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Well hello there! I think it’s time we have a classic recipe around here. I love creating and experimenting with new flavors but sometimes a girl just needs a classic dessert whether it’s a red velvet cupcake or a real chocolate cake (coming later this week). Nothing beats the classics and why I wanted to stop this week and revisit this baby. Red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting!!

They hail from my absolute favorite red velvet recipe. I found a red velvet cake recipe a while ago that I LOVED and I’ve been making it for years in various adaptions (mini red velvet bundt cakes seen here). It’s actually the first recipe I ever baked. If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I only started teaching myself to bake about three years ago and this recipe was the first one I tried. Pretty ballsy at the time when I think about it but I’m glad I did. I found Heather’s blog and really got inspired to bake from scratch and learn the basics. The rest is history!

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Yes I went there and started holiday baking a whole month in advance!! Say what? It’s the best time of the year and I have so many recipes to test and share with you guys so let’s get started with the season!! (FYI: The universal holiday declarer started their holiday menu almost two weeks ago).

It is always a debate as to when to start baking holiday sweets, listening to Christmas music and oh gosh, when the tree goes up. Those who just want more time to enjoy Christmas everything and those who are in the “It’s too soon, geez loiuse” camp. I kinda fall in the latter but only for shopping and music. When it comes to baking, the sooner the better for me because 4 weeks is just not enough time to bake all the things I want to. There are way too many peppermint mocha things, eggnog this and gingerbread that to keep to 4 weeks!!

When we spotted eggnog at the grocery store two weeks ago and we quickly grabbed a carton. The hubs loves it and he has been enjoying it every night! I, on the other hand, can’t stand the viscosity of eggnog. Yuck! But put it in baked goods like these eggnog macarons or spiced eggnog cupcakes then I’m all over it.

I couldn’t wait to share these with you. Adapting my absolute favorite vanilla cupcake recipe, I infused eggnog and bourbon (because uhmmm it’s cold and we need warmth) into the moist cupcakes. The result is a crumbly soft cupcake topped with whipped eggnog buttercream (with more bourbon). Just plain good!!!

And it’s a simple and delicious way to start the holiday season. And oh it’s upon us!!

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Yield: 24 cupcakes

Eggnog Cupcakes with Whipped Bourbon Buttercream

Get into the holiday season with these moist eggnog cupcakes with whipped bourbon buttercream! 

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 14 minutes

Total Time 54 minutes

Ingredients

For Spiced Eggnog Cupcakes

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• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon bourbon flavoring or 1-2 teaspoons of bourbon
• ½ cup milk, room temperature
• ½ cup eggnog, room temperature

For Whipped Bourbon Frosting:

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• 3 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 3-4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons eggnog
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon bourbon emulsion or 2-3 teaspoons bourbon
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners or silicone baking cups.
2. In a medium bowl sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract and bourbon. In a medium mixing cup, combine the eggnog and milk.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add about a third of the flour mixture. Add half of the milk mixture, another third of the flour, and the rest of the milk and ending with the rest of the flour, mixing after each addition. Beat until just combined. Scrape down the side of the bowl as needed.
5. Pour batter into prepared pans. Fill liners about ⅔ full. Bake cupcakes until lightly golden or a toothpick inserted into the center come out clean, about 12-14 minutes.
6. Cool in pan 1-2 minutes, then remove cupcakes from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.
7. For the Whipped Bourbon Frosting:
8. Whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer. The butter will become pale and creamy.
9. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Then increase speed to medium and mix for 6 minutes until the frosting is very light, creamy, and fluffy.
10. Frost cooled cupcakes with frosting and garnish with sugared cranberries if desired.

Notes

This recipe can be baked as a two layer 8-inch round cake. Bake for 30-35 mins and let cool 10 mins in the pan before inverting onto a cooling rack.

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As I was preparing for this week’s class on stacking cakes, I couldn’t help but think of our recent wedding cake. Venturing down memory lane, it seemed as if the wedding cake was the easiest decision we made. Mr. J was very interested in partaking in this aspect, more so than in making the DIY card box or pocket fold invitations. In the end, we decided that I would be in charge of the exterior aesthetics of the cake while he took care of the inside.

After several hours on Pinterest, I decided on this (above; photo credit: weddingchannel.com) four-layered round cake for our wedding cake. I liked that it was simple and elegant as that was the theme of our entire wedding. Our flowers would be fuchsia pink sugar roses and we would have a cake topper instead of the floral bouquet.

Photo credit:  Vanessa Finch Photography

Our cake (above; photo credit @ Finch Photography) turned out beautiful! And it was exactly what I wanted. A family friend bakes and designs beautiful cakes for Heirloom Bake Shop, and I am happy we asked her (Thanks Jolene!).

After several cake tastings, the hubby decided on a lemon cake with raspberry filling for the bottom layer, chocolate cake with chocolate ganache for the second and for the top cake, he went with a coconut almond cake. All were very great combinations and I’m sure they tasted great on the day…but I wouldn’t know since I didn’t eat any.

