Wedding Cupcakes!

I posted a few weeks ago about all of the reasons I'd been baking but not blogging. Well, I'm still kinda slacking in the blogging area...I just recently moved, am trying to get organized for a garage sale, and have been working up to 5 twelve+ hour days a week...so pretty please be easy on me!

I wanted to get a new recipe up- and this is a  good place to start. A few weeks ago, I posted pics of the Cupcakes and Grooms Cake I made for my brother Jason and his wife Monica's wedding. These cupcakes were a combination of a few of my favorite recipes. The cupcakes themselves are the Champagne Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling, and the icing is very brightly colored Lemon Buttercream. I figured what better way to celebrate than with Champagne in the cupcake batter as well as the filling- and the bride and groom (and my new nephews!) were easily won over with a test batch I made for them in February. The wedding was held outdoors in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the Raspberry and Lemon were light enough to enjoy...not too heavy to keep anyone from dancing!

The Cupcake recipe is from The Pampered Chef...and it is one of my all time favorite cake recipes! I usually make cakes completely from scratch, but this recipe is easy, yummy, and so tasty...you'd never know it starts with a mix!! Perfect for when you have 100 cupcakes to make, and no time for mistakes!

Raspberry Filled Champagne Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing adapted from The Pampered Chef and my own imagination


makes 24 standard cupcakes

Champagne Cake:
1 box white cake mix
3 egg whites
3/4 C champagne
1/2 C milk
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Raspberry Champagne Filling:
1 1/2 C frozen raspberries
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C water
1 C champagne, divided
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Lemon Buttercream Icing:
2 sticks  unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar
juice of 1 lemon
gel food coloring,  if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with wrappers. Place cake mix in large bowl and whisk to break up any large lumps. Add champagne, milk, egg whites and vanilla and stir until combined (2-3 minutes by hand).

I use a Pampered Chef scoop to place batter in liners so my portions are equal and my cupcakes are of similar size. Fill liners 2/3 full. Place pans in oven, and bake 22-26 minutes, or until tops spring back when touched. Remove from oven to cool.

Prepare filling while cupcakes are baking, or ahead of time if making large quantities. Place 1/4 C champagne and 2 Tbsp cornstarch in small bowl, whisk until smooth and set aside.  Combine raspberries, remaining champagne, sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. Slowly add champagne-cornstarch mixture to pan, whisking constantly. Continue cooking 2-3 minutes to thicken mixture. If you don't want seeds in the filling, pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove. Set filling aside to cool.

When cupcakes and filling are completely cool, prepare icing. Place butter in a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer if you have one...like I FINALLY do!!) and beat on high speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar and lemon juice in small batches, mixing well after each addition. Add more or less lemon juice to achieve desired consistency.

If coloring frosting, add small amounts of gel food coloring to obtain desired color.

To fill cupcakes, cut a divot out of the center of the cupcake, place filling inside, place divot back on top..and frost as desired.

FYI: I had about 33 cupcakes with each color frosting...and because my sister-in-law wanted bright, vibrant tropical colors, each batch of frosting used approximately 1 small container of Wilton Gel Food Coloring.
This is what happens when you use that much frosting:

Gorgeous Teal Frosting...not so gorgeous teal tongues!
Photo courtesy of Dawn V. Gilmore Photography

Just for fun....most photos courtesy of Dawn V. Gilmore Photography

More to come soon...

Busy, Busy Girl!

I've had a busy few weeks, and while I've done a lot of baking I haven't had the time to do much blogging. I am a little behind with my posting, so I thought I'd at least post pics of my latest goodies and will follow up with recipes soon!!

Top of Beach Wedding Cake for Monica's Bridal Shower Dinner

Beach Wedding Cake with White Chocolate Shells

Cupcake Toppers for Jason and Monica's Wedding

Block O Groom's Cake for Jason

Cake Table at Jason & Monica's Wedding

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcake

Rose Cake

White Cupcakes with Chocolate & Maple Buttercreams Swirled

Be back soon with recipes!!

