Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream

I really enjoy the month of April.



My father and I are both April babies. This could be the explanation of why we're both completely addicted to sugar. He's actually the one who taught me to indulge on spoonfuls of sweetened condensed milk when no one was watching. Yes, I still do it. There's no shame in my game.

Since my dad  l-o-v-e-s caramel to pieces, this cupcake was perfect way to celebrate another fabulous year of his life. A light cinnamon cake laced with tart Granny Smith apples, topped with a rich caramel buttercream. My dad finished the frosting before he finished the cake. I guess we never really grow out of it..

(recipe adapted from Baked Perfection)

3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated Granny Smith apples

1 tsp caramel syrup

The How To:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin pans with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and sugars until creamy. Beat in the apple juice, vanilla, and vegetable oil. Slowly add the flour mixture, mix until just combined. Stir in the grated apples and caramel syrup.   Bake 20-22  minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Makes 24 cupcakes.

Caramel Buttercream

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 tablespoons milk

1 pack of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations in Caramel flavor

In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Once frosting is mixed, mix in 1 packet of caramel frosting flavoring. I decided to take an easier route by making my buttercream a caramel flavor with Duncan Hines' caramel frosting flavoring. (You can find these little packets near the boxed cake mixes, they are cheap and amazeballs.)

Frost your cupcakes and drizzle with caramel sauce.

Yum yum in my tum.


Has anyone else tried these awesome new frosting flavoring packets yet? Any other I should try out?

Strawberry Cheesecake Truffles

ehhh. today was one of those days. you know the ones... every time you look at the clock it's crept 30 seconds forward. i even managed to staple my finger today.

there are many worse things in the world though. as i tweeted today, i {could} be the adult male dressed in the Lady Liberty costume outside the tax office. that would really suck.  if that's your job and you're reading this, i'm baking you a cupcake right now for busting on your occupation.

you know what doesn't suck though?!? these strawberry cheesecake truffles i made for my boss man's birthday a few weeks back. i don't know about you, but whenever someone i'm fond of has a birthday, i like to bake them something. this could present somewhat of a problem in the future though, because i just adore an awfully large amount of people.

okay, so technically i didn't "bake" these. they are no bake. but they are so so wonderful. it's a ball full a strawberries, graham crackers, and cheesecake. my teeth are salivating just thinking about them.

ready for the recipe? ok! let's goooooo.


Strawberry Cheesecake Truffles
(recipe adapted from Annie's Eats)

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, slightly softened

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. graham cracker crumbs (I used boxed crumbs)
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
Splash of vanilla extract
7 tbsp. finely chopped strawberries

For the coating:

16 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

For decoration, which is optional. But don't you want them to be pretty?!?

Melted milk chocolate

Melted white chocolate, tinted pink with good gel or candy coloring

The How To:

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries until evenly distributed. Cover and chill the mixture in the refrigerator until firm enough to scoop and mold. Scoop about 2 teaspoons of the filling and roll into a ball. Place on a foil- or parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining filling. Transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator or freezer to chill until very firm.

To coat the truffles, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. When completely melted and smooth, dip the filling balls one at a time in the chocolate, gently shaking off the excess before returning to the baking sheet. Once all of the truffles have been dipped, drizzle with melted milk chocolate and tinted white chocolate for decoration, if desired. Return the pan to the refrigerator to chill until ready to serve.

This recipe made about 18 truffles for me. You can get more and less depending on how large/small your balls are. If you want to get near the two dozen number, you may want to double up on the ingredients. I didn't buy enough stuff and had much less of these than I wanted.

One other note... Keep them refrigerated until serving as the cheesey insides get warm and won't taste as awesome chilled.

So guys... do you have any awesome recipes you use for special birthday occasions? Have any truffle recipes I might want to see? I'd love to hear them!

"Deviled" Cadbury Creme Eggs

Isn't Easter over Tori? Yeahh I know, I know.

But guys, this was too quick and quirky not to share. I mean, one of the best parts of Easter are the sales on the candy after it has passed! Cheap candy is where it's at man. And I love Cadbury Creme Eggs. If they made these suckers year round I'd be a very chubby bunny (pun intended).

