Last Minute Cupcakes

I promised Firecracker that I'd make cupcakes for her class Valentine's party...and then before I knew it, it was 11:30 am and the cupcakes needed to be delivered by 1 pm...and we had no powdered sugar in the house.  I thought about switching to cookies...but that didn't really seem any easier.  I thought about bar cookies, which would have been a lot easier...but all of our favorite recipes call for chocolate...and one classmate is allergic. 

So with less than an hour and a half to have the cupcakes mixed, cooked, cooled, frosted, and delivered I figured I better get started.

I used a cake mix...because no matter now much time I have, I always use a cake mix, and popped them in the oven.  Lucky for the kids we had red cupcake liners.  Then I realized unless I wanted to add a trip to the store in for powdered sugar, I better make some 7-Minute Frosting.  7-Minute Frosting takes longer to make than buttercream...but it turns out is actually better if you're in a hurry...since it's a cooked frosting, it works perfectly fine to frost warm cupcakes.

I've sung the praises of 7-Minute Frosting before...but here's why we love it.

• We like the flavor better.
• It still has plenty of sugar...but egg whites instead of fat, so while not "healthy" it is "healthier."
• It's easier to spread across a cake top without breaking the surface and getting crumbs in the frosting.
• You can still decorate with words and things using piping bags or ziploc baggies (although not with quite as much fine detail.
• You don't want to frost a hot cake, but if you're trying to hurry and finish decorating the cake, your cake doesn't have to be all the way cooled because the frosting is cooked/warm in the first place (no butter or shortening to melt.)
• It's has a super creamy texture (yum!), but it not at all greasy, so the clean-up is a lot easier.

I've also decided that piping the frosting on is faster and less messy than spreading it on with a knife, so piped it out with a star tip through a gallon sized ziploc bag.  (I have the real piping bags, but I'm usually too lazy to get them out.

Then add a few shakes of colored sugar...

...and you're ready to go...

...with enough time to snap a few pretty pictures on a saucer and doily...and still deliver them to the school with 10 minutes to spare.

7-Minute Frosting Recipe (from my general Betty Crocker cookbook)...sorry can't figure out why the spacing is weird here.

Combine in top of double boiler:
2 egg whites (1/4 cup)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar or 1 tbsp light corn syrup
1/3 cup water

Mix ingredients together in the top of a double boiler. Place over boiling water. (Water should not touch the bottom of the bowl your frosting mixture is in.) Beat on high for 7 minutes over the boiling water.  After 7 minutes remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla. Beat on high for a couple more minutes until spreading consistency.

We've used 7-Minute Frosting to great effect on several other occasions too...
Such as our New Years Cupcakes...

Ghost Cupcakes...

And Very Hungry Caterpillar Cupcakes...

And for more easy cupcake ideas, you can browse through my posts here.

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