Cupcake Snow Globes....and some sad news

I was so excited to makes these cupcakes! I got the idea from my Hello, Cupcake! Cookbook. I had been wanting to make another cupcake from the book and decided that my upcoming holiday party gave me the perfect excuse!


These cupcakes did take A LOT of patience. I had to adjust several of the ingredients (just because I was on a time crunch and didn't have time to go to a specialty candy store - my adjustments are listed below), I think that my substitutions worked great! I can't say whether or not they tasted good (I was too afraid to eat one because they were so pretty and took so much time!), but they were well received! I can't imagine they didn't taste good!

On a side note, Heggy my beloved pup, has to be put down in the morning. She has been so sick for so long and she recently took a turn for the worse. It hasn't been an easy road for the hubs and myself, and we honestly don't know how we are going to get through it tomorrow. I have cried more over the past couple of months (especially the last couple of days) than I think I have in my entire life. I just look into her eyes and see a dog that wasn't even given a chance to have the life she deserved. She is only 1 1/2, but has given the hubs and I a joy not even describable in words. Heggy changed our lives, for the better. Her unconditional love with never be forgotten. She was definitely one of a kind, and anyone who got the pleasure of meeting her knows what I am talking about. I will miss her "kisses", her "scratching - pick me up", her determination to find a way onto the couch, her sitting at the door waiting for mommy to come home (and not even letting me put my stuff down when I walk in the door), her love for her sweaters, her "hold me like a baby", her "oh yes scratch my belly", her sleep smell, her nickname "Hegster", and most of all her snuggling ...insisting on always being under the blanket with an arm around her belly. Heggy I will love you all my life and I hope your kisses will greet me in Heaven when it's my time. In honor of Heggy, the hubs and I have decided to make a commitment to run the Music City Half Marathon next spring. We are going to do it for her, and I will be wearing a chain around my next with her "Heggy" charm attached. I love you Heggy.

Snow Globe Cupcakes

(adapted from Hello, Cupcake!)

**I made 20 cupcakes, but feel free to make more or less. The original recipe called to make only 6, but I was going to a party and knew I would have enough stuff to make more.**

20 cupcakes baked in silver foil cupcake liners (I just used a boxed yellow cake mix.)

2 cans of vanilla frosting

3/4 cup of coarse white decorating sugar

snowflake decors (or white stars like I used)

red and green non pareils (or color sugar like I used)

20 chocolate-covered graham crackers (Keebler)

Tint 3/4 cup of the vanilla frosting green, using the food coloring, and spoon it into a ziplock bag. Spoon several tablespoons of plain vanilla frosting into another ziplock bag. Press out the excess air in the bags of frosting and seal.

Spoon the coarse white decorating sugar in a small shallow bowl. Spread remaining frosting on the top of the cupcakes. Roll the edges of each frosted cupcake in the sugar. Sprinkle the tops with some snowflake decors and the red and green non pareils.

To make the Tree:

small bag of tootsie rolls

small yellow stars

Gently warm tootsie rolls in microwave...like maybe 5 seconds per piece. Roll (I just used my fingers to flatten out the tootsie roll) the tootsie roll out flat. Using a sharp knife cut out pieces for the trunk of the tree. You will need 10 trunks total. Gently press one trunk into the bottom of 10 of the cupcakes. To make the tree, use the green frosting bag (cut a small slit in the corner of the bag) and pipe the frosting starting in the center of the cupcake (the top of the tree) and moving downward for the branches. Continue piping this way moving closer to the trunk and making a tree shape. Top each tree with a yellow star.

To make the Snowman:

white spice drops

orange spice drops

tootsie rolls

red round sprinkles

Cut each white spice drop in half crosswise. Roll out the bottom half to make the disk slightly larger in diameter than the top half. For the body of each snowman, press the flattened disk at the bottom edge of the cupcake, cut side down. Place the top half of the spice drop , cut side down, above the bottom disk to make the head. Cut the orange spice drop into small triangles to make the noses. Attach each nose to the head with a small dot of vanilla frosting.

