Lemon Yogurt Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Here's the first of the promised recipes from the garden party baby shower I hosted for Jessie.  I swear by this recipe for both cakes and cupcakes, and it is--overwhelmingly--the most popular/requested cake I make. 

The cake I make is adapted from a loaf cake recipe by Ina Garten--the lovely Barefoot Contessa herself.  All credit for the dense, moist, lemony goodness goes to Ina!

Lemon Yogurt Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.  Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter until well incorporated.  Divide the batter into two 8-inch round cake pans, greased and floured.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes--until it springs back with the touch of your fingers.
(For mini-cupcakes, the recipe yields 48.  Fill the baking cups up to 3/4 full.  Bake 15 minutes--until they spring back.)

Frosting Ingredients:
6 T softened butter
9 oz softened cream cheese (I realize that's just over one package.  I know it's annoying, but I've played around with amounts and this works best!)
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 T lemon zest (or more if you wish!)

Directions:
Beat butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar with a mixer.  Stir in lemon zest with a spatula (otherwise you annoyingly end up with all of the lemon zest (=all the flavor!) on your beaters).

If you are making a cake, frost between layers in addition to the top and sides.  (Try this post on Taylor's old food blog for cake building tips.)  For decorating Jessie's cake, I gave Taylor this picture, a handful of various citrus (orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime), and some fresh mint, and he came up with this:

For cupcakes, use a fat tip to make a little mound of frosting, then top with raspberries.  Mini cupcakes are perfect because you can eat three with no guilt.  They're like cupcake vitamins.   

Let me know if you have any questions!
Enjoy!

XO,
anne

*cake photos by Stacey Morris

*cupcakes by Kensington Blue Photography

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

I have about a million things I want to write about-- our trip to Portland and the Oregon coast, Blaine's Back to School Feast, my new entry way artwork, what it feels like to have a Kindergartener...

While I work on pulling those posts together, here's the recipe I promised. It's from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes (my favorite (of many) cupcake cookbooks).

Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
6 oz cream cheese--room temp.
6 T (3/4 stick) butter--room temp.
9 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (I used semi-sweet choc chips)
3/4 cups sour cream

Directions:
Sift together powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add sugar mixture; mix until combined. Mix in melted and cooled chocolate and then sour cream; scrape down sides of bowl and continue beating until smooth. (Makes 4 cups.)

From Sara's wedding...

A few of my favorite things from the wedding...

Honey jars for the favors (my brother keeps bees, so it's his local honey--love that!) Sara and I covered the lids with Amy Butler fabric and twine.
They were displayed on bee boxes--loved that touch.
My husband, Taylor, made the wedding cake. I loved the 'scraped' look of the butter cream frosting and the local raspberries--such a nice organic look.
To supplement the cake (and we still totally ran out!) I did cupcakes--mini lemons, coconut, these chocolate chocolates,
and my new and improved mint chocolate chip cupcakes (they totally got a makeover--goodbye green food coloring, hello mint leaves! plus the mini chips are a better texture we decided).


Sara and Shane are the most darling newlyweds. We were sad to send them home to Utah!

xoxo
anne

Best Buttercream

I've posted this before, but it remains a topic of emails and friends' inquiries.

What is the recipe for the best butter cream frosting?

Memorize this ratio:

1 stick butter (room temp) to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar to 1 tablespoon milk

(Cream butter and sugar first, then add milk.)

Now that you know the ratio, you can make as big a batch as you need. For a batch of 24 cupcakes, I would double it if I were spreading frosting with a knife, and triple it if I were piping the frosting out with a pastry bag.

As far as flavor is concerned, you can add vanilla (even better: vanilla bean paste!), mint extract, coconut extract, etc. (Use your own taste buds to know how much!)

love and cupcakes,
anne

Let them eat cake!

Good gravy, what a morning! I've been up since 2 a.m., how about you? I accepted a cupcake job last week that grew and grew until it reached 1300 (mini cupcakes, that is)! 2/3 of the order was dropped off this morning, the last of it tomorrow.

So pretty much here's how it went down:

Last week in Utah (I went to Utah!) Emily the design goddess rocked my world and made me a logo and business cards in an evening. (I'll have to show you those soon!)

The day after I returned home from my Utah trip I took in a sample box of cupcakes to an office and left with an order 6 times larger than any I've ever done.

This morning at 2 I peeled my carcass out of bed and got to work in the kitchen and watched my friend, Jessie's Honda pull in my driveway. She was my sous pastry chef. True friend, I am telling you what.

Jessie and I baked and frosted and decorated from 2 until 7, stopping only to eat cereal, feed the baby, and almost cuss about burning a batch.

Taylor got up and replaced Jessie when she left for work. Then we called in major 11 and a halfth hour back up--Sara (s-i-l) and Shane, the newly betrothed.

