birthday cupcakes

Anabelle's first birthday was on Wednesday, and though we had just gotten home from Quilt Market, I wanted to do something to celebrate the milestone. My mom and Dave's parents were all visiting, so we made a nice dinner and I decided to make vanilla cupcakes instead of birthday cake, so she could have her own little cake. With the exception of a bite of key lime pie and a couple tastes of ice cream, this was her first real sugar, and definitely her first cake.

I found the cake recipe online here. I used the cupcake version and varied the icing slightly, using sour cream and a little brandy instead of milk and vanilla. They were delicious - this is that clean, sugar-cookie white cake recipe that I've been looking for for years!

Unfortunately, although Anabelle loved the presentation, she was not down with the cake. She ended up with a healthy portion of buttercream on her face and in her hair, and the rest of the cupcake was soundly rejected. Ah, well - maybe next year.