sugar and spice, and everything nice

...that's what little girls are made of. today a very good friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl. i thought it would be a perfect time to try out the alton brown chiffon cupcakes. a different twist on a cupcake, and not entirely sure if i would make them again (sorry alton). they were good but left me wanting something more in the end. the cupcake was very light and airy with a sort of egg flavor (shocking since there were five eggs in the recipe), but it almost dissolved in your mouth. people were giving reviews on this "dairy free" cupcake...call me crazy, but aren't eggs dairy? when i took them out of the oven they looked beautiful (see exhibit a above).


after about 5 minutes out of the oven, they had deflated (see exhibit b below) hummmmmmm





i did, however, find the most delicious frosting recipe ever. rich and creamy and sweet. why anyone would EVER use a buttercream frosting (crusty crisco powdered sugar product) again would be beyond me. (recipe to follow)





after i covered up the sunken cupcakes with the delicious frosting, they actually looked pretty good.




and the final product, pretty darn cute! too bad little baby girl can't have a taste...she doesn't know what she's missin. and this entire recipe, including the frosting has no butter in it!




7 minute frosting - recipe courtesy of paula dean and the food network.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

Place sugar, cream of tartar or corn syrup, salt, water, and egg whites in the top of a double boiler. Beat with a handheld electric mixer for 1 minute. Place pan over boiling water, being sure that boiling water does not touch the bottom of the top pan. (If this happens, it could cause your frosting to become grainy). Beat constantly on high speed with electric mixer for 7 minutes. Beat in vanilla.