take pictures of the entire table, but this baby shower almost got away from me! I thought it was more important to answer the door rather than keep clicking away!

You can’t have a proper southern tea or shower without homemade pimiento cheese tea sandwiches! I used my acorn and maple leaf cookie cutters.

For me, deciding on a beverage is always hard for afternoon events. I am not a real fan of most punches. However, this Apple Julep was a hit! It’s not too sweet and made a beautiful presentation with apple and lemon slices floating in it. Christy Jordan, who writes A Southern Plate blog, was recently featured in Southern Living and included this recipe. I’ve been reading Christy’s blog for a couple of years and she is as entertaining as she is informative.

Apple Julep

1 quart apple juice

1 cup pineapple juice

1 cup orange juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

Mix all well and serve chilled or over ice. Makes about six cups and doubles or triples easily.

I am linking to Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday and to Michael Lee West at Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday. Click on their buttons on the sidebar for immediate inspiration. I’ll let you know what the “surprise” is in about three weeks! :) Thanks for stopping by—leave me a note!!~~Susan

A Just Ducky Baby Shower

This is the baby shower that almost wasn't. For days now the mother to be has been threatening to go into labor about a month early, one of the hostesses (me!) got sick, and the weather could not have been more uncooperative. In short, I thought the chances of this baby shower happening with success were slim and none. Fortunately, on Sunday afternoon everything turned out just ducky!

Welcome! You may remember I posted here about making a wreath using the yellow and blue theme to use on my door for the shower. I gave the wreath to our guest of honor after the shower to use at home on her door. I temporarily replaced the ferns in my urns :) with yellow mums. But come on inside...before you get wet.

Last week when Marty at A Stroll Through Life had her party, I made a "test cloche" for the shower. I used silver keepsakes from my own children (because they have left it all here!) and yellow roses in the foyer. One thing I did learn. If you plan to use live flowers in a cloche for a special event, do not cover with the cloche until right before the event is to take place. It tends to form moisture. I don't know why and don't need to know. I am not the Alton Brown of cloches or baby showers. :)

We'll stack the gifts in this antique crib. I came home with this from an estate sale a while back much to the horror of Beloved and my children. There were no hidden messages in the purchase. I have always wanted one and this one was a good price. I do hope to one day use it for more than stacking gifts :)

I arranged yellow roses in this darling wicker bassinet I bought online. The shoes belong to Sunshine's godchild and have votive holders filled with roses. I really think old scuffed high tops would have been better, but I could not locate a pair.

The shower was an all girl tea-like affair, so we served dainty finger foods, cake, and punch. The cake, which anchored one end of the table, was a precious three dimensional duck made by a local school teacher who bakes on the side.

We served punch from my grandmother's cut glass punch bowl on the other end of the table. I am happy to have any excuse to use this bowl. It was my paternal grandmother who first taught me to appreciate pretty china and crystal. She'd be glad to see it welcoming a new baby.

We served a variety of finger sandwiches--tomato basil, chicken salad, and cucumber spread. Pastry cups were filled with shrimp salad. There was a cheese tray with grapes with crystallized sugar.

We served strawberries filled with cream cheese icing.

My daughter wanted to serve the strawberries on her Annieglass cake pedestal. It was a recent wedding gift and she was anxious to use it....another generation to appreciate pretty china and crystal :).

I cut the bread for the cucumber sandwiches with a duck cookie cutter. The recipe which is always a hit with both men and women was in one of my very first posts. You can find it here.

Finally, as the guest were leaving we gave them an edible favor. I had these at a baby shower last year and have been waiting for the chance to use the idea.

The "pacifier" is made of Lifesavers and jellybeans "glued" together with icing! I found enough blue and yellow jelly beans in one bag to continue the color scheme of the shower.

I used a tube of white icing. First spread icing inside and slightly around the hole of one Lifesaver. Attach another Lifesaver perpendicular with the edge of the second Lifesaver. Allow these to dry. Then fill the center of the first Lifesaver with icing and insert the jellybean in the color of your choice. Allow to dry. I attached the curling ribbon just for more color.

The shower was a success and the guest of honor is ready any time the little one decides to make his appearance. Susan will be showing you gorgeous tables for Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. Just click on her button to join her. On Friday click Michael's Foodie Friday button to join her at Designs by Gollum for lots of food fun! Thanks for joining us at our party!

