Cupcake a Week: Pink Monograms & Top 10 of 2010

Well it's officially my last "Cupcake a Week" post for 2010. I can't believe I have posted 52 weeks of cupcakes this year...and probably have gained about 10 pounds because of it too! In case you haven't been around all year, here are my Top 10 of 2010...Lemon Blueberry, Neapolitan, Jammin' Strawberry & Chocolate, Caramel Apple, Spooky Spiders, Sprinkles Inspired, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cones, Hamburgers, Pumpkin Cupcake Skewers, and Red Velvet Cones. I hope you all have enjoyed my cupcake recipes and decorating ideas and have found inspiration for your own cupcake baking!

This last batch of cupcakes is super special because they were made for my cousin Suzi in celebration of her brand new baby girl Hannah Elisabeth born on Dec 23rd. You all may remember the Cute as a Button baby shower I hosted for Suzi back in November. Well the precious little girl has arrived.

So in honor of little Hannah my last cupcake post for the year are some pretty pink cupcakes with royal icing & nonpareil "H" monograms. And since she is so cute I thought I would share some pictures with you.

Meet Hannah Elisabeth...

1 day old at the hospital in her Christmas hat. So sweet!

1 week old with eyes wide open! Pretty in pink!

Lounging on daddy's legs.

The proud parents! What a beautiful family! Congratulations Suzi & Tony, Hannah is adorable! I know she will bring you bundles of joy in the New Year!

Happy New Year to all! Looking forward to more sweets in 2011!

Cupcake a Week: Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas Eve! By now I'm sure you all have your trees decked out with strands of sparking lights and colorful ornaments...and if you don't you better hurry before Santa comes tonight! I have really enjoyed sitting by our tree nightly this month and looking at its bright lights and unwinding from the day. I'm going to be sad to take it down and pack away all our beautiful ornaments next week.

The Christmas tree is one of my favorite holiday symbols so I thought it would be fun to create an edible one out of cupcakes.

Bake a batch of cupcakes. These happen to be red velvet. Arrange them in a tree shape.

Frost with green icing.

Add some rainbow nonpareils for the lights.

Then decorate with fondant ornaments!

You've got one beautifully delicious Christmas tree!

I hope Santa brings you lots of goodies tonight under your tree!

Merry Christmas!

Cupcake a Week: Gingerbread & Candy Cane Fondant Toppers

TGIF! It has been a CRAZY week in my kitchen and I am wiped out! My kitchen aid mixer has been running non stop this week...whipping up cupcake batters, sugar cookie dough, buttercream and royal icing. My mixer is definitely the one kitchen appliance I can not live without and I was so grateful to have it after this week of baking! I cranked out 250 decorated sugar cookies, 100 cupcakes and 140 cake pops in just 2 days for a big event that was last night! The event was a lot of fun and a huge success and I'm looking forward to sharing with you all the photos soon!

Here's a sneak peak at the cupcakes I made for the event! If you are looking for a simple way to spruce up some cupcakes for your next holiday party all you need is some fondant and small cookie cutters! By using some red and brown fondant I created these adorable cupcake toppers in the shape of gingerbread men and candy canes! You could also do trees, ornaments, bells, holly leaves or snowmen and switch up the colors too. I love how clean and simple the decorations turned out.

I can't believe this is the last weekend before Christmas! Randolph and I are headed to a "tacky sweater" Christmas party tomorrow night! I've been looking forward to this all week, what a fun idea for a party! I found some hilarious sweater vests to wear all decked out in snowmen, mittens and sequins. I'll be sure to post some photos of us in our festive holiday attire! I've already been joking around that we might just wear these sweaters when we head up to KY next week to see my family for Christmas!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cupcake a Week: Peppermint & White Chocolate

Last night I had a few friends over to decorate cupcakes and cookies! It was fun to share my love of baking and decorating with friends. I took tons of pictures of all the crazy cookie decorations and will try and get them uploaded this weekend, but for now I want to share with you one of the cupcake flavors from the party! Last year I made Paula Deen's White Chocolate Peppermint Cake for a Christmas party and it was a huge hit! So this year I decided to bake cupcakes instead! This recipe is absolutely amazing full of peppermint and red bits of color throughout the cake. A white chocolate buttercream on top is the perfect flavor compliment!

