Snicker doodlin'

I have a little confession to make. I'm bad at measuring. I'm sure my great grandmother, who I have heard was just about the best baker around, is rolling around in her grave. Of course, since baking definitely involves a sort of chemistry to find the perfect equilibrium of texture and ingredients, I do measure dry ingredients carefully. The wet ones, not so much. Most of the time this applies to vanilla or milk. A generous splash of vanilla vs. 1 teaspoon of vanilla is usually the route I take. Plus I really like vanilla so I usually just put more in than a recipe calls for, anyways. My non-measurements in this recipe were cinnamon and brown sugar. The original recipe came from Jessica Burns but I didn't think these cupcakes were snicker doodle-y enough so I added a few things here and there to spice them up a bit. Caution: Some of the measurements are mere guesstimates.

Ariston, my baking buddy

SNICKER DOODLE CAKE:
3 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
About 5 generous shakes of cinnamon (Use as much as you like)
2 sticks butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
About 3/4 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 or 2 generous splashes of vanilla
1 1/4 cup milk

With an electric mixer cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the milk. Beat until combined and smooth.

Divide the batter among a lined cupcake tin and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting. (NOTE: This recipe Makes almost 2 dozen cupcakes)

FROSTING:
Confession number two: I NEVER measure anything relating to frosting or buttercream. I do everything by taste. The only sort of measuring I do is the butter, but only for how much frosting to make, not for a ratio thing. All of these measurements are guesses too. But they are educated guesses. If these measurements don't work, just add whatever it's lacking. Too buttery: add powdered sugar. Too dry: add a small dash of cream. Need more frosting: MORE BUTTER.

2 1/2 sticks butter
4 cups powdered sugar
Generous Dash of Vanilla
A couple shakes of cinnamon (to taste)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Cream the butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in batches until combined. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, and brown sugar and beat until combined. This buttercream has to be beaten for about 5 minutes since the brown sugar granules are much bigger. The frosting will be gritty of you don't beat it for a while. Spoon or pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes. I sprinkled mine with a bit of cinnamon.

The actual cake wasn't quite as sweet as usual. If I make this recipe again, I think I might add a little more sugar to give them a little extra kick. The buttercream is SUPER sweet though, so it was sort of a nice balance.

Be Happy!

xoxo,
KG