Because I’ve been busy making hundreds of cupcakes lately, that’s what I’m sharing with you today: selections from my Cupcake Baking Playlist:

*note: the links will take you to the iTunes store, in case you want to listen to and/or buy the song.

Super Duper Love – Joss Stone
Because I super duper love baking, this is a good song to kick off what will be hours of mixing, measuring out, and baking the little cakes.

Sweet Lorraine – Nat King Cole
Yes, it’s what I named my little home-based bakehop after, and really- this song never gets old for me. Nat King Cole’s version is classic (it’s the song that made him famous!)

How Sweet It Is – Michael Buble
Appropriate for making frosting, sugar cookies, caramel, and candy.

Too Darn Hot – Ella Fitzgerald
One of my favorite films as a child was Kiss Me Kate- which is where this gem of a song comes from. Ella Fitzgerald’s version is perfect for when the kitchen gets too hot (in my kitchen, that’s all the time).

I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) – The Four Tops
See a pattern here? I like listening to sweet songs for sweet making.

Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani
This song always makes me feel like making banana cupcakes. “These cupcakes are bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!” (Sorry, I had to).

What music do you listen to in the kitchen?

And you do, don’t you?

But wait, before you begin reading the recipe below, I must warn you: it includes a box of white cake mix.

Ah, so that’s why I titled this “Elevating the Ordinary”! Let me tell you, though, that there isn’t anything ordinary about these cupcakes.

The secret of these cupcakes is that they’re made with mascarpone- a creamy, delicious Italian cheese that is simply like no other. The stuff is not cheap, certainly, but that’s another reason why these cupcakes taste so good: they’re decadent. You can, of course, try substituting regular cream cheese (Philly or otherwise), which should work nicely, but if you can, please, please try these with mascarpone. They’re from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis, but while the lovely Giada makes them in mini sizes, I like to use my standard sized cupcake pan for these.

Mascarpone Cupcakes

8 oz. mascarpone cheese
2 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I like to use Sunflower or Safflower. The more flavorless, the better!)
1 box white cake mix
1 cup water

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

Combine mascarpone, egg whites and oil in a large bowl. Beat with a stand or hand mixer until combined and creamy. Add white cake mix and water all at once, and mix on LOW speed until smooth, until incorporated- but don’t overmix.

Fill cupcake pan 2/3rds full, and bake around 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frost with American Buttercream or Italian Meringue Buttercream and top with your favorite sprinkles- or, as in the mouthwatering photo above, with little curls of white and dark chocolate.

Do you think vanilla is boring?

If so, I have one thing to say to you: try these cupcakes. They’re the most un-boring vanilla cupcakes I’ve ever had, perfect to:

• Stack on a platter for the next celebration in your life.
• Bring to the office to brighten your co-workers’ days.
• Make with your (or your favorite) child for memory-making.
• Make for yourself- because you’re worth it!

Just one thing: you must use good vanilla. I mean the real stuff: pure vanilla extract, nothing with the words “flavoring” or “artificial” please.

Exciting Vanilla Cupcakes

3/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup Crisco
2 cups superfine (Caster) sugar
4 large eggs
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup warm half-and-half

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (each cupcake pan is 12 standard sized cupcakes).

Cream butter and Crisco together until light and fluffy, around 3-5 minutes.

On medium speed, add in the eggs, beating for 20 seconds between adding the eggs. Add the vanilla extract, and beat on high speed for about 2 minutes.

Add the superfine sugar, beat well until combined. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, sift together the flours, salt and baking powder. Give it a good whisk so it’s blended well.

On low speed, add the flour mixture and the half-and-half to the egg/butter mixture. Blend just until combined. Don’t overmix!

Portion out into the cupcake tins, bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out moist but not wet.

• Make a beautiful Pumpkin Roll.
• Make delicious Cookies.
• Make free-form Bread Loaves.
• Turn one over and use it for spreading out melted chocolate for curls.

Which is why I loved that I got this Jellyroll Pan as a present:

And let me tell you: this ain’t no ordinary jellyroll pan. This is the Chicago Metallic Professional Nonstick 12-1/4-by-9-Inch Jelly Roll Pan. Chicago Metallic makes some of the best bakeware I’ve ever used. It’s heavy-weight, not shiny (you want to stay away from shiny, trust me), and- perhaps most importantly- doesn’t warp.

*Note: this pan is smaller than a regular jellyroll pan, which is perfect for my little oven. If you’re looking for the larger, properly sized jellyroll pan, I suggest this set of 3- also by Chicago Metallic.

Talk about a product that can change your life.

I’m not kidding, either. I first heard about the Beater Blade around the time I received my beautiful pink Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer, but I thought I was doing just fine with the paddle that comes with the latter. No, I was doing more than fine, since I had never owned a mixer with a paddle attachment before, and I was just discovering how much better it made my cakes and cookies and frosting.

Since I started using the Beater Blade, though, life has become so much easier- and that’s because: no more scraping.

Seriously, when you bake as much as I do, spending hours in front of the mixer, spatula in hand, turning it off, lifting the head, scraping- again and again and again… and then not having to, letting the Beater Blade do its job of mixing AND scraping- it’s… well, it’s like magic.

The New Metro Design Beater Blade for 5-Quart KitchenAid Tilt-Head Mixers is available at Amazon.