Cupcake Wednesdays

Butterbeer Cupcakes, Harry Potter Style, for Father's Day

2011-09-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

A retroactive cupcake post, but too cute to pass up. Father's Day was the reason behind these cupcakes--my dad is a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I could post pictures of the parties we have, but I might incriminate myself a bit (I dressed as Ron). I am not a Harry Potter-head, but I will indulge the obsession--lord knows people indulge my obsessions :) I found these Butterbeer Cupcakes from a blog online, and they came out perfectly!! There is a lot of butterscotch and butter extract (who knew??) to make these buttery, moist and caramel-y. They were a hit among the family, and are a second runner up for my dad only to the Boston Cream Pie cupcakes I made later in the summer. Dad contributed the background decorations for the pictures!!

CUPCAKE BONANZA, 06/01

2011-06-01T10:12:00.001-07:00

It is the last Cupcake Wednesday of the school year!! And for that, I decided I needed to make it special. I have A MILLION (ok well, over 100) new recipes to try because I found cheap cupcake cookbooks on Kindle (a super awesome birthday present for my 31st!!), and had to try them out. And in order to get a few in before the end of the school year, I made three recipes and put them all in mini cupcake form so everyone could enjoy all three flavors!
Flavor #1 comes from "Cupcake Cookbook: 100+ Super Cute and Droolworthy Recipes to Impress" by Sharlene Alexander on the Kindle. It is a Lemon Cream cupcake and I used some left over raspberry frosting to complete the flavor pairing--sour and sweet (kinda like me, or Sour Patch kids). I piped on a little flower/star and added a mint leaf to spice it up a bit.
Flavor #2 was from Kindle book #2 "The Absolutely Most Delicious Cupcake Recipes Cookbook" by Madison Parker--Key Lime Cupcake. Well, I used regular limes but put in a LOT of zest to make it lime-y. I thought a good complimentary frosting flavor would be coconut, and I have a tried and true coconut cream cheese frosting. I like the tropical inspiration of these cupcake. Gets me ready for summer.
Flavor #3 is from "Who You Callin' Cupcake" (see the section on Books), a banana cupcake. It's a good solid banana flavor, and could be used for bread as well. To sweeten it up, I added a new frosting--Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting. I googled it and found one I could live with. Essentially, it's cream cheese frosting, but replace some of the cream cheese with Nutella, and add powdered sugar as necessary.

All three cupcakes are very moist, and stayed that way after being baked and frosted ahead of time. The lime is very flavorful, despite the lack of lime extract. The group really liked the banana, and the consensus on the frosting is A+!! And, as mentioned above, the lemon and the raspberry are a good combination for the contrasts they provide.

Happy summer!! :)

Tiramisu Cupcakes, 05/18

2011-05-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of new ingredients here that I have not worked with (ever or recently). There are MANY recipes for these types of cupcakes online, and I took a component here, a component there, and made my own cupcake.
To start off, I baked a white cupcake using "Hey There Cupcake" by Clare Crespo. Good basic cupcake, tasty flavor. The next step was to make the Mascarpone filling/frosting using 1 lb mascarpone cheese, 2 cups of whipping cream and 1 cup of powdered sugar. I made half a batch at a time because I don't have one of those huge standing mixers (I know, pity me :P). I whipped the cream until ALMOST stiff peaks with the sugar, then added the cheese. It solidified nicely, just don't overbeat or it gets icky. I hollowed out the cupcakes with a little do-dad from Bed Bath and Beyond and lightly "soaked" the middle with a mixture of instant coffee, water, sugar and Kahlua (flavoring since I had to take these to school). Then I piped in the filling, covered it back up with the little bit of cupcake I had carved out, and "frosted" it with the same concoction.
Now the reason I use quotations is because this is not really frosting and should not be used or paraded around as frosting. It melts. Quickly. I had to return the frosting to the refrigerator to let it harden up a little and then pipe it back on, then RUSH the cupcakes back in. They are now safely in Kelli's mini-fridge in her classroom, but in my opinion, that is a lot of work to make the darn frosting stay on top of the cupcake.
To finish off the illusion of the dessert, I sprinkled a little cocoa powder on the top. I think this is the only time I will be making these cupcakes, which is a total bummer because I have a whole tupperware bowl full of the filling and it is too hard for me to throw it away!! Unless these cupcakes are FABULOUS, I will be eating tiramisu in its normal form....from a restaurant.

Ok after actually tasting the cupcake (I hadn't when I wrote the above information), I LIKE it. It's yummy. And aside from the annoying consistency of the frosting, I call this Cupcake Wednesday a success!!!

Pineapple Right Side Up Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting, 05/11

2011-05-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted, and although I have not stopped baking, they weren't really anything special. However, my creative juices started flowing again and I have a list of cupcakes I want to make, and the end of the school year is fast approaching (no one is complaining, don't get me wrong!). My first new concoction was a Pineapple "Right Side Up" cupcake. I saw a bunch of recipes for upside down cupcakes online, but they seemed messy to transport, so I kept with the flavors and just retooled it a bit. I used a pineapple cupcake recipe from "Hey There Cupcake" by Clare Crespo, which turned out FABULOUS. I like the cupcake much better cold than warm--the pineapple flavor comes out more when it has been in the refrigerator. Then, for the brown sugar that is usually on the bottom and all crystalized and yummy, I made some brown sugar frosting, using another new and untried recipe from a recent birthday present from the Cupcake Wednesday lunch group--"Who You Calling' Cupcake" by Michelle Garcia. My only change in the recipe (and I don't know if it would remain the same if I did it the other way, but just a note) was that I melted the brown sugar FIRST with the shortening instead of adding it in at the end. I thought it might be grainy the other way around. Top it off with a little maraschino cherry and your Upside Down Pineapple Cupcake is right side up!!

Lemon-Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream, 03/02

2011-03-01T13:19:00.000-08:00

Being that it's the first Wednesday in March, and, to me, March means spring (even if it is 65 outside), so I chose a fun, fruity cupcake for today, with a bright, spring-like cupcake wrapper! These lemon blueberry cupcakes are adapted from a recipe I found on the Internet. My main goal was to find a blueberry cupcake that wasn't just a white cupcake with blueberries thrown in--my foray into fruit cupcakes that tasted just like the muffin or bread version (see: Banana Caramel Cupcakes) made me gravitate toward something with puree instead of whole fruit. This recipe gave me the ingredients for the blueberry puree, which I added to (essentially) a yellow cupcake. I replaced one tsp of vanilla with a tsp of lemon extract and then stirred in the zest of 2 lemons along with the blueberry puree. To add my own "flair" (which is healthy), I used Egg Beaters, 1 cup of whole wheat flour, and 1/2 the sugar. The cupcakes are light and sweet, and not as close to blueberry muffins as the banana cupcakes were to their bread version, so I was satisfied. I think I might be able to keep this recipe and replace the blueberries with any type of fruit--strawberry, mango, etc. The frosting is a standard buttercream that I have made a million times, but with lemon extract and a touch of fresh lemon juice. Fun, fruity and festive for spring!!

