Cupcake Cookies

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I don’t know about you, but I am soooo glad it is Friday! What a week! Today’s recipe is admittedly, not a cupcake, but just as delicious and fun to bake. Not too mention these cupcake cookies go perfect with a cup of hot chocolate.

Also, don’t forget to enter the Stay Calm Cupcake Kit Give-Away! Enter today, you still have time. I have gotten lots of great entries, but not nearly enough. Two winners will be chosen on Monday, Nov. 8th. Good luck!!   https://fontgirl.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/619/

All blog subscribers get $5 off any cupcake purchase over at my etsy shophttp://www.etsy.com/shop/StayCalmCupcake It’s a great deal but it ends soon.  Use code sccs10

And now for the Cupcake Cookie Recipe!!

Cupcake Cookies!

Cookie Dough:

1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Toppings:

• 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon

Raw cookie dough ball rolled in chocolate chips and sugar mixture.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Beat together butter and sugar on low speed of mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in vanill and egg. Mix thoroughly.
3. Stir in flour and baking soda.
4. Using a small cookie scoop or two spoons, shape dough into balls.
5. Mix the white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small separate bowl.
6. Drop dough  balls one by one in the sugar mixture. Make sure the dough ball is entirely covered with sugar.
7. Place a dough ball in a “tart liner” (I’m not sure what they are called, they look just like cupcake liners but aren’t as tall. You can tell from the picture what they are) and place chocolate chips on top. I used about 7 chips per dough ball.
8. Bake for 9-11 minutes, just until cookies have set. Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.
9. Bake at 375°F oven for 7-8 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden brown.
10. Tips: Do not over bake cookies; watch closely near the end of baking time.
11. Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies, depending on size.

Have a Great Weekend! xoxo

Birthday Celebrations!

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

It’s Friday, where’s my margarita??

Actually, It’s right here, in cupcake form of-course! A few weeks ago, I became very curious about what seems to be the new rage in cupcakes…cupcakes using adult beverages. I have seen such fun cupcake ideas based on well-known alcoholic beverages.

So here’s my take on the Margarita cupcake. There are so many recipes out there, none of which I completely liked, so I created my own. Enjoy this recipe, and have a great weekend! Cheers

Margarita Cupcakes

It's Happy Hour!

Enjoy a refreshing drink, in cupcake form!

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 limes, zested and juiced
1.5 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners. (Which I think is pretty obvious, but I figured I’d say it anyway)

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Using a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

One at a time, add in the eggs. Mix well after each addition.

Add in the lime juice, lime zest and vanilla and beat well. Make sure your lime zest is small rather than large chunks – it will give the cupcake better texture.

Beat the flour mixture into the bowl. Do this in three additions, starting with the flour mixture and adding the buttermilk after the first and second flour additions.

Fill the cupcake liners about half-full with the batter (Again, obvious)

Bake 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cupcakes will not brown so don’t be alarmed if they still look white.

Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes.

Tequila Lime Buttercream

2 cups sugar
8 large egg whites
Pinch of sea salt (a pink is about ½ tsp.)
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tsp of vanilla
3 tbsp. tequila (maybe more depending on the kind of day you’ve had)

Combine sugar, egg whites and salt in a medium sauce pan and heat until it reaches 160 degrees F and the sugar has completely dissolved.

Transfer to a stand mixer and beat on medium-high until stiff peaks form and it has cooled to room temperature. This takes awhile – so don’t get discouraged, just practice patience…or have a drink of that tequila.

Add in the butter, two tablespoons at a time — mixing well after each addition.

The mixture may start to look curdled…just keep mixing it and, eventually, it will look like frosting.

Stir in the lime juice and tequila.

**Before piping the frosting onto the cupcakes, I make a mixture of half lime half tequila to brush on the top of my cupcakes – This gives it a more authentic margarita taste vs. a lime cupcake with a kick. Trust me, you’ll want to do this **

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes

Decorate with a slice of fresh lime (or a candy lime) and green sprinkles.

I added straws to mine because I thought it looked cute – but it’s not necessary.

Enjoy!

Breakfast of Champions

Coffee and Donut Cupcakes!

I’m just gonna cut to the chase here, I found a recipe for a breakfast cupcake that doesnt include bacon!! Its a take on donuts and coffee, and it looks so yummy! I found it on a Cupcakeblog.com (an overall amazing site for all things cupcakes!) So, without further ado, here is the recipe for “Coffee and Donut” cupcakes. These will deffinitely be a hit in the office!