Cupcakes with a Heart

I haven't posted for a while, but I promise I haven't given up baking or blogging! The past few weeks have been busy with work and other things in my personal life that have kept me pretty busy. I knew I had to get this done by valentines day, and I wanted to share this recipe with you. This is my entry into the PomWonderful Cupcake Contest- a contest combining two of my favorite things- Cupcakes and Pomegranates. I started with one of my favorite cake recipes, made a few changes and incorporated Pomegranate Juice, tried a new trick I learned from Bake It In a Cake and voila- Cupcakes with a Heart.

Cupcakes with a Heart (aka Champagne and Pomegranate Cupcakes with Tahetian Vanilla Bean Buttercream)

Makes 30 Standard Cupcakes

Cake:
2 boxes white cake mix
6 egg whites, divided
1 cup milk, divided
3/4 cup champagne
3/4 pomegranate juice
4 tsp vanilla extract, divided
4 tbsp vegetable oil, divided

Frosting-
3 sticks butter, softened
2 lbs powdered sugar, divided
1 tahetian vanilla bean or 2 tsp vanilla extract
2-4 tbsp milk
red food coloring if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine 1 cake mix with 3 egg whites, 1/2 cup milk, 3/4 cup champagne, 2 tbsp oil and 2 tsp vanilla. Stir with wire whisk for 2-3 minutes or until smooth.

In a second bowl, combine remaining cake mix with 3 egg whites, 1/2 cup milk, 3/4 cup pomegranate juice, 2 tbsp oil and 2 tsp vanilla. Stir with wire whisk for 2-3 minutes or until smooth.

Spray bottoms of 2 8x8 pans with nonstick spray, and pour a 1/2 in thick layer of champagne cake in one pan and pomegranate cake in the other. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Set aside and let cool.

Prepare muffin pans with liners and fill slightly less than 2/3 full with batter. Take a small heart-shaped cookie cutter (small enough to fit inside a cupcake) and cut 15 hearts from each cake layer. Insert a heart of the opposite color into each cupcake and push down as far into batter as it will go. Take care to keep cupcakes lined straight so that when cupcakes are bitten into you can see the heart.

Bake for 24-26 minutes, or until cupcakes are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before decorating.

In large bowl, cream butter with electric mixer until smooth. Slice down the side of the vanilla bean and scrape insides into bowl, or add extract. Mix until combined. Add powdered sugar in small batches, mixing well after each addition. Add milk, 1 tbsp at a time until desired consistency is reached. Add food coloring, if desired. Frost cupcakes and place some sort of decoration on the front, so the cupcakes remain facing forward.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Celebrate Life: Raspberry Champagne Cream Cupcakes

A few months ago, I happened upon the Frosting for The Cause Website and was excited to volunteer for the project. Frosting for The Cause is a volunteer baker/blogger effort to raise awareness as well as funds for cancer research. Each day of 2011, a new blogger will post about their experience baking goodies for their local hospice as well as where they are choosing to make their financial contribution.

As a Respiratory Therapist working in a medical center, I interact with cancer patients as well as non-cancer patients who are making the decision to seek hospice care. I am often blessed with the opportunity to be involved in the transition from critical care to the comfort care that hospice provides. I have been touched by many patients who eventually sought hospice care, and I am honored to have been a part of their lives, even if for just a brief moment in time.

On a personal level, cancer has affected a few of my family members as well as several of our family friends. Some of these people were lucky enough to win their battle with cancer, some were not. Each of them has taught me something along the way- that no matter what, life is to be celebrated. Life can be long, life can be short- we never know what the future holds for us. This post is dedicated to those family, friends, patients and their families that have fought long and hard fights.

The recipe I decided to use for this project is a celebration cake- Raspberry Champagne Cream Cake. I made the cake itself last week for my family's New Years Day Dinner, again Monday for a friend's birthday party, and decided that I would make the same recipe in cupcake form to take to the Stuart F. Meyer Hospice House here in Palm Coast, Florida.

