I Am Not A Baker, Part II

Repeat after me.....I am not a baker!!!! Meanwhile every blog I write is about baking. Go figure.

It always starts so innocently. A friend asks for help..."I just need forty cupcakes for a party ". I have a propensity for making small sized foods so of course I volunteer to bake them. Then I launch immediately into panic mode. My brain keeps telling me "I am not a baker", but my cooking heart says "sure you can do this!". I have a bad habit of following my heart and forgetting to take my brain with me. Cupcake baking here I come. It seems easy. White cupcakes, white frosting. Even a rookie can do that. But I can't settle for easy. Heart says, step it up, you know he loves marshmallows, make marshmallow frosting!!! I find a recipe. It's approved by Martha Stewart so it should be the best one, right? I have to admit straight up that I used boxed mixes for the cake, I figured I was already overdoing myself by making frosting, so that part was really cheat easy. Sunday afternoon I get a kitchen helper. Great, now if the frosting turns out bad I am teaching someone how to make bad frosting. With great trepidation on my part we separate eggs from yolks and I talk him through this like I know exactly what I am doing. Add sugar, vanilla, cream of tarter, get out the old school mixer and whirl away!! We waited, we watched as egg whites turned in super soft clouds of marshmallow frosting. We did it! My heart was right. So if I did it you can too. But let me tell you what I told him:

• Fluffy meringue type frosting's do not like fat. Don't let a drop of an egg yolk get in your whites or your frosting will be flat. Also make sure the eggs are at room temperature.
• Use an especially clean, preferably metal bowl for mixing
• Cream of tarter is a binding agent. It is the glue that holds all your ingredients together. You cant skip that.
• With a patient heart you must whip. Eventually you will see the pretty pillows of awesome marshmallow sweet goodness, it just takes a little time. I think ours took about eight minutes of beating.

Ingredients:

Eight large egg whites

2 cups of white sugar

1/2 teaspoon of cream of tarter

2 teaspoons of real vanilla (that's what makes the frosting taste mallowy)

Whip all the ingredients using the directions above. We used this to frost about fifty five cupcakes.

I think I will use this as my signature frosting. It goes with so many things. Add food coloring for any holiday. Naturally you could make a s'mores cupcake.

I leave you with one last look at my little helper and his happy cupcake face!!! Maybe I am a baker!!