Williams Zac - Pink Princess Cupcakes

Use any of the five delicious homemade cupcake recipes in this cookbook. You can always use your favorite cake mix to make cupcakes too. These recipes and most boxed cake mixes make 20 to 24 cupcakes.

Fruit juices work especially well to add a natural sweetness, moistness, and fruit flavor to cupcakes. You can add fruit juice to almost any vanilla or fruit-flavored cupcake recipe by substituting the milk or water called for with an equal amount of fruit juice.

Make specialty cupcake flavors by folding stir-ins into your cupcake batter after it has been mixed. Fun stir-ins include colorful sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, crushed hard candies, marshmallows, or whatever else you think would be good.

You can dress up your cupcakes with colorful paper and foil cupcake liners. They are festive and inexpensive, and they make cleanup a snap!

Bright and colorful silicone cupcake molds are another perfect choice for cupcake liners. Not only do they come in a variety of whimsical shapes, but they are also an eco-friendly baking choice because the molds may be washed and used over and over.

For a large selection of colorful paper cupcake liners and silicone cupcake molds, visit www.kidscookingshop.com.

To make sure your baked cupcakes do not stick to the liners, lightly spray the inside of each liner with nonstick cooking spray before adding the batter.

Carefully measure all ingredients. Dry ingredients like flour and sugar should be measured in measuring cups that are specifically made for dry ingredients. Just scoop dry ingredients loosely into measuring cups and level off the top with the back of a table knife. Liquid ingredients like milk and oil should be measured in clear measuring cups with spouts that are specifically made for measuring liquid ingredients. Place the measuring cup on the counter and then bend down and look at the cup at eye level to make sure your measurement is correct.

Bring all ingredients such as eggs, liquids, and butter to room temperature before making your cupcake batter. The ingredients will mix more evenly and the result will be a wonderfully smooth and creamy cupcake batter.

Dont overmix the batter. This will cause the cupcakes to become chewy and tough rather than perfectly moist and tender.

Fill cupcake cups one-half to two-thirds full. Try using an ice cream scoop to fill the cupcake cupsevery scoop is the same amount, so each cupcake will be the perfect size every time!

Always remember to preheat your oven to the correct temperature before putting your cupcakes in to bake. When the oven is ready, gently place the cupcakes inside and then set your timer for the minimum baking time suggested in the recipe.

When the timer goes off, test for doneness by sticking a clean toothpick in the center of a cupcake. If it comes out clean, the cupcakes are ready. If not, let them continue to bake in the oven and set the timer for the additional minutes suggested in the bake time. Then test again.

Make sure you have two 12-cup cupcake pans or one 24-cup cupcake pan available. Having one or the other will ensure youll have enough room to make one batch of cupcakes. Never put cupcake batter into a warm cupcake pan because the cupcakes will bake unevenly and be lopsided.

For easier and safer handling, put your cupcake pan on a cookie sheet. Bake only one pan of cupcakes at a time and place the pan in the very center of the oven. You can rotate your pan halfway through baking time to ensure that all cupcakes bake and brown evenly.

When cupcakes are done, carefully remove them from the oven using an oven mitt or hot pad. Gently place cupcake pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the pan and then place each cupcake back onto the cooling rack for 30 minutes.

Cupcakes are best eaten the same day they are madeand who doesnt want to eat cupcakes right away? Undecorated cupcakes may be frozen, covered, for up to 3 months.

Before you begin frosting cupcakes, brush the top of each one lightly with your fingers or use a dry pastry brush to remove any loose crumbs.

Add some fanciful fun to your frosting by adding either a touch or a bunch of color with paste food dyes. Paste food dyes have a much truer and intense color than liquid food dyes. A tiny bit goes a long way in a batch of frosting.

If you prefer all-natural food dyes, there are several companies that make a complete line of all-natural food dyes and candy decorations. Visit www.kidscookingshop.com to check the best options available.

To frost cupcakes, spoon a heaping tablespoon of frosting onto the center of each cupcake. Use a table knife, a small plastic picnic knife, or a craft stick to spread and smooth the frosting. Just start in the center and move towards the outer edges of each cupcake. Keep the frosting piled high in the center of the cupcakes. Sometimes, you may even need to add a little more!

There are endless possibilities for decorating cupcakes! Classic decorations for cupcakes range from colorful decorating sugars, sprinkles, and jimmies to gummy bears, M&Ms, Lifesavers, and jelly beans.

Purchased cookies such as Oreos, vanilla wafers, gingersnaps, animal crackers, and Teddy Grahams work beautifully as cupcake toppers.

Try pretzel twists or pretzel sticksplain or dipped in chocolate and decorated with sprinkles.

Popcorn and miniature marshmallows also make a festive choice to top cupcakes.