As I promised more than 2 weeks ago, here is the recipe for those outrageous cupcakes! Better late than never, right?

Throw the kids in front of the television, onto a couple of Fatboys or bean bags chairs, pop ‘The Cat in the Hat” movie into the DVD Player and at the end of the flick pull out a heaping tray of these cupcakes, overflowing with homemade butter cream frosting. Recipe after the jump…

Directions: Start with a white cake batter and white frosting - it’s best for coloring. You can use the food stylist’s white cake batter and frosting recipes here or cheat a little a pick up a basic white mix at the market. But remember - it has to WHITE!

The stylist recommends all ingredients are room temp before mixing as this is best for baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with liners - there are so many colorful liners on the market - you should have no problem finding them a rich lavender shade.

Sift together the following:

Cupcake Mix

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 and 1/3 tablespoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat until creamy

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

Add and beat until smooth:

2 large egg yolks

Gradually add while beating on high speed

1 ½ cups of sugar

Add flour mixture with milk mixture in alternating parts. Mix at low speed until smooth

In a separate bowl beat until soft peaks form: 8 large egg whites and ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

(Gradually add beating at high speed) 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Beat until the peeks stiffen. Use a rubber spatula to fold approximately 1/3 of the egg whites into the mixture. Do not over blend. Add remaining egg whites until evenly folded.

Add purple or violet food coloring (I’ve got the exact Number dye in my files and will post it later) 1 - 2 drops at a time.

Blend thoroughly before adding more.

Baking darkens the cake mixture, so go overboard with the food coloring.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely and remove paper liners.

Butter cream Icing

Cream together:

½ cup of vegetable shortening

½ cup of unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat in 4 cups confectioner’s sugar, one cup at a time, blending until smooth.

Add 2 tablespoons milk and mix until fluffy. Add purple or violet food coloring a drop or two at a time until you achieve the desired color. Once the cupcakes are cool, pipe icing on using a large smooth tipped knife. Starting on the outer edge, ice the frosting slowly around to the center..

This entry was posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 3:41 pm and is filed under Crib Rock Parenting Tips, Movie Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.