We recently held a baby shower for my sister- in-law. My “job” was to bring the cake. I wanted to do something really cute so decided on cupcakes instead as they are a trendier option right now. Also there’s no cutting or mess.

Cupcakes come in a neat little package meant for just one person, which makes everyone feel special, and they don’t require utensils or even a plate; a napkin will suffice. This is probably why they are so popular - not to mention the cute decorations and variety of flavours.

At first,  I was going to purchase the cupcakes at one of Ottawa’s trendy cupcake stores. There are a handful of cupcake stores here in Ottawa now and several more options for online ordering and delivery. I visited a couple of the stores. Yes, I read the reviews before I went and also checked out any blogs about these establishments. They all got great reviews, so one day after work, I decided to visit a couple to choose who would make the wonderful sweet treasures for the shower.

These cupcakes are expensive and I needed 4 dozen, so we’re not talking low budget here. It would have cost me well over $100 for 48 cupcakes. Before spending that much money on cupcakes I wanted to make sure they tasted as good as everyone said.

I am super picky, I admit it. I love to cook and bake and, if I do say so myself,  I’m good at it. Still, baking 48 cupcakes was going to be very time consuming and I wasn’t super thrilled with the idea. After reading the websites, the descriptions of countless cupcakes and how only the “best” ingredients are used, my boyfriend and I set out to try them.

I’m sad to report that I was disappointed. I’m not saying they weren’t good but they didn’t have that homemade taste to them and I didn’t feel they warranted the price. I’m not sure why they didn’t taste homemade, they should have. Many of them were too sweet, or the chocolate and vanilla flavours weren’t as outstanding as I thought they should be for the money.

So instead of buying the cupcakes I decided to make them. I found out that my sister in law’s favourite cake is an Oreo ice cream cake. An Oreo ice cream cake wasn’t practical so I searched for an Oreo cupcake recipe and, to my surprised, I found many recipes. After reading through them, I picked one that I thought would give me what I was looking for.

I found this recipe on Annie’s Eats. You’ll notice at the bottom of the recipe on her blog that they were adapted from another blogger, Dinner with Danielle.

These cupcakes are moist, dense and not too sweet at all. The frosting is very light, made mostly of whipping cream. I used mini Oreo cookies to decorate with instead of halves and I also used extra large eggs. I doubled the recipe to make 48 cupcakes, which was no problem at all.

I wanted to present the cupcakes on a pretty, tiered platter.  After all, presentation is important, too. While I was shopping for the platter, I came across some paper cupcake liners that were thicker than standard ones, meaning I didn’t have to use a cupcake/muffin baking tray. With these, I could just put them on a cookie sheet, which meant I could bake all 48 cupcakes at the same time! Plus they were mostly pink which was perfect, as my sister-in-law is having a girl.

Of course, any party isn’t complete without appetizers too – and given the guest list, she definitely had to have at least one appetizer with chicken.

For this, my other sister-in-law made a sort of chicken salad spread to put on crackers. It was made with a whole roasting chicken, finely chopped, without the skin. In a bowl, she combined this with a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise, about a ¼ tsp of sea salt, about the same amount of pepper and some finely chopped celery, red pepper, green onion and parsley. It’s really like any chicken salad mixture for sandwiches, except we had it on crackers – a nice change. I think it would also be pretty served on celery sticks.

Cupcakes and chicken salad – nice...

Oreo Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs (I used extra large)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

For the frosting:
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp. whipping cream
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 tbsp. Oreo cookie crumbs

For garnish:
24 Oreo cookie halves ( I used mini Oreo’s instead)

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth.  Gradually add the brown sugar and continue beating until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Beat in the vanilla.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.   Mix just until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated, being careful not to over mix.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.  Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.

To prepare the frosting, in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.  Beat on medium-high speed until the whipped cream holds stiff peaks.  Gently fold in the cookie crumbs with a spatula.

Scoop the mixture into a pastry bag and pipe frosting decoratively on top of the cupcakes.  Garnish with Oreo cookie halves.

Enjoy!