Gently warm tootsie rolls in microwave (again maybe 5 seconds per piece). Roll (I just used my fingers to flatten out the tootsie roll) the tootsie roll out flat. Using a sharp knife cut out square pieces to make the top part of the hat. Roll thin slices into the bottom portion of the hat. (make 10 of each so you have a total of 10 hats.) Carefully place bottom part of hat at an angle on the head of the snowman. Place square part of the hat onto of the bottom part of the hat.

Pipe a green scarf across the neck. Add two dots of vanilla frosting down the middle of the bottom of the snowman and attach the red sprinkles for the buttons. Add snowflake decors and red and green non pareils.

To Assemble Cupcakes:

For each cupcake, arrange 1 chocolate covered graham cracker (longways so the cupcake has more space to rest) on a serving platter. Using your small baggie of vanilla frosting, pipe a dollop of frosting onto each graham cracker. Carefully place the cupcake on its side onto the graham cracker, with decorations upright.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Fluffy Cinnamon Vanilla Frosting

As promised, ANOTHER Martha Stewart recipe! I actually made these a week or so ago and have just now gotten around to telling you about them. I made these for my friend Shaunda. Her birthday was at the beginning of October, but I didn't actually get the chance to bake something for her on her actual birthday because I was out of town.

Of course I turned to my trusty Martha Stewart Cupcake Cookbook for a recipe! I had marked her Snickerdoodle Cupcakes to make in the fall and thought Shaunda's birthday was the prefect opportunity to try it out!

...Maybe not so much...

I must tell all of you that Martha calls for these cupcakes to be frosted with her famous Seven-Minute Frosting. I DID have great intentions of making the frosting, but for whatever reason it just would not come together. I got very frustrated and I finally had to give up on the Seven-Minute Frosting and turn to something else. I was running out of patience and ingredients! lol So I instead decided on her Fluffy Vanilla Frosting, but made a couple changes to it so that it would complement the Snickerdoodle Cupcakes. All in all, I think the cupcakes turned out great, however, I really was hoping to have success with the Seven-Minute Frosting. I think the cupcakes would have looked a lot prettier and probably not been as sweet (don't get me wrong they were delicious, just probably would have been better with the other frosting). Until next time Seven-Minute Frosting ... get ready cause I AM gonna master you! ;o)

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Fluffy Cinnamon Vanilla Frosting

(recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes, also found here)

For the cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self- rising), sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, plus 1/2 teaspoon for dusting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt, and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk, and beating until combined after each.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

For the frosting: (below are with my changes, check here for the original version)
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons cinnamon

With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

Add vanilla and cinnamon, and beat until frosting is smooth. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

**I also dusted the tops of my cupcakes with addition cinnamon (NOT CINNAMON SUGAR-that would make it too sweet).**

Applesauce Spice Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

A co-worker of mine had a birthday coming up and I had already planned to make her something special...I just didn't know what. Part of me wanted to make a cake, but the other part of me wanted to have another excuse to make another recipe out of Martha Stewart's Cupcake Cookbook! (Stay tuned I have another one coming that is just as good!)

I flipped through the pages of the cookbook trying to pick something I thought would suite her taste buds. I finally decided on Martha's Applesauce Spice Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting. Whew...that's a mouthful! I wanted to make something that fit the fall season (hence the Halloween liners!), but I didn't know if she would like the flavors. It turns out it happens to be one of her favorites, lucky me!

These cupcakes we incredible! I can't even begin to tell you how moist they were. Applesauce always seems to make such a big difference (and it's better for you). The flavor was so good and the Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting complimented it so well. I omitted the nuts from the recipe, just because some people don't care for them, but you certainly could leave them in. I actually think I wouldn't have enjoyed these as much with them. These cupcakes really were amazing! Another BIG Martha success! :o) If you are looking to make a treat for this fall season and want something that's not pumpkin, give these a try. They will be a crowd pleaser!

