Busy, Busy

Wow! I feel like I have just run a marathon! It's been a busy weekend for me, and I'm looking forward to a day of rest...maybe in another week or so I'll find one!

One of the reasons I was busy this weekend was that I was getting ready for my sister Rachel's baby shower. She's due to have her first baby in just over a month so it was time to shower her with gifts. I cannot wait to meet my new little nephew...

Anyway, for my part I wanted to make my little sis her shower cake. It started with an idea for a layer cake of sorts, but then during the planning, my sister found out she needs to watch her sugar and carbs, so I thought cupcakes would be easier to portion, and the cake became cake-lets. I had planned on making devil's food, but decided to give it a twist this time and turn to a new cookbook- King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking. Sure enough, there was a recipe for a Devil's Food Cake that used whole wheat pastry flour and yogurt in the batter. Sounded great to me so I made a few batches of cupcakes with that recipe. I tried one straight up, and I have to say, the whole grain cupcakes are excellent! They are rich and full of a deep chocolate flavor that comes from using a good quality cocoa. (I used Ghirardelli, my personal favorite.)

I cannot wait to try other cake recipes from this book! I love cake! And adding some whole grains is a great way to feel a little less guilty about eating cake. The Devil's Food Cupcakes were a hit all around and looked really cute stacked onto a cupcake tower.

To frost these little gems, I wanted a slight mocha flavor, and I wanted the frosting to be light in texture. I initially had been thinking of a whipped cream frosting, but didn't want it that light, and I did want it to be more stable. So I adapted a buttercream frosting to incorporate some whipped cream and added some coffee flavor via a Kona reduction. The frosting was spectacular, although it was so humid that it lost its fluffy texture very quickly. Regardless, the flavor still held and the cupcakes were great. (Oh, and by the way boys who took cupcakes home with them, they should probably be refrigerated for the best staying power.)