Side note: I cannot remember the last time a batch of cupcakes got devoured like the did this week!

Caramel Banana Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream, 02/23

2011-03-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

Like I mentioned, my new obsession with my cupcakes now is to find new and maybe unexpected combinations (I will NOT, however, be using bacon). I know this combo is not unexpected, but it's new and I got to play scientist a little with the mixture. I found a banana cupcake recipe that used brown sugar instead of white (Google it, I don't remember) and mixed that baby up. After filling the cupcake tin with batter, I dropped a dollop of caramel (homemade of course--see last post) in the middle in the hopes it would stand out after baking--it didn't. But whatever, I tried. The frostings are different based on what I had left over--a basic cream cheese, caramel buttercream or a whipped cream cream cheese frosting. After slicing a banana as garnish I drizzled a bit more of the caramel for effect and served them up. Now, my honest opinion/criticism is that this tasted like banana bread. I wanted a sweeter cupcake, but if you want a banana cupcake, just make banana bread--it's probably healthier anyway. But it was a recipe I had been wanting to try and a flavor I had not made yet, so it was not a total bust.

Brown Sugar Pecan Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream, 02/09

2011-03-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

My challenge now is to find or create new recipes and combinations of cupcakes, frostings and additions. I have been looking up different ideas on Google and found this combination that intrigued me. I cannot, however, tell you where I found it--just google it :). The cupcakes are a brown sugar flavor, which is fun and caramel-y and toffee-y. I crushed up some toasted pecans (how expensive are they, by the way??) and mixed them in. Cupcake done. Now for the frosting. I REALLY wanted a caramel flavor, and so many called for heating this, boiling that, and to be honest, I did try heating the egg whites and sugar and I was not successful. SOMEONE needs a double boiler and a candy thermometer. So as I was making the base with powdered sugar and butter, I said "Forget this" (Cee-lo style, tho) and started making my own. Again, I couldn't tell you how I did it, but it is essentially a buttercream with caramel added to it. OH, but I DID make the caramel. Not too hard, but dangerous if you stop watching the boiling sugar. And then if the frosting is too runny as you add the caramel (1/4 cup maybe?), just add a little more sugar. Easy! I topped it off with a toasted pecan. I really adore these cupcakes--the flavor of the brown sugar is different and I love pecans!!

FUNFETTI Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting, GREEN BAY PACKERS THEME, 01/26

2011-03-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

For Kelli's birthday, which was on a Saturday and a day before the Super Bowl (involving her favorite team, the Packers!!), I thought it would be awesome to combine two of her favorite things--Funfetti cupcakes and, of course, Green Bay. The cupcakes are just regular old Funfetti and the frosting is a canned vanilla dyed green for the field and yellow for the endzone. The yard makers are piped on with a tiny Wilton tip (I don't know the number, but it's the smallest circle). That was the easy part. The rest took me a bit of time to figure out logistically, but I do believe I was successful. The logos in the middle of the field and the endzone are white melting chocolate that I melted in a plastic bag, snipped off the tip, and piped on the correct shape on a piece of wax paper (I did sketch it out first). The goal posts are the same thing, except at the bottom, I made it come to a point so I could pierce the cupcake easier. Then, because no football field is complete without players, I used candy (I don't even know what they were called--you could also use M&Ms or jelly beans or Skittles) to create the formations (and YES they are real formations, I am not dumb).
Like her last birthday hoopla cupcakes, I had nightmares about this design not working, but it came together successfully. And now, if I ever find a reason to like MY team enough again (I miss you Uncle Pete!!) I can easily make this for a tailgate. Someday...

"Healthy" Carrot-Coconut-Pecan Cupcakes, 01/19

2011-01-18T12:06:00.001-08:00

Ok I lied a little bit, and made these cupcakes for the 18th, but the 19th is a finals day and we don't have lunch. So these are for the WEEK of the 19th, ok??? So I tried a new recipe with new flavors, and one I had seen demonstrated on Paula Deen's show on the Food Network. These are carrot cupcakes with coconut and pecan, but because it's Paula Deen, let's face it, these are not the healthiest cupcakes in the world. And I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that--but at times I need something a little healthier. :) Since it is post-holiday, and people are all on the healthy kick for the moment, I "healthified" these cupcakes. So I used her recipe, but made a few key changes. First of all, I switched 1/2 of the flour to whole wheat. The eggs were replaced with Egg Beaters, and the oil replace with applesauce. I also only used half the sugar, and you really cannot tell. The rest remained the same, except I also toasted the pecans first (yummmmmmy). Maybe because of the substitutions, I only baked these for 20 minutes. Who knows. The frosting is my own cream cheese frosting, made with non fat cream cheese too keep it healthy-ish. The "carrot" on top is composed of a dried apricot, cut into a triangle, and although Paula Deen calls for a mint leaf to represent the stems on the carrots (which I think is SO CUTE), I was lazy and dyed some frosting green. Oh well. Then, with my leftover pecans, I rolled the edges and ta-da!!! Cute!!
These cupcakes came out very moist, rose to perfection, and were excellent with the chopped pecans! I would like to try to add crushed pineapple some time, or maybe golden raisins, but the basis of this cupcake was very good, a definite keeper (it earned a few "favorite" comments from the cupcake group), and one that could have many many additions and variations!

Cupcake NEW YEAR!!

2011-01-04T12:37:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! No, New Year's Eve did not fall on Wednesday, but no one is going to paint me into a corner as to when I can make cupcakes (didn't you hear--"no one puts baby in a corner"). The design is super simple--I made mini chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and frosted them with chocolate fudge frosting (because sometimes a girl just wants chocolate cake :)). I piped on the numbers for the clock and arranged them to look like a clock. The middle cupcakes are frosted white for some alternating color in the arrangement and then the clock hands are just chocolate frosting piped on. And while the clock says midnight, we did actually celebrate ALL the new years for the United States (ok, continental US)...but hey, it's midnight SOMEWHERE :)

Cupcake Christmas! Snowmen and Reindeer, Assorted Flavors and Frostings

2011-01-04T12:29:00.001-08:00

For the festive holiday spirit of Christmas, I found two designs of iconic holiday characters (snowmen and reindeer--duh) from the Hello, Cupcake! series, and did my best to replicate them. The snowmen are a white cupcake with peppermint frosting and then rolled in coconut to give them a "flaky" appearance. Make sure you roll them in the coconut RIGHT AFTER you frost them or nothing is sticking. The noses are cut up Starburst, the eyes are mini chocolate chips, and the rest of the decorations are assorted candies (Runts, Airheads). I'm not going to lie, these were not the easiest cupcakes I have ever decorated--the scarves are sticky and pulled apart and they toppled over during transportation.
The reindeer are gingerbread cupcakes with cream cheese frosting dyed brown. Now, you are supposed to roll them in brown colored decorating sugar (NOT brown sugar, DAD), but Michaels refuses to carry that color, so I was stuck with darkening the frosting as best I could. The eyes are chocolate chips, and the nose is a red hot (because they are all Rudolph, of course). The antlers are made of melting chocolate piped into a design--I let them dry in the refrigerator and then stuck them into the sides of the the mini cupcake, which is turned on its side for the face. These were much easier, both to design and transport, but they are both equally cute!!

