Friday, April 20, 2012

Ginger Ale Cuppycakes for Easter

I have a goal--to make most (if not all) of the recipes in Betty Crocker's Big Book of Cupcakes (as well as my other sweets cookbooks...that one is just on the top of the list because it has the prettiest pictures and some killer recipes). If you don't have this book, you should get it. The recipes are really fun and the cupcakes turn out really moist and delicious. 
For Easter, I wanted to try a new cupcake recipe and decorate it like a nest, with swirled frosting and a few jellybeans as Easter eggs. I went through the aforementioned cookbook to find a good recipe....I found 12. Needless to say, I had to narrow this down, so I did....to seven. It was clear I needed some help, so I asked Dave to pick the one he wanted to try the most and he picked the recipe titled New Year's Mimosa Cupcakes. Now, not being a big drinker (okay, I don't drink at all), I really have no idea how close these come to said drink (it's made from champagne and orange juice), but they were quite delicious. The recipe calls for either champagne or ginger ale and, being the cheapskate that I am, I went with ginger ale (I'm less of a cheapskate and more of a not-wanting-to-spend-a-ton-of-money-on-something-I-won't-ever-use-and-the-smell-of-which-makes-me-sick-skate). I also opted for mini cupcakes, or cuppycakes as I've been calling them since I started baking cupcakes, instead of regular size. I will now share this lovely little recipe with you.


Easter Ginger Ale Cuppycakes
Yields 36 cuppycakes


Cupcake batter:
1 3/8 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbl butter, softened
5/6 cup sugar
3 egg whites
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
3/8 cup ginger ale
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp orange zest


Frosting:
3 cups powder sugar
1/4 cup butter softened
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 Tbl ginger ale
1-2 Tbl orange juice
5 drops any color food coloring


Garnish:
about 108 jellybeans (3 for each cuppycake, plus more for yourself)


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your mini muffin pan with paper cups and set aside.
2. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In a small bowl, stir together ginger ale, orange juice, and orange zest; set aside.
4. In large bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating well and scraping bowl as needed. Beat about 2 minutes longer. Add egg whites and vanilla and beat well. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture and ginger ale mixture, beating just until blended. 
5. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
6. Bake 12-16 minutes (18-20 for regular size) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. 
7. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat frosting ingredients on medium speed until smooth and creamy. If frosting is too stiff, stir in more orange juice, 1 teaspoon at a time.
8. Spoon into decorating bag with desired tip attached (recipe recommends star tip, in case you care) and pipe onto cooled cuppycakes in a swirl pattern, starting from the outside and going to the inside. Place 3 jellybeans on each cuppycake to look like eggs in a nest. 


Voila! Enjoy your lovely cuppycakes! Here's how mine turned out.



The frosting was actually a very light green, though it looks white in the picture.

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