Funfetti Cupcakes for Two!

Back in the day when I still used boxed cake mix to impress my friends with my baking skills, funfetti would have to be one of my top flavors of choice.

Oh how those days are gone. And sometimes I miss them. Those little colorful balls in the batter, the creamy colorful beads in the icing.

So let's bring them back. In a recipe for two. You can brighten anyone's day when they see these on your counter...

Funfetti Cupcakes for Two

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon milk
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sprinkles (i used non pareils for the batter)


The How To:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line a cupcake pan with two liners (in the middle for even baking).
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, egg white, vanilla extract, and sugar until thoroughly combined.
Add in the flour and baking powder and whisk gently until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add in the sprinkles and using a rubber spatula, gently fold them in. Don’t over stir. If you stir too much the dye from the sprinkles will bleed and you’ll have tie dye cupcakes instead of funfetti.
Pour batter into your prepared cupcake pan.
Bake for 10-13 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let them cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


In a medium bowl and an electric mixer, beat the butter, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract until a frosting forms. If you like a thinner frosting, add a bit more milk until you reach your desired consistency. Frost your cooled cupcakes, and toss on some more sprinkles!

yay for funfetti cupcakes!

love.love.love & happy baking!

 

 

 

XL Sugar Cookie Cake

Anyone remember those giant cookie cakes they sold at the bakery kiosks in the mall? I used to beg my dad to get me one anytime we were there. He always said no. What 9 year old needs an entire cake to themselves? It never stopped me from asking though.

Well I'm not nine years old anymore. I'm nine PLUS twenty. So I can have a frickin' cookie cake anytime feel like it. So I made one. And it was delicious. Soft, chewy and filled with yummy little rainbow sprinkles. And then I made another. For a sweet little girl named Kira.

Oh, and did I mention the cute little fondant monkey face? Kira just loves monkeys so I felt it only appropriate.

 XL Sugar Cookie Cake

2 sticks butter, at room temp

2 1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoon almond extract
4 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup rainbow sprinkles


The How To:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In your mixing bowl first cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time while beating on low.

Next add the almond extract and beat for 1 minute.

Place all dry ingredients into the mixer mixing well until blended. Mix in rainbow sprinkles into the dough. Spread mixture into a lightly greased round cookie/pizza pan (yes. press it and spread it with your hands).

Bake for 18-22 minutes or until center is cooked through and edges are golden brown. Let cool completely before frosting.

 

I tinted some vanilla buttercream pink and went to town on this cookie cake. Please excuse my warped and slanted handwriting, it was my first attempt at it. I need clearly need practice.

Next time I may just try a chocolate chip cookie cake.

Can you think of any others?

love.love.love & happy baking!

Bride and Groom Cupcakes

In a little over a month, one of my very best friends will be tying the knot. I'm probably almost as excited as she is. I have been stocking up on Kleenex since the day she got engaged.

Her lovely bridal party and myself (as well as her kick ass mom) threw a shower for her last weekend. We all know I immediately signed up to bake for the occasion. (About 4 months before we even set the date.)

I wanted to do something besides what I would typically make so I did some "bride" and "groom" inspired cupcakes. I had alot of help from the ladies making these and we all pretty much sat around and chuckled after we were done because they were so stinkin' adorbs.

Take a peek, they could get a giggle out of you too! :)

** All photos courtesy of Shawna Bielat Photograpy. Check her out and book her! **

The groom cupcakes were carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The bow ties were made out of black sugar sheets. The top hats were made of jumbo marshmallows dipped in black candy melts with a sugar sheet base.

The bride cupcakes were vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting and a raspberry filling. The veils were made with white chocolate melts and some tulle fabric.

I also made some oreo cake pops tossed in lime greeen to go with the shower color scheme.

And let's not forget the DIY favor bags we made! A super simple craft that turned out so cute.

We used paper lunch bags, made a cute template with Adobe and attached with hole punches and some ribbon. The bags were filled with all of Stacy's favorite candies.

I couldn't end this post without showing you a lovely photo of the bride to be.

And how perfect is it that she's holding a cupcake carrier? Jealous.

It was a pretty wonderful day! Congrats Stace! You're going to be a beautiful bride.

love.love.love.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

i believe there are two types of carrot cake people.

the "i like to stuff alot of stuff in my carrot cake" people and the "less is more" carrot cake people. i would fall into category b.

i'm not such a fan of raisins, walnuts, pineapple or coconut stuffed into my carrot cake. i like simple. nothing but moist carrots and a generous helping of cinnamon.

this recipe is tried and true. moist and delicious. and for all of you who like to stuff your cakes with that extra stuff, you could surely add it to this batter. you just won't catch me eating it :)

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots (about 3 carrots)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

The How To:

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a large bowl, whisk together the grated carrots, sugar, oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla to combine. Gently fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until completely combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean--20 to 25 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Addicting Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 - 2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and beat until well blended. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes. Or eat it from the bowl.

So how about you? What kind of carrot cake do you like? Am I cray cray for skipping out on all the other possibilities?

love.love.love & happy baking!

