Tag Archives: keep calm have a cupcake

Comfort Food Cupcakes

18 Feb

Photo courtesy of weheartit.com

 

Happy Friday my sweets!

Today I decided that I am going to post any green, four-leaf clover, St.Patrick’s day posts until March! Lately I have felt like the department stores, preparing for the next holiday before the previous one is even over. Valentine’s Day just ended and we have a good amount of time before we celebrate with the Irish. So I’m going to take a break on holiday postings. Is that ok with you guys?

Today I want to share with you one of my all time favorite, comfort food cupcake recipes. I don’t know about you, but I have had a pretty long, fairly stressful week. So this cupcake comes just in time – for me at least.

Nothing says homemade better than a carrot cake cupcake with bits of nuts, raisins, and delicious spices. Top it off with rich, tart, cream cheese icing, and this gal is in cupcake heaven. So please enjoy this recipe and remember that when life gets a little hectic, Stay Calm, and Have a cupcake! Xoxo

Carrot Cake Cupcake

(I used Marthat Stewart’s recipe and adapted it just a tad)

Makes 12 cupcakes – 24 minis

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup of rasins

 Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a bowl, combine sugar, vegetable oil, orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and eggs.
  • Stir in baking powder, baking soda, allspice, and salt. Add flour; mix.
  • Stir in carrots, raisins, and walnuts
  • Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

 Creamy Dreamy Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 2 packages of 8 oz. Cream Cheese
  • 3 cups of powdered sugar
  • 1 tbs of vanilla extract
  • 2 Sticks of unsalted Butter

Cream together cream cheese and butter – Mix on high speed up soft and well combined

Add the powder sugar one cup at a time – mixing thoroughly after each cup

Add in the vanilla and mix well

Beat on medium high speed until desired consistency is achieved.

ENJOY!!

So Yummy! I'm baking these tonight!

Stay Sweet!

Xoxo, Jill

Coconut Pecan Frosting

13 Jan

Coconut Pecan Goodness!

Since I’m on this coconut kick, I decided to make German Chocolate cupcakes. And no German Chocolate cupcake is complete unless it has the traditional coconut pecan frosting. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and nutty that compliments the bitter chocolate cupcake so well.

This was my first time making this frosting, so I went to the trusted Martha Stewart cupcake book for her take on the frosting.

Here’s the recipe, with a few of my own little tweaks and notes:

Coconut Pecan Frosting

Makes enough for one 9-inch 3-layer cake (or 36 cupcakes!)

Ingredients

  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
  • 1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar  (I used dark brown for a richer flavor and really liked the result!)
  • 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and brought to room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 2/3 cups (7 ounces) sweetened flaked coconut (Make sure you chop up the coconut. Sometimes the strings in the bag are way too long and makes for messy eating)
  • 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped (I did not toast mine, bc I think it gives a very strong pecan flavor that over powers the frosting – but it’s a matter of preference)

Directions

  1. Combine egg yolks, evaporated milk, and brown sugar in a saucepan. Add butter, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick, about 10 minutes. (Should be the consistency of pudding)
  2.  Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl.
  3. Stir in vanilla, salt, coconut, and pecans. Let cool completely. Frosting can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 day; bring to room temperature before using.

Enjoy this frosting on top of any chocolate dessert! Stay Sweet xoxo

Candy-Cane Cupcakes!

18 Nov

Chocolate Candy Cane Cupcake

Can  you believe that Thanksgiving is next week?!?! I can’t!
I feel like just last month I was working on a summer inspired  strawberry lemonade cupcake recipe . Boy how time flies! Today my post is another Holiday inspired recipe. It’s a yummy recipe to top your favorite  chocolate, vanilla, or white cake cupcakes with. Peppermint Twist! Yum!
Peppermint Twist butter-cream is a different type of mint then  my Green Mint Frosting (Recipe Here ) Peppermint Twist tastes just like candy canes!!
Enjoy the recipe. Stay Sweet xoxo
Peppermint Twist Buttercream
 

