Thursday, July 21

These are the "I Hate the Heat, Kill Me Now" Cupcakes

I knew things were not going to go right tonight, especially after I saw I was out of liners and had to use these fancy ones that were a tad too big for my pan.  Oh, and then I thought I ran out of sugar so I had to start preparing a Swiss Meringue Buttercream instead of regular, Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream.

Strike 1 - The one bowl dark chocolate cake mixed well but did not bake evenly.  After after a few additional minutes they just looked blah, not to mention the liners puckered.

Strike 2 - Swiss Meringue Buttercream never peaks, I tried chilling it but it never thickened up.  Never even got to the step of adding strawberry. That was the last of the bulk of my butter so I had to put on my thinking cap.  A ganache would not have been the correct resolution because some family members hate it and well, I'm not eating 2 dozen cupcakes.

Strike 3 - Decided on a Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting using the strawberry puree I made earlier.  Things looked pretty good until I started to pipe and the hell pit that is my kitchen starting melting everything.  I was so aggravated at this point, I just slopped it on, adding some sugar and called it a night.

Finished Product - Dark Chocolate Cupcake with a Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

I would flunk the presentation portion of Cupcake Wars today :(

Sunday, July 17

Chocolate Almond

These were last minute so I didn't bother taking action shots.  I used the 'one bowl' chocolate cake recipe with the addition of espresso for depth.  A classic almond buttercream topped with cocoa dusted almonds.

Mondays always come too fast, I wish it were Thursday already.  And alas, I am giving up sugar again starting in a few hours. :)

Thursday, July 14

Chocolate Covered Donut Cupcakes

My initial plan was to make a coffee flavored cake and top with a glazed donut, thought it would make a nice birthday cake for a cop :)  Anyway, I decided most people (i mean kids) are not fans of coffee and since I would be surrounded with children this week, may as well make something kid friendly.

Start with baking a rich, chocolate cake. I used a one bowl recipe and added some espresso to enhance the cocoa.


Ice with a light vanilla buttercream, I used a wide tube to pipe a ring on each cake


I felt like it needed more, I would have gone for mini chocolate chips but I was out, so I settled for chocolate sprinkles (i have no idea why this picture won't flip)


And finally, top with a mini chocolate donut


I love my new cupcake tote, as well! :)

Sunday, July 10

Here we go again..

OK, so I lied, I'm saving that new combo for another day.  I had requests for Smores (again) so I whipped up a batch.  This time I followed along with Martha, her marshmallow frosting is the best.  I won't bore with a basic chocolate cake batter, that is the base of the cupcake.  No wait, there is a light graham cracker crust as the base, then the batter, then some more cracker crumbs, and topped with toasted marshmmallow.  My favorite part is the torching :)

I should add, while it may be one of the best frostings, it's really hard to work with and my kitchen looks like the stay puft man exploded

Frosting goes from this, whisking away over a double boiler until warm to the touch and sticky

 To this with an electric mixer after about 7-8 minutes (oh how I wish I owned a stand mixer, hint hint)


 And then finally, we end up with this though the picture looks like crap.  I got a little torch happy

Friday, July 8

Contest Update

Boo...came in as a runner up which I am still happy with.  I really didn't even plan on this contest, so this was a last minute entry and still a surprise :)

Friday, July 1

Holiday Weekend

My first baking episode this weekend was to prepare two favorites for a picnic tomorrow.  Hope 50 Banana Splits and Cherry Pies are enough for this crowd :)

I actually ran out of trays to decorate them on..

*Fingers Crossed*

Well, the Banana Split Cupcakes made it as a finalist in a contest on instructables.com.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Cupcake Finalists