A Little Teaser of Maran's Shower

This is going to be a long one. Well, the shower photos are in Maran’s camera and as of now there is no way for me to download them into my computer. So, until I get a copy of the photos, this will have to do. These are some of the things I did while preparing for the shower:

I made bibs and burp cloths for Bailey and Brynn. Below is a picture of them. The bibs are reversible.

Here I am making the cupcakes and/or cookies:

Here is what the finished products looked like. The Chocolate, cream-filled cupcakes were the best I’ve ever made, but of course I am a chocoholic. They are very chocolaty and are topped with chocolate butter cream frosting. The recipes are at the bottom of this blog.

The white cupcakes are a citrus cake filled with lemon or lime curd and topped with cream cheese frosting. This is what the inside looks like when the cupcake is cut in half. Unfortunately, I ate both cupcakes after taking this shot. :)I made the picks and the cupcake holders also. The colors of this photo are washed out. They were a little pinker.


These cookies are made with my favorite “Best Ever Sugar Cookie” Recipe. They are kind of like shortbread. Then I iced them with tinted Royal Icing and topped them with store bought candies (from Dollar Tree).
Again the colors are washed out. They are much brighter pink and green. I also made the word TWINS and added stickers from the Dollar Tree.

This is one of the vases made with the baby socks roses. We had two of these in pinks, greens and browns.

And that is a teaser of some of the shower stuff that I made. Please check back in a week or so for the actual photos of the shower. Now, here are the recipes for the cupcakes.
If you want the sugar cookie recipe, e mail me and I will be glad to send it to you.
Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Cream Filling

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sour cream (low fat or full)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2-oz dark chocolate

1 cup water, boiling
Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease two 12-cup muffin tins.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by sour cream and vanilla extract.In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add half of flour mixture to the butter mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla extract, followed by the addition of the rest of the flour mix. Stir well between each addition and mix until no streaks of flour remain.Stir the cocoa powder and the dark chocolate into the boiling water (easiest in a large measuring cup). Pour chocolate water into the rest of the batter and stir until uniform.Evenly distribute batter into prepared baking cups. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. (It’s fine if you can’t fit both trays into the oven at the same time, just wait until one batch finishes before putting in the second pan)Turn cupcakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting and filling.
Vanilla Cream Filling

3 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 cup milk (low fat is fine)

1/2 cup butter (or trans fat-free shortening)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 scraped vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
Whisk together the flour and milk and cook in a small saucepan over medium heat until thick. This will only take a few minutes. Sir continuously to prevent the mixture from clumping and do not bring all the way to a boil. When thickened (consistency will be that of a thin pudding or custard), strain with a mesh strainer into a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool completely to room temperature.When the milk mixture is cool, cream the butter (or shortening) and sugar together in a medium bowl until light. Add in the milk/flour mixture and the scraped vanilla bean seeds (or vanilla extract) and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 7 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape into a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip or a large zip lock bag with the corner cut off, and set aside until ready to fill your cupcakes.
Chocolate Butter cream Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2-3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat, with an electric mixer, until frosting is creamy, 3-5 minutes. Add additional powdered sugar as needed to achieve a thick, but not stiff, frosting that is easy to spread. Add additional milk, if necessary, to thin the frosting if it gets too thick.
Assembly(A photo how-to of the assembly method can be found here.) Take a cooled cupcake and, using a small pairing knife, cut a cone of cake (1-inch across by 1-inch deep) out of the top. Trim off the pointy end of the cone, leaving a flat circle of cake. Set aside and repeat this process for all the cupcakes.Take the cream filling and squeeze a tablespoon or so into each cupcake cavity, filling the hole up to the top with filling. Top off with a flat circle of cake to plug the hole and keep the filling in place.Using a butter knife or a small offset spatula, frost each cupcake with a layer of chocolate butter cream frosting. Place a dollop of icing in the center of the cupcake (on top of the cut out circle of cake) and spread from the center to the sides of the cupcake.If you have leftover filling, transfer it to a fresh Ziploc bag and cut a very small opening in one corner. Pipe a swirly line down the center of each cupcake.Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Makes 2-dozen.
Lime cupcakes with Cream cheese Frosting

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 tsp. finely shredded lime peel

2 Tbsp. lime juice

1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting (below)

1. Line twenty-four 2 1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups; set aside. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Set aside.2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until well combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Add flour mixture and buttermilk or sour milk alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Stir in lime peel and lime juice (batter may appear slightly curdled). Divide evenly among prepared muffin cups.3. Bake in a 350° oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 5 minutes; remove from pans and cool thoroughly on wire racks.4. When completely cooled, pipe or spread with Cream Cheese Frosting. Decorate as desired with additional piped frosting, shaved white chocolate, and lime zest. Store frosted cupcakes in a covered container and keep refrigerated. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Citrus Curd from MarthaStewart.com (Make LIME curd)
4 large egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

5 tablespoons freshly squeezed citrus juice, strained

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

*7 tablespoons heavy cream

*2 teaspoons powdered sugar
1. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and citrus juice in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 5-10 minutes.2. Transfer to a small bowl. Stir in butter, piece by piece. Cover with plastic wrap, and cool in the refrigerator.3. Whip together cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.4. Fold cream into the chilled curd.Tip: The above recipe makes enough curd for over a teaspoon of filling for 24 cupcakes.

* Note: I did not put whipping cream into the curd. The cream cheese frosting seemed like enough richness.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1-2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
In the bowl of a standing mixer with whip attachment, combine all ingredients until smooth. Makes 1-1/2 cups