Note: These cupcakes will take a while to make, but they will be sooooo worth it! For the full recipe and blog entry go to: http://cupcakeblog.com/?p=86

ENJOY!!

Coffee Cupcakes
19 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dark roast coffee grounds
1/2 cup strong brewed, dark roast coffee
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk

1. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
2. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated.
4. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and coffee grounds in a bowl.
5. Measure out coffee and milk together.
6. Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.
7. Add about one third the coffee/milk mixture and beat until combined.
8. Repeat above, alternating flour and coffee and ending with the flour mixture.
9. Scoop into cupcake papers about two-thirds to three-quarters full (depending on whether you want flat or domed cupcakes. Note that these cupcakes will shrink slightly when they cool).
10. Bake for 22-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Tip: Be careful when adding the coffee/milk mixture to the batter. If you add it too quickly the mixture will look curdled. Add small amounts and beat well to incorporate.

Whipped Cream

3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar

1. Whisk cream on high speed until soft peaks form.
2. Add sugar (more or less depending on your taste) and whip until thick.

Doughnuts

9 ounces whole milk
1/4 ounce envelope active dry yeast
17-1/2 ounces white bread flour (not all-purpose)
3 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/2 ounces superfine sugar
2 teaspoons fine-grain salt
2 large eggs
2 cups peanut oil
superfine sugar for dusting

1. Warm milk over low heat until it is ay body temperature. It should feel neither warm nor cold when you touch it.
2. Measure the flour into your mixer’s bowl. Rub in the yeast with your fingertips until it disappears in the flour.
3. Rub in the butter until its a sandy texture. Rub in the sugar and salt.
4. Using the dough hook attachment, turn the mixer onto the lowest speed. Add the eggs and milk. Mix for 2 minutes.
5. Turn up to medium speed and mix for 6-7 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
6. Gently remove the dough from the bowl with the help of a plastic bowl scraperonto a lightly floured surface. Form into a ball. Place into a lightly floured bowl and cover with a lint-free towel and set in draft-free spot to rise for 1 hour.
7. Gently remove the dough from the bowl with the help of a plastic bowl scraper onto a lightly floured surface. Cut into two equal portions with your scraper. Gently roll out to about 1/2 inch thick, turning and using flour only as needed.
8. Cut out doughnuts and their holes using a circular cutter and a large pastry tip, respectively.
9. Set on a lightly oiled and floured baking pan with sufficient space between each. Cover with a lint-free towel and set in draft-free spot to double in size or for 45 minutes.
10. Heat the peanut oil in a high-sided, 8″ diameter pan to 350 degrees. Using a slotted spoon gently add about 5 doughnuts to the oil. Allow them to fry on one side until golden, about 45 seconds. Flip and repeat on the other side. Remove doughnuts onto a sheet pan covered in paper towels to drain. Continue in the same fashion with remaining doughnuts.
11. Roll drained doughnuts in the sugar. Eat.

Little Cups of Heaven

Happy Friday! Today is the last Friday of the summer that I will have off – what a bummer! So far I have spent my day baking cupcakes, making frosting, and drawing up plans for my niece’s 2nd birthday cake – Sesame Street of course 🙂 Overall, it has been a pretty relaxing day.

As I was looking through my recipe book, I realized that I have been meaning to share a great, oh so easy, recipe with you. Cake Parfaits! Little cups of cake and frosting, perfect for a personal treat or a dessert at a dinner party. Please forgive the picture  though,  trust me that they taste so much better than the picture makes them look!

I made two kinds of cake parfaits – Vanilla Pineapple Cream and Double Chocolate Butterscotch. Enjoy!

Little Cups Of Heaven!

Vanilla Pineapple Cream Ingredients:

• 1 box of Duncan Hines Golden Butter cake mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1 stick of softened butter
• 2/3 cup of water
• 1 tub of Cool Whip
• 1 small can of crushed pineapple
• 1 box of instant vanilla pudding
• Sliced strawberries
• Clear Plastic Cups

Directions:

1. Bake cake according to box directions
2. Let cake cool for 10-15 minutes
3. Cut cake into medium size cubes
4. Place a good amount (6-7) of cake cubes on the bottom of the clear cup
5. Layer Pineapple Cream on top of cake (see below for directions)
6. Add several strawberries
7. Repeat steps 4-6 until your cup is filled

Pineapple Cream Filling:

In a medium mixing bowl mix together the whole tub of cool whip and the dry vanilla pudding mix. Drain a little bit of the juice from the crushed pineapple – do not drain completely though. Gradually add in spoonfuls of crushed pineapple, mix with spatula until fully combined. Let chill in fridge for 15 minutes.

