State of the Unions speeches are a bore. Seating arrangements don't impress me. Big whoop, the sat together. That's a long way from working together.
My niece Dani called last night all a flutter because she had forgotten that it was her turn to bring cupcakes for her class. Putting on my indulgent uncle air of "I can fix this" I asked how many and we decided that two dozen would work perfectly.
I love this recipe as a stand alone cake, but, it is nearly perfect for cupcakes. Fasten your seatbelts folks, this is a fun ride.
INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups cake flour (softer wheat, finer milling, makes for a tender cake)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup molasses dissolved in 1 cup boiling water
The cake flour, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger all go into a bowl,
where they get a good whisking to thoroughly mix them.
Cream the shortening (I'm using Crisco butter flavor here, but regular shortening works just fine) and sugar together until well blended and fluffy, beat in the eggs, alternate adding the molasses mixture and the dry spice mixture and beat until very smooth. Stop the beating and scrape down the sides and the beater a couple of times to get a full incorporation.
If you are using paper cupcake thingies, spritz the cupcake pan with cooking spray, put the paper cups in, then give them a light spritz too.
I use a 1/4 cup measure to fill the cups evenly. Any excess batter can be portioned out as equally as you can, or just make your bowl licking crew very happy.
Bake at 350 degrees, for 20 minutes. Immediately remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool them completely on racks.
FROSTING INGREDIENTS
8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (both of these are at room temperature)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup melted white chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt the white chocolate chips by putting them in a microwave safe cup, or bowl (coffee cups work great) and zap them 30 seconds, stir, zap another 30 seconds, stir, then zap 10 seconds at a time until liquid and smooth.
Mix the butter and the cream cheese together first, then add in the vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and melted white chocolate. Beat on high speed until smooth and fluffy, remembering always to scrape down the sides and the beater a couple of times to ensure a total mix and whip. Put that into the refrigerator for an hour to stiffen it up and make frosting the cupcakes easier.
Glob on the frosting generously. Kids love frosting.
Give them a good dose of sprinkles because sprinkles are cool and you're good to go. At the tender age of 12 (thirteen this month), my niece has figured out that I have a hard time saying no to her. When she starts wanting cars and other big ticket items it might be a problem, but that's a while off.
I choose cake every time.
