Saturday, December 10, 2005

Pepperminty Pink Cupcakes

Pepperminty Goodness

So we did a Girls Night In last weekend and I couldn't resist baking some cupcakes. My dear friend's husband cooked dinner & it was absolutely delish!! I tell ya, when I get married I hope my husband is able to cook atleast 1 dish as tasty as this meal was. We had roasted chicken & garlic steamed rice. He marinaded the chicken in lemon juice for about 6 hours then sprinkled it generously with Montreal chicken seasoning & roasted it to golden perfection. The rice was steamed to gooey deliciousness with slivers of garlic scattered throughout. Needless to say, I was stuffed. Not sure how any of us found room in our overly filled bellies for a Pepperminty Pink cupcake, but we did & they got good reviews I'm happy to report.

The cupcake baking was very spur of the moment, and the cake recipe was a new one for me. They're just a plain ol vanilla cake, but I hadn't yet found a standard vanilla/yellow cupcake recipe so I gave them a shot. They had a nice flavor and were sufficiently moist, so they will make a reappearance sometime soon I can assure you. The frosting, well I can't really supply a recipe for that, it was a little of this and a little of that.

Vanilla cupcakes
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 cup milk
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners. Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes more, scraping bowl frequently. Fill muffin cups half full.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 2 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, cool completely.

Pepperminty Pink Buttercream
Recipe went something like this:
1 stick softened butter
4 cups confecctioners sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
peppermint extract to taste

Using electric mixer, cream butter, gradually add sugar, beating well to incorporate. Add milk & peppermint extract, beat until fluffy.

I would recommend to start with 1 teaspoon of extract, once you have combined in well, taste & continue adding by half teaspoon until it suits your taste. Then add red/pink coloring until it's pink enough for ya!

Comments on "Pepperminty Pink Cupcakes"

 

Blogger cookiecrumb said ... (1:33 AM) : 

Cupcakes! They're so retro, and they're so-o-o back in style.
I'm impressed that you just sort of smooshed your way through the frosting, without an exact recipe.
Cute.
(Thanks for dropping by my blog. xx)
cc

 

Blogger Tishia said ... (10:07 PM) : 

Hi Michele! Thanks for dropping by my blog. Kind of funny that I came to check out your chef blog and the first thing I see is cupcakes:( A dieter visiting a blog about food just isn't right...LOL!

 

Blogger Tishia said ... (10:11 PM) : 

Whoops sorry your not Michelle....lol. I was on the wrong blog....sorry.

 

Blogger Ziz said ... (11:17 AM) : 

very cute...and PINK! Mmmm I bet peppermint and buttercream frosting go together VERY well. :D

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (5:22 PM) : 

Me likey! The pink is so girlie and the peppermint is so Xmas-y!

And, yes, make sure your eventual man can cook--it's a definite plus!! When we were in grad school, Hubby did most of the cooking. Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, it naturally falls to me, but he can definitely do his part, if need be...

 

Blogger Rachel said ... (6:31 PM) : 

My husband does most of the cooking. It's great, even though I also love to cook. Cute cupcakes!

 

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