Superbowl Cupcakes – Go Giants!
Hubby grew up a New York Giants fan. I grew up an Indianapolis Colts fan. When we lived in Cincinnati, we became Bengals fans (Who Dey!) Then we moved to Boston. At first we loved the Boston sports scene since we’re both Red Sox fans, but then football season started… Let me tell you how rough it is to live here and not be a Patriots fan, let alone being a Colts fan.
Hubby was so excited that his G-men made it to the Superbowl this year. We’re going to a party where there will be a mix of Patriots fans, Giants fans, and anti-Pats fans. I consider myself in the last group. I’m not a Giants fan, but I’ll root for the Pats to lose any day.
I wanted to make some “simple” flavored cupcakes and stumbled upon these recipes in my Google Reader starred items. The cupcakes came out perfectly and the buttercream is to die for. I did all vanilla buttercream so that I could decorate them, but next time I’ll definitely try the chocolate version as well. I also added some chocolate chips to the batter at the last minute because I love chocolate chips.
Chocolate Cupcakes – recipe from Quirky Cupcake
Makes 12 to 15 cupcakes
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour – I use King Arthurs White Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil – I used 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup applesuace
1 cup cold water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons vinegar
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a 12-cupcake tin with foil or paper liners and set aside. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. In a 2-cup measuring cup, measure and mix together the oil, water, and vanilla.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the baking pan and mix the batter with a fork or a small whisk. When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly. There will be pale swirls in the batter where the baking soda and the vinegar are reacting. Stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Working quickly, distribute the batter into the foil- or paper-lined 12-cupcake tin. If you have leftover batter (depending on how high you fill the liners) you can make a few extra cupcakes by using a few foil liners on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes. Set the cupcakes on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool in pan, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
I doubled the recipe and got 26 cupcakes. I filled them about 3/4 full.
Vanilla and Buttercream
2 sticks butter
7 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk – I used Heavy Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat butter until creamy, scrape bowl
Add 5 cups of sifted powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, beat until combined
Add more powdered sugar until you get to the consistency you want (not too stiff so that its hard to pipe)
NOTE: I think that by using Heavy Cream, it made this buttercream so much better. I go so many comments on the frosting alone for these guys! The cake is delicious as well.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Caramelized onions. I would always snarl at them until I actually tried them and realized they are delicious!
Love Fish Taco’s! We like ours with: fish fingers, cabbage and ranch sauce w/ taco seasoning…ummm..
Try the true Mexican way: with shredded, crispy cabbage, it’s so good.
I tried something I thought I wouldn’t like (that’s a very small percentage of the foods in the world!) and I was right, I totally disliked it – and that’s octopus!
Brussel sprouts. I split them in half, and saute them with olive oil, butter, and garlic. They’re my new favorite vegetable, and my wife and I make them once a week.
On a fish taco note, I had always wanted to try them, finally did, and they were terrible. Turns out I tried them at a bad Mexican restaurant, even though the place was always packed. It was sort of a tourist trap, and eventually went out of business. I’d never thought to try them home, that sounds like a great idea.
I just had to comment…I was the same way with fish tacos and then i tried them and LOVED them. I can’t get enough! Glad I’m not the only one
Oh boy fish tacos… when I first heard of them I thought the concept was a terrible idea. I finally let my husband convince me to try them and I of course loved them. Like Nancy said, we eat them the Mexican/Baja way with cabbage. So good!
Now have you tried shrimp tacos?!
I have not tried shrimp tacos. I will have to look into that.
So true!! I always giggle about them too lol. I had this sandwich that sounded so gross I wanted nothing to do with it, then a friend ordered it and made me try it… it was AMAZING!
roasted corn seasoned, mashed and mixed with diced red bell pepper, topped with cheddar, apricotjam and mixed greens, on wheat
The use of sprouts in your tacos is a great idea! I’m going to have to try that!
I’m not a big fan of fish but these look very delicious:) I used to turn my nose up to deep fried pickles but then I finally tried them…they are delicious!!!
I was skeptical of fish tacos until I tried them. Now they are probably one of my top 5 foods. I love mine with cabbage, lime, and pico de gallo
Also used to turned my nose up at fish tacos! Had them again tonight, this time with swordfish nuggets (Hey the bits and pieces were only 4.99 per lb!) DELISH 🙂
Jen, I too was a fish taco “snob” Couldn’t imagine whoever would think to do such a thing. You actually opened my mind up to trying them. I made salmon with taco seasoning ones and we really loved them, thanks to you. I told a friend whose husband goes to Alaska fishing and always brings home lots of salmon and halibut. They are coming over tonight and guess what we are having? SALMON TACOS!! Thanks.
So glad to hear it!