Sunflower Cupcakes

pretttyyy cute, right?

i sure think so!

these sunflower cupcakes were made for a bridal shower this past weekend. jaimie, the host of the shower, wanted to go with a western theme for her little sister randi's special day. i literally died when i saw the cute cowboy boots and sunflowers she was decking out the room with. we wanted the cupcakes to match that country chic theme she was going for.

we chose two cupcake flavors, vanilla and carrot cake (the bride's fave) and i topped each cupcake with a buttercream sunflower made from tinted frosting. i have to say i was sqealing with delight when i saw these come together. almost too cute to eat!

another successful baking endeavor! i truly hope randi had an amazing bridal shower! congrats!

have a special event coming up and want a snazzy cupcake for it? you know where to find me!

love.love.love. & happy baking!

Cheeseburger Cupcakes & The Bachelorette

I have a confession.

I am completely and utterly obsessed with The Bachelorette. It's my guilty pleasure. You don't even have to ask what I was doing yesterday evening. I was glued to the television set for three solid hours making googly eyes at Jef & Emily wishing I could be their next door neighbor or maybe a distant third cousin.

I know I am not the only who gets swallowed alive by this show, right? I wanted to slick my hands through Jef's wicked poof and steal his skateboard (it's probably still in the bushes!) And now, it's over. I have nothing to look forward to after a Monday workday and immediately fall into a state of depression. Okay, it's not that serious but still. I will miss you Jef and Emily and the melodramatic sap fest that I love to hate.

There's no perfect segway into my cheeseburger "cupcakes" now, unless you compare my love for The Bachelorette to the love I have for this recipe. We'll go with that...

Another simple dinner recipe you can construct in no time and there's always plenty for leftovers the next day. That's my kind of meal. My hubs (who will never admit he likes watching The Bach, but I'm telling you, he does!) scarfed these down in minutes. Luckily I made extra so I could have some.

Cheeseburger "Cupcakes"
(recipe adapted from Emily Bites)

¼ c onion, finely chopped
1  lb 95% lean ground turkey meat
2 tablespoons McCormick Hamburger Seasoning
8oz mushrooms, chopped
8 Laughing Cow Queso Fresco & Chipotle wedges, chopped
6 Tablespoon ketchup
2 Tablespoon mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1 package of wonton wrappers (typically found in the produce section)
1 c tomatoes, chopped
8  oz (1 cup) reduced fat 2% shredded cheddar cheese


The How To:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375. Lightly mist 16 cups in a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Mist a large skillet with cooking spray and bring to medium heat. Add chopped onions and sauté until cooked. Add ground beef and Hamburger seasoning and cook until meat is browned. Add mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until mushrooms are browned as well.
3. In a microwavable bowl, combine meat/mushroom mixture, cheese wedges, ketchup and mustard and stir. Microwave for one minute on high. Stir to combine until meat mixture is fully coated.
4. Push a wonton wrapper into the bottom of each of the eight sprayed cups in the muffin tin. Using about half of the meat mixture, spoon evenly into the wonton wrappers. Follow by sprinkling some of the chopped tomatoes into each cup (using about half the total tomatoes). Sprinkle about half the cheddar cheese evenly over the top of each cup. Press another wonton wrapper on top and repeat the layering steps with the remaining ingredients.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin.

Seems like alot of steps, but it's really worth it. These would make a great game day snack or even a "Bachelorette" viewing bite.

Anyone else jump on the Bach Nation bandwagon? What did you think of last night's finale? Are you Team Jef? Spppeakkk.

Sweetheart Cupcakes

These are probably the sweetest looking cupcakes I have made to date. Shawn, an old friend from high school reached out to me a few weeks ago and asked me to make a special cupcake for his upcoming wedding to his lovely fiance Robin. Needless to say I was beyond flattered and happy to oblige!

Weddings are all about love. I wanted them to feeeelll the love on this cupcake. I think they did. The couple was fond of red velvet and cream cheese, so I went with those flavors, although you could go with any flavor of your choosing. I really loved how the red batter with the heart cutouts just seemed to go perfectly with one another. Sooo cute.

I am officially calling this red velvet recipe the BEST one that has come out of my oven. I especially loved how rich and moist the cake turned out. I'd tell you the recipe, but then I'd have to kill you. Hah. No really.



All you really need to accomplish this look is a sturdy cupcake and heart shaped cookie cutter (small enough to fit inside the crown of the cupcake. Simply slice the top part of the cake off (right where the cake meets the liner) and press the heart shaped cutter into the top. Push it out, and voila! Ice the cake with any frosting you love (but do it with the tops still off!) and then place the heart shaped tops back on! Dust with some powdered sugar and BOOM! The perfect cupcake for your sweetheart.

Let's not forget the delicious Oreo cake pops I made as well. Shawn saw them in an earlier post and was just dying to get some for their reception dinner.



I really hope this lovely couple loved them as much I did making them. Congrats to Shawn and Robin!

love.love.love.