cupcakes — Page 8

328 Cupcakes Baked

February 13, 2011 by Jenn

Perhaps I will be needing a better tracking system?

Yesterday I baked 106 mini cupcakes (hello, BEST teacher EVER . . . they’re for the upcoming celebration for 100 Day!), two dozen Cookies and Cream cupcakes, and two dozen Lemon Drop cupcakes.

15 Dozen Mini and Regular Cupcakes

Last week, I baked 15 dozen cupcakes. . . that’s 180 cupcakes in case you are wondering! I know because I used my calculator. I baked a 9×13 Rootbeer cake (I will post it soon!), and a heart shaped Buckeye Cake!

Two cakes and 328 cupcakes! Mother.

That’s a lot of baking for someone who couldn’t ever find the time to cook a box of Kraft Dinner.

My first batch of cupcakes had to be shipped out on Friday afternoon to Richmond. I’m scared to think about what they’re going to look like when they get there! Fingers crossed they survive!

One Dozen Regular Assorted

Mini's!

Yum!

I’m working on icing the rest of the 15 dozen orders today! I can’t wait to deliver them to everyone who ordered.

I hope you are having a great weekend!

Filed Under: Cakes, Cupcakes Tagged With: cupcakes, valentine's day

Coconut Cream Cupcakes and Week 3- Wilton Decorating Class

February 11, 2011 by Jenn

1M Swirls and Pompom Flower

What do you do with leftover coconut milk? Well, of course you make CUPCAKES! From the domestic goddess her self- Martha Stewart‘s Cupcakes book!

I got this book for Christmas (thanks G) and I have been waiting for the opportunity to bake something from it. Finally, the opportunity presented itself in form of Coconut Cream Cupcakes!

Poinsettia, Shaggy Mums

For my Wilton Decorating class week 3, we were to bring in one dozen cupcakes to “learn” how to decorate.

1M Swirl with pompom flower topping

The first way to decorate was the base coat . . . which is usually my complete topping for my cupcakes . . . 1M tip, swirled. But, that is not the “Wilton Way” (more on that later)! On top of the 1M swirl goes the pompom flower. Since I knew I was going to be giving these cupcakes to my staff, and some people don’t like icing (they are criminally insane), I didn’t put the swirl on some of the cupcakes.

Pompom Flower

For these pompom flowers, start with a small mound of icing for the flower base, in the middle of the cupcake (the top of the 1M swirl works as a base if you have piped the swirl). Using tip 16, make the top of the flower in a darker shade of colour, simply squeeze, and pull up and away.

For the petals, using tip 18, start at the bottom of the base, and pipe petals around the base of the flower, move up a layer, alternating between bottom petals, fill in spaces, move up the base again. Wilton actually has a good tutorial for this flower on their website: Pompom Flower. Add leaves (with any leaf tip) when you are finished piping the petals.

Avec leaves

Shaggy Mums

To make a shaggy mum flower, you need your tip 233. Start with piping the leaves around the swirl (again, not shown . . . but truth be told, it wasn’t that I was thinking of others, I had simply run out of base icing! I think people that don’t like icing are crazy, so why would I help them out by not putting TONS on my cupcakes!?) With your 233 tip, you start at the outside, and squeeze and pull away! Super easy. Work your way to the inside, by squeezing and pulling these “petals”. The messier, the better!

There they are . . . all on display! 1M swirls, shaggy mums, poinsettia, and pompom flowers! Super easy and quick cupcake decorating ideas!

**Edited to Add . . . the recipe! I forgot it!

Coconut Cream Cupcakes

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

Makes 2 dozen

3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup coconut milk

8 large egg whites

1 1/4 cups shredded sweetened coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture; stir in shredded coconut.
Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each with a heaping 1/4 cup batter. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack. Invert cupcakes onto rack; then reinvert and let cool completely, top sides up. Frost cupcakes with seven minute frosting, swirling to cover. Cupcakes may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Garnish with fresh coconut just before serving.

Birthday Princess Cupcakes

January 19, 2011 by Jenn

Hasn’t every girl dreamed that she would one day be a princess?

