I have always wanted to make cupcakes that looked the ones on the cover of Nigella Lawson's book How to Be a Domestic Goddess. Although I do want to buy (and I will eventually!) the book, I scrounged around the net to see if I could find a recipe that would yield the same domestic-goddess-stepford-looking perfect cupcakes. And find it I did! On The Amateur Gourmet I found a recipe for Bizarro Burnt Butter Brown Sugar Cupcakes that seemed to fit the bill...especially since it was indeed taken from the Goddess Herself.
It was quite a trip to actually "burn" the butter. It got alarmingly dark but it was supposed to so I didn't panic. The cupcakes came out gorgeous! So cute like you wanted to take their picture and send it to your grandma. So I did. Take their picture that is...have yet to show Grannie. We had a lovely photo session with them posing and preening for the camera, not unlike Paris Hilton (or myself). I got their fab accessories (little flowers on top) from Cook's Exchange at the Power Plant Mall. You can buy a bunch of these sugar flowers for a reasonable price, although they come in different sizes and colors per pack, and I only wanted smallish ones for the cupcakes, but hey, if I'm not patient or enterprising enough to make my own sugar flowers then I shouldn't complain.
I initially wanted to bake these solely because (oh the shame) they were cute. But they are in fact quite yum-yum-yummy! The burnt-butter-action really does something for the flavor...making it all nutty-butter-delish, a flavor that is also reflected in the icing (where you use burnt butter as well). It's quite moist although my brother found the icing a tad too sweet...I, meanwhile, did not.
These would be perfect for a tea party or baby shower, preferably accompanied by a pink or lilac twin set, kitten heels, and a strand of pearls.