The Future is Bright

So it has definitely been a little while since I posted. Yes, I'm busy blah blah blah, but if you're still reading this you deserve a little honesty. I got to the point that I was baking with the sole purpose of making a post. I HAD to bake cupcakes. I NEEDED to get the pictures right. It was ESSENTIAL to write down my measurements. I was seriously treating this like a job I no longer enjoyed. And let's be clear, I don't make any money from this. I don't have sponsors or paid posts. This isn't my first, second, or really even third job! Not only was it no longer fun, but  I also noticed my cupcakes often just didn't turn out right. There is definitely something to be said for not measuring!

Although these measuring cups do
make measuring a little more fun!

So with that said, I decided to take the blog in a slightly different direction. I'll focus more on the pictures and descriptions of the cupcakes, along with a little background rather than the recipe. Honestly I use box mixes anyways so there isn't that much to tell you. Just remember I always use milk! And I'll be sure to tell you what I add to the box.

Now for this to work I need a little help from you guys! Share my posts, comment on them, make recommendations, give me flavor challenges. I want to make this a conversation between me & the readers. It will make it a lot more fun for both of us! And to sweeten the deal if you make a recommendation that I end up using, I'll do my best to make sure you get a cupcake, assuming of course that you live reasonably close (sorry long distance friends!)

For this post I'll go ahead and just include a couple of my recent cupcakes. Not much to them really but I feel like I have to share some kind of cupcake with you.

First up, mini rum cakes. Butter yellow cake mix, chopped nuts, and plenty of rum. My rum cake is always a pretty big hit so I decided to go for the cupcake version using a mini bundt pan. Wilton Cake Release was a must for these. It made clean-up so much easier.

Not the best picture but it is the only one I managed to take. Here we have a red velvet cake with white chocolate filling and cream cheese buttercream. The white chocolate filling is actually just Hershey Hugs stuck into the warm cupcake. This cream cheese frosting was amazing. I used 2 packages of cream cheese to one stick of butter. It held up very well for piping and it tasted great. Everybody at work wanted the recipe.

Last up we have a lemon poppy seed cupcake. I added fresh lemon juice to a yellow cake mix for this one. I used my small cupcake corer to make the hole for the filling. I added powdered sugar to the poppy seed filling to sweeten and thicken it a bit before filling the cupcakes. The frosting is a lemon buttercream topped with poppy seeds.

That's it for this time. I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say about my new focus! As always,

-Happy baking!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

Happy Valentine's Day! I don't love the concept Valentine's day, nor do I hate it. It is no worse than any other holiday as far as being over-commercialized or even the fact that not everyone has someone to celebrate with. February 14th is special to me however, because it is mine and K.C.'s anniversary. Today is 7 years since our very first date!
He tends to be pretty indifferent when it comes to desserts. This guy is lacking a sweet tooth! I decided to go with chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes. Not because either of us particularly like chocolate covered strawberries, but because I thought they would make a pretty cupcake.
These are pretty labor intensive, but totally worth it if you even remotely like strawberries and chocolate.

For the cake:
White cake mix
Bake according to box directions, sub milk for water.

For the filling:
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips (I used mini)
approximately 1 cup heavy cream
Strawberries- cored

Technically you should use heavy cream for this. However, I had already been to the grocery store twice when I realized my cream was not good. I wasn't going back! So I used about 1 cup milk with 2 tbsp butter. Heat the cream (or milk + butter) in a saucepan until it begins to boil. Pour a small amount over the chocolate chips. Let it set for a minute to begin melting the chocolate then stir. If needed, add more of the hot cream to get a smooth pourable consistency. You don't want this too thin though!

Use a cupcake corer to core each cupcake. The larger size is perfect for this. Spoon a bit of the chocolate ganache into each cupcake. Fit a cored strawberry into each hole. I chose to dip the strawberries in the ganache before putting them in the cupcake. You can never have too much chocolate!

