Cupcake of the Month: Winter White Snowflake Cupcakes

I need food and shelter and oxygen, it's true. But I also, need cupcakes often, at least every month. They're not all for me. Although they could be, if I wasn't careful. Somehow, there's an occasion to bake a cupcake at least 12 times a year, evenly spaced into perfect calendar pages. This year, I'm going to take the time to make them memorable and as fun to look at as they are too eat. That sounds like a lovely resolution for 2009, so watch for a new cupcake of the month right here at Prudence Pennywise. Oh, I know it's January and we're pinching our inches as well as our pennies, but that's precisely why I love a good cupcake: portion control and share-ability.

You could use your own white cake recipe (I love Joy of Cooking's), or simply bake up a box from a mix. Promise not to tell. (Especially if you swap the oil for butter and and switch the water for buttermilk.) Next, frost the cupcakes with a smooth cream cheese frosting. I like to use about 4 tablespoons butter, 4 ounces cream cheese, and about 2 cups powdered sugar, with a little drizzle of vanilla and lemon juice. And to top it off, you need a sprinkling of coarse sugar and a purdy little snowflake. You could use melted white chocolate, of even easier discs of vanilla candy melt. (I use Wilton white candy melts, found at most craft stores.) Melt the discs CAREFULLy in the microwave in a little squeeze bottle or plastic bag. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and pipe some pretty white simple snowflakes. Put them in the fridge for a minutes to set. Perched on your all white cupcake, they'll be a snow white beauty that's not only good to look at but good enough to eat. Best of all, you'll save a bundle over bakery prices since you'll be making your own sugary magic at home. Coming Next:

Green Chile, Sour Cream and Cheddar Cornbread Mini Muffins