Happy Birthday Miles Away

I made these cupcakes today, just because. I have a 3 1/2 year old literally bouncing off the walls..the floor..the ceiling and everything in between. Baking is calming to me, so I decided to see what I could make with what I had in my kitchen to get my mind of the disaster area that is my living room.

I had leftover Raspberry puree from one of the cakes I made for my friends' wedding reception a few weeks ago, (Kaytie and Arni's cake) so I decided to make vanilla cupcakes with raspberry filling and raspberry buttercream. Yum! They turned out great!

Someone very close to me (but who happens to be very far away right now) is celebrating their birthday this Friday. Unfortunately, they'll be celebrating alone...If I could get these cupcakes there and have them taste good, I'd do it in a heartbeat. So Happy Birthday..I'll be thinking of you, and enjoying your cupcakes!!

On another note, I found out about a cool Betty Crocker giveaway over at  one of my new favorite blogs, Family Fresh Cooking. She's giving away a goodie bag full of Betty Crocker baking utensils, as well as a cookbook. Who wouldn't like that? Check it out!

Vanilla Cupcakes adapted from The Novice Chef Blog

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 12 cupcake liners in a muffin tin. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes.) Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Add vanilla and mix well.

In another bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 batches, alternating with milk, beating well on low speed after each addition. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter, and bake for 17 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Remove from oven, and cool completely before filling and frosting.

Raspberry filling: ( this will make enough to fill a 3 layer cake, and then some. I froze the leftovers and used for both the filling and frosting for these cupcakes)
  
10 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen 
1/4 c. sugar 
1 tbsp cornstarch 
  
Rinse or defrost raspberries, and combine in blender with sugar and cornstarch. Blend until smooth. If seedless filling is desired, press through mesh strainer to remove seeds.


Raspberry Buttercream



1 stick butter, softened
2  cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons raspberry filling


In a large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup sugar, and beat on low until smooth. Add raspberry filling and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until smooth. Add more sugar if you desire thicker frosting, or if you feel it needs to be thinned add a teaspoon of heavy cream or milk.

Happy Birthday!! 

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!