by Sheryl Berk
“Don’t be late for the movie,” Kylie reminded him.
“I won’t! I’ll bring popcorn. I googled the movie, and it looks really creepy. I’m psyched!”
Lexi waited till he had shut the door behind him to make one last comment to Kylie. “I know you don’t want me meddling any more in your relationship…” she began.
“Lex, haven’t you learned your lesson?”
“I have! But OMG, he likes monster movies? Kylie, he’s a keeper!”
Kylie smiled. “Ya think?”
“Ahem,” Jenna interrupted them. “We have a ninety-six-year-old not getting any younger who needs four dozen cupcakes in the morning. Can we please get back to baking?”
Lexi took off her dirty apron and tied a clean one around her waist. “Baking before boys!” she vowed. “Cupcakes before crushes!” And this time, she really, truly meant it.
Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup milk
3 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons cotton candy extract or flavor (I like LorAnn Oils.)
Pink food coloring
Light-blue food coloring
Directions
1. Have a grown-up help you preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. With a grown-up’s help, heat the butter until melted in a small saucepan over medium heat, and allow it to cool.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Transfer these ingredients to the large bowl of an electric mixer.
4. Add milk, egg whites, and cotton candy extract, and mix all together on medium speed until smooth.
5. Add butter, and mix again until combined.
6. Pour the batter into two bowls, and use the food coloring to dye one pink and one blue. Use just a few drops, and mix and check the color before adding more. A little goes a long way, and you don’t want the color to be too intense.
7. Spoon pink batter into each cupcake liner, about one-fourth full, and then add blue batter on top. Use a toothpick to swirl the two colors together. The batter should fill the liner about halfway to the top.
8. Bake for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
9. Have an adult remove the pan from the oven, and allow the cupcakes to cool completely, about 15 minutes, before frosting. Because the cupcake flavor is so sweet, I like a simple vanilla buttercream frosting on top.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the sugar and butter together on medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add cream and vanilla, and continue to beat. The frosting should be smooth and spreadable. If it’s too thick, add a spoonful or two more cream, checking consistency after each addition. If the frosting becomes too watery, add a little more confectioners’ sugar.
Cotton Candy Toppers
1 bag cotton candy (I like Charms Fluffy Stuff.)
4 plastic straws
Directions
1. Cut each straw into three equal pieces.
2. Pull a “puff” of cotton candy from the bag, and insert the straw piece into it.
3. Poke the straw through the center of your cupcake frosting so it stands straight up. Now your cupcakes are carnival worthy!
Strawberry Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes
2/3 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
2 egg whites
Directions
1. Have a grown-up help you preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. With the grown-up’s help, puree the berries in a small food processor.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In another bowl, mix together strawberry puree, milk, and vanilla.
5. Cream together sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
6. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
7. Now add half the flour mixture, then half the milk mixture, then the rest of the flour, followed by the rest of the milk. Mix until batter is smooth.
8. Fill cupcake liners two-thirds full with batter. Bake for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
9. Have an adult remove the pan from the oven, and allow the cupcakes to cool completely, about 15 minutes, before frosting.
Goat Cheese Frosting
I like how this frosting has tanginess to it—a perfect balance for the sweet cupcakes!
8 ounces goat cheese
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
6 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cream or milk
Directions
1. Allow goat cheese, cream cheese, and butter to sit out until they are slightly soft and at room temperature.
2. In a large bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together the goat cheese, cream cheese, and butter until smooth.
4. Add the sugar and salt mixture one cup at a time.
5. The frosting should be smooth and spreadable. If it is too thick, add a tablespoon or two of cream or milk, mixing and checking consistency after each addition. If the frosting becomes too watery, add a little more confectioners’ sugar.
You can bake a peanut butter cup right into the middle of the chocolate batter, or save to decorate the top of the frosting.
Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 12 cupcakes
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Directions
1. Have a grown-up help you preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
5. Add the flour mixture and the milk; alternating between them as you beat well.
6. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full. Bake for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
7. Have an adult remove the pan from the oven, and allow the cupcakes to cool completely, about 15 minutes, before frosting.
Peanut Butter Frosting
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup evaporated milk
Mini peanut butter cups
Directions
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat together peanut butter and butter until smooth.
2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat until combined.
3. Add milk, beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. If frosting is too thick, you can add a few drops more milk—just mix and check consistency after each addition.
4. Top each cupcake with a mini peanut butter cup.
You will need:
8 solid-colored cupcake liners
1 small safety pin
1 green pipe cleaner
Scissors
Directions
1. On a flat surface like a countertop, flatten each of the cupcake liners and then stack one on top of the other with the inside facing up.
2. Ask a grown-up to help you use the pin to poke a hole through the entire stack.
3. Take your pipe cleaner and begin threading (from outside of liner in) through the center hole.
4. Bend the end of your pipe cleaner into a little knot to secure the liners into place, then slide all the liners so they’re up tight against the knot.
5. Working from the inside out, scrunch each cupcake liner around the pipe cleaner knot. The liners closer to the middle will fold in tighter, and the outside ones will be more open—just like the petals of a real flower.
6. Gently pinch and shape your corsage until you’re happy with how it looks.
7. Trim the pipe cleaner with scissors so the tail is about six inches long. Wrap it around the non-pin side of the safety pin a few times and tuck it under tightly. Now pin the corsage on your favorite person!
Many thanks to all our family and friends who make “Cupcake” possible:
The Kahns, Berks, and Saperstones, as always, for their love and support. Daddy and Maddie: love you to the moon and back!
Our supersweet agents, Katherine Latshaw and Frank Weimann from Folio Lit; and our great team at Sourcebooks Jabberwocky: Steve Geck, Kate Prosswimmer, Alex Yeadon, and Elizabeth Boyer.
All of our Cupcake Club fans who come to every signing, preorder our books, and race to bookstores the day the next book is out—and share their enthusiasm for the series with us! Hugs and sprinkles!
Sheryl Berk is the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Soul Surfer. An entertainment editor and journalist, she has written dozens of books with celebrities, including Britney Spears, Jenna Ushkowitz, and Zendaya. Her daughter, Carrie Berk, is a renowned cupcake connoisseur and blogger (facebook.com/PLCCupcakeClub; carriescupcakecritique.shutterfly.com; Instagram @plccupcakeclub) with more than 100,000 followers at the tender young age of twelve! Carrie cooked up the idea for the Cupcake Club series while in second grade. To date, she and Sheryl have written fifteen books together (with many more in the works!). Peace, Love, and Cupcakes had its world premiere as a delicious new musical at New York City’s Vital Theatre in 2014. The Berk ladies are also hard at work on a new series, Fashion Academy, as well as its musical version, Fashion Academy: The Musical, which premiered in New York City in October 2015.
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