My First Blog

This is the first blog I've ever written, so bear with me as I learn how all this works.

This week's cupcake was a Honey Walnut cupcake with a Honey Vanilla whipped frosting and a dark chocolate bee decoration.

The recipe for this cupcake is:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate bees:
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in heated oven for 7-10 minutes.
3. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners (I use foil but paper works too)
4. Using a mixer, cream together the honey, sugar and soft butter until fluffy.
5. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla and beat until blended.
6. Slowly add flour, baking soda, and salt until fully combined.
7. Using a large wooden spoon or spatula mix in the walnuts.
8. Divide the batter between the baking cups, they should be between 2/3 and 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 20 minutes (turning once) or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat with mixer until stiff peaks form.
2. Fit a sandwich bag or decorator frosting bag with a large round tip (I used Wilton tip 12) and fill with whipped cream.
3. Pipe cooled cupcakes with whipped cream and garnish with a bee.

Chocolate bee directions:

1. In a microwave safe container melt chocolate 15 seconds at a time until fully melted.
2. While chocolate is melting line a baking sheet with waxed paper and fit a sandwich or decorator bag with a small round tip (I used Wilton tip 3)
3. Fill sandwich bag with melted chocolate and pipe a bee shape onto the waxed paper.
4. Refrigerate and keep cold until you need to garnish. (Make sure you let them set for long enough, otherwise the bees with "wilt"...learn from my mistakes)

For the bees you can either free hand draw (more difficult than it looks) or place a piece of paper with the shape drawn on it under the waxed paper so that you can trace it. I tried free hand drawing a shape I'd never drawn, and my first couple of bees looked tragic. I doubled the recipe so I used 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and got 27 bees to fit on my baking sheet. I would definitely advise making extra as they tend to break when you peel them off the waxed paper. Also, I used a small metal spatula to remove them and place them on the cupcakes since the first one I moved melted in my hand. (FYI, chocolate's melting point is human body temperature, or so I've been told).

That's my blog for this week! Soon I'll recap the other cupcakes I've made in the last few weeks and add more that I'll be making for a charity bake sale.