There's no doubt that spring has arrived in Hong Kong- the April showers have turned into an outright downpour. May flowers most certainly do not apply to Asia's international city.
Last Sunday, I agreed to help bring baked goods for a bake sale that my youth group is holding for this coming Sunday. After reorganizing my entire work schedule this week so that I could throw baking cupcakes into the already chaotic mix of mini-projects all due next week, all the ordinary reading, questions, and whatnot, plus an art project due next Monday, I'm finally on my "free" night, where everything due tomorrow was completed yesterday night. Just typing that out has (again) emphasized how insanely busy my life is right now. At any rate, since the bake sale was to be held on Mother's day, it drove me to think of more "feminine" treats; pastel icing, buttercream roses, red velvet, vanilla sponges dyed romantic, dusty shades of pink whirled through my mind, and after a small phase of fixation on floral sweets, I decided on a somewhat adventurous combination of red velvet cupcakes with rose water buttercream.
Of course, I also consulted the one person fit to answer the question of what type of cupcake would fit the bill for a Mother's day bake sale- my own mother. Let me give you a small overview of my mom- she's a low-maintenance person who favors the simple, classic stuff. So I certainly wasn't surprised when I asked her opinion on rose cupcakes or rosewater buttercream:
"That's an interesting idea.... but maybe you should make something classic for everyone. Like.... vanilla or lemon."
Although I had already decided on what to make, I see no point in asking for someone's opinion if you were'nt going to put it to good use, and thus concluded that what I needed was a double dose of cupcakes. And that was how i ended up making two types of cupcakes; red velvet cupcakes with rosewater buttercream and lemon cupcakes with vanilla frosting.
Turning straight for my current favorite red velvet and lemon sponge recipes, I must say, I started out with a confidence that slowly depleted the moment the smell of the baking red velvet cupcakes hit my nose. Oh god.
I had substituted the buttermilk in the recipe for equal amounts of yogurt, as buttermilk is a rarity here in HK. I was used to making my own buttermilk with a tablespoon of vinegar per cup of milk. oh god. What had I done?
Well, luckily, I tried one after it cooled a bit, and the first bite enabled me to let out a sigh of relief; the acidic smell of the vinegar and added acidity of the yogurt had disappeared and rendered the cupcakes nice a slightly chocolate-y. One hurdle crossed, somewhere around 7 more to go. Hurray...?
The lemon cupcakes, on the other hand, turned out swell; so swell, in fact, that some of them went over the sides of the cup and formed an elephant-like trunk of cake. (Shoot. I forgot progress pictures. Again.) But at any rate, they both turned out pretty great. Photos and an update on the final products, complete with frosting coming soon :)
Last Sunday, I agreed to help bring baked goods for a bake sale that my youth group is holding for this coming Sunday. After reorganizing my entire work schedule this week so that I could throw baking cupcakes into the already chaotic mix of mini-projects all due next week, all the ordinary reading, questions, and whatnot, plus an art project due next Monday, I'm finally on my "free" night, where everything due tomorrow was completed yesterday night. Just typing that out has (again) emphasized how insanely busy my life is right now. At any rate, since the bake sale was to be held on Mother's day, it drove me to think of more "feminine" treats; pastel icing, buttercream roses, red velvet, vanilla sponges dyed romantic, dusty shades of pink whirled through my mind, and after a small phase of fixation on floral sweets, I decided on a somewhat adventurous combination of red velvet cupcakes with rose water buttercream.
Of course, I also consulted the one person fit to answer the question of what type of cupcake would fit the bill for a Mother's day bake sale- my own mother. Let me give you a small overview of my mom- she's a low-maintenance person who favors the simple, classic stuff. So I certainly wasn't surprised when I asked her opinion on rose cupcakes or rosewater buttercream:
"That's an interesting idea.... but maybe you should make something classic for everyone. Like.... vanilla or lemon."
Although I had already decided on what to make, I see no point in asking for someone's opinion if you were'nt going to put it to good use, and thus concluded that what I needed was a double dose of cupcakes. And that was how i ended up making two types of cupcakes; red velvet cupcakes with rosewater buttercream and lemon cupcakes with vanilla frosting.
Turning straight for my current favorite red velvet and lemon sponge recipes, I must say, I started out with a confidence that slowly depleted the moment the smell of the baking red velvet cupcakes hit my nose. Oh god.
I had substituted the buttermilk in the recipe for equal amounts of yogurt, as buttermilk is a rarity here in HK. I was used to making my own buttermilk with a tablespoon of vinegar per cup of milk. oh god. What had I done?
Well, luckily, I tried one after it cooled a bit, and the first bite enabled me to let out a sigh of relief; the acidic smell of the vinegar and added acidity of the yogurt had disappeared and rendered the cupcakes nice a slightly chocolate-y. One hurdle crossed, somewhere around 7 more to go. Hurray...?
The lemon cupcakes, on the other hand, turned out swell; so swell, in fact, that some of them went over the sides of the cup and formed an elephant-like trunk of cake. (Shoot. I forgot progress pictures. Again.) But at any rate, they both turned out pretty great. Photos and an update on the final products, complete with frosting coming soon :)