For the frosting:
8 oz mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese)
1 stick butter
frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed
powdered sugar

Mix the cheese and butter. Add in a few spoonfuls of strawberry syrup with some strawberry matter. Add powdered sugar. This is a really subjective recipe. Use less strawberry for a thicker frosting or more for a stronger flavor. Pipe the frosting on however you would like. Remember, this is like a cream cheese frosting so it doesn't hold shape real well.

For the topping:
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
cooking oil

Begin melting the chocolate and add a bit of oil. Stir until completely smooth. Spoon slowly over the frosting. This will create a shell very similar to the chocolate shell for ice cream. Before the chocolate hardens add whatever decorations you choose. I just loved the colors of these candy pearls and sixlets.

I hope you'll give these a try! They are definitely worth it.

-Happy Baking!

Chocolate Valentine Lollipop

I found blingy lollipop sticks at Hobby Lobby when I was shopping for Valentine themed cupcake supplies. I just had to use them with the lips and mustache candy molds! I love this look for a quick and easy Valentine.

Okay so it isn't a cupcake, but those are coming. These are also much easier than cupcakes and easier than most of the cupcake toppers I make with the candy molds. There is no painting of fine details like with some.  

What you need:

Blingy sticks (or regular lollipop sticks)

Candy molds

Candy melts

Melt your colored candy melts. I always use the microwave but there are purists who will only use a double boiler. I pour some in a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 1 minute, then heat for 30 second intervals stirring each time until the chocolate is smooth. Be careful not to overheat. 

For the lips I bought red candy melts. This red is fairly dark, but it is red velvet flavor! How awesome is that? I spooned small amounts into the cavity to fully cover the surface. Place the mold in the freezer for a short time to quickly set the candy. Place the stick into the mold then fill fully with milk chocolate and refrigerate to set. Flip the mold over and gently tap the back to release the chocolate. I followed the same steps for the mustaches using black candy melts and filling with milk chocolate.

Technically you could fill the entire cavity with the color of your choice but the milk chocolate generally tastes much better than the colored melts. That may not be the case with the red velvet, but I try for some consistency in my life :)

Since I won't be able to take Valentine cupcakes for the wonderful people on this rotation I brought these chocolate lollipops to them instead. I think they were a hit. Here are two of the awesome doctors posing with their mustaches!

Happy Valentine's and as always,

-Happy baking!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

I randomly found snickerdoodle milk in the grocery store and I just knew there was a cupcake to be made there. I picked it up and promptly forgot about it. I just noticed that it was reaching the end of its shelf-life so I used it to bake up a batch of cupcakes real quick. Then the frosting and the cookies, not so quick ;) Plus K.C. got me a Kitchenaid stand mixer for Christmas so a batch of cupcakes + frosting + cookies was the perfect opportunity to break it in! Yes that means I've been burning up hand mixers making my cupcakes all this time :)

For the cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup Snickerdoodle milk (or regular milk and add cinnamon)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Mix it up and bake the cupcakes at 330.

Here is the milk I found.

For the frosting:
I used this recipe.

I was afraid it would be grainy (because of the granulated sugar), but once I got it mixed up real good it was fine. And it tastes pretty good too. A lot lighter than buttercream.

For the cookies:
I used this one.

No, mine are not super light and fluffy like they are supposed to be, but they still taste great. I'm sure it's because I used the wrong flour. I had self-rising so I left out the baking soda. Guess it doesn't work quite like that. But would you look at that tiny little cookie on top of the cupcake??

I've probably said this before, but I think this is my favorite cupcake ever. The flavors work really well together! In fact this cupcake was so good that halfway through it I thought "I need to put this on the blog NOW. People need these in their lives." And so I did, before I even cleaned up the mixing bowls.

-Happy Baking!

Eggnog Cupcakes

It's starting to feel a bit Christmas-y around here. We've got our trees up, the Christmas playlist is back on my ipod, and of course the stores have been acting like it's Christmas since June. But mostly it's just that I've finally started buying Christmas presents and baking Christmas-y cupcakes.

So we've got eggnog cupcakes with eggnog cream cheese frosting. I got rave reviews from everyone who tried these, and I also thought they were pretty yummy.

