The Celebration of Another Year

I celebrated my birthday last week – my 44^th turn around the sun. But from about ages 31 to 40, I took a break in birthday celebrations because I just couldn’t celebrate the day when it fell on THE day – 9/11.

On THAT 9/11, we were living in DC and I walked home, with 2 work colleagues, from Capitol Hill to Dupont Circle.  Instead of the fancy dinner my husband had planned for us, we ended up at a Vietnamese restaurant, which served as a reminder that we were no longer fighting the wars our parents fought. That night – and for the next 9 years – it felt vulgar to even think about my birthday on such a horrific day. I was even hesitant to celebrate my 40^th but a mentor/friend advised me that those are the milestones in life that need to be celebrated and remembered, so I made an exception.

So, fast forward 4 years to last week. My 5^th grade son is doing a lot of school reading about people who make a difference in other people’s lives. He told me he was reading about Malala Yousafzai  - the young woman who at 15 was shot by Taliban fighters in the Swat Valley, Pakistan because she was fighting for educationand women’s rights after the Taliban banned girls (including herself) from going to school.

We talked about Malala and watched her interview with JonStewart on the Daily Show. As I was thinking “it’s incredible how well spoken, composed and impressive she is, given her age and life experiences,” my son said “what’s the big deal?” Her story captured his attention but he just didn’t get it. To him, being denied an education is unimaginable and even more so to be denied just because you’re a girl. Yes, school is a nuisance that takes away from weekends and playtime but it’s something you JUST HAVE TO DO. And because HE HAS TO DO IT and it’s taken so for granted, he doesn’t see the celebration in it.

With our conversation still fresh in my mind, I woke up on 9/11 to an NPR story remembering the tragedy, but also shining light on the hopeful developments, like how many of the children of 9/11 victims are now starting college. Family and friends called, texted and Facebooked from around the globe – many of whom I heard from 13 years ago – sending me their birthday wishes.

“We’re a pretty resilient bunch,” I thought to myself.  Yes, there is – and will always be – tragedy, injustice and sadness in this world.  But as humans, we are meant to push forward. 

A girl in Pakistan can survive and thrive after being shot in the head and go on to ignite people globally for her cause (and for a moment, have my son focus on her and not MineCraft). Kiddos whose worlds forever changed on THAT day are living their lives – but with the wispy memories tattooed on their souls. As the years go by, the jagged edges of pain are softened a bit, survival becomes a little easier and hope illuminates the dark spaces. And in that, there is celebration.

The Recipe

Birthdays in my household are synonymous with chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting (and cakes made by my Aunt but that’s another blog post). Here’s a cupcake recipe I’ve used so many times and chocolate smudges are on the page to prove it. I can’t even remember where I dug it up but as always, I’ve changed it up a bit.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cupcakes

• cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup cocoa (use high quality cocoa powder)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon espresso powder (my husband HATES coffee but he doesn’t taste the espresso. It lends a richness to the chocolate but not much overall flavor)
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla (I’m always super generous on the vanilla.)
• ½ cup boiling water

I added about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the batter. 

Vanilla Buttercream

• 8 tablespoons butter, 1 stick, softened. Use a fresh stick – don’t make the mistake I did – using some butter that was opened and sitting in the fridge. The buttercream tasted like garlic. Ordinarily not a bad thing but not so good on chocolate cupcakes.
• 1 cup cream cheese
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (I still think this is too sweet so taste as you go)
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half (but be ready to use more depending on the consistency you want of your frosting)
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla (you can always add more – I do)
• Pinch of salt

What to do with the Ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Place cupcake liners in muffin tin. Spray lightly with cooking spray. I like to use the butter flavored Pam Cooking Spray.
3. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bow or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until well combined.
4. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well comined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.
5. Evently distribute cake batter. I like to use an ice-cream scooper. Each cupcake liner should be about ¾ full.
6. Place in the oven and bake 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Remove from oven and allow cupcakes to cool completely.

For the frosting:

Creaming the butter.

After the food coloring has been added. 

1. Place softened butter into the bowl of a stand mixer (or big bowl and use a hand mixer). If using a stand mixer, use paddle attachment. Turn the mixer on  medium setting and cream the butter until it is smooth and has lightened in color, about 3 minutes.
2. Add powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time. After each cup has been incorporated, taste it to test sweetness. You might also need to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add vanilla while still mixing.
4. Add the half-and-half or heavy cream and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy. Add more half-and-half or cream to reach desired consistency.

Tint the frosting with food coloring. Remember, one drop (literally) goes a long way in coloring the frosting!

I don't really have piping tools (as I said, I'm not a baker).
I put the frosting in a Ziplock baggie, cut a tiny bit
off the bottom corner and frost away.