Cool Halloween cupcakes

Why make something as common as Jack-o-Lantern or ghost cupcakes? Make NOMSKULLS instead!! These are soooo cool! LOL!

For around $12-13, you get 4 silicone skull cupcake molds. Unfortunately, I've checked all of the places online that are supposed to sell these - and they're all "out of stock". Some sites said "coming in October" - so maybe as it gets closer to Halloween, they'll be available.

Amazon

Perpetual Kid

Pop Deluxe

Monday's cupcakes?

I totally forgot to do a "Monday's Meal" post...so I'm just going to post pictures of cupcakes!

These are some that I made - and I am in love with the cute little polka-dot liners from Bake Me Pretty! These first four pictures are chocolate cupcakes (with mini chocolate chips) topped with vanilla buttercream frosting that I made to take to a class reunion.

The three cupcakes pictured below are made from leftover mix/frosting from Lulu's birthday cupcakes - I was just goofing off, trying to use up the leftovers. They're yellow cupcakes - some of them had mini chocolate chips and some were plain - topped with vanilla buttercream frosting.

And this last cupcake is one that I purchased at Servatii's bakery - it was called "Chocolate Coma". And boy, did it live up to it's name!

Happy Monday, everyone!

My first BakeItPretty order!!!

The other day, I placed my first order for cupcake goodies from bakeitpretty.com. So when the order arrived - I couldn't wait to rip it open and see what kind of magical cupcake-baking goodness was inside! Then I remembered that I wanted to take pictures, so there would be no ripping. I'll take the pictures quickly...

Look at that pink cuteness peeking out of the box!

Awwwww - it's adorable!!!

Some groovy baking cups

And these are almost too cute for words!!

The entire haul - lots of cute baking cups, 3 new (BIG) icing tips, opal sanding sugar, and violet sugar crystals (the pic doesn't do the color justice - it's a gorgeous purple!)

I highly recommend bakeitpretty.com - the quality of the supplies is outstanding, the shipping was incredibly fast, and the packaging/presentation just made me smile. I will definitely be purchasing from them again!

Cupcake fail. Bummer.

I made cupcakes again this week, and thought I'd try a new recipe. I'm still searching for the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe - because this one was a huge cupcake FAIL. How disappointing to work for 2 hours on something, only to find that you could've made a better cupcake from a box mix!

I followed the recipe exactly - and there were a lot of reviews saying how it was such a good recipe and that the cupcakes were so moist. I didn't find that to be true at all. The texture was odd, the cupcake stuck to the liners, the middles of the cupcakes were concave, and the tops got entirely too brown. Major, major disappointment.

I've spent a lot of time debating whether or not to post the recipe/recipe link. I don't want to bash someone's recipe. So I think I'll do this - if you want to know the recipe/recipe link, you can email me and I'll tell you - but I won't publicly post it.

Here are my poor little failed cupcakes - at least the buttercream frosting was tasty. Normally, cupcakes would only last 2-3 days at my house. These poor babies will go stale before they're eaten.  :-(

I liked the Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake recipe that I used from Billy's Bakery - it was very light, but moist. I should've stuck with that one, LOL! If you have a to-die-for vanilla cupcake recipe, I'd love to try it.

Easter cupcakes

C'mon - you knew I was going to blog about Easter cupcakes, didn't you?

I was reading an article about "the cutest ever Easter cupcakes" on the Food Network website and when I got to the picture of the little lamb cupcakes, I laughed out loud! I'm not sure how they would taste - but they are so adorable! And I bet kids would have a blast making them. But somehow I don't think I could talk Buddy & Lulu into making them with me. Gosh, they get so difficult when they're over 18. Sigh.

How darned cute are these??? They remind me of the sheep in the Serta mattress commercials, LOL!

Food Network's Little Lamb Cupcakes

I love these sparkling baby cakes cupcake beauties (also from Food Network)! They're almost too pretty to eat. Not really. I would devour that cupcake in a heartbeat. Her and her pretty little dog, too. Yum.

Food Network's Sparkling Baby Cakes

These little bunny cupcakes are from Wilton.com, and I think they're pretty darned cute, too. They have several Easter cupcake ideas on their website.