This week, I had the pleasure of opening up my fondant again to jump head first into the land of fairy tales! Princess, princes, magic wands, castles, and magic. What more could a four year old girl want for her fourth birthday? It was up to me to make it happen (boy, does that ever make me sound important). When I actually realized what I had signed on for, a little panic ripped through me . . . not going to lie about that one! After hours of searching Flickr (check out CCC profile out here), I finally had enough inspiration to get started.

The birthday girl requested Funfetti with Raspberry Cream Icing . . . mmmm . . . too bad one wasn’t for me 🙁

Here is the recipe for the Homemade Funfetti.

I used a different type of sprinkles for these cupcakes than I did in the original recipe that I made. I would stick with the long oblong sprinkles, over these small little ball sprinkles, as these ones coloured the batter. Also, I think they might have made the cupcake a little bit crunchier than necessary . . . I’ll have to ask the birthday girl to figure that one out!

The princess' age

I got started in the morning, working with the fondant shapes that I wanted for this design.

The princess' castles

The princess' wands

No princess is complete with out her crown!

The princess' crowns

Like my improvising with the spice bottles? Can you tell that I’m new and don’t have all the tools yet? Thank goodness I’m resourceful. I needed something to shape the crown. If you’re a fondant expert, please let me know how you’re REALLY supposed to do this!

On to the icing . . .

Raspberry Cream Icing

1/2 cup of butter

1/2 cup of raspberries (fresh or frozen) If using frozen, make sure they are thawed.

4 cups of icing sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

1-2 tbsp milk (if needed)

Cream butter and raspberries in a stand mixture. Add one cup of icing at a time. Mixing in-between cup additions. Add vanilla, and mix. If the icing is too thick at this point, add one to two tablespoons of milk to thin.

Time to add the fondant! Abracadabra!

Filed Under: Cupcakes Tagged With: birthday, cupcakes, girls birthday, princess, princess cupcakes, raspberry, raspberry cream icing

Cosmopolitan Cupcakes

January 17, 2011 by Jenn

Cosmopolicakes, if you like. I love.

The name. And the cupcake. And the drink.

I’m also calling it Ode to My SITC Friends. For those of you who aren’t familiar with SITC. It stands for Sex. In. The. City. Greatest show of all time.

Yes, I’m saying GREATEST!

Ummm, along with The Office, Dateline, Criminal Minds, Modern Family, The Middle, Dexter, What Not To Wear . . . need I continue? Perhaps I should just have another drink. Make it a Cosmo bar keep!

Cosmopolitan Cupcakes

(adapted and inspired from MyBakingdom)

FOR THE CUPCAKES
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest (lemon is an okay substitution)
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2 tablespoons cranberry juice cocktail
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons triple sec (orange juice for non-alcoholic)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, at room temperature
Food coloring (optional)

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the apple sauce then stir in the lime and orange zests. Add the cranberry juice, lime juice, triple sec and vanilla, and stir until combined.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sprinkle half of the flour mixture over the batter and beat until just combined. Stir in half of the milk, then add the remaining flour, and mix again until just combined. Finally, stir in the remaining milk and beat until thoroughly combined, but don’t over mix.

Place 2 tablespoons of batter in each cupcake liner and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

FOR THE FROSTING
1/4 cup butter
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon cranberry juice cocktail
1 tablespoon vodka (optional)
2 1/2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons triple sec (orange juice for non-alcoholic)
2 tablespoons milk
Food coloring (optional)

To make the frosting: In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add one cup of sugar and beat until combined. Stir in the cranberry juice until just combined, then add another cup of sugar and mix until combined. Stir in the vodka, if using, and the lime juice until combined. Add another cup of sugar and mix well. Finally stir in the triple sec (or orange juice), then add the remaining cup of sugar and beat until well combined and light and fluffy. If the frosting is too thick, stir in the milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.

Another successful theme dinner! It is so much fun to gather with friends, have good eats, drinks and laughs. Thanks to everyone who came and ate 🙂 We’re getting pretty good at this!

Next month, we’re thinking we might do a Breakfast for Dinner theme. Tell me, do you and your friends do anything like this?

Filed Under: Cupcakes Tagged With: cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan cupcakes, cupcakes

Champagne Cupcakes

January 2, 2011 by Jenn

As you might have read in yesterday’s post, I declared this year my Champagne birthday celebration. So what does one do when it’s their champagne birthday? They bake cupcakes!

