It's a Baby! Simple, Beautiful Baby Shower Cupcakes

These sweet cupcakes were ordered by a friend of mine who was throwing a baby shower a few weeks ago. I just love the color scheme for the party!

The baby's first name starts with a D (I never did ask what her name is gonna be) and the design my friend wanted was simple and elegant. The flavors were dark chocolate and vanilla with a vanilla almond buttercream. For the vanilla cake, I followed the recipe on the link, omitting the almond extract and doubling the vanilla. As for the icing, this recipe is a little more detail oriented. I really love the texture of it, though, and it holds up really well, especially if you're using it for a wedding cake. For the decorations I rolled fondant and cut out 1 inch circles. Once dry, I piped the polka dots and letter D on each one in navy royal icing. These were easy, delicious, and beautiful!

Recipes:

Royal Icing (makes about 3 cups icing)

3 Tablespoons meringue powder
4 cups confectioner's sugar
6 Tablespoons warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks. If you want stiffer icing, use less water and for thinner, use more, adding 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

Wilton Snow White Buttercream (adapted from here)

2/3 cup + 3 tablespoons water, divided
1/4 cup Meringue Powder
12 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon no-color almond extract

3/4 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

In large bowl, combine 2/3 cup water and meringue powder; whip with electric mixer at high speed until peaks form. Add 4 cups sugar, one cup at a time, beating at low speed after each addition. Add remaining 8 cups sugar and 3 tablespoons water, shortening, butter and corn syrup in 3 additions, blending well after each. Add salt and flavorings; beat at low speed until smooth. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

If you're not really concerned with keeping it pure white then don't worry about using the no-color almond and clear vanilla. If you do want it pure white then follow the directions on the link as-is (you'll notice I halved the shortening, added butter, and omitted the butter flavoring).

Be sure to stop by Shaken Together where I'm guest posting today and follow along this whole week with Keri's Patriotic celebration. Also, stop by Happy Go Lucky where Kara is doing a series of favorite finds under $10. Today, you'll find a list by yours truly! :)

Lots of fun stuff is coming up so stay tuned for the where and what! Until next time, happy reading and more importantly, happy cupcake-ing!

My First Award + a Little Announcement

Ok, first, before we get to the award part, let me share something that I think is pretty exciting. My friend, Kara, over at Happy Go Lucky is featuring yours truly and A Cupcake Love Affair on her blog today!! How fabulous is that? If you aren't familiar with Kara's blog, please check her out! So fun and informative! She hosts a fun linky party that I participate in every week and contacted me sometime last week and asked me to be her guest. Of course I jumped right on that! What an awesome opportunity! Thank you, Kara, for the honor and thank you, my fabulous readers, for coming back post after post!!

Now on to the award. This is pretty cool. My first blog award. It's called the Liebster Award. This award is given to blogs with under 200 followers who inspire others. Mine was awarded by Holly from Happy Food Healthy Life.

There are a few rules to accepting the award and they are....

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
3. Pick your favorite 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers who deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they have received the award.
4. Hope that the 5 blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to 5 more blogs.

So, I'm accepting the award and sharing it with a few worthy bloggers I love to follow! I'm awarding....

Sarah @ Life on Walnut Street

Joy @ Joy 2 Sew

Vicky @ Sleeping in an Unmade Bed

Bree @ Twinkle in the Eye

Katie @ Pincushion Creations

Thank you, Holly, for the award!! Until next time, happy reading and, more importantly, happy cupcake-ing!