Baby Cakes (7 page)

Delaney paced the floor of the waiting room anxiously. It had been over three hours since her mother went into labor. Where were those babies, and what was taking them so long?

“You're going to wear a hole in the carpet,” Sophie's mom Lisa cautioned her. “Don't you want to sit down, Delaney? I can get you a snack from the cafeteria.”

“Thanks, but I'm too nervous to eat anything,” she replied.

“Even cupcakes?” said a voice from down the hall. It was Kylie, with Jenna, Sadie, and Lexi—and they were carrying a box with them.

“We were saving these to give you after the show,” Kylie explained. “But you ran off before we could even say congrats.”

Lexi opened the lid. Inside were dark chocolate cupcakes topped with a cream cheese frosting—Delaney's favorite type of cupcake. On top, Lexi had drizzled a chocolate spiderweb.

“That is so cool!” Sophie exclaimed. “If she won't eat one, I will.”

“Save me one for later,” Delaney said. She was too distracted. “I just wish I knew what was happening.”

Finally, a doctor in blue scrubs came to find them. “Hmm, I was told to talk to the pig…” she said.

Delaney's hand shot up. “That's me!”

The doctor chuckled. “Yes, I can see that. The ears gave you away. My name is Dr. Hayem, and I'm your mom's doctor. Would you like to go meet your baby brother and sister?”

Delaney could barely contain her excitement. “You mean they're here?”

Dr. Hayem nodded. “Yes, and I think they're very eager to meet you.”

Delaney practically skipped down the hall of the maternity wing and into her mother's room. There, swaddled in one blue and one pink blanket, were her new siblings.

“Oh, my gosh! They're so pretty!” she said. “And perfect!”

“Your brother, Tristan, prefers to be called handsome,” her dad said, smiling. “We named him after your great grandpa Truman.”

“Do you want to hold him?” her mother asked. She looked exhausted but overjoyed.

“He's light as a feather!” Delaney said, cuddling the tiny baby in her arms. “Hello, little Tristan. Do you know who I am? I'm Delaney, your big sister.”

“We don't have a name for your little sister yet,” her father said. “We were hoping you could come up with one.”

The baby fussed in her mother's arms and began to wail.

“She's going to be a singer like her big sis,” her father said. “Just listen to those lungs!”

He took Tristan from her and handed her the pink bundle.

“Don't cry, little girl,” Delaney cooed. “I'm here.” The infant instantly calmed and opened her blue eyes to look at Delaney.

“Oh, honey, she loves you!” her mom exclaimed.

“I love her too. And I know exactly what we can name her: Charlotte.”

Her parents looked at each other and smiled.

“That's perfect,” her mom said softly. “Charlotte is a beautiful name—for a spider as well as a baby.”

“Tristan and Charlotte Noonan it is,” her father announced. “You think you can forgive them for stealing your spotlight today?”

Delaney planted a tiny kiss on Charlotte's forehead. “Oh, that's okay,” she said. “There will be lots of other musicals. It's not every day you get to be a big sister.”

•••

After a week at home with the twins, Delaney learned firsthand what it was like to be a big sister. She had to admit things were never quite the same. In fact, they were much better! Yes, the babies woke everyone up at 2 a.m. to be fed and needed their diapers changed
all
the time. But every time Tristan or Charlotte cried, the Noonans had their secret weapon!

“Laney, the babies are fussing. Could you please…” her frazzled mom said, testing a baby bottle of warm formula on the back of her wrist.

“Not a prob!” Delaney called, racing into the nursery. Tristan and Charlotte were all red-faced and sobbing.

“Aw, don't cry, Laney's here!” she said, picking up a baby in each arm. “So what will it be today? Beyoncé or Britney?” Charlotte wailed louder. “Britney it is!”

She placed the babies delicately back into their cribs, tucked them in their blankets, and hit the button on the MP3 player her dad had installed in the nursery.

The beat started to pound as Delaney danced around the room. “Oh, baby, baby, how was I supposed to know?” she belted. “That something wasn't right here?”

By the time she had finished the song, both infants were sleeping soundly. Her mother stood in the doorway smiling. “You have a gift with babies, that's for sure,” she said. “I must have sung ‘Rock-a-Bye Baby' all night, and I couldn't get them to settle down.”

Delaney shrugged. “They just share my taste in music,” she said. “Charlotte loves Britney, but Tristan is partial to Maroon 5. ‘Moves Like Jagger' knocks him out every time.”

