Tasty Cupcakes

Cupcakes

Cupcakes are an easy, fast and simple treat to make and can be decorated in so many different ways. I have an 8-year-old son that loves to help in the kitchen and making cupcakes is an easy recipe with lots of ways to include him as a “little helper”.

During Halloween my son Tristan and I made chocolate, vanilla, and lemon cupcakes. We decided to decorate the cupcakes in a monster bug theme; they were a big hit at his daycare for their Halloween party. I even made cupcakes for my sons Kung Fu class last week using yellow and black for icing colors, as these are the colors of their uniforms.

Cupcakes are a simple process and take much less time to bake than a cake and take even less time to cool off. I prefer to make mini cupcakes because there is less of a mess when smaller children are eating them. I also like that cupcakes don’t require plates and utensils. They only have a wrapper that can be easily thrown away after you have finished eating them.

I always buy ready-made icing and make the cupcake batter from scratch. Cheating in some areas to save time has always been my little secret, but I don’t mind sharing it with my fellow bloggers. Icing is a preferred taste, and I grew up tasting store-bought icing. If you prefer homemade icing, look at this recipe from Food.com. The recipe is for a simple vanilla icing that has one step to prepare. If you prefer chocolate you can add cocoa or browse the site for other recipes. Most of my efforts, as you will see from the photos I have added, went to decorating, which is my sons’ favorite part aside from eating the finished product.

Cupcake Batter

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

dash salt

2/3 cup milk

2 eggs

5 tablespoons butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with individual paper liners.

· Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl, then beat together all wet ingredients,. Then beat the dry and wet ingredients together.

· Put batter in individual paper liners. Place in oven for 8-15 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean after poking into centre of the cupcake.

· Take cupcakes out of oven and let them cool for 20 minutes on a rack or plate.

Adding any flavor you want or including raisins or your favorite nuts can alter this recipe. Many times I will add a little nutmeg and a bit of cinnamon. It really warms up the flavor of the recipe. I hope you enjoy this recipe and I look forward to any comments or helpful tips.