The Sugar Bar

Bangles and dinosaurs.

I said the strangest thing to a friend yesterday: ‘Remember that when we were fighting dinosaurs in the past, we didn’t need bangles then.’ Everyone knows I’m a little mental, a little quirky in the head but that completely threw K off a little and I’m not surprised. Even I was a little taken aback by my little out of the blue statement. I blame it on post-exam traumatic disorder.

Our final year ended yesterday at 5pm after our last undergraduate exam. We hit town for some food and ice cream and did a quick shop for some much-needed holiday stuff - you know the whole shebang. I also had a quick look for something pink as two of my mates are throwing a belated 21st birthday party tonight and the theme? You guessed it - pink. Pretty hard for someone like me who refuses to own any sort of pink clothing unless it’s close to fuschia or purple. I had to count my blessings as well that it wasn’t, by some odd stroke of bad luck, Barbie themed. I’d rather have someone shove bamboo under my nails then turn up as a Barbie. Unless of course my life depended on it, then I’d change my tune. What a fickle schmickle I am.

Right. So we left town with nothing pink. I had a back-up plan, obviously. Hairdresser pink nails and loud pink-verging-on-fuschia lipstick. Can’t go wrong there now can I? So where is the relation to dinosaurs and bangles then? Well, in Accessorize I picked up a très cute pink bangle with gold sakura decorations. Pink? Yea it was cute. Sakura? That’s so my thing. K, my Barbie shopping devil, was totally for getting it. Unfortunately, we left town without that particular bangle (I refuse!) and K was chatting about it on the walk home to which, I replied that we didn’t really need bangles. That bangle was a want, not a need. If prehistoric women didn’t need them, I guess I don’t either. 

So the equation goes something like this:

Dinosaurs = no bangles –> ∴ Present day = no bangles 

My pink costume may not compare to the Barbie-inspired get-ups of my fellow friends (it’s about 2 hours to party-commencing time and I’m starting to get a little worried now actually) but I’m hoping the birthday cupcakes will steal the show. Or at least, please - fingers crossed-, impress the people they’re meant for. It has been a very long while since I was in the kitchen for more than 10 mins and it was fab to get back in the zone again today. I may have gotten a little fuzzy and curdled my cream cheese frosting (gosh, it’s always a hit and miss with this one. If you have the same problems, scroll to the bottom of the post for the link to Joy the Baker’s Cream Cheese Frosting 101), but you can’t beat the therapeutic feeling of beating butter or icing a cupcake. Heaven! Apparently, sifting icing sugar into a bowl was rather hypnotic for some as well. Interesting. I didn’t quite realize I wasn’t just quirky and odd, I apparently have magical powers as well. I am soooo liking this.

I see the light (beyond the curdled cream cheese frosting). I anti-bacterialized the sink, soaked the tea towels in hot, soapy water and in the process, pretty much poached my poor hands as well. I am ready to reclaim the kitchen as my holy arena! Blast kitchen slime. Bless lime juice and dusty clouds of powdered sugar. Blast the Wyndham Lewis & Ezra Pound who murdered brain cells and bless the new day of eggs, flour and baking powder. Carpe diem. So much freedom now that we have finished. A week to our Salou, Spain holiday so bless St. Tropez and fruit cocktails. Summer-time fun is the best! 

So anyway, it is off to prep for some 21st birthday bashing. Hope all of you are well. It looks like it is time to wow some friends with Vanilla cupcakes. Woop woop.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients

For the vanilla cupcakes:
230g unsalted butter, softened
2 cups caster sugar
4 large eggs
2 3/4 cup plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350dF.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
Beat the butter on high til it whitens.
Add caster sugar and beat on high til light and fluffy for about 3 mins.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with milk and vanilla, ending with flour as the last addition. Combine to incorporate but do not overmix.

Line cupcake trays with liners and fill to only 2/3 full.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 mins.

For the vanilla cream cheese frosting:
230g unsalted butter
6 oz cream cheese (I used light cream cheese)
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups icing sugar

Beat butter at medium speed until it whitens and is creamy.
Add cream cheese and beat. Add the vanilla and 3 cups of icing sugar to start. Beat at low speed until light and fluffy. Add the rest of the sugar, if you like, to your preferred consistency and sweetness.

*Note: I find cream cheese frosting a real pain. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I get it so wrong. The final result being a curdled, separated mess. Frustrating and annoying, there have been times I have just thrown spoons of frosting down on the floor, thrown a little tantrum and cried. For the best tips and proper (when I say proper I mean relatively fail-safe, the more careful method really) directions to make them, I recommend going to Joy the Baker’s site for her Cream Cheese Frosting 101.