Metamorphosis Monday....A Tale of Three Doors

Susan At Between Naps on the Porch has invited us once again to share our changes large and small for Metamorphosis Monday. My changes involve the front door--the first thing you see when you go to anybody's house. I think it such an important first impression. So often we are so busy making sure the inside of the house is just right when we entertain, we forget to check the front door! You may remember Sunshine, our daughter, got married in June (as if I hadn't told you :). She moved into a darling bungalow style house the groom bought last year. To say that it was in dire need of a woman's touch is a vast understatement. Last week we made sure the entrance said "welcome".

I started out with this door pocket I picked up out of the trash while I was helping a friend move. Not very interesting at this point, but free and full of possibilities. I thought I might try something new and found a hammered- finish spray paint by Rust-Oleum. I thought a little texture might dress up their black door. After a trip to Garden Ridge during one their 50% off sales, I set to work. I just picked up fall colors and make sure to include different textures. I like grasses in arrangements. Beloved is a hunter and I always make him save pheasant feathers from his yearly pheasant hunting trip.

I think it's a good size for this door and doesn' t block the light coming into the room. Yep, I think the front door could use painting too--kept my mouth shut. I'm working really hard at this "letting go and being a good mother in law" thing :)

The next door starts out with the basic cheap and on sale grapevine wreath. I am giving a baby shower next Sunday and this wreath will be on my front door to welcome guests. After the shower, I will give it to the mom-to-be for her own front door for after the little one arrives.

I made the ribbon and attached things from the dollar store with a hot glue gun. The ribbon and theme are continued in the foyer in a cloche I posted here. It's so nice when you have the luxury of knowing the sex of the anticipated bundle of joy!

Finally, My front door--again. Remember above I said sometimes we forget to look at our front door through the eyes of visitors? After all, we seldom use them ourselves. I am guilty of this in a big way! When we bought the house, the landscaping was good for the most part. However, shrubs grow while your're not paying attention.

Before I knew it, the entry looked like this! Overgrown and unattractive! These were extremely difficult to prune and hiding my front door. I thought they might have to stay because they would be so hard to remove. Beloved didn't think it would be a problem-----

He sent someone right out! (that is actually a tree being removed, but the same big yellow whatchamacallit removed the shrubs too). I love this man, but I did not marry him because he knew his way around a hardware store or heavy machinery :)--no problem, same result!

This weekend we finally planted two much smaller American boxwoods and trimmed the nandina--huge change! I really think most of us could improve the curb appeal of our houses simply by PRUNING. In this case, at least, I think less was definitely more!

I confesss--I bought this wreath (1/2 price) and just added the pheasant feathers :) I was a little tired! Thanks for "coming to my door". Click on the butterfly button and you'll be back on Susan's doorstep!

I am also linking this to the DIY Showoff--Click here for more ideas!

Cloche Party...It's a Boy!

When Marty at A Stroll Thru Life had her first cloche party, we had just had "The Wedding" the weekend before. My cloche, if I had owned one, would have had one limp daisy under it to represent me--happy, but exhausted. But no more! The bride is back from the honeymoon, the mother of the bride is rested, and I own a cloche! Now on to the next project...a baby shower at my house in ten days!

My daughter and I are hosting a shower for the mother of a soon-to-be-born baby boy. This is the cloche that will greet guests in my foyer. This, of course, is a "test cloche". I think I will try to use yellow rose buds rather than fully open roses for the shower.

Yellow and blue invitations are in the mail! Since we have the luxury of knowing the baby is a boy, we have chosen a yellow and blue theme--one of my favorite color combinations. I used this wired ribbon here on the cloche and on a baby-themed door wreath I'll show you later.

I wanted the cloche to include timeless treasured baby objects...a silver porringer, a monogrammed teething ring.

A smaller silver baby cup holds baby's breath and a small silver spoon. Although the rest of these treasures belonged to my children, the baby spoon is a recent find. It was in the chest of seldom-used silver plate flatware that had belonged to my mother. It is an old and very popular pattern called "First Love"...how fitting. Maybe she once fed me with this spoon.

I like the way the Celtic cross shows through the cloche. This would be a great way to display a baby's keepsakes in the nursery....placed away from tiny probing hands :)

I am so happy that I got to come to the party. I can't wait to see what Marty and the rest of you have "under glass"! Hurry over to Marty's party.Your invitation is below!