Showing posts with label Cupcakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cupcakes. Show all posts

Want s'more cupcakes?

Tuesday, January 18, 2011 - 
A while back, I had baked some s'more cupcakes because, well, I really wanted a s'more.  Alas, I was baking for a recruitment event and knew I couldn't bring a plate of the delectable summer treat, so I transformed cupcakes to satisfy my craving.  This time around, I changed out a few things, but the end product was still delish.

I began with a basic chocolate cupcake rather than a yellow or white.  I sifted the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together.  I also threw in some cinnamon for good measure.

Creaming together the sugar and eggs, I always add the eggs slowly and individually.  Of course, this avoids any egg shell mishaps and ensures the mixture all gets the same amount of love.  Adding a bit of vanilla extract, I whipped it all together before adding the flour mix and milk on a low speed to avoid splatters.

Once the mix was complete, I scooped it into the prepared pans.  I couldn't decide between mini or standard cupcakes, so opted to bake both. By doing so, all those New Year's resolutions people made could be in check while those who didn't care, they had a larger option to select.  When they were done, I let them cool as I wrapped up the dulce de leche blondies I was also making (oh yes, double baking was happening!)


This time around, I didn't fill the center with fluff.  Instead, I attempted to make the fluff not so messy as frosting.  Now, I understand marshmallow's are sticky and messy and all, but it doesn't mean I can't attempt to change that.  I added some vanilla extract and powdered sugar to the fluff for a better consistency (and taste I guess?) before smearing it on top of the chocolate cupcake.  I thought, "why not toast the marshmallows?  Then it will be just like a s'more!" and won't leave them all sticky.

Well, I didn't really think about the graham cracker topping.  I don't know if I would have burned the graham crackers if I put it on prior to toasting the topping under the broiler, but at least they would have stuck.  Unfortunately, once toasted, the graham's weren't having the toasty marshmallow goodness.  And of course, the chocolate pieces were melting into the mess, but that is how a s'more is!

They were all delicious the same, even with the tweaking from last time.  They were gobbled up at the football game watch, and the four that remained were eaten the next day at work.  Maybe next time I make them, they may become pumpkin s'mores...mmm...

Tim Burton Inspired Halloween

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 - 
Halloween has come and gone, but the photos from the Tim Burton inspired party will always remind me two things:
  • we had a great time
  • hubs and I truly have some amazing friends
As you may recall, I came up with this inspiration a few month's ago and the planning began.  Hubby and I spent a little time each day decorating and getting ready for the festivities as every room had a different Tim Burton movie theme.  It was a great event, loaded with food, drink, games, and Tim Burton galore!  A brief recap:

Food & Drink
  • Mad Hatter Tea Party - sausage & apple meat pies (think Sweeny Todd), Parmesan wraps, stuffed mushrooms (for the caterpillar of course), chocolate & caramel apples, hummus, and five different delicious cheeses.  Though tea was available, we focused more on a variety of wines for drinks.
  • Corpse Bride - Holy Cow Cupcakes did an amazing job with the red velvet "wedding cake" (delicious!) and there was also a Dracula's Kiss signature drink (black cherry vodka with a Coke product and cherries)
  • Charlie & the Chocolate Factory - a candy buffet, complete with Willy Wonka candy (and wrappers, thank you RN!)  Even the wall was likable as pinwheels had a Sweet Tart center.
  • Edward Scissorhands - backyard bbq style, we had beer a plenty including a basic domestic (for easy beer game play) and hubby's home brewed pumpkin ale.  He did a fantastic job, it was some great beer that everyone enjoyed (great job hubs!)  Small snack items that you would find at a BBQ as well, including chips, pretzels - the easy grab food.
Costumes
Our guests did a great job dressing in Tim Burton gear.  We had Mike TV and Veruca Salt from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Lydia (two of them to be more accurate!) and Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and Peg Bogg (Avon calling!), Helena Bonham Carter and Sweeny Todd and Alice & the Mad Hatter.  We also had some other great costumes, including Mario & Luigi, Spiderman, Tink & Peter Pan, a Cheerio and adorable old lady, and a 'parasite host' & broken condom.  Creativity and glorious costumes were all around - great job to everyone!
 
For those who were unable to join us, we did miss you!  Here is a photo recap to give you an idea of how the night went (thank you RN & MC for allowing the use of some your photos mixed in with mine!):
 
 
 

 




 
   
  
I hope all of you had a fun filled Halloween - here's to next year!

