Almost everyone loves a good cupcake. What could be more deliciously perfect than a delightful little moist cake, decorated in a swoop of sweet frosting? Cupcakes aren't just a fun treat to eat, they are even more fun to make! Over the years, through the inspiration of my mother, the baking extraordinaire, my interest in baking just continues to sky rocket.
There is something so entertaining about picking a challenging recipe, something you've always loved to eat but never quite thought you could successfully make- and step by step creating a delicious piece of art! To me, baking is like an art form- nothing can quite compare to it.
Over the past few years baking has become something that I do to clear my head, almost like a stress reliever. One of my favorite things to bake however is actually quite simple, the cupcake!
The fun thing about cupcakes is that you can design them for absolutely any occasion! A children's birthday party or even a wedding cake! Whatever the occasion formal or informal, a sophisticated cocktail party or a summer picnic style barbecue- cupcakes can always steel the show!
In the giant cupcake above there are a few of my favorite baking tools to use when making cupcakes!
The upper left you see a set of Williams-Sonoma Mixing Bowls in various colors, accompanied by a whisk and dish towels. This set of different sized mixing bowls is perfect when making cupcakes because you have a bowl for your sifted dry ingredients- large enough to add your wet ingredients, and alternate bowls for mixing different colored frostings!
The bottom left you see a variety of Colored Spatulas! Not only do the different colors make your kitchen accessories drawer pop, but the spatulas come in many different sizes and shapes- perfect for getting every last drop of batter out of any size mixing bowl!
In the center is the absolute best tool you could imagine for baking evenly dispersed cupcakes (and just a note this works for drop cookies too!) The Spring Release Ice Cream Scoop, which also is sold in a variety of different sizes- is perfect for filling your cupcake pans (most often muffin pans work just as well) with the right amount of batter in each spot! My mother has a drawer full of these in varying sizes, and depending on the baking pan she's using that day- she'll pick the right sized scooper to match!
In the upper right you can see a great display of the usefulness of different Piping Tips. These different tips are easy to use and create an adorable frosting design to top off your cupcake! Wilton Baking has a wonderful selection of piping tips, piping bags (to hold the frosting), and essentially all things baking! The link will bring you to one of my favorite buttercream frosting recipes, just add a few drops of your favorite color food coloring and voila!
Lastly, the bottom right shows an adorable set of Cupcake Liners from Emerald+Ella. I stumbled upon this adorable set while skimming through Pinterest, but you can find cute cupcake liners almost anywhere! Grocery stores typically sell more plain and commercialized cupcake liners- but any food specialty store will have more of a selection to choose from! A cute cupcake liner can make all the difference in your presentation!
Next time you have an event to attend and your looking for something sweet to bring along, do a quick search in google and you'll be sure to find a sweet cupcake recipe with a design to match your occasion!
I really like sifting through the recipes on Food Network and Martha Stewart. So many wonderful ideas to take inspiration from!