Next my s-i-l Jill arrived to be there when my kids woke up and tend them while I delivered the cakes. Everyone helped box the 858 minis and delicately pack the boxes in the back of my van.

I delivered the cakes at 9:30, a half hour late. But they were beautiful and well received.

After a quick run for some final ingredients for tomorrow's baking, I arrived home to find Jill, Sara, and Shane still there. They had washed all the batter and frosting bowls, tidied the kitchen, started on the behemoth pile of laundry, vacuumed the entire house, mowed and edged the front and back lawns, picked up all the toys, made my bed, and tended the boys.

Are you kidding me? Unbelievable.

So here I am at 2:49 p.m. baking up tomorrow's cakes and playing with the boys out front. Thanks to the darling people in my life 858 cupcakes doesn't even feel that crazy.

OK maybe a little.

And, because I'm feeling a little silly (maybe it's the 3 hours of sleep?), and owing to the title of this post, I give you: Anne Marie Antoinette

(when you're furniture-sitting stuff that looks like it came from Versailles, you have to take advantage...)

I think I should take a nap.

xo,
anne

Valentine's Day Party 2011

We had a lovely party Saturday! We followed the menu, as planned...

The lemon minis were a hit, as usual (thanks for baking them, Melis!).

Chocolate with butter cream (thanks for baking them, Beth!) and TomKat toppers

The chocolate chip cookies with milk shots were my personal favorite, and were super popular. Em baked the cookies using this recipe
(note: she used an extra 1/2 cup of flour and they were the best ever!).
(Idea from Stephmodo, shot glasses purchased here.)


The sugar cookies were divine. I'm telling you, it doesn't get better than this recipe!

The drink table, complete with cherished heirlooms from Cookie--the decanter, the candy dish, and the napkins she sent me last spring. (My mom and I had to cry about it for a minute.)

Em and I sample the sparkling pomegranate juice.

Some of the kiddos (clockwise from top left): Mary enjoys a chocolate cupcake, Andrew takes a shot of milk (we did the hard stuff--whole milk!), Lily samples the goodies, Blaine shows me how he made his 'O' cookie into a 'C' cookie, Dean arrives, Simon and Henry check out the goods.

Shout out to my mom (thanks for bringing the raspberries every year, Mom) and my babe of a m-i-l (in a hat she felted herself, of course).

Just one of the perks about living in Southern Oregon--65 degree weather in February. The kids drew with chalk for ages and then retired to the park just a block away.

How we found the toy room and Roger after all of the guests departed!

We'd love to hear how your V-day parties went!

We love you!
Em and Anne

Planning for Valentine's Party 2011

People keep looking at me shockingly when I tell them I am indeed hosting my annual Valentine's Day party this year. (So what if I go into labor while I'm serving lemon cupcakes??) I couldn't cancel this year. I couldn't because it's tradition. More importantly, I couldn't because Cookie, my darling friend and the woman who began this tradition, lost the battle with cancer in September, so I feel like it's never been more important to host a party that celebrates love.

I'll tell you a little more about Cookie on another day, but for today, here are some photos from last year's party, plus some ideas for this year's party to get your wheels spinning. (What? You weren't planning on hosting a V-day party? Hopefully I can change your mind. I think it's the best tradition of the year!)

I keep it pretty simple. No meal, just sweets.

Last year's spread included mini lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting and fresh raspberries on top. (These were the biggest hit and I am definitely serving them again this year.)

I use this Ina Garten recipe, but even if you just use a lemon cake mix, they are still amazing, thanks to the frosting:

Beat 6 T softened butter, 9 oz. softened cream cheese, and 3 tsp. lemon zest with mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar.

Next in the lineup were chocolate cupcakes with pink butter cream frosting and brownie hearts.

I've mentioned before that I'm not above cake mixes. I use a devil's food mix for these. For butter cream frosting, memorize this ratio (it makes perfect butter cream every time!): 1 stick butter to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar to 1 T milk. (Mix the butter and sugar and then add the milk.) For 24 cupcakes, you'll want to at least double that recipe. (I triple it since I pipe on such a huge layer of frosting!)

For the brownie hearts, just bake a brownie mix, but in a large sheet pan so they're thinner. Once cooled, cut hearts out with a cookie cutter. Use toothpicks to anchor them in the cupcakes.

The final player last year were these red velvet cupcakes.

I have to say, even though I think these little cake toppers were the cutest ever, I wasn't in love with my cakes. (If anyone out there has a killer red velvet recipe, do share! I've all but given up after several failures...)

This year, in honor of our dear Cookie, I thought it only fitting that I include cookies on the menu.