Cupcake BIRTHDAY!! 1920s style :)

2010-12-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday Shavonne!!! In honor of #29, we celebrated 1929 style (before the Crash, of course) with a speakeasy, gambling and martinis--cupcake martinis that is! When asked by the birthday girl to provide the desserts, of COURSE I said yes and couldn't wait to begin my project. After getting approval for a few colors (green, purple and red, in case you couldn't tell), I then began planning the cupcake and frosting flavors. The red ended up being a recipe I concocted--Cherry Almond cupcakes (guest starring Amaretto!) with Cherry-Almond-Vanilla frosting. The green ones are Creme de Menthe, from 125 Favorite Cupcakes, and the purple ones are "Purple" Velvet cupcakes (using Martha Stewart's Red Velvet recipe). Creme de Menthe was topped with mint cream cheese and Purple Velvet just had plain ol' cream cheese.
Now to the assembly. Plastic martini glasses (big and little), red Jelly Bellys and purple and green M&Ms, and a TON of frosting--these are the tools needed. For the mini martini glasses, I began with a few jelly beans, added a mini cupcake, and topped it off with a swirl of frosting. DONE. For the larger glasses, I put a few M&Ms in the stem to prevent the frosting from dripping too far down and then "painted" the inside of the glass with frosting warmed up in the microwave to make it a little runny-er. Then into the fridge for it to harden. The big cupcakes were actually made in the LARGE cupcake tins, but filled halfway, so it was a flatter cupcake. Drop that baby into the glass and either swirl the frosting or pile it on top and smooth it out with a butter knife and garnish with some leftover candy. The "straws" are cocktail forks (with or without, they look great). You can see the mini cupcakes modeled in H ello Cupcake's newsletter, and the larger cupcake "martinis" on Jelly Belly's web site.
I had SO MUCH FUN making these cupcakes, but also lost a lot of sleep stressing about whether or not I could pull it off. But, since 1929 WAS in the midst of Prohibition, we couldn't break the law and have REAL martinis, now could we :)

Side note: Special thanks to Brian (college football writer for AOL Fanhouse, FYI) for the AWESOME cupcake plate in the background.

Persimmon Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting, 12/01

2010-12-02T10:31:00.001-08:00

What is a persimmon? Well, it's a funny looking fruit. But I was challenged (ok not really challenged but asked) to make a persimmon cupcake from Art's donation of the ingredient, so I set out to find a recipe. I found one here (and A LOT of other cool recipes, which I will be trying out in the near future!!) that seemed to be pretty reputable. There was orange juice and pumpkin pie spice involved, and while I do have to admit this was not my favorite cupcake, those who KNEW persimmons and what they should taste like were satisfied with the flavor. One review was that it "tasted like winter" which I guess is good because persimmons seem to only be ripe at this time of year for a few weeks (?)--kind of like the Macinaw Peach (if you know Seinfeld, you get it)!!! So if you like persimmons, I suggest this recipe. It was fun, however, to try a new recipe with a new flavor since I feel like I am running out of new ideas and flavors (I know it's not true, but I'm in a cupcake rut, I guess!!). Next up--festive and FUN Christmas cupcakes:)

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Nutter Butter Turkeys, 11/17

2010-11-17T11:15:00.000-08:00

Gobble Gobble! Happy (early) Thanksgiving. Since SOMEONE gets a whole week off at Thanksgiving (no complaints here, even if it means a little pay cut), this is Cupcake Wednesday's Thanksgiving. And for the festivities, I have pumpkin cupcakes from a tried and true recipe (into which I added pumpkin pie spice! Oh yes, I am THAT daring) and my cream cheese frosting. Topping these babies off are little "turkeys" made with 1 1/2 Nutter Butters, a few pieces of candy corn, mini chocolate chips, and a little extra frosting. I got the idea from another web site (just Google "Nutter Butter Turkey Cupcakes") and, while they have wings as well, I could NOT for the life of me fit the wings on the turkey. So guess what, my turkey can't fly (wait, can turkeys fly anyway? I know they can run really fast). The turkey cupcakes got rave reviews for their design, and would be great for little kids, but as it is, we turn in to little kids whenever we get around cupcakes, so they worked perfectly for us!

Fun Cupcake-Themed Items

2010-11-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

So this is a new topic for my blog, but since I have received so many FUN cupcake themed items in the last year or so, I thought they (and the gift givers) deserved a shout out. I will add posts periodically. The first blog of this sort is dedicated to Lisa (see her blog), who found, at Bath and Body Works, this awesome hand sanitizer!! It absolutely smells like Red Velvet cupcakes, and it even has GLITTER! It's such a Catch-22--I want to use it but I don't want it to get used up too quickly. And at this time of the school year (think flu season and no one covering their mouths--you would think a 16 year old knew to do that by now but I guess not...), teachers are grateful for any type of germ fighter!!

Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting with Jelly Bellys, 11/09

2010-11-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

Cupcake Wednesday took place on Tuesday since our week is totally messed up (but I'm not complaining about a four day weekend!). The spiced cupcakes are from Crazy About Cupcakes, and the cream cheese frosting (my own) was dyed a light shade of brown for the base. To celebrate the fall month of November, and the coming of Thanksgiving, I took an idea from What's New, Cupcake! and decorated the cupcakes like "Indian Corn." I had the most fun picking out the Jelly Belly colors and decorating them in a fun pattern. Squished together, they REALLY do look like corn on the cob! The leaves are another issue. The book suggests making it from philo dough, which I did, and it was my first time working with it. Well, mine looks NOTHING like theirs :( , but I tried. The definitely LOOKED like leaves, but propped up around the corn they just kind of fell flat. I suppose I will have to practice to get the technique right. Go to Hello Cupcake's website to see how it REALLY should look (or buy the book, it's TOTALLY worth it!).

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting in a Graveyard Scene, 10/20

2010-10-20T11:22:00.001-07:00

It is getting closer to Halloween and my holiday spirit is picking up. For this week's design, I incorporated some ideas from What's New Cupcake, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, along with my own ideas. For the base cupcake, I used red velvet--Martha Stewart's recipe--because it seemed kind of appropriate. The frosting, of course, was cream cheese (my own combination and ratio of ingredients). After frosting, I rolled the cupcakes in ground-up chocolate cookies to make the "dirt," thus beginning my graveyard scene. On separate occasions, I made the trees (the outline of which came from What's New Cupcake) and the grave markers (broken up bits of graham cracker, dipped in melting chocolate, and piped on RIP letters. The rest is store-bought courtesy of Walgreens--candy corn pumpkins and gummy skeletons I cut into pieces and stuck in the frosting. The scene was put together hastily before lunch, but the cute factor is still there, and I like the way it turned out. I think under different circumstances I would like to have put these on a platter and sprinkled more "dirt" on the bottom to fill in the spaces and make it REALLY festive, but I can live with the outcome for today.

