Have you ever heard of blue velvet cupcakes? Yeah, they are kind of a new thing. We all know the chocolately, gorgeous, red velvet cakes that fill our PInterest feeds, but blue velvet is on the way up! This review was made possible by Double Duty Divas and Dawn. I was provided the featured product free of charge to facilitate my review, but all opinions are 100% mine.
My four-year old is a MAJOR fan of the color blue. She wanted a blue cake, a blue bike and a blue-haired doll for her birthday. It’s not surprise she was a HUGE fan of these cupcakes! She especially loved the icing — what girl doesn’t? A cupcake MUST have icing. So, slather on some of that buttery, sugary stuff to top off your favorite cupcake. I won’t tell anyone.
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Unfortunately, after you make these Blue Velvet cupcakes, you are going to have quite a mess on your hands — really. My fingers are STILL blue as I am typing this. Now, add some kiddos to your baking process, and things can get really messy!
My kids love to measure the flour, add the sugar and especially love running the mixer. If the kids see me grabbing some cupcake tins, it’s all over. They begin asking what recipe I am making and what ingredients they need to grab from the pantry. When it comes to baking goodies, No coaxing is needed to get my kiddos in the kitchen. Many times I am tempted to say, “No, mommy is baking this time all by herself.” but I know that there are too many reasons why we should bake together.
I can envision cracked eggs on the ground, spilled sugar on the floor and tiny, floured hand-prints all over the counter-tops. Somehow, some way, I muster a smile and welcome my kids into the kitchen. In the end, I know I have made the right decision when I see them trying to pipe some icing on their finished products. It’s just too cute to see them concentrate so hard, only to burst out in giggles when their icing adventures become leaning towers.
After all the baking, comes my least favorite part of all. It must be my kids’ least favorite part as well because they tend to scamper away after we ice all the cupcakes. Yep, you guessed it — clean-up duty!
I tend to stick with a system when it comes to cleaning the kitchen. Clear and wipe down the table and counters first, and then pile all the dishes in the sink. In case you haven’t guessed, I do not own a dishwasher. Gasp! I know. With six kiddos and all the baking and cooking we do, I should have one — right? But, reality is simply this — I don’t. So, instead of pouting and wishing, I just get to scrubbing.
My top pick for dishwashing liquid is Dawn Ultra Dishwashing Liquid. Why? Because this frugal, baking mom believes that less is more! Dawn cuts through the butter, shortening and oily greasiness that I encounter on a daily basis. Just one drop will get my sink full of sudsy, grease-fighting dish water!
I also like that I don’t have to add more and more soap on the hard-to-scrub dishes. So, using Dawn actually saves me time in the long-run. I can spend less time re-scrubbing the dishes and more time enjoying cupcakes with my kiddos! Who wants to be in the kitchen all day anyway?
If you’re a busy, cooking, baking and penny-pinching mom like me, make sure you grab Dawn Ultra next time your are in the cleaning supplies aisle in your local shopping market. You’ll be glad you did when you see how much less soap you need per sinkful of dishes. Don’t worry, you can thank me later for saving you time and money on your clean-up duty!
Blue Velvet Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon dark blue food coloring
1 dab violet gel food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon vinegar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Now, spray a nonstick spray on your cupcake pans. Next, stir together dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry. Whisk briskly until all ingredients are combined and smooth. Fill cupcake tins with batter 3/4 full and bake 17-19 minutes. Completely cool before frosting with your favorite homemade frosting. Yields: 24 cupcakes
Need some help baking up these blue beauties and with clean-up duty? Dawn has been gracious enough to giveaway a Blue Velvet Cupcake Baking Kit, consisting of an apron, blue food coloring, Dawn Ultra Blue Cupcakes recipe, Dawn Ultra samples, mixing bowl, non-stick cupcake tin and a spatula. That’s everything you need to whip up your own batch of these Blue Velvet Cupcakes and clean up all the blue and white goo afterwards! Sounds like a plan, right? Enter the easy, peasy giveaway below! Open to U.S residents only.
