pink rose vanilla cupcakes in doilies wrappers

Happy Sunday! I decided on a whim a couple of weeks ago (yes, it takes me that long to go from food to post), that I’d bake something for myself after a quite long time. If you are really close with me, or read all through my previous post, or really want to know something about me; I’m so much devoted to pink like most of any other girls – from pajamas, tops, blankets, bags, hair combs, shampoos and to drinks and food, they have to be in pinks. Truthfully I am not that pink-crazy, but that just happened unconsciously (if you know what i mean).

I was actually making these as a reward for myself, through all those courage, scary accidents, tears, lack of sleeps along with efforts since last month (which that I can’t really believe that I could be a baker in real life :)).True, being a baker (home-baker to be precise) had never even crossed my mind, as well as a business person. I thought it is such a complicated job and thing to do. Why would you choose to do your own business when you have lot of jobs out there and get paid?  And you’re done — such an immature thinking, right? Never mind, I don’t want to create an issue if I have to say that building your own business is better than. . tett tettt!

The thing is, I still want to share my favorite cupcake recipe although it is just almost the same as the previous one.  White /vanilla cake batter tinted with pink color and topped with pink frosting – Pretty! One (or more things) that I had changed was, adding yogurt and less eggs in the batter, with no buttermilk and they came out so moist and delicate. I did learn something from that – using the real yogurt/sour cream leads to a truly moist and decadent cake rather than faking them. Trust me, it makes the difference!

I've got extra frosting lying around I want to use up, so I just went with it to top my pretty in pink cupcakes. So then I took out some from the fridge, sat down and practiced to make rose swirls...not bad huh? I have to say, that were my first rose swirls ever! Why wouldn't I be so happy? Pink? Rose? Vanilla cupcakes? I would cry for them! I've actually been wanting to make these for a long time ago but I was waiting to get my hands on Wilton 1M rose star tip (or any brands or even unbranded ones) for the perfect roses on my cakes. I've been dreaming of them, really, but I couldn't find them at the baking isle around here. I've even went to the baking suppliers stores out of my home-country, Yummie Bakery Bangi, Bagus BS Shah Alam, you name it, which are so well-known but they were told to be out of stock and since the tips are imported, it’s hard to have them back in stock in a short time – my baddd. I know, I know this tip I have on hand is also known as a rose tip (the supplier said), but still, I want the real one badly.

I was not generous with my cupcakes this time, and I didn't even want to share with my sister or any other cake-eaters seriously, but, almost.  It’s not like I used to be a stingy person, but just because they were too pretty to be eaten and I didn't have the heart to eat them.

Even for the photography . . . I just didn't want to bite the rose ones, but luckily I had this one on purpose.

But then I had to force myself to eat her in the end, before anyone else did. Bite with tears.

I got a bit pink-happy with these (maybe because I didn't realize the frosting is already in dark pink) and next time I would use less for a softer pink, as I did in this cupcake version. You can just leave the cupcakes natural or play around with any colors you want, of course. Have fun!

Pink Rose Vanilla Cupcakes

yield 24 cupcakes

ingredients:

1 box white/vanilla cake mix or follow the instructions here to make the substitute.

2 eggs

1 cup yogurt (flavored or unflavored) or sour cream*

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. desired food coloring, optional.

method:

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line two 12-holes cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners. Set aside.

Combine all ingredients until incorporated (about 30 seconds). Scrapes sides of bowl and then
beat on medium-high speed for 20 minutes. Add food coloring and beat for few seconds.

Fill in the cupcake liners until 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let to cool completely and frost with any frosting of your choice**.

Notes:

• *I used Dutch Lady low-fat plain yogurt.  1 small container serves ½ cup, so you will need 2.
• **If you are still clueless what frosting you would want to top your cupcakes, or even haven’t found your favorite one, I’d highly recommend this one. It’s my favorite so far and wins over Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMB) — personally!
•  This recipe can be simply cut into ½ or ¼.
•  You can also use this batter to make fabulous color burst/rainbow cupcakes like this one.
•  For a whiter cake batter (to lighten up the color you've added in), you could substitute the whole eggs to just egg whites, but I’m not certain with the exact egg whites amounts you'll be needing.
•  Good news for those who have pretty cupcakes obsession — I’ll be posting a tutorial on how to make these DIY doilies cupcake wrappers soon!