Peppermint Twist Cupcakes

  • 1 stick unsalted butter (softened)
  • 1 stick salted butter (softened)
  • 1/2 pkg. french vanilla instant pudding mix
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp. peppermint extract (maybe a little bit more depending on how much mint flavor you like..I like a lot)
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • Red food coloring
Set your mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until smooth and silky. Turn the speed to low and add the pudding mix, when it is all incorporated, slowly add the cream, a little at a time. When fully incorporated bring speed up to high and beat for 5-7 minutes. Turn speed back down to low and add peppermint extract and powdered sugar by Tbsp.  Beat again at high speed for a good 5 minutes to ensure creaminess.
If you don’t want red stripes, crunch up some candy canes and sprinkle them on the top of your cupcake!
To get the red stripes in your frosting, draw three (3) red food coloring lines inside your piping bag. Put the frosting in the piping bag and begin to pipe onto your cupcakes. Voila…red and white frosting that is as delicious as it is beautiful!!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

15 Nov

Sugar and Spice and Oh So Nice!!

Pumpkin Spice is a close second to Chocolate Mint when it comes to my favorite holiday flavors. I had some free time this weekend so I decided to experiment with a pumpkin spice cupcake/muffin recipe. I can’t lie – I ate 3 before I even frosted them!

The great thing about Pumpkin is that anything you bake with it comes out so moist! That means, its perfect for cupcake making! Below is the recipe I used for really yummy Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes. I don’t know what I loved more, the honey cinnamon icing or the moist cake!  If you leave the icing off though, they are more like muffins, perfect for breakfast on the go. With or without frosting, these baby’s are YUMMY!!

Enjoy, xoxo

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes - Without Frosting

Honey Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

(Adapted a smidgen from Martha Stewart’s recipe.)

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon (I went a little over and liked it!)
  • 2.5 tbsp. honey
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp. milk
  1. Cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Takes about 2 minutes on Medium High.
  2. Add the honey and cinnamon, and gradually add the powdered sugar one cup at a time.
  3. Add the milk and more powdered sugar (if needed) until you get your desired consistency.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2-1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin pie filling (this is KEY – we want Libby’s pumpkin pie filling, not the regular canned pumpkin)
  • 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup buttermilk

Directions

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and mix well.

Combine the flour, pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda – Add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes (or wait 2 minutes and eat one anyway, because honestly they smell far too good to resist!)

Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo with frosting on the cupcake. I forgot!!

Cookies-N-Cream Cupcakes

1 Nov

Happy Monday! Well, as happy as a Monday could possibly be, I guess. I trust everyone had a fun Halloween filled with sweet candies, fun costumes, and lots of laughter.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes!

Since I don’t have any little ones, and I’m much to old to go Trick-or-Treating by myself, I didn’t get any candy this Halloween! In all fairness though, I could have bought myself a bag of treats from Target, but It just would not have been the same 🙂 So last night I whipped up a batch of Cookies and Cream Cupcakes! They were delicious! The absolute perfect late night snack. Here’s the recipe – I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Vanilla  Cupcake (adpted from a vanilla cake recipe on foodnetwork.com)

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 cups sifted cake flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • Regular or silver cupcake paper liners

** I add 2 tbs of lemon juice to this recipe. You can’t taste the lemon in the cupcake, it just improves the vanilla flavor. Make sure to not put more then 2 tbs though, or you’ll end up with lemon cake instead of vanilla

Make the Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixer with a whip attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to cream. Gradually add the vanilla and eggs and mix in well. Sift together the dry ingredients; then mix into the butter mixture alternating with the milk. Pour batter into cupcake paper-lined muffin tins filling them 3/4 full. Bake until puffed and firm in the center and light golden brown on top, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool.

Cookies and Cream Frosting

Directions

  1. Mix the Marhmallow and Milk Chocolate frostings together in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Mix until the frosting is a light brown color.
  3. Crumble the oreo cookies into very small pieces. I put my oreos in a zip-loc bag and rolled over them with a rolling pin. You don’t want large chunks, you want small crumbles.
  4. Add the cookie crumbs to the frosting. Mix on medium speed until well combined
  5. Place in piping bag and decorate your cupcakes!

This frosting is a great one to make if you have some leftover chocolate and vanilla frosting. While I used Marhmallow and Milk Chocolate frosting, you could easily use any kind of vanilla frosting and mix it in wth a choclate one.

