Simple recipes are sometimes the best

Tonight was National Night Out/Nite to Unite, an annual community-building campaign in the US. It is designed to bring neighbors together and also to promote relationships between community members and law enforcement. Our next door neighbors and good friends hosted a party for our block this year. I wanted to participate and since I love to bake, a logical choice was for me to make cupcakes.

Wanting to impress, I pored through my cookbooks, looking for a ‘wow’ recipe that would have the most impact. Nothing seemed to fit the bill. As I rejected recipe after recipe, I despaired that I would find anything to bring to the potluck. That cupcake was too chocolately (I, too, was shocked to learn that foods can contain too much chocolate, but evidently some people feel that it is possible). This one had too many potential allergens. The next one was not going to go over well with the kiddos. 

As I rejected recipe after recipe, a realization dawned on me that what I needed wasn’t ‘wow’, it was just ‘yum’. This event wasn’t some fancy plated dinner where a knock-your-socks-off dessert was in order. Instead, it would be a cacophony of children running, screaming, and jumping in the bounce-house, the soft thud of a bean bag hitting the cornhole game board, the murmur of conversation as established neighbors welcomed the new arrivals. 

For a gathering like this, a simple cupcake would fit the bill. Kid-friendly, easy to eat, and not overly sweet were the criteria I needed to meet. I turned to a book I passed over on the first go-round, the recently released Simple Cake: All You Need to Keep Your Friends and Family in Cake by Odette Williams. The Very vanilla cake ticked all the boxes, making it the ideal choice. I made my go-to raspberry buttercream (a whole egg buttercream with my homemade raspberry jam beaten in at the end), and finished them off with a simple swirl of icing. 

Yes, yes, I know I should have posted a photo. But as I set the cupcakes down on the table laden with dishes from over a dozen households, I was immediately drawn into conversation with old friends and new faces who are certain to become old friends over time. By the time I remembered to snap a picture, the cupcakes were gone – the highest praise I could want. No wow, just yum. Perfect.