Add some mini candy canes on top and you've got one festive cupcake!

I can't believe this year is almost over and I've still kept with my cupcake a week theme for 49 weeks...wow that is crazy! There are still 3 weeks left for me to feature new cupcake recipes or decorating ideas! I've got a few ideas popping around in my head to finish off the year and holiday season, but if you have something you want me to try send me a message and I'll see what I can come up with!

Have a great weekend! Check back soon for more holiday goodies!

Cupcake a Week: Wreaths

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my kitchen! The holiday baking has officially begun so get ready, for cakes, cookies and candy galore! If you are looking for a festive and super simple cupcake to take to your holiday parties this year then look no further! I am going to show you how to make some wreath cupcakes today. So bake up your favorite recipe and whip up a batch of icing, keeping some white and tinting the rest green. I used Maratha Stewart's Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

To make the wreath you will need a piping bag and Wilton #67 leaf tip. The ends of the tip look like a small "v".

First frost all cupcakes with a layer of white icing. Then using your decorating tip go back and pipe green leaves to create the wreath. Hold the piping bag so the #67 engraving on the tip is on the side, not the top. Your tip should look like a "v" on top when you hold it up to your cupcake. Gently place the tip around the edge of your cupcake then squeeze, release and pull away...this will create the leaf. Repeat this motion all the way around the edge of your cupcake to create a ring of leaves.

Here is what you should end up with.

Directly on top of the first ring of leaves, pipe a second ring to give the wreath some depth and fullness.

Then add some sprinkles for decorations. I used multi-colored nonpareils to give the feel of a strand of lights!

You can also use some flat round red sprinkles if you prefer the look of berries.

Pretty simple right?

Have you started your holiday baking yet? What yummy smells and sweets are coming out of your kitchen this week?

Cupcake a Week: Scrabble...Thanksgiving Edition

Only 3 more days until Turkey time...do you have all your desserts lined up? If you are looking for a fun and playful dessert idea, I've got the perfect solution...Scrabble themed cupcakes using Thanksgiving words! This past weekend we had a game night with friends, and since I'm always the designated dessert person I thought it would be fun to make, well cupcakes of course, but with a "game" theme in mind! I just love the way these cupcakes turned out and everyone raved about them! These cupcakes were a conversation piece for the evening as everyone kept walking over debating which letter they were going to take next. Some took letters for their initials and some simply enjoyed coming over and rearranging the existing letters to create new words. Either way, it was a fun way to mingle and enjoy some cupcakes at the same time.

The making of a Scrabble cupcake board...since I wanted to have my cupcakes already displayed upon arriving at the party I had to plan out the words I wanted to use based on the number of cupcakes I had made. I had 36 mini cupcakes so I started jotting down words like

stuffing
pumpkin
thanks
give
yam
turkey
gobble

Then came the hard part, trying to get the words to fit properly together by intersecting and borrowing letters from other words like a typical Scrabble game. After about a dozen pieces of scrap paper and drawing out my game board I finally came up with the perfect word display.

How cute is this Thanksgiving Scrabble board! I'm already envisioning one for Christmas too!

Really this idea could be used two different ways during your Thanksgiving feast.

1. You can have your cupcakes & words already planned out and displayed when guests arrive for them to ooohh and aaahhh at your Thanksgiving dessert centerpiece!

or

2.You can have a batch of cupcakes already iced and decorated with letters but all mixed up. Then your guests can go to town creating their very own Thanksgiving themed Scrabble board. This would be the perfect way to kill time while you are waiting for the bird to finish cooking.

To make the letters all you need is some white rolled fondant cut into squares. Then simply write letters on top of the fondant using some colored icing! Place the fondant letters on top of your frosted cupcakes and viola, you have some homemade Scrabble pieces!

So if you are thinking about creating a Scrabble board for your Thanksgiving party, get started now. Make a list of words you want to use, plan out how they will all intersect with each other to create the perfect Thanksgiving game board, and go ahead and make all your fondant letters and leave them out to dry. Make your batch of cupcakes on Wednesday and then when Thursday rolls around assemble the game board.

