Canines, cupcakes, and the hazards of butter

I hadn’t made cupcakes in a while, so I decided to make some up for my trip northward to see Naomi and Mark’s new place, and to meet their new doggie. DOGGIE! I didn’t have the supplies on hand for homemade dog treats, but human cupcakes I could do.

I pulled out Amy Sedaris’s book, where the cupcake recipe is rather intuitively part of the section on rabbits.

The cupcakes, of course, went through rigorous taste testing before I would inflict them on other people. The buttercream flavor wasn’t quite right…maybe it was because I used Wal-Mart house brand butter that I kept in the freezer. Maybe it was because I didn’t follow the recipe exactly. I’m not sure, but I solved the problem by adding chocolate to the frosting. Darn. Other people probably wouldn’t notice, but I do.

I used my Confectionery House baking cups for the first time. Love these. They’re sturdy and don’t show grease marks, and are also pretty. Much better than the cheap paper ones from the grocery store.

I can’t talk about cupcakes without reprinting the recipe, so here you are.

1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
1 ¾ cups of sugar

Beat well, then add:

Add 2 large eggs
2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla
½ teaspoon of salt
2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
2 ½ cups of flour
1 ¼ cups of milk

Beat well, fill cups, and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. You should get 24. I get 18, ’cause I’m doing something wrong.

Frosting

1 stick of unsalted butter
1 pound (3 ½ cups) confectioner’s sugar
¼ cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla

Whip for a while, color if you want.

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