My youngest son was born in Dublin, where we lived for over 8 years. So, as the only Irish kid in his French school, we thought it would be fun to explain a bit about St. Patrick's Day to his classmates...and the American in me couldn't resist the opportunity to bake green-hued goodies.
I found a great recipe for vanilla cupcakes here, and created a gradation going from lime to grass green with food coloring to get the ombre effect (after separating the batter into three bowls.) We topped the cakes with a basic vanilla buttercream frosting, golden nonpareils, and fondant shamrocks.
After a busy Sunday afternoon (our Paris-sized oven fits 6 cupcakes at a time; there are 30 students in his class), he trotted off to school this morning - balancing boxes of cake and prepared to discuss the fate of snakes in Ireland, amongst other things. Lá féile Pádraig sona daoibh!
BASIC VANILLA BUTTERCREAM:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered (icing) sugar
½ vanilla pod
1 tsp. salt
Milk (approx 3 tbsp)
1. Chop the butter into cubes and quickly mix until smooth. I make my frosting in a food processor but you can also use a mixer or do it by hand, although that takes a bit more elbow grease.
2. Add the sugar, vanilla, and salt, and mix briefly.
3. Add the milk and keep adding and mixing until the frosting is the proper consistency - you want it firm enough to pipe, but soft enough that it spreads easily.