PS. As ordered by my Dad, I have reserved some of the leftover cupcakes for him, that are not to be frozen by Mom--this rule (#576 in our lifetime--me, Steve and Erin, that is) is called the King's Fifth (maybe he needs a shirt with this on it). This rule does have more practicality behind it than the Neopolitan ice cream rule though!!!

Honey Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting as Candy Corn, 10/06

2010-10-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

It's October!! Candy corn and Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins galore!!! These cupcakes were inspired by two things--a candy corn candle my mom got me last weekend (the "cupcake" in the back!), and the left over candy corn in my pantry from my attempt at candy corn-infused vodka:) The cupcakes are honey flavored, because that is the closest I could think of candy corn tasting like, and it's the same recipe as the "bee" cupcakes. The frosting is just store-bought but dyed with gel dyes to get a vibrant color. Then, using a large star, I swirled the yellow, then orange on top of that, and a dab of white. Festive!!!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting, 09/01

2010-09-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

Cupcake Wednesdays is back!! Which means so is school but a girl's gotta make a living somehow. So the first design for the beginning of the school year is, what else, an apple!! I've never been given an apple though (I have, however, been graced with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, which I prefer), but it still reminds me of school and fall (and yes, I consider the first day of school to be the first day of fall!!). The cupcakes are caramel apple cupcakes from Crazy About Cupcakes, and the design is from my newest cupcake book, What's New Cupcake? by the authors of Hello Cupcake! My new book--courtesy of Marnie :) The "apple" shape is created from cutting off a tiny bit of the bottom of a mini donut, and then topped with a BUNCH of store-bought frosting dyed red. I then rolled the top of the cupcake GENTLY in red sugar and let them set in the fridge. While that was going on, I cut a tootsie roll length-wise and rolled it into a stem shape. I cut a green leaf out of a green airhead candy and scored it down the middle. I did think these cupcakes looked difficult to put together, but in the end they were not really that difficult!! The hardest part was getting the frosting on the cupcake/donut combination. And once the sugar soaked in to the frosting, combined with the apple/caramel/cinnamon flavor of the cupcake, it tasted a little bit like Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and well, there is nothing bad about Cinnamon Toast Crunch :)

Brown Sugar Pound Cake Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting, 06/02

2010-06-02T09:25:00.001-07:00

Bittersweet yes, as this is the last cupcake Wednesday for a while. It does, however, mean that they schoolyear is nearly over, so I won't mourn too much. To celebrate the onset of summer (I don't care what the calendar says, to teachers, summer starts when school ENDS), I developed a beachy scene, creativity that was inspired by my newest cupcake book (courtesy of Marnie!), "What's New Cupcake?" It was also my first venture into a cupcake "scene". The cupcakes are from Martha Stewart, and the frosting is some leftover vanilla buttercream, with the remainder being from a can of store-bought frosting. I expected the cupcakes, with the term "pound cake" in the title, to be heavier, but they were not overly heavy. The "sand" is brown sugar, and to create the waves I just piled on the frosting (after tinting it blue) and then created peaks with a butter knife. I was pleased with the end result. I cut up some Swedish Fish and shoved them in the frosting to add to the scenery. All in all, it makes me excited for my first full day off, when I go to the beach and enjoy the sand on my feet!!

Peanuts and Popcorn Cupcakes, 05/26

2010-05-27T14:01:00.001-07:00

How did I get into this creative mood? I found MULTI-COLOR marshmallows!! Albertsons!! Anyway, the ideas for these cupcakes came from two different books, Hello, Cupcake and Hey There Cupcake! The popcorn cupcakes, designed with yellow and white marshmallows, are on top of a white cupcake recipe (from Hey There Cupcake) with some leftover white buttercream frosting. To make the "kernels" you cut one mini marshmallow into three slices and then place another whole marshmallow on top (the stickiness of the cut side of the slice helps bind it together). They turned out better than I expected. I was pleasantly surprised. The peanut-like decorated cupcake came from Hey There Cupcake! and they were just as--surprisingly--easy. I made the peanut butter cupcake recipe from their book and filled the cupcake well (probably too high, but oh well), then balled up little pieces of foil to make an indentation. After they came out of the oven, I sliced off the tops (and ate a few--what??) to make a level area for frosting. I used a peanut butter cream cheese frosting from a different cupcake requested by my nana, and then piped on little lines to make it resemble a peanut. I like the combination of the two designs--it reminds me of circus food, or my diet (excluding the liquids) on football game days :)

Blondie Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, 05/19

2010-05-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to try these cupcakes for a while, but could not for the life of me find toffee chips. Well, let me tell you they are in the baking aisle by the chocolate chips (how I missed them I have no idea). Anyway, this is from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book, so how on earth could they be bad? Well, they weren't, and far be it for me to questions Martha Stewart, but I did add a little extra to the recipe. After mixing up the ingredients, I realized that these were, in fact, supposed to be like the brownie type of blondie, but I wasn't into something so heavy. So I added 1/3 cup of milk and a splash (maybe 1/4 of a cup) of sugar-free caramel flavored Torani syrup (can you say addicted?). The batter was thinner after those additions, and was exactly what I had been hoping for. The cupcakes rose well and I topped them off with vanilla buttercream from Hey There, Cupcake (and some with leftover cream cheese frosting from the week before), and added a cashew on top for a little "flair" :)

Mango Coconut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Toasted Coconut, 05/12

2010-05-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

As summer approaches (and the countdown is on the board!), the cupcakes are more summer inspired. That, and summer fruit is just really on sale now (the mangoes have been super cheap!). This cupcake recipe is from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes, and while I sometimes don't have the best luck with these recipes, this one turned out the way I like my cupcakes. I added more mango, and was worried that the mango flavor would not be strong enough, but surprisingly it was!! I then made my cream cheese frosting and rolled it in recently toasted coconut. A good summer cupcake, and one I would definitely make again! (And thanks to Brian for my birthday present--the fun plate in the background!!)

Margarita Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting, Sugar Crystals and a Lime Wedge, 05/05

2010-05-11T10:02:00.001-07:00

Ok so in the past, I said I don't celebrate holidays on which I have to go to school, but maybe it's the southern California connection that I would prefer to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. For this day, which happened to fall on a Wednesday, I made my own version of several different designs I had seen browsing on the Internet. The recipe was a Lime Cupcake recipe from Crazy About Cupcakes (it's the lemon recipe, but altered for lime--I have had good luck with the lemon, so I figured I couldn't go wrong). To "spice" it up a bit, I added about a 1/4 cup of tequila (the cheap stuff)--nothing too overpowering, and it didn't really alter the consistency of the batter. They baked up nicely and then I frosted them with Lime Cream Cheese--cream cheese frosting recipe with some lime juice (so add a bit more powdered sugar to get the right consistency). After frosting them, I rolled the edges in clear sugar crystals (visit a Michaels Craft store), stuck a straw in it, and cut a little lime wedge! Bottoms up!!

