Updates!

The Upcoming Cupcakes page is finally up-to-date!

My flickr is nearly up-to-date!

The Recipes page is up-to-date!

I've joined CookEatShare!

Also, I have 17 followers!!! I can't believe it! Thanks so much everyone for following my blog and enjoying my cupcakes as much as I enjoy making and sharing them. Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

I've been thinking about getting rid of the recipes page and just including the recipe with each post. Would this be more convenient for you? Or should I just add the recipe to each post but keep the recipe page for additional reference?

Ambrosia Cupcakes

These were made for my Gramp's 80th birthday celebration. He's a big coconut fan, so they definitely won him over. I got the recipe out of a Taste Of Home magazine. The only things I did differently were using root beer concentrate in place of rum extract (they were all out of rum extract at HEB and I happened to have the root beer concentrate on hand), and I sprinkled chopped pecans on the tops of some. The frosting was dangerously delicious. I could have probably eaten it by itself straight from the bowl.

And here's my Gramp enjoying the 80 balloons we blew up for him with a note about why we love him attached to each one. 

Ambrosia Cupcakes

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. butter-flavored shortening
• 2 c. sugar
• 5 eggs, separated
• 1 tsp. rum extract (I substituted root beer concentrate)
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. apricot nectar
• 1/4 c. pineapple preserves
• 1/4 c. apricot preserves
• 2 c. cake flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. chopped pecans

In a large bowl, cream the butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. In another bowl, whisk the sour cream, apricot nectar, and preserves. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixtures alternately with sour cream mixture. Beat just until blended. Stir in pecans. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter. Fill paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. (Yields 3 dozen)

Ambrosia Frosting

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1/4 c. pineapple preserves
• 1/4 c. apricot preserves
• 3 3/4 c. powdered sugar
• 1 c. flaked coconut
• 36 maraschino cherries with stems

In a small bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, and extracts until light and fluffy. Beat in preserves. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until blended. Frost cupcakes; sprinkle with coconut (it was easier for me to kind of dip the tops of the cupcakes into a bowl of coconut since the coconut wouldn't stick otherwise). Garnish with cherries. 

Vegan Cookies 'n' Cream Cupcakes!

Oh yes, they tasted as good as they looked. =]

These were made for our nephew Jaedyn's adoption party. He's got severe dairy allergies, so everything I make for him needs to be vegan/dairy-free. You'd think this would limit my options as far as baking goes, but there are so many awesome recipes out there! This one came from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, but I found it online at Chow.com.

Jaedyn LOVED them, especially the frosting. He was eyeballing them all through dinner. Here's some more pictures.

Jaedyn chowing down on the breakfast of champions the next morning. =]

Vegan Cookies 'n' Cream Cupcakes

• 1 c. soy milk (I used vanilla Silk)
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1/3 c. canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 c. cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. coarsely chopped chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies
• Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK). Mix in the sandwich cookies. Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 c. nonhydrogenated shortening (I just used butter-flavored Crisco since I wasn't worried about the vegan aspect)
• 1/2 c. nonhydrogenated margarine (I used Willow Run soy margarine)
• 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 c. plain soy milk or soy creamer (I used vanilla Silk again since it's what I had)

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well-combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and the soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until light and fluffy. Just fold in chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs to make it match the cupcakes.