Thursday, January 20, 2011

New Stuff Happening

There's new stuff happening all over the place!

American Idol with JLo and Steven Tyler... I wish I could watch (even though I've never actually been a huge fan of the show) to see how they roll. But it'll be a day late and dollar short here on AFN, and more than likely available for viewing after we'll be out of the hotel and without TV capabilities in our house/apartment. Oh well, as I said I've never really followed the show in the past, so I guess I'm not sacrificing that much at this point. Honestly I've always felt the first two weeks (or however long it lasts) of watching horrible acts fall flat on their faces was just mean spirited. It makes people laugh and it's good entertainment but it's laughing at another person. These people are put in front of (HUGE) celebrity judges after being scanned by countless producers and other auditions, after hours of waiting and being told, "sure you can go in front of JLo, you're good enough for that." And BAM!!!! They suck. They're horrible. I just disagree with the premise. It's wrong.

Beyond that BIG NEWS PEOPLE!!! The Cupcake Club is BACK! I hope you'll all join me this month in baking the classic Yellow Cup Cakes with a super simple Vanilla frosting.


Ingredients

Makes 12
  • FOR THE CUPCAKES
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • Sprinkles, for decorating
  • FOR THE FROSTING
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.line the cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper or foil liners. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a liquid-measuring cup, mix milk and vanilla; set aside.
    2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add half of dry ingredients, followed by milk-vanilla mixture, then remaining dry ingredients. Do not overmix.
    3. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups (a 2-ounce or 1/4-cup ice-cream scoop is good for this).
    4. Place tin on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cupcakes 5 minutes in tin, then remove and cool completely on a rack before frosting.
    5. Prepare frosting: in a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat unsalted butter, confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Mix in up to 1/2 cup more sugar or a few more teaspoons of milk as necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency. Makes enough for 12 cupcakes.
    6. Frost cupcakes; decorate with sprinkles before frosting dries to ensure that they stick. The frosted cupcakes are best eaten within 1 day.
Click here for more info on the recipe and visit Martha Stewart.com for more recipes and tips!


Ok ladies, in case you forgot how this works (I couldn't blame you) today is the 20th, and we want you to come back and LINK UP (to the right) to tell us about your baking adventures by the 30th! You have 10 days to get out there and show us what you got! 


3 comments:

hmb said...

I shall come back and link with you....though we all know my cupcakes will be a disaster.

Keri@GlamorousArmy said...

Yum to the cupcakes. I am always down for new recipes. I am scared to see how AI will progress with these new judges. So far, they are letting a lot of craziness in.
Love your blog!

Crazy Shenanigans-JMO said...

Something else they don't tell you on American Idol is that they make the contestants who do go in front of the judges wear the same clothing. I had a friend who tried out and he came on day 1 and they were like ok tomorrow you'll go in front of the actual celebrity judges. They took his picture and told him he had to come back looking the exact same way or he wouldn't be able to go on.