Love for Food

A couple of months ago while I was bored at work and surfing the web, I was looking around the Groupon site. Groupon is a cool site because they always have great deals. The only problem is someone like me ends up buying things they don't need because it's such a great deal. When I saw a deal for a cupcake class I knew I had to get it.

Butter Lane is another one of those New York City cupcake bakeries. It jumped on the trend bandwagon a few years ago in 1998, when it was started by three friends with a love of cupcakes. Butter Lane has a tiny store front but they also rented out the small shop next door, which is where they hold there cupcake classes. Due to the popularity of Groupon they sold over 4,000! The classes are sold out a month in advance! I bought mine right before Christmas as gift to myself. I had to wait till last Friday before there were any open spots left.

I arrived early, and there were only two other people there at the time. A mom from New Jersey with her teenage son, who dreamed of being a chef, was also there. The class started out in the most fantastic way. Placed in front of us was a beautiful platter of 24 cupcakes. The cupcakes were of every variety. We were given knifes and forks and told to go to town. I think I must have eaten about five cupcakes!

After we were done with all the cupcakes a group of eight women came. They were a little late due to a dinner party beforehand. The women were all part of a Mommy and Me group. Now that everyone had arrived it was time to split up. We were split up into three teams: banana, chocolate, and vanilla. Turns out banana is one of there bestsellers because it's the most moist. I was put on team vanilla. The great part about the class is that I felt like I was cooking on a T.V show. What I mean by that is that everything was already measured out for you. After you did anything there was an assistant would clean up after you. This is the way baking should be. While the cupcakes were in the oven we made four types of frosting: cream cheese, vanilla, chocolate, and raspberry. Why raspberry? We were given the choice of pumpkin (love it but past it's season), blueberries (I hate them) or raspberry. Raspberry was a clear winner. The trick to the frosting is the cream cheese. All of the icings don't taste like cream cheese but with the addition of a little extra fat they don't need as much sugar.

The tricky part was frosting the cupcakes. We had over 100 to frost. The proper frosting technique was demonstrated and we had a frost off. Mine were far from perfect :( I didn't stand a chance. We were told to whip the frosting, than mold it into a ball like shape. You start at the center and turn the scraper and the cupcake at the same time. Finally you fix and mistakes and create a divet in the center. Whew! All that for one cupcake. After the frost off we frosted the rest of 115 cupcakes. The class ended by getting to take home any 12 cupcakes you wanted. There were also tons of leftovers to eat. I do love my cupcakes but by that point, I was cupcaked out. The class was a fun way and different way to spend a Friday night in Manhattan. I learned a few new tricks and had one heck of a sugar rush!
Ingredients: Serves Thirty Six
Cake:

½ lb Butter2 ½ Cups granulated sugar5 EggsSplash of vanilla extract12oz of sour cream1 Tbs baking powder1 Pinch of salt3 Cups of cake flourFrosting:1 lb of butter
4 oz cream cheese
7 cups confectioners sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 splash of vanilla extract
Method:
Cake:

• Combine butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Mix until sugar and butter forms a cream.
• Crack eggs into a separate bowl, add a splash of vanilla extract to the eggs, then add the eggs to the mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until mixture becomes light and fluffy.
• Combine baking powder and salt with flour.
• Add half of the flour mixture, followed by sour cream, and then add the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until combined, but be careful not to over-mix.
• Scoop cupcakes and bake for 23 minutes at 300 degrees.

• Combine butter and cream cheese in mixing bowl and mix on a medium speed for 5 min. Add vanilla bean and mix for one more minute.
• While mixing in at low speed, add sugar. Once combined, add a splash of vanilla extract and mix on a medium to high speed for 3 min or until smooth and fully combined.
• Frost and enjoy!