Martha . . . Meet Nigella

From Food

What do you do on a stormy Friday morning when you are entertaining two little girls? Why bake of course.

So here is what we made today. Martha Stewart's White Cupcake recipe, with Nigella's Royal Icing:

VANILLA CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 ¼ cups sugar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup milk

8 large egg whites

Directions:

Preheat oven to 170℃. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners; set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.

In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture.

Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each with a heaping 1/4 cup batter. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack. Invert cupcakes onto rack; then reinvert and let cool completely, top sides up.

I know these seem complicated and fiddly compared to other cupcake recipes, but they are oh so worth it! You have never tasted a more moist cupcake that is buttery, light and sweet all at the same time!

From Food

ROYAL ICING

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites

3 cups pure icing sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

Combine the egg whites and confectioners' sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until opaque and shiny, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the lemon juice, this will thin out the icing. Beat for another couple of minutes until you reach the right spreading consistency for the cupcakes.

But of course it wouldn't have been the same without my little helper

From Life

From Life

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Now - the dishes, Yuck!