Raspberry Cinnamon Cupcakes

Yesterday I taught my first ever math lesson! It was amazing! I made this great Presidents Day math activity for the 7th grade class that I am observing.  It was the perfect activity since it combined graphing with facts about the Presidents.  I adapted the lesson that I found via twitter and sent it to my cooperating teacher to see what she thought.  She loved it! I walked into the class on Presidents Day and she came up to me and said, "So, do you want to lead the activity?"  I eagerly said yes and then proceeded to feel super nervous.  I spent the first period trying to think of what I was going to do, how I was going to talk, how I was going to stand, would I get students to read out loud or work in groups, and so on.  I was shocked at how much thought goes into simply standing and presenting an activity to a class.


Becoming a teacher has been my dream and ambition since and early age.  The fact that I finally arrived at the point in my life where I can actually get up in front of a class and teach is amazing to me.  Yesterday was a dream come true.

The students loved the activity.  They started by predicting the President's salary and were amazed that baseball players who don't even get to play made more than the president.  It was really fun to watch them debate.  Then, they moved on with the activity and spent the time graphing how the President's salary has changed over time.  They had to identify the independent and dependent variables and then graph the data.  They then learned about the concept of a step graph.  For homework, they had to look at the equation for finding what the past salaries would be in today's money.  Then they computed these results.  The kids were enthusiastic and completed a lot of the assignment all on their own in class.  I was so excited to see them having a good time and grasping the concepts.  I can't wait to spend more time teaching and getting  used to being in the front of the classroom.

This experience has put me in such a great mood and that usually means I feel like making something delicious and sharing it with friends.  I have the traditional study night this week and I decided that I would break out my shiny new cupcake corer to celebrate all the good stuff going on in my life.  I found a great recipe for Strawberry Stuffed Cinnamon Cupcakes and decided to adapt it a little and make it with Raspberry Jam instead.

Raspberry Cinnamon Cupcakes (inspired by Scientifically Sweet)

oven-ready

all done :)

perfect!

look at that cupcake corer go!

Filled with raspberry jam

Raspberry Cinnamon Cupcake

Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups minus 4 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sour cream
4 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup milk
For the Filling: 
about 2 cups raspberry seedless jam
For the Frosting:
8 oz low-fat cream cheese
8 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tsp milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray cupcake pan.  This recipe will make about 24-30 cupcakes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Using your mixer, slowly mix in the sugar until well combined.  Next, mix in the softened butter and beat for about 2 minutes or until you have a mixture the consistency of fine, moist crumbs.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sour cream, canola oil, and vanilla.  Slowly add this to the dry mixture and beat until combined.  Slowly pour in the milk and beat until just combined.
4.  Fill the cupcake pans until each cup is just 1/2 full.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
5.  Let cool completely.  Once cool, using the cupcake corer, or a knife, core the cupcakes and fill with about a tsp of jam.
6.  Make the frosting: beat the butter and cream cheese until well combined.  Beat in the cinnamon and sugar.  Slowly add the sugar until well combined. Add 2-4 tsp of milk until you have the desired consistency.  Frost the cupcakes :)
Enjoy :)