Tickled Pink!

Perhaps you will recall my new favorite thing to make is cupcake bouquets. The supplies are expensive, the construction is time consuming, but the result is fantastic.

This was my favorite bouquet. I made this for my sister's baby shower. She is having a girl. A baby girl who has been wanted for quite sometime. The theme of the shower was appropriately called "Tickled Pink" because we truly are. I am so excited to share the joys of motherhood with my sister.

The cupcakes were Pink Lemonade Flavored

Ingredients:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1/3 c. thawed frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate
1/4 c. buttermilk
2 or more drops red food coloring
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with liners.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg whites and lemonade concentrate. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until just smooth. Add just enough food coloring to turn the batter a light shade of pink.
Scoop batter into liners (fill about three-fourths full). Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.

Lemonade Buttercream:
3 c. + 3 Tbsp. confectioner’s sugar
1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
2 Tbsp. pink lemonade concentrate
Red food coloring
Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, and a few drops of food coloring and mix until combined. Turn the speed to med-high until the buttercream is fluffy and uniformly pink. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.

I used extra large Smarties candy for the center of my flowers. I have no tips for frosting as that is a work in progress.

Can I tell you my favorite news of all?



I AM TICKLED PINK TOO! I cannot wait to have a little assistant in the kitchen come March. Stay tuned my lovely friends!

Red Velvet Cupcakes and a Little Dirty Secret

The husband recently turned one year older and requested red velvet cupcakes. Should I be worried? I don't think so. I think he just likes the taste and the color red. I searched for what I thought would be a good recipe and found a great one. This recipe has been modified from Best Cupcake Recipes.

Are you ready for the little dirty secret? It isn't really dirty. Actually, it is quite tasty. Do you over pull gorgeous cupcakes out of the oven only to have them deflate and sink minutes later when cooling? Well, I read somewhere that if you simply do a heaping teaspoon, or a heaping of whatever measurement the recipe calls for, your cupcakes will stay plump and risen. I tried it with this recipe and it worked!

I also couldn't decide if I should do a butter cream frosting or cream cheese frosting. I love the sharp flavor of cream cheese frosting, but feel that red velvet cupcakes lack in sweetness and need butter cream frosting as well. So, I combined them and it was delicious!

These are just in time for the 4th of July if you add blue sprinkles on top!


Red Velvet Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (heaping)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins or silicone pans with cupcake liners.

2. Mix cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the cocoa powder, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Add red food coloring until mixture is a vibrant red.

4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Be careful as it will fizz so don't do it in a shallow bowl. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Fill cupcake cups with cake batter until they are a little under 3/4 full. I ended up with 24 cupcakes. Place muffin tins in your preheated oven. Bake for approximately 15-20, rotating pans halfway through. The cupcakes are done when you are able to pat the tops and the cake springs back up. If it sinks down they are not yet complete.

5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.

6.I made half a batch of cream cheese frosting and half a batch of butter cream frosting and combined them for one delicious frosting. Serve and enjoy!

(Notice how they are still plump after cooling?)

Spring Cupcake Bouquet

This is super fun to make and even more delightful to give to someone. Before I became a mom, I was a dental assistant in a pediatric dental office. It was a really fun job, but the people I worked with are what really made it great. I have remained really good friends with one person in particular and today was her birthday. A perfect occasion for a cupcake bouquet. Here's how:


Find terra cotta planting pot with Styrofoam ball that will fit as pictured. There are several sizes to choose from, I chose the largest.I got mine at Michael's, but am sure you could get them cheaper at Wal-mart or even Home Depot. Cut up assorted colors of scrapbook paper and mod podge the entire pot. This is the best part. I added ribbon on the rim just because.




I had to trim the ball a bit in order for it to fit nice and snug.




I used confetti cupcake mix (Duncan Hines), but in the future will probably try to get a little fancy with the taste. The project itself took a few hours so an easy cake mix worked best for me. You can use popsicle sticks found at a craft stores to stick the cupcakes into the styrofoam. I used skewers cut in half just because I had them around. Stick them into the ball as desired. I was able to fit 14 cupcakes, but wish that I had put more in. Using a hot glue gun place tissue paper to cover up the rest of the styrofoam.



The final step is to frost the cupcakes. You get could really fancy with this part. I just used the sea shell frosting tip and a dash of sprinkles on each one. The thing about this project is you could go really simple or really make it fancy ,and either way it would still look great.

Tips:

• The styrofoam ball was about 20 dollars at Michael's. I wouldn't go without their weekly 40% off coupon.
• I used some card stock and some just regular scrap book paper. I would recommend only using the flimsy scrap book paper. It sticks better.
• Before frosting check for hot glue strings all over.If you are going to give it to someone, give it to someone you really like because after all the time you put into it, you will hate to see it go.

It sure made my kitchen look lovely for a day. Let me know if you try it. I would love to see what people come up with.

Lemon Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

I searched and searched for the perfect lemon cupcake for my sister's birthday

Thanks to http://beantownbaker.blogspot.com

lemon Cupcakes - from A Good Appetite - makes 6 (I tripled to make 18)

2/3 c all-purpose flour

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t baking powder

pinch of salt

3 T unsalted butter, softened

1/3 c sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

zest of one lemon

juice of one lemon

1/4 c plain yogurt



Preheat oven to 350 and prepare muffin tins.



Stir flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

Beat the butter until light and fluffy. On high speed, gradually beat in the sugar until light & fluffy. Lower speed and add egg, beating until just blended. Then beat in lemon zest & lemon juice. On low speed beat in flour mixture & yogurt until just blended. This will be a very light fluffy batter.

Bake for 18 minutes. The edges should just be turning golden brown. Let cool on wire rack.

For the Frosting
3/4 cup of butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup strawberries ( I processed them in the food processor, worked like a charm!)
4-5 cups powdered sugar (depending on how runny you like it with the strawberry puree)

Verdict: I am not a huge fan of lemon, but I am starting to love it. This was a great combination with the tart of the lemon mixed with the sweet of the strawberry. Serve and Enjoy!

Banana Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

My first cupcakes! I'm still on the banana kick and wanted to make cupcakes for my husband's coworkers. I would like to say thank you to CREAM PUFFS IN VENICE for this delicious recipe for the frosting. I didn't use the cupcake recipe however, I used a basic banana cupcake recipe.

Banana cupcakes: makes 12
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
* 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas), plus 1 whole banana, for garnish (optional)
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 min. Frost, serve, and enjoy!


For the Frosting: (thanks to Cream Puffs in Venice)


First the caramel sauce:

* 2 cups whipping cream
* 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter


Bring cream, brown sugar and butter to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer sauce until reduced to 1 3/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Before using, rewarm over medium-low heat, stirring frequently.)

When cooled, add caramel sauce to the frosting:

1 pckg. cream cheese (8 ounces), at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup caramel sauce
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup icing sugar

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together at high speed until light (about 2 minutes).

Lower the speed and add the vanilla extract and caramel sauce. Mix well.

With the speed on low, add the icing sugar until incorporated and then increase the speed to high and whip the frosting for 2 minutes.




I don't have the fanciest baking equiment so I used my son's medicine dropper to apply little caramel dots to the cupcakes from the leftover caramel sauce.

My verdict: I thought that banana and caramel would be a fantastic combination, but I have to say I was slightly disappointed. I think the cupcake needed to be a little bit sweeter to go with the cream cheese frosting. Otherwise they were a big hit!