A Traditional Farm Life
By Shasta Hamilton
Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends! This morning it was downright chilly
outside. Is this really August in
Kansas? Now, don’t get me wrong. We are definitely NOT complaining.
The change in the air also brings to mind crisp, clean
notebooks, the smell of a freshly sharpened pencil, and the promise a new box
of crayons brings. Our children are
eagerly (maybe not!) awaiting the beginning of their school year next
week.
Everything was ready to start this week, but 20 dozen
cupcakes have a way pushing everything else aside. However, by the time you read this, those
newly sharpened pencils will be put to work.
Even though no grade will be given, baking and frosting 20
dozen cupcakes is an educational experience.
Math skills have been sharpened by the doubling of recipes
and multiplying the number of times said recipe needs to be doubled in order to
reach the total number needed. Planning
was done in advance in order to buy all the supplies needed at one time for the
whole project.
An A+ cupcake does not just “happen,” we’re
discovering. In fact, there has been
quite a learning curve.
Until we moved here last fall, I had always used an electric
oven. In this house I now have a natural
gas range. As we tested different
cupcake recipes here at home the differences in baking soon became painfully
obvious.
As the heat source now comes solely from the bottom of the
oven, using two racks yielded burned bottoms on the bottom rack and underdone
cupcakes on the top rack on our first attempt.
(I was afraid to shift racks half way through for fear the cupcakes
would deflate and “fall.”) We’ve now
found that oven “sweet spot,” but it means only baking on one oven rack at a
time.
Our first batch of chocolate cupcakes were overdone and
dry. I’m now taking the cupcakes out
just a bit before my intuition tells me to--when the top is just a bit sticky
but the center is done.
So far, so good.
Now, we turn to the task of frosting 20 dozen cupcakes. As we are of the opinion that butter makes
everything better, a buttercream frosting is our first choice for
cupcakes. Bakery frosting recipes generally
use either part or all shortening.
Why, you might ask?
Because butter melts.
A frosting made with shortening, even in part, has the
ability to better hold its shape in the face of higher temperatures. I’m no professional cake decorator, but I can
imagine that if I were to spend all that time decorating a cake, I would NOT
want to see it melting in front of me on a hot August afternoon.
That said, we tried a compromise. It was half butter, half shortening. It tasted just like—you guessed it--bakery
frosting. It was OK, but it just didn’t
have the extra “umph” in the flavor department that only butter can give.
All things considered, we decided to go for flavor and hope
for a cool August day. Strangely enough,
we might just get it!
Buggy Stop
Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick)
butter, room temperature
3-3/4 cups powdered
sugar, sifted
3 to 4 tablespoons
milk
1-1/2 teaspoons
vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond
extract
Place butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy,
about 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar, 3
tablespoons milk, vanilla, and almond extract.
Blend on low speed until sugar is incorporated, about 1 minute. Scrape down sides of bowl. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy,
about 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1
tablespoon more milk if the frosting seems too stiff.
Yield: 31/2 cups frosting, enough for a 2-layer cake
or about 18 cupcakes.
Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton
Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in
Enterprise, Kansas. She and her husband
own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled
children. You can reach The Buggy Stop
by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.
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