A few weeks ago, a friend of ours, Matt, asked me to make a special cupcake order for his girlfriend Melanie’s 30th birthday (which is today). I usually don’t do this, mainly because I don’t have the time or the space in my kitchen for tons of cupcake orders, let alone the patience to create the kinds of orders I usually get; like make 90 cupcakes for a Bar Mitzvah, in 24 hours… all by myself. I keep saying, “Until I get a bigger kitchen or open a bakery, NO ORDERS!” But of course this was a special request for a special person, plus it was more than just an order, it was for a friend. Melanie is awesome, she used to have bright red hair just like I did, she has a tattoo of a sugar skull (and you know my obsession with those) which I’ll talk more about in a minute, and is one of the few females I like and get along with. So I said absolutely, and I was super excited to find out what he had in mind, while also secretly hoping he wasn’t going to order 100 cupcakes, five different kinds in all. But he asked if 30 cupcakes were possible, which was a relief… get it? 30 cupcakes, 30th birthday? Anyway… I suggested that I make 15 red velvet cupcakes with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting and 15 chocolate stout cupcakes with chocolate frosting to make 30 cupcakes… however, Matt informed me of a little nickname Melanie has: “Scrappy Butter Pecan Puerto Rican“… and so he asked if butter pecan cupcakes were possible. Hell yeah, they are! He also told me that Melanie was really interested in those cupcakes I made with the whiskey frosting. So I made 15 of the Maple Irish whiskey-frosted vanilla cupcakes and 15 butter pecan cupcakes.
…
I had never made butter pecan cupcakes before, and I can’t really ever remember having butter pecan cake to compare it to, and I barely remember having butter pecan ice cream once or twice, so thankfully I found this kick-ass recipe to steer me in the right direction. What can I say? I’m a New Yorker. We aren’t down with a lot of butter pecan stuff! But now I know, and it’s a great recipe to have up your sleeve (recipe coming, after all the pictures). The Maple Irish whiskey buttercream recipe is over here at this post, and I used Magnolia’s vanilla cupcake recipe.
We (Jay & myself) brought them over to her place last night (in a huge ass cake box!) and surprised her with them! She was definitely surprised. Especially at the mini-toppers made of her tattoo (done by her sister, Amanda Rodriguez).
…
Liners are from Cupcake Social (my new favorite cupcake supply shop), I kept ’em simple in plain black & brown. I wanted them to be unique and special, so I hand wrote the 30’s in red Candy Melts and red sparkly sugar for a little somethin’ extra. Messy looking, but I didn’t want ’em perfect. I wanted them to look like paint. The other “toppers” are a photo of Melanie’s actual tattoo that I mentioned above; I just cropped it, adjusted the brightness & contrast and voila! The other toppers are just letting everyone know what they’re eating. It was actually really cute because it looked like the cupcakes were talking in the box. The butter pecan cupcakes were also sprinkled with gold crystal sugar.
Melanie was really happy with them, which was what I hoped for. Happy birthday, Melanie!
BUTTER PECAN CUPCAKES (adapted from A Cuppy Cake Life from A Taste of Home Cookbook)
Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cups chopped pecans, toasted (see below)
- 1 cup softened butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and remaining cup of butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add the dry mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk. Mix well after each addition. Stir in the toasted pecans.
- Spoon ¼ cup of batter into each liner. Bake for 13-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 3 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
…
TOASTED PECANS
Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 cup pecans
- 1 ½ tablespoons salted butter, melted (the rule is approx. 1 tablespoon for every cup of pecans)*
Directions:
- In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the pecans and toss to coat. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until they’re toasted and fragrant, about 10-15 minutes. Do not overcook the pecans. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
..*The amount listed is JUST the amount for filling the cupcakes. For topping them, toast an extra half cup to a cup of pecans, I used pecan halves for the tops (I also added a little light brown sugar as they were toasting for a caramelized kinda flavor).
…
BUTTER PECAN FROSTING
Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 8 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 5 ounces evaporated milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions:
- Cream together the butter, vanilla and 3 cups of the powdered sugar.
- Once well incorporated, add evaporated milk alternating with a cup of sugar at a time until all ingredients have been added. Beat on high for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Spread or pipe on completely cooled cupcakes. Top with a few toasted pecan halves & gold crystal sugar.