Applesauce Spice Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

(recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes...also found here)

For Applesauce Spice Cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups store-bought applesauce

1 cup toasted pecans, chopped (optional - I omitted)

For Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin and a 6-cup tin with paper liners. **While the original recipe says it makes 18 cupcakes, I was able to get 22 out of the recipe. I used my large Pampered Chef scoop to dish out the batter evenly. I think 18 would have made HUGE cupcakes.**

Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves together into a medium bowl. Set aside.

Put 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, the granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs, one at a time. On low speed, mix in applesauce and then flour mixture. Stir in nuts, if using, by hand.

Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely in tins on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in the clean bowl of electric mixer make frosting. Mix cream cheese with remaining 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter and 1 cup brown sugar on medium speed until smooth. Spread cream-cheese frosting on muffins. Muffins can be refrigerated in airtight containers up to 2 days.

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

I am sure you all know by now of my not-so-secret-sudden-obsession with Miss Martha Stewart!! I admit, I was a little stand-offish at first, but I have since learned to let all that go! She really has some fantastic cookbooks and magazines out there. I love her Everyday Food Magazine, and I especially love her two recent cookbooks!!! (Martha Stewart Cupcakes and Martha Stewart Cookies) I can't seem to stay away from her recipes. I really have yet, knock on wood, to be let down by one of her recipes! If you are like I used to be about Martha, maybe you too should take a step down and see what all the fuss is about...take it from me, it's totally worth it!

So this past weekend, I was going to someones house and needed to bring a dessert. I knew right away that I wanted to make something out of Martha's Cupcake Cookbook, I just wasn't sure what to make. I mean there are so MANY recipes I am dying to try out! That being said I flipped through the book and decided on her Mini Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes. They looked so cute and I loved the idea of the whole Oreo on the bottom acting as the "crust" of the cheesecake.

The cupcakes turned out perfectly! They had a great flavor and completely satisfied my sweet tooth (which can sometimes be difficult!). The cheesecake was smooth and creamy and the little bits of oreos swirled throughout was just enough. No glass of milk needed to dunk these oreos that's for sure!

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

(recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes Cookbook)

42 Oreos, 30 left whole, and 12 coarsely chopped (this is almost 1 whole package of Oreos)

2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature (or 4 8 ounce packages)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. I used my Pampered Chef Large Cookie Scoop to evenly fill my cupcake liners. (I also was able to make 32 cupcakes, the recipe says it makes 30.)

Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Chocolate Cupcake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

This is one of the best recipes I have tasted for a chocolate cupcake! Go figure the recipe came from Martha Stewart! :o) I had been wanting Martha's Cupcake Cookbook for some time (really since it hit store shelves!) but couldn't seem to justify spending money on another cookbook. I don't really buy myself stuff, especially cooking stuff, I always seem to have a "wish list" full of things I want/desire. I guess I just feel like it is crazy to continue buying myself stuff when we need things like groceries, gas...a roof over our heads! :o) All things that take precedence over my silly baking hobby!

So I just sulked about it for months...watching everyone else blog about Martha cupcake goodness...yes I had cupcake envy! Then one day I came home from work to find that the hubs had a surprise on the table waiting for me! It was indeed Martha's cupcake book, and actually sitting right next to it was Hello Cupcake! (yet another book I was wanting)!! What a great guy he is!

But back to these wonderful cupcakes...
So a co-worker had a "special" birthday coming up. The big "4"-"0"! I knew I wanted to make him something special, I just wasn't sure what to do. I kept going back and forth, cake - cupcake - cake - cupcake, I finally decided I wanted to do cupcakes so I could try out another Martha recipe.

I emailed my co-worker's girlfriend to find out his flavor of choice. Turns out it was chocolate! I am actually not a huge fan of chocolate, nor am I really supposed to eat much of it, but I flipped through the book anyways and came across a chocolate cupcake recipe that looked pretty tasty. It was topped with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, which I thought would be a great combination.

Sure enough it was a FABULOUS combination and I am so glad I made them. The cupcakes were so incredibly moist and flavorful. I actually think this recipe would make a great cake. The buttercream was so smooth and creamy; it went perfectly atop the chocolate.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

(from Martha Stewart Cupcakes, cupcakes - page 152 / buttercream - page 304)

For the cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk (see my tip for homemade buttermilk here)

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I used canola)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup warm water

For the buttercream:

5 large egg whites

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into Tablespoons, brought to room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Reduce speed to low. Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, extract and the warm water. Beat until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. (Batter will be thin.)

