Once in a Blue Moon

I did something I rarely do, I bought a cookbook, "Small Batch Baking" by Debby Maugans Nakos. I just don't use cookbooks very much. I do scan through them, reading recipes that catch my eye, and putting little bookmarks with every intention of making the recipe, but I rarely ever follow through. I have so many recipes in my computer file, it will take me literally years to sort through them all.

I never thought I'd be saying this but we've pretty much finished up our 3-year construction project. But now I don't have crews of men around to consume the scads of cupcakes that I bake. So a cookbook specializing in small batch baking could not have come to my attention at a better time! And finding an excellent small batch recipe...is a gift from the cupcake gods! The cupcakes, very appropriately named, Just Plain Good Cupcakes, are delicious...I mean really good...really spectacularly good!

Working in small batches is an entirely different mindset. I mixed everything in my smallest mixing bowl with plenty of room to spare and I used my 1/8 tsp measure for the very first time and it was so much fun. But the best part is the cupcakes were eaten the same day as I made them and now I can make some more! My cupcake experiments are going to increase and my baking will get better and better. Needless to say, I am overly thrilled with small batch baking!! I can't wait to make another batch!



Blue Moon Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from "Small Batch Baking" by Debby Maugans Nakos

Makes 5 cupcakes (isn't that a hoot 5 CUPCAKES!)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Yolk of 1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
20 juicy whole blueberries
1 TBL flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 5 muffin cups with baking cups and set aside.

Combine the buttermilk and baking soda in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Add egg yolk and vanilla and again whisk until thoroughly mixed.

Place the flour, sugar and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl and mix. Add the butter and half of the buttermilk mixture. Beat with a hand-held mixer on low speed until the dry ingredients are blended. Increase the speed to medium and bet until the mixture is slightly increased in volume, about 45 seconds, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Pour in the remaining buttermilk mixture and beat on medium speed until well blended, 20 seconds. Make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a small bowl put the whole blueberries and sprinkle with 1 TBL of flour. With your fingers gently roll the berries in the flour making sure that each berry is completely covered with a light coating of flour. Place 4-5 berries in the bottom of each baking cup.

Spoon the batter evenly into the 5 baking cups. Put a little bit of water in the rest of the empty cups in your Cupcake Tin to prevent the cupcakes from scorching. Bake the cupcakes until a tester comes out clean, about 20 to 23 minutes.

Remove from the oven and as soon as you can remove the cupcakes from the pan and let them thoroughly cool on a cooling rack.



Blueberry Feathered Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 c. whole blueberries
Purple food coloring

Place the blueberries in a small food processor and process until finely pureed. Force puree through a sieve to remove any large pieces. Set aside.

Place the cream cheese and butter in a medium mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until blended, about 20 seconds. Add the sugar and continue mixing until sugar is completely blended.

Remove 1/2 of the frosting and mix it with 1 TBL of the strained blueberries. Add some purple food coloring if needed. Place the blueberry frosting and the plain cream cheese frosting in a piping bag fitted with the tip of choice and decorate the cupcakes.




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