Wilton's Sweet Tooth Bunny Cupcakes

Anyone planning to make Easter/spring cupcakes? What are you making?

St. Patrick's Day fun!

 If I was going to go out for St. Patrick's Day, this is what I'd want to wear:

But I'm staying in, so I'll probably just be wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. And I don't have a green sweatshirt, darn it. I'll think of something. I do have a bright green trench coat, but my kids say I look like a green M&M in it. I need to get a sweatshirt that says "Ireland" on the front.

Remember that cupcake recipe I posted from Annie's Eats? The one for Chocolate Guinness Stout cupcakes? Well, I used that recipe again (substituting Young's Double Chocolate Stout for the Guinness) - this time to make St. Paddy's Day cupcakes. The recipe says it makes 24 cupcakes, but I was able to make 24 full-size cupcakes and 40 mini cupcakes from one batch. I modified this recipe for buttercream frosting.

My modifications:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp. gourmet vanilla extract

Here's the result:

Hey, I know those little green candies aren't shamrocks, but they're green & I'm just going to go with it! LOL!

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My cupcake journey, part 1

This is my first attempt at making "fancy cupcakes". I decided to go with the recipe from Annie's Eats for Guinness Cupcakes, but I substituted Young's Double Chocolate Stout for the Guinness. I only made half a batch because I didn't want to waste ingredients if we didn't like the cupcakes, LOL! Turns out I should've doubled the recipe because they are DELICIOUS!!! Very moist, and the chocolate isn't overpowering - which made it a hit with my family. This recipe called for Bailey's Irish Cream frosting, but my husband asked me to make regular buttercream frosting instead. So I used:

• 3 c. powdered sugar
• 8 TBSP. unsalted butter
• 4 TBSP. heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

cupcake ingredients

 stout, butter, & cocoa heated over medium heat

 

cupcake batter

mini cupcakes ready to bake

cupcake after baking

 pink buttercream frosting

 

getting ready to frost the cupcakes

the finished product!

 

These cupcakes were flying off the table faster than I could decorate them. I think my daughter ate two without frosting! And then two more after they were frosted, LOL! My son ate three or four, my husband ate one, and my daughter's boyfriend ate two (and they took four with them to eat later). I think this recipe is a keeper! My husband doesn't like a lot of frosting, so that's why some of them only have a little swirl on top. I definitely need to practice my decorating technique, but overall, they're not bad for a first attempt. And it was a lot of fun!

Things I learned:

• Mini cupcake liners/tins are a pain to fill - and it's hard to not make a mess on the inside of the liners.
• It doesn't matter if you get make a mess on the inside of the liner because the cupcake rises enough to cover it up. Duh.
• Don't bother buying cute cupcake liners if you're making chocolate cupcakes - because you can't see the design once the cupcakes are baked.
• Mini cupcakes take almost as long to bake as regular-sized cupcakes.
• Cupcakes are really messy if you try to peel off the liners before the cupcake is completely cooled. :-)
• Making cupcakes is addictive!

Now I'm off to find some really cool liners and sparklies for my next batch!

St. Patrick's Day cupcakes!

Cupcakes made with Guinness Chocolate Stout & Bailey's Irish Cream? Can I get a "hell yeah"???   **raises both hands**

The whole thing started when I saw this luscious-looking cupcake on Cakespy's blog a couple of days ago:

 

Chocolate Guinness Stout Cupcake with Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream frosting

For those of you lucky enough to be near Seattle, these cupcakes can be found at Trophy Cupcakes. Well, bully for everyone who can go to Trophy Cupcakes & pig out on the yumminess. **pouts**

Where does that leave the rest of us? I don't know about you, but I refuse to be denied!!! I, too, shall have delicious St. Patrick's Day cupcakes, even if I have to make them myself...WOW! What an idea!!!

I found this recipe for Chocolate Guinness Stout cupcackes with Bailey's Cream Cheese frosting on the Nook and Pantry blog- it sounds yummy!! 