If you want to be a little less stressed about creating this game, then just create the letters and don't worry about what words will be created...just make multiple game pieces for each letter of the alphabet and leave the creativity up to your party guests to come up with a unique game board during your gathering!

I hope you've enjoyed this Thanksgiving edition of "cupcake a week" and are inspired to create your own game board! If you do make a Scrabble cupcake board, please come back after turkey day and let me know what your guests thought!

Wishing you all a day full of pumpkin, stuffing, family, friends and all the turkey your tummy desires!

Cupcake a Week: Emily's Birthday Cupcakes

It was my sister's birthday this weekend!
I was in KY visiting and she wanted some cupcakes.
Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream...
with some sprinkles of course!

She bought these super cute pink ruffled cupcake liners! Love these, extra girly too!

She wanted swirled icing piped on high. What the birthday girl wants, the birthday girl gets!

She looks pretty happy to me!

Time for a bite...don't get icing on your nose!


Happy Birthday Emily!

Cupcake a Week: Pecan Pie

Apple, pumpkin, pecan...which is your favorite fall pie? Although I love all three of these, my absolute must have at Thanksgiving is pecan. I am a sucker for the ooey gooey brown sugary center of this pie. It really doesn't get much better than pecan pie as far as I'm concerned. Well except for maybe cupcakes. So I had this brilliant idea to make some pecan pie cupcakes and see how they compare to a slice of good ole pecan pie. You see I've had this recipe for a 3-layer Pecan Pie Cake in my recipe binder for the past few years now. Every fall I put it on my "must make" list and somehow it has yet to happen. I think the recipe is from an older issue of Southern Living magazine. So this year I was determined to try this cake in one way or another so I decided, let's try it as cupcakes.

I will just come right out and tell you I have some mixed feelings about how this recipe turned out. I think the cake part is excellent. It's moist and there's a pecan in every bite, can't complain about that. It's the Pecan Pie topping where things got a little weird. I'm not quite sure what to make of the consistency that I ended up with. I followed the recipe for the most part, although I did cut the ingredients in half because I didn't need a big batch of cupcakes and then I substituted light brown sugar and light corn syrup instead of the dark brown that was called for in the recipe. I heated the mixture, and whisked constantly, but wasn't really sure what the end result was suppose to look like. Unfortunately I did not have a picture of the final cake to go buy which would have been helpful. This topping required chilling as well. So I put the mixture into the fridge and came back 4 hours later hoping for the best. What I ended up with was a brown congealed glob that was no where near spreadable. So I let the mixture come to room temperature for a while and then came back to spread on top of the cupcakes. The mixture was still not easily spreadable but I made the most of it. Afterall, I wasn't going to let a perfectly good batch of cupcakes go to waste.

After spreading the icing on to the best of my abilities, I was left with a not too appetizing looking cupcake. I needed to do something quick to make it some what appealing...enter my friend Mr. Turkey! Oh yes, my turkey cookie cutter came to the rescue as I decided to bring in a traditional "pie" element and top each cupcake with a piece of baked pie crust in the shape of a turkey. Thank you Mr. Turkey for saving this batch of cupcakes, you sure are cute sitting up on top!


Pecan Pie Cupcakes (makes 12, adapted from Southern Living Magazine)

Ingredients:
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
-3 eggs, separated
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 cup buttermilk
-1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
• Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy, gradually add sugar and beat well.
• Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
• Combine flour and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
  
• Stir in 1 cup of pecans.
• Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form and fold into batter.
• Pour batter into prepared liners about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Let cupcakes cool on wire rack.
• Frost with Pecan Pie Topping. Garnish with remaining 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Pecan Pie Topping

Ingredients:
-1/4 cup light brown sugar
-1/2 cup light corn syrup
-1/4 cup cornstarch
-2 egg yolks
-3/4 cup half and half
-1/8 tsp salt
-2 Tbsp unsalted butter
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Whisk together first 6 ingredients in saucepan until smooth.
• Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, and boil 1 minute or until thickened.
• Remove from heat, whisk in butter and vanilla extract.
• Place a sheet of wax paper directly on surface of mixture to prevent a film from forming, and chill 4 hours.
• Remove topping from refrigerator and bring to room temperature before frosting cupcakes.

