Cupcakes, 2 Ways

Yesterday our family got together to celebrate Mother's Day, as well as to celebrate our niece's First Communion. With a party that was going to have 23 kids, I had to make cupcakes!

First up is a cupcake I made by request of my sister-in-law, who LOVES cookie dough. It's a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake from Tidy Mom, and these puppies were a hit!! A chocolate chip cookie cupcake, filled with a cookie dough center (egg-free so it's safe to it), and a frosting that tastes like cookie dough sprinkled with chocolate chips.

Too much you ask? I was a little worried about it, truth be told. But apparently no one else thought so, judging by the fact that these things were inhaled! I'm going to have to make these again soon, so that the people that weren't able to try them get a chance to.

I could probably go on and on about this recipe......but I won't. Seriously.....if these sound even a little bit good to you, you've got to try it!! You will not be disappointed!

I also really wanted to remake the flower cupcakes that I made in my cupcake class (I need to practice my piping skills).....I was looking for just a really nice vanilla cupcake recipe....sweet and simple. Martha Stewart has a recipe for Billy's Bakeshop Vanilla Cupcakes, and based on the reviews of the recipe, I decided to give that one a try (and seriously, can you ever go wrong with something from Martha?).

Two things with this recipe:

1 - Don't fill the cupcake liners any more than 2/3 full. Seriously. This recipe works way better if you only fill the cups about 1/2 full.

2 - Do not overbake these! You want to keep that beautiful white color on the cake. They will be done before the top starts to brown, so make sure you are checking for doneness with a cake tester/toothpick.

I had intended to fill these cupcakes with either Bavarian cream or chocolate dobash, but the simple vanilla flavor of these cupcakes just screamed to be left alone! The hubby actually told me that I'd better not touch them...they were perfect as is!

To top off the cupcake I used a simple buttercream frosting, and used a rose tip (#104) to do a series of petals along the outside of the cupcake, and then continued filling in the center. I toped it off with a royal icing bumblebee that I purchased at Clarice's (our local baking supply store), since I didn't have time to make my own.

Check out Tidy Mom for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake recipe and Martha Stewart for the Billy's Bakeshop Vanilla Cupcake Recipe.