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.

Tie Dye Vanilla Fudge

it seems i can't find a minute lately to blog. my to do lists have been longer than usual lately and typing up a post seems to end up last on that list. sorry people.

today was an early day at the office, so i decided to make this post a priority. wanted to share a fun fudge recipe. while the flavor is just your classic vanilla, the color is what makes these fab. you could whip these up in any color to fit the holiday you're celebrating. i made this batch for the 4th of july (yeah, the color is a little more pink than red, oops!) but you could switch it up and do black/orange for halloween, green/gold for patty's day.... you get the idea.

without any further ado... tie dye vanilla fudge!

2 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter

5 oz evaporated milk

2 cups marshmallow creme

8 oz white chocolate chips

red and blue food coloring (or colors for the holiday that you're celebrating!)

The How To:

 (For thinner fudge, use an 8x8-inch baking dish. For a thicker fudge, use an 8x5-inch baking dish.)

Line a baking dish with foil. Spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large pot, combine the sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. When it comes to a boil, stir constantly for 5 minutes. Add in the marshmallow creme and the white chocolate chips. Stir until smooth.

Divide the mixture into 3 bowls. Tint one red, one blue, and keep the third white. Pour the red fudge into the prepared baking dish, followed by the white fudge, then the blue fudge. Use a knife to drag through the mixture, combining to form the marbled effect. Let cool completely before cutting.

That's all for now. Promise not to disappear again!

Have any fancy fudge recipes I should know about? Leave me some comment love. Pleasse? Me thanks you.

love.love.love & happy baking!

Graduation Goodies

It's been a busy summer. Between bridal showers, weddings, buying a house, and traveling, I just looked over at my calendar and can't believe it's already July.

Being so busy hasn't left much time for baking or new recipes, but I didn't want to leave you hanging. I thought I would share some of the stuff I made for two recent graduation parties.

 A huge congratulations to Jason, Austin and Jacob!

These "grad cap" cupcakes were made for Landstown High School. I used a Reese' mini PB cup and attached it to a chocolate covered graham cracker. I used M&Ms and airheads for the tassles. The cake is chocolate with a vanilla buttercream.

I got a copy of the HS logo and printed them out and attached to small cupcake tags made by yours truly. The mini "diplomas" were rolled out of plain printer paper and tied up with some silver ribbon. If you wanted to do a edible version, you could use white sugar sheets or rolled fondant. The cake is chocolate with a chocolate marshmallow buttercream.

Not too shabby, eh?

These were the cupcakes I did for a joint grad party for two Great Bridge HS grads. Their colors were green and gold. This is a chocolate cake with a PB frosting. The stars are handmade out of colored fondant.

For this party I also made some Oreo Cake pops. The ball is made out of an oreo and creamcheese cake base, dipped in white chocolate and drizzled in colored chocolate to match the HS colors.

I am pleased to announce my grads were very happy with the finished product! So was I!

Anyone have some cool graduation goodies they made for a recent grad in their life? I need ideas for next "season"!

love.love.love & happy baking!