Birthday cupcakes

Today was my birthday and I had an awesome day with family and friends.  I know it sounds bad but I made my own cupcakes for my birthday party.  It was the only way I could guarentee that I would have a great cupcake and that I would throughly satisfied with my birthday treat.

I thought long and hard about what cupcake I would make and I saw this great picture for a neapolitan cupcake by sweetapolita.  These cupcakes is a southern devils food cupcake divided into three layers and layered with strawberry, vanilla and chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.  On a side note I am now completely in love with swiss meringue buttercream, it had a nice smooth and satiny texture and the taste is not as sweet as a typical buttercream frosting.

This is how my cupcakes turned out, they were delicious....

Coconut Cream Pie

This weekend was me and Troy's 3 year anniversary so I decided to cook dinner, which I will never do again.  Not that I don't enjoy cooking or baking, but when you are trying to do multiple 5 step cooking projects with a 13 month old baby pulling at your leg it becomes difficult. 

For dinner I decided to make Tandoori chicken with samosas and for dessert Coconut Cream Pie.  My original dessert plan was to make carrot cake cupcakes but I deviated slightly to a different path, but don't worry this will be turned into a cupcake in the very near future.  I can definitely see why I never took on pie making, it is a very daunting task.  You have to make the pie crust, then the filling and then the topping, it was a little too much, but it was worth it for this recipe.

I googled many different recipes for Coconut Cream Pie so I decided on one from a Trinidad cookbook I got when i went to Trinidad in 2009.  This was not a winner.  The reason I didn't like this pie was that it was a cooked custard recipe which always to me resembles scrambled eggs.  I was determined to find another coconut cream pie recipe.  I found a great recipe on MomsWhoThink.com.  The filling was delicious and creamy, they only change I made was that I substituted some coconut milk for the milk in the recipe which gave it the extra coconut flavor I was looking for.  I then topped the pie with a tub of light cool whip.  The crust was a graham cracker crust with coconut sprinkled in it for added texture and flavor.

As you can see there wasn't much pie left when I got home from work today, I guess Troy and Benjamin liked it :)

Here is the recipe for Coconut Cream Pie (recipe adopted from MomWhoThink.com:

Ingredients:

5 Tablespoons flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup scalded milk (3/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup coconut milk)
1/4 cup cold milk
3 egg yolks
1 cup shredded coconut :
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 inch baked pie shell (I made my own graham cracker crust)

Directions:
1. Blend flour, sugar, and salt with the cold milk. Gradually add the scalded milk, stirring constantly.
2. Cook on a low heat until thickened, then add beaten egg yolks and cook for an additional two minutes.
3. Remove from heat. Add vanilla extract and shredded coconut.
4. Cool filling, then pour into baked pie shell.
5.  You can either top this pie with a meringue or cool whip.

The Coconut Cream Cupcake will be coming soon, stay tuned.

Kahlua Chocolate Cupcake

I apologize for the late posting of the Kahlua Chocolate cupcakes I made on Friday. 

On Thursday I was feening for something chocolaty and delicious and then I saw the little bottle of Kahlua sitting in my pantry.  This had the wheels in my head turning, what could I do with this?  AH HA a chocolate cupcake with a Kahlua buttercream frosting.  I found a great chocolate cake recipe which had coffee in it that I thought would pair nicely with the Kahlua buttercream. 

For the frosting I started with my usual butter cream ingredients: butter, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla.  I then added the Kahlua, but something was missing.  I googled Kahlua buttercream and found if I possibly added some dark chocolate cocoa powder and some espresso I could be onto something.  What I came up with was an amazingly smooth and delicious Kahlua buttercream frosting, which I will be storing in my recipe book.

If you noticed on these cupcakes I tried a different piping pattern.  For this cupcake I did 3 small star-tipped pipes instead of the steady butter cream swirl I'm accustomed to.  I thought they came out great and it was the right amount of frosting.

If you tried these cupcakes please let me know how you think they turned out.

Catherine's Bridal Shower

Today I had the honor of making cupcakes for my good co-worker Catherine and her fiance Nolan.  I made the margarita cupcakes with the lime buttercream frosting since it was a margarita themed party, (thanks Sandy for hosting a great shower). 

Since this was for a bridal shower I wanted to add a few personnel touches.  I wanted to make something out of white chocolate to put on the cupcakes.  I googled everything from wedding clipart to edible cupcake decorations, and then I had a brilliant idea.  I went through all of my past greeting cards I received for the various holidays and found the heart decoration I used for the cupcakes.  I took some parchment paper and fitted a ziploc bag with a #3 wilton decorating tip filled with melted white chocolate.  I then traced the heart decoration with the white chocolate and let them dry overnight.  You can literally make any type of decorating, lettering, etc. from chocolate or candy melts.