** Don’t forget to enter my Stay Calm Cupcake Kit Giveaway!! TWO Winners will be announced on Nov. 8th https://fontgirl.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/619/

Until Next Time, Stay Sweet! xoxo

Strawberry White Chocolate Cupcakes

26 Oct

Hello Readers!

I am so sorry for being absent for over a week. I have been busy traveling for work, baking for birthday parties, and celebrating my boyfriends 25th! No worries, though, I am back…and with a fabulous recipe to share!

Strawberry White Chocolate Cupcakes - Yum!

I made these cupcakes for my cousins birthday this month. These decadent white chocolate cupcakes are topped with a yummy strawberry vanilla swirl frosting and can add the perfect touch of “girly” to any party.

Enjoy the recipe! xoxo

White Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate, chopped
  • 1/2 cup hot water
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Sift together the 2 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. In small saucepan, melt 6 ounces white chocolate and hot water over low heat. Stir until smooth, and allow to cool to room temperature. You can also melt the chocolate in your microwave for 1 min (in incriments of 30 seconds)
  4. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 1 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition.
  5. Stir in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Mix in melted white chocolate and 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
  6. Pour batter into cupcake liners and bake for 18-22 minutes. The tops will be slighlty browned.

Strawberry Vanilla Frosting

Vanilla

  • 2/3 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Beat 2/3 cup of butter in a bowl until smooth and glossy. Beat in the vanilla, followed by the confectioners’ sugar. Add the cream and  whip on high speed until light and fluffy.

Strawberry Frosting (From MarthaStewart.com)

  • 1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
  • Pinch of coarse salt
  • 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners’ sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

For the two-tone frosting effect, I used the same technique from my “Paintball Cupcakes” (https://fontgirl.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/paintball-cupcakes/)

Til next time, Stay Sweet!!

French Vanilla Berry and Double Fudge Cupcakes

23 Sep

 

Double Fudge Cupcake

 I love chocolate! So it is no suprise to me that I am obsessed with this chocolate cupcake. It’s a moist chocolate cupcake topped with rich chocolate frosting. The recipe is pretty simple too! It’s an adapted version of my Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes(https://fontgirl.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/chocolate-caramel-cupcakes/) Follow the same recipe just leave out  the caramels. For the frosting, I used the same recipe (in the link above) but replaced the 1/4 cup of vegetable shortening with 1/4 cup of butter. I love a recipe that can make two different cupcakes!!

French Vanilla Berry

Now, for my French Vanilla Berry cupcakes! These cupcakes are so perfectly light and fluffy that you almost dont feel guilty for eating 3 of them in one sitting more than one. I used a traditional vanilla cake recipe and added some key ingredients. I used 1 tablespoon of French Vanilla flavoring (I like Wilton’s, but there are many brands that I’m sure will do just fine) and then I add 2 tablespoons of french vanilla cofee creamer. Weird, I know! But it works like a charm.

Now, for the berry part of this cupcake! I have written about my double berry buttercream recipe in a previous post. This frosting is similiar but it is double berry cream cheese rather than buttercream. Both are so delicous, but I find that the buttercream is better for cake filling and the creamcheese is better for cupcakes.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 box of strawberries (at least 15 strawberries)
  • 1 bog of blueberries (2 ½ cups)
  • 3 cups of sugar
  • ¼ cup of cornstarch
  • 1 package of cream cheese (8 oz)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
  • 2 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 5 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 2 tbs of lemon juice
  • Directions

    With the first set ingredients, you are going to make the berry jam.

    1. Wash the berries
    2. Cut the strawberries
    3. Place berries in a bowl and mash them together (I used a potato masher)
    4. Pour berries into a pan and add 3 cups of sugar and lemon juice.
    5. Stir until combined
    6. Let boil (stirring occasionally) for 7-10 minutes until it starts to thicken.
    7. Turn to low heat and add cornstarch (be sure to add the cornstarch to cold water before adding it to the hot mixture – reference the directions on the side of the cornstarch box)
    8. Remove from heat, let cool completely

    Using the second set of ingredients:

    1. Cream the creamcheese and butter with electric mixer.
    2. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed.
    3. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until it appears fluffy.
    4. At this point, add in 2 1/2  cups of the cooled berry filling. (You might need more depending on how much of the berry flavor you want to taste)
    5. Mix togethert until well combined
    6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before using.

