EggNog Cupcakes with Rum Buttercream Frosting, 12/16

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

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

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

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:)

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

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

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?