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.

 

A beautiful day for a walk.

While my job boasts no health benefits, has an annual salary that won't even qualify me for a Macy's credit card and reduces my wardrobe to those items that can be wiped clean with a damp cloth, there are perks to being a nanny.

First of all, when the sky is blue and the sun is shining and there's a light breeze, I get paid to go walking around outside. While you cubicle drones (I have legitimate hopes to be one of you one day) are working on your spreadsheets (checking Facebook) and sitting in your business meetings (playing Words With Friends on your smart phone) and smelling the popcorn someone burned in the workroom 4 days ago (it was you), I get to slather on some SPF bajillion, pop a kid (or three) in a stroller and just walk.

Four out of five doctors agree that this is awesome.

Top five things that have happened on these walks:

1. While still chilly outside, Wes left the house with two socks on and returned with only one. All I can assume is that he kicked it off in a fit of joy. Why is this memorable? Have you ever seen a sad baby sock by the side of the road and had terrible images from 'Baby's Day Out' or war-torn Russia flash across your mind? Well I have, and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that it wasn't a case of an overly ambitious toddler, just a ill-fitting sock.
2. The triplets always attract attention, but it still surprises me how people think they're due permission to gawk and make whatever comments manage to make the journey from their brain to their mouth. One time in particular, an older gentleman drove by slowly as we were walking down the street and stopped his car completely when he was just past us. He rolled down his window and said, "I had to make sure they were real and not dolls!" like he was brilliant for checking my cargo before making an assumption that I was just playing house. I was able to shrug my shoulders and make a noise that amounted to a combination of "well yeah" and "it happens" before he rolled up his window and drove on. Note to self: when off-duty, start pushing dolls around in a stroller.
3. The other day, a woman in a bike helmet trimming bushes by the side of the path said, "Good morning, Carol!" The stroller/child didn't pay an important roll in this interaction, except as a shield from this bicycling landscaper.
4. On another outing with the triplets, we came across an older Indian woman sitting on the wall that lines the walking path. When she saw me coming, she got down and peered in the stroller. After taking in the triplets, she looked to me and just said, "Can I give you a hug?" Taken aback, and never one to turn down a free hug, I took her up on her offer. After our impromptu hug, she looked at me and said, "You're a great mother." She asked the kids names, and I told her, and she said they look beautiful and healthy and then just hopped back on that wall and we continued our walk. Usually, I'll correct someone and tell them I'm not the mom, just the nanny, but strangers don't usually lead with a hug. (In hindsight, I probably shouldn't be hugging strangers.) Later, I relayed the compliments, and the hug, to the REAL mother, telling her she must be doing something right.
5. I have developed a wicked awesome shorts/sock tan. Like, my thighs don't even know it's summer.

The second point I'd like to make on my 'Perks of Being a Nanny' check list is that I never have to take work home with me...because that's kidnapping...and that's frowned upon.

The third point on my list is a little sentimental. Have you ever been around a toddler when they are belly laughing at their hand? Or giggling at a pinwheel? Or smiling when you come in the room? It's a good feeling.

Also, when someone at my job falls asleep on my shoulder, it's adorable. When someone at your job falls asleep on your shoulder, there's reason to be alarmed or concerned.

So, there you have it. At the end of the day, theses are the things I tell myself to keep from clutching my college degree and sobbing.