** I also use this as a frosting for vanilla or angel food cake cupcakes – it’s so good!** 

Double Chocolate Butterscotch Ingredients:

• 1 box of Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge cake mix ( and the ingredients listed on the back of the box)
• 1 bag of butterscotch chips
• 1 bag of milk chocolate chips (optional)
• 1 tub of Cool Whip
• 1 box of chocolate pudding mix
• Clear Plastic Cups

Directions:

1. Bake cake according to box directions
2. Let cake cool for 10-15 minutes
3. Cut cake into medium size cubes
4. Place a good amount (6-7) of cake cubes on the bottom of the clear cup
5. Layer Chocolate Cool Whip on top of cake (see below for directions)
6. Add several butterscotch and milk chocolate chips
7. Repeat steps 4-6 until your cup is filled

Chocolate Cool Whip Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl mix together the whole tub of cool whip and the dry chocolate pudding mix. Let chill in fridge for 15 minutes.

Chocolate Mousse

Hello readers! I trust you all had a good weekend, made it through Monday,  and are ready to tackle another week. HA! Who am I kidding, right? Weekends just never seem long enough, especially when you pack them full of activities (or hours of baking), and Monday’s never seem short enough.

I had a friend’s dinner party to go to this past weekend, and I was pretty excited about it because I was asked to bring the dessert. I was anxious to try out some new cupcake recipes, and there is no better place to do that than at a dinner party with friends.

My ambitions, though not thought to be too high, were to create two types of cupcakes. One, which I had made before – Vanilla Pineapple Cream – and another, which I had not tried but was “sure it would be easy”. I should have known better…..

Chocolate Buttercream frosting…it just sounds delicious, doesn’t it? I had to have chocolate buttercream on my cupcakes – there was no going around it. Besides, how could I possibly impress my friends if I didn’t make chocolate buttercream?! Come to find out, I could have fed those boys canned frosting and they would not have known the difference. Ahh, hindsight is 20/20

I found a buttercream recipe at tastepotting.com (by far one of the BEST recipe sites EVER! It’s worthy of having it’s own blog entry, and one day I will get around to that.) I spent at least an hour sorting through hundreds of chocolate frosting recipes. Who knew there were about 500 variations of the very basic and traditional chocolate frosting? It was exhausting! Anyways, I found the one that seemed simple and delicious. It was time to bake!

I followed the recipe extremely close – at times questioning some of the steps, but never deviating. I’m known to disagree with a recipe and do it “my way” – problem is, my way doesn’t always work out – so I stuck to what I was told to do.

2 hours (that’s not a lie) and several back-up plans later, I had some form of chocolate frosting sitting in my mixing bowl – not chocolate buttercream, not really regular chocolate icing, kind of an airy, light, fluffy blob. It was pretty disappointing to be honest. I let it sit for a bit and decided I had to use it because I was running out of time before the party started. Luckily it piped pretty nicely onto the cupcake. Once I realized that it tasted REALLY GOOD on the cupcake, and didn’t look bad either, I felt better about my new “creation”.

I have to say  though that by the time I was done with the frosting I had added several new ingredients into the mixer in order for it to thicken enough to stay on top of a cupcake. I also realized that I was right the first time and should have made it my own way when I saw that things on the recipe didn’t add up.

Overall, the cupcakes were a hit. I call my new and improved recipe “Chocolate Mousse”. I am proud to say that this recipe has been perfected through trial and error and tastes absolutely delicious. Enjoy!

Vanilla Pinapple Cream - Chocolate Mousse - Vanilla and Chcolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse Buttercream

yield: about 5 cups

• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 T. Dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 6 sticks (24 0z)of cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 12 0z semisweet chocolate, melted 

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and cocoa powder in the metal bowl of a stand mixer.

Fill a large saute pan with hot water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Place the mixing bowl in the water and whisk the egg mixture constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is thick and fluffy and very hot, 3-4 minutes.  The temperature should be between 120-140 degrees.

Remove the bowl from the water and using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs at a medium-high speed until they are tripled in volume and form very soft peaks.  The bottom of the bowl should be completely cool to the touch, about 10 minutes.  Beat in the vanilla and salt.

Switch to the paddle attachment on your mixer and turn to medium-high speed.  Add the chucks of butter a couple at a time.  Once all is added, turn the mixer on high speed and let it mix until the buttercream comes together and is shiny and smooth…don’t worry if it separates at first, it will come together!  