     ** Don’t forget to sign up for the Bake It Pretty Giveaway! Deadline is October 4th.

    Read my Sept. 21st post for deatils!!**

    Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

    13 Sep

    Chocolate Caramel Goodness!

    Happy Monday readers!

    Last night I made Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes – complete with gooey caramel centers, milk chocolate mousse, and rich chocolate cake. The recipe took me longer than I had hoped, and I had to make some adjustments along the way, but I came out with a great cupcake and a flawless recipe. Please enjoy!! I’m warning you though, the milk chocolate mousse is really good…I was tempted to pipe the frosting straight to my mouth and skip the cupcake all together. Don’t worry…I didn’t 😉

     

     

     

    Chocolate Caramel Mousse Cupcakes (makes 24)

    Ingredients:

    Chocolate Caramel Cupcake    

    24 Kraft Caramel squares

    1 1/2 cup (170 g) all-purpose flour
    5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    2 pinches salt
    1 cup sugar
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    3/4 cup milk
    3/4 cup vegetable oil
    2 eggs

    Caramel Sauce

    10-14 Kraft Caramel Squares

    ¼ cup of Half and Half

    Milk Chocolate Mousse Frosting

    1 cup of milk chocolate chips

    2 cups of Nestle Toll House Cocoa Powder

    1 stick of softened butter

    ¼ cup of vegetable shortening

    1 cup of whipping cream

    1 ½ cups of powder sugar

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 350
    2. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl.
    3. Add milk, vegetable oil and eggs.
    4. Mix everything together until smooth, either by hand or by using an electric mixer at slow speed. If the batter is too thin – add a little bit more flour.
    5. Pour batter into cupcake liners, making them half full.
    6. Bake for 15 minutes
    7. Take cupcake from the oven and place a caramel square on the top of each cupcake. Bake for 5 more minutes, until the caramel has melted onto the cupcake.

    Before baking the caramels

    Mousse

    1. Cream together the butter, vegetable shortening, and powdered sugar
    2. Slowly add in cocoa powder and whipping cream
    3. Beat on medium high speed until soft peaks form
    4. In a microwave safe bowl, put your chocolate chips and ½ tbs of butter – Heat on high for 30 seconds. Stir until completely combined and melted.
    5. Add melted chocolate mixture to the mixing bowl – mix until well combined

    **Note: Do not over mix this frosting, if you do, it will begin to curdle and separate. It takes about 10 minutes for the mixture to form soft peaks and become frosting like **

    Caramel Sauce

    1. In a saucepan on medium heat, melt the caramel squares with the half and half. Stir continuously or else your caramel will burn.

    Pipe your frosting on the cupcake and drizzle with caramel. Now enjoy!!

    Birthday Celebrations!

    7 Sep

    I made birthday cake this weekend! To be honest, I have never prided myself in fabulous, or even out of the ordinary, cake making skills. But I have to say that this weekend, I was pretty darn impressed with myself. I made two cakes, each of which got rave reviews from everyone who had a piece.

    The first was a Sesame Street cake for my niece Sofia’s 2nd Birthday!!

    It was a funfetti cake, filled with double berry buttercream, and topped with vanilla cream-cheese frosting. I was really pleased with how the filling turned out. I refrigerated it over night and it was almost like icecream in the center of the cake . The berry flavor complimented the cream-cheese frosting on the outside of the cake, and gave the cake a refreshing flavor. Sofia liked it – and that’s all that mattered 🙂

    Happy Birthday Sofia!

     To get the different textures on the cake, I used a fork, a knife, and a spoon. Techinique and decorations like these can be done somewhat easily. Since you are looking to get a “fluffly” texture, you don’t have to be worried about being perfect. The more imperfect, the better!

    For Elmo and Cookie Monster, I used a spoon ans did little “swoops” in the frosting. I used a fork for the Grouch and just scraped the surface enough to raise the icing in lots of little peaks. Big Bird was easy, I just used a knife and spread the icing in different directions.

