Butterscotch Rum Frosting

Hooray For Booze Infused Cupcakes!

Hello Friends!

It’s been too long since I last posted. I have been busy, busy, busy lately so bear with me while I give you some fun updates! First things first, the truck is so close to completion. We are looking for a company to do the graphics now and hope to be running by the 1^st or 2^nd week in June – so exciting! I absolutely cannot wait to share photos with you.  I’ve also been busy making some great connections in the Orlando and Daytona area and have the opportunity to participate in some seriously awesome events!

I’ll be giving away lots of cupcake minis at SheCon 2012 this weekend in the Crave Local booth. She Con is an amazing conference for female bloggers (Yay for girl power!!). This year it is being held at Disney! Exciting, right?! So if you’re a female blogger in the Orlando area, you should look into getting your ticket. It’s going to be an awesome event! Click here and you can even get 50% off your ticket price!! 

I’m also going to have my cupcakes at a CraveAmerica event in Orlando on June 14^th – more details to come!!

And last but not least, let’s have a little Cupcake Wars update – shall we?? Ok, if you insist! I recently got an email from the producers saying that they really like our brand, our video, and our energy! The email stated that we have made it to the final, final, final round of auditions!! I was told I’ll be contacted within the next week or so to hear the official decision and to start discuss filming schedule! Nothing is guaranteed yet, but I’m so proud of myself for even making it this far. Just goes to show that hard work pays off, and I’m not crazy for trying to pursue my dreams of business ownership and success.

I feel really blessed and overly excited about all the opportunities that are coming my way. I’m ready to kick this business up a notch 🙂

Ok! Thanks for humoring me…the updates are over. On to the recipes!!

Today I am going to share a delicious recipe for Butterscotch Rum frosting! This the frosting to use if you really want to WOW party guests!

Butterscotch Rum Frosting

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks of unsalted, room temp, butter
• 3 cups of powdered sugar
• ½ cup of flour – just trust me on this!
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups of Butterscotch chips (I get mine in the baking isle at Publix)
• 4 tbs of dark rum

Directions:

1. Melt the butterscotch chips in the microwave (or you can use stove top method) Let cool completely before using in frosting
2. In a stand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed for about 2 minutes. You want it to be smooth
3. Slowly add in 2 cups powdered sugar and mix on low speed until well combined
4. Add in the 4 tbs of rum and the remaining cup of powdered sugar. Add them at the same time.
5. Mix on medium speed for a minute
6. Add in the cooled butterscotch and mix until well combined
7. At this point your frosting will be too thin – add in the flour and the salt.
8. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute
9. Frost your cupcakes and enjoy!

Extra Tips:

If you want a stronger rum flavor, I suggest brushing the top of the cupcake with rum. If you put more rum into the frosting, it doesn’t hold up too well. Just my experience.

Always remember to add your liquids, especially liquor, in with your powdered sugar. This prevents the butter from curdling.

I like this frosting on a dark chocolate cupcake filled with butterscotch pudding. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Stay Sweet.

Jill

October Photos

Hi All!

Today is November 1^st and I absolutely cannot believe that October has come and gone already!! I hope all of you had a ridiculously sweet Halloween last night, I know I did!

Today I am going to do a different post than I normally do. I have a lot of blog friends that do a weekly posting called “My week in photos”. I always love looking at their picture posts, so instead of sharing a recipe today, I’d like to share some photos with you. Don’t worry though, I’ll be back later this week with some great Thanksgiving Cupcake ideas.

Here are some photos from the past month ~~ Enjoy! xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Candy Corn Cupcakes

What makes a pumpkin smile? Candy Corn of course!!

As promised, today is all about candy corn cupcakes!! If you haven’t already, make sure you enter to win an awesome McCormick Halloween Treat Basket. Find out more details on the prize and how to enter here.

Candy Corns have been, and always will be, the quintessential fall candy. I’m not sure what I like best about them….the bright fall colors, the taste of pure sugar, or the fact that they are perfect for decorating cupcakes with!