Honey Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and "Bees", 04/28

2010-04-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Ok but seriously, how cute are these cupcakes? I can't exactly pinpoint the exact inspiration for my Bee Cupcakes because it came from a few locations (you would not believe how popular this theme is!). A recipe from a magazine I pulled out, a few cupcake books (Hey There, Cupcake! is one of them), and the internet (in the end, I used this location for the design for the bees). The honey cupcake is moist and rose to the perfect little domed top (like I've said before, I HATE flat cupcakes), with a slight hint of honey in the taste--it's perfect in that it was not overwhelmingly honey-flavored nor was it unnoticeable. The frosting was just a canned vanilla frosting, but I used it because, as Hello, Cupcake! correctly advises, these frostings hold the color to a truer hue, and they are easier to pile on. I used a large star tip to swirl the frosting (after tinting it a light shade of yellow) and then began assembling the bees. I used a toothpick dipped in black food color to dab on the eyes, pressed it into the cupcake and followed with a brown M&M, then a yellow one. You could probably go with one more brown, but I was running out out candies. The wings are almond slices--I just placed those next to the bees after they had been assembled (I did try to match up the wing size a little bit). I simply adore these cupcakes--they came out much cuter than I was expecting, and I'm not bragging, but rather trying to encourage the further creation of these cupcakes because they were just so easy!!

Tropical Cupcakes with Rum Buttercream, Topped with Pineapple and Papaya, 04/21

2010-04-22T13:55:00.001-07:00

Spring is approaching (well, I guess technically it is here, but it's 60 degrees outside in Southern California and it's APRIL). In honor of the season, I have chosen a fruity cupcake, Tropical, if you will, which also works well in anticipation of summer (33 SCHOOL DAYS!!). This tropical cupcake is from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes, which is essentially a white cupcake with Malibu-soaked dried fruit (papaya, mango and pineapple)--of which I included more fruit than called for--and macadamia nuts (which I cracked open and toasted myself, thank you very much). The fact that the fruit had been reconstituted in rum definitely contributed to the lingering coconut-rum taste, even after the cupcake had been baked. The toasted macadamia nuts gave the cupcake a stronger macadamia flavor as well, so there were a lot of flavors and tastes going on in this cupcake. To top it off, I frosted them with Rum Buttercream (from the same cookbook). Honestly, I don't think I've had a crush on something so much since my John Allred days (oh yeah, I brought it back!). This frosting is just fabulous, and with rum extract, you don't have to use as much. I topped the frosting off with little bits of dried pineapple and papaya, which reminded me of two things--a mosaic in an art gallery (because of the little pieces) and, for some reason, a 70s cupcake--I think it's the colors that remind me of the linoleum we used to have in the kitchen from when our house was built circa 1978 (?). But pretty nonetheless, and doesn't make me feel as guilty for an "unpretty" cupcake like last week :)

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Frosting, 04/07

2010-04-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

I have to say, after the last two weeks, these cupcakes seemed rather anti-climactic, which is why it has taken me so long to post. Not that they were bad, they just weren't . . . cute. The snickerdoodle cupcake recipe is from Martha Stewart's cupcake cookbook, and on her website as well. They were cinnamon-y like a snickerdoodle, and light in texture. The mini cupcakes were very moist (plus I might have undercooked them . . . what, it's my cupcake!!). Since I envision snickerdoodle cookies and light and crispy, the only frosting that seemed to be appropriate was a whipped cream-type frosting, but not everyone is a whipped cream fan, so I compromised with tried-and-true Vanilla Cream Frosting from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes. After frosting them, I sprinkled the tops with sugar and cinnamon to finish the look. They are simple, sure to please most everyone, and (as commented TWICE), they go perfectly with coffee:)

Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes with Chocolate and Vanilla Frosting, 04/07

2010-04-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

For the last birthday in March (but we were on spring break), Marnie got to choose her cupcake for the first Wednesday back. She said sweet, maybe chocolate-y. From a little Betty Crocker cookbook on cupcakes and sweets my mom gave to me before my flight to Baltimore over spring break, I found these cupcakes. They were from scratch, which I liked, and knew I could use them for the brainstorm brewing in my head. Now, if you know Marnie, there are a few things that immediately come to mind. One of those things is her favorite saying (and if it's not, it might as well be), "MOOOOVE COW." Yes, she has bouts of road rage, but hey, I'm not judging. And while I like to give credit where credit is due, after weeks of decorating cupcakes and making designs from someone else's recipe, I MADE MY OWN. First I frosted the cupcake with vanilla frosting, and then added chocolate frosting to the sides and top. I cut a LARGE marshmallow in four slices, short-wise, and frosted the noses pink. I cut one of those slices in half to make the ears, dipping the sticky side in pink sprinkles. I then cut a Milk Dud in half and pressed it in for the eyes, finishing the cupcake off by piping on nostrils and a mouth. So, between this week's cupcake and Easter's cupcakes, I have enough designs in my repertoire for my unborn children to have a barnyard-themed party--oh you better believe it!!

Coconut Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and Shredded Coconut, AND Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, 04/ 04

2010-04-07T13:10:00.001-07:00

It's Cupcake EASTER!! Ok so it's not Wednesday, but I couldn't ignore the cuteness of these cupcakes this year--they are much better than my first foray into themed cupcakes LAST Easter. None of these cupcakes are my own creation, but instead I found them on the internet. Visit the site and scroll through to find each version and its directions. Now, on to the cupcakes themselves. The chocolate cupcakes are the duckies, and that was just a mix from a Betty Crocker box (half used from the Valentines Day cupcakes). I frosted it with some green tinted cream cheese frosting (left over from St. Patty's Day), and then built the duck (two donut holes, yellow tinted vanilla frosting, and a cut-up Sour Patch kid for the beak). The other two cupcakes are my own adaptation of a white cupcake recipe from A Bakers Field Guide to Cupcakes. I REALLY wanted a coconut cupcake, but I couldn't find a recipe I liked well enough--so I made my own. And they were FABULOUS (not to brag too much). So I toasted 1/2 cup of coconut and added it to the batter at then end, stirring it in with a spatula. Then, to get the consistency I wanted, I added a (generous) amount of Malibu rum (and then took a sip--what???). I would say it ended up being 1/4 cup. They baked up to perfection! After frosting them, I dipped the bunny into shredded coconut, cut a LARGE marshmallow for the ears, plopped on some jellybeans for the eyes and nose, and added two TINY marshmallows for its muzzle. The basket has green-tinted coconut, Robin's Eggs candy and jellybeans, with the handle being a pipe cleaner. Having not eaten sweets for WEEKS, I was thoroughly satisfied that this was the first cupcake I was able to eat. They were festive and tasty and perfect for Easter!

