Christmas Cupcake Pops!

Merry Christmas! This is only 1 of many Holiday treats I will be making this December, I have so many ideas swirling around in my head so stay tuned for many more delicious sweets!

How adorable are these Cupcake Pops??


Some with Red M&M's....


Some with Green M&M's....


Even White ones...


I even made a few Cupcake Bites!



SO CUTE!


I stuck them in treat bags and tide them with a adorable red ribbon (and some green too!). Who wouldn't love getting these in their stocking this Christmas?





Merry Christmas!

Hot Pink Cupcakes!

For Black Friday, we decided to have a "Wear It" weekend at the store. A "Wear It" weekend is when all employee's wear a certain theme of clothing. This time around we choose Hot Pink and Black to match our store's decor. Of course I had to make some delicious cupcakes to match! (Sorry about the differnt tint's of the photo's some of these were taken at work.)




Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Vanilla Buttercream decorated with Hot Pink sanding sugars. Eeek! SO cute!



Then I used one of these to make little black fondant toppers. I pressed
nonpareil pearls onto each of the edges. Make a small circlular indent (I used a lollipop stick). Then fill the indent with a small dot of cooking oil so that the pearl sticks. Next, carefully place the pearl in the cooking oil indent.







Vanilla Buttercream


1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk


Cream shortening and butter in a large bowl, Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Icing can be stored for up to 2 weeks before using!

Pumpkin and Apple Pie Bites!

I love Fall. What's my favorite part of fall? Well besides of the leaves and weather...its the Fall Baking. Yep, warm pies, cookies, breads. Ahhh I love it. Bakerella kicked off her Fall baking by making Pumpkin Pie Bites. Mmm. Just saying it makes my mouth water.

I couldn't just sit there and stare at the computer screen drooling. I had to bake these. And its true they are incredibly easy! Using "Ready to Roll" Refrigerated Pie Crust makes it super quick!

I made my way to the store to buy my supplies and a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter. (You really want to make sure you use this size cookie cutter. The first batch I made I used a smaller "cheaper" cutter. After baking they didn't look much like Pumpkins.)

Mmmm....they are soo delicious! Best Pumpkin Pie filling ever! Take a look how they came out.....









SUPER CUTE!

It doesn't stop there... I also made some APPLE PIE ones...!

Before baking I add a little bit of milk and sugar to the tops of the unbaked pies.









Apple Pie

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (Depending on how cinnamon-y you want your pie filling you can alter the amount)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
5 cups diced peeled apples (for regular apple pie I just slice these, you need smaller chunks to fit in these small pies)


Mix Flour, Sugar, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, & Apples in a large bowl.
Stick in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. (This way all flavors combine a little and your mixture settles and gets juicy.)
While your filling is in the refrigerator, cut your ready to roll pie crust using a medium sized round cookie cutter.
Press them into a mini muffin pan.
When your filling is ready fill the dough with the filling, top lightly with milk and addontial sugar.

Bake in a oven heated to 425 Degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until juice is bubbly.


ENJOY!

Visit Bakerella and make her Pumpkin Pie Bites! NOW! :)

♥ cupcake

Peanut Butter Cup-cakes!

Who doesn't love Peanut Butter and Chocolate?! I made these Cupcakes for my friend's birthday, and boy were they a BIG HIT! They are a scrumptious Chocolate Cupcake topped with Creamy Peanut Butter Buttercream.


Creamy Peanut Butter Buttercream

1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening
1/3 Cup Butter
3/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 Cups Sifted Confectioner's Sugar
5 Tablespoon's Milk


Thoroughly combine Vegetable Shortening and Butter. Once combined you can add Peanut Butter and Vanilla.




Next add Confectioner's Sugar 1 or 2 cups at a time. This is where things get a little messy for me. After i'm done with this I have sugar EVERYWHERE! And I always seem to be wearing black...hmmm.


After you've added all the sugar...your icing will be dry.



Whip in 5 Tablespoons of milk and your done!



If you want you can store it in the frig for up to 2 weeks! Just make sure you re whip it before you use it After your Chocolate Cupcakes cool...get your decorating bag and a 1M Tip...your ready to decorate! I find its easiest to stick your decorating bag in a tall glass and cuff it down the sides. It will now be so easy to fill the bag with icing!!!! Swirl your icing on top!


