Royal Wedding Peach Moscato Cupcakes

In honor of the Royal Wedding, I decided to try making some cupcakes from scratch based on a recipe recently posted by "Cupcake Kelly" on her "An American Cupcake in London" blog. Because Will and Kate will have a variation of fruit cake at their wedding reception, she decided to make a version of fruit cake that is probably a bit more tolerable -- Bubbly Peach Cupcakes. The cake is made with champagne and also includes fresh peach chunks that sink to the bottom of the cupcake when baked.

Naturally, I decided to do some tweaking to the recipe and substituted moscato for champagne. I've never been that fond of champagne (and I've tried some really disgusting champagne cakes when I was cake-testing), so I decided to use moscato, a sweet dessert wine. I purchased a bottle of Angioletta Moscato from Hy-Vee. When I got home, I realized I had accidently purchased regular moscato instead of moscato d'Asti. I decided to still use my selection, but the sparkling qualities of d'Asti may have produced a slightly different taste.

Peach Moscato Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick/115g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla (peach flavoring also optional)

1/2 cup moscato or moscato d'Asti

1 cup diced peaches

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line muffin tray with paper liners. In a small bowl whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

2. With an electric mixer on high speed mix cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating until combined. Add in the vanilla and peach flavoring (if using).

3. Add the flour mixture in two batches alternating with the moscato until all incorporated. Fold in the chopped peaches.

4. Fill each cup three quarters full and bake for 25 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Makes 16 cupcakes

For frosting, I used my grandmother's signature vanilla frosting recipe -- it's a family secret! Visit Kelly's blog to see her frosting recipe that included champagne.

Wedding Traditions to Break!

Recently I discovered some blogs through getmarried.com. A recent post by SummerK got me thinking about the role of traditions in modern weddings. As I've mentioned before, I don't really consider myself a traditional bride. I like to do things just a little differently and more memorable. My mother will officiate our wedding and my dad will walk me down the aisle, but that's pretty much where the traditions stop when it comes to our wedding. On her blog, SummerK lists 10 classic wedding traditions that "were made to be broken," and based on my current plans, I seem to already be breaking quite a few of them. Below is eight breakable traditions from SummerK's list, and my reactions to each one.


My engagement ring



1. Diamonds Aren’t Every Girl’s Best Friend — I have mixed feelings about this one. My engagement ring is all diamonds, and I think the diamond will always have a firm place in the realm of engagement rings. However, I've been entertaining less traditional ideas for my wedding band. My birthstone is garnet and Alex's stone is amethyst, so I've been thinking about customizing a wedding band with these two alternating stones separated by diamonds. In the future, an anniversary ring could be added with the birthstone(s) of your child(ren).


2. Wedding March — I absolutely will not walk down the aisle to "Here Comes the Bride." No way. Among the most recent weddings I have been to, this seems like the most common tradition to break. Even Pachelbel's Canon has been overdone. I haven't decided what song would suit me best, but I'm not against playing a song with lyrics. The JK Wedding Entrance Dance went viral on the internet and even sent the wedding party to do a reenactment on the Today Show.

3. The Big “Unveiling” — Ever since I was a little girl, I've told my mom that I will never wear a veil on my wedding day. What's the point? I may wear a headpiece or something similar in my hair, but brides spend a lot of money on hair and make-up so they shouldn't have to cover it up.

4. “Obey” is SO Not OK — I have been absolutely appalled when I've attended modern weddings that have not made the necessary updates to the vows. Traditional vows that say "obey" and announce the couple as "Man and Wife" don’t reflect the modern state of women. Have a chat with your officiant and see what kind of options you have for vows if you are choosing not to write your own. Typically, an officiant will have a handful of different version the couple can choose from and make minor changes to reflect them as a couple.

5. Crossing the (Receiving) Line – I absolutely hate waiting in line after the ceremony to give the bride and groom a hug. This tradition is particularly awkward for the guests of guests who have been dragged along as a date to the ceremony. I'd rather chat with the couple briefly at the reception and offer more personalized congratulations.

6. Dance, Dance Revolution – Yeah, I want to do most of the traditional dances -- one with Alex, one with my dad, and perhaps a "dollar dance," but I also like the idea of doing a moderately choreographed dance with my husband and/or bridal party.

7. Skip the Hokey Music — For the most part, I like to skip classic songs like "Celebrate" and the chicken dance, but there are just some songs you have to play at the reception, like "The Cupid Shuffle" and the "Cha Cha Slide." And, for my family, no dance is complete without a little AC/DC.

8. Let Them Eat Cake (At Someone Else’s Wedding) — In a previous post, I mentioned that cupcakes will replace the traditional tiered wedding cake at our reception, but pie or a dessert bar are just as much fun. Plus, these modern options are easier to package and send along with guests after the reception.


Cupcakes from Scratch Cupcakery (Cedar Falls, IA)



Cupcakes!

With popular shows like DC Cupcakes and Cupcake Wars, cupcakes have become the new craze. And they're showing up at weddings, too! In addition to the Norwegian wedding cake, we will also be offering our guests cupcakes from Scratch Cupcakery in Cedar Falls, Iowa. My parents visited us last weekend and brought a dozen cupcakes to sample.

My favorite:
"Wedding Day" almond cream cake | vanilla buttercream frosting

My parents' favorite:
"Raspberry Love"  vanilla cake | raspberry buttercream frosting

"Raspberry Love" and "Wedding Day"

A few more samples. We also tried "Mocha," "Chocolate Chip,"

"Mint Chip," "Red Velvet," and "Turtle."

Although all the cupcake samples were delicious, I really want to try the cupcake called "Monkey Business." It's banana cake with peanut butter frosting. YUMM! They only offer this cupcake on Wednesdays in the shop, so I will have to make a special weekday trip up to Cedar Falls.

How can you Display Cupcakes at a Wedding?

• Tiered cupcake stands to resemble a wedding cake
• Individually on a dessert table or at the guest tables
• A custom-built display

Photo from marreroevents.com

Why Cupcakes?

You can offer guests more variety in cake and frosting flavors:

•  I will have at least two flavors at my wedding

Cupcakes will save you money in your wedding budget:

• Professionally made cupcakes range in price from $2-4 (The average cake cost is between $5-6/piece).
• Caterers, hotels, event centers don't charge cake cutting fees for cupcakes because there is nothing to cut! (be sure to confirm this with your wedding planner or caterer).
• Deliver fees for cupcakes are often much cheaper because they are easier to transport than a large wedding cake.