Sweet Shoppe Designs – The Sweetest Digital Scrapbooking Site on the Web

365 days of bliss…such a cool idea.  I love that all the designers and Babes are getting a chance to share their bliss with you!

My bliss?  Well, my five kiddos and hubby always come first, but after them, SWEETS definitely bring me bliss.  I have such a horrible sweet tooth. I’ve tried to stop.  I’ve gone through the withdrawals.  I’ve conquered the cravings.  And then I get the urge to bake and I have to start all over again.

A few weeks ago I posted on my blog about making these amazing homemade Fudge Rounds.

They were good…seriously good.  A friend of mine commented on that post saying that she had a great recipe for homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies.  Yes, please! I made them the next day.  They were so yummy!

I’m still trying to perfect the cookie recipe (these were a little too thick and dry for me), but one thing I knew for sure…the creamy frosting inside was TO DIE FOR.  Seriously, so incredibly creamy and delicious! As I was frosting the cookies I tasted more than my fair share and I  just KNEW they would make a great stand alone frosting.

So, I went to the kitchen and grabbed my under-used copy of Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes.  I quickly scanned and found what I was looking for: SNICKERDOODLE CUPCAKES. I knew from reading online reviews that the cake was really good but that there were mixed reviews about the seven-minute frosting combo.  And this is where I was pretty sure I had a match made in heaven. Martha’s cupcakes + my oh-so-delectable frosting.  It took my about two seconds to decide that RIGHT THEN was the perfect time to make up a batch.  And oh my!

They were divine.  Light and airy cake paired with creamy and cinnamon-laden frosting. I know these seem more like a falltime treat rather than a summer crowd pleaser, but trust me.  Make these.  Today.  You’ll be glad you did.

SNICKERDOODLE CUPCAKES (from Martha Stewart Cupcakes)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted*

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, plus 1/2 teaspoon for dusting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 3/4 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups milk

* If you don’t have cake flour, try this tip from the Whisk Kid: To make a quick substitute for cake flour (which I can’t be bothered to buy), take out 2 Tbsp of flour for each cup the recipe calls for and replace with an equal amount (2 Tbsp per cup) of corn starch. This isn’t an exact substitute because cake flour contains fewer proteins and is milled more finely from of a softer part of the wheat than all-purpose flour, but trust me – it works just as well.

CINNAMON BUTTERCREAM FROSTING (from Tasty Kitchen, via this post)

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons milk

FOR THE CAKE

FOR THE FROSTING

Cream together the powdered sugar and butter until smooth. Add the cinnamon, vanilla extract and milk and whip on high speed for five minutes until very light and fluffy. My note: really, make sure you do it for the full five minutes.  It whips the frosting into something quite heavenly.

___

Enjoy!

— Janet Phillips