cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes!

by tylerEver have one of those days where you can’t get anything done? Yeah, I’m having one of those days. I think its because I didn’t shower this morning and my hair is really greasy and icky feeling. So after 2 hours of doing nothing at work I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the cupcakes Devon and I made almost 2 weeks ago for Arone’s surprise birthday party. Hopefully by the end of this post I can feel somewhat accomplished.

So the Friday before last (the day we ate the cherry, almond, coconut pancakes for breakfast), Devon and I set out to make the best, non-dairy cupcakes anyone has every tasted. Well, to be honest, I had no intention of making them completely dairy free—butter and milk would be used when necessary, but there would be no buttercream or cream cheese frosting. Instead, I had planned on using tofu cream cheese for the frosting base.

I pulled 2 cupcake recipes from the cupcake bakeshop blog. The first was cherry chocolate cupcakes with a fennel tofu cream cheese frosting. I had wanted to do another herb/spice cupcake but I was told it might be too much. Instead I went for simple—vanilla cupcakes with vanilla tofu cream cheese frosting.

Making the actual cupcakes was rather anticlimactic. I strayed from the cherry chocolate cupcake recipe when it called for dried cherries to soak in brandy over night. Not having any brandy around, I soaked them in warm water with a splash of orange and vanilla extract. Everything else went as planed. The cupcakes formed nice domes and the cake was moist and… cakey?

After Devon and I finished baking all the cupcakes and cleaned up, we went out to get some things done. If I recall, we split a pancetta sandwich and green salad and took advantage of the lovely spring day by eating outside. From there I purchased a pastry bag and tips and (get ready) a butter bell at the Cooks Companion on Atlantic Avenue.

I came home to start on the frosting. Devon was out enjoying the day so I was on my own for this one. I made the vanilla tofu cream cheese frosting first. I decided I would scale down the amount of frosting as I had a hunch I wouldn’t need the whole amount. Since the ingredients were somewhat predictable, I figured the amount of sugar was based on sweetness and texture. I stared whipping the tofu cream cheese and adding the powdered sugar when everything when crazy. Before I knew it, my house and self was covered in sugar. It was everywhere. Meanwhile, I couldn’t get the frosting to thicken. I was getting nervous that the frosting would become too sweet so I said it was done. I scooped it all out into its own bowl and started on the fennel frosting.

The same issue arose with the fennel cream cheese and I began to panic. I started icing the cupcakes and saw the frosting as more of a glaze. To humor myself, I packed some vanilla frosting into my new pastry bag to see what would happen. As the frosting left the bag, it quickly lost its shape and melted into the existing frosting. I had to accept the fact that these cupcakes were not going to be the beautiful centerpiece I had hoped

Well, we brought 36 cupcakes to the party and they were gone within the first fifteen minuets. Everyone said they were really great. I never had one myself as I was too sugared out from testing the cupcakes and frostings throughout the day. As for the pastry bag, I think I’ll stick to a buttercream frosting next time.