Cupcakes for the Oscars

Last night were the Oscars, and we were invited to a viewing party at a friend's house. I of course offered to bring something sweet. So I made caramel popcorn from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook, and these super cute cupcakes.

I got the idea from Amy Atlas, whose party ideas are amazing. And since I love black licorice, it was easy! Red velvet cupcakes, topped with cream cheese frosting and gold sprinkles, with a licorice wheel on top to resemble a film reel. They were a big hit at the party!

Pumpkin Cake Pops!

The last of my Halloween treats were pumpkin cake pops. They look and taste like pumpkin. I made these Saturday while watching Back to the Future :)

I followed directions from the Cake Pops book by Bakerella. She uses green tic tacs for the stems, but I couldn't find green, so I used orange. Every time I make cake pops they turn out better than the last time, so that's encouraging.


I made the balls with pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting. Before I started I made sure that the baking sheet I had fit into the freezer and fridge, a mistake I've made before.


I melted the orange candy gradually according to the directions, and it was quite smooth, not like the chocolate I've used in the past. I'm still not satisfied with the bowls I have for dipping, maybe I need to search more for the perfect one. The pop has to be dipped in and out straight up and down, and that's my biggest challenge.

Anyways, dipped the pops, added the tic tacs for stems, and let them dry. They were already super cute!
Then, I used a food color marker to draw on faces for the jack o lanterns. Or at least, I tried to. I don't know what it was, but the marker wasn't working properly. I could get maybe one or two lines out of it before it died. I tried cleaning it on a paper towel, as suggested, but that didn't really help. I gave up after 4 or 5 pops, it was too time consuming and frustrating. Maybe the pops were too cold, but I left them at room temp for a while to see if it made any difference, and none at all. Oh well!
I still wrapped up the plain pumpkin pops in fun Halloween treat bags. Gotta love the dollar section at Target! :)
According to my taste tester, these were "mmmmmmm". I love how it looks with a bite missing. Yum!
This project was certainly more successful than the last, and hopefully the next one will be even better!

Halloween Cupcakes- 2 ways

I love making holiday cupcakes! This year was difficult, because I couldn't decide what kind of Halloween cupcakes to make! I had so many ideas: mummies, graves, eyeballs, witches, pumpkins, etc. I finally decided on candy corn and jack o lanterns. Classic Halloween icons.

I made pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, a recipe I have used before. I got 2 dozen cupcakes, so I decorated them half and half.


I found cute giant candy corn at the store, so I used that as my inspiration and topping for the candy corn cupcakes. I tinted some of the frosting yellow and some of it orange, and piped around the cupcake in the appropriate colors, ending with a dollop of white on top. I also used candy corn colored sprinkles, little balls and colored sugar, to add to the effect. Each cupcake was topped with the giant candy corn. Yum!


For the jack o lanterns, I smoothed on orange frosting, and used a black glitter icing from a tube to pipe on the scary faces. I tried t make a variety of looks, from traditional to goofy to scary. The glitter really sparkled in the light and adds that something special to the design.


I wish I had time to make more fun cupcakes, but I'll have to wait until next year.
Cake pops are still on the agenda, might make them tomorrow. Fun!

Pumpkin Bonanza! Featuring Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

So this week, in honor of Halloween, I've decided to make all pumpkin desserts. Monday I made pumpkin chocolate chip bars and pumpkin swirl brownies. Forgot to take pictures tho :(

Yesterday I made pumpkin whoopie pies, and I did get some pictures! They were super cute and yummy, and a cinch to make. I've made them before, but it's been a long time.

I used my whoopie pie pan for these, even though you don't have to. I only have one though, so I had to bake only 12 whoopie pie halves at a time, and wash out the pan each time. Might be worth getting another pan :)


These are super cakey and moist, with a cream cheese filling. I'm never sure how much filling to put inside them, so I start with a little and see how it goes. I did have some leftover, so I probably could have used more filling in each one.


I love the cuteness of the whoopie pies, and they're a little different from cupcakes, but still in the same family. Second cousins, perhaps.

