Cupcakes!

My cousin gave birth last week to a baby boy, Aaron Isaac Galiard.  I offered my services and decided to bake something to have for dessert at the bris.  After we eat bagels, of course! He's as delicious as the cupcakes I made...isn't he?

Here's the recipe for the funfetti cupcakes I made.  And the recipe for vanilla bean buttercream follows! I doubled the recipe for the cupcakes and was able to make 24 mini cupcakes plus 18 regular cupcakes.

Funfetti Cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup milk
1/2 cup colored sprinkles
For the icing:
½ cup butter, softened
4½ cups confectioners’ sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract
5-6 tablespoons milk
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla.
While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients, then add all the milk, and follow with the rest of the dry ingredients. Add sprinkles and mix to combine. Take care not to over mix the batter. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared tin (about 1/3 cup batter per cupcake.)
Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove. Cool on the rack completely.
In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve desired consistency.

Pistachio Cake

This recipe is very much like the Easiest Chocolate Cake I made a few weeks back.  Which by the way got rave reviews from the people I baked it for.  I am baking this recipe for the same people, we'll see what they think!!  I tasted it and it's moist, a nice green color, and deliciously nutty!! If you love pistachios you will be sure to love this one!!!

Pistachio Cake or Muffins

1 box Classic Yellow Cake mix

8 oz. whole shelled pistachios, grounded. (Be sure to reserve 1/2 cup for decoration on top of the frosting)

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 1/3 cup water

1 package Pistachio Flavor JELL-O (not prepared)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put aside 1/2 cup of the ground nuts aside for later. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl, whisk to combine well, and pour into a loaf pan, muffin tins, etc.  Bake until a cake tester comes out clean and golden brown.

I made 24 mini muffins, and still had left over batter for a 9x9 inch brownie pan. I cooked the mini muffins for 25 minutes and the cake for about 40 minutes. I frosted the mini muffins with Vanilla Bean Frosting.  The frosting is made with confectioner's sugar and Earth Balance Natural Shortening, it's like a vegan version of butter for baking. (Make sure to get the green package, the other one contains salt.) 

I am not frosting them yet, because I want it to be fresh, but here is the recipe for the Vanilla Bean Frosting.  It can be made vegan if you use non-dairy soy milk and vegan natural shortening!!

Vanilla Bean Frosting

2 cups confectioner's sugar (if you want a really sweet icing add more sugar, to taste)

1 cup butter OR Earth Balance Natural Shortening (at room temp.)

1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste (OR vanilla extract w/the beans of a vanilla bean scraped out)

1 tablespoon milk or soy milk (can be vanilla flavored)

Blend ingredients together and frost cupcakes just before serving.  Sprinkle some ground pistachios on top! (You should have about 1/2 cup leftover from the cake recipe!)