When I was younger, I spent a lot of time at my grandmother's house, and I remember eating a lot of angel food cake in the warmer months. So, in honor of all things America, I decided to bake a patriotic version of my childhood favorite...and it ended in disaster. Since I didn't own an angel food cake pan, I bought this one by Wilton. Unfortunately, when I went to pull my cake, I found that it had sank through the spring form and was baking on the bottom of the oven. I hate to blame this epic fail on a pan, but I really don't think it was anything I did! I guess I'll find out if I ever get brave enough to try to use it again!
Since I had already used up the majority of my baking ingredients on the cake sticking to the bottom of my oven, I went searching for anything I could find that might pair well with fresh fruit. I ended up making sugar cookie cupcakes with buttercream icing, and they were perfect! The recipe below will make 12 cupcakes, so I only made a half batch of my grandmother's icing. While I have sworn to never share her buttercream recipe, there are thousands of terrific versions out there. One that I have tried and recommend is buttercream dream icing.
Since I had already used up the majority of my baking ingredients on the cake sticking to the bottom of my oven, I went searching for anything I could find that might pair well with fresh fruit. I ended up making sugar cookie cupcakes with buttercream icing, and they were perfect! The recipe below will make 12 cupcakes, so I only made a half batch of my grandmother's icing. While I have sworn to never share her buttercream recipe, there are thousands of terrific versions out there. One that I have tried and recommend is buttercream dream icing.
Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter with an electric hand mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time and then add the vanilla. Combine the flour and baking powder and continue to mix for about 2 minutes. Stir in the milk at mix for 2 more minutes.
Distribute the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Allow pan to cool on wire rack for 5 minutes before removing from pan and leaving to cool completely. Ice with your favorite buttercream icing and top with your favorite red and blue fruits!
[recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com]
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter with an electric hand mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time and then add the vanilla. Combine the flour and baking powder and continue to mix for about 2 minutes. Stir in the milk at mix for 2 more minutes.
Distribute the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Allow pan to cool on wire rack for 5 minutes before removing from pan and leaving to cool completely. Ice with your favorite buttercream icing and top with your favorite red and blue fruits!
Happy 4th!
[recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com]