cookie monster cupcakes

I recently made a giant cupcake and regular sized cookie monster cupcakes for a co-worker's son, who's first birthday was in early January. She took him to get professional pictures taken, so I made his "smash cake" -- a giant cupcake with blue icing. Below is a picture of it at my house. I hope to soon post one featuring the adorable Cole with his giant cupcake!



This was my first time using the giant cupcake mold... in order for the cake to maintain the shape of the mold, I used a recipe that was more like a bundt cake. It turned out great, and was delicious! One of the tricks I learned is that you need to pour the batter into the bottom half of the mold and cook for 10-15 minutes, then remove from the oven, add batter to the top half of the mold and continue baking for the recommended time. Below is a picture of the giant cupcake mold -- I found mine at Bed Bath & Beyond, but I know they're also sold at Williams Sonoma.



For Cole's first birthday party I made cookie monster cupcakes. Half were white cake, the other half were chocolate, all had blue buttercream icing. The cupcakes turned out great, although the decorating portion was incredibly time-consuming!

christmas treats

As usual I spent part of my Christmas break baking delicious Christmas goodies. I love turning up the Christmas music while baking away -- it reminds me of when I was little and would decorate sugar cookies with my mom while listening to Randy Travis sing "Old Time Christmas."

As gifts to my co-workers, as well as Brett's, I made Christmas tree sugar cookies. I used my favorite lemon cut-out cookie recipe with royal icing. They were delicious!





I recently discovered Cake Balls, so I made a couple of batches over the holiday season. Both batches were red velvet dipped in milk chocolate. YUM! I took a batch to work one day and put them out in the breakroom when I arrived in the morning. About an hour later they were all gone! Since they were popular, I made a batch for Christmas Eve dinner at my in-laws. They weren't quite as popular that night considering the ridiculous amounts of sweets and appetizers that were available for munching...





Brett noticed that I was becoming a big fan of Cake Balls, so he got me a Cake Pop cookbook for Christmas (Cake Pops - same as Cake Balls, only on a stick!* He also got me a lovely watch, and a cheese grater (practical, right?).



I haven't tried any of the Cake Pop recipes yet, but they look delicious! I'll be sure to post when I try out the cookbook.

By the way, Happy New Year to all of my readers! I'm looking forward to making many more delicious treats in 2011! Check back for pictures of Giant Cupcakes and Cookie Monster Cupcakes... I'm making lots of delicious Cookie Monster inspired treats for my friend's son who just turned one!

*Don't let your mind wander, I'm only referring to baking!

it's time for an update!

I've been so busy lately, I haven't had an opportunity to update my blog with all the sweets I've made over the last couple of months. October and November have been busy... I've made numerous batches of pumpkin cupcakes, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies and other misc. items. Here are a few pictures...

For the beginning of football season and the first KU game I made football sugar cookies.

Our tailgate group, enjoying the cookies and beautiful weather!

A classic... chocolate chip cookies

In honor of my favorite season, FALL, pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream icing...





My dad isn't a huge cake/cupcake fan, so I made one of his favorite cookies - sugar cookies - for his birthday!





Last week I had the Holiday Mart marketing committee over for a post Holiday Mart celebration! Holiday Mart 2010 was a HUGE success, so we needed to celebrate, as well as have a non-meeting get together! We had a great time, and enjoyed some pumpkin cupcakes and chocolate cookies...







My favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, is just days away! I'm looking forward to spending Wednesday baking and cooking, and then spending Thursday with my family and friends! The week of Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year. I love the short work week, baking/cooking delicious food, putting up Christmas decorations and most important, giving thanks and spending quality time with the people I love. Stay tuned for a post on my Thanksgiving treats!

30th Birthday Cupcakes

It's true... my husband turned 30 on September 10th! I'm not quite 30, but it's crazy to me that Brett and so many of my friends are no longer "twenty-somethings," I feel like 30 is the age you officially become an adult... scary! To celebrate Brett's birthday, I threw him a party at 75th Street Brewery, a local brewery in Waldo. The food and drink were from 75th Street, but the dessert and decor were all me...