What about this cupcake?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 - 
For the upcoming Halloween event, as you may have read, hubs and I are hosting a Tim Burton themed event!  It's no secret that I love Halloween, pumpkin, cinnamon and lots of other fall things.  Tim Burton represents autumn to me as well, though he is delightful in so many other forms. 

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Nightmare Before Christmas.  And yes, there will be a room themed after this movie of course.  I came across these today on the Disney Family site (yes, make fun of me, but I love Disney, I can't help it) and I couldn't help but smile and think to myself, "do I need to make these?" 
I will have many treats in the Alice in Wonderland themed area, as well as Charlie & the Chocolate Factory room.  After my recent baking episode and the fact that I'm not a baker, we'll definitely have to wait and see.  But I just couldn't resist how cute these are!

And on a side note - my costume is complete (here's a hint) as is Nala's.  Yes, my adorable puppy has her own costume because Target was selling it for only $7 and I couldn't resist.  And no, I'm not normally the kind of person who dresses their dog up, but I really couldn't resist.  
Do you see why? 

Hubs doesn't have his costume yet, but I'm sure you can guess who he'll be! 

Cookies, Cupcakes and Sorority Recruitment - Oh My!

Monday, September 13, 2010 - 
This past Saturday, I woke up at 8am and started baking.  Why you may ask?  Because I promised I'd bring desserts to the Sigma Kappa women at Ball State University during Sorority recruitment.  As they recruited their hearts out (yay for making quota by the way ladies!) I put together some tasty treats and made the trek to Muncie for the afternoon.  But first, I had to bake.

Now, I'm not a baker.  I don't like measuring and all that jazz.  I adore Holy Cow Cupcakes (so dangerous that they are right down the street from my home) and The Flying Cupcake (thank you for opening another location and providing me with more red velvet.)  I leave the baking business to the professionals.  But alas, once in a while, I whip out those red measuring cups and go to town.  Like this past Saturday when I made 7 dozen cookies and 2 dozen cupcakes in 2.5 hours.  Lovely.

When I was at the store, they were having a sale on Hershey bars, so I thought "Why not make s'more cupcakes?"  And of course, I saw strawberries were also on sale, so the next thought was "and strawberry shortcake cupcakes too!"  For cookies, I like all kinds, so I figured a variety mix would be good.  Thus, double chocolate chunk, peanut butter and sugar cookies were made.

First up - cupcakes.  I made a basic batter out of the good stuff (per Ms. Martha's recommendations of course) and poured half of it into one prepared pan.  The other half, I pureed some strawberries and mix those in before pouring into another pan.  Then, I baked and viola, here they are.  Unfortunately, the strawberry cupcakes did not rise as well as the plain vanilla - see the comparison?
While I let those cool, I baked double chocolate chunk cookies (sorry for the before photo, all I remembered was after!)  They were ooey and gooey, just the way I like them!
Then peanut butter - with the fork pressing of course.  The only difference is I dropped all the cookies rather than rolled - same thing with the sugar...
Sugar cookies.  I thought I had some sanding sugar to top it off with, but I must have finished that up around Valentine's Day and just forgot to restock.  So, they got red sugar crystals instead (it could have been blue, but that would have clashed even more than the red!)
Once all the cupcakes were cooled, I was ready for the fun part - decorating!  These are what makes them look appealing right?  Got together my toppings and prepped the pastry bag.  I cheated and used fluff and strawberry icing...I'm a little bummed I made that call, but I was under a time crunch, so I'll forgive myself.
Strawberry shortcake cupcakes.  I filled and frosted the strawberry vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting, though I did a really bad job piping for some reason.  It was extremely light (yes, I know, that is what whipped frosting means) and just wasn't the consistency I needed.  But putting a vanilla wafer and strawberry on top made them look extremely better. 
For the first time, I wanted to make s'more cupcakes.  Fluff (which I never heard of until I went to college and found out that is what the East coast kids grew up on - peanut butter and fluff sandwiches...anyone ever heard of jam/jelly before?) is what I decided to fill the cupcakes with and then top them for the sticky marshmallow topping.  Then, I sprinkled some crushed graham crackers on them and added a piece of Hershey chocolate.  Yum.
And there you have it!  Lots of cupcakes and cookies for a job well done!

Of course, I left some in the cookie jar for the hubs.  He would have been awfully sad if he came home and smelled the goodness to find an empty cookie jar.

Did I mention that I somehow got 3 loads of laundry done during this time too?  All before leaving at noon...nice Angie.

Do you ever get in a baking mood - and if so, what do you bake?