Romancing the Cupcake

I'll admit it, I'm something of a cupcake snob.  Or maybe it's not that I'm a snob, it's just that I have very high standards.  Of course, it's not hard to find one that's easy on the eyes; they seem to be waiting around every corner.  You know what I'm talking about....an artistically formed pile of frosting crowning the top of a nice, cutesy round cake.  But, more often than not, after I've decided to take it home, I just end up being disappointed.  It has the good looks, yes, but lacks the substance that I'm looking for.  Usually the cake is too dry and the icing overly sweet and artificial-tasting. For years, I've lamented the fact that the perfect cupcake just might not exist.  Luckily, I was proven wrong when I found this recipe for banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting in a February 2010 issue of Glamour .  I'm sure that you're already aware of what a great pairing banana and peanut butter makes and, in this recipe, it becomes a match made in cupcake heaven.  The banana helps the cupcake stay moist while the frosting provides the perfect sweet and salty  complement.  Just look at a close up of these beauties:

In order to whip up your own batch,, you will need:

For the cupcakes:
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk (1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon vinegar)
1 1/4 cups ripe banana, mashed

For the frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp. milk

To get started, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put your cupcake papers in your muffin pan.  Then combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Next, remove the peels from your bananas and mash them with a fork.  As an added bonus, this is a great way to take out your frustration over all those years of bad cupcakes.

I usually need about 2 1/2 or 3 large bananas to make 1 1/4 cups of mash.  Once you've filled your measuring cups, set aside, and then cream your butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.

Then add your eggs and your vanilla.

 Once the eggs and vanilla are mixed in, grab your bowl of dry ingredients and mix it in in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk.

Mix on low for 2 minutes and soon you should have something that looks like this:
Once you do, it's time to fold in the mashed banana.

At this point, you're ready to pour your batter into your cupcake wrappers.  I fill 'em up about 3/4 of the way full.  This should make at least 18 cupcakes, or even more if you don't fill them quite as high.

Pop them in the oven and bake for 25ish minutes.  While you wait, pour yourself a glass of wine (you've earned it), sit back, relax and enjoy the aroma of baking banana.  When you've finished your glass (and perhaps one more), yank your pans out of the oven and admire your handiwork.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make your frosting (the best part).  Start by creaming together the powdered sugar, the butter, and the vanilla.

Then add your peanut butter (the original recipe called for creamy peanut butter but I've always been a crunchy girl myself, so that's what I used.  Plus the crunchy kind gives you nice chunks of peanuts swirled throughout your icing, upping your texture game.) and your milk and mix until you have a nice, smooth frosting.

 Go ahead and stick your finger in it and have a taste.  I won't tell and it's just too good to resist.

Once your cupcakes have cooled completely, top them off with a generous slathering of the icing.

I chose shiny red cupcake papers in honor of Valentine's Day, but try not to get too hung up on what your cupcakes are wearing.  After all, it's what's on the inside that counts.

I hope this recipe makes you find true cupcake love.  It worked for me and now, I can't imagine my life without it.

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White Mountain Girlie Getaway, Day 2

Day two of our getaway dawned cold and a bit snowy, so GK and I decided that a warm, hearty breakfast was in order and made our way downstairs to the Tavern.  We quickly grabbed a table near the fire with a lovely view of the hotel grounds.

 

There was a buffet option, but GK and I decided to order off the menu, so as to not be tempted by the opportunity for endless plates and also because we figured that the made-to-order food might be better.  I think that we ended up being right, as both of our dishes were delicious.  I dug into a big plate of eggs benedict...

while GK went for the Belgian waffle with strawberries.

After finishing our breakfasts, we lingered at our table a bit over tea and cappuccino, in an effort to clear the last champagne cobwebs out of our heads.

Once we felt refreshed and revived, we decided to go exploring around the ground floor of the hotel and poked our heads into this room and that, admiring the ski lodge-meets New England farmhouse-meets grandmother's house with secret hidden corners to discover feel of the place.

Our explorers' feet soon became weary, though, so we made our way up to the hotel's fourth floor, which is home to their Tower Spa.  We relaxed a bit with tea and magazines in the spa's cozy lounge before indulging in rather luxurious-feeling pedis. 

GK chose a lovely raspberry shade while I tried to give my toes an air of mystery (not to be confused with an odor of mystery) with a dark, inky blue that had just a hint of sparkle.

Despite feeling completely relaxed, pampered, and ready for a nap, it was sadly time to check out, but first I wandered outside to get a few shots of the hotel and the surrounding area.  We hadn't been able to see much of the exterior when we arrived in the dark the night before, but by daylight, it was quite an impressive sight.

We were sad to leave, but it was time to go, so we jumped back in the car and hit the road.  At least we could enjoy a the view of a beautiful winter wonderland as we drove back out of the mountains.

We arrived back in Boston, sad that our holiday was over but so glad that we had gone somewhere new.  If you're contemplating your own weekend getaway, I can't recommend the Mountainview Grand enough.  Our only regret was that we had only booked one night.  The setting and hotel are beautiful, the staff delightful, and the food delicious.  You can reserve a room here, and if you're planning a girlie getaway of your own, you can book spa treatments here.  If you have more of a family-friendly vacay in mind, the Mountainview Grand also seemed to have lots of options for fun activities for both little ones and adults, including skiing, sledding and snowtubing, snowshoeing, dogsledding, and s'mores around the campfire (we were sorry that we missed that one).  If you're suffering from the post-holidays winter blues, you should book a weekend today.  I bet that it will be just what the doctor ordered.

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