    I bought the face pieces from Amazon (but they can be purchased on eBay as well). It was $3 for the set and they came within 4 days of me ordering them. They worked perfectly and gave my characters a more realistic look!

    The second cake I made was for Adrienne. Adrienne loves butterflies, so I made her a butterfly cake. I didn’t use a butterfly shaped pan though, I just baked a sheet cake and cut out the shape I was looking for. (I was able to make cake truffles with the remaining cake! Yum!) The cake was a marble cake, topped with a french-vanilla cream cheese frosting. If  I would change anything, I would have added more vanilla cake – the “marble cake” was a little heavy on chocolate. But other than that, I thought the cake had a great flavor palet.

    Butterfly Marble Cake - Better pictures to come!

     I will be uploading some better pictures and more detailed recipes this evening. So keep an eye out for them. Until next time, stay sweet! xoxo

    Lemon Berry Treats

    26 Aug

    Can someone please tell me how this summer flew by so quickly?? It’s so true that the older you get, the faster time goes. I don’t like it one bit! The only solace I find is that with the end of summer comes the arrival of Fall, which means an entirely new palette of flavors to work with. Not to mention all the holidays I will be baking for. When I think of Fall I think of carrot cake, and spice cake, and oatmeal cookies, and all sorts of “feel-good” homemade treats. While I am excited to start baking new flavors of the season, I am sad that I have to say goodbye to the whims of summer fun.

    I created this recipe for Lemon Berry cupcakes because to me, it truly represents all things summer. Enjoy the recipe!

    Lemon Berry Cupcakes decorated with a pink and black theme for a bridal shower.

    Lemon Cupcakes (the quick version)  

    1 Box of Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix

    1/3 cup of vegetable oil

    3 eggs

    1 1/3 cup of water

    1 lemon

    1 tsp. Vanilla extract

    (**For 100% homemade cupcakes, I enjoy this lemon cake recipe: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/lemon-cream-cupcakes/Detail.aspx**)

    Directions

    1. Prepare the batter according to the directions on the back of the box.
    2. Add 1 tsp of vanilla to the batter, mix well
    3. Add ¼ cup of lemon juice
    4. Add lemon zest of one medium size lemon
    5. Mix all ingredients together and pour into baking cups.
    6. Bake as directed on the box.

    Berry Filling

    1 box of strawberries (at least 15 strawberries)

    1 bog of blueberries (2 ½ cups)

    3 cups of sugar

    ¼ cup of cornstarch

    Directions

    1. Wash the berries
    2. Cut the strawberries
    3. Place berries in a bowl and mash them together (I used a potato masher)
    4. Pour berries into a pan and add 3 cups of sugar.
    5. Stir until combined
    6. Let boil (stirring occasionally) for 7-10 minutes until it starts to thicken.
    7. Turn to low heat and add cornstarch (be sure to add the cornstarch to cold water before adding it to the hot mixture – reference the directions on the side of the cornstarch box)
    8. Remove from heat, let cool completely

    Berry filling - yum!!

    Cream Cheese Frosting

    • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
    • 2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
    • 8 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (about 2 lbs.)
    • 2 tablespoons milk

     Makes: About 5 1/2 cups of icing.

     In medium mixer bowl, cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add sugar one cup at a time and milk. Mix well. Beat on high until smooth (only 30 seconds to 1 minute). Thin to ice cake smooth; use full strength for piping borders.

    NOTE: Do not use light cream cheese or butter substitute. If margarine is used, icing will be softer.

    Now, for the fun part! Use an apple corer (or a small knife) to carve out little holes in each cupcake – don’t throw away the part of the cupcake you remove, you will need to use it to fill the hole once the filling has been inserted.

    Once you have a hole in each cupcake, fill the cupcake with berry filling. It is easiest to put the filling in a piping bag (a Ziploc bag will work too). Be sure you don’t  overfill the cupcakes. Once filled – cover the hole with the piece of cupcake you removed.

    Pipe cream-cheese frosting on the cupcake and decorate as desired.

    Cupcakes should be refrigerated.

    Enjoy!! Till Next time, stay sweet. xoxo