Wedding Cake Cupcakes

Hello from Boston! The good news is that I have internet in my hotel room- the bad news is I have been having so much fun that I did not post for the past two days :( Sorry! That was a bad me. Well our whole lab (minus one) flew off to Boston on the same flight. That was pretty fun! Surprisingly Boston had pretty tolerable weather the first day we landed (sadly- I was not so lucky for the rest of the days). When we landed, since I was in Boston, we knew we definitely wanted to try seafood. On our first day we went to Rabbi's Italian Food for a Clam Bake. It was quite good- I enjoyed some lobster, clams, mussels and shrimp. We then headed next door to Lulu's Cupcakes. I wanted to introduce my lab to the true art of cupcakery crawling ;) I mean it is such a great skill to have ;)

After cupcakes, one of my labmates had mentioned that she had heard about a famous cannoli place that we needed to try called Mike's Pastry. As we were heading there- a Boston native told us that he preferred a place called Modern Pastry. Being a lab that enjoys all sweets, we decided to try both. With Lulu cupcakes in hand (I think my lab might have learned just how crazy I am with my cupcakes and photographing food- they now understand me on a whole new level. I do have to thank them, though, they were pretty darn patient with me ;). Okay- so we went to Mikes Pastry and they had cupcakes! Score for me! Picked up some cannolis too and headed to Modern Pastry. Eh- did not see anything we wanted there and so we headed back to the hotel.

That is when I got to show them how to really eat cupcakes in a cupackery crawl way. We divided each cupcake in fourths, since there were four of us. And we each tried pieces and talked about how they all tasted. It was pretty neat because normally when I rate cupcakeries I do not know if it is just me and other people would rate things differently, but this time, I had three other opinions and we always agreed on the rating out of a 5 point scale :) Okay, I am nerdy- but that is great inter-rater reliability! Just saying.... By the time we finished all the cupcakes we were in a sugar coma and stuffed. I had a 7am breakfast to attend and so I hit the sheets....for Day #2 and #3 in Boston...read my next post! For the reviews about Lulu's Cupcakes and Mike's Pastry check out my Cupcakery Reviews.

This was aftermath

Long post BUT I made these delicious Wedding Cake Cupcakes for the potluck dinner I had with Luke and Justin the other night. It was a hit! Remember how I said that if I eat what I make it must be extra special? Well- I ate a ton! Luke, Justin and the hubby ate even more than I did! I even packed some for Justin and Luke to take home and sent some with them to take to another friend (Angie- remember the Cookie Bouquet or the Caramel Cake- that's her). You must try these cupcakes they are AH-ma-ZING. Once you try them, i just know you will be making them again!

WEDDING CAKE CUPCAKES

Cupcake adapted from Recipe Girl

Vanilla Buttercream from Martha Stewart

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 325F Degrees

FOR THE CUPCAKES
1 box Duncan Hines White cake mix
1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1 1/3 c. water
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. sour cream
4 large egg whites (no yolk!)

FOR THE FROSTING
2 sticks of butter, softened slightly
6-8 c. of powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. heavy cream

DIRECTIONS

For Cupcakes:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whisk together cake mix, flour and sugar. Then add in water, vegetable oil and vanilla extract, mixing ingredients until creamy. Add in sour cream, stirring until incorporated and finally adding in egg whites (all together), again mixing until incorporated. Line cupcake pan with liners. Using an ice cream scoop fill liners 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18 minutes until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For Frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, combine butter and 4 c. of powdered sugar, 2 tbsp. of heavy cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add remaining sugar, 1/2 c. at a time and heavy cream 1 tbsp. at a time--beating for 2 minutes after each addition. Continue adding ingredients until desired consistency is reached (i.e., you may not use all 8 c. of powdered sugar or all 1/4 c. of heavy cream). The frosting should be stiff enough to hold the shape once pipped.

Enjoy,
Chika