Pina Colada Cupcakes with Pineapple Pudding Frosting, 03/24

2010-03-24T12:14:00.001-07:00

Since Courtney's birthday was yesterday (happy birthday!!!), her request was for Hungry Girl's Pina Colada cupcakes, which I made several weeks ago for another birthday, but I wasn't kidding when I said these were just fabulous. And easy AND low-calorie. Seriously, get the book. Anyway, to make them a bit more festive, I added a little pineapple chunk and maraschino cherry to fit the "island" theme that comes to my mind whenever I think of pina coladas (and no, there is no rum in here, but again, that's what comes to my mind and I wanted to "cute-sy" up this picture). My favorite part, though, is the cupcake holder. Courtney definitely is a cheetah and zebra print girl and luckily the local cake store had these fun wrappers, so in honor of her birthday, I thought it would be fun to add this little touch! See the up-close pictures, they really are adorable. I can see an animal-theme cupcake for future use of these holders!!

Pistachio Cupcakes OR Irish Cream Cupcakes, with Cream Cheese Frosting, 03/17

2010-03-17T12:28:00.000-07:00

While there was no planned St. Patrick's Day cupcake (for a few reasons--A) I'm not Irish and don't quite feel the pull, B) I decline to celebrate days when I don't get them off from work, and C) anything remotely "Irish" reminds me of Notre Dame and I do all I can to avoid THAT upchuck reflex), I received some St. Patty's Day themed cupcake holders, and so the plan materialized. There are two types because I wanted to try the Pistachio cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart's book (and the green reminded me of St. Patrick's Day anyway), but because of nut allergies, I also made Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes, from Crazy About Cupcakes (having made them before, I knew they would turn out well. Cream cheese frosting went with both flavors, although the Bailey's cupcakes have green sprinkles, while the Pistachio cupcakes have green-tinted frosting, just to be different. I tried a new frosting technique from one of my new cupcake books, A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes, a recent birthday present. You frost your cupcakes and use the back of a spoon to pull the frosting up (it was initially used on a cupcake that had "ocean waves" as the decoration)I think it might have worked better with frosting that wasn't as pliable as cream cheese frosting, but it still looked different and gave it some texture. Hopefully the close-up will illustrate it well enough.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting OR Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting, 03/10

2010-03-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

First off, a bit of a self serving moment--HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. That's right, the big 3-0 and I can't even eat birthday cake. Believe me, I will be freezing a few of these babies to enjoy in April. Well, the reason for strawberry cupcakes is that strawberry is my favorite flavor, and having made these cupcakes before (they are the Sprinkles Bakery recipe, as given to Martha Stewart), I can vouch for their deliciousness. The frostings vary because I had some leftover strawberry frosting (also from Sprinkles via Martha) but wanted to try a yummy sounding recipe in 125 Best Cupcake Recipes, Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream. YUMMY. Well, my mistake in substituting an ingredient might have made it less cream cheese-y but that is the lesson I will have learned. While it called for strawberry jam, I decided to just use pureed strawberry for a "healthier" alternative. Well, unbeknownst to me, strawberry puree is more liquid-y than jam (ok I KNEW it but didn't it didn't really cross my mind at that point), so the frosting came out WAY too runny, and I literally had to add about 1 more cup of powdered sugar, so I'm sure it changed the taste a little bit. Next time, I will slowly add the puree, but I do think I will stick to the puree (it just seems more pure, you know?). The comments heard 'round the room was that it tasted like a strawberry smoothie. Good to know!! Well, these are my birthday cupcakes, happy birthday to me, and while everyone else celebrates it today, I'll celebrate April 8th!! :)

Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream Frosting, 03/03

2010-03-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

I must admit, when you don't get to taste the cupcakes, it makes it rather difficult to write about them. But that is the sacrifice I have made, and I will continue to use reviews of the cupcakes to report on the success of Cupcake Wednesday (I have, however, frozen two of them to indulge as soon as Easter hits). The yellow buttermilk cupcakes were from Martha Stewart's cupcake cookbook, and even though I cut the recipe in half (which is difficult when there are 5 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks) and used regular flour in place of the cake flour portion (using 1/4 cup less according to my mom), they came out fluffy and moist and nicely rounded on the top (I hate the cupcakes that come out flat). The maple buttercream frosting was from PureMapleProducts.com, although I substituted maple extract for the maple syrup (halving the recipe, I used three teaspoons of maple extract) and added a bit more milk, slowly, until I found the right consistency. Despite the strong smell of the extract (my fingers smelled like maple syrup for DAYS), the report on the frosting was that it was NOT (again, despite the smell) as maple-y as one would think. Thanks to this frosting, I now have just about every extract available at Vons!! My mom dubbed these cupcakes "Breakfast Cupcakes" (because I was going for the pancake inspiration), so that is what they shall be called!

Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting, 02/24

2010-02-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the wonderful southern California weather and very fruitful lemon trees (thanks Mom and Art!), I had an abundance of lemons in my refrigerator, taking up room, but I felt too bad to let them turn bad. So I found a new lemon cupcake recipe, this time from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes, for my next cupcake. Although I tend to have issues with this book because the cupcakes don't rise very well (I have decided to just amend each recipe to include baking soda), these cupcakes rose very well, and I added a little extra zest for that super-lemony taste, just in case. :) The frosting took a little time to decide, because I wanted to do something new, but couldn't decide what type of frosting to make. I settled on a Lemon Buttercream (recipe here) that, when mixed, was absolutely light and airy and, texture-wise, fabulous (couldn't taste it--Lent, remember?). For the frosting technique, I used what I think Hello, Cupcake! calls the "Rustic" Frosting technique. I plopped a glob of frosting in the middle and fanned it out to the edges, lifting the knife up at the end of each movement (girls of the '80s, imagine feathering your hair, but with frosting--that kind of wrist snap!).
So because I have absolutely no taste information on these cupcakes, here are the "reviews" from lunch: "Enough zest in the frosting to make it taste like lemon;" "The buttermilk reminds me of buttermilk pancakes I make;" "I can taste the buttermilk;" "They're so light and airy!" Those are the specifics. So to review, not too buttermilk-y, but enough to contribute to a light and airy texture, enough lemon in both the cupcake and the frosting, and good enough for seconds!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, 02/17

2010-02-24T12:12:00.000-08:00

Milk and cookies anyone? These cupcakes were unique on a couple levels. First of all, they really were like chocolate chip cookie in cupcake form. The batter was a little denser, the cupcake came out a bit heavier and chewier. These cupcakes were from Crazy About Cupcakes, although I must admit I adapted them a little bit. I added mini chocolate chips to the batter (which did NOT sink to the bottom) in addition to the topping the book suggested (a mixture of chocolate chips and brown sugar on top of the cupcake before the frosting). I would have nixed this component of the cupcake, though, and instead just filled the cupcake up to the top, instead of halfway to the top as the book directed. To compensate for a lower cupcake, I swirled the frosting, which was also a new attempt on my part to create my own little recipe. So I already found my perfect cream cheese frosting recipe (to my personal liking--not necessarily the perfect combination and consistency for all), and instead of the last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, I added cocoa powder. Although it was less cream cheese-y than I had wanted, the frosting came out very light and airy--not what I expected from cream cheese frosting. It almost had the texture of a mousse, which pretty much rocked. I enjoyed making these cupcakes because all pieces were new, and I have discovered I like finding minor adaptations to make them my own creation. Also because it was the last cupcake (or sweet for that matter) that I will be tasting without the punishment of my own self-inflicted penance because I gave up sweets--cupcakes and all--for Lent.

