Mint Chocolate Chunk Fabulocity

I had a terrible chocolate crazing, so I decided to redo a previous favorite flavor- Andes Mint. This time I used Peppermint Extract, instead of a store-bought mint flavoring. I added 1/2 teaspoon to a Devil's Food cake mix and 1/2 teaspoon to the milk chocolate frosting. I also mixed in some Chocolate chunks, instead of chips. I find the chips melt into the batter too much to be really be noticeable. The chunks stay together and make a great surprise when you bite into one. Here's the cupcakes fresh from the oven-

Then I used a medium star tip to pipe the icing and topped it with half an Andes Mint candy. Make sure to pop them in the freezer a bit before hand, as they tend to melt easily as they are handled. Wah-lah!



Yummy Boston Creme Cupcakes

I made these for a colleague's brunch birthday party and they turned out better than I expected. This was my first time using a chocolate ganache, instead of traditional frosting. It was pretty tricky to get it the right consistency. I think it may have been too warm! Oh well, live and learn. :) I started with a yellow cake, then filled it with a Bavarian creme that I purchased from a bakery supply store. Then I topped it with the ganache. Just like the donut!







Harry Potter Fan? The newest cupcake is Butterbeer!

First of all, a friend shared this link with me and that is where this idea came from. They were really good, and being singular miles from Universal Studios, they were quite popular! That being said, there are some things I would change next time. First, the cook time is a little long. They were too dry for my taste. Also, the cream soda flavor is lost in these. I would say add more cream soda and that may even help make them more moist. The batter is really dense! Second, the frosting isn't as sweet as one would imagine. The real butterbeer has a creamy, sweet froth on top and I would love to mimic that more next time. Overall, if you like butterscotch/cream soda, you would enjoy this without ever picking up a HP book!

Delicious!



Beach Wedding Shower Pt 2

Just a quick update to show the final product from the wedding shower-



Tools of the Trade

I just wanted to share how you can find some of the things you will see in my pictures. I use Amazon.com a lot just for the sake of convenience. I am not an employee of them (I wish!) but if you do buy something from one of these links I do get a small %. So, by all means go for it! :)




These are all things I have actually purchased to make the cupcakes you see in my photos. I would/will never post links just for the h*ll of it. Besides, who has that kind of time?

Beach Wedding Shower

So a co-worker is getting married on the beach here in Florida and I was asked to make some cupcakes for her shower. All I was told as far as theme was "beach" and "sea glass colors." I checked around the interwebs for some ideas, as the first step in any cupcake process these days is Google. :) I found my inspiration in two places...for the aesthetics of the cupcake HERE and the inside go HERE. I started by buying white melting chocolate from Michaels and seashell molds from good 'ole Amazon.com. I made a batch Classic White cake courtesy of Duncan Hines and a similar batch of Devil's Food Cake. Then I bought two packages of "break apart" chocolate chip cookie dough. (Did I mention that I cheat...a lot?) You have to freeze the dough before you bake because you don't want the cookie to actually cook all the way through. You also have to lower the baking time, because there isn't as much cake dough to cook. I usually bake for 21-22 minutes, this time it was more like 18-19 minutes. If you don't have a convection oven, it may be longer. Here is what they looked like going into the oven-

Coming out of the oven- just enough to brown the edges

Cut in half- YUM!

Once they were cool, it was time to ice them. I actually do this step the next day because time is not something I have a lot of! Anywho- I made a regular batch of cream cheese frosting and dyed it "Tiffany blue". I piped it on like this-

Next, I added a sprinkle of brown sugar to look like beach sand.

Last, add the white chocolate sea shells~ wahh lahh!

One more favorite...

I forgot to add what seems to be everyone's favorite cupcake, of all the ones I have concocted- "The Oreo" I started by twisting off one side of a Double Stuff Oreo cookie and placing the the cookie, frosting side up, into the cupcake liner. The other half gets chopped up in the food processor for later. Then I fill the liner half way up with Devil's Food Cake and a large spoonful of Vanilla cake goes on top of that. You want the liner to be about 3/4 full. Here is what they looked like while cooling-

Once cool, I made a batch of regular vanilla icing and mixed in the oreo cookie that I had chopped up. You have to make sure it's chopped well or it won't go through your piping bag. (Lesson learned the hard way) I topped them with a mini-Oreo.

Cut down the middle-

Here they are packed up and ready for their new home. :)

The beginning of Nacho...

I teach...therefore I stress.

Thus began the need for some kind of creative outlet. Around January, I began what some people like to call "stress eating." My favorite indulgence was our local bakery; more specifically, their cupcakes. I could rationalize that it was a small portion, relatively inexpensive, and basically harmless. My partner-in-life suggested that instead of spending what could support a small nation on cupcakes, why didn't I try making them myself? Hmm...why not indeed.

Now for those whom I have the pleasure of knowing IRL, you know the kind of relationship I historically have with my oven. It warms Mac & Cheese or bakes frozen pizzas. I don't ask that much more of it, or myself. A few minor burns were enough to scare me off. But now I had renewed motivation. I actually found that the cupcakes I have made aren't the same source of joy for me that they once were. It is now more the process of researching new recipes, shopping for new ingredients, baking, filling, and decorating that I look forward to the most. In addition, I enjoy sharing them with everyone around me. They don't seem to mind.

So, to begin this blog I want to share some pictures of cupcakes past. Then I can use this small space to share what I have done with others and please feel free to do the same!



Triple Chocolate- Fudge filled and fudge icing





Triple Chocolate with Strawberry icing (baby girl shower)




S'mores





White cake with Strawberry icing (V-Day)



Red Velvet with Cream cheese filling and icing, pink fondant daisy (baby girl shower)




Andes Mint Choc cake w/Mint Fudge icing



Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing/filling


White Vanilla cake with Vanilla Bean icing/filling


White cake with Vanilla icing, marshmallow/coconut filling, and topped with shredded coconut
(baby boy shower)



Easter Peepcakes- Angel food cake with vanilla icing, coconut "grass"




Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, candy filled with peanut butter icing