White Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

 LAUREN:

 THIS WEEK: or more like, TODAY:, because we make them more than once in a week! But anyways, we made White Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, best day EVER. Spoiler alert: YES, beware I will now ruin the ending of this blog and screw up the whole watch-us-do-the-process-first thing. THESE WERE SO GREAT. Kelsey and I both think these are the best so far. Zoe, I don't know. Siara says they weren't as good as the last ones, but that's only because she loved the frosting so.. that doesn't count. Anyways, we put off making these cupcakes because.. all we want is frosting. And these cupcakes have none. So it was a pretty bold move. And now, we are just plain scared that we will ruin our streak of good cupcakes by making a bad batch.. but they turned out great, WHOO! And they weren't hard to make at all, especially because there was no frosting. But it really was all very generic: eggs, flour, sugar, blah de blah. The only two things we had
to buy were white chocolate chips and buttermilk. And it was very cheap. So, win win. And I would go through it step by step.. but I can't really even remember it. I just remember it was super easy, and also that Kelsey added a lot more white chocolate chips than needed.
When we put them in the cupcake trays though, we had SO much batter! Maybe due to the extra chocolate chips.. but still. The book said it would make 12 cupcakes and they should be filled 3/4 full. We did that.. and there was still so much left! So we filled them up all the way. They were supposed to be cooked for 20 minutes, we ended up having to cook ours for like 26, and they turned out huge!

 SO CUTE, I love this picture! They said to cool for 5 minutes before eating.. screw that! We ate them right away. So hot. So good. What else can I say?! They were so good warm, the white chocolate melted right inside, which made them sweet enough even though they didn't have frosting.

 I would DEFINITELY recommend these, best so far. But maybe that's just a personal opinion thing.

Kelsey:
We have learned that it is best to get out all of the ingredients first so we did that, Oh wait no we didn't.  but I call ahead to see if Lauren had the ingredients. Even though we decided to make cupcakes that we needed things for anyway. Safeway fixed that problem. Just picked up some buttermilk and white chocolate chips for the White Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. Now I know what you must be thinking, buttermilk in cupcakes?  How can something so gross be good in cupcakes, and they put buttermilk in muffins so how are they cupcakes? Well I don't know the answer to either of those questions but what I do know is that these bald* cupcakes are so frappin' good and my favorite by far!
The process is constantly getting easier and these we accomplished in like 15 minutes.Great team-work! The power best friends at work! We did fill them to high and even though the recipe said it only made 12. We probably put in too much love or chocolate chips. They are best served warm and with cold milk, a good friend doesn't hurt either.

* A bald cupcake is one without frosting or glaze or really anything on top of it.

-SIARA

These white chocolate chip cupcakes were..great! Very delicious. They tasted more of macadamia, but still oh so delicious. I'm not sure i would approve of these if they were cold though, the one i had was still warm and I suspect if it had been cold it would have been super crumbly and just all together not that good. The white chocolate chips were still melty and that tricked my taste buds to forget about the lack of frosting. No frosting was actually (i feel) a great idea for these cupcakes, I was skeptic at first but now I am a believer of bald cupcakes!

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Half Moon Cupcakes

LAUREN:

So here it is. Our second actually-good tasting batch of cupcakes, Half Moon cupcakes. And let me just tell you, they are beautiful! And since this is a blog about cupcakes, I think we should talk more about the actual baking process. First of all: Every recipe that is in this book basically calls for self rising flour. For our recipes so far, we have made our own homemade version. For every cup of self rising flour that you need, mix one cup of regular all-purpose flour, some baking soda, and salt. And it has worked so great! The thing that surprises me the most that is every time I make cupcakes by myself, they either come out burnt. Or uncooked. But these ones and the last ones have been perfect!

That's what they're supposed to look like. And we were so worried that they would come out looking crappy! But a-lo-ho-ho dear readers, they did not!

The most interesting part about the recipe is that you had to split the batter in half, and then add bittersweet chocolate powder to only half. I love how they came out so different, like some looked completely regular and some completely chocolate, and then some mixed. So cute! 

That, which you see before you, is CHOCOLATE. Pure melted chocolate. That is half of the frosting on the cupcakes-- JUST chocolate! I know righttt!! The other half was supposed to be a "smooth paste", is that actually a thing? Oh well, we worked it. The frosting hardened too, making them look very profesh for cupcakes, if I do say so myself.