Add the buttercream to another bowl (not metal…it is too cold and will seize the chocolate) and then add 1/2 of the warm chocolate and stir to incorporate.  Add the remaining chocolate and stir to fully incorporate.    Place the chocolate buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with a #807 tip and pipe your buttercream onto the cupcake.  To get the swirl effect, simply start at one end of the cupcake and pipe in a circle.  Continue piping until you have two layers of frosting.  Stop squeezing the frosting and quickly pull tip away from cupcake.

Firecracker Cupcakes!

I love my job! I love my job even more during the summer because we get every Friday off. I still work a full 40 hour week, but I do it in 4 days instead of 5 – it’s fabulous!

In celebration of Thursday, and the start of my weekend, I have spent some time searching for a new recipe to share. I found the perfect one. I like it because it’s so fun and pretty whacky!

I found this particluar recipe on a blog called “Noble Pig” – the author gives some great recipes ideas on everything from cocktails to mac and cheese. Check it out!!

Boring Betty’s beware: this is not the cupcake for you. But for those of you who like to try bold new recipes, “Firecracker Cupcakes” are the perfect new treat for you to bake! It’s a cupcake with POP-ROCKS!! What could be more fun? Kids (and adults) are sure to love this funky treat. Good luck baking!

Firecracker Cupcakes - Made with lots of sprinkles and topped with Pop Rock candies!

 (Photo courtesy of NoblePig.com)

Here is the link for the recipe, it even has step by step pictures. Easy recipes are good recipes!

http://noblepig.com/2008/06/28/my-kids-think-im-a-genious.aspx

Until Next Time, Stay Sweet! xoxo

I’m Obsessed!

Summer time is best time of year! Lately, I have found that I’m obessed with these sweet summer goodies. Enjoy!

1)      New York and Company Shorts!! They have the cutest styles and are very reasonably priced. The thing I am loving most about them, is how sophisticated I feel when I put them on. Now that I’m older, I don’t want to wear a miniature cut-off version of jean shorts – I want a more tailored look. Tailored is sexy, tailored is the new mini-short – right? Well it is for me! My favorite style is the GRAMERCY short! I have to admit, I own every color and every pattern Best part is, you can put these shorts with heels or sandals – very versatile. I’ll admit it, I’m obsessed!

2)      Scrunchy Hair. I have always liked scrunching my hair, but not until recently did I perfect how to get that easy-spirit, wavy beach hair look. I love this look because it takes me all of 5 minutes to accomplish– and it’s perfect for those humid nights out on the town. I always use Aussie Scrunch Spray – It’s a miracle worker! Curly, scrunched hair is hair that you don’t have to stress over – and that’s why I’m loving it this summer. Easy, flirty, fun!

Sis and I - Scrunched hair was perfect for that windy day!

3)   Cupcakes! C’mon, you knew I was going to say something about cupcakes 😉 Currently I’m obsessed with my Wilton’s frosting swirl tip #6b – It’s only $1.69 and gives me the perfect frosting swirl on every cupcake! If you want your cupcakes to look “professionally done” go buy the tip – you’ll be so glad you did.

Pretty In Pink Cupcakes - used frosting tip #6B

4)      Loose-fitting blouses and dresses. I have found that Tj Maxx and Marshalls have the best deals on cute “flowy” dresses and tops. I call them “flowy” because I’m not sure how else to describe them. Lately, I’m drawn to bolder patterns, often with bright colors or flowers. A loose fitting shirt looks great with a cinched waist belt and a long necklace or just draped over your one shoulder for a more care-free and relaxed  look (which I have to admit, I rarely pull off well). These looks are fun, and easy to get away with during the summer. So for now, I am definitely enjoying the less form-fitting wardrobe options.

5)      Bows!!! Ok, ok ok, I have to admit it; I’m head over heels in love with any and all things bows!! It comes as no surprise to me that I have a penchant for bows, pink, and anything else that’s screams Barbie doll grown up. If it has a bow on, I’ll buy it. It could be the ugliest thing ever, say a pair of metallic silver 6 in heels, but once I see the bow, which happened to be huge and draping over the left side of the shoe, I am convinced I have to be the owner of them. Luckily, in that particular instance, Pat talked me out of it. They were pretty gaudy now that I think about it. I’m still sickeningly obsessed though – If it has a bow, consider it bought!

6)      Friday’s Off – yup I said it. I have Friday’s off all summer and I’m not ashamed to be bragging about it. I have fallen in-love with 3 day weekends and am dreading  the day I have to give them up. Summer time is truly the best time of year!

What better way to enjoy a Friday off then on an inflatable Slip-N-Slide!!

Enjoy this slideshow of things I love! Til next time, stay sweet xoxo

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