Striping the icing - Spongebob Cupcakes

It is Valerie's birthday and she wanted Spongebob cupcakes.  Of course, what else does a 17 year old want right?  The wrappers were Wilton and were pretty cute except that they are thin and the color of the cupcake kind of bleeds through the wrapper and so they weren't magnificent and bright (and we like magnificent and bright!)

 We were wanting to give the top of the cupcakes a feeling of the ocean...and Spongebob of course, so we decided to use a "striping" technique with the frosting.  This shoots a specific color out of the bag on only part of the icing stream.  It's fun to do it with different colors because you can kind of get a wavy/tie-dye effect.

You will want to use a disposable icing bag.  I've always used paste food colors and painted "stripes" down the side of the bag and then put the frosting carefully into the bag on top of it.  We were out of the paste colors I wanted (yellow and light blue) and so used what we had which were gel colors - you can buy them in the grocery store in the baking aisle.  I think it worked well enough! We used a size 32 star tip and swirled the tops in individual circles.   I think that while they each turned out a little different - probably due to the semi-liquidy colors and the 100 degree outside temperatures we were experiencing (and thus melting icing)  - they are pretty magnificent when taken as a whole.

Here are a couple of pictures of two of the difference tops so that you can see the details:

Flower Cupcakes

Valerie was inspired to make these beautiful flower cupcakes from "What's New Cupcake?" by Tack and Richardson.  The flower petals are mini marshmallows cut on the diagonal and pressed in colored sugar.  She made her own colored sugar because we had just run out  - and it was kind of fun!  The hardest part was cutting all of the marshmallows and putting the sugar on.  The sugar had to be pressed on while the marshmallow was still moist and freshly cut so they had to pretty much be done one-by-one.  After that it was a breeze to place them around the cupcake top. 

Making Your Own Colored Sugar Sprinkles

Did you know you could make your own colored sugar?  I didn't either.  Our colored sugar sprinkle supply had just run out and rather than run to the store for more, we made our own.  You just put the tiniest drop of food coloring into a baggie filled with white sugar.  Shake it and roll it till it is all incorporated.  Lay it on a plate to dry.  Ours dried a bit clumpy so we put it through a sifter to get out the bigger chunks.

No, these cupcakes aren't the most beautiful - that's not why we posted this picture.  We wanted to show you how very deep and vibrant the colors can be when you make your own colored sugar sprinkles.  These cupcakes were made using the left over colored sugar we had used in another project.  We rolled the tops in the sugar just to use up what we had - both with the cupcakes and the sugar.  They are colorful and fun!

Cupcakes or Pies?

Valerie made these cute cupcakes that look like wee little berry pies!

The inspiration came from "What's New Cupcake?" by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson.  Trying to keep with the berry pie theme, she used strawberry cake mix.  They would have been equally awesome with any flavor cake mix however.  The "berries" are red and purple M&M's and the frosting was mixed with a little cocoa power and the tiniest bit of yellow food coloring. So cute!

CupcakeCreations Cupcake Cups

These beautiful cupcake baking cups by CupcakeCreations were spotted at Ace Hardware and were available for around $4.00 for a package of 32.  They are advertised as "heavy duty baking cups, easy peel,  and no muffin pans needed".  They are indeed far more sturdy than the standard baking cup we've been using for years.  Could they stand up to the the test, being filled with batter and baked without a muffin tin?  Indeed they did!  They also do peel away easily and are sturdy enough that when we made cupcakes in the larger cup, we could partially peel the wrapper away, holding it in our hands while eating the cupcake with a fork - handy for the messier type of cupcakes that you could never just peel and eat (think banana cream - messy but yummy!)  Not only are they sturdy but they are beautiful as well!  We also found a very elegant black with gold swirlies cupcake cup.  As you can see they come in regular and large sizes.  The smaller orange one on the right is the standard size cupcake and the one on the left a much larger specialty "bakery" size.

We loved these cupcake cups and will  definitely use them again...and again...and again...