  

Nook & Pantry's Chocolate Guinness Stout cupcakes with Bailey's Cream Cheese frosting

But then I couldn't decide if I would like buttercream or cream cheese frosting best, so I searched a little more and found Annie's Eats. She has a recipe for Guinness & Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes. These are filled with a Bailey's Irish Cream ganache! Double score!! These babies are making my mouth water...

Annie's Eats' Guinness & Bailey's Irish Cream cupcakes

But you know... *whispers* I actually prefer Young's Double Chocolate Stout to Guinness. So what if I used Young's instead of Guinness? I found this recipe for YDCS cupcakes on 944.com (it's an article on beer, so scroll down to the bottom for the recipe). But really, I think either chocolate stout would work in any of the recipes.

And don't forget to use Springpad to save your recipes! (Remember? I told you about it awhile back.) I've been saving my recipes there & it's so handy. You can save recipes from any site into your Springpad account. You can just enter the URL of the recipe & it will capture it for you. No need to print them all out (and lose them) or bookmark 100's of recipes - you can keep them all in one place!

Thursday's Blog 2/18/10

Like I said yesterday - I LOVE CUPCAKES!! So for that reason, this Thursday's favorite blog is All Things Cupcake. 

 

Their site is chock full o' pretty cupcake pictures! They even have a gallery of cupcake tattoos! I do love cupcakes, but I don't think I love them quite enough to have one tattooed on my body - but never say never, LOL! They have cupcake recipes, cupcake products, and you can even find local cupcake bakeries (and leave a comment to add to the list), order cupcakes online from recommended bakeries, and read cupcake reviews.

You can become a fan of All Things Cupcake on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and/or subscribe to their updates.

It's just a fun blog that is guaranteed to make you smile!! Enjoy!

Cupcake Love!

I love cupcakes. What's not to love? Well, other than the fact that sometimes it's difficult to eat them without making a mess. Which is why I usually prefer to indulge at home. I don't even have to eat one to enjoy it - if it's pretty enough, I'm happy just to look at it. I admit, I have Googled "cupcake pictures" just to ooh and ahh over their loveliness. 

One of my goals for 2010 is to learn how to make fancy cupcakes. So I've spent a fair amount of time scouring the internet, looking for the best cupcake sites. I thought I'd share some of my favorites - and hopefully, if you have some, you'll share yours with me.

"Cupcake Swirl supplies individuals as well as small business owners, with baking supplies including; cupcake liners, cupcake wrappers, cupcake packaging, cupcake decorations, cupcake stands,cupcake labels, cupcake aprons as well as retro inspired novelties, greeting cards, invitations & party supplies."

They also have a blog. 

Bake It Pretty sells all sorts of cupcake and baking supplies. Everything looks wonderful! They have a blog, you can follow them on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, and also find them on Flickr.

All Things Cupcake is one of my favorite cupcake sites. I'm not going to say too much about them here, because they're going to be featured as "Thurday's Blog" tomorrow.

 

The Cupcakes Take the Cake blog is another outstanding cupcake site. It's pink, which gives it high marks in my book - and it is just overflowing with anything & everything you could ever want to know about cupcakes. You can follow them on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, find them on Flickr, as well as several other online communities.

Some other blogs that I follow are:

bakerella.com

CakeSpy

The Cupcake Project

Jeanne Benedict

52 cupcakes

Nobody Puts Cupcake in the Corner

Cup-a-Cake has to be the most ingenious cupcake "tool" ever!

"This unique container will hold a muffin or frosted cupcake in place with prongs positioned in such a way that the muffin or cupcake will not move within the container if jiggled or turned upside down. Your gourmet cupcakes will stay perfect, frosting and all!"

Cup-a-Cake container must be hand washed. Works for cupcakes measuring approximately 2 1/2" by 2 3/4" (width, height).

$2.99 each, 4-pack $9.99

shop

where to buy

A couple of cupcakeries near me:

 

 

Maribelle Cakery in Cincinnati

AbbyGirlSweets a cupcakery in Cincinnati

If you know of other outstanding cupcake sites or blogs, please let me know! I'm also interested in what absolutely essential supplies I might need to get started on my magikal cupcake journey!