Photo from Florida Hospital Hospice Care

The SFMHH is a small, 8 bed inpatient facility with a warm homelike atmosphere that provides patients (and their family members) the care and support they need in their last weeks and days. My son and I visited the facility this afternoon to drop off the cupcakes, and it is truly a beautiful facility filled with warm and caring people. I was honored to be able to provide this small gift to the patients, their families, and the staff that works so selflessly to provide comfort at every level. My financial contribution will also be going to Florida Hospital Hospice Care, in honor and memory of the patient's I've handed over to the loving care of the Florida Hospital Hospice Care nurses.

"You matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but to live until you die."  Dr. Cicely Saunders (founder of modern hospice care)

Mini Raspberry Champagne Cream Cupcakes adapted from The Pampered Chef
Makes 56 mini cupcakes

Cake:
1 package white cake mix
3 egg whites
3/4 cup pink champagne
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 drops red food coloring gel

Raspberry Champagne Sauce:
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup pink champagne, divided
2 tbsp cornstarch

Frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 lb powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup Raspberry Champagne Sauce



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place mini cupcake liners in mini muffin tin and set aside. Place cake mix in large mixing bowl, and whisk to break up lumps. Add the remaining cake ingredient, and whisk 2-3 minutes or until smooth.

Using a small scoop, fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.

Place in oven, and bake for 16-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove pan from oven, and cool on cooling rack for 10-15 minutes. Remove cupcakes to cooling rack and cool until completely cool. Repeat with remaining batter.

While cupcakes are baking, prepare Raspberry Champagne Sauce. Combine 1/4 cup champagne and 2 tbsp cornstarch in small bowl, whisk until combined and set aside. Combine raspberries, sugar, water, and 3/4 cup champagne in small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil.

When mixture comes to a boil, slowly add remaining champagne to pan, whisking constantly. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat, pour sauce into a small bowl through a fine mesh sieve to strain any lumps and seeds out. Let sauce cool for 1 hour.

When cupcakes and sauce are completely cool, prepare frosting. Place butter in a large bowl, and beat with electric mixer on high until smooth. Add powdered sugar in small batches, mixing well  and scraping down sides of bowl after each addition. When all powdered sugar has been incorporated, add vanilla and 1/4 cup Raspberry Champagne Sauce, and mix until just combined.

Prepare pastry bag with selected tip, fold over edges and place inside a drinking glass. This stabilizes the bag and gives you two hands to use to fill the bag with frosting!

Pipe frosting on cupcakes, and top with sanding sugar if desired.

Top with sanding sugar, if desired, and enjoy.

Boxed up and ready to go!

 Remember that even the small things in life deserve to be celebrated!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

One of the things I miss most about living in Ohio is the change of seasons. Don't get me wrong...One of the reasons I love living in Florida is that it doesn't snow. I don't miss the snow or freezing rain one bit- but what I do miss are the cool crisp autumn nights where I could burrow under my covers, but still sleep with the window open!

It seems like most people associate Pumpkin flavors with fall...I like pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread as much as anyone..but one of my favorite fall treats is a nice juicy caramel apple! I wanted to make a Caramel Apple Cupcake to celebrate the arrival of cooler weather to Northeast Florida (Finally...thank you cold front!!).


A little chilly, but still a gorgeous fall morning in Florida!

I found this recipe on Paula Deen's website, and decided to give it a try, with a few adjustments. These cupcakes turned out better than I expected they would- and everyone that tried one said they loved it!

I didn't want to make caramel again, as I had a batch of homemade caramel sauce in the refrigerator- so instead of the candies on top of the cupcakes, I made a caramel buttercream (big surprise, I know!)