What's New Cupcake? - Book

We've had a lot of fun thumbing through the book "What's New Cupcake?" by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson.  This amazingly creative cupcake idea book contains everything from the cute duckies you see on the front cover to cupcakes that resemble sushi, Chinese take-out, and a stuffed turkey straight from the oven (and lots of other non-food related cupcakes as well).  Frankly, most of them make me tired to even think about.  Too much work for this gal!  My daughter Valerie has far more energy than I do however, and is more than excited to take them on!  I told her I could deal with no more than one a week and so far she is sticking to it.  We've already got a few to post for you.  In the meantime, you can pick up this book from your local bookstore, craft store or online and have some fun for yourself.  Be looking for fun cupcakes made MOSTLY by Valerie in the next couple of weeks!
Cindy

CAKE-BALLS RECIPE

So here is a question for you:

If it is made with a cake mix and a can of frosting AND if it is served in a cupcake wrapper, is it a cupcake?  Good question.  If you read the title above and saw the pictures below, you know this isn't really a cupcake but a recipe for cake-balls.   WHAT IS A CAKE-BALL? (you might ask...)

The recipe sounds easy enough:

1. Any flavor cake mix - make and bake according to package directions.  Let cool till you can easily handle, then crumble into a large bowl.

2. Any flavor canned icing.  Melt in the microwave then pour over crumbled cake, stirring till thoroughly mixed.

3.  Refrigerate for several hours till mixture sticks together.  Using a melon baller, form balls of the cake mixture.

4.  Dip the balls into melted chocolate.  (The recipe calls for one 3 ounce bar of chocolate.  I used two bags of chocolate chips and it wasn't even enough).  Decorate with sprinkles if desired.

Okay - I said "sounds easy" - remember?  It was not as easy as the recipe made it sound.  My daughter and I decided to tackle this recipe on a Friday night and didn't end up finishing till late Saturday afternoon. The first problem was that the balls were not properly balling using the melon baller.  We ending up scooping the mixture with the baller for uniform sizing then ended up rolling the balls in our hands.  Then, when we tried dipping the balls into the melted chocolate, they ended up totally falling apart.  We decided to freeze the balls overnight to make them stick together better.  The next morning we re-melted our chocolate (in the microwave) and while the balls did stick together, we found that the frozen balls cooled the chocolate so quickly that it was difficult to work with.  We had to continually melt the chocolate while making sure the balls did not thaw too quickly and become too mushy to use.  In retrospect, it would have been far better to melt the chocolate and keep it over a double broiler while dipping.

The verdict?  They were indeed a royal pain to make.  But -  O...M....G....!  They are so delicious!  Especially if you are able to keep them into the next day.  The flavors just really meld together into a very moist and tasty bite-size treat.  Would I make these again?  Yes, BUT - this time I would use a double broiler or the Wilton Chocolate melter.  My sister who has made these before also told me that she uses more frosting than called for and uses homemade.  She couldn't tell me the exact proportions (because she cooks with instinct like me).  If I do make these again, I'll try it her was and pay close attention to the proportion and let you know.  But YES, yummy and thumbs up for cake-balls!

IPhone Cupcakes! App by Maverick Software - Review

So can a virtual cupcake really satisfy?  That is the question I asked myself when deciding to spend $0.99 on the iphone Cupcakes! app by Maverick Software.  I was curious why 962 people would have given four stars to a "game" in which all you do is virtually bake, decorate, and eat cupcakes.  There is no mental strategic challenge involved.  No maneuvering, or even serious eye-thumb coordination necessary.  Indeed, all you do is literally virtually (yes, in this case the two words do go together) bake, decorate and eat your cupcake.  OR you can choose to email the cupcake to a friend so they too can enjoy your virtual culinary baking skills.  

Needing to know more before I pressed the all-important green "buy now" button, I decided to read some of the almost 1000 reviews:

"This is the best game in the world!"

"When I heard of the app, I knew I had to have it...."

"I love this game I could play it for hours....This game is awesome!"

"It sounds stooopid before U get it but it's really sooooooo fun!"


Okay, getting interested now.  After all, it does sound stooopid but like U - maybe I'll like it 2.

And finally, the clincher:

"Fun & Entertaining.  Helps fight my sweet tooth cravings...."

Really?  Interesting...I'll bite (pun intended) and pay the $0.99 and find out if making and eating a virtual cupcake can conquer my cupcake cravings.

So here is what I did to make the delicious looking cupcake you see above.  First I picked the Pink Wrapper and filled it with the Chocolate Batter.  After baking it for a very quick 30 minutes (yes, virtual baking time is much faster than IRL baking time), I shook my phone to shake it out of the pan.  Now the fun begins!  I chose the Milk/White/Dark Chocolate frosting and using a simple finger swipe was able to perfectly ice the top.  The only disappointment came in licking my finger to discover it didn't taste like milk/white/dark chocolate - just finger.  Then with another touch of my finger I placed Chocolate Chips, Red Sprinkles, and finally two Candy Hearts on top!  Isn't it mouth watering?

