Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting OR Vanilla Frosting, with candy garnishes, 11/24

With Thanksgiving looming on the horizon (and a FIVE DAY WEEKEND), Cupcake Wednesday was 1) on Tuesday, and 2) dedicated to an "early" Thanksgiving. I owe credit to my nana, who alerted me to a fun episode of Paula Deen where she made some fun looking cupcakes that looked like peas and carrots, a turkey/chicken leg, and mashed potatoes. I'll be honest, the verbal description left me a little confused. How do Starburst candies make a cupcake look like mashed potatoes? Well, I caught a re-run and was HOOKED. I HAD to try making these adorable cupcakes, the brainchild of the authors of "Hello Cupcake." So, the base cupcake is spice, one batch from each of my two cupcake cookbooks (the early favorite is from "Crazy About Cupcakes"). The peas and carrots frosting is cream cheese frosting, and the rest are frosted with store-bought vanilla frosting (which normally I would oppose but the amount of frosting used to create the turkey leg is a semi-ginormous). The "peas" are M&Ms, the "carrots" are cut-up Starburst, the "butter" is the yellow Starburst, the coating for the turkey leg is cornflakes, and the "bone" is white melting chocolate in the shape of a leg bone. The "gravy" is leftover caramel frosting from the week before (how fortuitous!). They were super fun to make and received rave reviews (for both the decorations and the actual cupcake). I was so excited to share these because they are just so fun to look at, and now I think I need to add to my cookbook collection "Hello Cupcake."

Applesauce Cupcakes with Caramel "Frosting", 11/18

This cupcake smells like fall. Let me clarify myself--there are several "fall" type spices that make up the applesauce cupcake, including nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. And as I mixed the ingredients, it was a happy accident that really did put me in the mood for the holidays (how many more days until we get a 5-day weekend?). The applesauce cupcakes were from the 125 Best Cupcake Recipes cookbook, and the great thing about it was that I had ALL the ingredients already. It is a very simple, but tasty cupcake to make, and fine to eat without frosting. However, I might be ostracized from my lunch group if I brought a cupcake without frosting. Therefore I topped it off with caramel frosting from the same cookbook, but let me clarify about this "frosting"--it was caramel sauce. Problem? No. Solution? Dipping the cupcakes, top side down, into the frosting (like I have seen Paula Deen and Ina Garten do with chocolate ganache on the Food Network)and then twirling my wrist a little to keep the frosting on the cupcake and not on my counter. And I did kind of like how it melted down the edges a bit. The cupcake was fluffy and spicy and the caramel--because of the limited amount that could be put on (lets just say I could not glob a bunch of THIS frosting on top of the cupcake)--was just sweet enough without being overpowering. And as Courtney suggested, it would make an EXCELLENT bundt cake with the sauce drizzled over the top. What do I say about that? New ideas = new desserts!!!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, 11/12

Cupcake Wednesday was postponed to Cupcake Thursday thanks to Veterans Day (and believe me, no one is complaining). My choice this week was a repeat flavor but from a new recipe--instead of Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cupcake recipe, I used Martha Stewart's Red Velvet Cupcake recipe (and as I compared ingredients and measurements, the differences are negligible). I did, however, want to try the Martha Stewart recipe in case I want to get her cupcake book (or at least borrow it from my aunt). Some of the reviews on Amazon.com are not very positive. My lunch group was my guinea pig group (did they care? Not. One. Bit.). Contrary to some of the reviews, the cupcakes were not too heavy, and just chocolate-y and buttermilk-y at the same time. The cream cheese frosting was, again, my own version adapted from a few different recipes, and it seems to please, so I'll keep using it until I am told to stop :). And PS--when Martha says the recipe yields 24 cupcakes, the recipe yields 24 cupcakes!!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting, 11/4

Before the holidays start and Cupcake Wednesdays become holiday-themed, I wanted to try a new, fun cupcake recipe. I used the Cookies and Cream recipe from the Julie Hasson book, mainly because her recipes tend to make 16-18 cupcakes (although they say 12), whereas Crazy About Cupcakes makes upwards of 24. This was a fun recipe to mix because I got to take some aggression out on the poor sandwich cookies that needed to be crushed. There were two variations--vanilla sandwich cookies and chocolate sandwich cookies--to satisfy everyone's likes and dislikes, plus the cookies were on sale :) They were a little drier than other recipes, but if you got a bite of some of the frosting from the cookies, it was a good bite! The vanilla frosting was a good compliment to both cupcake flavors, and I added a bit of the cookie to the top (after a day the cookie became a little soggy--not a problem for me because I like them that way, but just a warning). And aside from the cookie piece, they kept well until the next day, when one of the counselors (and the principal), who had been at a bullying conference, returned to have Cupcake Thursday. I would recommend these again, maybe for a birthday party, and topped with vanilla ice cream! YUM:)

Halloween Funfetti Cupcakes with Funfetti Frosting and Peeps, 10/28

Happy Halloween!! In celebration of the upcoming day, Kelli bought a Pillsbury Funfetti mix with orange and black sprinkles. She was also kind enough to include the frosting--it was orange and included sprinkles in black, orange and pumpkin shapes (SO CUTE). To keep up with the theme, I used fun Halloween wrappers and topped some of the cupcakes with Halloween themed Peeps--a ghost or a pumpkin. I didn't have to do much work with this one but they tasted delicious all the same:) You can never go wrong with a Pillsbury cake mix!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Candy Corn Pumpkins, 10/21

It's almost Halloween!! And everyone gets in the spirit with Cupcake Wednesday. The cute and festive wrappers are courtesy of Courtney this week, and they were perfect for my "Pumpkin Patch" cupcakes--pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and candy corn pumpkin garnishes. The cupcake recipe was from the newest book, 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson. The spices used complimented the pumpkin and the cake was very moist. I can picture a bit of nutmeg going really well with this recipe. The frosting was my own recipe I developed according the my very discerning tastes :), and who can say no to candy corn pumpkins? And since Halloween is still one week away, there will be more Halloween cupcakes on the way!!!

Cheesecake Cupcakes 10/14

I ventured into new territory with a new cupcake book!! Amazing the things that brighten my day. The new book is "125 Best Cupcake Recipes" by Julie Hasson. There are many new and inventive cupcake recipes to try, and it also received the best reviews on Amazon.com. There are a few cheesecake cupcake recipes--the one I chose was the most basic and you could probably do any variation you wanted with this particular recipe. I chose to add cherry pie filling on the top, and they were a HIT. Of all the cupcakes I have made in the seven months of "Cupcake Wednesday", this was the first time there were NO leftovers. The graham cracker crumb crust held up well, and while the cheesecake was not too sweet, the cherries added the sweetness it needed. One key piece of information that deserves mentioning is the fact that these cupcakes should be made in foil wrappers. The book makes a note of this fact, and while I was skeptical at first, I adhered to the directions, and, well, the author was right. Future variations of this cupcake to come. Sorry Marnie:)