As always, I woke up at 5AM. While my mind very persistently
was trying to think about bills and taxes, I very diligently was brushing these thoughts away – I will leave non-fun thoughts to Monday. But today, I
am determined to rest and do something fun.
So, I will bake cupcakes, a delightful treat for the taste
buds and sweet satisfaction for soul.
While I would let Alex decide on the flavor, I got up to take
eggs and butter out of the fridge – these are the must ingredients and need to
be at the room temperature, so the book says.
My love for baking started about a year ago when my husband
gave me a KitchenAid mixer for my birthday. Was that a hint that I should
become a little more domestic? Or maybe he wanted to introduce to me the
pleasure of baking? I pick the latter, and that is just what happened.
Being my usual intense and a impatient self, for about three
months I was baking every weekend, trying to come up with a simple recipe on my
own… Have I told you that I am not good at following directions? Well, I
discovered that I did not have a natural talent for baking. There was always something that was just
not right – either too soft or too dense or too sweet… Have to admit: a lot of
eggs, butter, sugar and flour were wasted. Eventually, I had to accept that I
could not figure out the recipes without guidance, so I got a cupcake recipe
book and carefully followed the directions. Turns out that baking requires a
precision of what and how much is needed to be put in. From that point on, my
baking adventures became much less challenging. As I continued baking almost
weekly, I got comfortable with the basics, and even experimented a little with
different flavors.

Vanilla cupcakes with Vanilla buttercream, he chose. Great,
that is basic enough!
After breakfast, I put my apron on Alex and put him to work.
While I was separating the eggs, he needed to sift through
the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt. Alex does not like to eat
much, but he surely likes to bake, and we always have a great time doing it
together. After all the ingredients were incorporated in the bowl, we used the
ice-cream scooper to evenly pour the batter into prepared paper liners in the
pan. There was enough for eleven cups, instead of twelve. I probably
accidentally ate some of the batter when I was scraping down the sides of the
bowl. Somehow, I always don’t have enough batter for the twelfth cupcake.
Here's the recipe:
Shopping list:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
6 tbs butter (at room temperature)
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg and 1 egg white (at room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk + 2tbs heavy cream
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F, and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Step 2: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Step 3: Next, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and egg white, one at a time. Add vanilla
Step 4: Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk and cream in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined. Do not overheat!
Step 5: Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups, filling about 3/4th full. Bake for about 16 minutes or until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Step 6: Transfer baked cupcakes to the wire rack to cool completely. Frost and enjoy!
After Alex and I completed all six steps, our home started filling up with that special sweet smell
which never fails to trigger a little me
inside my adult body. Cupcakes were ready and screaming to be eaten.
Buttercream was smooth and fluffy… Maybe I should start a bakery and call it Cupcake
Goddess, I thought. Maybe not - most of my
friends urge me to keep my day job –whatever that means.
When tea time was
finally here, we all gathered around the kitchen table. I peeled off the paper
liner from the side of the cupcake and took a small bite. I think it tasted…
heavenly…
I liked today…
Signing off till Thursday night.
With love, always…
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