Hummingbird cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

I remember watching Paula Deen make a hummingbird cake while pregnant with my son. My mouth would not stop watering and it was definitely one of those moments you wished a remote that could send food through the television at the click of a button.

I attended a potluck dinner last night and knew I wanted to make red velvet cupcakes but I wanted to take two kinds so I decided to give hummingbird cupcakes a whirl.
This was the best I could improvise the recipe into cupcake form.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line your muffin pans with cupcake liners. This recipe got me about 15 cupcakes.

Here's what you'll need:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup crushed canned pineapple, with the juice
1 mashed over ripe banana
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt then mix it all up.
Add oil and vanilla to the flour mixture.
Mash bananas then add in the pineapple, bananas & pecans
Beat the 2 eggs
Mix everything together, there you have your batter.
Fill each liner 2/3 way and stick em on the oven.

Bake for about 25 minutes, then cool in pans for 10 minutes, finish cooling on a wire rack.

I had cream cheese icing left over from my red velvet cupcakes so I put a thin layer on top of these and decided to make little fondant hearts to place on top.

They were so moist and delicious. As my friend Jodi said, "These are the jam."

Billy's Vanilla Vanilla cupcake with browned butter frosting

I was in a baking mood and searching for something to make. Cory's favorite cakes are yellow cake and vanilla. I decided to go on the hunt for something in the vanilla family. And I found the perfect one posted on Natalie's blog-once again.

1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 tablespoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners; set aside. (This recipe made 24 beautiful cupcakes for me.) Mix together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Then add butter and mix until just coated with flour. (The recipe calls for a standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment but I only have a hand mixer so I used my trusty right hand and a wooden spoon to mix it all together.)

whisker together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Even though the recipe called for 1 teaspoon of vanilla I put in two because Cory really loves vanilla and they turned out so perfect. Mix together wet ingredients with the dry stopping to scrape down side of the bowl as the mood hits you. Beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but don't overbeat.

Divide batter among liners, filling about two-thirds full.

Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean. (being Asian, I use chopsticks. They're perfect for cake testing.) Guesstimated baking time is 17-20 minutes.

Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Browned Butter Frosting-I found this recipe in my father in law's new Better Homes & Gardens cookbook and it was truly delicious. A touch too sweet for me, but everyone else seemed to love it. My nephew told me it was one of the best cupcakes he'd ever had and I think it was mostly because of this frosting really.

This recipe makes about 3 cups of icing by the way..

3/4 cup butter
6 cups powdered sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons vanilla

In a small saucepan heat butter over low heat until melted. Continue heating until butter turns a light golden brown. Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl combine powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons of milk, and the vanilla. Then add the browned butter.

Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed. You can add extra milk to reach the consistency you like. For me though 4 tablespoons was perfect.

I already had some adorable flower confetti sprinkles so I thought tinting the frosting pink would be a nice touch. I took some to my tattoo artist & she assured me she would be eating them all on the way home in her car.

Red Velvet cupcakes

I decided I wanted to take some kind of cupcake to my parents house for Christmas. None of my family had ever really tried my cupcakes and most of them seemed to snicker when I told them my goal was to open my own bakery. So I wanted to make the most mind blowing cupcakes I'd ever made and show them that I can kick ass in the kitchen despite what most of them think. I could go into a long giant rant about how incredibly unsupportive most of my family has been about any decision I've made in my life, but I'll spare you the vomitous venting session and get right to the nitty gritty of the cake.

I wanted to try the Paula Deen recipe that Natalie had posted on her Bake & Destroy blog because they looked so delicious and so..well..Christmas-y, being red and all.

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1/2 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*A side note: I purchased an oven thermometer..finally..and discovered that when just turned to about 250 degrees my oven heats up to an incredible 375. I told you-cantankerous bitch. No wonder I'd been having trouble achieving the perfect cupcake.
Line your muffin pan with your cupcake liners. (I made a double recipe & got 23 cupcakes I believe)
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, egg, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined. (I was so delighted to see the beautiful rich dark red color appear. This is the point in this recipe when I reached baking euphoria..it's a different moment with each one.)

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Cupcakes are done when top springs back when lightly touched with finger. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes.

By far my favorite part of the recipe..the cream cheese frosting. I seriously wanted to get a big ass spoon and sit myself down in my papasan chair then partake in one final gluttonous act for the year 2007. (2008 will be the year of a smaller Vanessa, fingers crossed.)

1- 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Then you:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Despite the fact that I had to nearly force feed the two people in my family that did eat one they both said it was delicious. My husband loved them though and I think they're probably my favorite recipe so far. They were so light, fluffy, and delicious. Mmmm....I'm thinking of baking them once a month now to celebrate just being a woman. Which means I should go whip some up today. Better go to the store for some buttermilk.