As a Mom
If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been. ~Robert Brault
Singularly my most loved job! Here’s my take on some Mommy things…
Dylan’s Birthday Cupcakes
May 2010
I tell my eldest son that I will make cupcakes for him to take along to his preschool on his fourth birthday (Of course I’m thinking “how hard can this be?” seeing as I love to cook but hardly ever bake – but a recipe’s a recipe, right?). “Blue team cupcakes?” he asks, having already decided that the theme for this year’s birthday party is soccer and his team of choice “the Blue Team”.
My mother-in-law kindly obliges with Nigella Lawson’s fairy cupcake recipe and with both boys asleep and hubby fed, I proceed to make Nigella’s cupcakes (From Nigella Express – nothing express about this recipe, what’s with creaming all this sugar and butter?!!?! And folding!!?!). But I’m in Domestic Goddess mode and am creaming and folding with effortless Nigella-like charm…
Cupcakes in the oven – all is going well – and then I return to find the flattest cupcakes this side of pancake land! Convinced I’ve made a mistake (and still smiling – though with slightly gritted DG teeth) more creaming and folding ensues…
The second batch of cupcakes is flatter than the first. “Relax” my husband says, “We’ll just buy a cake on the way to school.” “I can’t!” I wail, “I made a promise!” (Mothers will understand this – Project Cupcake must go on!) New plan – I am trawling Google for “EASY cupcake recipe”… Domestic Goddess has become Demented Goddess with slightly irritated demeanor.
The cupcake recipe of the century has arrived on my screen – who said Google isn’t a synonym for research?! Pure genius… sift dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, beat well! Cupcakes rise as they should, get decorated in the soccer theme, and are moist and sweet – perfect for a discerning class of four year old cupcake critics! I am my own Domestic Goddess fan club and the awe of my son when he wakes the next morning – this makes it all worthwhile.
So, for all the DG Moms out there, here is (in my opinion) the friendliest cupcake recipe ever…
1 & 1/2 cups Flour, 3/4 cup Sugar, 2 tsp Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp Salt, 1/2 cup Milk, 1/2 cup Oil, 2 Eggs & 1 tsp Vanilla Essence.
Sift dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and beat well until smooth and creamy. Place paper cups in a muffin pan and fill to 3/4 full. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes at 180 Degrees Celcius.
Enjoy!
Update 2011 – For the South African moms out there; here is the easiest way to cheat cupcakes, especially when you have to bake in bulk for the school fete… Use Snowflake’s Vanilla Muffin packet (only add eggs, water & oil) – they taste delicious. Then ice with Woolworth’s Vanilla Icing Kit – simply cream the butter and add the mix for a really delicious butter icing. Viola!
