Smoky Wok

Another reason for baking cupcakes today was because I bought these lovely wooden French styled forks and I just could not wait to photograph something with the forks and since cupcakes are quite easy to put together, there you have it.  Such is the plight of a food blogger/ photographer - we do get immensely attracted to props and at times will go to great lengths to get that 'perfect' bowl or vintage spoon - in addition, we can't contain ourselves when we manage to get our hands on some nice props and feel an inexplicable urge to shoot the prop as soon as possible.  In any event, I do hope that my first official blog post for 2012 starts the year on a sweet note for all of us!

Makes 24 cupcakes (2 dozen)

Recipe adapted from Magnolia Bakery

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

250g butter (I like to use salted) - softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Firstly, pre-heat oven to about 150 C.

In a medium-sized bowl, add the 2 flours together and mix well.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, place the softened butter and cream until pale and fluffy.  Add in the sugar bit by bit to ensure the sugar does not end up 'drowning' the butter while mixing.  Add in the eggs, one by one after mixing well each time.

Add the flour mixture in 3 parts alternating with the vanilla essence and milk.  Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl for better incorporation.

Line a muffin or cupcake pan with cupcake liners of your choice.  Fill the cupcake liners with batter up to half of the liner only as this makes for flatter cupcakes hence easier frosting.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean.  Allow to cool to room temperature before attempting to frost.

For Frosting:

250g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Place the butter into the bowl of your mixer and beat for about 8 minutes until pale and fluffy.  Add the icing sugar, milk and essence.  Beat for a further 5 minutes or until light and creamy.

To assemble:

White chocolate curls (optional) - I cheated and used store-bought ones

Once the cupcakes are completely cooled, use a pipe of your choices and pipe the frosting in a circular manner.  Sprinkle some chocolate curls on top or use other decorations of your choice.  You can also use colourful sanding sugar to add a bit of colour to your cupcakes by sprinkling the sanding sugar sparingly on top of the frosting.