Caramel Apple Cupcakes adapted from Paula Deen

Printable Recipe

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup sour cream

1/2 cup yogurt (I used mixed berry, it worked well)

1/2 cup apple juice or cider

1 medium granny smith apple, chopped finely

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin or mini muffin tin with cupcake liners. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and sugar until well combined.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream and yogurt, stirring until combined. Batter will be dry- add apple juice or cider a little at a time until the batter reaches a pourable consistency. Stir in chopped apple.

Spoon into muffin tins, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes for mini or 25-30 minutes for regular sized cupcakes. Cool pans on cooling rack. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/3-1/2 cup Salted Caramel, depending on taste

3 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons milk

Cream butter in a large bowl with electric mixer. Stir in caramel until combined. Add sugar in small batches, mixing on medium speed with electric mixer, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. If thinner consistency is desired, add milk a tablespoon at a time.

I made some apple chips by using my Pampered Chef Ultimate Slice and Grate to slice an apple into thin slices. I topped with the Pampered Chef Sweet Caramel Sprinkle topping, and put in the oven at 275 degrees until the apple slices dried out and curled a bit. Be sure you slice the apple evenly..otherwise some chips are good, some are burnt. Live and learn!

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Quick Sugar Fix! White Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream

I've been off work for almost two weeks, spending my days home with my 3 1/2 year old son. I love him beyond words, but being a single parent to an incredibly smart and active boy with ADHD can be exhausting.  Especially when said child thinks he can thrive on 6 hours of sleep a night! The last few days have been especially trying- for both of us I'm sure- I'm ready to go back to work, and I'm sure he's ready to go back to "school".

I was feeling slightly overwhelmingly grumpy yesterday afternoon, and took advantage of the fact that when I sent Ben into his room to clean up the disaster area, he passed out on his bean bag.

The only time he's ever used the bean bag, other than to climb on...and the mess is still there! Argh!

I was craving something sweet, but not too heavy. I decided to remake the cake portion of a recipe I made over the weekend, except as cupcakes..and with a Lemon Buttercream frosting instead of the super rich caramel frosting that was on the Dulce de Leche cake I made for the Labor Day BBQ I went to. (I'll post that cake as soon as my lovely friend Kaytie sends me the pics...my cell pics don't do that cake justice!)

This is my new favorite white cake recipe! It's light, moist, bakes evenly....it's lovely! It worked well in the Dulce de Leche cake, and worked just as well for these cupcakes. I baked 12, froze the rest of the batter, and wrapped 6 of the cupcakes up and stuck them in the freezer as well for the next time I need a quick fix!

White Cake adapted from Sporkorfoon, who adapted it from Cook's Illustrated


2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
1 cup milk (original calls for whole, I used 2%)
3/4 cup egg whites (6 large or 8 medium)
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pans- will make 2 9-inch layers, or approximately 30 regular sized cupcakes. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl with a wire whisk, and set aside. Pour milk, eggwhites and vanilla into a smaller bowl and whisk until combined. Add butter to dry ingredients, and mix with electric mixer on medium speed until mixture resembles crumbs. Add all but 1/4 cup of milk mixture, and beat on high speed with hand mixer (medium if you're a bigshot with a stand mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl, add the remaining milk, and beat for an additional 30 seconds.

Pour into pans or prepared muffin tins, filling 2/3 of the way full. Bake cakes at 350 for 23-25 minutes, cupcakes for 18 minutes.

Lemon Buttercream Icing (didn't follow a recipe, just threw together a few things and was lucky that it turned out well!)

**I was only icing 6 cupcakes, so increase measurements accordingly for larger batches**

1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2-3 tablespoons of milk
2 drops yellow gel food coloring

Cream butter in bowl using electric mixer. Add sugar in small batches, adding milk a tablespoon at a time to achieve desired consistency. Add food coloring if desired, and lemon extract. Decorate however you see fit at the time- for me, it was colored sanding sugar!!

Enjoy!

