Our church decided to have 'All Nations Day', two Sundays ago. A celebration of all the nationalities represented in the church. So, naturally we wanted to contribute something to the bbq aspect of things. Bunmi and I decided that, I'd make the cupcakes while she made the cake (best of both worlds really).
Does this happen to anyone? Where you start planning what to make and then you go way over the top? I have the same issue, I'm pretty sure I started off with five different cupcake ideas but I ended up settling with three. Red velvet with cream cheese frosting (my current favourite), vanilla with chocolate buttercream and full on Oreo cupcakes.
So my saturday started quite early, hence my cup of black coffee. I set up my table with all my ingredients, from my pantry of course, and just went wild baking!
Started off with the vanilla, easiest first the way I see it. The recipe I used said it'd yield 24 but obviously someone didn't count properly because I only got 20 out of the batter :(
Then I went on to the red velvet! I've always loved red velvet cakes but it always frustrated me whenever I tried making my own because it never came out red :'(!!
Until I made it again for Bunmi's birthday and voila, Bob became my uncle as they say. I still don't get where the phrase came from. I mean, who started it off & why? And how popular was Bob for it to have spread nationwide? Anyway, I digress... Bunmi told me she'd made the cake a few weeks earlier and that she finally got the colour right. So, naturally, I asked her what she did and when she told me, I honestly had a 'palm to forehead' moment. She basically used five 10g boxes of food colouring gel. I'd been using two all this time and wondering why it wasn't red. Well, duh! Not enough food colouring Blessing
Anyway, I got this recipe from one of my favourite chefs, Ree Drummond of 'The Pioneer Woman'. She's married to a cowboy and I just find that so cool! Red Velvet .
I was too much of a chicken to try using her 'classic red velvet frosting' so went with this one I found on this blog. The lady was nice enough to consider we Britons, thank God! Cream Cheese
By now, my music playlist was really getting to my head & feet (you can't listen to reggae and not dance! It's not possible), as I started off the last set of cupcakes, OREOS! Oreo Cupcakes
When I found this recipe, I couldn't resist. I had to make my own just to see if they'll come out looking like the pictures I'd seen. And boy, did they! Best bit was I had extras so I could taste as well :-)
The cupcakes were a hit in church. Everyone liked them and I even heard a cupcakes hater, *gasp!*, gush about how she loved them.
Don't forget to check back in for Bunmi's post on her cake. I promise you, it'll leave you hungry for a slice ;)
BB Labels: chocolate buttercream, cream cheese, cupcakes, Oreos, Red Drummond, Red velvet
