Welcome to Yellowroses Cupcakes!

As a mother of three wonderful kids, we have a lot of parties at our house. We love to entertain friends and family, and I have found that one of the best and most versatile desserts are cupcakes. I guess that is where my passion of baking cupcakes started. For my daughter, Hannah's 2nd birthday party, I made simple vanilla cupcakes with a marshmallow buttercream frosting. But the fun was in decorating the cupcakes, I actually spray-painted them pink (with food safe paint, of course!) and put edible pearls on them. I was surprised how many people commented on how they looked like I had bought them at a bakery. That inspired me to try new flavor combinations and to improve on my baking and decorating skills. I can't say that I am a true professional yet, and I have so much to learn about decorating. I want to expand my skills to be able to make chocolate decorations and roll fondant and even make candy, but for now I am happy that my baking skills have captured the attention of my family and friends, and that I have their support to see where this cupcake-making obsession leads (hopefully, one day it will lead to my own cupcakery!).

Vanilla cupcakes with pink marshmallow buttercream frosting

One of the first cupcakes I made is the Snickerdoodle cupcake. Snickerdoodles are one of my family's favorite type of cookies, especially at Christmas time, so what better inspiration for a yummy cupcake? Below is the recipe I found and tweaked to suit my taste, enjoy!

These Snickerdoodle cupcakes taste just like the cookie, but with a moist cupcake and amazing buttercream frosting, they are Snickerdoodles taken to another level!

Cupcake Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 c flour
- 1 1/2 c cake flour, sifted
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 sticks butter, unsalted and softened
- 1 3/4 c sugar
- 4 lg eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 c milk

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 c butter, room temperature
- 4 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted
- 3-4 Tbsp milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions
Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep 2 - 12-cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together in a large bowl the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy
4. Add egss one at a time, blend after each egg, then add the vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
5. Add the flour mixture in 3 increments, alternate with 2 additions of the milk. Blend well, but do not over mix.
6. Divide the batter evenly into the cupcake tins, filling about 3/4 full.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotate the cupcakes halfway through the baking process if needed to evenly brown. Test with a cake tester or toothpick, and if it comes out clean, it is done.
8. Remove the cupcakes from the oven onto a wire rack, let cool for 20 minutes before removing cupcakes from the pan.

Frosting:
1. With mixer on low speed, blend butter till fluffy, about 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar, 3 Tbsp of milk and vanilla extract, blend lightly. Add cinnamon and continue mixing until sugar is well incorporated.
3. Increase the speed and beat until fluffy. If the frosting is stiff, add the remaining 1 Tbsp milk and blend well.
4. Be sure that the cupcakes are completely cooled before frosting or piping with frosting.
5. Sprinkle additional cinnamon over the frosting. Enjoy!



This recipe was adapted from justapinch.com.