Math Cupcakes

I get the math hat ofter making these fun cupcakes for my sister April. And I thought I was bad at math :)

Lion King

Correction, I know your Father - Rafiki

Care Bear Cupcakes

If I were ever to get a tattoo, I want a tattoo like a Care Bear…

These were made for Eliza’s 1st Birthday. From the time she was born Stephanie had Eliza’s first birthday all planned out including Share Bear Care Bear Cupcakes. She had sent me a link months before showing a bear made with two cupcakes stacked on top of each other one forming the body and one the head. I am sorry I don’t have photos showing the process but essentially you make big and small cupcakes, let them cool, peal off the paper from the small cupcake, frost the larger cupcake, place the smaller unwrapped cupcake just of the center of the larger one and frost that one all while making sure it doesn’t slip off. It sounds harder then it actually is but I am glad I only had to make one for the birthday girl and not for the whole party! Accompanying the bear were cupcakes made to look like Cheer Bear and Share Bears belly’s.

Happy Birthday Eliza! I look forward to many more years of making you Cupcakes!

LOST

It’s finally here, the last season of LOST! I know I am a bit late on posting this but better late than never right? I hand piped dark and white chocolate to make the DHARMA initiative symbol. I am not going to lie; it took a really long time. By the time the chocolate was hard enough for me to pipe out the lettering my hands and eyes hurt so badly. The DHARMA initiative symbols were only about an inch and a half in diameter. They got placed atop a cream filled chocolate cake with chocolate glaze. Thanks to Natalie we enjoyed these little treats with DHARMA wine straight off the compound! By far the best LOST night to date. Big thanks to Graham and Peter, we’d be lost without you guys :)

CREAM FILLED CUPCAKES

Make your favorite chocolate cake according to the cupcake directions.
Let cool completely before filling or the cream will melt.
CREAM FILLING
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 pinch salt
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Make filling:

In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening together until smooth. Blend in confectioners' sugar and pinch of salt. Gradually beat in 3 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Fill a zip lock bag with mixture and cup off the tip. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, make a hole in the top of the cupcake. Fill each cupcake being careful not to over fill. Cover with glaze.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.
Spoon over cupcakes.

Batman Cupcakes

Activate the Bat signal Sawyer is 4!

Happy Birthday Buddy!
Check out his Birthday Cupcakes from last year here.

80's Cupcakes

This year I turned 25 :) I know some people don’t think that is a big deal (Nora) but for me it was! My friends and I celebrated the best way I know how, 80’s style. That called for these totally rad neon colored cupcakes…

Does anyone else think it’s sad I made my own birthday cupcakes?

Raspberry Filled

I love these Raspberry filled cupcakes I made for a friends birthday! Each time I make filled cupcakes it gets easier for me. For these you just make a simple white cake, fill them with a raspberry preserve (you can use any flavor you fancy) and top them with an almond frosting.

Halloween Bunco Cupcakes!

Happy Halloween Bunco Style!

My sister hired me out to make Halloween Bunco cupcakes for a friend of hers and I must say I impressed myself! With the help of my mom we dreamt up these little beauties. The finger is half a Twix candy bar wrapped in marshmallow fondant, and the dice is also made of marshmallow fondant. We had a lot of fun making these and I can’t wait for another excuse to make something like this.

Big shout out to my mom for her help on this one.
You are the Best!

Pumpkin Bread

Fall… with open arms I greet you, I have missed you old friend.

Here is my grandmother’s recipe for pumpkin bread. I couldn’t resist making mini muffins. I hope you love them as much as I do.


Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

4 eggs
2/3 C. water
1 C. oil
3 C. sugar
3 ½ C. flour
½ t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
½ t. ground cloves
15 oz. canned pumpkin

Directions

Mix all ingredients. Pour into greased bread tins. Bake for 1 hour at 325. Makes about 3 loaves.

Yellow Cake

Yellow cake + chocolate frosting + Baby Leland = a good time.

We went to meet our new cousin Leland and brought along these. I must say I desperately need a new yellow cake recipe. Yellow cake always turns out so dry for me and I am not sure why. If you have a fool proof recipe will you send it my way?

