Christmas Cupcake Wreath

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all many blessings to you and yours this holiday season and with the coming new year!!!

Things have been plenty busy around here. Between doctor apts, a surgery for Adam {no worries, he is doing well, just needed to have a little procedure done}, work, illustrations, graphics, kids home for vacation, christmas, etc., there doesn't leave a heck of a lot left to just sit and relax!

Today is another family Holiday gathering. We are sure to have some fun with games, conversations and much laughter. Each family is suppose to bring something to share, and I chose to bring a Cupcake Wreath! My niece Ayla {age 6.5} helped me make the frosting and decorate the cupcakes...such a wonderful helper she is! {Her mom took this picture, she is a wonderful photographer, but it doesn't hurt to have such a gorgeous girl to photograph either! LOL...Looks like it came out of a GAP ad or something!}

All you have to do is make the cupcakes, frost, place in a circle and decorate! Pretty simple. I just used a white cake recipe and then White Buttercream Frosting! I've attached the recipe in case you don't have enough recipes saved already! LOL...

White Buttercream Frosting

1 c. Shortening

1 c. Butter, soft, but not at room temp

2 tsp. Clear Vanilla Extract

1 tsp. Clear Almond Extract

1/4 tsp. Salt

8 c. Powdered Sugar

5 Tlbp. Whole Milk or Heavy Cream

1. Cream shortening & butter until smooth and creamy.

2. Add extracts & salt.

3. Add powdered sugar a little at a time, mixing until incorporated after each addition.

4. Add milk/cream until you reach desired consistency. Tint & Frost away!

Kitchen Test: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to pop in and quickly share with you some cupcakes I decided to give a try. I found them in an old cookbook I had around the house and decided to adapt them. I will say this, they don't look so pretty when not frosted as they look like they are literally topped with a cookie! to me, that looks pretty cause I like a good cookie, but for some, not so much. I was going to pip frosting onto the top to make more pretty, but I felt that would be too much frosting, plus the frosting wasn't as stiff as I like for piping, so I just used a spatula and frosted. I then topped with a bittersweet chocolate drizzle and some chocolate sprinkles and man-o-man were these things tastey!!! I love testing new recipes! Yum Yum! Anyways, I hope you find them as delicious as my kiddos and hubby did!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

Yield: 24 {fill liners 1/2 full}

1 cup Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

6 Tlb. Butter @ Room Temp

3/4 cup Peanut Butter

1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar

2 Eggs @ Room Temp

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Milk

2 cup Mini Chocolate Chip (or regular, doesn't matter)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners, set aside.

2. Cream butter & sugars in a stand mixer. Add eggs, one at a time mixing well after each addition. Add Peanut Butter and mix for 1 minute. Add Vanilla.

3. Combine Flour, Baking Powder & Salt.
4. Alternately add Flour Mixture with Milk to batter, beginning and ending with Flour.

5. Using a spatula, fold in Chocolate Chips.

6. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full with batter. Bake @ 350 degrees for 22 minutes.

7. Allow to cool completely before frosting!

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup Butter @ Room Temp

1-1/4 cup Powder Sugar {more for thicker consistency}

1/2 tsp Salt

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Whole Milk

1. Cream Butter & Peanut Butter in a stand mixer.

2. Add Sugar & Salt.

3. Add Milk & Vanilla & Mix until smooth.

4. Frost Cupcakes. {For thinner or thicker cupcakes, add more Powder Sugar 1/4 cup at a time or 1 Tlb. Whole Milk at a time}

Chocolate Drizzle

1/2 cup Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

2 Tlb. Whole Milk

1. Combine ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high power for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat 30 more seconds. Repeat 1 more time if not smooth.

2. If not smooth, add more milk.

3. Drizzle over cupcakes.

Chocolate/Peanutbutter Ricecrispy Cake & Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes

Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday! Hope you have a gorgeous day!!!

I wanted to share with you the cake I made this past weekend for my 2nd son's birthday party!!! He will turn 2 tomorrow, but we were able to celebrate this past weekend with a GORGEOUS day!!!

Here is the cake & cupcakes...The top cake is chocolate ricecrispies with peanutbutter and then frosted...I added polls and ribbon for an old fashioned look...love how this turned out! Super nummy nummy!!!For the Rice Crispy Treat Cake:

3 Tlb. Butter
1-10 oz. Bag of Marshmallows
1/2 c. Peanut Butter
6 c. Chocolate Rice Crispies

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Add peanutbutter, stir until creamy. This process will take about a minute...once you have your marshmallow/peanutbutter cream, add the rice crispies until well combined. Spread or mold into a well greased pan. For this, I used an 8" cake pan that was 6" tall...Allow to cool completely before frosting!!!

Choccolate Buttercream:1/2 c. Butter @ Room Temp
2 Tlb. Shortening
1/2 c. Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Vanilla
Pinch of Salt
4 c. Powdered Sugar
2-4 Tlb. Heavy Cream, Half & Half or Water

Cream together, butter, shortening, cocoa powder, salt & vanilla until nice and smooth. Add powdered sugar. Add 1 Tlb. of cream at a time until desired consistancy. Frost & Enjoy. Makes enough for 18 cupcakes that are heavily frosted.

Chocolate Cake: Adapted slightly from I Am Baker
1/2 c. Veggie Oil
3 Large Eggs @ Room Temp
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 c. Sugar
1 c. Buttermilk, well shaken
1-3/4 c. Flour
3/4 c. Cocoa Powder
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 c. Freshly Brewed Hot Coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees & prepair and line cupcake pans.