I have 3 more recipes to make this week: pumpkin chocolate chip loaf, pumpkin cupcakes with Halloween decorations, and pumpkin cake pops. Yum!

Martha Challenge #43- Maple- sweetened carrot cupcakes

This recipe is designed for children, or anyone who doesn't want to consume mass quantities of refined white sugar. The cupcakes are sweetened only with maple syrup and molasses. Yum!
Since I just got back from Canada, with some maple syrup, I wanted to use it right away, and these cupcakes were perfect for that.They're typical carrot cupcakes, with the exception of the sugar. I also added a bit of honey for added sweetness. The cakes came out great, nice and domed and golden. The recipe says it makes 12 regular and 24 minis, but I got 8 regular and 24 minis. I love baking cupcakes like this because the house smells amazing!

The frosting was a bit problematic. It also is only sweetened with maple syrup. 1 pound of cream cheese to 1/4 cup of maple syrup. It was awful. Tooooooo tangy. I'm not the biggest fan of cream cheese frosting, and this was like eating pure cream cheese. I had to doctor it up a bit, adding honey, and finally, about 1.5 cups of powdered sugar. I just couldn't get it sweet enough! And by the time I was finished beating it all together, it was too runny. I chilled it for about an hour to try and firm it up, but it was still a loose frosting.

Martha piped designs with her frosting, but mine was too runny for that, so it was just blobbed on the top. I added a sprinkling of maple sugar on top of each one, to enhance the maple flavor and sweeten it a bit more.
They turned out ok, but I won't use that frosting again. And this morning I found 3-4 mini wrappers in the trash, so apparently someone liked them :)

Martha Cupcake Challenge #32- Roasted Banana Cupcakes

So it's snowing. In May. So I wanted to make a warm and cozy cupcake, and roasted banana fit the bill!

I went to the grocery store to get bananas. The recipe calls for ripe bananas. There was not one ripe banana in the whole store. Every last bunch was bright green. But I bought them anyways, since green bananas are better than none at all.

So when I got home, I asked the internet how to ripen a banana. Turns out you can put them whole, unpeeled, in the oven at 350 until the skins turn black, and they get all mushy inside. Well, that's what the recipe calls for anyways, to roast them, so I just let them roast a bit longer to ensure ample mushiness. It worked great!


These were great cupcakes, with chunky bits of banana inside. They rose up nice and puffy on top, and smelled amazing while baking.


Martha recommends using a honey-cinnamon frosting with these, but since I used that recipe already on the snickerdoodle cupcakes, I used a brown butter cream cheese frosting instead. Yummy!
Martha tops hers with banana slices, but I wanted to do something a little different. I thought about banana chips, and while at the store I found a container of them for $4. But I knew I'd only need a few, so I made my own! Again, the internet to the rescue. I sliced up two bananas and dehydrated them in the oven, at 150 for 3 hours. They turned gray and shrivelly, but were indeed crunchy. So I used those to top the cupcakes.


All in all, a great recipe. But no more for a while, we are moving and today I am packing all the kitchen stuff. Once I get unpacked next week I'll dive in again.

Martha Cupcake Challenge #18- Pumpkin-Brown butter cupcakes

Spooky!!! These are pumpkin-brown butter cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Since it's so close to Halloween, I wanted to start making festive cupcakes with my holiday liners and sprinkles. These make my place smell amazing!
The batter starts with browned butter, which is just melted on the stove until golden and delicious. It has a nutty smell, very warm and fall-like. No mixer required either! The ingredients come together easily, since the butter is melted.

