Vacation

Hello! I'm on vacation. Wanna see? Of course you do. 

Vacation tastes like melt in your mouth strawberries the size of your thumbnail. Of tart cherries and flaky whitefish. Of...Uncle Ben's rice pilaf? 

With a name like cupcake, you have to bake with it.

My family went to a fairly nice restaurant the other day. My dad, trying to watch his salt, inquired as to how salty the rice pilaf would be. 

"Well, it's Uncle Ben's," the waitress offered candidly. She also revealed the au gratin potatoes contained powdered cheese. My eyes widened, and as she left the table, we burst into a fit of giggles. The rest of the night was spent guessing where our various entrees had come from. Mashed potatoes? Definitely from a bag. A bacon topping was definitely of the precooked, microwave for 15 seconds a slice variety. Though the food definitely could have been better, we had a great time, and by the end of the night, were erupting in fits of laughter. And sometimes those are the best meals. 

I had a peanut butter pie for dessert that night, which was most definitely Sysco, or something of that sort. These cupcakes are totally homemade, as usual, and fancy to boot. I even used one of my precious peaches!

Peach Prosecco Cupcakes

adapted from Sing for Your Supper

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 egg whites
3 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup prosecco (or any other sparkling wine, or even sparkling juice would be fine)
1 small peach, peeled and diced

(Mkay, here's a note. To peel a peach, make an X in the bottom of it, like this:

Then, place the peach in boiling water for around 40 seconds. Immediately plunge it into ice cold water. The skin should peel right off).

Prosecco Frosting

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup prosecco
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 drops red and yellow coloring, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a mixing bowl beat together butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, then beat in egg whites one at a time.

Add in flour mixture and prosecco in three alternating additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Gently stir in the diced peaches. Pour batter into cupcake liners, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

To make the frosting beat together the butter and vanilla. Add powdered sugar in one cup increments, then add prosecco, milk and food coloring. Frost cupcakes once they have completely cooled. Makes 2 dozen cupcakes.