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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!