Mrs. Noonan nodded her head. “Thanks for the advice, but I think what they're both partial to is their big sister.” She kissed Delaney on the top of her head. “Did I ever tell you how amazing you are?”

Delaney rolled her eyes. “Like, every day. But it's okay…you can say it again.” She shook her hips, wiggled her butt, and did her best Gaga impression: “I live for the applause, applause, applause…”

Tristan let out a loud burp. “Well,” her mom laughed. “I think you just got a burping ovation!”

Delaney smiled. Not even a stadium full of cheering fans chanting her name could have meant more to her. She leaned over the crib and whispered, “If you think that's impressive, just wait 'til you guys can taste my cupcakes.”

The cinnamon in the batter gives these sweet cupcakes a little spice—which is really nice!

For the cupcakes:

1 ¼ cups sugar

1 ½ cups applesauce

½ cup butter (1 stick), softened to room temperature

2 eggs

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Have a grown-up help you preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Line 24 regular-size muffin cups with cupcake liners. (Pink and princessy ones would be great!)

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar, applesauce, butter, and eggs on medium speed until the mixture is smooth.

4. Next, on low speed, beat in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

5. Fill the liners two-thirds full.

6. Bake approximately 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

7. Cool and frost.

For the vanilla frosting:

½ cup butter (1 stick)

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla

4 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla on medium speed.

2. Slowly add the milk, one tablespoon at a time. (You can add a little more if the frosting seems too thick.)

3. Continue mixing on medium to high speed until the frosting is light and fluffy.

4. If you want, you can add a few drops of food coloring to turn it pink, purple, or powder blue.

5. Decorate with sprinkles, Cheerios, glass slippers…anything your heart desires!

These zingy and springy cupcakes are great to serve for brunch, lunch, or even a backyard BBQ!

For the cupcakes:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup milk

Zest and juice of two lemons

Directions

1. Have an adult preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until creamed. (The mixture should be light and fluffy.) Add the eggs and the vanilla, and beat on medium until combined.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed.

5. Now add the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix until just combined; try not to overmix!

6. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds full with the batter. I like to use an ice-cream scoop to get the perfect amount.

7. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

8. Cool before frosting.

For the Laffy Taffy Frosting:

10 pieces of fun-size lemon Laffy Taffy

2 tablespoons milk

½ cup butter (1 stick)

1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar

½ tablespoon Vanilla

½ teaspoon yellow food coloring

Directions

1. Since this involves cooking on a stove top, ask an adult for help!

2. Spray your saucepan with nonstick cooking spray.

3. Unwrap the Laffy Taffy pieces and combine with 1 tablespoon of milk over a high flame. Let it melt and simmer, turning the flame down to low.

4. Combine butter and confectioners' sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Add 1 tablespoon of milk and beat.

5. Add the melted Laffy Taffy mixture and the vanilla.

6. If frosting is too thin, slowly add up to ½ cup more confectioners' sugar.

7. Add food coloring to give your frosting a sunny color!

8. After you ice your cupcakes, you can top with an extra piece of Laffy Taffy! Or, if you are having a baby shower, decorate with a mini rubber ducky. (Just don't eat it!)

Whether you're a
Charlotte's Web
fan or just want a cool cupcake to serve for Halloween (or any time!), these are
some
cupcakes
!

For the cupcakes:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

⅔ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Directions

1. Have an adult preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla.

4. Slowly beat in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk.

5. When all combined, fill liners two-thirds full with batter and bake 18 to 20 minutes (or until wooden toothpick comes out clean).

6. Let cool before frosting.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

½ cup of butter (1 stick), softened at room temperature

8 ounces of cream cheese (1 package), softened at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together (about 2 to 3 minutes) on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure the mixture is well-combined.

2. Add the vanilla extract and mix.

3. Now slowly add the confectioners' sugar. I like to taste to make sure the frosting isn't too sweet before adding a full three cups.

4. Beat until the frosting is creamy smooth.

To create your spider's web...

It looks super-cool, and it's super easy! All you need is some black piping gel and a toothpick.

1. Frost your cupcake first—you can always color the cream-cheese frosting purple, green, or orange for Halloween with some food coloring.

2. Using the black decorating gel, pipe four concentric circles over the top of the cupcake. FYI, this is a small circle that starts in the middle of the cupcake. Make a larger circle around it; then a larger circle around that one and so on until you reach the edge of the cupcake. I do about four or five circles on mine.

3. Now take a toothpick, and carefully drag it from the center of the cupcake outward, so that the gel gets carried outward to create a cool spiderweb effect. That's it!