Champagne Cupcakes

For the cake part, you can use any flavour of cake mix that you would like to (I used French Vanilla) and substitute the water amount with champagne. As always, read ALL (hmmm, is that a shot at myself?) of the directions before you start…especially for the filling, as there are a number of different steps.

Cupcake:

1 box of white cake mix

1 1/4 cups of champagne

3 eggs

Bake cake as according to the directions on the back of the box . . . or as how your favourite recipe suggests.

Filling:

adapted from Sprinkle Bakes

1/2 cup half and half, divided (original recipe calls for heavy cream, but I only had this, and it turned out fine)

1/2 cup champagne

2 tbsp cornstarch

5 tbsp granulated sugar

1 whole egg

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, whisk cornstarch in 1/4 cup of cream. Combine the remaining cream, sugar and 1/2 cup champagne in a saucepan; bring to a boil then remove from heat.

Beat the whole egg and egg yolks into the cornstarch/heavy cream mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling champagne mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the eggs do not cook. Return the remaining champagne/cream mixture to a boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla. It will seems like it is never going to thicken, then BAM all of a sudden, you have filling!

Cut a divot into the top of each cupcake and fill with pastry cream.

Trim the cut-out cake pieces flat to make a “lid” . . .

. . . and place on top of the filled divot.

Frosting:

adapted from Homemade by Holman

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp champagne

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium high speed until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and about three cups of powdered sugar. Mix on low speed to ensure you don’t get covered in icing sugar! Add in champagne and mix on low to incorporate. Increase speed to medium and beat about one minute to whip frosting. I needed to add an extra TBSP of champagne to the icing to get the correct consistency.

Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. I used Wilton white candy pearls, and put each one on it’s place with tweezers! Labour intensive, but worth it for the look. Elegant and tasty.

Filed Under: Cupcakes Tagged With: birthday, champagne, champagne cupcakes, cupcakes

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

November 28, 2010 by Jenn

My friends and I had established this month’s dinner theme to be “Your Heritage” so I went searching for English, Scottish or Irish treats. I did not find this cupcake recipe appealing at all when I first read the recipe (I don’t like Guinness, I don’t like whiskey, I don’t like them mixed together . . . but I do like Bailey’s!) but I figured, hey, it’s better than haggis! I totally judged a book by it’s cover, and I was SO wrong!

These cupcakes are seriously the most delicious cupcake I have ever eaten! No lie. I did a wicked job making them . . . as I actually read, AND followed the recipe . . . hahahaha. But, really, they are insanely good. I think that it is the ganache filling . . . and Guinness chocolate cake . . . and the Bailey’s icing . . . and the plethora of booze! Or maybe it was the wine talking as Christy and I did make 60 bottles of wine that morning. Consensus around the table (none for the kids!) was that they were very good . . . and when people had seconds and thirds (Adam!) I knew it wasn’t just me. Try them out and see for yourself! Let me know what you think.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

(adapted from Big City Cooking)

Open Up That Liquor Cabinet!

1 c. Guinness (thanks Dad!)
1 c. unsalted butter
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2/3 c. sour cream

Ganache Filling
8 oz bittersweet chocolate
2/3 c. heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
2 tsp Jameson Whiskey

Baileys Frosting (I doubled this recipe)
3 to 4 c. confections sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tbsp Baileys

Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, rotating them once, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

Butter and Guinness Mixture

Cocoa added in

Ganache filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.

Ganache

Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Meanwhile, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes. You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom. Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Hollowed Out Centres, Ready To Be Filled!

Mmmmm, Filled With Ganache

Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.

When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

Ice and decorate the cupcakes.

Bailey's Frosting

And the wine making . . .

