Vanilla Peach Cupcakes

As I stated in an earlier entry, I love summer fruit. And while blackberries and cherries are great, peaches are my absolute favorite. During high school, some of my best summer days were spent with a good friend of mine on her family's fruit farm. We'd spend hours outside picking blueberries and raspberries, only to come inside and dive into a pile of ripe, sweet peaches. The Schmitkon's family farm grows, hands down, THE BEST peaches I have ever tasted in my life. The peaches are always incredibly sweet, juicy, and, at times, GIGANTIC! This summer, I had originally planned to make a pie with my box of peaches. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pick up the peaches until the end of my summer and didn't have the time to make a pie. Instead I opted to make my go-to vanilla cupcakes with a little summer twist -- fresh peaches tossed into the batter!

Vanilla Peach Cupcakes
adapted from Billy's Vanilla Vanilla cupcake recipe

1 3/4 cups cake flour [NOT the self-rising type]
1 1/4 cups 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
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk [I used 2%]
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract [or vanilla bean paste!]
2 medium peaches, skin removed, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.
In a large measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition. Beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Gently fold in peaches.
Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 17 to 20 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, I turned to my favorite frosting which came from a red velvet recipe. I added orange Wilton gel dye to make the frosting a fun, summery color to compliment my summery cupcakes! Some flower-shaped sprinkles added a nice finishing touch.


I brought most of the cupcakes down to OWU with me and shared with my friends. These treats received rave reviews from everyone, especially those at the cookout I stopped by on my second night back.

Rainbow Cupcakes!

I first saw these on a LiveJournal baking community and I fell in love instantly. The swirls of bright colors and the individuality of each cupcake made these look like so much fun. I had to try making them and I figured my sister's 15th birthday would be the perfect opportunity. I went out to the craft store and bought Wilton's food gel [it doesn't water down the batter or icing!] plus some piping equipment. I had never tried piping my frosting before and figured I would add even more adventure to this baking excursion.

As for the recipe, I turned to Billy's Bakery Vanilla Vanilla cupcake recipe that I used in at least 2 other baking episodes. The flavor and texture of these cupcakes has always been amazing, so why try something new? I also used the vanilla buttercream recipe from Billy's Bakery because, again, why try something new when you have already found something that's nearly perfect? I cut both recipes in half because I knew there was no way my family would be able to eat the entire batch ourselves. I don't know if my measurements were off or if it was just from cutting the recipe in half, but the consistency of the batter was off. At first I thought maybe I was imagining things or had forgotten what the batter was like, but after baking the cupcakes weren't nearly as light and fluffy as usual and didn't rise as much as usual. Oh well, I can't expect perfection every time.

I thought the frosting would be fine for piping and I even added more powdered sugar than usual, but it was still a little too soft. It didn't hold it's shape as well as I would have liked, but it still looked cute and it was something fun and different. In the future I would try another frosting or I would add more powdered sugar.

So I may not have been 100% satisfied with the results, but at least the cupcakes still taste great! The family agreed that these tasted just as delicious as previous batches and my sister was so excited to have her own birthday cupcakes on her very special day.

More vanilla cupcakes!

I know, I know...It's been quite a while since I last posted. No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. I just haven't been sure what else to do with it aside from posting cupcakes and other baking escapades. More than once I considered posting reviews of different food items - Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper [never again will I touch a bottle of that drink], Chocolate Skittles [not as bad as I had anticipated, but definitely not tasty], and Wild Cherry M&Ms [okay...not too bad, but nothing great] - but I was afraid it would either be yawn-worthy or, well, silly. But now that I'm on Spring Break I can get back to the cupcakes!

I made plans prior to break to try a new cupcake recipe - Peaches and Cream cupcakes - but after much thought and deliberation [probably far too much of both], the vanilla cupcakes I made for my birthday were the obvious choice. Don't worry, I won't be posting the exact same cupcakes as the previous post. I opted to go with a chocolate buttercream frosting, rather than the vanilla buttercream. Oh my gosh. I could eat the entire batch of frosting with a giant spoon. Screw the cupcakes, give me the frosting! Sure, I'd be suffering later for my gluttony but I'd completely fail to consider that consequence. Mmm...

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, cupcakes. I stuck with "Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes" and paired them with the simple chocolate buttercream, creating a heavenly result. The frosting is light & fluffy, and the semi-sweet chocolate cuts the sometimes overwhelming sweetness of the powdered sugar. The cupcakes were light & soft & airy & every other adjective that could be used to describe fabulous cupcakes. The family is absolutely in love with this batch, especially the frosting. I caught my dad sticking his finger in the leftover frosting more than once and he ended up with some on his nose after diving into a cupcake earlier this evening.

First post!

Well, here goes nothing.

I was home last weekend to celebrate two birthdays - my dad's and my own - and after showing a family friend some pictures I had taken earlier in the night, she suggested I start my own food blog. After much contemplation I caved and this is the final product. I don't know how often I'll be posting because I rarely get the opportunity to bake during the school year.

Anyway, on with the food!

Most 21 year-olds opt to celebrate that fateful birthday by treating themselves to a drink or two (or twenty-one). I celebrated with baking my own birthday cupcakes. As of late, I've become addicted to food blogs and 52 Cupcakes is one of my favorites. I decided to stick with simple chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for the occasion [although I was VERY tempted by a peaches and cream cupcake recipe...] in order to make sure Dad enjoyed the cupcakes just as much as I would. I used the recipes for Billy's Chocolate Cupcakes and Billy's Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes and intended on making both a vanilla and chocolate buttercream frosting, but after hours of cupcake baking before the birthday party I decided one frosting would be enough and went with vanilla.

These were the BEST cupcakes I have ever tasted. Both were light and fluffy, and full of flavor. The buttercream complimented both flavors perfectly and didn't over-power the cake in the slightest. Mom and I had a blast decorating the cupcakes, even though I did yell at her a few times for being overzealous with her sprinkles [here's where I should note that the cupcake featured in my banner is one she decorated and it provided beautiful pictures].

Party guests devoured the cupcakes, some taking one of each. I split the remaining cupcakes with my family, bring half of them back to Ohio Wesleyan with me. My roommates and boyfriend were more than happy to taste the cupcakes and less than a week later, we have one lonely chocolate cupcake left in the container.