Monday morning pick me up...

Just a little something to start the day :) You can’t go wrong with chocolate on a Monday morning!

Cream Filled

I just can’t get enough of these little buggers! I have to say that each time I make these I love them more and more. This time instead of topping with a chocolate glade I just used the cream filling as a frosting and it turned out wonderfully. Click here for the recipe.

Fondant Hibiscus Cupcakes

Ok, fondant isn’t my favorite thing in the world but it sure is fun to work with. You can do just about anything. Here is the recipe I use for marshmallow fondant, it usually takes all if not more of the powdered sugar it calls for and you really hove to work it out to get a good consistency.

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe

Ingredients

16 ounces white mini-marshmallows
2 to 5 tablespoons water
2 pounds powdered sugar
½ cup Crisco shortening to keep your hands from sticking to the fondant

Directions

1. Melt marshmallows and 4 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler
2. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix and fold in gently for 1 minute.
3. Grease your hands and countertop you will be kneading on generously.(Make sure to get in between your fingers.)
4. Dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle of greased counter.
5. Start kneading like you would bread dough.
6. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and continue to knead by hand for 8 minutes until it takes form of a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing as you roll it out.
*if you feel that the fondant it to dry as you are rolling add a tsp of water at a time until you get the desired texture. It the fondant is to wet add powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time.

Chocolate Peanut Butter

Ok, let me start off by saying these are fantastic. If you have little willpower you should not keep reading because I will be posting the recipe. Once you’ve had a taste of these you’ll crave them. Dare I say even dream about them :)

Whoever first paired chocolate and peanut butter, I applaud you!

Peanut Butter Frosting

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 cups confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Almond Poppy Seed Cake Mix Muffins

Like I said I’ve been on a cake mix kick… These turned out pretty good, not quite like Costco but not to shabby.

Here is the recipe.

1 package white cake mix
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 tablespoon almond extract

Prepare cake mix as directed and add poppy seeds and almond extract.

Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Topping

This may be my favorite cake right now. My cousin’s mother in law, Donna, found this recipe in a news paper and brought it to a girl’s day we were having. Oh my gosh… it was divine. Donna had already left the party so I waited weeks to get the recipe from her. Now that it is in my possession, look out world! As this was the first time I made it I stuck to the recipe just as it is written. Yummy! Although I think this recipe is perfect as is, I am going to play around with it a bit. I will defiantly be making cupcakes with this in the near future, but I think I’ll have fun adding things as well. I hope you enjoy it was much as I did. Thanks Donna, I am forever grateful!

Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Topping

CAKE
1 cup old fashioned oats
½ cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Boil water. Pour 1 ¼ cups of boiling water over oats in a bowl. Cover and let stand 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9x13” cake pan.
3. Cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well.
4. Pour into pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
5.

TOPPING
¼ cup butter softened
¼ cup heavy cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 cup finely chopped pecans

1. Preheat broiler
2. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Spread evenly over warm cake. Place under broiler 2” from the top. Broil until lightly browned. 1-2 minutes.

Carrot cupcake

What would Easter be without a little carrot cake?

For my secret recipe please click here

Chocolate Easter Cupcakes

yummy...

sprinkles…

One 5 year old, blue frosting, lots of sprinkles… Priceless

Rainbow Cupcake!

Spring has sprung and my Sydney is 6! Can you believe it? I can’t.

In honor of both of these momentous occasions I bring you the Rainbow Cupcake. I have seen these floating around other cupcake blogs for about a year now and finally decided to take the plunge and try my hand at making them.

First let me say that they were more work than I had anticipated.

But it was well worth it so see the face of Syd as she bit into her birthday cupcake!

Sorry I didn’t get a chance to take any photos of the actual process (I had planned on it!) Basically you make white cake batter, divide it into as many bowls as you want colors. Mix in desired colors. Spoon a teaspoon of each color into cupcake papers. Be careful not to over fill.

Have fun with this, if you allow it, your creative side will have a blast!