Christy Making Cranberry Chianti

Half Done The Green Apple Riesling

Filed Under: Cupcakes Tagged With: Bailey's Icing, chocolate ganache, cupcakes, Guinness Cake

Giant Cupcake

November 16, 2010 by Jenn

My good friend Cassie’s daughter and I have a very special relationship….we love each other. I have know Laurel, or Lola as she’s affectionately known, since she was in the womb and since it was her 5th birthday on Sunday, I decided that I would make her a giant cupcake. That, and I was dying to use my new giant cupcake pan that I bought 3 days ago 😉

Wilton Giant Cupcake Pan

The pan comes with directions on how to use it properly, and I’m sure if you read them correctly, you will be fine. I read them wrong! The pan takes a full cake mix + a couple of extra cups of batter, not the opposite. Yes, I took out cake batter from the mix….duh. When I looked at the partially filled pan, I figured, “Well, they must know what they’re talking about. Maybe it rises extra high in a pan like this.” Uhh, no, read the instructions properly dufus. Anyway, I still was able to make it work…just slightly less than giant….lets go with jumbo!

So step one is to follow the instructions properly. Then, use a sharp bread knife, or other sharp cutting tool to level off the cake top and bottom. This il give you a flat surface to join them together.

You want to work with the bottom of the cupcake first. Ice the top with your favourite buttercream frosting. Check the bottom of this post for the Buttercream Icing recipe.

Then decorate the bottom as you want….I had also just bought a bunch of new tips, so I was experimenting with number 22 and number 18.

When you have completed the bottom, put the top on! Just thought I should put that step in, in case you thought you were finished at this point.

For this shade of purple (lilac) I use a small amount of Wilton Gel Colouring in Purple. Pretty, hey?

Tip No. 22 along the bottom

Tip No. 18 for the sides and rosettes

Mmmmm sprinkles....remind me of the Birthday Cake Ice Cream from the Ice Cream Shoppe at the Superstore...anyway....

Cake and Icing Sandwich

Lola with her cupcake

Lola and I

Final step…make a delicious leftovers sandwich. These leftovers just happen to be cake and icing….mmmm. Delish. Remember that spin to sin motto!

The excitement on Lola’s face when she opened the door to see a cupcake bigger than her head was great! Was it the cupcake, or the box of candy that I also brought???? Whichever it was, her grin really brought a smile to my face after a long day…sob, sniff, whine….Thanks for the dinner Cassie and family, and of course, thanks Lola for having a birthday and allowing me an excuse to bake! Love you guys.

Buttercream Icing Recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk

Filed Under: Cupcakes Tagged With: birthday, buttercream icing, cupcakes, giant cupcake

Black Bottom Horse Cupcakes

November 4, 2010 by Jenn

After the failed attempt at colour flow horses (see Failed at Flow), I had to find another way to make Black Bottom Horse Cupcakes for my mom’s birthday. Here they are!

Black Bottom Horse Cupcakes

Cupcakes: These cupcakes are delicious! Make your favourtie chocolate cupcake batter, fill the liners 1/3 full. Cream together one brick of cream cheese, and one cup of sugar. When smooth, add one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Drop one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture on top of the chocolate cake batter. Bake for 20 mins at 350 F. They taste like cheesecake filled chocolate cupcakes. Mmmmm!

They were an absolute hit with my mom…thank god because they were touch and go for a while. Due to my schedule (massage!…priorities) I had left decorating the horses until one hour before mom’s birthday dinner. I ended up slightly stressed, and rushing! Not a good combo when you’re trying to fiddle with small pieces. I ended up with a VERY chocolately counter, VERY chocolatey hands…pants…arms…shirt. EVERYWHERE! Tip: For the love, leave yourself enough time to actually enjoy putting these cupcakes together.

Decorating: What you need…peppermint patties, mini m&m’s, vanilla icing (divided into one white icing tube and one light brown gel tinted tube), chocolate icing, hickory sticks. Ice all of the cupcakes. The peppermint patties become the horse’s nose…cover them in chocolate icing. For the ears, I used the patties cut into triangular shapes, covered them in icing and then used half a toothpick to hold them in place. The rest, you can probably see in the pictures. Have fun!

The decorating part is tedious, but they turned out so well…if I don’t say so myself…and they’re delish. Of course, seeing the enjoyment on my mom’s face, makes it worth it! Happy Birthday Mom! I love you.

Here’s what the colour flow horses ended up looking like . . .

Filed Under: Cupcakes Tagged With: cupcakes

328 Cupcakes Baked

Coconut Cream Cupcakes and Week 3- Wilton Decorating Class

Birthday Princess Cupcakes

Cosmopolitan Cupcakes

Champagne Cupcakes

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Giant Cupcake

Black Bottom Horse Cupcakes

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