CUPCAKES (yellow cake with penuche frosting)

Tonight I had a sweet tooth, and while I was quite busy babysitting the 9 week old puppy, and paying bills, I really wanted to squeeze in time to make something yummy.  My mom had told me about this frosting called Penuche Frosting.  But, to use frosting, you've got to have some sort of base.  I googled it, and found applesauce cake, spice cake, and a few other odd selections.  But I did stumble upon a recipe for a yellow cake, that I thought I'd try.  I'm NOT a huge fan of homemade cake.  To me it always is dry, not as tasty, and if Betty Crocker has it figured out, why reinvent the wheel, right?  But, with no Crocker on hand, I dug down deep to my colonial roots, and made one from SCRATCH!  The recipe was quite basic, and I had everything on hand.  I cut the recipe in 1/2, and made them into cupcakes.

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup evaporated milk (you will need a 12 oz. can if you make the frosting below)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar with mixer.   Add eggs, milk and vanilla and continue mixing. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt.  Pour into two 9 inch greased or sprayed cake pans or one 9 x 13 pan.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven 20 – 25 minutes for round pans and 30 to 35 minutes for 9 x 13 pan.

Once the cupcakes were ready, I made the frosting!! This recipe came from my mom, and it was amazing, and very easy.  

1 c. packed light brown sugar

8 tbsp. (1 stick) butter

1/4 c. whole milk

2 c. confestioners' sugar, sifted

 

Place brown sugar and butter in medium size heavy saucepan over medium heat.  Simmer, stirring constantly, until well combined, 2 minutes.  Carefully pour in milk, stirring and bring mixture to boil.  Remove pan from heat and cool slightly.

 

Place confectioners' sugar in large mixing bowl.  Pour hot brown sugar mixture over the confectioners' sugar.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the frosting is smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.

 

Use immediately (while still warm) to frost cake of your choice or the frosting will harden.  If it does harden while you are frosting the cake, simply place the pan back over low heat and stir until frosting softens up. 

So, the verdict is in, I made 2 mistakes with attempting to make cupcakes tonight.  1) I didn't use my good friend Betty's  mix for the cake.  The homemade cake was a bit dry, and more of a "cornbread" texture, but not to that extreme... But, it wasn't "cake" consistency.  2) I didn't sift the powdered sugar when making the frosting, hence I have a few little powdered sugar lumps in my yummy frosting.  It didn't affect the taste, but it did affect the appearance.  Kid B hasn't tried them yet, nor has the hubs, so it'll be interesting to get their take on the recipe.  Personally, I loved the frosting!! (The picture is altered so it's not a true color, but the frosting is a light brown) 

Happy Cooking, and I'll try not to be such a stranger to the blog!!