As stated before, I love to make gifts for people. With Father’s Day, It gives me the chance to make things for multiple people. In June, I not only have my dad and grandfather that I like to make something for, but I also have my mom and grandma’s birthday.
This year I decided to make all of them cupcakes. I started all of the cupcakes with a simple yellow cake from my Better Homes cookbook. This is by far my favorite cookbook I own and it was given to me by my grandma. Its copyright is 1968, so it is a little dated, but still a good-y! Quite frankly if you can get your hands on a Better Homes cookbook, do it. You won’t regret it.
If you have this edition, the recipe is on page 67.
It consists of:
2/3 c butter
1 ¾ c sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla
3 c cake flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 ¼ c milk
The instructions say to cream the butter. Then add the sugar and blend until light. Add the eggs and vanilla until fluffy. *Here is where I start to have issues because I feel my mix never gets fluffy enough.* Sift dry ingredients together and add to the butter mixture. Go back and forth between flour and milk to make it easier to work with. I never have cake flour on hand so I use all purpose. It makes enough for 2, 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. I use a 15×11 pan and it ends up baking about 10 minutes longer.
I love this cake recipe. It is great with a variety of frostings. My cake always comes out a little more dense than I would like but it still has a great flavor.
Due to the fact I made different types for each person, I will have to link different posts so that each one has its own glory and it doesn’t leave for a long post.
Grandpa (aka Poppie): PB&J cupcakes, HERE
Grandma: Lemon cupcakes, HERE
Mom: Strawberry Shortcake cupcakes, HERE
Dad: Donuts! Boston Cream, jelly filled, and traditional glazed, I used this yeast donut recipe attached HERE for all three of them. It was super easy to make and tasted great. For the glaze, I used the one in the recipe. When it came to the Boston Cream, I just chose the custard and chocolate icing that we like. For the jelly filled, pick your favorite jelly or jam. I used Smucker’s Blackberry jam because it is my dad’s favorite, seedless of course.
All of these were a hit by the recipients and I was very pleased with how well they turned out. If I had to rank the order that I liked the cupcakes best it would be the strawberry, then the lemon, then the pb&j. The peanut butter would have scored higher if I would have used more jelly.
I would love to hear from any of you who try these recipes or if you have one you want me to try!
2 replies on “Father’s Day”
I love how versatile this recipe is – who knew you could make PB&J cupcakes?? Did you have to adjust the baking time or temperature for making cupcakes versus an actual cake?
When it comes to cupcakes, I do adjust the time as needed. I have found that the easiest thing to do is to start with the lowest recommended baking time for cake and then do a few minutes additional if needed. I use different methods to determine if they are done as well. I look for the top to be pleasantly golden, that if you gently press on the top it springs back up, and then making sure a toothpick comes out clean.