February Cakes :: Take 2

February was a busy month for cakes--so busy I forgot to take pictures of them all!  But there are still many to see....

First, the "Two Peas in a Pod" was made for Miss Colleen's Baby Bash: 

And check out the beautiful mother-to-be!  Kid you now she was wearing non-pregnant lady skinny jeans and a regular top.  Aaaand she is 6+ months pregnant....with twins!  Unbelievable!

Second was another baby shower cake with a butterfly theme!  Also, a variation on the ever so popular "Bum Cake":

Then there were rose cupcakes assembled last minute that turned out remarkably well--love them!  Both the cake and buttercream was champagne flavored.  The flavor was such a hit, I used it for the last cake--the engagement party.

This last cake was made for an engagement party this past weekend.  In preparation for the inclement weather Nashville expected, I moved the baking to the basement and decorated the cake as tornado sirens went off and hail was coming down.  The decorating never stops!  The colors were made to match the colors of the event and here it is:

So that's it for now--as always, happy baking!

Week 51 :: Holiday Cupcakes!

This week I was able to make three sets of cupcakes.  My dear friend Sara helped me create these wonderful treats and I was lucky to have her assistance.  

First, some holiday cupcakes for Reagan's (Sara's daughter) school party.  And the snowman cupcake was born!

Then there were Christmas Cupcakes for work....

...the Christmas Tree Cupcake, complete with golden stars, ornaments and presents.  Sara is truly a natural at decorating!

Lastly, were baby gender surprise cupcakes:

This was such a special job.  A sweet co-worker of mine is pregnant with twins and the next ultrasound was to reveal the gender!  The results are going to be kept secret and handed to the sister who is planning a reveal surprise--which involves cupcakes!  I made two boy and two girl cupcakes for the sister, so she will be the only one to know before Mom and Dad.  Externally the cupcakes are all the same, but filled with pink and blue buttercream--when Mom and Dad bite in to the cupcakes they will find out the gender of the little-ones-to-be!  SO very excited to see how this turns out!

Just one more week to go!  Eeek! 

In the mean time...Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!! 

Week 46 :: Cheer Cake!

GO PANTHERS!

This week I made a cake/cupcake combo for a friend of mine.  She is a superstar Mom of a superstar daughter who is part of the Nolensville Cheerleaders.  Go black, white, and red!

I have used this cupcake tower twice now and it is awesome!  Paying $40+ for some cardboard seems a bit crazy, but it is awesome, reusable, and decorate-aable.  It is well worth it if you get a few uses out of it.  The stand on top holds up to a 5 lb. cake as well. Definitely something useful to have around.

Happy Baking!

Week 43 :: Pumpkin Cupcakes

Less than 10 weeks left and I have so much that I still want to do this year!  I suppose this may turn into 52WoS-and-then-some.

I made this cupcake for a sweet friend's birthday. Happy Birthday, Sara! I iced the pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting and a gumpaste rose.  It was more than a fair trade since her husband made her a delicious dark chocolate cake for her birthday and I got to eat that all weekend while house-sitting.  

These pumpkin cupcakes are by far one of my favorites! I love pumpkin, and this is the first of several fall pumpkin recipes.  These cupcakes are rich and full of pumpkin flavor.  If you want, you can easily add a cup of walnuts or pecans to the batter.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Prep time :: 10 minutes

Bake time :: 25 minutes
Yields :: 24-26 cupcakes

::Ingredients::

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 can mashed pumpkin or 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 cup milk
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (if you don't have this on hand, you can use a mixture of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg)

::Directions::

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream together butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs. 
3. Add milk and flour alternating and mix well.  Add pumpkin puree.  Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
4. Pour into prepared muffin cups 1/2 to 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 
   
   

   

   
   I made a batch of these for a Vanderbilt party and decorated with a fondant embellishment.  Here is a close-up:
   
   

   

   
   Happy baking!
   
   
   
   

Week 38 :: (Sweet Tea and) Wheat Free!