Pina Colada Cupcakes with Pineapple Pudding Frosting; Valentines Day Mini Cupcakes, 02/10

2010-02-10T11:55:00.000-08:00

There were two cupcake themes today. First of all it was Claudia's birthday, and her request was from one of my favorite cookbooks, but not one I ever expected to use for Cupcake Wednesday--Hungry Girl!!!! I kid you not, these books (and website) has changed my life. Healthy, low-cal options for "regular" food, like cupcakes, dips, ONION RINGS. But I digress. So the first cupcakes were pina colada, and the frosting is a mixture of pudding, cream cheese and pineapple that tastes divine (I could eat it by the spoonful). The great thing about these cupcakes is that--despite the few ingredients--they are SUPER moist. In fact, they are such a favorite I was threatened by my brother if I did not bring some home (so as to not repeat the Runts Cupcake incident--oops!). They will reappear--Courtney is changing her request to these. So seriously, BUY THIS BOOK because it ROCKS.
The second installment was inspired from Hello, Cupcake!, a valentines day theme (and as much as I despise this holiday--and no I'm not lonely--I thought they were cute) that looked easy enough. I made some mini cupcakes from last week's batter, and then just a chocolate cake batter mix to make little chocolate ones. Then some big marshmallows and lots of valentines candy transforms these cupcakes into a box of chocoloates!!! Special shout out to mom for saving the heart shaped box. And from far away, they actually kind of look like chocolates (to quote Cher from Clueless: "It's like a Monet...from far away it looks good...")!

White Chocoate Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting, 02/03

2010-02-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

There is really only one thing that the phrase "White Chocolate" conjures up in my mind--the guy that had it tattooed on his arm with whom my friend thought it would be funny to set me up. We both got a good laugh out of that and occasionally reference him (but only to make fun of someone as lame as he has to be). But the cupcake recipe did sound good, I hadn't tried it yet, and I had white chocolate chips. The cupcake recipe is from Crazy About Cupcakes, from which I have yet to experience an icky cupcake. They are definitely flavorful with not only white chocolate chips but melted white chocolate in the batter as well. The frosting has a story behind it. I just used Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting, but there was a purpose (and laziness was not it). In the book Hello, Cupcake, they discuss how the store-bought frosting holds color better than homemade, and since I had the idea of coloring it, I stuck with store-bought and will save homemade frosting for next week. So, obviously, I dyed the frosting orange, but then rolled the cupcake in orange sprinkles (pour a whole bunch into a shallow bowl so that you never see the bottom of the bowl, that way the frosting does not stick to the bowl). And to celebrate the near-end of basketball season (high school--one of the Cupcake Wednesday-ers is the coach here), I designed it like a basketball--or as close as I could. The inspiration came from two places--Hello Cupcake for the sprinkles part (they have this AWESOME cupcake platter of "pool balls" for the pool lover that uses color sprinkles for the different colors of the balls) and Martha Stewart's cupcake book for the actual basketball. She, however, used black licorice strings for the design, and for the life of me I could not find them, so I just piped chocolate frosting dyed black instead. Then I thought they looked like spiderwebs on a Halloween cupcake, so I lined a few with white frosting. I'm not sure which looks more authentic but the whole cupcake was a neat concept and I'm glad I learned the whole sprinkle thing because it really does add to the decoration aspect of the cupcake and there are so many directions you can go!

Crazy Cake, Friday, January 29th

2010-02-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

Alright, so it's not Wednesday and it's not a cupcake but I have to display this newest creation--CRAZY CAKE!! For Kelli's REAL birthday, I had been saving this cake for about a year. She sent me a picture of this cake on another website, and asked how on earth this was possible. I did some clicking and found the process, except I added my own little touches. First of all, it is just a regular cake mix (Fresh and Easy), and made according to the box (this is different than the other example, which did it the "Weight Watchers" way). I divided the batter into 4 portions of 1 cup, and two portions of 1/2 cup.Three colors made up each of the round cakes, because I wanted three colors per layer. Because of the watery nature of this batter, I tried my best to place a little cardboard divider as I was pouring so it didn't spread out too much--it worked out just ok. Bake the cake according to the directions, and then I repeated the process for the second cake while layer one cooled off. I even sliced off the top so it was as flush as possible (it wasn't 100 percent successful, but good enough). After everything had cooled off, I spread a little vanilla frosting on the top of the bottom layer, and put the top layer on, adjusting for maximum color exposure once cut. My next step (a day later) was to frost the cake with Kelli's favorite frosting, Vanilla Cream Frosting, and it frosted very well. I was unsure of how well I would know how to frost a cake without making unsightly dents in the frosting, but this frosting did not pull on the cake or do anything that would make my nightmares come true. I dyed some leftover Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting purple (Kel's favorite), and piped on some shells on the top and the bottom. There are so many different angles you can take with this cake (Cardinal and Gold anyone? :P ) for so many different occasions, and it's really not very hard. The one suggestion I would make is to have a second person there to help you pour (I was standing there wishing my cat Nan had opposable thumbs to help me--nothing came of it though).

Funfetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting, 01/27

2010-01-29T08:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Kelli!! Two days early. :) This design was inspired by my new cupcake book, Hello, Cupcake! It was the perfect amount of cupcake hoopla for Kel's birthday, because, as we all know, she is the queen of hoopla (and other things as well!). The cupcakes were just a Pillsbury Funfetti Mix topped with Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting. Then the decorating began. The little candies are Runts, because they all came in the right colors. You could also use M'n'Ms and it would have the same cute effect. The candles are chocolate Piroutte cookies, frosted with vanilla frosting and wrapped with a Sour Patch straw (microwaved, cut in half and rolled out flat). The "flame"is a banana Runt, outlined with orange tinted frosting. These cupcakes took a bit of prep time, and I had to put them together at school (which led to a few nightmare-ish dreams that the set up wouldn't work), so it was kind of like do-or-die at lunch when I was putting them together. Luckily there weren't any huge problems, other than they were kind of tilt-y, but hey, it still stood up until people started digging in--which didn't take too long :)

Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes with Lemon Curd AND Lemon Yogurt Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Frosting, 01/13

2010-01-13T12:24:00.001-08:00

Cupcake Wednesdays is celebrating a birthday a week early. Fellow cupcake-er Art's birthday is next Wednesday, and since finals fall on that day (and thus a minimum day), we get out of school early. No one--trust me, NO ONE--wants to stay late, even for cupcakes. So in honor of Art's birthday (and NOT the Lame, I mean, Lane Kiffin hiring--Art's theory), we had two types of lemon cupcakes, lemon being his favorite flavor. Well, similar to the last cheesecake cupcake I made (no thanks to Marnie, but more on her later), there were none left, save for the one I especially reserved for my mom. Without that reservation, they would all be gone. To top off these cupcakes, I made lemon curd (honestly, I didn't know you could make lemon curd at home, but I guess I didn't have an explanation of how to make it otherwise...). It turned out well. And much cheaper than store-bought, so VICTORY. Now, because of picky Marnie (really, how much do you weigh? Tuck your man-purse), I made another cupcake, still lemon, but more of a true cupcake--Lemon Yogurt. Both were from 125 Best Cupcakes book, although I adapted this one by adding lemon flavored yogurt instead of the plain yogurt it called for. I did NOT like how these cupcakes did not rise very much. I might want to add a touch of baking soda next time. I just piled on a load of Vanilla Cream frosting and all was well. :)