Today’s Recipe and Decorating ideas are super easy and perfect to do with your little ones at home. I love this recipe because you bake candy corn right into the cupcake! They come out gooey and delicious – not to mention they look so festive!

Candy Corn Cupcake

For this cupcake, I use a traditional vanilla cake recipe. If you want to make this even easier, you can use a box mix.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Vanilla Cake Batter (or Box mix)
• Vanilla Frosting (or Can Frosting)
• 2 ½ cups of candy corn
• McCormick Yellow Food Coloring
• McCormick Red Food Coloring
• Fall colored sprinkles
• Cupcake Liners
• Piping Bag
• Start Tip for frosting

Ok, now that we have all of our necessary ingredients, let’s get started.

1. Start by chopping up 1 cup of candy corn. I did this with a knife, but a food processor would work well too. You want medium size chunks.
2. Pour the chopped candy corn into the vanilla cake batter
3. Measure out 3 tbs of fall sprinkles. Pour sprinkles into the cake batter.
4. Mix the candy corn and sprinkles thoroughly into the cake batter
5. Pour cupcake batter into your cupcake liners and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the tops of your cupcakes are slightly brown.
6. Let cool for 20-30 minutes.

Chooped Candy Corn

Candy Corns Baked Right In the Batter!

Let’s makes some frosting while we are waiting for our cupcakes to cool.

1. Take the vanilla frosting, whether it is canned or homemade, and divide it into 3 bowls.
2. In one bowl, use 3 drops of McCormick’s yellow food coloring and mix well – set aside
3. In one bowl use 3 drops of McCormick’s yellow food coloring and one drop of McCormick’s red food coloring. Combine well until you get the perfect color orange.
4. Using a spatula or spoon, spoon some yellow frosting into the left side of your piping bag. Fill the other side with orange frosting, and top with the remaining white frosting.
5. Swirl the frosting onto your cupcake and decorate with candy corn!

Be creative with your candy corn decorations – possibilities are endless!

Hope you and family enjoy this fun fall recipe. Let me know how your candy corn cupcakes turn out!

Stay Sweet. Xoxo

Strawberry Swirl Cake

Strawberry Swirl Cake

Summertime means Strawberries!

This recipe fits into the “semi –homemade” category of my recipe box. But don’t let that trick you, it tastes 100% homemade and delicious! The combination of strawberry, vanilla, and whip cream will have everyone begging for more. I promise!

What you will need:

1. One box of Duncan Hines Vanilla Cake Mix
2. One Box of Duncan Hines Strawberry Cake Mix
3. 6 eggs
4. Vegetable Oil
5. Water
6. 3 Cups of Chopped Strawberries
7. 1/2 Cup of Marshmallow Fluff

Frosting:

1. ½ Block of Cream Cheese
2. 2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter
3. 4 cups of powdered sugar
4. 2 tbs of Strawberry Jello Powder
5. Remaining Strawberry Puree

What your cake should look like before you bake it.

Directions:

• Grease a cake pan (use any size you want. I used a small pan and only used half of the batter. It just depends how much cake you want J)
• Preheat your over to 350 degrees
• Prepare both cake mixes according to directions on the back of the box
• Pour the marshmallow cream and chopped strawberries into a food processor. Process for 1 full minute.
• Pour some of the vanilla batter on the bottom of your pan
• Pour multiple lines of the strawberry cake batter on top of the vanilla batter.
• Add 6 spoonfuls of strawberry mixture on top of the batter. Place the spoonfuls in various places around the pan. You want to use about half of the strawberry puree you previously made.
• With a knife, swirl the batter and strawberry mixture together.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Frosting Directions:

• While yours cake is baking, you can make the frosting.
• In your mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Whip until fluffy.
• Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Mix well
• Add in the remaining strawberry puree
• Add in 2 tbs of Strawberry Jello Powder – Mix well.

Once your cake is cooled, frost the cake, cut and serve. Finish each slice with some whip cream and enjoy!!

Have a sweet Tuesday friends!

xoxo, Jill

Red, White, and Blue!

Is everyone ready for some fun 4^th of July Cupcake ideas?? Ok good, me too! I’ll start with my really fun, and really easy Red, White, and Blue Minis.