Brett's favorite sweets are Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Reeses Pieces, Oreos and Hot Tamales. In honor of his favorite candies, I made Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes and Oreo Cupcakes... two cupcake recipes I've made before and knew I couldn't go wrong with! Both cupcakes were a huge hit, although we had more leftover Oreo Cupcakes than Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes.

raspberry & chocolate = the perfect combination

Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits... they're so delicious - I love them plain, mixed in with yogurt, ice cream or in desserts! See my blog entry on chocolate raspberry cheesecake for a super delicious chocolate/raspberry combination. In fact, I ate a piece of that tonight BEFORE dinner... my mom made it on Sunday and I'm still snacking on leftovers! Yumm...

Anyway, back to my raspberry & chocolate cupcakes. I decided to concoct a raspberry icing recipe and try it on a basic chocolate cupcake. I used seedless raspberry jam for the flavoring, as well as a touch of raspberry syrup. I'm not completely satisfied with the result - the icing looks pretty, and I like the color (no food coloring added), but the icing tastes too much like jam. I wanted more of a natural, raspberry flavor, so next time I'm going to use the real thing. I was in the mood to experiment tonight, and I didn't have any fresh raspberries on hand, so I had to improvise! Hey, you live and learn... right? Here are a few pictures:

peanut butter cup cupcakes

If you're a fan of peanut butter, I have a feeling you'll like these cupcakes... chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter cup in the middle and peanut butter frosting! Decadent and delicious!

On Sunday we had our friends Emily, Adam and baby Harrison over for dinner, so I made pasta and a special treat for dessert. Everyone was a fan - and they've been enjoyed by a few others today, specifically my friend Maggie who I watched Bachelor Pad with this evening. What goes best with trashy T.V.?? Cupcakes and wine, of course!

The recipe I used is the same as the one used for my last post - Milky Way Cupcakes. The only difference is I used frozen peanut butter cups instead of milky ways. I did use a different icing recipe, which I've included below. Here is a look at my baking process, start to finish...

To start with, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - the surprise in the middle of each cupcake!

Next up, the chocolate batter with a peanut butter cup in the middle...

The batter covers the peanut butter cup...
Chopping up peanut butter cups for decoration...
Right out of the oven...
The finished product - complete with icing and peanut butter cup sprinkles...

Here is the recipe for the peanut butter buttercream icing:

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (or more depending on the taste you're after)
1/4 cup milk (or less depending on the consistency you want)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar

1. Cream the butter and shortening in a stand mixer or a bowl with an electric mixer.
2. Add the peanut butter, vanilla extract and salt.
3. Slowly add the powdered sugar, approximately one cup at a time.
3. Slowly add the milk - add 1/4 or less depending on how thick you would like the frosting to be.
Enjoy!

milky way cupcakes...

... also known as "Chocolate Magic." At least that's how they were described by one of the guys at yesterday's Royal's tailgate. He said this as he was eating his third cupcake, so I'm thinking he liked them. They were delish, and not hard to make! Here's the recipe - I got it from a blog I read, My Baking Addiction. I altered it slightly by using Milky Ways instead of Snickers, and I didn't use the package of pudding. Instead I used Pillsbury Devil's Food cake mix with a cup of pudding added to the mix. Enjoy - they're sure to go over well with chocolate and candy lovers!






Here's the recipe:

Cake:
1 package devil’s food cake mix with pudding
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs; lightly beaten
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
24-30 frozen Milky Way Miniatures

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line (2) 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the cake, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and water.
4. Evenly divide the batter amongst the prepared pans.
5. Gently push a frozen Milky Way Miniature bar into the center of the batter and smooth the surface making sure to cover the candy bar with batter.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Cool cupcakes thoroughly on wire rack.

Caramel Frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 pounds confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup caramel topping; plus more for drizzling
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, salt and caramel syrup and combine well.
2. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, taste and decide if you want to add in more caramel syrup. For thicker frosting you can gradually add in a little more sugar.
Garnish with chopped Milky Way bars and a drizzle of caramel syrup.