So I'll be serving:

lemon mini cupcakes with raspberries
chocolate cupcakes with chocolate glaze or butter cream
sugar cookies with glaze
(this is the only sugar cookie recipe I trust and I like this one for the glaze)
chocolate chippers with milk shots

{I'll be sure to post a recap with pics!}

Happy Valentining!

xoxo,

anne

My first sale

A few more details on last week's cupcake business...
So my friend, Jessie, called me last Tuesday to ask me if her step-mom could pay me for 3 days of my cupcake services for a fancy event at the Ashland Racquet Club. My first client! We discussed a few possibilities and came up with the following menu for each day:

-mint chocolate chip cupcakes (as featured on Bloom)
-lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting, topped with a sugared bluberry
-vanilla cupcakes with vanilla bean buttercream frosting (with a cute little tennis ball topper, made my Jessie!)

It was a lot of work, but so much fun, and they were a hit! I've come a long way since making my first cupcakes 2 summers ago. I'm totally becoming a believer in the "you can do anything you put your mind to..." line of thinking. Of course, within reason...

Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

These days I bring cupcakes to every family gathering and church potluck imaginable. I have four cupcake recipe books. (A tad excessive?!) I'm no Magnolia, but I'm having a ball. A few people who have seen me tote my cupcake carrier to multiple events have asked me: "So are you the cupcake lady? I mean, how did you get so in to cupcakes?"

The answer: When I was a new mother, my whole life felt mixed up. I had a new identity, and didn't know what to do with it. I needed a creative outlet. One night, on a Barnes&Noble date with my husband, I saw a cupcakes book on the clearance table. I picked it up and flipped through pages and pages of fondant, chocolate, and beautiful little cakes. "Maybe I could do this?" I suggested to my husband tentatively. "Of course you could," he encouraged. And so, armed with my new book and its inspiration, we drove home and started planning our Blaine's first birthday party. For his special day I made my first homemade frosting ever and I thought I was Julia Child! What a triumph! For me, cupcakes are as charming as they get, and have become symbolic to me in my quest to own my identity as stay-at-home-mother and homemaker.

And so, I give you...Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes:


I love to try new cake recipes, but the truth is, it's hard to find a homemade cupcake that isn't a bit dry or crumbly. I'm big on using a Betty Crocker cake mix (which even Alton Brown encourages!), but am four-square against anything but homemade frosting. It doesn't take long to make, but it makes a HUGE difference! These particular cupcakes are my current favorite. Very simple, sooo delish.

For the cakes:
Bake Devil's Food cupcakes according to the box directions, adding one teaspoon of peppermint extract to the batter.

For the frosting:
Mix 3 sticks of soft butter, 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of milk, 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract, and a few drops of green food coloring.

To decorate:
Fill a pastry bag with the frosting. (A gallon-sized ziploc works great--just snip a hole in one corner of the bag.) Swirl the frosting around the cake--I like to start on the outside and work my way in. Finally, drop a little handful of chocolate chips on top. (I recommend using a good brand of chocolate chips for this, as generic chips often have an uneven color.)

One last tip:
I am in love with dark brown baking cups! They make the cupcakes look so much nicer than your average pastel baking cups. You can find them through various online sources, such as Petal Crafts.

--Anne

Me, Katie, and my Inflated Ego

My niece, Katie, had a birthday recently. She was excited to bring cupcakes to share with her first grade class.

Katie: "Can Aunt Anne make them, Mom?"

Melissa: "No, Katie. We don't need to bother Aunt Anne with that. I'm your mother. I will make the cupcakes."

Katie: "Well, then I guess I just won't take any."

After that hilarious bit of passive aggression was related to me, I said c'mon! Let me make them. Katie selected a coconut masterpiece from one of my cupcake books, but owing to the fact that we did not have a ginormous supply of ferrero raffaelo truffles to stack on each cake, I offered another coconut option. I told her about how my friend Danielle made toasted coconut birds' nest cupcakes for a baby shower she hosted. Katie was satisfied with the description, so after she went to bed I zipped over to their house to help Melissa put them together.

Please note: I used a cake mix (almost always do). Melissa made the frosting and frosted them. I watched the oven toast the coconut. I put the cadbury chocolate eggs on top (arduous, I know).

When Katie came down for breakfast in the morning she saw the tray of cupcakes ready to accompany her to school. Squealing with delight she exclaimed, "See Mom, not only do Aunt Anne's taste the best, they're also the prettiest!!"

Melissa said as Katie carried them into her classroom she was beaming with pride. As people made comments like "Nice cupcakes," she replied, "My aunt made them!"

{Melissa didn't want to burst her (or my) bubble, but Katie, if you are reading this, your mom did just as much as I did. And she is a pretty darn good cupcake maker, too!
Loves,

Aunt Anne}

First Sugar

Do you think he liked it?

You better believe it.