Cupcake Decorating: Hydrangeas

I saw a tweet last week about Hydrangea cupcakes, and I had to check it out. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers, especially the bi-colored variations! I read the post over on Glorious Treats, and I was surprised at how simple this technique really is! I couldn't wait to try it. When I made my Raspberry Filled Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream earlier in the week, I saved a few so I could try this technique out for myself. I set aside some of my buttercream before I added the raspberry puree so I could try the bi-color look using pink and white frosting. Not too shabby for the first time around! Definitely check out the post on Glorious Treats, she gives a great tutorial on how to pull this off.

I'll definitely try this again!

Enjoy!!

Happy Birthday Miles Away

I made these cupcakes today, just because. I have a 3 1/2 year old literally bouncing off the walls..the floor..the ceiling and everything in between. Baking is calming to me, so I decided to see what I could make with what I had in my kitchen to get my mind of the disaster area that is my living room.

I had leftover Raspberry puree from one of the cakes I made for my friends' wedding reception a few weeks ago, (Kaytie and Arni's cake) so I decided to make vanilla cupcakes with raspberry filling and raspberry buttercream. Yum! They turned out great!

Someone very close to me (but who happens to be very far away right now) is celebrating their birthday this Friday. Unfortunately, they'll be celebrating alone...If I could get these cupcakes there and have them taste good, I'd do it in a heartbeat. So Happy Birthday..I'll be thinking of you, and enjoying your cupcakes!!

On another note, I found out about a cool Betty Crocker giveaway over at  one of my new favorite blogs, Family Fresh Cooking. She's giving away a goodie bag full of Betty Crocker baking utensils, as well as a cookbook. Who wouldn't like that? Check it out!

Vanilla Cupcakes adapted from The Novice Chef Blog

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 12 cupcake liners in a muffin tin. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy (approximately 2 minutes.) Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Add vanilla and mix well.

In another bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 batches, alternating with milk, beating well on low speed after each addition. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter, and bake for 17 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Remove from oven, and cool completely before filling and frosting.

Raspberry filling: ( this will make enough to fill a 3 layer cake, and then some. I froze the leftovers and used for both the filling and frosting for these cupcakes)
  
10 oz raspberries, fresh or frozen 
1/4 c. sugar 
1 tbsp cornstarch 
  
Rinse or defrost raspberries, and combine in blender with sugar and cornstarch. Blend until smooth. If seedless filling is desired, press through mesh strainer to remove seeds.


Raspberry Buttercream



1 stick butter, softened
2  cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons raspberry filling


In a large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup sugar, and beat on low until smooth. Add raspberry filling and vanilla, and beat until well combined. Add the rest of the sugar and beat until smooth. Add more sugar if you desire thicker frosting, or if you feel it needs to be thinned add a teaspoon of heavy cream or milk.

Happy Birthday!! 

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Snickers Cupcakes

Snickers Cupcakes- Heaven in a cupcake wrapper

These heavenly creations were made for a bake sale that is being held at the hospital I work for. The American Heart Association's Heart Walk is coming up soon, and several of the different departments at the hospital have formed teams and are raising funds before the walk. For some reason, my department (The Cardiopulmonary department) doesn't have a team...which is sad. Had I known sooner, I'd have volunteered to start one up. I was asked to bake for the bake sale that the Cardiovascular Intensive Care and Stepdown units are having for their team, as I work up in CVICU quite a bit. The nurses up there have seen my blog and some of my other goodies, and knew I'd love to make something for the occasion.

I saw a recipe on The Novice Chef Blog for 100 Grand Cupcakes, and they looked amazing. I wasn't able to get my hands on the mini 100 Grand bars for the first batch, so I went for Snickers. The thing that excited me most about the recipe was the Salted Caramel Buttercream, and that works well with either candy bar.

Snickers Cupcakes adapted from 100 Grand Cupcakes at The Novice Chef Blog
 Makes 30 regular sized cupcakes

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

10 snack size Snickers bars, cut into thirds and frozen
3-4 snack size Snickers bars, chopped for topping

Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin tins with cupcake wrappers.

Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl and stir with wire whisk. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla  and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be very runny).

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full with batter. Place in oven for about 8 minutes, remove trays and insert 1 candy piece into each cupcake. Place trays back in the oven for approximately 16 minutes.

Recipe Adapted from: Hersheys



Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
3 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
1/2- 2/3 cup caramel topping depending on taste; plus more for drizzling
1 1/2 teaspoon salt



Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, salt and caramel syrup and combine well.

Add sugar in small batches, mixing well and scraping bowl after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, taste the frosting and add more caramel syrup if desired. For thicker frosting you can gradually add in a little more sugar.

Waiting for the finishing touches

Garnish with chopped  Snickers bars and a drizzle of caramel of caramel syrup.

The cooker boy (excuse the MJ glove)  with his cupcake..one happy camper!!

Enjoy..and let me know what you think!

Cupcake Bites

Cupcake Bites (aka Beth's Blue Balls to my really mature awesome friends!) 

One of the first baking blogs I stumbled upon was Bakerella. Her site is AMAZING, and I've found great recipes, ideas and baking tips there. One of the coolest things Bakerella does is make bite sized treats- Cake Balls, Cake Pops, and Cupcake Bites. Me being the underestimating overachiever that I am, I skipped right to the more difficult Cupcake Bites...and I didn't take her suggestion to use a boxed cake mix and canned icing...no...I used two of her recipes and made them from scratch.

I used her Red Velvet Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting recipes. They turned out great..except i didn't have much red food coloring left, so mine turned out to be more like Pink Velvet cake. The frosting was great as well...and I only used about half of what I made in this recipe.

Putting the Cupcake Bitess together was the most time consuming part, full of trial and error. I made my cake balls too big the first time around, so then I tried to downsize a bit to get the right proportions.Trying to get the right amount of chocolate in the candy mold also took some trial and error, as did the dipping process for the cupcake "icing". I also discovered that 3 year old hands, while mighty cute, slow this process down ten fold!!

All in all, the cupcake bites turned out better than I imagined, and better than I expected when I started mixing them. The mixture looked like this:

Looks an awful lot like hamburger, doesn't it. A lovely thought when you're trying to make something sweet! The consistency also wierded me out a bit as I was rolling the balls, I couldn't imagine that they would be appetizing at all. I'm big on consistency and texture. Ask my family...the bunch of carnivores wonder why I don't care for red meat...it's all about the texture!

Meatballs anyone?? April fool's in August...these are the beginnings of my Cupcake Bites!! Like I said..not very appetizing at first! The picture taking stopped there, as Ben got involved..So here are the recipes and instructions. I'm glad I didn't follow my instinct at this point and pitch them, because they taste great!

Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting adapted from Bakerella

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 Tablespoon cocoa

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

3/4 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk mixed with 1 Tbsp vinegar, shaken well)

1 Tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 oz. red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13" x 9" pan. Gently whisk the eggs in a medium sized bowl until just blended. Add the remaining wet ingredients, and stir until combined. In a larger bowl, whisk all dry ingredients until they are combined well. Add wet ingredients to dry, and mix on medium speed with an electric mixer until completely combined. Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until the cake passes the toothpick test!

Let cake cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto cooling rack. I wrapped my cake in plastic wrap at this point, but I think it made the cake *too* moist for the rest of the process.

While the cake is cooling, make your frosting.

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 sticks butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter on high with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time until well blended. Scrape the sides of your bowl often. Add vanilla and continue to beat until frosting is smooth.

Now for the assembly. I STRONGLY suggest (emphasis on STRONGLY) you look at Bakerella's page about the cupcake bites. Her pictures are much prettier than mine, and since this is her creation, she knows what she's talking about. I don't! This was my first attempt at these little creatures!