Divide batter evenly among the lined cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 10 minutes. Turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.

Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months in an air tight container.

For the buttercream:

Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.

With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

NOTE: Don't worry if the mixture appears to separate or "curdle" after you've added the butter. Simply continue beating it on medium-high speed, and it will become smooth again...PROMISE!!!

(Optional) To tint buttercream (or royal icing), reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use a paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too soon, as the hue will intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream.

To finish cupcakes:

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a medium french star tip (Ateco #863 or Wilton #363) with buttercream. (I used my Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator) Pipe buttercream on cupcake as desired. Cupcakes can then be stored up to 1 day at room temperature, or refrigerated up to 3 days in air tight containers. Bring to room temperature to serve.

Time to make a wish ................. make it a good one ........

Happy Birthday ya "OLD FART" :o)

~Photography by Kristen Wiltse Photography

Rootbeer Float Cupcake - A Gigi's Cupcake Review

Down here in Nashville, specialty cupcakes are becoming all the rage! All sorts of places are popping up:

Gigi's Cucpakes

The Painted Cupcake

The Pink Cupcake

The Cupcake Collection

Sweet 16th

If you know of any others let me know...

This particular post is dedicated to Gigi's Cucpakes! I love their cupcakes, mainly because of the mound of frosting they put on each of their hand-made-with-love cupcakes! It is good stuff let me tell you! It opened a while ago (maybe a couple of years ago) and I immediately fell in love :o) Gigi's has a menu posted on their website, that changes daily. They didn't start out with as many flavors as they have today, but the flavors just keep growing. Everything from Carrot Cake, Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip, Miss Princess, Orange Dreamsicle, Peanut Butter Cup, Strawberry Short Cake, Texas Milk Chocolate, Wedding Cake, Tiramisu, White Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip, Bailey's Irish Cream, Coconut Snowball, Lemon Dream Supreme, Hunka Chunka Banana Love, Scarlett's Velvet, Pink Lemonade....the list goes on and on! Which bring me to ... DRUM ROLL PLEASE .......

The Suspect: The Rootbeer Float Cupcake

Root beer flavored yellow cake,

with root beer flavored butter cream frosting,

drizzled with marshmallow cream

and topped with straw and gummie cola bottle.

HELLO ROOTBEER LOVERS!! (Myself included) Out of all the flavors they have featured, I was most excited to see this one! First of all look how cute!!! (ok my pictures suck below, but it was so cute in person!) Secondly, WHAT A GREAT IDEA for a flavor! And let me tell you, this cupcake was amazing...one of the best ones I have had in a long time...that is when it comes to specialty cupcakes outside of New York City's CRUMBS! (If you go to NYC be sure and check CRUMBS out!) I couldn't believe how much it DID actually taste like a Rootbeer Float! Man I want another one right now! :o)

I actually got two of these one cupcake for the recent birthday girl ... the one I made the Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes for! She is a Rootbeer lover like myself, so I knew she would appreciate it, and she did!

So if you are every in Nashville, be sure and check Gigi's out...it will not disappoint!

**disclaimer - you may want to bring a friend (or an appetite) as the cupcake is enough to share with someone...but only one more!**

Spaghetti and Meatballs ... for dessert?!? What!?!