While I could have chosen to "eat" my cupcake by placing it on a choice of tablecloths and pretty plates, then with another swipe of my finger make it disappear in  bits and pieces; I instead decided to email it to myself.  Much to my surprise, the cupcake was then aloft somewhere in cyberspace and wasn't available for me to "eat" anymore!

So did this satisfy my sweet tooth?  Maaaybe....but more importantly it seemed to satisfy my cupcake creativity cravings.  Because after all, while ingesting the cupcake you just made is certainly an important part of the process, the making and designing is another important part of the process and for me just might the most interesting part.  Would I could I play this "game" for hours?  No.  But it was kind of fun to see what I could come up with - what I could create.  And it was calorie free!  What more could you ask for?

Cupcake Holder

Here is a cupcake holder I made with my Cricut.  Click on picture for link to Cricut directions.  What a fun way to carry and present a cupcake.  To me, it would make getting a single cupcake special.  Try wrapping it in cellophane and a curly ribbon.

4 Little Cupcake Cards

Here are four little cupcake cards I made with my Cricut cutting machine.  If you don't know what a Cricut is, please go to by cricut blog: Cricut in the Classroom to get some ideas.  I won't post directions on my cupcake blog but will link in back to my Cricut blog (click on the picture) if you want to know more.  I hope you enjoy!

Lemon Cupcakes

Oh no, what to do on another day at home? I still have to find another cupcake recipe for my A-Z Cupcake recipe book swap I'm in. I tried this amazing recipe and have narrowed it down to......"Luscious Lemon Cupcakes"! They are very lemony and very sweet so only make if your palate can deal with it - which mine apparently can (as evidenced by how quickly they disappeared). Enjoy:

Luscious Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Kiss Cream Cheese Frosting

1 box lemon cake mix with pudding mix

1 small package instant lemon pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

4 large eggs

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup oil

Mix together cake mix and pudding mix. Add wet ingredients and beat till smooth. Fill cupcake cups 2/3 way full. Cook at 35-0 for 20-25 minutes. Don’t over bake these or they will be dry. When they are just springy to touch is when they are done.

When cooled, frost with:

2 sticks butter room temperature

4 ounces cream cheese room temperature

2 lbs powdered sugar

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (don’t use bottled for this)

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Cream butter and cream cheese till smooth. Add in 1/2 the powdered sugar. Add lemon and zest. Gradually add in the rest of the powdered sugar.

These are very very sweet and lemony. When the cupcakes are cooled they will fall in the middle. This is normal so don't freak out - maybe due to the extra pudding mix. Just fill in with the frosting.

Turtle Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cream Cheese Filling:
1 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Beat till smooth, set aside

Cupcake:
1 chocolate brownie mix (18.3 oz)
3 eggs
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup vegetable oil
Mix well with a mixer.
Fill 18 foil-lined cupcake bake cups a little over half full.
Spoon approximately 1 Tablespoon cream cheese filling onto the top of each cupcake.

Top with:
18 caramels, each cut in fourths (so 1 caramel per cupcake, cut into four pieces.)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, sprinkled evenly overall all 18.

Cook in a 325 preheated oven for about 25 minutes.
When cooled, drizzle melted chocolate chips over the top (I used about 2/3 an 11 ounce bag.) 

p.s. My wonderfully talented teenage son took this picture for me. They are not particularly beautiful cupcakes so he had to fancy it up for me. I think he did a nice job!

Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe

What to do on a day when I can't work because I'm waiting for the heater service man? Vacuum? No! Clean out the very scary closet? Heck No! Laundry? Nope. Make cupcakes!!!! Aren't they pretty? Here is the recipe. I did not use enough red food coloring in mine because I didn't have it and couldn't leave the house (waiting for the heater guy). The 2 ounces in the recipe should give them a nice red/brown color.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cup cake flour

1/2 cup powdered baking cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups sugar

2 sticks room temperature butter

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cup butter milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 oz red food coloring

Sift together (must sift) 3 times: flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside

In another bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add in buttermilk, vanilla and food coloring. Gradually add dry ingredients. This will be a thick batter. Fill cupcakes half full (don’t overfill). Bake at 350 for 20 mins.

Finish with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 8 oz packages cream cheese (room temp)

1 stick butter (room temp)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pinch salt

1 16 oz box PLUS 1 cup powdered sugar