What you will need:

• Vanilla or White Cake Cupcake Batter. My favorite recipe is this one!
• Red and Blue food coloring
• Vanilla Frosting (Great Buttercream recipe here)
• White Mini Cupcake liners
• Festive Sprinkles
• 3 medium size bowls

Directions:

1. Split the cake batter into 3 different bowls
2. Dye one bowl of batter red, and one blue
3. Place your cupcake liners in your cupcake pan
4. Start by putting a small amount of red batter at the bottom of each cupcake liner
5. Follow that by putting the plain vanilla batter in each cupcake liner on top of the red
6. Finish with a small amount of blue batter in each liner
7. Bake according to direction in recipe
8. Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, frost them. Do not use too much frosting, a little dollop will work just fine
9. Pour your festive sprinkles on a plate – I like to combine a bunch of different types of sprinkles.
10. Turn your frosted cupcake upside down and dunk it in the sprinkles on the plate

It’s as easy as that! Absolutely the perfect size for kids to enjoy at a 4^th of July BBQ!

You can use the same technique to make Jumbo cupcakes too. Just use a bigger cupcake pan and more batter 🙂

Like the idea of cupcake jars?

Just layer the cake and frosting in a red white and blue pattern and voila – the perfect 4^th of July picnic dessert!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week and is ready for a relaxing holiday weekend.

Happy 4th of July my loves!

Stay Sweet,

Jill

Fourth of July Inspiration

Happy Monday!

As you all know – the 4^th of July is right around the corner.  I LOVE the 4^th of July! Great food, a day spent at the beach or laying by the pool, lots of friends, and an evening filled with fireworks – not many things could make me happier!

It’s also a great excuse to make really adorable and festive cupcakes! Before I decide what I want to make for the 4^th, I took a look online and gathered some really awesome inspiration.

Enjoy 🙂

P.S. Just click the photo and it will take you to the site where I found the photo!

American Flag Cupcakes

Patriotic Tye-Dye – So much Fun! I also LOVE the little American Flag on the top. Perfect touch!

Ice Cream and Cupcakes - Nothing more American 🙂

Ice cream cone Cupcakes. A not-so-traditional approach to the normal ideas of red and white blue cupcakes. Simple but adorable!!

Simple and Elegant

This set up is just so perfect! I love the coordinating wrappers and the small red and blue flowers. This shows a perfect balance of color without having red, white, and blue overkill.

Popsicle Cupcakes!

Red, White and Blue “Bomb Pop” Cupcakes. I love the popsicle stick for added effect!Kids will go crazy for these!

Beautiful Swirl Frosting!

3 color striped frosting! This is such a fun technique. I’ve done it a few times here and here.

Lot’s of awesome ideas, right?! I am going to do a lot of baking and experimenting tonight, so make sure you check back for my 4^th of July cupcake recipe and more decorating ideas!

Have a sweet day!

Xoxo,

Jill

Classic White Cake

Image from weheartit.com

Ah, Wednesday. Halfway through the week – Wednesday feels good, doesn’t it?! I’d like to thank you all for the wonderful birthday wishes! You sure know how to make a girl feel loved 🙂

I have to admit though, with everything going on for my birthday, I neglected to notice that it was my dear friend’s one year wedding anniversary. Such a great milestone to celebrate! And you know that no one loves a celebration as much as I do, it’s the perfect excuse for eating tons of cake (or cupcakes in my preference!)

So today, I dedicate this post to my close friend Nikki. You are inspiring, determined, and oh-so creative. Thanks for being my friend and happy ONE YEAR Anniversary! So happy for you and your hubby!

Let’s celebrate with a recipe for traditional white cake and some great cupcake decorating ideas!!

Beautiful Cake and Cupcake Display! By "Cakes and Culinary Creations"

Classic White Cupcakes (adapted recipe from Wilton)

Ingredients

• 6 cups white flour sifted

• 2 tablespoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened

• 3 cups granulated sugar

• 2 cups milk

• 2 tbs of Vanilla Extract

• 12 egg whites

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Fill cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

2. Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.

3. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Set aside.

4. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Set aside.

5. With mixer at slow speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternately with milk.

6. Beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.

7. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

8. Pour into cupcake liners.

9. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

I would use any of the following frostings – depending on what mood you’re in!

Strawberry Buttercream

Classic Buttercream

Marshmallow Whip

Pinapple Cool Whip Frosting

Classic White Cupcakes with white pearls! LOVE it!

Mini White Cake Cupcakes. So Cute!

That’s all for today. Have a fabulous Wednesday, and as always, Stay Sweet!

xoxo, Jill

A Few Of My Favorites!

Happy June 9^th! I turn 24 today and can’t help but be thankful for the  wonderfully blessed past year I have had. What better way to celebrate than to share this occasion with my amazing blog readers, facebook fans, twitter followers, and cupcake enthusiasts!

So, what helped make this past year so special? Well it’s simple….. YOU did! In the past year my blog and cupcake shop has grown exponentially. I could not have done it without the support of friends and family like you guys. While I have never personally met some of you, the encouragement you have given me along the way has been immeasurable . There are days when my “blogger” friends cheer me up more than the actual people around me. You guys inspire me and motivate me. And for that I say “Thank you!” Never stop being creative, the world needs more people like you 🙂

Enjoy this collection of great recipes that I have found through my blog friends over the past year. Each is a sweet treat that I know will be a hit if you decide to make it.

My favorite recipes from a few of my favorite blogs:

Peach Crumb Bars by Brown Eyed Baker

Lime Zest Cookies by Sweet and Crumby

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins by Sweet Peas Kitchen

Cheesecake Picnic Jars by My Bakign Addiction

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies by Recipe Girl

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies by Sweet and Crumby

Have a super sweet day my friends. xoxo

-Jill

Last Day to Win Free Etsy Goods!

Good Morning!

Today is the last day to enter the Shop Til You Drop Blog Crawl! Winners will be announced tomorrow at 5 pm EST.

What?!? You haven’t entered yet?!? Well, you better get on it. Click the links below to see the awesome giveaways going on now!

Gourmet Chocolate Lollipops

Handmade Rose Accessories

Delicious Cupcakes

Blog Designs

Carseat Canopy

Vintage Tank Top

Toddler TuTu

Personalized Knitting

Stay Sweet my friends! xoxo

Orange Vanilla Cream Cupcakes – Easy!

Orange Cupcakes - Photo by MyBakingAddiction

Happy Monday!

Today I have a special recipe for all of you busy moms who still want to bake delicious cupcakes but don’t have the time to make them 100% from scratch. This recipe is easy, delicious, and still has that homemade taste!

Orange Vanilla Cream Cupcakes

What you’ll need:

• 1 box of Duncan Hines White Cake Mix
• 3 Egg Whites
• 1/3 Cup of Veg Oil
• 1 cup of water
• ¼ cup of orange soda
• ¼ cup of Orange Jello Mix (dry)
• 1 box of   Instant Vanilla Pudding

Directions:

1. Ignore the directions on the box 🙂
2. Combine Cake mix with Egg Whites, Veg Oil, Water and Orange Soda
3. Mix Well
4. Add ¼ cup of Dry orange jello powder
5. Mix well for 2 minutes
6. In a separate bowl, make your instant pudding mix (just follow the directions on the box – all you will need is Milk)
7. Fill your cupcake liners a little over halfway with batter
8. Place 1 TBS of Vanilla Pudding in each cupcake liner (The pudding will bake into the center of the cupcake and create a delicious filling!! Just don’t use more than 1 TBS)
9. Bake at 350 for 18 -20 minutes.
10. Let cool before you frost

I like to finish these off with my traditional buttercream and some white chocolate chips. Yum!

Now who says those aren’t homemade?? Every mom needs a quick cupcake and these are perfect because they are so delicious and kids and adults alike will gobble them up!! Enjoy.

Xoxo, Jill

*This recipe is a Stay Calm Cupcake Original. If you would like to feature this recipe on your blog or website, please contact me at staycalmcupcake@yahoo.com.*