I know I haven't blogged in a while, but I am back with something exciting to share with you! A close friend on mine has a birthday coming up and I really wanted to do something extra special for her. A couple of weeks ago, my husband surprised me after work with a cookbook I have been eyeing for quite awhile now...Hello Cupcake! The designs in this cookbook as so adorable! I practically have the urge to stay in my kitchen until I bake them all! I am so glad my hubs got me this cookbook, he is such a sweetheart! Maybe he bought it for other reasons though!
I decided on making my friend the Spaghetti and Meatball cupcakes, because every time she has spaghetti night at her house, she always brings in leftovers for me to enjoy! I knew right away she would get a huge kick out of these...and maybe drop the hint that I was ready for spaghetti dinner again!! :o)

The cupcakes turned out perfectly, and she absolutely loved them!! They were really easy to make too. If you haven't had the chance to run out and get this book you really should! It is actually very user friendly ... and I am here to announce that most of the recipes call for store bought ingredients (ie - box mix, canned frosting). The book has great ideas in it, and I can't wait to make another creation! The hubs told me last night that I could make him something for his class when he goes back to school...I think that was a hint and the reason he bought the book for me!

Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes

(from Hello Cupcake!)

10 vanilla cupcakes baked in white paper liners (I actually made 12 and bought a 12 pack of Ferrero Rocher Chocolates)
1 can (16 ounces) vanilla frosting (I ended up almost using 2 cans because I made lots of noodles!)
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder 3 drops yellow food coloring
12 Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates, unwrapped
1 cup low-sugar strawberry preserves (low-sugar has the best color)
2 tablespoons grated white chocolate, plus an additional chunk for garnish

Tint the vanilla frosting with the cocoa powder and yellow food coloring and spread a thin layer on top of the cupcakes. Arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter so that they are touching.
Spoon the remaining frosting into a Ziploc bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag. Snip a Vs-inch corner from the bag. Pipe the frosting all over the cupcakes to make the spaghetti, piling it high and allowing some of the spaghetti to hang over the edges.

Place the hazelnut chocolates and the strawberry preserves in a medium bowl and toss to coat.

Spoon some of the preserves on top of the cupcakes.

Place 1 hazelnut chocolate on each cupcake. Top the cupcakes with the remaining strawberry preserves. Sprinkle with the grated white chocolate. Place the chunk of white chocolate on a separate plate with a small hand grater and bring to the table with the platter of spaghetti.

I wasn't able to do the whole presentation with the extra piece of white chocolate because I had to travel with it all to work. However, I did reserve some extra grated white chocolate because I knew I had to present the cupcakes to her in a special way ... it went something like this:

"Ellie, do you have a second you could come downstairs?"
"What are you up to now Liesl!?!"
"Just come down."
She rounded the corner, and I said, "Table for one?" She laughed.
She then walked in my room and saw the one chair set in front of the plate of 'spaghetti and meatballs'!
"The special for today is Spaghetti and Meatballs! Would you like some cheese on that?", and I then sprinkled some of the extra grated white chocolate on top!
:o) I know I am such a dork, but she really loved it!

I hope you enjoyed my little story, and hey you got a great recipe idea out of it! Now get to the kitchen and make dinner...no wait dessert! :o)

A HUGE thank you goes out to another great friend of mine, Kristen, she brought her camera in to take pictures for me. She is a great photographer, and has a blog too...you should check it out!

Go Hokies!

I really wasn't sure if I was going to blog about these cupcakes, but they did turn out really cute. I just really need to start working on getting a camera that can take decent pictures at all times of the day; it's so disappointing.

I made these cupcakes for my friend who turned 21. I couldn't decide on what to make her for her birthday, but knew it had to be special. One day I was going through Amanda's blog, Is This Thing On?, and came across her version of the Hokie Hi-Hat! I saw them and knew right away those were the cupcakes I had to make my friend. My friend goes to Virgina Tech and she is a HUGE Hookie fan, as is her family. Since her whole family was coming into town, I figured that this would be perfect for all of them!

I was so busy the week of my friends birthday, I knew I didn't have a lot of time to go 100% homemade, so I decided last minute to turn to Miss Betty Crocker, who has saved my butt on many occasions! I figured the decorating was going to be pretty time consuming so I needed to cut a few corners. So I settled on a box mix and canned frosting, but hey they still tasted good!

Amanda actually used fondant for her "VT's", but I decided to go with chocolate. I haven't worked much with fondant, and due to my time constraints, I didn't really have time to mess up! So I turned to good ole Wilton's candy coloring and tried my best to come up with VT colors. It wasn't perfect, but it got the point across. I just piped the chocolate onto wax paper in the shape of Virginia Tech's logo.

