Tornados,Clumsy Ducks and...CUPCAKES???

                                C  U  P  C  A  K  E  S ! ! ! ! ! 

These were made by my Daughter Layla. She is 14 1/2 and aspires to be a patisserie chef ( a baker ) specializing in cupcakes.They are by far the very best cupcakes I have ever eaten in 41 yrs. The literally melt on your tongue and have a lightness and fluffiness reminiscent of cotton candy tufts. The are delicately crispy on the tops and buttery soft on the inside. You MUST make them. Make them in DOZENS  and freeze them. Smother them in strawberries or drizzle them with honey or eat them plain and warm. I am so enamored of these delicious little clouds of yumminess that most of my entire  blog tonite is devoted to their promotion.  those are the actual pics of HER cupcakes I posted.                                                                    

MOIST BUTTERY YELLOW CAKE RECIPE:

1 cup (2 stix) unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs (room temp)

3 cups sifted self rising flour

1 cup whole milk (room temp)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

 1/2 tsp butter flavoring (optional)-Layla does NOT use this

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. prepare cupcake liners in 3 cupcake pans. using a mixer cream butter til fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream butter for about 7 minutes. Add eggs 1 @ a time. beat well after each egg is added. Add flour and milk (alternating) to the cream mixture. beginning and ending with flour.Add vanilla and butter flavoring. mix until JUST MIXED.

Divide batter equally into 3 cupcake pans. if you have extra batter you can bake it seperately in it's own cake pan. bake for 12-15 minutes (depending on your oven). START CHECKING @12 min. cool for 5-10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks ,then ice (wrap in plastic wrap if not icing right away to keep 'em moist.)

BEST EVA DECADENT CHOCOLATE  BUTTERCREAM  ICING:

1 cup (2 stix) unsalted butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1:1-LB box/bag of 10X powdered sugar

1-3 tsp milk ,Half & half or cream( Layla  uses milk)

4-6 TBSP of cocoa powder

using mixer cream butter and vanilla til smooth. add sugar gradually (1 cup @ a time) allowing sugar & butter to cream together smoothly before adding more. if you want your frosting a little creamier, add a tsp of milk at a time and beat on high until you get the right texture. (layla does this).Add cocoa powder and beat until smooth. use immediately. cover remaining icing with damp towel or store in ziploc baggie .

Okay, I feel better having shared that with the world. You will thank me and LAYLA , I am certain.

This morning I snuggled into Edd like a burrowing animal seeking shelter. I was unusally cold and,was that rain I smelled??  Edd accepted my snuggle and wrapped around me in what can only be described as "the perfect spoon" position. Aaaahhh, cozy, warm screeching? WTF?? Guinneas my mind said, before my eyes and ears could adjust. But wait ,we don't have guinneas... I sat up and opened my eyes and yes, indeed I was hearing the high pitched keening of some very distressed guinneas. This means trouble of some kind ALWAYS. I remind Edd of this and we jump from our comfort zone into actiona dn head for the door. First thing I see is the fact that there are no guinneas in my yard and 2nd the sky is screaming TORNADO!!! if you have ever been thru one you know what I mean. The sky is that surreal,pea soup washed with gray color. Sort of a disembodied crayola color that just spells DOOM. No sooner did the word T O R N A DO fly from my mouth than a gust of wind that literally folded some of our trees in half blew up from seemingly nowhere and nearly knocked the wind OUT of me. At this precise moment the dogs ran for the house, the kids ran TO the front door and I heard a duck in distress. Edd  I ran for hutch and while struggling with the hasp I see a near full sized duck folded in half stuck in an upturned cinder block brick. He is breast down head and tail up feet sticking out behind him in the air and he is FREAKIN OUT! Poor baby, Kieren is suddenly beside me and I yell for him to grab the duck. He shimmies into the tiny opening of the duck gate and tries to pull it out by it's legs but it doesn't budge. Lightening is striking everywhere and the wind is blowing hard and the very first drops of rain have started to fall. Big, FAT, angry drops of rain. pelting and stinging our faces. I yell,"his ass, pull from his ass" and he does. PLOP! out comes duckie,we slam hutch shut and run for the house as the lightening illuminates the tree tops for us. WHEW! all this before 8AM..

We dry off and start to prepare for the rest of the day, breakfast, school and electricians. Yes, the underground wiring was the problem and must be handled by professional. Fine by me. Electricians arrive in the middle of our tornado watch and ensuing thunderstorm(?) and sit patiently int thier truck waiting for a break in the weather. Edd and I strike out for town (storm by 8:45 had quieted considerably) and as Edd opened gate for me, I put truck in gear and...went nowhere. At least not quickly. Tried again, still feels like the hulk is holding my bumper...? Odd, but after Sunday I am taking no chances. Edd got the day off from school and we spent it clearing fallen brush while alternately looking for rental cars, contacting the in-laws in Alaska for a loan(don't get me started) and... baking CUPCAKES.
You see, our lil friend Dawson was at the skate park monday and had himself  nasty little accident and was the lucky recipient of 23 stitches to close his knee back up. ugh..Saw the pictures, yeecchhh.. So our fix-er-upper is cupcakes. With the way the day was going it called for something extra special and Layla pulled out the stops for it too. YOU DID A GREAT JOB BABY GIRL!! Those cupcakes were sinfully good. I will give Dawson his 1/2 dozen tmrw, but we are making 3 dozen to freeze on Thursday.No I will not share with the chickens, who almost always get a lil nibble of whatever I am eating. Not this time. I may even put one under my pillow (for sweet dreams of course). I BBQ'ed chicken and was planning on a comfort food blog w/ pics of juicy leg quarters tonite ,but honestly, those golden handfuls of buttery bliss did more for my attitude than xanax could. Now THAT'S COMFORT FOOD.

ENJOY and SHARE