Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there who are visiting my blog today! I hope you are all treated special today and are shown the appreciation you all deserve! I wish I were nearer to my mom so I could really treat her today, but unfortunately, we are separated by many, many miles. However, at least I am lucky enough to see her in just a few more days!
On Thursday, Tony, Molly, and I will be on the road, heading up north to go back to my hometown for a visit. Over the weekend, we are (hopefully) spending a day in San Francisco, celebrating my Dad's birthday, celebrating my grandma's birthday at her belated 90th birthday luncheon, and then attending my friend's wedding later that evening. That's a lot of stuff crammed into one weekend, but I'm sure it will be a blast. Of course, I'm also trying to squeeze in spending time with friends that I don't have the pleasure of seeing very often, so we'll see how it all goes...I'm sure we'll be exhausted by the time we get back to Long Beach on Sunday. Once I return, I hope I'll be able to share more details of my eventful weekend trip here on the blog.
For now, we'll focus on today's special holiday: Mother's Day. My mom has had a HUGE effect on my life, in a multitude of ways. One, that I think I've mentioned very often, is her love of cooking and baking in the kitchen. Without her sharing her knowledge and creativity with me as a child, I don't think I would be as interested in food as I am today. I probably would've never had enough confidence in my cooking skills to start this blog, so I owe a lot to her just for that alone!
But, aside from that, she is also amazing in so many other ways. I'll share a few of her special qualities so you may get to know her better.
Growing up, my mom was always known by all my friends as the "nice mom." She is an extremely kind and caring person, which shines through her personality and actions. Back then, I never really thought much of it, but now I realize just why my friends saw her in that way. She would always greet my friends cheerfully, show interest in what they had to say, and tried her best to accommodate any guests and keep them happy and comfortable. My mom made our home a pleasant place for my friends to come visit.
She's also a very selfless person. She is extremely generous, giving her time and patience in ways that many others never would. My mom, unfortunately, is burdened with a lot within our family, and it's never been easy. Not only did she have to deal with raising my sister and I, but also, she has to take on the job of helping my aging, wheelchair-bound grandma (who I love also, Happy Mother's Day, Grandma!), her brother (AKA my Uncle Larry, who has down-syndrome and now Alzheimer's), and my loud, fun, crazy dad, who always has some sort of injury or medical issue that he's recovering from (the most recent being back surgery).
I don't quite know how she's able to handle it all and manage everyone's personal needs, doctor's appointments, meals, finances, etc. You name it, she does it all, and she does it all on her own. She spends so much time taking care of and worrying about others, she rarely has time to spend treating herself. When I first moved away, I felt conflicted because in a way, being independent would potentially relieve some stress and burden. One less person to worry about, I thought. However, now at times, I do feel a sense of guilt when I hear of the events going on with my uncle or grandma, and my inability to help out due to my lack of presence.
I wish I could win the lottery or have the ability to do something amazing to relieve all of these burdens of hers, and make her Mother's Day amazing, but for now, I suppose showing my love and appreciation is all I can do. Even if I did win the lottery and gave her millions of dollars, I don't think that could amount to the things that she has done for everyone else, including myself. My mom really is superwoman, or I guess I should say super-mom. Hopefully, someday (far, FAR away from now) when I'm a mother, I hope I can show that same compassion and selflessness to my own children, so that they may also be influenced in the way my mom has influenced me.
Now, as for these cupcakes, I think they are a PERFECT Mother's Day treat. These are buttermilk cupcakes with a cream cheese-pomegranate frosting, and these were made for our Mother's Day cupcake sale at my work. I think the soft pink color and pretty candy pearls just OOZE femininity and would delight any mother out there. These would also be great cupcake for any other elegant event, such as a bridal shower or baby shower (for a girl, of course).
These cupcakes begin with a light and fluffy buttermilk cupcake that is subtly sweet. It's paired with a delicious cream cheese frosting, that has been infused with a pomegranate juice reduction. All you do is purchase a small bottle of pomegranate juice (I used the POM brand), and simmer it in a saucepan over the stove for about 10 minutes, until the juice is reduced to a thicker, syrupy consistency. Once the reduction cools, you can add it to your favorite cream cheese frosting recipe. The pomegranate juice not only lends its sweet, tart flavor, but also gives the frosting a beautiful, natural pink hue.
This juice-reduction method could also be used to create other cream cheese frosting flavors! I'm sure it would taste great with other types of juices, such as pineapple (think: pineapple-coconut cupcake with cream cheese-pineapple frosting! YUM) or even apple juice (apple spice cupcake with cream cheese-apple frosting...and caramel drizzle? Aaaahhh!! Too many ideas!) But you get the idea, right? Yes, baking is precise, but there's always ingredients and flavors you can switch up, to make it your own.
I really loved the appearance of these cupcakes as well. Even straight from the oven, the cupcakes looked absolutely delicious. They had perfect domed tops, thanks to the use of cake flour. I almost always love recipes that use cake flour, since it helps make cupcakes fluffier and helps them rise taller. You may notice that I also used a slightly different piping method to frost these cupcakes. I used my usual go-to swirl tip (Wilton 1M), but instead of piping the swirl starting from the outside and working toward the center, I did the opposite. By starting at the center and swirling toward the outer edge, I ended up with a pretty rosette-style swirl. Since these cupcakes were for Mother's Day, I think this type of swirl seemed much more elegant and appropriate.
I hope you enjoy this cupcake recipe, and have a GREAT Mother's Day! And to the non-Mothers...just have a great day. :)
Buttermilk Cupcakes with Cream Cheese-Pomegranate Frosting
Print this recipe
Yield: about 30 cupcakes
Recipe slightly adapted from Apple a Day
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
4 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
For the frosting:
12 oz. (1 1/2 blocks) cream cheese, cold
12 oz. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
3-3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions:
For the cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated (do not overbeat!).
Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full. Be careful not to overfill, as batter will rise quite a bit. Bake for 22 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
Meanwhile, place pomegranate juice in a small saucepan and boil over medium-high heat until reduced to about 4 tablespoons, approximately 10 minutes. Once reduced, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
For the frosting:
Beat cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add in pomegranate reduction and beat just until combined. Add confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, until frosting reaches desired consistency. Frost cooled cupcakes and decorate as desired.
Notes:
- Frosting will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days
- Candy pearls can be purchased at most cake supply stores or in craft stores, in the cake decorating section. Some grocery stores may also carry candy pearls in the baking aisle.
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