Little background story:

A couple of weeks ago one of our family friends brought his new sweetheart to the house.  I thought it would be nice to have some special treats ready for them.  Well--no one was touching my mini chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes (seen below):

As I was about to force feed my new guest a cupcake she kindly tells me she is intolerant to gluten.  AH!  How mean is that?!  I put a whole plate of cupcakes in front of someone who can't touch them!  She comically referred to my cupcakes as "food porn" which was the best complement she could give without actually trying them.  Well--I felt pretty bad about this so for her next trip I wanted to have some gluten-free goodies ready.

Well I did have some treats ready and it was so nice to have them over again for round two.  Come to find out, Celeste is a bit of a foodie and has her own wonderful gluten-free blog, Sweet Tea and Wheat Free. What a great resource for those in the search of gluten-free!

The chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing are all gluten-free.  And in case it save you a phone call--all Betty Crocker sprinkles and decorations are gluten-free!  The tea-cup cupcake holders are one of my favorites and are available here.  Here is another shot:

The other recipe I made was a chocolate pound cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting (yummy)!  I had to serach but you some really yummy organic ingredients:

This recipe might you off at first--BUT, it was tasty and pretty good for you with a base of black beans and apple sauce!  Definitely a runner food.  The original chef has an online store, Gesine, when she sells her gluten-free baked goods.  Certianly worth checking out.

This is what the loaves looked like before frosting:

Happy Gluten-Free Baking!

Week 36 :: Cowgirl Cake!

I made this cake and matching cupcakes for a cowgirl themed birthday party this week.  LOVE the finished product:

To make the brim stand up, I made supports our of cardboard, lined them with a paper towel, and left them in place until the cake dried completely and VOILA!  They stayed in place.

A couple tricks about carving shaped cakes:

• Frozen cakes are easier to carve.  You can stack your cake layers (up to 3), filling the layers in between with buttercream icing and freeze a few hours up to 2 months.  Just make sure to cover and make air tight.  The high fat content of buttercream freezes well and keeps the cake moist.
• If you make a small mistake cutting, don't worry.  Use extra buttercream to get the shape you want.  If it is a bigger mistake.  Mix extra cake crumbs with buttercream into a thick moldable paste and fill in the area to get the shape you need.  Dirty ice over the area with buttercream as usual.
• If you make little cuts at a time, you most likely won't mess up.

This occasion also called for matching cupcakes, and here they are:

Happy Baking!

Week 34 :: Happy Birthday Betsy!

So I have a bit of catching up to do!  A two week trip to Europe has put me a bit behind, but more about that later...

This week was yet another important birthday!  Betsy was my very first friend when I moved to Nashville and drug me all over town meeting great new friends (including last week's Jill!).  Well, the crazy cougar turned 30 20 this year and celebrated on a pontoon boat!  She requested chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing and here they are.  The fondant decorations are beach balls, turtles, suns and flips flops.  If you try this, make SURE you have a big enough cooler and lots of ice!

Happy baking!

Week 31 :: Cupcakes, cupcakes and more cupcakes!

So over the past couple of weeks I have made several sets of cakes and cupcakes.  I just love cupcakes--they are quick, pretty, and easy to eat.  Cakes--not easy to cut once you've spent 78865 hours decorating it.  I have never felt like they do on Cake Boss--I don't make a cake and then as soon as I get there say "who wants some cake!!"  No, in fact, it is often painful to cut a cake.  So, I began making matching cupcakes.  The first set was for a sweet friend--her father's retirement party.  The pictures below make more sense when I tell you he owned a garage door business.

Close-up of the car bumper and plate:

Matching cupcakes!

Wanna know a super easy way to fill all 24 cupcake lines is <1 minute.  Here it is: the no-drip-super-awesome-cupcake-filler (thanks, Mom, once again for an awesome find!).  Such a breeze.  I don't even think I can remember how I filled cupcakes before.  Seriously.  This tool has certainly made my top-10 tools for bakers.  Get it.

On to more cupcakes I have made this week--red velvet with cream cheese frosting, chocolate-chocolate, and birthday cake with buttercream.  This buttercream recipes makes the perfect amount for 24-generously-iced cupcakes.

 
Happy baking!