For the cake:
1 box white cake mix
1 1/4 cups eggnog
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Mix it all up and bake it. I may be late to the game on this but I've noticed they turn out a lot better if I bake them at like 325 or 330. Still don't keep track of time though :)

For the frosting:
1 stick butter
1/2 block cream cheese
1/4-1/2 cup eggnog
powdered sugar

First blend the butter and cream cheese and then add the eggnog. Start adding powdered sugar until you get a good consistency. I wasn't doing anything too fancy with the decorations on these so I left it pretty soft. Frost all the cupcakes and then use the green decorating icing pipe on leaf like shapes and top with a couple red cinnamon candy "decors."

And if I haven't mentioned it before, I'm always open to suggestions. I like a challenge so if you have an idea, please let me know!!!

-Happy Baking!

Churro Cheesecake Cupcakes

I just got back from a cruise to Mexico where we had a great time and ate lots of amazing food. Anybody know how to make Mayan pumpkin salsa? Or warm chocolate melting cake? I'm serious! Anybody?? No, ok then.. How about some Churro Cheesecake Cupcakes?

These have a secret ingredient, which is also one of my favorite breakfast cereals. Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or the Walmart off-brand which I bought).

For the Cake:
1 white cake mix
1/3 cup oil
1 1/4 cup milk
3 eggs
1 cup crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch
a dash of cinnamon

Mix it all up, adding the cereal last. Bake the cupcakes at 350. No idea how long (as usual). When they are baked core the centers. Once I cored the cupcakes I decided to put a couple pieces of whole cereal into the bottom of each hole.


For the Filling:
6-8 oz whipped cream cheese (I bought the 12 oz tub)
1 cup powdered sugar
vanilla and cinnamon to taste

Fill the holes in the cupcakes with this mixture. What is left over will go into the frosting.

For the Frosting:
remaining filling
1 stick softened butter
remaining cream cheese (from 12 oz tub)
2 tsp vanilla (more or less to taste)
1 tbsp milk
powdered sugar to reach right consistency
cinnamon to taste

Pipe on cupcakes to cover the filling. Sprinkle with a light dusting of cinnamon over the top. Since these were intended to be Mexican cupcakes I decorated them with Spanish sayings and mustaches. These little conversation bubbles were $5!! I considered making my own but buying them was so much easier!

Candy Corn Cupcakes

It's that candy corn time of year! Cooler weather (ha! We got a whole 2 days of it), county fairs, and pumpkin everything! I'm not making any guarantees for or against a pumpkin creation showing up on the blog but my goodness Pinterest has been on pumpkin overload for about 2 months now.
Have you noticed how this time of year there are so many good baking flavors to use? Pumpkin, pecan, cinnamon, apple, not to mention fair food inspiration. Any good suggestions you'd like to see me try?

I've got a cute candy corn cupcake for you today. I'll tell you what I did, and give you a suggestion for what will probably be an infinitely easier way!

For the cake:
1 box white cake mix and required ingredients
1 bag candy corn (about 1 cup for the cake, 1 cup for the frosting)
red and yellow food color (1 drop red, 2 drops yellow)

What I did: Melted the candy corn (with oil to keep it soft) and mixed it in with the other *warm or room temp* ingredients. This was mostly a disaster. Candy corn melts great, but it is less than great at staying that way. As soon as it hit the other ingredients we had a solid lump of candy corn goop. So I mixed the mess out of it and got it to workable sized chunks.

Probably a better option: Mix either whole candy corn or chopped candy corn pieces into the prepared batter. Honestly not sure why I thought the other way would be better!

For the frosting:
Since the melted candy corn didn't work out for the cake I decided not to attempt that route for the frosting.
1/2 Crisco bar
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 tbsp milk
powdered sugar
red and yellow food color

Mix butter and shortening then add other ingredients. If you want to spend a little more time on it you could separate your frosting into 3 bowls and color one orange, one yellow, and leave one white. You could then frost the cupcakes to resemble candy corn. But since I topped the cupcakes with candy corn and mellowcreme pumpkins I opted for just orange frosting.

- Happy Baking!