Week 24: Vanilla Cupcakes with Vermont Maple Frosting

We had a great time in Burlington, VT, even tho it rained pretty much all the time...we went to the Lake Champlain Chocolate place near Stowe that is hooked up to the Cabot Cheese store...do I have to say it out loud that this trip was all about food? Sunday night we went to the New England Culinary Institute (everone there calls it neci) restaurant, NECI Commons, for dinner. It was pretty good and very reasonable...(although it did lead to nightmares for one of our group (but I can't go into here)...hmmmm. The next morning (fully recovered from the night before), we ate breakfast at this cute place (highly recommended) called Penny Cluse Cafe which is named after a dog...which is okay with me, I love dogs.

This is a photo of the only cupcakes I could find in Burlington...and these actually turned out to be mini-cheesecakes...They are from the City Market Coop (yup...another food place...sigh) . It was a cool place and I bought some stuff for my cupcakes there, including, genuine Pure Vermont Maple Syrup, genuine Pure Vermont Maple Candy, homemade looking chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. I don't think cupcakes have discovered Burlington, VT yet...

And so, to my cupcakes. When I got home, I took Layla to a dog training lesson with our trainer, Rachel Jones, who owns K-9 Divine. She's so cool! When I got back home again, I conjured up some basic vanilla cupcakes so that I would have time to dedicate myself to the maple frosting I decided to make: Julie Hasson's 125 Best Cupcake Recipes Maple Buttercream Frosting. [Did you know that Julie Hasson commented on this site last week?] I did embellish it with my addition of genuine Vermont Maple Syrup and then I crushed up all of my genuine Vermont Maple Candy and threw that in, too. It was great, it left tiny chips of Maple candy in the frosting. Afterward, I decorated some of the cupcakes with the chocolate and white chocolate chips.

Comment from one taster: It tastes like I'm eating pancakes with maple syrup...yummm! Recipe later today.

13 comments:

  1. such an awesome idea to incorporate ingredients from your trip. The cupcakes sound delicious as usual.

    So Julie Hasson REALLY commented to you last week?? that is SO cool!! I luv that book, has some really great cupcake recipes & ideas.

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  2. oh, I just noticed in the photo you have the cupcakes in those little plastic cupcake boxes like you see in the grocery stores..where did u get those?? did u purchase them online??

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  3. Anonymous10:56 AM

    The third picture of your post on vanilla cupcakes today has a great picture behind it....where is it from.

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  4. Culinarily Obsessed:

    You have a good eye!

    These plastic cupcake containers from the grocery store work better than anything I've found for carrying the cupcakes around. I bought that new 3-N-One carrier and it sucked! Five of the cupcakes fell over and were smushed beyond recognition. (could have been my driving on the washington beltway!)

    So, nowI buy 12 and 6 cupcakes in these plastic containers (either someone around the house eats the cupcakes or I throw them away). I haven't ordered any online yet but I think it's a good idea.

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  5. Lynn:

    The photo in the background is one of those Orangina posters. Here a link to a web site that sells the poster:
    http://www.art.com/asp/search/ProductSearch-asp/_/search_String--orangina/posters.htm?filteroptions=0&isSearch=Y&RFID=054402&TKID=&CTID=&ui=DD548CEF2FFC4412B34B3E1B33520736

    If that link's too long: just go to www.art.com and search orangina.

    Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  6. Yes, those plastic containers from the grocery store bakery do work great. I've considered ordering some online, thought maybe you could recommend a good site =)

    Another thing that works great for transporting cupcakes is to put them back in the muffin tins & place the tins cake boxes. I use those boxers often for my business & they're inexpensive.

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  7. Anonymous10:40 AM

    Thanks for the info on the Orangina poster. I should have guesses. Where did you come up with the cupcake logo that you use in Cafe Press? I've never seen clipart of a cupcake liner. Keep up the good work.

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  8. Anonymous4:17 PM

    HI,
    Just found you on "My Yahoo" page. Love your idea. You make the cupcakes look fantastic and sound delicious. Is it possible to get recipes or book/page #'s for weeks 4,7,8,9 and what size pkg cream cheese for week 3? I know you're probably really busy. I would be grateful.=)Thank you, Heather.

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  9. Anonymous9:32 PM

    Hey Cupcake Queen. I'm so honored that you make my recipes! I'm getting ready to go on a "cupcake tour" in the midwest next week, and had to visit your site before I leave. You really are a cupcake queen!

    Julie

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  10. Anonymous8:46 AM

    Maple-y tasty goodness, baby! Thank you!

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  11. Lynn: Sorry to be so long in addressing your comment...I actually shot the cupcake liner myself and added the 52 in the middle in Fireworks. I had to shoot a number of them to get the right look...but it was fun to do.

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  12. Anonymous5:17 PM

    Dear Cupcake Queen,

    I, too, adore cupcakes. They are so sweet, petite and substantial. I noticed you mentioned that Burlington, VT, didn't provide enough in the way of cupcake discoveries. Just a few blocks away from Penny Cluse and City Market is the lovely, lovely, lovely cafe and pastry shop Mirabelles. Their cupcakes (along with their tortes, eclairs and other confections) are works of art that taste as good as they look. Stop in there on your next visit to Burlington, you won't be dissapointed! (And please know that I have no personal connection to Mirabelle's, I'm just feeling extra lucky to live nearby.)

    Sincerely,

    Burlington cupcake fan

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  13. Anonymous2:44 PM

    Hello. Love your site. Will you be posting the recipes for your posts that end with recipes soon. Or maybe have a link in the side bar with all the recipes. Thank you.

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