Celebrate with Cupcakes!

I happily volunteered to bake cupcakes for my brother-in-law’s retirement party this past Saturday.  The guest list included 55 adults and 15 children, so I decided to bake a variety that would appeal to kids of all ages!

The choices included:  Chocolate cake/buttercream frosting, Carrot cake/cream cheese frosting, White cake/chocolate ganache icing, Strawberry cake/strawberry frosting, White cake/buttercream frosting, Chocolate cake/chocolate ganache icing, and White cake/coconut cream cheese frosting.  All were made from (ahem) Duncan Hines and Pillsbury cake mixes (quick and easy), but frostings were made from scratch!

84 cupcakes later:

I borrowed these Wilton cupcake stands from Teresa (she has the coolest toys!) and they worked out perfectly!  I used three sizes:  38-count stand, 23-count stand and 13-count stand.

Here are the frosting recipes:

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese

1 stick butter (room temp)

3 3/4 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Blend cream cheese and butter on low speed until blended.  Add confectioner’s sugar, one cup at a time, blending on low speed until the sugar is well blended.  Add vanilla and mix on medium until fluffy (about 1 minute).

Chocolate Ganache Icing

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Place chocolate chips in stainless steel mixing bowl, and pour hot cream over the chocolate.  Stir with wooden spoon until well blended.  Add vanilla.  Let sit for one hour, or refrigerate for 30 minutes, until icing thickens to spreadable consistency.

Sprinkles Cupcakes’ Strawberry Frosting

I just loved this frosting!  It’s made with strawberry puree, has lots of flavor, and it’s deliciously creamy!!

Rick’s Special Buttercream Frosting

I found this on Allrecipes, and (for now) it’s my all-time favorite buttercream frosting.  Very light and fluffy, and makes a huge amount.  I tweaked it a bit and got great results:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup Crisco

6 cups confectionery sugar

4 – 5 ozs. heavy cream

2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract*

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream shortening until fluffy.  Add sugar and continue creaming until well-blended.  Add vanilla, salt and whipping cream.  Beat on high speed for 10 minutes, or until fluffy.

*Note:  I really prefer using pure vanilla, but two teaspoons made a huge difference in the color of this frosting.  When I substituted the clear vanilla, the frosting was a nice, bright white, and had plenty of flavor!

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Same cream cheese frosting recipe as above; just substitute 1 tsp. coconut extract for the vanilla!

So……….which cupcake was the first to disappear?

They were cuckoo for coconut!

“A”