Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes

These were made for David's coworker Danielle's birthday party today! They're strawberry cupcakes made from a mix with whipped cream cream cheese frosting and sliced strawberries on top. From what I heard and tasted, they were scrumptious.

Whipped Cream Cream Cheese Frosting

•      1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
•      1 cup white sugar
•      1/8 teaspoon salt
•      1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•      1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

   In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside. In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

Choco-nanner Cupcakes

These were made just to use up the ripe bananas I had laying around.

Chocolate cupcakes from a mix with mashed over-ripe bananas thrown in. Topped with a Nutella/Coconut Pecan ganache made from what I had left of Nutella, some Coconut Pecan frosting, and confectioner's sugar. I believe there was some cocoa thrown in there as well. On top of that is a royal icing flower since it was the only yellow topper I had.

These may not be the prettiest cupcakes I've ever made, but they were certainly the tastiest. =]

And with that, I'm caught up! Stay tuned for some Strawberry Cream Cheese cupcakes!

Pirate Cupcakes

Pirate cupcakes for my friend Mandie's son Dylan's first birthday! They're white cupcakes made from a mix with black chocolate buttercream, candy-coated rainbow chips, gold luster dust, and various pirate toys on top! They both loved them.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, topped with cherry sours and rolled in white nonpareils. Made for David's stepmother's birthday. Both cupcakes and frosting are made from the Hershey's "Perfect Chocolate" recipes:

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake (from the Hershey's website)

•      2 c. sugar
•      1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
•      3/4 c. Hershey's Cocoa     
•      1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
•      1 1/2 tps. baking soda
•      1 tsp. salt
•      2 eggs
•      1 c. milk
•      1/2 c. vegetable oil
•      2 tsp. vanilla
•      1 c. boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:

ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.


Hershey's "Perfect Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting (from the Hershey's website)

•      1/2 c. (1 stick) butter or margarine
•      2/3 c. Hershey's cocoa (any cocoa will do of course)
•      3 c. powdered sugar
•      1/3 c. milk
•      1 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Yields about 2 cups frosting.

Memorial Day Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for my coworkers at Home Depot for Memorial Day. They were all gone by the end of the day, and everyone had a blue tongue. =]

The cupcakes are funfetti, made from a mix I had lying around. The frosting is my standard buttercream tinted bright blue. I rolled and dipped the cupcake tops into a bowl of red and white sugar crystals.

Meatloaf "Cupcakes"

Behold the glory that is the meatloaf "cupcake".

Yes, it's really meatloaf. And it is SCRUMPTIOUS.

Meatloaf Cupcakes:

• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 can condensed vegetable soup
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin. Mix ground beef, soup, onion powder, bread crumbs, eggs, salt, and pepper. Scoop mixture evenly into prepared muffin cups. Place on top of cookie sheet to catch any grease that comes out of the muffin tin. Bake 1 hour in oven or until done. "Frost" with mashed potatoes, "sprinkle" with corn kernels.

Chocolate Lemon Cupcakes

These were made for a picnic David's coworkers were having at an old boss's house.

I candied some lemon zests as a topping while I was waiting for the cupcakes to bake.

They are lemon cupcakes with chocolate frosting, topped with candied lemon zests and a square of Lindt 70% Intense Dark chocolate. They were soooooooo good.
The cupcakes were made from a mix, and the frosting was the Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Frosting.


Hershey's "Perfect Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting (from the Hershey's website)

•      1/2 c. (1 stick) butter or margarine
•      2/3 c. Hershey's cocoa (any cocoa will do of course)
•      3 c. powdered sugar
•      1/3 c. milk
•      1 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Yields about 2 cups frosting.

I candied the lemon zests according to this recipe:


Candied Lemon Zest Recipe
     

•         2 lemons
•         1/3 cup water
•         1/3 cup sugar
•         sugar to coat zest strips

    * Wash lemons thoroughly. Trim zest from lemons using a vegetable peeler. Cut wide strips, being careful not to cut into the white pith layer below.  Cut zest strips lengthwise to create thin julienne strips.
    * Place julienne strips in a small sauce pan and cover with cold water. Cook over medium heat until the water comes to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 6 minutes.
    * Remove from heat, drain strips and then return them to the sauce pan.  Add water and sugar to the lemon strips in the sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Continue to cook over low heat until the lemon strips turn translucent. The water and sugar should be starting to thicken. Cooking time will be approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
    * When done cooking, remove strips from the pan and spread out on a sheet of wax paper. Separate the strips on the wax paper so they are not in clumps.
    * Once they have cooled slightly, roll in sugar until they are well coated.

Catching Up

I have a lot of that to do, haha. I'm sorry! I didn't mean to neglect the blog for so long. It just go to a point where the thought of all the backblogging I'd have to do was just overwhelming. So I'm gonna catch up in baby steps.

First off, those Hello Kitty Cake Pops I mentioned in my last entry!

They didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but that's alright since they were just for me and not a paying customer. I just don't think that Texas weather is right for making these, especially in the dog days of summer. They were incredibly tasty, though!
I made them with yellow cake from a mix (they're just plain easier), and mixed with canned strawberry frosting as per Bakerella's instructions. I think if I do make them another time, I won't put as much frosting in the mix since I have a feeling that lent a big hand in the amount of cursing I did at the Kitty heads that kept falling off the stick and into the bowl of candy melts.