This past Friday I went to a friend's birthday soiree which involved drinks and appetizers, followed by a viewing of Sex and the City 2! It was a fabulous girl's night, and I think the birthday girl had a wonderful time. In honor of the birthday girl, I made my favorite cupcake, red velvet! From what I observed and later heard, they went over well. It was a great pre-movie treat!
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Since I had just returned from a week long vacation, I took the easy route and made the cupcakes using the never fail Perfect Cake-Mix Cupcake Recipe. Basically, it's an adaptation of a box mix.
Here's the cream cheese frosting recipe - for a typical batch of cupakes (approximately 28 cupcakes), I double the recipe and usually have a bit leftover to freeze.
Cream Cheese Frosting
*Makes 3 1/4 cups
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (tip - don't use fat-free or lowfat cream cheese, the frosting won't be thick enough)
1 stick (8 Tbsps) unsalted butter, softened
1 box (16 oz) powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Combine the cream cheese and the butter in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about three minutes.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar and two tablespoons of the milk and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla extract, and the remainin one tablespoon milk if the mixture is too thick.
One more tip... put one tablespoon of milk in when you're mixing the powdered sugar. Wait to put the remainder of the milk in toward the end, sometimes you don't need more than one tablespoon of milk. It all depends on the consistency you're trying to achieve. When using an icing tip to decorate, the thicker the better.
Cupcake Apron - as seen on Sex and the City 2!
During SATC2 I got excited when I saw Charlotte making cupcakes and wearing this super cute apron I recently spotted at Paper-Source. How cute is this apron? In the movie, Charlotte's daughter Lilly is wearing the children's version.
Love it... I think I need one! The apron retails for $30 and is available from Unique-Vintage.com. It's also available at Paper-Source, but for $34.95. On iVillage Food I found this article, which provides you with a discount code for a 20 percent discount on the apron if bought from Unique-Vintage. The offer is good through June 15.
