We all want to surprise our little ones during the holidays, but sometimes it can just seem so overwhelming that we end up taking the ‘easy’ route and buying the sweets instead of making them.
I’m here to tell you my favorite recipe for cupcakes and how to take that recipe and make it festive!
The recipe:
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tbls baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
Step 1: Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2: Prepare your pans.
Step 3: In a large bowl, mix together softened butter and sugar until it’s fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla extract.
Step 4: In a medium size bowl, mix together all remaining dry ingredients.
Step 5: Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients into one bowl in 1/4 cup sections alternating between the dry mix and the milk. (Be sure to end with the milk.) Mix until smooth.
NOW FOR THE FESTIVE PART!
Step 6: Split the cake batter into two bowls. Add red food coloring (the gel kind works best) to one bowl. (I usually use about a tbls or so, but feel free to use more or less until it is the color you are looking for!) Add green food coloring (gel kind again) to the other bowl.
Step 7: Now that you have the two batters all festively colored, it’s time to put them into the pan! (This works just as well for cakes as cupcakes!) Using two separate spoons (don’t want to mix the colors), alternate between the two colors while filling the pan. (Be sure to leave space on the sides by doing small amounts at a time, this way you get that awesome tie dye effect!)
Step 8: ICING- you can make it easy on yourself and use a store bought if you want…or you can make the super simple buttercream icing that I use!
-Simply combine vanilla, milk, softened butter and confectioners sugar until you get the consistency that you are looking for. I usually use about 1/4 cup of butter, 1/2 tsp of vanilla, 2 cups of confectioners sugar and a tbls of milk.
Step 9: Decorate as you please and enjoy!
How do you surprise your loved ones during the holidays?