Perfection!

So a few days ago I went out and got an ice cream scoop. I've been meaning to make just a plain vanilla cupcake batch to experiment with and see if I could make them how I want them to look. And today I did it!

The baby went down for a nap, and when he continued to sleep for longer than 15 minutes, I decided to make some cupcakes. I found a simple vanilla recipe, and got to work. It only produced 10 cupcakes, which was fine because I didn't want too many. After mixing everything JUST so, not over-beating or mixing, I used my handy dandy ice cream scoop to load up my cupcake pan. I set the timer to the minimum suggested baking time, and I didn't open the oven until 1 minute before the timer went off. And voila! Beautifully peaked cupcakes!! They looked amazing and tasted nice and fluffy. I'm not going to frost them because I know my frosting recipe makes WAY more than enough for 10 cupcakes, so it's not worth it. Plus this was just strictly an experiment batch.

So now that I'm happy with my mixing and baking skills, it's time to explore other flavors of cupcakes, along with decorations. My cake decorating class starts on Thursday, and I'm really excited. I got my new cupcake recipe book, Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. Every recipe has a picture, which I love, and so many of the recipes sound easy enough for me to start out with. But then again, Martha Stewart makes everything look so easy.

While baking, I think about my parents. They've recently moved out of state to live with my oldest sibling and his family, so I miss them very much. I haven't been more than 20 minutes away from them my whole life, so this is a big change. While I was mixing ingredients, I noticed that I automatically clean up after myself when I've finished a step. I remembered that this is something I've picked up from my dad. He's a great cook and always taught me it's easier to clean up your mess if you clean while you work. My mom is more of a "I'll clean when I'm done" type, and I'm glad I picked up my dad's habits instead!

My mom gave me her stand-up mixer when she left, and it's become my favorite possession! That thing is amazing!! I can't remember how I baked without it! My husband says he's going to buy me a new one, but as of now, I'm very happy with the one my mom gave me.

So, today is going to be a good day. My cupcakes came out beautiful and I'm finally ready to tackle some new and different recipes!