I halved the recipe and I got about 16 cupcakes, I did not halve the frosting recipe and yet I got just enough. I pipe a little high… If you wanted to make it a cake, I’d say two 8″ pans would work. Just check the timing in the oven.
I was really happy with how these turned out, and like I said, Melanie & Matt were too.. and that’s the important thing. So no… I am not doing cupcake orders now. Stay tuned until that bakery is opened, or until I get a gourmet kitchen with more counter space. But for now I’m just glad these were a success.
I'm Marilla. A 30-something artist, hobby baker, home canning enthusiast, gardener, DIY-er, wife, mommy of a baby boy and dog mom (to another baby boy) from New York. 
So exciting! My mother is a freak for butter pecan anything, but I’ve never seen a cake or cupcake recipe that didn’t come from a box. Thank you for doing the research. I will try these out for her next birthday!
Sweet! I’m glad to be of service! 🙂
Magnificent web site. Lots of useful information here.
I’m sending it to several buddies ans also sharing in delicious.
And naturally, thank you for your sweat!
Hey there! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew
where I could find a captcha plugin for my comment form?
I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty
finding one? Thanks a lot!
After looking into a handful of the articles on your website, I really like your technique
of writing a blog. I book marked it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking
back soon. Please visit my web site too and let me know
your opinion.
Keep on writing, great job!
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you design this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
Plz reply as I’m looking to construct my own blog
and would like to know where u got this from. cheers
As soon as I found this web site I went on reddit to share some of the love
with them.
Hello there! This is my first visit to your blog!
We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a
community in the same niche. Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have
done a extraordinary job!
Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your
blog and in accession capital to assert that I get in fact enjoyed account your blog posts.
Any way I will be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access
consistently fast.
Its like you read my thoughts! You appear to grasp a lot approximately this, like you wrote the guide in it
or something. I feel that you simply can do with some %
to pressure the message house a little bit, however instead of that, this is
fantastic blog. A great read. I will definitely be back.
I will immediately grab your rss feed as I can’t to find your email subscription link or e-newsletter service.
Do you have any? Kindly permit me recognize in order that I
may just subscribe. Thanks.
Hi! Would you mind if I share your blog with my myspace group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content.
Please let me know. Thanks
Wow, that’s what I was searching for, what a data!
present here at this webpage, thanks admin of this web page.
It is not my first time to visit this site, i am visiting this web page dailly and
obtain good data from here daily.
Undeniably consider that that you said. Your favourite
justification seemed to be at the net the simplest factor to understand
of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while other folks think about issues that
they just don’t realize about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the highest as well as outlined out the whole thing
with no need side-effects , people can take a signal. Will likely
be back to get more. Thank you
Apple now has Rhapsody as an app, which is a great start, but it is currently hampered by the inability to store locally on your iPod, and has a dismal 64kbps bit rate. If this changes, then it will somewhat negate this advantage for the Zune, but the 10 songs per month will still be a big plus in Zune Pass’ favor.
Thank you a lot for sharing this with all people you
actually know what you are talking about!
Bookmarked. Kindly additionally visit my web site =).
We may have a link trade arrangement between us
There is definately a great deal to learn about this topic.
I like all the points you’ve made.
I am truly thankful to the owner of this site who has shared this wonderful post at here.
I was recommended this blog by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as no
one else know such detailed about my trouble. You’re amazing!
Thanks!
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon on a daily basis.
It will always be exciting to read through content from other
authors and practice something from their sites.
Thank you a lot for sharing this with all people you actually understand what you’re talking about!
Bookmarked. Kindly additionally talk over with my web site =).
We can have a hyperlink change agreement among us
Great work! This is the kind of information that are supposed
to be shared across the internet. Shame on Google for not positioning this publish upper!
Come on over and consult with my website .
Thanks =)
Having read this I believed it was extremely enlightening.
I appreciate you taking the time and energy to put this
short article together. I once again find myself spending a lot of time both reading and posting comments.
But so what, it was still worth it!
This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger.
I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your excellent post.
Also, I have shared your site in my social networks!
Hi there friends, its fantastic post concerning cultureand completely defined,
keep it up all the time.
Remarkable things here. I am very happy to
see your article. Thanks a lot and I’m having a look forward to
contact you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?
Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is an extremely well written article.
I’ll be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful info.
Thanks for the post. I will certainly comeback.