"I don't know why you spent so much time on dessert," she said. "Nobody ever eats dessert."
My Mom and I clearly travel in different social circles.
These Creamsicle cupcakes in particular were a hit. One guest took a cupcake home (with my blessing) and hid it from her husband. I got emails the day after the party asking for the recipe. So here it is -- my own creation. It's my favorite yellow cupcake recipe (from Cooks Illustrated), with a cream filling and orange icing. The orange icing is something I created by adding ingredients until I got a taste to my liking. I'm sure you could achieve a similar result with fewer ingredients, but that's what I did.
And, for the record, I'll continue to spend time making desserts for get-togethers. Hey, if people don't eat them, at least I can enjoy the leftovers from my favorite part of the meal.
CREAMSICLE CUPCAKES
Makes 24 cupcakes
One-Bowl Yellow Cupcakes (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)3 cups (13 oz/375 grams) all purpose flour
2 cups (14 oz/400 grams) granulated white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (cut into pieces)
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and lightly butter or line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed to combine. Add the butter, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and sour cream. Beat at medium speed until the batter is smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. If necessary, stir the batter with a rubber spatula until the flour is fully incorporated.
Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter (I used the largest Pampered Chef scoop) and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes or until pale gold and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
To assemble the Creamsicle cupcakes, I used the small end of a melon baller to scoop a hole in the cupcakes, then piped cream filling in the hole. Then I frosted with the orange frosting.
Fills 24+ cupcakes
2 tsp very hot water
1/4 tsp salt
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow cream
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Dissolve the salt in the hot water and allow to cool. Whip the marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it begins to get fluffy. Add the salty water and whip well. You will have some filling left over after filling the cupcakes. It's great as a fruit dip or a dip for cinnamon graham cracker sticks.
Orange Frosting
(Rah Cha Chow recipe)
Frosts 24 cupcakes
1 cup butter, room temperature
4 cups (500 grams) powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 teaspoons orange extract (I used about 3)
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 Tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Yellow and red food coloring (to make an orange colored frosting)
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium-high speed until creamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until combined. You may want to start with 2 teaspoons orange extract and then taste – add more if you think it needs it. Also add yellow and red food coloring until it’s the color you like.
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