So back to the cake stacking class that started this reminiscing. I was inspired by our wedding cake and decided to recapitulate it for this project. For the cakes, I made two 10″ cakes for the bottom layer and two 6″ cakes for the top. Both cakes were frosted with my go-to Swiss meringue buttercream (SMB) with lime zest and lemon extract.

The bottom cake is a new recipe that I’m sharing below. It’s a coconut almond cake that I experimented with and it turned out moist and amazing!

For the floral arrangements, I made pink gumpaste roses and fondant leaves earlier in the week (while watching Criminal minds… I love that show!). I went for a much simpler piping design than our original wedding cake. After all, I’m only just starting and not a pro. In the end, I think the piping has lots of room for improvement and I will be working on that more. The roses turned out great and I am in love with them.

The small cake is also a test recipe for a purple velvet cake. Why purple? It has to do with my little announcement. I was asked to design and set-up a dessert table at a bridal shower this summer! Of course, I am super excited (and secretly scared…shh) and honored that the maid-of-honor hosting the shower (ahemmm Trista!) trusts me to pull this off.

I am testing several variations for this purple velvet she requested and once I nail the recipe, I will share it here. Needless to say, there will be lots of posts on this first gig as we get closer to the summer. There are so many ideas racing through my mind and I am spending lots of hours on Pinterest, trying to figure out how to bring them all to life on one small table.

Here’s the recipe for the coconut almond cake!

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Coconut Almond Cake

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the Almond Cake

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• 1 pound unsalted butter (4 sticks)
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• 1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ¼ cup sweetened coconut flakes

For the Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream

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• 5 large egg whites
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract

Instructions

For Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray two 10-inch round cake pans with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 5 to 6 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until creamy, occasionally scraping down sides of the bowl using a spatula.
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, mix together cream, vanilla, and almond extract. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture, alternating with cream mixture, and beginning and ending with flour; beat until just combined. Gently fold in coconut flakes.
4. Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before removing cakes from pans.

For Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream

1. Wipe down the bowl of an electric mixer with lemon juice or vinegar to remove all traces of grease.
2. In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a saucepan of simmering water, combine egg whites and sugar. Cook, whisking constantly, until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch (about 160 degrees), 3-4 minutes.
3. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg-white mixture on high speed until it holds stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until the mixture is fluffy and cooled, about 10 minutes.
4. Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low speed, add butter several tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. (If frosting appears to separate after all the butter has been added, beat on medium-high speed until smooth again, 3 to 5 minutes more.) Beat in vanilla, lemon and lime zest. Beat on lowest speed to eliminate any air bubbles, about 2 minutes.
5. Frost and decorate cakes as desired.

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This week, Mr J’s nieces were celebrating their birthdays and we were hosting a birthday dinner party at our new home for the girls! Obviously, I handled the desserts and the hubby tackled making dinner.

I decided to make two different birthday cakes for the girls.

Our youngest niece, Madison, was turning 12 and she is the most colorful young lady I have met. And to honor her, I made her a funky neon cake imploring my recently acquired fondant skills.

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The holiday season is upon us and everyone is deep in cookie baking and decorating. I am sharing with you my favorite royal icing recipe to use for all your cookie decorating. 

Being an avid fan of Pinterest, I had a lot of ideas for what my holiday baking list should entail, but I’m keeping it simple to one recipe for this post. I started with some simple sugar cookies from Better Homes and Gardens and these gingerbread cookies, following the recipes as closely as possible. The cookies turned out great.

Making royal icing is very easy and a recipe everyone should master. 

The ingredients to make royal icing are very simple. Meringue powder, powdered sugar and cream of tartar. The rest are just flavors. 

After you whisk together the water, meringue powder and cream of tartar, you add in the powdered sugar. 

You mix all together along with the extracts to the perfect consistency. 

The next step is just coloring the icing. 

Remember, a little goes a long way when it comes to gel food coloring. 

I attempted to decorate the cookies as well and I spent a lot of time watching videos and reading blogs on how to decorate cookies (Bake at 350, Sweetopia, Glorious Treats, Sweet Sugarbelle to name a few). I went simple again, using a standard royal icing recipe (below) and made two different consistencies (piping and flooding) for each color, and took a shot at it.

I sent holiday treat bags to my new in-laws, friends, and family. I was very happy they all enjoyed the sweets!

Now I have to decide what to make tomorrow for Christmas dinner at my sister-in-law’s.

Happy Holidays again!

I hope you enjoy your holiday baking and have fun decorating your cookies with this easy royal icing recipe.

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Royal Icing Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

Toggle ingredient group

• ¾ cup water
• 5 tablespoons meringue powder
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2.25 pounds powdered icing sugar
• 1 teaspoond vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

1. Whisk together the water, meringue powder and cream of tartar in the mixer bowl for about 1 minute. Add all the sugar and using the paddle attachment, beat on lowest speed for 10 minutes.
2. Thin the icing with water, a teaspoon at a time until your desired consistency. Color and enjoy!

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