Dessert of the Week-- Kyleigh's Cupcakes

Fridays. Don't you just love Fridays? I've always loved Fridays, but now, having the dessert of the week gives me another reason to love Friday. This week, I let my Kyleigh choose the dessert. She picked cupcakes. :) We went with a yellow cake with a chocolate butter frosting. Since these were for her, I let her help decorate them before we gave them a try.

Let me back up a little. There is a little "background" story that goes with today's post. This past week, Kyleigh has been trying very hard to go through the night without a pull-up on. Since this is such a big deal for her, she has a special reward for making it to the morning with a dry bed and pajamas. While she hasn't been dry every morning, she did have a successful Thursday night. So for her reward on Friday, Kyleigh got to create the menu for dinner Friday. She picked tortellini with a butter sauce and gnocchi with a white sauce. For dessert, she wanted cupcakes and got to pick out whatever decorations she wanted for them. She got to pick out whatever she saw at the store because I had to go anyway to get the stuff for her dinner. Kyleigh chose heart-shaped strawberry-flavored marshmallows, red sugar sprinkles, and polka-dot cupcake papers. She even got to help bake them. The cakes were finished baking when we sat down to eat and therefore had sufficient time to cool. However, I hadn't had the chance to whip up any frosting. Well, it's Friday and we all get to sleep in in the morning and Nate wasn't coming home anytime soon...so why not let the girls stay up late for cupcakes? After dinner the girls played while I whipped up some chocolate frosting and iced a few of the cupcakes. Then it was time to put on jammies. The girls then got settled at the table and I brought over the heart-shaped marshmallows, red sugar, and a plate of iced cupcakes. Boy were the girls excited! So here are the recipes and pictures from Kyleigh's Cupcakes.

recipe found in The Good Housekeeping Cookbook

makes about 24 cupcakes

      2 cups all-purpose flour
      2 tsp baking powder
      1 tsp salt
      1/2 cup butter, softened
      1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
      3 large eggs
      1 tsp vanilla extract
      1 cup whole milk


   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper baking cups. Set aside.
   In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.




   In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter. Once the butter is soft, beat in the sugar on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. 
   After about 5 minutes, still on medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time. Make sure to beat well after each addition. Once all 3 eggs have been added and are well combined, beat in the vanilla.

   Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Now it is time to add the flour mixture and milk alternately. Be sure to begin and end with the flour mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl frequently, and beat just until smooth.

   Since I don't have one of those fun cookie scoops, I used the 2 Tablespoon measure spoon to spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups. Works well, too.
   Bake at 350 degrees F for 22 minutes. Cool in the pans that have been set on wire racks for a bit then turn the pans out onto the racks to finish cooling.

 Look good, don't they? 

 

I can't forget to post the picture Kyleigh took of her lunchbox. :)

 After I finished cleaning up dinner and the girls played, it was time to make some frosting. Chocolate. :)


3 oz unsweetened chocolate baking pieces
3 oz semi-sweetened chocolate baking pieces
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract


   In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate together. I did mine in 30-second increments. Make sure to check on it after each interval and stir it up. Chocolate is easily burned so don't over-heat it. Set aside to let it cool a bit.
   In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until it is creamy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined.
   While still on medium speed, beat in the melted chocolate. Turn the speed up to medium-high and let it go for about 5 minutes. You want it to be light and fluffy while forming stiff peaks when you lift the paddle up.

Cupcakes are cooled and the icing is made. Kyleigh has been impatiently waiting for the time try the pink heart-shaped marshmallows and red sugar sprinkles. Everything is arranged in my orderly fashion ready to pretty up these cupcakes.

I had a vision for these cakes so after snipping off a corner of a Ziplock bag, I fitted it with a star tip.

Pink strawberry heart-shaped marshmallows.

Red sugar sprinkles.

After getting everything in order, I filled my bag with the Chocolate Butter Frosting and went to work.

And shortly after getting the hang of it, voila! 

Yumm!!


 The girls are in their jammies and seated at the table waiting. I carried over the plate of iced cupcakes, the heart marshmallows, and red sugar sprinkles. 

They sure did go fast. :)


Here is Kyleigh's masterpiece!

Here is the first one I decorated, then ate.

And the girls devouring their cupcakes!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the color inside the cakes! Okay, Kyleigh originally asked for pink cupcakes but spacey me forgot to put coloring into the batter. After I put the first pan in the oven, Kyleigh asked when we were going to make them pink. I definitely smacked my forehead on this one. To make it up to her, I dipped a toothpick into the pink Wilton food coloring. I then proceeded to swirl it in the batter that had already been spooned into the second pan, which was still awaiting its turn in the oven. She was happy to bite into the cake and find pink swirls. Good save, Mom!! :)

While the girls took the time to savor their scrumptious cupcakes, I needed to find something to do to keep myself from eating another...and possibly yet another. So I decorated the rest of the cupcakes on the plate and then to keep myself busy still, I took pictures. 

Enjoy!

Side Note: By the way, I am really enjoying my new Kitchenaid Stand Mixer! My hubby and in-laws went in together to get it for me for Christmas and it has a permanent spot out on my counter--a coveted spot, mind you. The other small kitchen appliances were very jealous of this immediate high stature. ;) 
My mother in law also gave me a silicone Food Network baking sheet!! I was so excited! I LOVE using this thing!! She said she figured she couldn't go wrong if it said Food Network on it. Good call. :)