What you'll need for the cupcake bites:

1 13x9 cake, baked and cooled

1 recipe frosting ( or 1 can if you choose to go that route)

Chocolate chips or brown candy melts (for the bottom of your bites)

Colored Candy Melts (for the top of your bites)

Candy molds

Sprinkles, Jimmies, or whatever decorations you'd like

Ok, here we go.

• 
  
  Crumble the cake into a large bowl until light and fluffy
• 
  
  Mix with 1/2 the frosting if using the above recipe, or 1 can of packaged frosting
• 
  
  Use a large spoon to mix well..this part is a little tough..and it looks unappetizing
• 
  
  Roll mixture into quarter sized balls- just slightly smaller than the diameter of your candy molds
• 
  
  Pop into the freezer for a few minutes to harden, but don't freeze
• 
  
  Melt your chocolate chips or brown candy melts according to package directions
• 
  
  Fill your candy molds 1/3 full with melted chocolate
• 
  
  Press a cake ball into each mold, pressing until the chocolate begins to squeeze up around the edge
• Place back into freezer just long enough for chocolate to set
• Carefully remove each piece from the mold by pulling up on the cake ball
• Melt your colored candy melts according to package directions
• Dip each ball into melted candy, twisting to ensure the cake ball is covered
• Top with sprinkles, jimmies etc. before candy hardens
• Refrigerate until ready to eat

Enjoy..and if you have friends like mine, don't bring out Blue Cupcake Bites after large amounts of alcohol have been consumed..Inappropriate comments and photos will ensue..and as much as I love my friends and their comments and the pictures, I can't post them here!!

Buckeyes+Cupcakes= Buckeye Cupcakes!

Go Bucks!! O-H-I-O!

Oh how I love chocolate..and peanut butter..and Buckeyes are the ultimate combination of the my two favorite substances! One of my good friends mentioned Buckeyes the other day, I think as a not-so-subtle hint that I should make some and bring them to work. So I thought about it. And this morning it dawned on me that I should not only make Buckeyes, but I should make cupcakes to put them on. So, I made both! All of my fellow Ohio State Buckeye fans will appreciate these! Go Bucks!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

What you will need:

30 Chocolate Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Icing (recipe to follow)

30 Mini Buckeyes (recipe to follow)

The chocolate cake recipe I used is the same as in this post.  The only difference is that i used cupcake tins, filling the cups 2/3 full, and baked for 27 minutes. I think next time I'll use another cake recipe, as this one works well in layers but the cupcakes were a little too moist, and fell apart a little too easily when taken out of the paper liners. Live and learn!

The Peanut Butter Frosting I improvised..I love buttercream frostings, but I was feeling in the mood for a cream cheese frosting..so I used elements of both!

Peanut Butter Frosting

Enough to frost 30 cupcakes

1 package cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 Cups creamy peanut butter

1 Cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Mix cream cheese, butter and peanut butter with electric mixer till well blended. Add vanilla, and powdered sugar. Mix on medium speed until well combined.If necessary, add a tablespoon of milk to thin frosting. Increase mixer speed to high, and continue to mix until frosting is light and fluffy. Pipe or spread on cupcakes, and top with buckeyes.

Buckeyes

Adapted from Buckeye recipe at Allrecipes.com

30 mini and 20 regular sized Buckeyes

1 Cup creamy peanut butter

1 Stick unsalted butter, softened

3 Cups powdered sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla

3/4 package semisweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. shortening

Combine peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla in bowl with electric mixer until combined well. Mixture will appear dry. Place bowl in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

When mixture is chilled, roll into 30 small balls and 20 large balls, and place on wax paper on a baking sheet. Stick a toothpick into the center of each ball. Place baking sheet into freezer for 15 minutes.

In glass bowl over a pan of simmering water, stir chocolate chips and shortening until melted and smooth.

