Traveling Home

So, tomorrow I leave for an extended vacation to Pittsburgh to visit my parents, then down to Charlotte to see my sister, and then to the beach and back! Having grown up in Charlotte, it will be nice to return after being away for over 3 years. So in celebration, I made Tar Heel cupcakes! North Carolina is the Tar Heel state, and that's also the team for my alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill. So I decorated the cupcakes with the university's team logo. Yummy!
I also plan on visiting a few cupcakes places in each city, so I'll definitely report back on that too.

Strawberry Shake

I just love using fresh fruit in cupcakes. These are strawberry cupcakes, which my husband compares to a strawberry shake. I used real pureed fresh strawberries in both the frosting and batter. I didn't even have to use any food coloring, this is the natural color! They smell fantastic and taste even better! You can adjust the recipe for any fruit, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, almost any fruit that can be pureed. It's fun to try new variations.

Orange Creamsicle

A classic summertime flavor, orange and vanilla are great for cupcakes too! This batch uses orange juice as well as orange zest in both the cake and the frosting. You can even see the little flecks of zest, so you know it's all natural. It's slightly refreshing and comforting too. It makes me think of summers as a kid, waiting for the ice cream truck to come by, and getting a Push-up pop. Mmmmmmmmm!

Blog crossover

So, I check other cupcake blogs on a daily basis. This morning, I was on http://www.allthingscupcake.com/ and noticed a post about Arizona cupcakes. It was a picture of my car! I have a red Mini Cooper, and the license plate says CUPCKES. I figured, I love cupcakes, it's a little car, cupcakes are little too, it's perfect! :) I get lots of comments on it, and whenever I zoom around town, all my friends know it's me. Thanks to the bloggers at All Things Cupcake for the shout out!

super Red Velvet

So, ask anyone, and more than likely they will love red velvet cupcakes. I'm not sure what the allure is, other than the color, but everyone seems to like them. I've tried red velvet at a few different cupcake places in town, and I've made them multiple times myself. It's easy to just take a regular cupcake and tint it red, but that's not a red velvet. There's a hint of chocolate, they're super moist and cakey, and the cream cheese frosting is the only appropriate topping. I finally found a good recipe, so I made them the other day for a corporate birthday party. In my opinion, the redder the better, so I made these super bright red. They turned out great!



And I always love to top them off with red sprinkles, so everyone knows exactly what they're getting. Mmmmm, I could go for one right now!

Sugar Rush cupcakes

So, my husband is a programmer, and recently he and his team have been working all kinds of crazy hours trying to hit a deadline. So, I decided to help them out and make some cupcakes sure to keep them energized all nite. So I made Red Bull cupcakes with Mountain Dew frosting. Wow! these were by far the sweetest cupcakes ever! I even used sugar free Red Bull, since it's so sugary already. They did the trick, but had to be enjoyed with a nice tall glass of milk. I don't think I'll try this one again. It's a perfect example of a good idea on paper. Hey, but now I know!