Just Add Magic: Golden Buttercup Cakes

      Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry for the delay! I was writing about the "Kook-Off" (I still think the name's horrible) but that's going to have to take sometime so meanwhile another cupcake recipe! Of all recipes cupcake ones are my favourite.

Golden Buttercup Cakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1&1/2 cups sugar

2&1/2 teaspoons baking powder

a pinch of salt

3/4 cup butter or margarine (1&1/2 sticks), softened

3/4 cup whole milk

1&1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

How to Bake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2&1/2-inch muffin pan with cupcake holders. Mix dry ingredients until combined. Add wet ingredients and beat just until blended and creamy. Spoon batter into cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Perfect Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 package confectioners' sugar (16 oz)

1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick), softened

1&1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cream

How to Make
With a hand mixer, beat sugar, softened butter, vanilla, and cream until blended. Increase speed until frosting is light and fluffy.

 “Cupcakes is the medicine that drives sadness from the human face."

~ Cupcake Quotes (@CupcakesQuotes)

     Whoa the frosting looks so light and fluffy like a bunch of clouds. You should've seen the cupcakes at the Kook-Off! They were AWESOME, loved the decor. I took lots of pictures, you'll get to see them in the next post.

Just Add Magic: Rocket Launching Rainbow Super Swirley

      Here we are, with the very first Swirley recipe from the book Just Add Magic. Now, you're asking, "What's a Swirley?" Okay, a Swirley is sort of  milkshake made up of blended ice cream. You can tell from the recipe. 

      Oh and please follow me on twitter, there isn't much about baking / cooking mostly humor tweets, but if you guys follow me I'll try to tweet about food: @calanlyn plus, I only have 34 followers heheh...

Rocket Launching Rainbow Super Swirley

When you can't make up your mind,

enjoy this three layered concoction.

Layer 1: Strawberry ice cream blended with colourful Skittles.

Layer 2: Banana ice cream with ribbons of golden caramel.

Layer 3: Bright green Pistachio ice cream peppered with Nerds candies.

Top with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles.

      I'm sorry! I couldn't find the picture for this recipe. So I had to put this up. Doesn't really look like this though, this recipe isn't "magical", don't worry. Swirleys are just the characters' favourite treat. And if the ingredients in here are too weird for you, experiment on your own. The flavours are endless!

    And, there's this thing, called a... um... a Kampung Kook-off, I know, its a horrible name! Urgh, but anyway its going to take place this Sunday. Maybe my fellow Singaporeans would like to come? My dad's party, SDP is organising it, a Fundraising event. Anyway, it's gonna be awesome, food everywhere! I'll promise to take lots of pictures, but I really encourage people to come see for yourselves! $32 per coupon booklet, you can exchange the coupons for food. Kind of like tokens. Click HERE for more info and to purchase booklets/tickets.
 

Just Add Magic ~ Cindy Callaghan

      Good news, my dear readers. For yet another book has descended upon us! Behold, the totally awesome, Just Add Magic By: Cindy Callaghan! I read it a few years back and read it again. But I didn't know there were recipes at the back of it!

      Recommended (by me of course) for young readers (but not that young, ages 10-12). But if you really love baking/cooking why not give it a try? Age doesn't matter, neither does the cover of the book. Here's what the blurb says:

 

      When Kelly Quinn and her two BFFs discover a dusty old cook-book while cleaning out an attic, the girls decide to try a few of the mysterious recipes inside. 

      But the ancient book bears an eerie warning, and it doesn't take long for the girls to realise that their dishes are linked to strange occurrences. The Keep 'Em Quiet Cobbler actually silences Kelly's pesky little brother and the Hexberry tart brings an annoying curse to the mean girl Charlotte. And the Love Bug Juice, which seems to have quite the effect on those cute Rusamano boys...

      Could these recipes really be magical? Who wrote them and where did they come from? Most important of all, what kind of trouble are the girls stirring up for themselves? Things are about to get just a little too hot in Kelly Quinn's kitchen...

      Interesting isn't it? I'm intrigued already just by reading this blurb. Okay! So, on to the recipes! Today we're starting off simple with the Love Bug Juice and Fresh Citrus Squeeze, dead simple if you ask me.

Love Bug Juice

Ingredients:

4 cups of cranberry juice

Fistful of maraschino cherries, mashed

2 slices kiwi fruit

1 diced apple

Dash of shade-grown Mexican ginseng*

Mix all ingredients in a pitcher with lots of ice

and sprinkle generously with ginseng.

 

*This ingredient makes all the difference,

if added to the juice, whoever drinks it is said to

fall in love with the person who adds it into the juice.

 

       I know, you've probably never heard of such thing. The spice is pretty hard to find too. But you don't have to add it in. 

Fresh Citrus Squeeze

Ingredients:

Fresh Orange Juice from 3 Oranges

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 tablespoon cherry juice

Mexican mint*

Mix together and serve over ice.

*This ingredient, if added to the beverage, will cause strife.

Not something you want to give a good friend.

       So yes that's all for today, if you're thinking of adding the special spices, think again. Bad things happened to the girls after making these. But, its probably just a bunch of baloney... You've gotta read the book to find out. Look out for more magic recipes, coming your way!

Thank You!

      Sorry guys, no recipe for today, I think its time I write my Thank You Speech, hope you guys will still bother to read it : )

      I'd like to take this moment to thank all my readers and fellow bakers for visiting my blog! As you can see, I've put up a Pageview gadget (not to show off, no but) so you guys can see how this blog has progressed over the months. These are weekly pageviews.

      I used to get only 1 or 2 pageviews a day, or sometimes none at all. But yesterday I had 23 and there are possibly more than 20 pageviews everyday.

     Thanks Dad, for persuading me to start my blog and many thanks to my siblings for helping me type the recipes out when I was too lazy. Thanks to Laura Schaefer, author of The Teashop Girls and The Secret Ingredient, for inspiring me to start collecting recipes.

      I'd like to give a shout-out to Miriam Larson, thanks for commenting. And to minkyung my very first follower. Thank you, it means a lot to me : D

      All credits go to the books I've shared the recipes from: The Secret Ingredient ~ Laura Schaefer (see also: The Teashop Girls), Eggs Over Evie ~ Alison Jackson,  Confectionately Yours: Save the Cupcake! ~ Lisa Papademetriou, Healthy Cooking for Your Kids ~ Sarah Banberry. Also please check out my Whats Bakin'? posts.

Lastly, thank you readers! Wouldn't have come this far without you, please keep reading. Even though recipes are running short, I WILL find a way! So KEEP CALM AND BAKE ON!


Signing out,
An Lyn ❤