Remove peanut butter balls from freezer. Using an ice cream scoop to hold a small amount of melted chocolate, dip peanut butter balls into chocolate until they are 3/4 of the way covered. Place back on wax paper. Repeat with each ball. When finished, remove toothpicks and place buckeyes in refrigerator for a few minutes until chocolate hardens. Top each cupcake with a mini buckeye, and try not to eat the remaining buckeyes in one sitting!

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

The Cooker Boy wants Strawberry Cupcakes

The cooker boy's Strawberry Cupcakes

Ben ( aka The Cooker Boy) has been hounding me to make cupcakes lately, so I gave in last night. I asked him what kind of cupcakes he wanted, and the answer was Strawberry with pink icing, because pink is a color for boys and girls. Can't argue that, there are grown men wearing pink, and I don't want to give the kid a complex.

I compromised, and tried a new yellow cake recipe and improvised my way to Strawberry Buttercream. We were both happy with this decision! I wasn't so sure if adding strawberries to the buttercream would work well or not, but the result was a nice Pink frosting (yay Ben) with nice bits of strawberry and an amazing flavor! The cake was lacking something, possibly from the ommission of butter flavoring and the fact that i substituted cream for the milk. Like i said, I improvise. A lot. With what I have on hand. Overall, I was pleased with how the cupcakes turned out...Here you go!



Moist Yellow Cake  from Bakerella

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

3 cups sifted self rising flour

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 3 8-inch cake pans, or use cupcake tins if desired.

Using a mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar, and continue to cream for about 7 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each egg. Add flour and milk to creamed mixture, starting and ending with flour. Add vanilla and butter flavoring until just mixed.

Divide batter between pans, or cupcake tins. For the 8 in cakes, bake 25-30 minutes. For my cupcakes, 18 minutes worked well.  Cool in pan 5-10 minutes.

Remove cakes from pans, and immediately wrap in plastic wrap to seal in moisture. Cool completely on wire racks. ( Didn't do this...wrapping 30 cupcakes seemed like a pain..but next time will try with cakes, I'm interested to see how this turns out)

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting  adapted from  Savory Sweet Life

1 cup butter ( 2 sticks), softened

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

handful of strawberries, washed, hulled and pureed

Beat butter with mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar a little at a time to prevent the massive white cloud of sugar in your kitchen. Once the sugar and butter are mixed and creamy, add

 salt, vanilla and milk/cream until just mixed. If the frosting isn't at your desired consistency, add more sugar to thicken or more milk/cream to thin. When you've got your desired consistency, fold in strawberries gently.

Here's the Cooker Boy enjoying his treat, after licking all the frosting off the cupcake...

Enjoy!! Let me know what you think..

The first post...here we go!

So at work yesterday, one of the nurses asks "Do you like to cook? Because when you're not busy, you're always looking at food..". It's true. On the rare occasion I'm not busy at work, I love reading food blogs! I've gotten some great ideas, amazing recipes, and lots of inspiration from other food bloggers. So I've decided to start my own blog! I cook to blow off steam, when I'm bored, when I'm getting together with friends, or when my son wants to make something. I love trying out new recipes, putting my own little spin on them and seeing what happens!

So the first recipe.. is...


Strawberry Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream
adapted from Strawberry-Lime Stuffed Cupcakes at Foodnetwork.com

This is a small recipe, it will make either 6 large or 10 regular size cupcakes.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

In another medium bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until light and foamy, about 2 minutes. While beating, gradually pour in the butter and then the vanilla.

While mixing slowly, add half the dry ingredients, then add all the milk, and follow with the rest of the dry ingredients. Take care not to over mix the batter. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared tins.

Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove. Cool on the rack completely.

My variation came in here. I didn't nestle a strawberry inside the cupcake like the original recipe calls for, and I made my icing a buttercream....because I love buttercream!

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
juice of 2 limes
Green food coloring if desired

Mix butter and sugar until creamy, add lime juice and mix until blended. Add food coloring if desired.

I sliced the strawberries and put them on top of the cupcakes, along with some lime zest and green sanding sugar.

Enjoy! Would love to hear what you think!