Here they are right out of the oven. The tops seemed a bit spongy still, but I knew after cooling for a few minutes they'd firm up, and they did. One thing I found odd, this recipe did not call for vanilla, which I love, so I added it. I think it gives a great flavor to any recipe, and always add a little bit no matter what.
I frosted these with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting, even though the recipe book calls for a brown butter glaze. I tried to use stencils to make designs with the sugar, but I think the frosting is too sticky, because they didn't really come out well. The stencils will work better on an unfrosted cupcake with powdered sugar, or on a harder frosting, like a ganache.
So I just ended up using pretty colored sugars all over.
This recipe made exactly 15, as it said it would. just enough to share with a few friends :)

Martha Cupcake Challenge #17- Applesauce spice cupcakes

So, I only have photos of this one unfrosted, they got eaten up too quickly! These are applesauce spice cupcakes, with pecans inside.
They were eventually topped with cream cheese frosting. These are made with unsweetened applesauce, and lots of fun spices, like cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg (which I omitted since I hate nutmeg). They made the whole apartment smell so good! I have used applesauce in recipes before, when trying out some vegan alternatives to eggs. It certainly makes any baked good super moist and delicious! A great recipe all around.

Martha Challenge #15- Zucchini Spice cupcakes

Here is my latest attempt at continuing the Martha/Tania cupcake challenge. These are zucchini-spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I figured I'd better get to these before zucchini was harder to find, as it's getting a bit colder now.


Here they are fresh out of the oven. These are kind of like carrot cakes, but with grated zucchini instead. They are also super filled with yummy warm spices, like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, perfect for a chilly rainy day. They made the house smell super good. No problems with baking this time, I merely skimped a little on the leavening and they turned out great.

I topped them with a cream cheese frosting. One thing I must say, this recipe made 24 cupcakes, and when I made the frosting recipe to go along with it, I had enough left over for maybe another dozen. I wish cookbooks would match the frosting to the cupcakes a bit better. Now I have to make even more cupcakes to use up the frosting!
These went over very well, I had my husband take them to work, all 24, and by the end of the day there were only 2 left. He said the first dozen disappeared in minutes! :) So I guess everyone liked these!
Next is mocha cupcakes I think, which I hope to get to soon. Enjoy!

Cupcake Challenge #5- Red Velvet with Cream Cheese frosting

Ok, Day #5 of the Tania/Martha cupcakes challenge is red velvet, everyone's favorite. I've made this flavor quite a few times, with many different recipes. This one isn't the best recipe I've ever used, but it's good, very reliable, and likely to please everyone.


These are super red! The recipe called for oil instead of butter, which makes for a lighter cupcake, but the batter is also runnier, so it's a bit harder to scoop into the liners.


I glittered them! I had more frosting left over again. I usually pipe frosting on, it's faster and looks nicer I think, but this section of the cookbook is called "Swirled and Sprinkled", so I've been putting the frosting on with an offset spatula. Honestly, I think the only reason people love red velvet cupcakes is becasue they are red, and they are a cream cheese frosting delivery system.

I on the other hand, prefer to cake to the frosting. This one was super yummy! The slight cocoa taste to the cake is perfect, and the tangy frosting (just a bit) offsets that nicely. Tomorrow... rhubarb!! That will be a new experience!

Cupcake Challenge Day 2- Carrot cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting

Day 2: carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They turned out so well! The recipe called for golden raisins, which I usually don't add, but I did this time. Again, the recipe yielded exactly what it said it would: 24 cupcakes. And they baked for 19 minutes at 325 degrees convection, instead of 24-28 minutes at 325 conduction as instructed. These were not as heavy as most carrot cake recipes are, and they smelled divine. Although I'm not a fan of carrot cake, I do so love the smell.
Here they are after baking. A few got too big and collapsed, I may have overfilled the cups, even though I used the same scooper for all of them.

Here are a few all frosted and decorated. I love sprinkles! :) These were a cinch to make, didn't even need a mixer, except for the frosting. Also, no butter in carrot cake, just vegetable oil. But the frosting called for 2 sticks of butter and 12 ounces of cream cheese, which seemed like a lot. I did have a bit leftover, which I'll save for the red velvet cupcakes next week !

I brought them to another local fire department, and they were very excited to have them. I'm excited for tomorrow, yellow buttermilk cupcakes with fluffy vanilla frosting. A classic! So far, I'm really having a good time with this project, although I am going through a lot of butter :)