As the deadline for my book manuscript approaches, I find more and more ways to procrastinate. This week, the project that was more compelling than my work was making cupcakes for JR’s eighth birthday party.
Confession: I do not usually bake for my children’s birthday parties. Some years ago, I found a baker in my area who makes amazing custom cakes — Jen Giovingo from Pastries So Tasty — and since that time I have outsourced my kids’ birthday cakes to her. Jen has made a dinosaur cake, a bird cake, a pink guitar cake and a few other amazing creations for us over the years. I’m a good baker, but cake decorating, especially of that kind, is beyond my ken.
This year, however, Jen had a conflict and could not make a cake for JR’s Pokémon-themed birthday party. I was not willing to outsource the all-important birthday cake to anyone but her, so I just decided that I would make one myself. Fortunately JR, who doesn’t love cake, requested cupcakes which made my job even easier.
JR’s Pokémon craze began last summer when he attended a camp at a local college. Trading Pokémon cards during recess was all the rage among the boys. JR went in knowing nothing about Pokémon and left with two binders full of cards. The categorizing and sorting endemic to this endeavor appeals to his ordered mind. This is the same kid who once memorized all the different horse breeds and spend his kindergarten year drawing over 150 different bird species. I don’t understand Pokémon, but I understand why JR loves Pokémon. He will classify anything that needs classifying.
So, when JR requested a Pokémon-themed birthday party, I was happy to oblige. Again, cake decorating is not my forte. But then I found an image of cupcakes decorated to look like a Poké Ball, which I gather is a thing in Pokémon, and it looked do-able. So I decided to give it a try.
This cupcake and frosting combination is delicious and versatile, so whether or not you are interested in creating Poké Ball cupcakes, you will want to file away this recipe. A dash of warm spices like ginger and cardamom add interest to an otherwise basic cupcake and the cream-based frosting is easy to make and hardens to a nice, matte finish. Obviously, you can use these base recipes to create any kind of design you wish.
To make the Poké Ball design, put half of the icing into a piping bag and pipe white icing onto half of each cupcake. Dye the remaining icing red using gel food coloring and fill a second piping bag with red icing. Frost the second half of each cupcake with red.
Then place a mini marshmallow in the center of each cupcake. Using a black decorating pen, preferably one that will harden OR melted chocolate, draw a black line down the center of each cupcake and around the mini marshmallow. Boom! Poké Balls! Easy enough for a cake decorating amateur and I guarantee a very happy Pokémon fan.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 ounces (1 stick plus two TB) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 extra-large eggs (or 2 large eggs plus one egg yolk) at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup whole milk
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line two cupcake pans with paper liners.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, cardamom and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides down after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and combine.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients and scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Stir just until combined.
- Divide batter evenly among prepared pans, filling each cavity about half to two-thirds full, about two heaping tablespoons per cupcake.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting, sift the powdered sugar and ginger together in a bowl. Whisk in the heavy cream until smooth.
- Spread icing on each cupcake with an offset spatula or pipe it with a piping bag.