Probably the most fun parts of the evening were: Locking Kelsey out of the house, Kelsey screaming because a moth was flying near the batter, Zoe eating all the melted chocolate, Kelsey sticking all of it in his mouth and then gagging, etc. We missed Siara! 

Yes, they are SO PRETTY. Photograph credit to Zoe and Kelsey, and also my coffee table. They tasted fantastic. In my opinion, they were way better than the Pretty In Pink cupcakes. The different tastes in the frosting made it taste so much more... AH. I NEED A GOOD ADJECTIVE. BUT THERE ARE NONE TO BE FOUND. Just, interesting I guess. And the cake was really good too, not too overpowering but a perfect mix with the sweet frosting. Overall, these are my favorite cupcakes to date! I would recommend this recipe to EVERYONE! They taste great, and we didn't even have to go buy any ingredients, it was relatively easy and it was so convenient that they used common ingredients. They are good to make and just eat and share with friends, but they are even fancy enough to serve to people at a party or gathering or something. I LOVE THEM! And I had so much fun making them with my friendsss :)
Notes:
1. In the white frosting, we used warm milk instead of warm water, mostly just because powdered sugar mixed with water just sounded weird. And it tasted good!
2. When you melt the chocolate in a bowl over the simmering water, make sure you do this JUST BEFORE you are ready to put them on the cupcakes. This means after they have had a chance to cool down. Learn from our mistakes. We did it before the cupcakes were even done, and they were heated up so long that it started to get a little burnt and hard and weird.. just not creamy anymore, we ended up having to make it twice.


ZOE:
Okay, I didn't really help that much with these either... But I did put the white frosting on them! I liked these cupcakes a lot. I think I liked the Pretty In Pink (Yellow) cupcakes a tad more, because I like the frosting more and the cake wasn't as heavy to eat, I think. But these were really nice and really pretty. I like the name Half Moon and When the frosting settles it glowed like the moon!
All in all, a good day. Highlights were:
holding Griffey the cat
smelling lavender and lillies
eating raspberries!
being with friends


KELSEY:
I am doing this in a hurry so I am only going to use as little words.

oven 350.
beat sugar, eggs, butter vanilla
bug!!!
scream
soap puddle
boil water
ew chocolate start over.
choco vanilla scoops
no baking powder?!?!
lady gaga
hello zoe?
come over.
frosting
WARM WATER??
milk takes the cake
flowers
lavender
outside
zoe is here
 locked outside
so cute
fall down stairs
cat hair
set the scene
flowers in ? flowers out.
pictures!

SIARA:
Well, since I was out on the town with a boy the night these were made, yet again I was no help in making them, which is good for everyone (win, win...win) But after a hard Saturday morning shift at work some sugar is what I needed, and even though (thanks to the ..not so great cupcakes they made last time, and the time before) I was pretty hesitant to eat the cupcake handed to me but the beautiful Vanna Roberts (heehee get it...its like Vanna White, and Lauren Roberts, but mixed)  the phrase "real chocolate melted to make the frosting" won me over, head over heels. And lo dear readers, these cupcakes, were not a disaster but A GIFT FROM THE GODS. They were ... amazing, and so tasty. The chocolate mixed with the powdered sugar frosting has to be one of my new favorite things. Also even after sitting out uncovered for a day, still were oh so cute. It was like my mouth was getting a warm hug from Mr. Hershey himself. These cupcakes were rated R: for RRRdiculously GOOD~

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Pretty in Pink (Yellow) Butter Cupcakes

Kelsey:
Lauren and I today actually did what we have been talking about for a long time, moving on in the book.
Now we were in the mood for big, frosted cupcakes not any of this mini or unfrosted stuff this book is filled with.
Towards the end of the book we found the answer to our cravings. Pretty in Pink Butter Cupcakes.
With ingredients we had there seemed promising.
We started with the beating of real butter and sugar only to find out the eggs and the mom were gone.Therefore A trip to Safeway with Glee ensued. Some 99 cent Grade B eggs later we were on our way.
The oven was hot so in went the cakes after Lauren fought the "lean fat" burger grease ocean.
The frosting tasted so good this time even though the food coloring box only had blue, green, green and yellow, of course the color we needed wasn't there.
We at this point are very excited.
Time to set the scene, with vases and flowers it looked so good, but nothing to how they tasted.
Pretty and perfect in pink.