My friend loved them, as did her parents. I am glad they went over so well. I will definitely be trying the hi-hat method again, and hopefully won't feel so rushed!

While I have no recipe to share with you, I can explain the method of a hi-hat cupcake. (Or you can view Amanda's here!)

-Basically you make your cupcakes and let them cool completely.

-Frost the cooled cupcakes. (I piped up a nice high mound of frosting) Place in the freezer for a few minutes so the frosting cool and good and ready for dipping.

-Melt desired chocolate for dipping.

-Carefully dip each cupcake in the melted chocolate. The cupcakes will change the temperature of the chocolate since you put them in the freezer, so be carefully the chocolate doesn't cool too fast or you will get a layer of chocolate that will be too thick over the frosting. (this happened to me on a few)

All in all, the cupcakes were cute. I am disappointed in the pictures and the fact that I wasn't able to spend time making it all from scratch...but hey we all can't be perfect now can we!

S'mores Cupcakes

Yes, here it is another ode to my S'mores addiction!

These cupcakes were so unbelievably good! I can't being to put into words just how tasty these little cuties were. I had so much fun making them too! I was actually surprised at how easy these were to make. I really thought I was going to be in over my head and up all night...but quite the opposite! I even had time to start making other things while these were in the oven!



The S'more Cupcakes were such a HUGE hit! I had done quite a bit of research in looking for a S'mores Cupcake recipe. There are SO MANY out there, and so many of those seem very complicated. I knew there had to be recipes out there that had the "S'mores" effect, but not so intense. About a month ago, I remembered bookmarking this recipe in my google reader. I actually forgot about it until I started researching and it popped up again! I was so happy because it was exactly what I was looking for in a recipe! I found it on A Homemaker's Habitat, and was pleased to see that it was a take on a Martha Stewart recipe!! Miss Martha has yet to disappoint me!! And it looks like the S'mores Cupcakes are another Martha success!!

S'mores Cupcakes

(from A Homemaker's Habitat, originally from Martha Stewart)

1 "Family Size" box Pillsbury Fudge Brownies

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

20 graham crackers (I think I may have used more)

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1 bag unsweetened mini chocolate chips

2 containers Marshmallow Fluff (gosh I love this stuff!)

2 Hershey Bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with cupcake liners. (recipe makes 24 cupcakes) Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for "cake-like" brownies (using 3 eggs instead of 2). Set aside batter.

Combine graham crackers and sugar in food processor, pulse until crackers are crushed into small even crumbs. Slowly add melted butter a little at a time, pulsing after each addition until you get a mixture that still crumbly but firm when pressed. (I didn't end up using the whole stick of melted butter, this is why I recommend adding a little butter at a time until you get the right consistency.)

Drop 1 Tablespoon of graham cracker mixture into each cupcake liner. You can use a small glass to press down the graham cracker mixture evenly, I used my handy dandy Pampered Chef Mini-Tart Shaper! Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of mini chocolate chips over the graham cracker mixture. Place cupcake pans in the oven for about 5 minutes to firm the graham cracker crust and begin melting the chocolate chips.

Remove pans from the oven and fill each cupcake liner with brownie batter until they are about 3/4 full. Sprinkle each cupcake with another teaspoon of chocolate chips and a Tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture. Place cupcake pans back in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Place cupcake pans on a rack until cooled. Meanwhile, fill a quart-size zip-lock bag with marshmallow fluff, cut a small tip in the corner. When cupcakes have cooled, pipe a small amount of marshmallow fluff onto each cupcake. DO NOT over frost, as the marshmallow fluff will ooze over the cupcake as it settles.

Turn oven to broil setting. Place cupcake pans, one at a time, about 1 inch from the broiler. Watch cupcake closely to make sure the marshmallow puffs and browns, but does not burn. This doesn't take long so be sure to watch them closely. You may need to shift the pan to make sure the cupcakes brown evenly. Repeat with second tin.

Once cupcakes have cooled completely top with a piece of Hershey bar!

