martha stewart - yellow butter cake (with chocolate frosting)

Happy Easter!

Ok... I know this isn't 'cupcakes' but think of it as one BIG cupcake!

We celebrated Easter at our place this year and since everyone was over, we also celebrated lil niece's b-day and my MIL's b-day!

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I thought this Martha Stewart Yellow Butter Cake sounded good and seemed easy enough, and since I'm short on time these days... It was perfect!

Recipe was easy to follow. The ingredients are all the basics.

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Buttered my 9 inch round pans. Cut a piece of parchment paper into circle-shape and put at the bottom of the pan. Buttered that too! Sprinkled with flour.

Was in a bit of a hurry that day so...

Fast forward to cakes are done!

Recipe called for 30-35 mins cook time but I started checking at 20 mins.

My main concern was that I had one dark pan (which bakes quicker) and one light pan (which bakes longer)!

Sure enough, the dark pan came out at about 20 mins and the light pan came out at about 30 mins.

Thank God for the cake tester!

Cooled 'em on the rack...

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Meanwhile, made the frosting...

3 sticks of buttah... unbelievable!

Mmmm...

There's all that crazy butter...

Oh geez... this frosting came out soooooo good! Nice and creamy! I was worried since my frosting is a bit 'hit-or-miss' but this came out perfect!

Yay!!!

This cake came out sooooooooo yummy!

Everyone loved it, esp lil niece who loves the chocolate!

I really feel like all of the things I've learned so far really paid off with this cake...

• Putting the stuff on the center rack to bake
• spooning flour into measuring cup
• checking cooking time consistently
  
• not over-beating my eggs
• thinking things thru 1st... I know this last one sounds silly but you wouldn't believe how easily I forget something once I start baking... (same goes for cooking... Thank God I don't cook as much!)
  

:)

Martha Stewart - Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Well...

Today is my mom's birthday! (as well as my little God Daughter)!

I usually make a spring time cake in a cute Daisy cake pan I bought years ago from Williams-Sonoma.

This year, I thought I'd try something different. And in the spirit of the cupcake blog, I thought this recipe would be perfect!

Oh yeah... and cause mom loves Boston Cream Pie.

This recipe is very easy... Just a bit more time consuming than I'd allowed for myself.

Someone said to me the other day that she wished she had a whole extra 8 hours in her night. Today, I totally understood what she meant (ie- don't start baking cupcakes at 4p, if you have to be at the party at 6:30p).

Anyway... easy ingredients. Just the basics.

Recipe makes 18 cupcakes. I only have a pan that holds 12 and only 12 silicone cups.
So decided to get a bit creative.

Flour (back to All-Purpose, Thank God...), Baking Powder, Salt whisked in one bowl.

Whole milk and butter melted in sauce pan on low heat.

Sugar and eggs beat in another bowl with mixer for 5 minutes!

Melting...

Whisked...

Working on it...

All mixed and into oven to bake for 15 mins!

Meanwhile,

Vanilla, Milk, Egg YOLK (not white), Sugar, Corn Starch & Salt to make Vanilla Cream (for center)!

Yay! These are done and they look (and smell) great!

And finally...

Corn Syrup, Heavy Cream & Chocolate for Frosting!

Cut the cupcakes in half (horizontally) and spread Vanilla Cream on bottom and top.

Put back together (put top back on). Yummy!

And poured a big spoonful of Chocolate-Ganache Glaze on top!

These were a huge hit!!!

And while, presentation-wise, they didn't come out as well as I'd like (or even close to the original picture), everyone still liked them and ate 'em up!

If I were to do these again, I'd focus on the Vanilla Cream some more.

The directions in the recipe kinda got me at #3 and I'm wondering if some of the directions are missing?

I've noticed that on some of the Martha Stewart recipes and people have posted comments about it.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Mom!

:)