By Nichelle Stephens
Cupcakes Expert, about.com
Other than fundraising bake sales, a lot of schools around the country have prohibited parents from bringing cupcakes for birthday parties
due to allergies and diet reasons. There even some kids have some
teachers who have chastised the contents of a student's lunch because of
baked goods. So cupcakes which have a tradition of being a special
treat or desserts have become vilified in schools. It's a shame; but
cupcakes are still the perfect baked good for celebrating big and small
events, so why not celebrate back to school with cupcakes?!
A great way to get kids excited about the upcoming school year is to host a Back-to-School
themed party. Invite their friends and classmates and celebrate with
cupcakes. Plan some fun board games like Connect Four or Concentration
that test their memory that will get kids back into the mental shape for
the school year. Instead of making apple-flavored cupcakes, bake vanilla cupcakes decorated to look like apples.
Ingredients
- VANILLA CUPCAKE
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup canola oil
- 2 tsp pure (not imitation) vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup of sour cream
- VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups of powdered sugar
- Red food coloring
- Green food coloring
- 12 Tootsie Rolls, cut in smaller pieces
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare two muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) into a bowl.
- In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar into mixing bowl until thick. While mixing, scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the oil and vanilla extract until well blended. Then mix in the sour cream. Next add the dry ingredients and blend until smooth.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill cupcake tins 3/4ths full with batter. Make sure oven has reached desired baking temperature before baking. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Test cupcakes with a toothpick. Place on cooling rack when the cupcakes are done.
- For the frosting, use the paddle attachment of your stand mixer to cream the butter. Mix for three minutes. Add vanilla and continue to mix for about 1 minute. Slowly add one cup of powdered sugar. Scrape the sides of the bottom. Then add another cup of powdered sugar. Continue mixing. Then add the last cup of powdered sugar. Then add salt and continue mixing until light and fluffy for about five minutes.
- Set aside a small bowl and place about 1/2 cup of the buttercream frosting. Place a few drops of green food coloring for the green leaves of the apple.
- In the main mixing bowl, add a few drops of red food coloring to get desired red coloring for the red frosting.
- Cut Tootie Rolls into pieces to make stems for the cupcakes.
- Fill one piping bag with the red frost to frost the cupcakes. Then use another piping bag for the green frosting. Place the stems on after frosting.