Aren't they adorable?! I topped them with little chocolate sprinkles...


...and little mini peanut butter cups!









mmm delicious!!!!
ENJOY!


♥ cupcake
















Visit wilton.com/recipes/ for This Buttercream Recipe and other Baking ideas!

Cupcakes to 'cake' off the season.

My boyfriend's birthday was on September 2nd and for his birthday he asked me to make him cupcakes in his favorite college football team, Louisiana State University's colors. Take a look at how cute they came out!!


I made a delicious Purple Vanilla Buttercream and swirled it atop extra moist vanilla cupcakes and finished with some yellow nonpariels.



Since Football's his favorite and their first game is this Saturday night I made small football's out of brown fondant.


I also made a few cupcakes that looked like footballs.


ADORABLE!









Geaux Tigers!!!


♥ cupcake

A Beary Happy Birthday

My Poppy, he loves bear's & he loves baseball. His Birthday was on August 11th and for the second year in a row we had a big shin-dig at our house for him! I spent days thinking of a cake to make him. When I visited my new favorite store and saw this pan I new exactly what to do.

So I wanted to share with you some pictures from his party!


Isn't he cute?!



I made him a cute little fondant yankee hat to match my Poppy's.
See...


I even made him a flag to hold.


Look at this litte bear paw.


He was a scruptious chocolate cake with the Chocolate Buttercream from my last post.



Poppy had such a great time...
And boy was he happy when he saw his cake...



♥ ♥ ♥ cupcake

Chocolate Buttercream

When I was in High school I worked at the Shoprite Bakery. I never got to bake anything but I sure could write "Happy Birthday" on a cake if needed and I was a pro at using the bread slicer. Anyway, My experience at The Shoprite Bakery really jaded my view on Buttercream. The Buttercream mixture they have is to say the least, horrible. It's loaded with sugar and is practically a death wish for anyone with diabetes. The cake they make is pretty good but I could never eat more then a sliver because it's so sweet. Then I met Whipped Cream. Ahh, how I love you so. So light, fluffy and you taste JUST RIGHT! So anytime I've ever ordered a cake from ANYWHERE I've gotten Whipped Cream instead.

My mom's Birthday was this past Tuesday and we were on vacation and decided to have an impromptu COOKOUT!!! But we needed a cake. Where to get one? Hmmm.....

Hello?



Over here...





A little bit to the right....






left a little....












ME! I CAN BAKE THE CAKE!!!!!!!!!! DUH!!!!!!



SO, While I was at the grocery store getting my supplies, I had a revelation. What if, I could make my own buttercream that wasn't too sweet. Could it be done!? Could I make a Buttercream that didn't taste like a entire bag a sugar?!?
I can damn well TRY! So I grabbed my ingredients and was on my way. Once home I then realized, I don't own an electric mixer! Good thing Tim's father was around, because I put him to work. He whipped and whipped until he couldn't whip no more!!! Thank's Ernie!

Nervously I dipped my finger into the Chocolate Buttercream and took a taste. WOW! To my surprise it wasn't to sweet at all. In fact, if it was cold I'd mistake it FOR Whipped Cream! WOW! Man was I excited. So I baked up a beautiful Chocolate cake and slapped on the Chocolate Buttercream. Topped it with some white and milk chocolate drizzle, some extra chips and was so PROUD of my creation!

I am proud to say, I am no longer afraid of Buttercream (only Shoprite's)!!!




(Not Shown; Vanilla, Butter, Milk)





I love chocolate chips, they are so photogenic! Hey, look at the cupcake liner...too cute right? Get them here!





Can you just look at the scrumptious hunk of chocolate bliss?!!??! MMMM.

























Chocolate Buttercream
(Yields 3 Cups of Icing)

1/2 Cup Shortening
1/2 Cup (1 stick) Butter or Margarine, Softened
3/4 Cup Cocoa
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 Cups (1 lb)Sifted Confectioner's Sugar
4 Tablespoons of Milk

In a large bowl, combine and cream Shortening and Butter. Add Cocoa and Vanilla. Gradually add Sugar, one cup at a time. Icing should appear dry. Add milk.

You can keep the bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
When not in use it's best to keep in the fridge, in a airtight container. Can be stored for 2 weeks.


♥ cupcake