cupcakes

i've been toying with the idea of having homemade cupcakes for my son's 1st birthday party instead of purchasing them through a local bakery. homemade, as in, i make them myself. you all know i love to bake and am pretty good at it if i say so myself, it's just baking cupcakes for 40 + people and their kids seems, well, overwhelming. i haven't made up my mind yet, and who knows what i'll do, but i've had a blast experimenting with different cupcake recipes. (P.S. my son's actual birthday and party fall on labor day this year, so i'm trying to go with a red, white, and blue theme.) here are a few of my takes on some delicious recipes i've found.

"coco loco tequila cupcakes"
recipe from joanne weir
cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour (i used 1 cup all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
large pinch of salt (i used sea salt)
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (i used 1/2 cup sweetened & 1/2 cup unsweetened)
2 T. fresh grated ginger (just eyeball it. don't go crazy grating!)
1 t. coconut extract
1/4 cup 100% agave tequila (use what you have, don't waste the good stuff!)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut

coconut cream frosting
if you want to be fancy, and have the time, see the link above for joanne's homemade frosting recipe or use 1 container vanilla frosting, splash of coconut milk, splash of tequila, 2 t. coconut extract

preheat the oven to 350 degrees f. line cupcake tin with paper liners.
whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into bowl. set aside.
in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each egg. add coconut milk, ginger and coconut extract and beat on high speed until well blended. in a measuring glass, stir together buttermilk and tequila. add the dry ingredients in 3 batches to the egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture in 2 batches, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. be sure to mix well after each addition. stir in shredded coconut.

fill each cupcake about 3/4ths full. bake approximately 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
let the cupcakes cool.
meanwhile, mix frosting ingredients in a small bowl.
liberally frost each cupcake and sprinkle with additional coconut.

*to go along with the party theme, i tinted the coconut with red and blue food coloring and sprinkled the tops with the colored coconut.

i hear some of you gasping at the tequila in the cupcakes and rest assured if i make these, there will be a "virgin" batch for the kiddoes.

another cupcake test i did was taking a recipe for "my my's strawberry layer cake", recipe from Sweets by Patty Pinner and adapting it to make my kind of cupcakes.

1 18.5 ounce box white cake mix
1 package strawberry jell-o (i bought the sugar free kind)
4 t. sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
5 oz frozen strawberries, thawed and well-drained
preheat oven to 350 degrees f. line cupcake tin with paper liners.
combine the cake mix, jell-o and sugar in large bowl. mix well. add oil. add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. add the water and strawberries. mix well.
fill cupcakes 3/4ths of the way full. bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes clean. let cool. frost each cupcake with your favorite white icing. i then topped each one with blueberries and strawberries to continue with my red, white and blue theme. delicious!

i have a little more than 4 weeks to continue testing cupcake recipes, and more importantly try them. i'll let you know what i decide to do.