La De Da!

Howdy do, dudes and dudettes!

Hope you've had a wonderful start to the week and an even better Memorial Day weekend!! My weekend was fabulous. J made it back safely in the midst of 10,000 storms and we played all weekend. I surprised him with cupcakes!! I was so excited to make them, but it took forever! HA! I made the mistake of assuming there were cupcake tins in the house to use, but all we had were muffin tins. The muffin tins were a little bit larger than a regular cupcake tin, so my baker's delights turned out a little more like a mini-cake than a cupcake! There were only 4 holes in the tin so I could only make 4 mini-cakes at a time. So it took about three hours to bake all the tasty treats.

I was anxious to try a new almond poppyseed cupcake recipe, but I didn't have the money to spend on all the ingredients, so I just got a funfetti cake mix and added almond extract.


It had the same taste and they were wonderful....if I do say so myself! I'm pretty sure I ate more of them than J did. That's why I go through such dry spells between baking.....I'm the one who inhales the desserts and then feel guilty for eating them all! But they were so good!

Here's the recipe for almond poppyseed cake mix:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cupse granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your cake pans or add liners to cupcake tins.
2. Bake times vary. For a larger cake pan estimate cooking time around 40 minutes. Cupcakes take less time. Make sure to keep an eye on the cakes and when they look to be golden brown, do the toothpick test. Insert toothpick into centers until it comes out clean.
3. Remove cakes from heat and allow to cool no less than 10 minutes before decorating.

There are plenty of options when it comes to icing, but I like a buttercream icing that is whipped. It makes for a lighter icing that's not over the top sweet!

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tablespoon water
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened

Combine all ingredients in bowl. Beat at low speed to mix. Beat at high speed until smooth and fluffy, approximately 5-10 minutes. If too stiff, beat in a few drops of water.

4. Icing the tops of the cakes and enjoy!