***One tip I noticed...

The marshmallow fluff was great right out of the broiler...nice and crispy. However, this step might be best left until right before you are going to serve them. The marshmallow fluff kept its shape and color, but not the crispiness. They were still fantastic, but I think the marshmallow fluff would have been even better if I would have waited to do it until the next day when I was serving them. Also, I didn't cover my cupcakes. I knew that by covering them that the moisture would have an effect on the marshmallow fluff. So you may want to leave yours uncovered as well.***

Side view of the cupcakes! They were so moist and delicious!
The graham cracker crust was so tasty and the melted chocolate
chips were a nice surprise! ENJOY!

Strawberry Stuffed Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting!

So I cheated a little bit with these cupcakes by using a box mix. But my reason for that was mainly because I had this new idea for a cupcake, and I wanted to try to master making a Buttercream Frosting! I actually went to a party last night where someone made a chocolate cake covered with Strawberry Buttercream...the frosting was so yummy! So being a freak about baking, I came home last night thinking about how good that frosting was! I started trying to think of a way I could use that frosting, and that is when I decided to try a Strawberry Stuffed Cupcake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting! THEY TURNED OUT AMAZING!!!! I will definitely be making these again, but maybe next time I will actually make the cake myself!!

Strawberry Stuffed Cupcake

(recipe from Liesl)

1 Box White Cake Mix

1 Cup Strawberry Jam

Prepare Cake mix according to back of the box. Bake Cupcakes, again according to the back of the box. I made 24 Cupcakes total. Once cupcakes have finished baking, cool completely on a wire rack. While Cupcakes are cooling, fill a resealable zip lock bag with the 1 cup Strawberry Jam. Once Cupcakes are completely cooled, poke a hole in the center of each cupcake. I used the end of a wooden spoon to do this. Take the zip lock bag filled with Strawberry Jam, cut a small hole in the corner of the bag, and pipe the Jam carefully into each Cupcake.


(These are my cupcakes filled with jam, just waiting for that yummy Strawberry Buttercream Frosting!) I filled my Cupcakes and then prepared the Frosting, but you could always make the Frosting first so it would be ready to spread once the Cupcakes cooled.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

(from Joy of Cooking, with a few additions of my own)

1 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup water

1/4 Teaspoon Cream of Tartar

5 Large Egg Yolks

3 Sticks Unsalted Butter Softened

2 Tablespoons Strawberry Extract

2 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar (used this just to thicken it a little more)

Combine Sugar, Water and Cream of Tartar in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the mixture begins to simmer. Stop stirring and cover for 2 minutes. (this allows the sugar to dissolve) Uncover and cook until the syrup registers 238 degrees (soft-ball stage) on a candy thermometer. Meanwhile, fill a wide, deep skillet with 1 inch of water and bring it to a simmer. In a medium heat proof bowl, be 5 Large Egg Yolks on high speed until thick and pale yellow in color.

Just before Syrup is ready, begin beating the eggs again on medium speed. While beating the eggs, pour the hots syrup in a thin steady stream into the eggs. Set the heatproof bowl in the skillet of simmer hot water and stir egg mixture constantly with a whisk until the mixture registers 160 degrees. Remove from heat. Wash beaters and beat the hot mixture until it cools to room temperature.

Once cool, beat in 1 Tablespoon at a time of the Unsalted Butter. Beat each Tablespoon of butter into the buttercream until it is smooth and spreadable. Continue process until you have incorporated all your butter. Once all your butter is incorporated, mix in the 2 Tablespoons of Strawberry Extract (or any other flavor you like). If it gets too soupy when you are adding the butter just stop and refrigerate it for a little bit. I also went ahead and put my frosting in the refrigerator for about 2 hours after making it, to let it set better. When I pulled it out it was still just a little to thin for my liking so that is when I added the 2 Tablespoons of Powdered Sugar...just to thicken it up. It didn't really effect the flavor at all.

Fill a resealable zip lock bag with Frosting. Cut a small hole in one corner. Pipe Frosting on top of each cupcake. I placed mine in the refrigerator after frosting to keep the Frosting set.