Baking

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

| TeaKisses

So late last night as my sister and I were sitting at the dining room table “finishing up homework” also known as being on YouTube we came to the realization that it would be a really good time for cupcakes. I looked for some easy recipes that wouldn’t take too long but still had lots of good reviews. I found some and they turned out to be the most amazing cupcakes of my life! 

Vanilla Cupcakes:

1/2 cup       softened butter
1 3/4 cup    sugar
2                 eggs
2 tsp           vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup    flour
1/2 tsp        baking powder
1/4 tsp        salt
2/3 cup       cold milk

Preheat oven to 350F

Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with a hand held mixer. Add eggs one at a time whipping the mixture in between. Mix in the vanilla. Next add to the bowl the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon until well incorporated. Add the milk and beat on high for a minute. Batter should be fluffy. Spoon mixture into cupcake lined tins. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown over the whole top. Should make 12 cupcakes.


Chocolate Frosting:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Add vanilla. Cool partially, then beat with a mixer for 3 minutes or until spreadable consistency. 

Frosting Feedback:
Make sure to follow the directions carefully and do not boil for too long. A little over a minute should be perfect. If the sugar gets too hot you will end up with crunchy lumps. We had some of these but it was easy to pick them out. This recipe does not make thick icing, just a nice frosting (like what you would use on doughnuts. My sister and I both agree that it tastes like hot chocolate powder that you mixed with just a little bit of water. Delicious!

Once the cupcakes had mostly cooled I spread a thin layer of frosting on the tops of them and put them in the fridge to cool off a little more and help the frosting set. They turned out amazingly!

Simple and Fluffy Gluten Free Corn Bread

| TeaKisses

My family has started to go gluten free and so I needed to make some changes to my favourite corn bread recipe. Here is the modified gluten free version. I have gotten many complements on my corn bread in the past and I recently brought this recipe to a potluck and many people were surprised it was gluten free. Enjoy!

Preheat the oven to 350F
Mix together in a large bowl:
1      cup cornmeal
3/4   cup gluten free flour
1/4   cup arrowroot starch
4      tsp baking powder
1      tsp salt
4      tbsp brown sugar
Whip together in a smaller bowl:
2      eggs
1      cup milk
1/4   cup canola oil
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the liquid ingredients in. Mix together thoroughly, making sure there are no lumps. Let sit for a minute then pour into a greased 9×9 pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is browned and a fork comes out clean when poked into the centre.