Week 27 :: S-mores Cupcakes

 

This was such a sticky fun and easy recipe.  I needed to make quick cupcakes and didn't have all my cake-baking and decorating stuff with me.  I looked at a bunch or ideas online and came up with these s'mores cupcakes!   There are a ton of variations out there, all of which I am sure are great, (I mean how can you go wrong with chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker?) and this final idea was no exception.

Here is what you need:

• Chocolate cake recipe
• 13 oz marshmallow fluff
• 1 package graham crackers (1/2 a box)--crushed into crumbs
• 2 Hershey bars (12 squares each)

So you start with a basic chocolate cake recipe, and make 24 cupcakes.  Once they have completely cooled place a blob of marshmallow fluff on top like so:

Let it sit for a few minutes and the marshmallow will spread out on top of the cupcake.  If you have to spread out with the back of a spoon or a knife, let sit a little longer and it will smooth out.  Once the marshmallow has spread out, roll the cupcake in a plate of graham cracker crumbs like so:

Then add a little Hershey bar on top and voila!  If you don't serve immediately, keep in the fridge.

Note ::  Use foil cups for easier clean up.  Once the marshmallow has spread out you can remove the foil with any excess marshmallow and you are left with a plain liner on the cupcake!

Happy Baking!

Week 25 :: Margarita Cupcakes with Tequila-Lime Buttercream Icing

You can make this recipe from scratch or use a "cheater" recipe.  Either is great, but the "cheater" version is super fast and super easy.  Here it is:

Margarita Cake

::Prep Time:: 5 minutes

::Bake Time:: 21 minutes
::Yields:: 24 cupcakes

::Ingredients::

• 1 box white cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tbs. oil
• 1 Tbs. Tequila
• 5 drops lime flavoring or a lime juice
  
• 1 1/4 cup water

::Directions::

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all the ingredients together and beat on medium speed with a hand mixer for 2 minutes.
3. Pour into prepared cupcakes pans with liners about half way full.
4. Bake for 21-23 minutes
5. Voila!

Tequila-Lime Frosting

::Prep Time:: 5 minutes

::Ingredients::

• 1 1/2 cups Crisco
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 lbs. powdered sugar
• 10 drops lime flavoring or lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. Tequila
• 1/4 cup water as needed

::Directions::

1. Mix butter, Crisco, Tequila, and lime flavoring until well blended.
2. Mix in sugar slowly and add water until desired texture is reached.

Happy Baking!

Week 14 :: Engagement Cupcakes

Congratulations to my friends Andres and Melissa on their engagement!  To celebrate, the girls went out to Arrington Vineyards just south of Nashville.  The weather was perfect and the view was incredible, if you're in the area I highly suggest a visit!  

These are chocolate cupcakes with chocolate and strawberry frosting.  The decorations I made out of fondant 24 hours before and let dry.  Here's a close up of the love birds!

Week 11 :: Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting (and Irish whiskey ganache)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This week I made a handful of treats for St. Patty's day.  I didn't just make the "Irish Car Bomb" Cupcakes, but I used those same recipes to make the cake below and I also made the iced sugar cookies from last week.  I clearly love holiday baking!  All of these recipes were a hit so I hope you give them a try!  Happy Baking!

These "Irish Car Bomb" Cupcakes originated in the Smitten Kitchen.  What a great website and source for some incredible recipes that will amaze you but are fairly easy to make!  I'd like to think I am a talented baker, but I have nowhere near the amazing creativity and skill this chef has at creating unique recipes. Other recipes from the Smitten Kitchen site I hope to try in future weeks are the Apple Cider Donuts and Gateau des Crepes.  

"Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes"
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting
Prep Time :: 30 minutes
Bake Time :: 17-19 minutes
::Ingredients::
For the Cupcakes

• 1 cup Guinness
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream

For the Ganache Filling 

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

For the Baileys Frosting

• 3 to 4 cups confections sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3 to 4 tablespoons Bailey's

 ::Directions::

1. Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. If you have a pattered cupcake liner you want to use, double up in each cup. 
2. 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.
3. 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. 
4. Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.
5. Make the filling: Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl, add butter. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can microwave in 1- second increments until melted.) Add whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.
6. Fill the cupcakes: Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes so it doesn't harden). Meanwhile, using a 1-inch round cookie cutter or an apple corer or knife, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes (about 1 inch around and 1 inch deep, once cut these can be scooped out easily with a spoon).  Put the ganache into a piping bag with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.
7. Make the frosting: Whip the butter for several minutes with an electric mixer. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.  Once you have a creamy consistency, add the Bailey's and mix until smooth.

Week 8 :: Red Velvet Cupcakes

Yum! Yum! Yum!  These cupcakes are my favorite so far.  I used Paula Dean's Red Velvet Cupcake recipe (so it couldn't be bad, right?) and iced them using Cream Cheese Frosting, and crumbled some of the cake on top.  You can decorate with nuts, sprinkles, or fondant cut outs.  I found these damask muffin cups at Sweet Wise, my new favorite store in Nashville.  It has everything a little baker could dream of!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

::Prep Time:: 10 minutes

::Bake Time:: 20-22 minutes

::Yields:: 24 cupcakes

::Ingredients::

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 Tbsp. red food coloring
• 1 tsp. white distilled vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

::Directions::

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill (2) 12-cup muffin tins with liners.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
3. In a large bowl gently beat together oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with an electric mixer.  Add the flour mixture slowly until thoroughly combined.
4. Fill 24 muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.
5. Bake for 20-22 minutes (or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean) rotating pans half way through baking time.
6. Cook completely on wire rack.

Week 2 :: Cupcakes!

Happy Friday friends!  This week I am sharing two wonderful cupcake recipes; Cookies and Cream and Chocolate with Buttercream Icing.  I am quite proud of the Cookies and Cream version.  It's not everyone's favorite but if you love cookies and cream ice cream then you MUST try this recipe!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Prep time :: 15 minutes
Total time :: 30 minutes
Yields :: 16 cupcakes

:: Ingredients ::

• 1/2 cup butter, softened at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 6 crushed Oreo cookies

:: Directions ::

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside
3. In a large mixing bowl beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla extract and lemon zest.
4. Turn the mixer on a low speed and add the milk and flour mixture alternating until well mixed.
5. Fill muffin cups evenly about 2/3 full.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove when toothpick inserted into middle of cupcake comes out clean.
7. Cool completely on a wire rack before icing. 

Chocolate Cupcakes
Prep time :: 15 minutes
Total time :: 30 minutes
Yields :: 16 cupcakes

:: Ingredients ::

• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk

:: Directions ::

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt.  Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla extract.
4. Turn the mixer on a low speed and add the milk and flour mixture alternating until well mixed.
5. Fill muffin cups evenly about 2/3 full.
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Remove when toothpick inserted into middle of cupcake comes out clean.
7. Cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Buttercream Icing
This icing is WONDERFUL!  It is thick and creamy yet not overpoweringly sweet.  It holds shape well when decorating and works with so many flavors.

Prep time :: 10-15 minutes
Yields :: Ices 12-18 cupcakes

:: Ingredients ::

• 10 Tbs. butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 lb. confectioners sugar
• 2 Tbs. heavy cream, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Food coloring

:: Directions ::

1. In a large mixing bowl whip the butter at high speed until soft and fluffy.  
2. Slowly mix in sugar on low speed.  Add cream and vanilla slowly until combined.  
3. Beat at high speed for 3-4 minutes until very light and fluffy.  
4. Spread icing on completely cooled cupcakes. 

Note :: Icing may be refrigerated for up to a few days, brought back to room temperature and re-whipped to make fluffy again.

Blowing Kisses Designs 

Speaking of cupcakes, Blowing Kisses Designs makes the most ADORABLE non-edible cupcake gifts (among many other great gifts)! I gave these spa slippers to all the women in my family in their Christmas stockings and they were such a hit!
 

Each of the cupcakes below are made up of a diaper, washcloth and socks!  What a great baby gift! 

And these toddler hair clippies are so sweet!

 

Click here to check out Blowing Kisses Designs website!