Peanuts and Popcorn Cupcakes, 05/26

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:)