Raspberry Cupcakes with Raspberry Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, 01/06

2010-01-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

Well it happened--I created my own cupcake recipe. I sat down and--no joke--analyzed a bunch of different cupcake recipes to determine wet to dry ratio, sugar to butter ratio, sugar and butter to egg ratio, and then all that to flour. This is how I spent my winter break. But don't get me wrong, it was fun :) Anyway, this cupcake has raspberry puree and raspberry extract to make sure it tasted enough like raspberries, and to my pleasant surprise, they turned out! Light and fluffy and not poisonous! The frosting was an improvisation on the Easy Buttercream recipe from 125 Best Cupcakes book, and the decorations were inspired by my NEW Hello, Cupcake cookbook (a Christmas present) in that I used their technique to make the leaf without a specific decorating tip. And if you look at the close up, the leaf does look pretty realistic--for frosting at least. And well, I am pretty proud of myself for creating my own recipe, so proud that I did a little dance. My co-workers laughed, but that's ok because their mouths were full of cupcake.

EggNog Cupcakes with Rum Buttercream Frosting, 12/16

2009-12-16T12:14:00.000-08:00

Although these cupcakes aren't embellished much, and there have certainly been cuter looking cupcakes, I do have to say, these ROCKED. For the last installment of Christmas-themed cupcakes, I chose eggnog cupcakes (from Crazy About Cupcakes) frosted with rum buttercream (from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes). I was worried about the eggnog cupcakes turning out too muffin-y and heavy (from the looks of the batter, that was the direction we were going). However, they were just as light and fluffy as cupcakes should be. The eggnog flavor was potent, but not too overwhelming or spicy (by spicy, I mean nutmeg-spice). So they are good. But the best part of this cupcake is the Rum Buttercream frosting. I did use rum extract since I took them to work, but I can't imagine real rum making any difference. I could literally just eat the frosting. Topping it on the eggnog cupcakes was really the (pardon the pun) icing on the cake.

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Frosting; Chocolate Gingerbread Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting, with Gingerbread Men, 12/09

2009-12-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

Second on the list of Christmas-themed cupcakes are the gingerbread cupcakes. I wanted to try two recipes to satisfy everyone's wants and likes, plus they made small batches. The regular gingerbread cupcakes are from Crazy About Cupcakes, and one of the ingredients I was excited about (yes, I got excited--I'm lame) was sour cream. All the cupcakes in which I have used sour cream have turned out SO MOIST. These were no exception. My only issue is that their consistency was more of a muffin (which subsequently made them exceedingly hard to frost). The frosting was from 125 Cupcake Recipes, a vanilla cream frosting with which I have fallen in love!! It's essentially vanilla frosting, but with whipping cream in the mixture and it makes the frosting very light and creamy and divine! The second batch of cupcakes were from the 125 Cupcake Recipes book, while the frosting was from Crazy About Cupcakes this time. Chocolate and gingerbread was an interesting combination and despite the fact that it seemed there was more chocolate than ginger, the ginger came through as the aftertaste, which satisfied me. I topped it with fudge frosting, so this cupcake is definitely one for the chocolate lovers. To finish it off, I quickly whipped up (yes I just said that) a batch of gingerbread men, a recipe from Crazy About Cupcakes, and the first time I have attempted this type of cookie (I'm usually a sugar cookie kind of girl). The mini gingerbread men were a fun way to decorate the tops of the cupcakes for the holiday season, and Kelli even named her little guy!! (Shhhh, we'll keep it a secret.)

Peppermint Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting and CandyCane Sprinkles, 12/02

2009-12-04T08:17:00.001-08:00

With three weeks left until Christmas vacation, I have gathered all the Christmas-themed cupcake recipes I can find and have them lined up for the next three Wednesdays. The first Christmas-themed Cupcake Wednesday was peppermint. Peppermint cupcake. Peppermint frosting. Peppermint sprinkles. It was like a giant cupcake breath mint. The recipe was out of Crazy About Cupcakes, and, true to the rest of my experiences with the cupcakes out of this cookbook, they were DELICIOUS. I liked how there was a TABLESPOON of peppermint extract in the recipe (and that is even when I halved the recipe) and a whole bunch of crushed candy canes. The cooking temperature and time seemed a little off, so I kept them in a little longer and upped the temperature about 25 degrees, but still the cupcakes stayed VERY moist (Marnie and I enjoyed that aspect the most--they were sticky:)). I think the candy cane pieces must have something to do with that when they melted. Tasty nevertheless. The peppermint frosting was creamy and I think an even better topping would have been peppermint cream cheese frosting (but I've been pretty reliant on cream cheese frosting lately and I wanted to branch out). These cupcakes reminded me of Candy Cane Lane--perfect for an introduction to the holidays!!

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

2009-11-24T13:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-18T13:09:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-21T12:08:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-15T09:47:00.001-07:00

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:)

Red Wine Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosing + Dark Chocolate Garnishes 10/07

2009-10-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

Being the health nut and gym rat that I am (yes I realize I bake cupcakes once a week--it's not like I eat the whole batch!), I know my antioxidants. So I call this my antioxidant cupcake--red wine and dark chocolate. I am not an addict of either, but I liked the combination put in a cupcake. To be honest, the Red Wine cupcake is like red wine and chocolate (there is quite a bit of cocoa powder here), with your first taste being a mild chocolate flavor and ending with the red wine taste. The red wine is much more obvious when the cupcakes are cold. The cream cheese is a nice, mellow, smooth option for a frosting, and creamier than vanilla frosting (which might work too though--or chocolate). Plus I discovered my own combination of the perfect-for-me cream cheese frosting after looking at the differences between three recipes. It's a small victory. I'll take it. And now that I have gotten the hang of actually making the darn things, I can try my hand at decorating them (I watched some Cake Challenge on cable and became inspired). Can't wait til Halloween when I can throw some candy corn pumpkins on top!!

Lemon Cupcake with Lemon Icing and Vanilla Frosting 9/30

2009-10-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

It's been really hot here in Southern California lately and a fruity, refreshing flavor for cupcakes sounded like a good idea. I have had success with the lemon cupcake recipe once before when combining it with orange (tasted like a creamsicle--yum!!), but this was the first time I had made the lemon icing. They are both VERY lemon-y (I did add extra lemon zest) and the tartness of the lemon zest brought out the sugar-sweetness of the icing even more. Overall it was a success--I took the extras to a football party and they were gone by halftime!!

**Edit: If you're not looking for a "sweet" cupcake, stay away from this one. Yes, an actual "comment". Are you flipping kidding me? Is ice too cold for you too?