No, no, I’m not pregnant – but my friend is! One of my good friends is expecting her first baby, and while all pregnancies are very wonderful and exciting, hers is really something special. After trying without luck to have a baby for years, and attempting multiple fertility treatments which were unsuccessful, my friend and her husband decided to adopt. They were incredibly excited about the prospect of becoming adoptive parents and then the week they went active with their adoption agency, they found out they had their own biological little one on the way! Life is funny sometimes, but I am just tickled to death with excitement for them. They will be truly wonderful parents.
They came over for dinner a few weeks ago and I wanted to come up with a dessert that would somehow incorporate a baby theme. Pink and blue are a natural choice, so I opted for a classic vanilla cupcake with my favorite vanilla buttercream. I topped with jelly beans because one of her nicknames for the baby is “bean” (and that is what we called Andrew sometimes as well). I thought these were a cute, simple way to celebrate such joyous news. I was also happy to make these because I rediscovered the wonderfulness that is Dorie’s Perfect Party Cake. I haven’t made this cake since the first time I tried it, and now I have no idea why! It is just as easy as any other vanilla cake, yet so light and flavorful. I am positively giddy over how well it worked in cupcake form. I’ll be using this a recipe a lot more now! These were definitely a hit with the parents-to-be, and I heard that the box of cupcakes I sent home with them did not entirely survive the trip :)
Because I am lazy, I will simply direct you to my previous posts where you can find both the cake and frosting recipes. I bake these cupcakes about 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. A half batch of the frosting was enough to generously frost 10 or 11 of the 12 cupcakes I made, so if you skimp a bit more I’m sure you could stretch it to all 12 – I just like a lot of frosting!
Happy Friday, everyone! Go enjoy a cupcake :)
