Guest Post: Sweet and Fit Cupcakes
Hi! First of all I want to thank Laural for giving me this opportunity to write a guest post for her wonderful blog. My name is Jasmine and I write a blog called Sweet and Fit. I am currently taking a break from pastry school (L’Academie de Cuisine), but I’ll be starting back up shortly! In the meantime I’ve started a my blog to write about my baking adventures as well as my quest for a healthy happy lifestyle, while still enjoying sweets =)
I have decided to talk about one of the latest trends in baking and pastry…. Cupcakes, of course! There seems to be bakeries solely devoted to cupcakes popping up all over the place, and for good reason too. Cupcakes are not messy to eat because unlike a cake there is no need to slice anything and you don’t even need a plate – plus they can be easily incorporated into a health-conscious diet because they are perfectly portioned. Now I am not saying to go out and eat cupcakes everyday or anything, I’m just trying to say that they shouldn’t be “off-limits” to anyone who is trying to watch out for their health.
I made some cupcakes today actually – I used a basic yellow cake recipe and topped them off with a raspberry buttercream-cream cheese frosting.
For the frosting I just eye-balled the cream-cheese, butter, and powdered sugar – then I added this Seedless Raspberry Jam from Harry & David, to taste. Its really important to use seedless jams in when making a frosting because otherwise you would have the seeds stuck in your teeth and the frosting would be somewhat gritty versus smooth and creamy.
Here are some cupcakes and a cake I made for a baby shower:
Tips on making Cupcakes & just baking in general:
-Make sure all your ingredients are at the same temperature; i.e. eggs and milk at room temperature
-Use a ice cream scoop, also known as a portioner, to ensure that all your cupcake liners are filled with the same amount of batter, meaning they will bake evenly – not to mention it’s the least messiest way to do it
-Always use unsalted butter so that you can control the amount of salt in the recipe
-After baking the cupcakes, allow them to cool in the cupcake pan for only one to two minutes and then remove them to prevent the cupcakes from over-cooking from the residual heat in the pan
-Use a piping bag and a pastry tip to pipe your frosting onto the cupcakes – in the pastry world, presentation is everything. If you don’t have a pastry bag you can just use a freezer bag and cut a hole in one end
Thanks so much for reading!
-Jasmine
