Meg's Rainbows

    I have a good friend named Meg, who has definitely been going through a rough patch.  She however, has always been the bravest and funniest person I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.  It had been a while since I had seen Meg, and we just ran into each other at my new job last week.  She filled me in on what had been going on and I immediately decided that she NEEDED cupcakes.  Well, there is only one hold up to that need.  Meg is allergic to peanuts, BADLY!  As in, breathe in a speck of peanut and she's turning blue on the floor.  While I've often joked with her that I find this somewhat amusing (and accidentally almost caused her to turn blue because of a granola bar, I didn't mean it, HONEST) it causes some problems when making my tradition cupcakes.  I couldn't used a box mix because if you read carefully on the side, it says "Manufacturing in a facility with nuts".  Not what kind of nuts (people or tree), but just manufactured with nuts.  Really reassuring in a not so reassuring way.  

    So how to combat this problem..... homemade orange cake!  Meg's favorite flavor is orange, so bingo, orange homemade cupcakes with an orange frosting.  Perfect!  And since there is always a rainbow after every store, the rainbow theme worked beautifully.  The original recipe came from the Cooking Channel.  Since I didn't have an buttermilk, I made my own.  Simply pour however much milk you need, and for each cup, add one tablespoon of an acid (either white vinegar or lemon juice).  Let sit for 5 minutes and you've got buttermilk!  

Orange Cake 

Cake ingredients: 

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup sugar

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon orange food coloring, optional
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners. 

      Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, orange extract, baking soda, baking powder, salt and food coloring if using, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour and buttermilk in three additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Using a large ice cream scoop, divide batter evenly in cupcake liners and bake until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool before adding the filling and frosting. 

Frosting Ingredients :

 3 cup confectioner's sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon orange extract 

1 to 3 tablespoon heavy cream or whole milk

light blue food coloring

In a standing mixer (If you don't have one, a bowl will do)  fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add orange, cream/milk and food coloring, continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

decorations are mini marshmallows and the rainbows are Airheads Extreme Sweetly Sour Belts, which I bought at Sheetz and cut to make rainbows.

 

Light as a Cloud and Tasty Coconut cake

      So do you ever get those whims to just bake something?  No, hmmm well, I do!  In fact, I get them quite frequently.  One of my favorite flavors is coconut.  Especially with spring in the air.  I like to think that the smell of coconut takes me back to the beach in Hawaii.  Bright sunshine, yellow sand, and blue, blue water.... oh and don't forget the smell of coconut, which to me always seemed to linger on the breeze.  (Could have been my sunscreen, not sure)  However, coconut is a sure way to bring a smile to my face.  
         On this particular day, coconut cake was my goal.  Word of warning here, come of the coconut cake recipes out there can be INTENSE and need 1,000 ingredients.  This one doesn't, however, make sure you've got the stuff on hand before setting out to make this cake.  The original cake recipe is from Add A Pinch blog and the frosting recipe if from Paula Dean   Let me tell you, this cake won raves reviews not only from myself but from my neighbor!  

Coconut Cake

Ingredients for the cake:

Sorry this is a bad photo, but it was tasty!

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
3 cups all- purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut milk (USE MILK not Creme) 
1/2 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons of coconut extract

Ingredients for the frosting:
1 1/2 cup sugar 
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter or 1 Tbsp white corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt 
1/3 cup of water 
2 egg whites 
1 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract 

Instructions: 

Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare three 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray and flour, making sure to remove all excess flour.

            Then, cream together butter and shortening until light and fluffy.  Slowly add sugar one cup at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each cup before adding another. Add eggs one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each egg before adding another.

            Next, Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour milks and coconut into measuring cup and whisk together with a fork. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.  Stir all ingredients until well combined. 

           Pour as evenly as possible between cake pans and place pans into oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove and allow to cool slightly in cake pans for about 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting 

Put sugar, cream of tarter or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top bowl of a double boiler.  Beat with a hand held mixer for 1 minute.  Place pan over the boiling water, making sure that the pan does not get any water in it or that it does not touch the water.  (The frosting could be grainy if you get water into it).  Beat constantly on high speed for 7 minutes.  Add in coconut extract.  

  

       Once the cake has cooled, frost in between the layers and the outside of the cake with the 7 minute frosting.  You can cover the cake in shredded coconut if you like, I chose not too, but it was just because I was out of shredded coconut.  Cut  huge slice and enjoy!  Hopefully you too will feel like a big, puffy white cloud floating over a Hawaiian beach while eating this piece of cake!  

 

Applejack Vanilla cupcakes (Blue/White game cupcakes)

       So here at Penn State University, we have an annual spring tradition called the Blue/White game.  The Blue/White game is a Penn State tradition where the the football team scrimmages against themselves as a preview for the next year.  Really, it is just an excuse for football starved PSU fans to come out, tailgate, and see the football team.  After a long, cold, snowy winter, this was a very anticipated weekend.  This year, the weather was perfect, low 60s, sunshine, blue skies and a light breeze.  Being in the center of Pennsylvania and in the month of April, the weather does not always cooperate.  Last year, Blue/White weekend was cold, snowy/rainy, and not very fun.  This year however, Mother Nature decided we needed a break and gave us a beautiful weekend.  (We paid for it however, Tuesday it rained/snowed and then was cold the rest of the week).
       My friend decided to have a tailgate to celebrate her daughter's final game at Penn State.  So me being the baker decided to whip up a fun, tasty, and slightly naughty cupcake.  I had a French vanilla cake mix on hand, but couldn't decide what flavors to add.  After much debate with my good friend Jamie, we decided that Applejack and french vanilla would take a tasty combination.  Jamie also came up with the brilliant idea to dye some of the cake batter blue and create the blue/white combination.  What came out were brilliant and very tasty blue/white cupcakes, the perfect addition for any football tailgate!


 Ingredients for Cupcakes:
1 Betty Crocker French Vanilla Cake mix
1 1/4 cup Applejack (instead of water)
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
food coloring of choice


Ingredients for Applejack Frosting:
3 cups of powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 3 tablespoons Applejack
food coloring of choice

Instructions for cupcakes:
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place cupcake lines in a cupcake pan.  Pour the dry cake mix into the pan, add the eggs, oil, and Applejack (in place of the water).  Mix on low until combined, then beat for 2 minutes on high speed.  If you want to do the color scheme like I did, divide the batter in half.  Keep one half white (or color it a different color) and then color the other half blue (or whichever color you like).  I used the Neon food coloring for this cupcake and they came about vibrant and bright! Taking a large ice cream scoop, first scoop one color into the bottom, then scoop the second color on top.  Using an ice cream scoop will give you uniform cupcakes.
Bake the cupcakes 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes cleanly out of the center
   

The alcohol will cook out of the cupcakes but leave a nice apple flavor.  Warning!  When you go to check of the cupcakes are done, open the oven door a bit, and then pause a moment before leaning inside!  Because of the alcohol in the cupcakes, the steam released from the cupcakes will be very hot!  Don't burn your face! 

Remove the cupcakes from the pan and while they are cooling, make the frosting.

Frosting directions:
Take the 1 cup of softened butter, slowly mix this butter adding the 3 cups of sugar gradually.  I normally add it by the half cup.  About half way through, add the vanilla and 1 Tbsp of the Applejack.  Continue to beat the frosting.  Right before you put in the last of the powdered sugar, add 1 Tbsp more of Applejack. You can add more Applejack depending on that consistency that you would like the frosting to be.  Less Applejack = stiffer frosting, more Applejack = looser (more spreadable) frosting.

Frost and serve.  The flavor reminds me of apples with vanilla ice cream!  yummmmm