© sweetytoothy. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe .

banana crumb muffins

Well hi! Sometimes I blog four times in a week, sometimes once in two weeks and sometimes been quiet for the whole month. Duhh I’m a terrible blogger. I’m indeed not busy with my study – I baked about 70 cupcakes, 4 layered-cakes and more desserts over the last month (which I've never did before and please-don’t-be –too- proud-of-that). Pheww. No, those weren't for me, but was a very beginner as a so-called part-time baker :) I've started a sort of adults’ plan on saving money for school and even for the future. Well done well done.

Here’s the picture of my favorite guys. The small yellowing ones are freshly from the backyard. The ugly ones are from the local store nearby. I bought them few days ago and left them on the counter and intentionally let them to overripe. Yes. What?  Is that the ugliest tablecloth you ever seen?

I did mentioned over here that over-ripe banana are good for making baked goods as they are soft enough for you to mash them like unkind-heartily. Here once again, I want to admit; I love banana. Just banana. I’m not a fruit lover but at least it’s the only fruit that I can eat the whole bunch in two sittings(?). I do love banana bread or anything banana-y and go crazy for banana ice-cream. You may guess why – I love them because they are so quick and easy to make and taste amazing with delicate crumbs, have good smells and naturally fair sweet. I’ve seen so many banana muffins like weekly on the blogs that I was following, but they can’t ever be more attractive – Some are naked but bold and some are ‘crumbed’ but still sexy. I admit, these Banana Crumb Muffins are really new to me and I didn't know that this kind of muffin does exist (boo!).

What are they all about? They are just your typical banana bread but topped with mini-pop-corn-like crumbs which are a magic mix of brown sugar, flour, butter and ground cinnamon that yield a delectable crunchy crumb topping. Wait. Cinnamon? Oh my oh my, they smell good! Really good while baked in the oven in your cakes, muffins, breads, etc. Plus, they give you that extra original flavor which makes you crave more and more for something healthy like these. Trust me; you’ll later regret if you were afraid of sprinkling extra crumbs over your muffins! Well said, that just happened to me.

I did take photos (I mean a loooot of photos) of those cakes I've baked on the last month which I truly have the intention to share the amazing recipes here. But I didn't  And I don’t know why. So let just see if that happen later. . .

Banana Crumb Muffins

adapted from allrecipes

ingredients

for the banana muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar (or coarse sugar)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted (I substituted with cooking oil but vegetable oil will be fine too)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

for the crumb topping:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

method

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

4. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Notes:

• I used those over-ripened pisang berangan and added another half piece of it to make my muffins extra banana-y!
• If you don’t love sweet, you can reduce the sugar amount to ½ cup because bananas here are readily sweet. However, this recipe yields a fine sweetness.
• If your crumbs get sticky because of excess butter, add some more flour and mix again by your finger until you get something like ‘bread-crumbs’ (refer picture above)
• Remember: Don’t be afraid to sprinkle all the crumbs over your muffins, that’s what makes the muffins extraordinary delicious!
• I baked my muffins for 17 minutes at 180 C (just remember that every oven varies in temperature and banana muffins can be over-baked quickly).
• And fyi, I usually watch closely and check my muffins (and cupcakes) around 10 minutes. If a few DRY crumbs come out with the inserted toothpick, it means they are already done so you don’t have to increase the baking time.

Enjoy!

© sweetytoothy. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe .

white cupcakes with salty caramel buttercream and sauce

Have you ever tried caramel cakes or cupcakes or sweet and salty kind of things? Or at least having a cup of refreshing caramel-topped ice blended? I've never been a huge fan of Starbucks though but I read a few reviews online that their Signature Caramel Frappuccino Blended Crème is freakin’ delicious. If you had read my previous post a month ago on these cupcakes, I’m not sure if I wrote it or not, but I was so impressed on how caramel would be perfectly complimented with chocolate. So this time I wondered if White Cupcakes filled with caramel sauce and topped with Salty Caramel Buttercream drizzled with a bit of sea salt would be fine too.

I saw these cupcakes continuously floating around the web and although they seem like a big hit among them, but still I was kind of suspicious with . . . salty cake? What? Salty you say? Drizzled with sea salt? I've never ate even a slice of cake that has “salty” in its name since I was born. Okay, I may or may not be the only one who didn't know their existence. Since I still have some leftover of my homemade caramel sauce, and I really have no idea what to be paired with it, I knew that this is the right time to wipe out my suspicion and curiosity with those innocent salty cakes – I decided to try out this Salty Caramel Buttercream topped on white cupcakes and YES they are absolutely right! These cupcakes are innocently darn delicious!

