Baby Shower Cupcakes

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You can never go wrong with colorful baby shower cupcakes. Made with vanilla frosting, the cute little cupcakes are guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser!

Why I decided to make the cupcakes //

My friend Kristin is having her first baby this spring and our good friend Carrie had a really lovely shower for her. Kristin is a reader and really wanted me to make her cupcakes after the Snickerdoodle cupcake post so I happily obliged. These might look fancy but they really were not hard to do. (Check out the gorgeous cookies here for inspiration, i am baker puts me to shame) I did it over the course of a few days. Icing the cookie was definitely the hardest part and only because I am impatient. If I really took my time I probably could have had very clean lines and made them really super cute. But patient I am not.

I have been having an internal debate for some time about the cake part of cupcakes. My mom owned a catering business for years and had always said that she cannot bake a better cake than Betty Crocker can. For a long time I agreed with this statement. Isn’t the cake part really just a frosting delivery system? But now, I see that I can bake a cake that is better than Betty’s. I found this in the Martha Stewart Cupcake book and it is really good, not to mention easy. I really like easy.

I made the cookie dough one afternoon while the kids were napping. I let the dough chill and baked off the cookies that evening. I rolled them out fairly thick and just gently laid the dough on top of a regular size lollipop stick and pressed gently. The next night, I decorated the cookies. I did cheat and used an instant royal icing mix that I got at a baking supply store, but you could easily make your own icing. I kept them in an airtight container. The following day I made the cupcakes again during naptime and iced them later that day. I kept them in the fridge until I was ready to take them to the shower the next day. I put the cookie pop in the cupcake right before they were to be served. I was a little worried about stability, but it was not a concern. They did not even budge. These Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes have been *adapted from Martha*

Ingredients //

• 3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 5 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks at room temperature
• 2 cups buttermilk at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Frosting

• 2 sticks room temperature butter
• 6-7 cups confectioners sugar
• 6-8 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• food coloring (optional)

Instructions //

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 muffin tins with liners. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Step 2:

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. I let it cream together for about 5 minutes. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time until well incorporated. Scrap down the sides of the bowl and continue to beat.

Step 3:

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three batches alternating with the buttermilk. Combine well after each addition. Add the vanilla.

Step 4:

Divide the batter into the liners. I use a large ice cream scooper for this to keep the size the same.

Step 5:

Bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes. Rotate the pans once during cooking. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then let the cupcakes cool out on a rack until completely cool.

Step 6:

It’s time to make the frosting. Cream together the butter and 6 cups of the sugar.

Step 7:

Add 6 Tablespoons of heavy cream and beat until very light and fluffy.

Step 8:

Add more sugar or cream to get the consistency that you want. I knew that I wanted to a looser frosting since I was going to pipe it so I used closer to 8-10 Tablespoons of cream.

Step 9:

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to the frosting.

Step 10:

Add the vanilla extract and almond extract.

Step 11:

Add food coloring to get your desired color. I used a gel color for this and a little bit goes a very long way, so start slowly. I used Cake Craft gel color in turquoise, golden yellow, and flesh tone for the cookie icing, and I used Cake Craft gel color in turquoise for the cupcake frosting and a 6 point round tip.

What Color to Add to the Icing and the Cupcake Frosting? //

• I used Cake Craft gel color in turquoise, golden yellow, and flesh tone for the cookie icing
• I used Cake Craft gel color in turquoise for the cupcake frosting and a 6 point round tip

These were a hit at the shower for being cute and being delicious. Make some and share them with your friends.