Turkey Pastry Garnish

Ingredients:
-1 refrigerated pie crust
-granulated sugar

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll out pie crust on lightly floured surface.
• Cut out 12 turkeys using cookie cutters.
• Lightly sprinkle some granulated sugar on each turkey cut out.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• Place turkey garnish on top of cupcakes, by placing a toothpick behind them to allow them to stand up straight.

Have any of you ever made Pecan Pie cupcakes? If so how did they turn out, please share the recipe with me, I'm in need of a better one! Or have you tried to make this Pecan Pie Cake from Southern Living...what did you think of the Pecan Pie filling portion of the recipe...did it work for you, was it spreadable? Any suggestions, send them my way, I need to give these another try!

Although these cupcakes tasted good, the topping was just a little strange, I think a good ole pie of pecan pie comes out on top today!

Cupcake a Week: Caramel Apple

Every fall at least once I find myself making caramel apples! I just love the ooey gooey goodness of melted caramel and the stickiness that it leaves behind once you sink your teeth into one of those babies! You know what I'm talking about the thin strands of caramel that hang down from the sides of your mouth as you pull the apple away after your first bite!

My favorite kind of apples are granny smiths for sure! I love their tartness and light green color!

When I was in Chicago a few weeks ago I discovered one of my new favorite cupcake flavors Caramel Apple when I visited Sprinkles. I tasted nine of their cupcake flavors that day and at the top of my list by far was their seasonal caramel apple flavor.

I loved the finely chopped bits of apples and cinnamon flavors in their cupcake and not to mention the caramel buttercream. Oh my goodness this was amazing! So from just one simple cupcake that I tasted I was determined to create a recipe to replicate those amazing flavors and textures I tasted that day at Sprinkles!

I took an entirely different angle with the decorating though and thought it would be fun to decorate them to look somewhat like a real caramel dipped apple! I added the wooden stick and all...what do you think? I love the green cupcake liners too, it just screams granny smith to me! And I'm a nuts girl on my caramel apples so I garnished some with chopped pecans!

It doesn't get much more fall than caramel apple cupcakes! These are sure to be an awesome addition to any Thanksgiving dessert display! And if you don't like granny smith apples substitute a golden delicious, red delicious or gala. You can even switch up the cupcake liners to match the color apple you choose! Grab your kids too and get them in the kitchen with you to help insert the wooden sticks and sprinkle the nuts on top!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes (makes 20)

Ingredients:
-3 cups flour
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-3/4 cup light brown sugar
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt
-t tsp cinnamon
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-1/2 cup applesauce
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla
-3 cups finely chopped apples, peeled and coated with 3 Tbsp sugar & 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used 2 granny smith)
-20 wooden popsicle sticks
-1 cup chopped pecans for garnish (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
• In large bowl combine: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and mix.
• In medium bowl combine: granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, apple sauce and vanilla and mix well.
• Add eggs to wet mixture one at a time and beat well after each addition.
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and gently mix until combined.
• Fold in chopped apples.
• Pour batter into prepared pans about 2/3 full.
• Bake for 18 minutes.
• Allow cupcakes to cool in pans 10 minutes then move to wire racks to continue cooling.
• Once cupcakes are cool frost with caramel buttercream.

Caramel Buttercream

Ingredients:
-1 stick unsalted butter
-1 cup light brown sugar
-1/3 cup heavy cream
-3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

• In saucepan over medium heat melt butter.
• Stir in brown sugar and heavy cream and keep over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes.
• Transfer mixture to mixing bowl.
• Gradually add confectioner's sugar 1 cup at a time and mix with electric mixer until incorporated.
• Frost cupcakes using an offset spatula.
• Insert wooden popsicle sticks and sprinkle with chopped pecans if desired.

Take a bite, I promise it will be caramel apple yumminess!