SIARA: So...since i do nay cook, or go near cooking, i am the official bffcakes taste tester. No one really trusts my taste instincts, since i screwed them over by consuming massive amounts of salt..but they really had no other job for me so here i am. Let me first say, that i love my bffs more than almost anything (whopper jrs. come in a close second) so when i took that first awkward bite of what was to be "The GREATEST cupcake ever" according to lauren and kelc, i felt bad making the face i did. These cupcakes... just tasted...bleeegaigdia. I was so grateful that they made them, then brought them to me, but they just tasted...tasteless and bland. When you actually ate the frosting and the cupcake together (which i NEVER do, its always the top, then the bottom, separate) it tasted like those cookies you can get from Albertsons, the white cookies with the frosting and sprinkles on them, which i also never liked..so catch 22.
all in all...
i was nay impressed

Zoe: Siara is INSANE. I also love my BFFs, and I would never lie about the quality of their cooking, and I will say that THESE CUPCAKES WERE SO GOOD. I usually eat the bottom part and then the top part, in order of the parts I like. The cupcake part was just good but the frosting was the best I have ever tasted. It's hard to describe.... It was light and creamy and tasted very sweet, a buttery sweetness. AKA probably real bad for you. Oh well. I said "nom, nom, nom" while I ate my cupcake and afterwards I looked at the empty cupcake wrapper sadly. We definitely need to make these again so I can be there and fill my mouth with frosting while smiling contentedly.

Lauren:
I will now tell you step by step how this event took place--the event of the Pretty in Pink butter cupcakes. But as you already know.. they were never pink. So, here is the journey of our Pretty in Pastel Yellow Butter Cupcakes.

This book is so great, the pictures are beautiful, so.. we had to try and be as cool as they were, which means these cupcakes had to be fantastic. I noticed that in a lot of pictures, it's the color coordination of the cupcake paper cup things (do those have a name.. if not, they need one, if so, sue me) is what makes the cupcakes look so good. We only had white. So.. first step, check-ish.

So then.. we actually made the things. And we felt SO prepared, because the last time we made the Lemon Poppy seed Cupcakes we were missing a crucial ingredient (spoiler alert, butter flavored Crisco DOES NOT make cupcakes turn out like actual cupcakes). But this time, we had everything. Except for the fact Kelsey brought half and half instead of whipping cream but.. oh well. But then Kelsey says, "I need 3 eggs", I open the fridge to get them, and I find that.. there is nothing in the fridge. Like nothing. So after an emergency trip to Safeway, and a detour because Kelsey misleaded me by telling me there was a huge toad on the side of the road, we finally got to put the eggs in!

"It says beat for 30 seconds or until fluffy. (counts while beating) 29....30..... NOT FLUFFY." -Kelsey

16-18 minutes later they were DONE! And they looked beautiful. No joke. The last time we made cupcakes.. they looked like muffins. Also they were burnt. Also they were uncooked in the middle. Also they totally caved inward. But that doesn't matter anymore, because now we totally redeemed ourselves!

I KNOW RIGHT?! So cute. Then we made the frosting. And.. no yellow food coloring. But two tubes of green. How does that work?! So we decided to make Pretty In Pink Yellow cupcakes. Like... Y.... (I'm trying to think of an adjective that starts with Y to put with yellow..) Screw it, oh well. We went outside and got flowers to put in vases by the cupcakes so we could try and take pretty pictures just like the book did.. we did pretty well, considering I was behind the tablecloth holding it up the whole time! Overall, the cupcakes tasted SO GREAT. The frosting was so sweet. Which is always a plus. Kelsey put a whole spoonful of it into his mouth, like it was ice cream. That's how good it was!

And the best part was, we brought some to my mom, Siara, and Zoe and her family. But not my brother and his friend, to which Kelsey pointed out to me, "Flashback to 30 seconds ago when you said 'We don't need to keep them for ourselves it's just important that we share these with everyone!'". He had a point.