Monday, October 1, 2007

snickerdoodle cupcakes with cinnamon sugar icing

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Butter Cupcakes
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 teaspoon No-Color Almond Extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
Yield: Makes about 24 standard cupcakes.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In mixer bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Mix in vanilla and almond flavor.
Mix flour with baking powder and salt.
Add flour mixture alternately with milk, starting with the flour.
Pour into prepared pans.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack; remove and cool completely before decorating.

Cinnamon Sugar Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup milk
Yield: Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Directions

In large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, cinnamon and milk.
Beat with mixer until well blended.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
Fill cupcakes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Fluffy Boiled Icing
Ingredients

3 Tablespoons meringue powder
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
Yield: Makes 8 cups icing.

Directions

Beat meringue powder and 1/2 cup cold water until stiff, about 4 minutes.
In microwave safe bowl stir sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water.
In microwave bring syrup mixture to a boil (approx. 5 minutes).
Remove, let mixture cool slightly (1-2 minutes).
Slowly add syrup to meringue mixture.
Beat on HIGH for 4 minutes.
For top of range: Mix sugar, corn syrup and water in 2 qt. saucepan. Bring to boil; cool slightly and follow directions above.

Special Hints
Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of the icing for a traditional flavor!

pumpkin cupcakes with maple buttercream icing

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 package (18.25 oz.) yellow cake mix (no pudding in the mix)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
Yield: Makes about 24 standard cupcakes or 5 Mini Tasty-Fill cakes.*

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line standard muffin pan with baking cups.
In large bowl, combine cake mix, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add water, oil and eggs; beat with electric mixer 2 minutes.
Add pumpkin; mix until well blended.
Spoon into baking cups.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool in pan on cooling rack for 5-8 minutes.
Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely.
*Any of our cupcake recipes may be prepared in our Mini Tasty-Fill pans. Spray pans with vegetable pan spray, then fill each with about 1/2 cup batter. Place pans on cookie sheet and bake 14-16 minutes. Cool in pan on cooling grid for about 8 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely before filling and icing.

Maple Buttercream Icing
Ingredients

4 cups (16 oz.) confectionery sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter
3-4 tablespoons half and half
1 1/2 teaspoons maple flavoring
Yield: Makes 2-1/4 cups.

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine all icing ingredients.
Beat until smooth.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

25 trends that changed america

http://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-trends.htm

keep your coins, i want change


so for the past year i guess i've been ranting and raving about change...and i don't really think i've made any sort of impact. i guess i've turned some people on to a couple of my favorite "organizations". maybe you'll find interest in them as well. so, here i go!

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

this crazy life

so lately life has been one long road trip, with lots of stops, lots of pot holes, and definitely some wrong turns. with the internship almost done things have become very hectic. im leaving for mississippi on saturday with a group of 85 students and leaders. i know that there are some great things to come with that trip. im also leaving on june 8th for springhill, a christian camp where you do all sorts of fun things with kids of different ages. work has been quite overwhelming though. dairy queen is back in business but fortunately i have no plans to go back to south street skatepark. kensington, however, has always been such a great community to be a part of, but since ive started working here my thoughts have changed partially. the people here are great, for the most part, and the pay is terrible but for some reason i still find joy in coming in every morning at 9am and slaving away until 5 (which typically means 8). although since the first week of my internship, august 10th, ive been counting down the days until its over, theres a part of me that is melancholy about the whole situation. ive had some crazy things happen this year, which youll begin to hear about later, but i guess for now im looking ahead and making sure i just take one step at a time.