Snickerdoodle Cupcakes And Awkward Interactions

If I were walking down the street without a three-wide-stroller, I wouldn't get honked at by construction workers whom I spoke with the previous day. I wouldn't be told by strangers that they were proud of me or that I deserved applause. (I also wouldn't have calves of steel and a sweet sunglass tan.)

As witty and well-versed as I consider myself to be, I rarely find a suitable comeback to these inspirational sayings (or honks) before the speaker has gone on his or her merry way. I melt into Chandler Bing, a ball of jerky hand gestures and sounds that aren't found in nature. It bodes well for my character, and for the triplets general well-being, that I at least inform our friends of the road that I am the nanny, and not the mother.

It is only then that I get the wide eyes of understanding and the nod of acceptance: this strange woman is only responsible for part of these children's lives.

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While my verbal skills might be on the decline, my cooking skills are still on par...or so say my newest conquest: Snickerdoodle Cupcakes.

I stumbled upon this Martha Stewart gem and, despite my lack of standing electric mixer and photoshopping abilities of the final product, I think mine turned out quite nicely. Here's the recipe (with my own personal touches.

First, the cupcakes. The original recipe yields 28 cupcakes...knowing this, I cut the recipe in half. I don't even need 14 cupcakes in my life, let alone 28. So the following recipe will get you just over a dozen cupcakes...to share with friends...not eat all by yourself. 

Here are the cupcake ingredients:

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon, plus 1/4 teaspoon for dusting
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (The first thing I do when a recipe calls for butter is set it out on a plate. Even if it doesn't call for room temperature, it makes it easier to deal with.)
• 7/8 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5/8 cups milk

In order to be more like Martha Stewart, I measured out all my ingredients and put them in bowls. (Butter and egg out first, so they can get to room temperature.) Thought: I need to invest in a good apron. One that makes me look like I know what I'm doing.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. (These cupcakes look best in yellow liners. The bright color makes this more of a summer cupcake, instead of autumn, the season traditionally associated with snickerdoodles.)
2. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon. (Sifting makes me feel like I know what I'm doing. Everything is so soft and fluffy...)
3. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. (This is where the room temperature butter comes in handy.) 
4. Add egg, beating until it is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. 
5. Beat in vanilla.
6. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.
7. Take a minute to lick the beaters. This dough is phenomenal. (OK, this wasn't in Martha's recipe, but try to tell me she didn't lick the beaters. I mean it...I got full on the batter alone.)
8. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. (I've discovered the best way to do this is to put all the batter into a large ziploc bag and cut a small snip in the corner of the bag. This way, you can funnel in the correct amount, and it's not as messy.)
9. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester (not your finger, I've learned) in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
10. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

The thing I love about cakes, cupped or otherwise, is the timing involved in everything. While the cake cools, you get to make the frosting. THIS frosting, had me feeling like a true pastry chef and, despite Martha's insistence on expensive appliances, can be done with what you have in your kitchen...or my parent's kitchen.

"Seven-Minute Frosting" (Doesn't take 7 minutes...don't be fooled. Allot at least 10-15 minutes, or up to 30 if you're completely inept.)

Frosting Ingredients (Again, I've halved the recipe from the original):

• 3/4 cups, plus 1 tablespoon, sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature

And here are the directions. If you find yourself going, "huh?" over and over again, just take a step back and read it again. If I can do it, so can you. (Note: This might very well be really easy, and I am just intimidated by cooking sugar. Whatevs.) Martha likes to get fancy.

1. Combine 3/4 cups sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. (I didn't have a candy thermometer. I had a meat thermometer. You adjust.)
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230 degrees.
3. Meanwhile (and this is while you aren't stirring the syrup), in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (Haha. Oh Martha. What you meant to say was "bowl" and later, "hand mixer". What a crazy woman.), whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. (I don't know what she meant by 'soft peaks', but my eggs got all foamy.)
4. With mixer running, add remaining tablespoon of sugar, beating to combine.
5. As soon as sugar syrup reaches 230 degrees, remove from heat. With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. (This is where it gets tricky. When I look back on doing this, I picture myself juggling a pan of scalding sugar, a bowl and a mixer. It was actually easier than all that, but I still have the flashbacks.)
6. Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes. (Standing at a counter chasing an electric mixer around a glass bowl for seven minutes...a standing mixer would have paid for itself by now.)

By the time the frosting's done, the cupcakes should be cool enough to frost. Martha suggests an Ateco No. 809 or Wilton No. 1A tip on a pastry bag (...really, Martha? You're speaking parseltongue about frosting tips? That's low. I'll use my patented ziploc bag with an itty-bitty snip in the corner.)

Here's her technique that I tried to copy: "Hold bag over cupcake with tip just above top, and squeeze to create a dome of frosting, then release pressure and pull to form a peak." Poetry, right?

Sift the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of sugar over the cupcakes. You can keep them at room temperature or serve them chilled to give them a slight shell.

Here are two pictures of the finished product. One of them is mine, and one of them is a photo-shopped rendering of a cupcake and Jennifer Aniston's body...or something ridiculous like that.