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?