Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Perfectly Frosted Cupcakes, The Hobbit, One for Steve


1. Some things take longer for me than others to discover. But as long as I find the way eventually, all is well. Such is the case in finding the perfect recipe and technique for frosting cupcakes. I love to bake, but traditional cakes and cupcakes have never been my forté...until now! These diminutive cakes are bite size. So tiny that you may pop an entire cake right into your mouth and not look like a slob.
The Frosting: (Vanilla butter cream frosting that is light and fluffy, pipes well, and tastes delicious.) In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat 2 cups confectioners sugar, 1 stick butter (softened), and 1/2 cup shortening until just mixed. Increase speed to high; beat 10 minutes or until light and fluffy, scraping bowl often with rubber spatula. reduce speed to medium; gradually beat in 1/8 cup heavy or whipping cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth, occasionally scraping bowl. Makes enough to frost 24 bite sized cupcakes.
The Technique:

    

2. We were split in our interests of which movie to see, so we split up and saw what we wanted. Tess and I chose The Hobbit. What can I say? The battle of good vs. evil on an epic scale! I completely enjoyed the movie, especially the soundtrack. The haunting Misty Mountain Song the dwarfs sang in Bilbo Baggins' home was one of my favorites.



3.The diagnosis is critical. He says it sounds like a rod..something..something in the motor is broken and we need a new dishwasher. It's not the expense I wished to begin the new year with. He takes it all apart anyway, laying all the mechanical guts out on the floor. A short while later he walks up to me, holding out his hand. In his palm is a tiny, 1/4-inch piece of plastic from a clothing tag. "It's fixed.", he says. That little piece of plastic was lodged between the something...something and made the entire dishwasher vibrate noisily. "Could Daniel do that?", he smiles. (There is a running joke in our family about who can fix things better, my husband or my son-in-law. The son-in-law has been winning.)


5 comments:

  1. A dishwasher fixed is better than a new one for a year. Also not a cupcake maker, but recently returned to muffins. Never read any of the Tolkien stories, so not on my movie list, but then so few and I usually watch older ones on Netflix.

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  2. That's awesome that the dishwasher could be fixed. I wish he'd come to Atlanta and fix my stove temperature. :)

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  3. You're not alone in the dishwasher problem! Our recent dishwasher issue was the door spring...thank heaven for determined men!
    mmm Cupcakes~ I love the idea of eating more than one

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  4. Did you see the Hobbit in 3D or the new film version or the old-fashioned 2D way? I enjoyed the movie and will buy the extended director's cuts when they come out.
    Happy New Year to you and yours. Glad the dishwasher was something your hubby could fix.

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  5. He saved you eight hundred bucks! Nothing like a handy man!

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