Cup Cakes, A Simple Vanilla Cup Cake Recipe to Start

Cup cakes are delicious treats that can be enjoyed on pretty much any occasion, such as birthdays, parties, get togethers, and holidays. These cakes are fun, fast, and easy to make, and can be flavored and decorated in many different ways to suit the individual tastes of the people who will be eating them.

A simple cup cake recipe starts with getting all the ingredients together you will need to make these little pastries. As far as hardware goes, you will need a baking tray made for cup cakes, paper trays in which to put the cupcake batter in, and an oven, be it a large oven or a toaster oven. Ingredients to make the cup cake recipe are sugar, baking powder, shortening, milk, flour, vanilla and eggs, but you may find that it's simpler for you to just use a cake mix instead. Finally, frosting needs to be prepared to be spread over the cup cakes. Recipes for frosting are out of the scope of this article about cup cake recipes, but if you search the web or your grocery store you can find some recipes or good preprepared frosting. With all of the ingredients together, you're ready to actually begin baking!

To actually prepare the cup cake recipe, begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine all the dry ingredients, as in, 1 1/3 cups of sugar, 3 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 2 1/4 cups of flour. Once that is done, add 1/2 cup of shortening, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 cup of milk. If vanilla is not available, you can easily substitute it with the same amount of maple syrup. Beat the new mixture for one minute, making sure to get everything off the sides before continuing. Now add the eggs, and beat the mixture for one minute again. You can now add any other flavors that you may like, such as chocolate. Pour the completed mixture into the baking tray, making sure not to forget to add the paper liners to the tray so that the cup cakes will have something to bake in and can be easily removed after being done baking. Depending on the size of the cup cakes in the tray, they may need to bake for different times, but generally 20 to 25 minutes should result in perfect cup cakes. If unsure, check periodically with a toothpick. When the toothpick comes cleanly out of the center, the cup cakes are finally complete!

Cup cakes are quick and delicious treats that the whole family will appreciate and that can be made with relatively few ingredients. Experiment with different flavors and frostings, and you will find that this humble recipe will never get boring.

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Fun and Easy Cupcake Decorating Ideas

The cupcake usually plays second fiddle to the cake, but with a few simple cupcake decorating ideas this delicious treat may move into the lead. Most people only serve cupcakes for children's parties, and they rarely make them for an everyday snack. These individual cakes are easy to make and fun to eat, though, and they can be a much bigger hit than an ordinary cake at all types of special events.

One of the easiest of all cupcake decorating ideas is simply to switch it up with the icing. Frost the cupcakes with multiple colors to create a unique theme or just add some fun. It is also easy to frost cupcakes and decorate them with letters or numbers to personalize them for any celebration or special someone. For example, to celebrate a child getting a great report card, make cupcakes frosted in school colors with As and A-pluses on top. It's simple but fun and a terrific treat for a deserving kid.

Cupcakes are much more flexible than ordinary cake because they are small and they can be shaped and stacked. Frost and organize cupcakes into numbers on a platter to celebrate a sweet 16 party, or move them around or pile them up to create a themed image. Just make a quick plan ahead of time to make sure things are placed properly.

One of the most enjoyable cupcake decorating ideas for kids is to set up a decorating station at birthday parties for all of the party guests to create their own cupcake design. Just set up some cups or bowls with a variety of candies, sprinkles and other sugary sweets to adorn the cupcakes. The kids will rave, and grown up kids will like it too!

Just because cupcakes are small, doesn't mean you can't decorate them like a cake. For a fancier cupcake treat, we recommend breaking out the cake decorating tips to swirl and leaf an elegant design on cupcakes. Combine fancy frosted designs with creative stacking patterns, and you can make a fabulous cupcake cake suitable for even the most special of occasions.

Cupcakes are not just for kid's parties, either. They taste every bit as good as cake and offer up much more opportunity for creative party planners. It is fun and challenging to find new ways to decorate cupcakes for different kinds of parties and social events.

The cupcake is also handy when you need to bake it and take it. Parties at school, gatherings at work, picnics in the park, you name it. For any occasion outside the house, cupcakes are perfect because they don't need anything - knives, forks or plates. They are also easier to serve, so try making cupcakes instead of cake for your next special occasion.

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cupcake decorating ideas

Cupcake Decoration Ideas

Why vegans or those suffering from egg allergy miss on scrumptious cupcakes, this Christmas. There are several variations of which, this one is simply lip smacking.

This easy vegan cupcake is no hassle and ready within minutes. Top with butter cream or cream cheese frosting or with fondant decorations. You can also have it as it is.

Ingredients:

1½ cup - Flour

1 cup - Sugar superfine

1 tsp - Baking soda

½ cup - Sunflower oil

¼ cup - Cocoa

1½ tsp -Vinegar

1 tsp - Vanilla essence

1 tsp - Instant coffee

1 cup - Warm water

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C and line the tin with cupcake cases.

In the bowl mix flour, soda and vinegar.

Add the remaining ingredients using your electric mixer, or hand mixer beat for 5 minutes on medium speed. Divide the mixture equally between the paper cases and level the tops.

Bake in the pre heated oven for approx. 20-25 minutes or until well rise and springy to touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Cupcake decorating ideas with fondant

Fondant is a versatile ingredient. Just roll out and cut it, imprint or emboss designs, add colour and shine (metallic shades) to make fancy creations.

You can do anything from ruffle borders to flowers and figurines etc. Make designs and top them as it is or pipe cream icing and place the decorations thereafter. The choice is simply endless.

Personally, I would suggest ready rolled fondant or satin ice fondant, because of the benefits:

Highly elastic, therefore, easy to shape

Tends to be smoother

Long shelf life up to 1 year

Time saving - no kneading, no mess or guesswork

Certain fondant tools to make cupcake decorating easy. There are many different types of tools, but for my suggestive designs you need:

Rolling Pin - From start to finish when working with fondant there is rolling to do! When making fondant cake tops, Santa's beard, scarf for the snow man so on.

Cookie cutters for making circular cut outs as our fondant top.

Paint brush for sticking designs with edible glue.

Fondant tools required are pin, scalpel, ball and paw tool for shaping different parts.

Suggestive Christmas theme try out:

A stand up snowman in warm clothes in the blistering cold

Santa with a handful of candies for kids

A sumptuous plate of Christmas meals - carrots, Brussels sprout, turkey and wine bottle

The elf enjoying the Christmas party

Sleigh ladened with gifts

Creative decorating ideas for christmas cupcakes
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