Cupcakes in two parts

1. from Cupcakes Take the Cake: the question of pairing cupcakes with champagne.

cupcakes and champagne?

Um... YES. duh! Commenters suggested it for weddings or engagements parties. (files away that idea...)500 Cupcakes, and frosted them with the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Buttercream frosting (my favorite), and stuffed them with nutella. I'm uncertain about the number of flavors here, but I do think the buttercream is a lovely pairing for the chai cupcakes. I hope they go over well. I think the "chai powder" I used was not what was called for, but I'm not really sure what chai powder is. I ended up using the powdered instant chai that's the same as all those sweet instant coffees I was so fond on in college (roommate F's fault). Also, I'm uncertain about the recipe itself, and I may just add chai powder to my usual vanilla cupcake recipe.

Recipe issues:
it called for 2 cups of self-rising flour (for a dozen cupcakes- really 16). I consulted King Arthur to see how to make my own self-rising flour, since I just buy all-purpose. It said 1.5teaspoons of baking powder (and some amount of salt that I can't remember- the saltiness was fine) per1 cup of flour. So, 1T powder with 2cups flour. I tried very very hard not to overbeat, which is important when working with baking powder, but the cupcakes came out extremely dense... fine for a fibrous, healthy muffin, but not so much for a sweet and delicate cupcake. I feel that there was simply way too much powder, even with the assumption that I over beat. I've been trying to look around at other flour-to-powder ratios, but it seems normal. And now I can't remember which vanilla cupcake recipe I prefer! Oy.

I also frosted a few cupcakes with chocolate icing, to accomodate the tastes of the ladies who'll be eating them- I think the two specials (birthday girl and recent graduate girl) prefer chocolate to vanilla. I think technically I might be a special too (I'll explain later), but I got to lick the bowl after making the vanilla frosting :)