Friday, January 28, 2011

Cherry Chip Cupcakes




When I was a kid I loved Cherry Chip Cupcakes. Not only because they were pink, although that was a big part of it, but because they were sweet and soft and they are the kind of cupcake that you can't stop eating.


For the cupcakes you will need...
-One box of Betty Crocker Cherry Chip Cake Mix
-3 Large Eggs
-1 1/4 Cups Water
-1/3 Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil

Prepare cupcake according to cake mix box directions 


Line cupcake pans


Fill 2/3 the way full and bake according to the directions on the cake mix box


Cool on wire rack 

For the frosting you will need...
-2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 
-2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
-1 teaspoon imitation cherry extract
-1/4 teaspoon vanilla 

If you are planning on piling your cupcakes up high with frosting, you will need to double the recipe above, if you are just lightly frosting, this amount should do. 

Put the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and add the confectioners' sugar (you can sift the sugar if you like, I do because I enjoy sifting, but if you don't, you don't have to). Start the mixer on low and watch it very carefully so you don't get sugar all over your kitchen. As the butter and sugar come together increase the speed until they are thoroughly combined. Then add a tablespoon of milk and mix. Then add little more milk if you like, to achieve the desired consistency.  Now add the extracts. Please note I did not add any food coloring to the frosting, the color came from the cherry extract. If you would like more color try adding pink or red food coloring until you get the color you want.





So a big part of the reason I decided to make these cupcakes was because I really wanted to try out my new mechanical pastry bag that my sweet husband gave me for Christmas. After Christmas I was so burnt out on sweets I haven't felt much like making buttercream frosting until now. With Valentine's Day around the corner I felt it was time to break out my new toy and see what it can do! 





Monday, January 24, 2011

Let's get started



Welcome to the first installment of Baking Me! I thought we'd start off with making a recipe book to keep all of our recipes in order. I have found so many great recipes online and I needed a way to keep them all organized. So I went to Target, picked up this cute binder and got started. 



To complete this project you will need...
- One three-ring binder (any size will do, I used a 2')
- Sheet protectors (available at any office supply store and Target)
- Sheets of 8.5' x 11' paper (you can get creative here with colors and designs)
- Stickers or any other adornment you'd like to jazz it up a bit




To make your recipe book...
- First gather your recipes and print or write them on your 8.5' x 11' paper
- Next you will need to decide the categories you want to include in your recipe book
- Once you have your categories figured out you can go ahead and make your labels
- Organize your recipes into each category and put them in your book


Voila! You have just created your own recipe book!




I liked this binder because it has a clip inside the front cover.  It's great for keeping a handy little notebook or recipes waiting to be organized.
As you can see, you can make this project as simple or complex as like. If you want to add some stickers or other scrapbooky type things to your recipe book to make it special and unique go right ahead, or if you just want to leave it plain and simple that works too. Just have fun and let the creative juices flow!