I stumbled on this "deviled" creme egg idea on Pinterest. I don't like the normal deviled egg all that much so these were such a sweet play on the original I knew it was something I had to try. Plus it gave me an excuse to buy a massive amount of my favorite Easter candy. Score.

These are super simple to make. Just make sure to have a really sharp knife when you're cutting the chocolate in half. I broke a few of my eggs because the knives in our house have seriously taken a beating. If done right, you have an adorable sweet treat that imitates something savory. Fun.

(recipe from Serious Eats)

4 Cadbury Creme Eggs, chilled for 1 hour (I used 6, sue me.)

1/2 cup vanilla buttercream, colored yellow with food coloring

red sprinkles, to garnish

The How To:

1. Remember to chill these in freezer for at least an hour. You want the fondant centers to be hard when you cut into them.

2. Using a very sharp knife, gently slice the eggs in half lengthwise, following the seam on the sides. The egg should separate pretty easily into two halves with a dollop of fondant on each half. Leave fondant in egg shell.

3. Using a pastry bag with a star tip attached, pipe yellow buttercream in a spiral direction on the insides of the egg making it meet in the center. (I made some white chocolate frosting and dyed it yellow with food coloring.)

4. Sprinkle red sprinkles on top of the buttercream to give the appearance of paprika.

5. Devour.

 Enjoy! (Go buy some before they sell out!)

Bird's Nest Cupcakes

Happy Easter Friends!

 In honor of one of my favorite holidays (probably because my birthday follows a week after) I wanted to share my latest "springy creation". There were so many cute cupcake ideas for Easter all over the web it was so hard to choose one. I was overwhelmed! I ended up doing two but I'll share the other another day this week.

If you're still stuck with the task of finding something fun to make, this one is super easy and sure to please. Bird Nest cupcakes! The kiddos will love them!

Keep in mind I did a mini version and made them for two since it's just hubs and I. But you can choose any cupcake recipe you like, any frosting recipe you like too so you can make more!

The How To:

For the cupcakes I used my vanilla cupcakes for two recipe (minus the white chocolate) and my white chocolate buttercream recipe. I dyed the icing yellow with food coloring. It took about 8 drops to get it the color I wanted.

So... baked your cakes, let them cool, and whip up your frosting. Set aside.

Here's what else you will need...

6 ounces of vanilla candy coating (i used white chocolate chip morsels)

1 cup chow mein noodles

2 small bags of Cadbury chocolate eggs (my abs favorite Easter candy!!)

Take your candy coating and melt it down my microwave or saucepan. Since I used white chocolate morsels, I stuck them in a small saucepan and melted them down over low heat for about 1 minute. After the coating is melted, pour over chow mein noodles in a small bowl and mix until noodles are completely coated in chocolaty goodness. Allow noodles to dry before using. Takes about 10 minutes.

Frost your cupcakes with your yellow icing and then add 3 Cadbury eggs to the center of your cupcake. They should stick upright since the frosting is still wet. Then take the candied chow mein noodles and shape them into a nest around the eggs.

Voila! You have some adorable bird nest cuppycakes that will even impress the Easter Bunny.

Happy Baking! And enjoy your Easter! :)

Cars Cupcakes!

I know, I know. I have been pathetic in my attempts at posting lately. But like I said before, this whole 17 day diet thing really has kicked the sugar out of my life. It's amazing that I've even survived!  But people! I have lost 7 pounds in less than two weeks!? gahhhh!

 

I thought I'd keep it short and sweet and share some adorbs cupcakes I did for my pals Jessica and Eduardo. Their baby boy Elijah's turned two a few weeks ago. And Elijah really loves Cars, the movie. So that's exactly what he got!

Super cute right? This is only my 2nd time decorating with fondant and I think they turned out pretty good! So fun to make!

I decided to do some Lightning McQueen cuppycakes made entirely out of fondant and sugar sheets. Elijah especially liked these. He kept saying "truck!" and pointing. I die at the cuteness.