I found the inspiration from Gimme Some Oven and she paired it with white cupcakes made from white cake mix. Again, I know I have some sort of suspicion (or the correct way to call it as insecure) syndrome with a lot of things including cake mixes. Well, with all the preservatives and unpronounceable ingredients in processed foods, I would just rather try to make a simple cake from things I’m familiar with. Plus, it’s much more fancy to be from scratch!  I know that maybe I can never fully achieve the cake taste and texture you’re used to from the box but I really liked this recipe – the taste was spot on, with a moist texture, fairly dense and almost perfect. They baked up really well too and definitely would be in my baking repertoire. The truth is, the cake itself is another one to be listed in my favorite cakes!

Oh did I mention that this is actually a white cake mix substitution? I stumbled upon it when scrolling down over Your Cup of Cake. The thing is, you can sift all the 6 ingredients altogether and seal it in a plastic bag and just use it for any recipe that calls for “white or yellow cake mix” (Yay for that!). Ya know, life is easier nowadays – I sifted the ingredients to make my own white cake mix a day before and whip up these white cupcakes for only 5 minutes?! Yes, that is what a cake mix can do for you and most bakeries use cake mixes in their baking, that being said. Hmmm . . .  

So another suspicion that came out (I know I’m such an annoying novice baker) was – the substitution calls for powdered milk. Will it taste like a milky cake? Will it smells like baby milk? No, I’m always wrong with my suspiciounesscity or so. I promise you won’t taste milk, but rather a yummy white cake filled with caramel sauce which is completely a great combination ♥

White Cupcakes with Salty Caramel Buttercream and Sauce

yield about 24 cupcakes

ingredients

for the white cake mix substitute:

adapted from Your Cup of Cake

2 1/2 cup flour

1 3/4 cup granulated sugar*

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup powdered milk

for the cupcakes:

adapted from Gimme Some Oven

1 batch white cake mix, recipe above.

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 tsp. almond extract or vanilla extract or just leave it out

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

for the caramel sauce:

1 batch from the recipe here, or store-bought is just fine

for the frosting:

adapted from dailydelicious

3/4 cup butter

3 tbsp. caramel sauce**
2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp. milk
A pinch of salt

Sea salt, for sprinkle, optional

method

for the white cake mix substitute:

1. Sift all ingredients together.
2. Seal in a plastic bag and use in place of any recipe calling for "white cake mix".

for the cupcakes:

1. Add the sifted cake mix, buttermilk, oil, almond extract and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Add eggs one at a time, until the batter is well-mixed. Increase speed to high and beat until thick and fluffy, 2 minutes longer.

2. Pour or scoop the batter into the paper liners until they are 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool on a wire rack.

for the caramel sauce:

1. Make the caramel sauce by following the method from here, and add ½ tsp. of salt or sea salt (optional).
2. Use the apple corer or small cookie cutter or a small knife like I did here, to remove the center of each cupcake. Fill with caramel sauce. 

for the frosting:

1. Beat the ingredients for the frosting starting from butter, caramel sauce, icing sugar, then milk.
2. Frost cupcakes with frosting. Decorate with caramel sauce and drizzle with a bit of sea salt.

Notes: 

• * For Malaysians, I would recommend to lessen the sugar amount. I used 1 ½ cups.
• **I used my home-made caramel sauce I made from here and reheat it up for few seconds and add ½ tsp. of salt (keep a close eye as it will burn pretty quickly thereafter!). For the frosting, I added 1 tbsp. of caramel sauce instead of 3 tbsp.
• Watch the oven closely around 12 minutes; these cupcakes can over-bake rather quickly.
• As usual, cupcakes are best eaten the day they are made. But they can be kept either at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate them for up to a week.
• You can make the caramel sauce a day before you make the cupcakes and refrigerate it. Reheat it up and let it cool before using. See my notes on caramel sauce here.
• I used an unbranded closed star decorating tip no. 508 to frost the cupcakes.
• If you want to make swirls like I did on my cupcakes, I would recommend making a double batch of the frosting. But if you’re just spreading it on with a knife, one batch should be plenty :)
• If you are not a fan of buttercream or caramel, just leave them out because the white cake itself is soo soo delicious!

© sweetytoothy. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe .