photo LeslieSwanhalfbannerad2014_zpsd588788a.jpg

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine's Day - From Scratch


While I love love love to bake, I have never made a cake or cupcakes from scratch.  (I always figured Betty Crocker had it figured out so while mess with perfection!)


But today I was inspired by the Georgetown Cupcake sisters who appeared on Live! with Kelly, and decided to make cupcakes and buttercream frosting from scratch! I chose to make their vanilla cupcakes with pretzels and mini chocolate chips. 


Hope you have a sweet Valentine's Day!

Click read more below to get the full recipe!






Here is the recipe from Live! with Kelly:
Georgetown Cupcake Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

* 2 1/2 cups flour , sifted
* 1/2 tsp. baking powder, sifted
* 1/4 Tsp. salt
* 8 Tbsp. (4 ounces) unsalted butter (I used 8 ounces instead of 4 ounces)
* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 2 large eggs, at room temperature
* 2 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract + seeds from 1 vanilla bean
* 1 1/4 cups whole milk , at room temperature

Georgetown Cupcake Buttercream Frosting


* 16 Tbsp. (8 ounces) unsalted butter
* 4 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
* 1 tsp. whole milk
* 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
* 1/8 tsp. salt

To make your cupcake unique for your Valentine add a mix-in!

• ½ cup Chopped French Chocolate (if you want to INDULGE your sweetheart)
• ½ cup Rose Champagne (if want to LOOSEN UP your sweetheart)
• ½ cup Diced Strawberries (if your sweetheart is ROMANTIC)
• ½ cup Cinnamon Heart Candies (if your sweetheart is SPICY)
• ½ cup of Coffee Liqueur (if you and your sweetheart like to STAY UP ALL NIGHT)
• ½ cup of Dulce de Leche / Caramel (if your sweetheart is SEXY)
• ½ cup of Goldfish (if your sweetheart likes something SALTY and SWEET)
• ½ cup of shredded coconut (if you don't have time for that EXOTIC getaway)
• ½ cup of mashed banana (if your sweetheart is BANANAS)

DIRECTIONS:
For the cupcakes:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 cupcake pans with baking cups or grease pans with butter if not using baking cups.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.

Combine the vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.

Reduce the speed to low. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add one-third of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Add another one-third of the flour mixture, followed by one-third of the milk mixture. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and beat just until combined.

Scoop batter into baking cups and bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Frosting:

Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Add the confectioner's sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated. (I found the salt was a must!)


**If adding a special Valentine ingredient:
Add the ingredient of your choice to the batter, mix for 10 seconds, then scoop batter into cupcake pans!

1 comment:

sarahbethe said...

Very pretty! Happy Valentine's Day!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...