I’ve had a love/hate relationship with cooking these past few weeks. Perhaps fueled by the exhaustion I have from cooking on a camp stove for 10 days, coupled with the lazy days of summer here at home.
It was mid-week when I finally jumped into gear. We got word that there was an opening for the girls to participate in CupKAYke Wars on Friday, a fundraiser for a local park (Kay Park, hence the CupKAYke). The girls were excited and immediately began planning what kind of cupcake to bake, creating a timeline to get it all finished.
After a bit of brainstorming, they decided that it would be a vanilla cupcake, raspberry filling and white chocolate frosting (eventually named Raspberry Cloud Cupcake). Keely made the cupcake, Nicole the raspberry filling, and Addie the frosting. I stood in the wings, giving them insight on how to prepare their part.
In the end, they didn’t win best decorated, best tasting, or fan favorite, but their cupcakes raised about $100 for the fundraiser. That evening as I tucked them in for the night, I congratulated them on creating such a delicious cupcake, and asked each to share with me something they learned.
Keely liked the advice I gave her on mixing the batter by hand, “Figuring out when it was blended and fluffy enough,” she explained.
For Nicole, who made the raspberry filling, it was learning how to tend to the fresh fruit as it was boiling in the stove, and then straining out the seeds. “I never knew how easy it is to make a filling from scratch!”
As for Addison, the frosting gave her the opportunity to find the proper texture of a frosting, “I love how fluffy it is!”
For me, it as the joy I experienced as I listed to the girls complementing each other, supporting themselves in their endeavors.
Win or lose in the local competition, we all knew they were winners.
From this, I’m reminded of how I feel when I make something for the family, and I’m back in the kitchen, getting down to the business of feeding the family.
Have fun this week — get the family involved in making a new recipe and feel the joy!
Here is our recipe for the Raspberry Cloud Cupcake – a winner in our family!