In a stand mixer, cream oil, eggs, vanilla and sugar until well combined and creamy, don't overmix.

In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add alternately to stand mixer with buttermilk. Use paddle attachment until well combined, then add hot coffee. Batter will be thin.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter and bake 18-22 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 24 cupcakes. (Also makes 1-9" 3 layer cake, bake cakes in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 min.)

Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes!!!

A few months ago, I wanted to make a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie to use up my Rhubarb supply, BUT....I didn't want to spend the time making pastry...too putsy on hot summer days. I went online for ways to use Rhubarb, and nothing was screaming out to me...I wanted to make cupcakes...so then the thought came to me and I thought GENIUS...Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes!!! I created something that will fly off the cake plate!!! I hope you decide to make these and enjoy!!!
The first step is to make a Rhubarb Compote:
1/4 cup Water
3 Stalks of Rhubarb, sliced
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1. Chop up Rhubarb and put into a saucepan with sugar and water over.
2. Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes...breaking the rhubarb up. 3. Allow to cool completely before filling your cupcakes.

Next, make your cupcakes:
1/2 cup Butter at Room Temp
3/4 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Milk
1/3 cup Water
1-1/2 cup Flour
2-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla
3 Egg Whites

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line cupcake liners in a muffin tin.
2. Sift dry ingredients into a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Mix Milk and Water in a measuring cup and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar over slow-medium speed until light and fluffy.
5. Alternately add flour mixture with water mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
6. Add Vanilla.
7. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. 8. Gently fold in egg whites to batter until white disappears.
9. Use an ice cream scoop to fill your cupcake liners...
10. Cool completely before filling and frosting cupcakes!

Note: This makes exactly 12 if filling 3/4...just double or triple recipe to fit your number of mouths to feed!!!
For the Strawberry Buttercream Frosting:
1-1/4 c. Powder Sugar1/2 c. Butter at room temp1 Tlbs. Vanilla
1/2 cup Chopped Fresh Strawberries1 Tlbs. Half & Half1. Cream butter till fluffy.2. Add powder sugar and Vanilla.3. Add Strawberries & Cream and mix until smooth and desired consistency. (For thinner consistency, add 1 Tlbs. of Half & Half.)

To assemble cupcakes:
1. Cut holes in the top of each cupcake.
2. Fill with Rhubarb Compote.
3. Frost cupcakes to desired look.
4. Eat and Enjoy!!!

Swirly Cakes!

Good morning everyone! Hope you all are enjoying a gorgeous day!

One of my new found loves is baking, and I'd like to share that with you all today. I started baking for my children's birthday's. Then I was asked to make a cake for something or other, then I was asked by a stranger, and that is how things escalated. I didn't really start getting into the baking thing until December 2010. But after I found I really enjoyed it, I just couldn't stop!

I even took some classes this past summer to learn some different flower techniques. The classes were spendy (you had to buy a certain brand no matter if you had the product already)...So I stopped doing the classes and found YouTube! They have absolutely everything to do with baking on tutorial, and I've learned quite a bit from them...

I won't share all the cakes I've made since I started, but here is my most recent order. I constructed a carousel cake using rice crispy treats, dowels, cake, buttercream and Amaretto mousse for the inside. I painted a wood base to match the theme of this baby shower cake. I made sugar cookies and piped royal icing to match the invitations of the party. The order also included 30 cupcakes-half lemon with lemon buttercream and half Neapolitan {white cake, chocolate filling and strawberry buttercream}...



Chat with you all soon!

Banana Cupcakes with Honey-Cinnamon Buttercream

Hello everyone! Hope you all are enjoying the start of the school year!

This is my absolutely most favorite time of the year. I love everything about fall. Colors, sweaters, breezy sunny days. Crisp clean air. Football, tailgating, game time food!!! Even the acorns showering my house like hail! I wish it could be like this all year long!!!

We had a 30 degree temperature drop yesterday within the span of 3 hours. It went from super hot with AC going to super chilly, house shut tight and me in my sweats after doing Zumba in my living room! Crazy, but I just love the feel of falling asleep snug as a bug wrapped up tight in my blanket and sweats!!!

Anyways, for me, to kick off fall, I hoard up tons of ideas for crafts, baking and decorating. A few times a week, I pull out a few of my stashed ideas and put them to good use!

So today, I'd like to share with you one of my most favorite recipes! Also a great way to use up your last 2 very ripe bananas!!! Guarantee these will taste delish and not last long...you may even have to double the recipe!!!

These are my Banana Cupcakes with Honey-Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting. The recipe makes a scant 12 count. For more frosting, use another 1/2 recipe...If you have a stand mixer, this recipe literally only takes 5 minutes to make! Super easy peasy!For the cupcakes:

1/4 c. Butter at room temp
1/3 c. Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1-1/4 c. Flour
1-1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Salt
2 Ripe Bananas, mashed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with liners.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in your egg and then add vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
5. Mash up your bananas in another small bowl.
6. Add flour mixture and bananas to your egg mixture in alternate batches (I don't pay too much attention to what you begin or end with, doesn't matter too much).
7. Fill your cupcake liners about 1/2 full with batter. (The batter is thick, I use an icecream scooper and only fill it up 1/2 way with batter for each cupcake...)
8. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Honey-Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

1-1/4 c. Powder Sugar
1/2 c. Butter at room temp.
1 Tlbs. Honey
1/8 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tlbs. Half & Half

1. Cream butter till fluffy.
2. Add powder sugar and cinnamon.
3. Add Honey & Cream until smooth and desired consistency. (For thinner consistency, add 1 Tlbs. of Half & Half.)

Hugs, Heather R.