If you’re planning a Little League party, a sports fan’s birthday bash or an afternoon watching the your favorite team on television, baseball cupcakes are a natural.
Cupcakes are easy, and they’re trendy. Even better, they’re fun.
I’ve probably decorated hundreds like baseballs to celebrate my son’s May birthday. I’ve sent them as school birthday treats and served them at parties.
To make your own batch, bake up your favorite recipe from a mix or from scratch (we’ve offered a lemonade-infused, mix-based angel food version). Then top the cupcakes with white frosting and get out the decorating icing. Purchased varieties are the best way to get the bright red and true black you need.
Decorate each cupcake with two curved black lines to resemble seams. Add red “stitches,” and you’re done.
And if you want to go the not-so-easy route, you can bake a baseball cake. I did – once. At the crafts store, I bought a special pan, two half-spheres that came with metal rings to keep them from rolling off the baking sheets. I baked and assembled the cake, slicing a bit off the bottom to keep it steady, then loaded homemade buttercream into a pastry bag. Thousands of little star-shaped poufs of frosting later, the cake was covered with white. Poufs of red and black icing formed the seams and stitches. It was gorgeous – until the icing started melting in the warm afternoon and sliding off the cake.
Fortunately, the boys in attendance were happy to eat up anyway.
LEMONADE ANGEL CUPCAKES
Yield: 22 to 24 (2 1/2-inch) cupcakes.
1 (16-ounce) package angel food cake mix
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
Frosting (such as Creamy Lemonade Frosting; see recipe)
Place a rack in the center of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees.
Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners.
Place cake mix, water and lemonade concentrate in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it 3/4 of the way. Remove any empty liners.
Bake until cupcakes are golden and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 20 to 22 minutes.
Let pans cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, then pick them carefully out of the cups with your fingertips. Let cool completely on a wire rack, about 15 minutes, before frosting.
PER UNFROSTED CUPCAKE (based on 24 servings): 82 calories; no fat; no cholesterol; 1.5g protein; 19g carbohydrate; 11g sugar; no fiber; 140mg sodium; 23mg calcium; 41mg potassium.
Adapted from “Cupcakes From the Cake Mix Doctor,” by Anne Byrn (Workman, 374 pages, $13.95)
CREAMY LEMONADE FROSTING
Yield: 3 cups (enough for 24 cupcakes).
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 cups sifted powdered sugar (sift before measuring; see note)
3 tablespoons frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (colored portion of peel), optional
Place cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds.
Stop the mixer; add sugar, lemonade concentrate and zest. Beat on low speed until sugar is incorporated, 1 minute, then beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 1 minute more.
PER SERVING (based on 24 servings): 129 calories; 7g fat (49 percent calories from fat); 4.5g saturated fat; 20mg cholesterol; 1g protein; 15.5g carbohydrate; 15g sugar; no fiber; 29mg sodium; 9mg calcium; 14mg potassium.
Note: This makes a soft, fluffy icing. For a stiffer icing, which is easier to decorate, gradually add up to 2 cups more sugar.
FROSTING INSTRUCTIONS
1. Bake cupcakes and let cool. Ice the cupcakes with white frosting. You can use a jar lid or a canning-jar ring to make an impression where the “seams” will go.
2. Decorate each cupcake with two curved black lines to resemble seams. Purchased varieties of colored icing are the best way to get a bright red and a true black.
3. Add red “stiches,” and you’re done.
