Homerun Derby Cupcakes

by Valerie
(New York)

We had New York Yankees birthday party for my son's first birthday. I decided to make individual cupcakes to resemble baseballs. They were a real "hit!"

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, cut length-wise
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

In a small saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean together until the milk just boils. Remove from heat and let cool for about 1 hour. Then remove the vanilla bean. Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the milk. Discard the remaining bean pod. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together the salt, flour and baking powder. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Alternately add the flour and milk mixture until well combined. Divide batter into about 20 lined or greased cupcake wells. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the middle cupcake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and then ice.

Using store bought vanilla icing and a spatula spread a very thin layer across the top of each cupcake, try to make it as smooth as possible.

Then take red icing and the smallest tip you have, draw 2 red semi circles to resemble the seams of a baseball.