To add to the theme, I did some lightning bolts out of fondant and then some standard cupcakes with racing flags and colored fondant stars. Not too shabby!

 
ahh! so fun! weeeee!! 

the whole gang :)


This was the most fun I've had making cupcakes! It was super delightful to take the extra time to create something special and I felt quite honored to be asked to do so!


If you have a special occasion and need something sweet to celebrate, you know where to find me! or get inspired and try it yourself! happy baking!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Hubs had another "food day" at work this past weekend. Let me just add how lame I think it is that he even has to work Saturdays period. Weekends should be reserved for fun.

But that's neither here nor there...

He was assigned to bring dessert yet again. I am starting to notice a trend here. Not that I was complaining though. It gave me an excuse to get into the kitchen and bake something. I haven't been able to lately since I most recently committed myself to the "17 day diet" phenomenon. This lovely regimen has restricted me from carbs and sugar. My two best gals.

This diet ain't easy people. By nine o' clock, I'm gritting my teeth and biting my nails to keep myself from springing out of my chair and into my baking cabinet to eat some semi sweet chocolate chips. Yes, I am that pathetic.

Oh look, I have gone on a tangent. Enough about me. Back to the goodies.

I wanted to do something quick on time but would still wow his co-workers. I decided on a brownie. My hubs loves peanut butter so I decided to marry the two. And here, you have the birth of the peanut butter cup brownie.


I posted a few pics on the BookFace and many of my friends were salivating and eager to get the recipe. Ask and you shall receive!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

1 box brownie mix plus whatever the box calls for ingredients (I used Hershey's Fudge Brownies)
1 can creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup Reese's peanut butter chips
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels


The How To:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray mini muffin tin with non stick cooking spray.

Mix brownies according to package. (I would suggest staying away from the cake like brownie option. You will want your brownies to be nice and dense.)

Once batter is mixed, drop a heaping teaspoon of batter into each muffin well. Bake for 12-14 minutes or when toothpick placed in center comes out slightly wet.

Once brownies are baked, take back of a teaspoon and press into the tops of each brownie to create a small dent in each top (to make room for the PB!).

Take two large spoonfuls of peanut butter and melt in microwave for 45 seconds. Once melted, take 1/2 teaspoon and pour peanut butter into the tops of each brownie. (Make sure brownies are still warm when doing this.)  Then top with peanut butter chips and chocolate morsels. Let cool completely before removing from tin.

Recipe makes roughly 40-45 mini brownies depending on how much batter you use in each well.

enjoy! this one is super easy! :)

White Chocolate Cupcakes for Two

I have been pretty pressed for time lately. I'm sure that obvious due to my neglect of blog posts. Life just gets in the way sometimes. Thanks for being patient with me!

When you're short on time like I certainly have been, a cupcake for two recipe is just the way to go. You can pretty much blink, then sneeze, and you have a delicious baked goodie right in front of you. After falling in love with my Thin Mint Cupcakes for two, I knew that pretty much any recipe could be downsized.

I was craving some white chocolate (maybe I was just craving frosting) so I whipped up a white chocolate cake, stuffed it with some white chocolate morsels and topped it with a white chocolate frosting. This cupcake was totes awesome. Rich and creamy and oozing with white chocolately goodness. My only gripe would be there's only two ;)

White Chocolate Cupcakes

1 egg white
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla (yes, a full teaspoon – they are super vanilla-y!)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 heaping teaspoon of baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup white chocolate morsels


The How To:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 2 liners.

In a bowl, add egg white and sugar and whisk until combined.
Add in vanilla and melted butter and stir until mixed.
Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir until smooth.
Stir in milk.
Stir in white chocolate morsels into batter.
Divide batter equally between the 2 cupcake liners.
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until cake is set. Let cool completely, then frost as desired.


White Chocolate Frosting

1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup white chocolate

Meanwhile, beat together the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).  Mix in vanilla. Melt white chocolate in microwave and then mix into frosting. Pipe onto your cupcakes.

**You may have a little extra frosting, so save it for later. Or eat it.**

Enjoy! :)