I also wanted to add a personnel touch for the bride and groom so I made a little flag with their initials in word and glued them to a toothpick and tada you have an instant personnel touch to your cupcake.

So finally here is the recipe for the Margarita cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting (adopted from Bunny's Warm Oven)

CAKE:
9 ounces liquid Margarita mix (a little over a cup, I used a lime margarita mix)
3 ounces tequila (a little less than 1/3 cup)
1 1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
1 box white cake mix
3 large egg whites
2 Tbs vegetable oil
2 1/2 Tbs. lime zest (chopped fine)

LIME BUTTERCREAM ICING
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar (you can add more if you like it sweeter or your frosting is too thin)
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. grated lime zest
green food coloring, if desired ( I used gel color)
small lime slices for garnish, if desired
3/4 oz. Grand Marnier
1/2 oz. tequila (I used Jose Cuervo tradicional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line two dozen cupcake tins with paper liners or you can make these into mini cupcakes.

2. Prepare cupcakes: Whisk together margarita mix, tequila and Grand Marnier in a small bowl. Measure out 1¼ cups for the recipe; pour the rest on some ice and drink it while making the cupcakes.

3. In a large bowl, blend cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, lime zest and 1¼ cups of the margarita mix from step 1. Blend on low for about 30 seconds and then increase speed to medium and blend for two additional minutes. Batter will be slightly lumpy.

4. Spoon the batter into cupcake liners (about ¾ full). Bake for 20-25 min, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes in the pans, then remove them to a rack to cool completely.

5. Prepare icing: Once cupcakes are completely cooled, prepare the icing. Place butter in a large bowl and beat with electric mixer until butter is fluffy (this is a very important step for buttercream frostings). Add 4 cups of powdered sugar (more if desired), salt, lime juice, and lime zest. Mix until thick and creamy. Add more powdered sugar until the frosting is of a good spreading (or piping) consistency. Mix in a tiny amount of green food coloring or gel paste if you’d like the frosting to have a green tint. Ice cupcakes in whatever manner you prefer… spreading or piping the frosting. Use small lime slices as garnish.  This frosting will make about 21 - 24 large cupcakes.

Cooking Tips*

Don’t worry too much about exact measuring for the margarita mix/tequila/Grand Marnier. Just eyeball it and measure out the 1 1/4 cups that you’ll need for the recipe.
**If you just spread frosting on the cupcakes (rather than piping), you’ll probably have a bit of frosting leftover.
***If you prepare these a day before, it’s best to place them into a covered container and refrigerate them. Remove them to room temperature a couple of hours before serving. Of course, they’re best if eaten the day they’re made.

Hope you all will enjoy these cupcakes.

Benjamin Birthday Party #2

Benjamin's 2nd birthday party at the Woodland Park Zoo was a success.  We had good food, good friends and a good time.  I didn't make a cake for this birthday party I opted to do cupcakes instead for my own sanity.  I did monkeys and lions for the cupcake theme.

 Love my Martha Stewart cupcake stand

These cupcakes were really easy.  All you need is:

Chocolate Frosting for the monkeys
Vanilla Frostng tinted with orange food coloring for the lions
pull-apart twizzlers for the lions mane and the monkey smile
chocolate sprinkles for the monkey hair
runts for the lion nose
black icing pen for the lion's whisker and smile
M&M's for the ears for the monkey and lion

I also made sugar cookies to go with the animal theme and frosted them with a delicious cooking icing and tied each cookie with cute animal parade ribbon I found at the fabric store.

Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe (recipe adopted from food.com)

Ingredients

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• assorted food coloring

Directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
2. Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

For the party favors, I made each kid a goodie bag with a book, animal print sunglasses, animal cookies, a personalized picture frame with each kid's name and an animal decal, and a safari hat. 

I think the birthday boy had a good time.  Time to think about next year, hmmmmm.

Benjamin's Birthday Party

Benjamin's 1st birthday party was a success, who knew that birthday parties were so exhausting.  It was well worth it and I look forward to his next party, which by the way will be cupcakes only, I will post those pictures next week. 

The birthday cake I chose to make was for a cake recipe I found on food.com for a White Almond Sour Cream Cake, which I modified to make a lemon cake.  I also knew that I wanted some sort of lemon filling so I made a lemon cream filling which was delicious.  The frosting was a vanilla buttercream icing.

The theme for Benjamin's birthday party is animals/safari since his big birthday party will be at the zoo. 

I topped the cake with the animal figurines I made out of fondant, which have been new and improved.

So I decided to do a two-tiered cake with a grass trim.  I made a palm tree out of an oreo stick tree trunk with paper palm tree leaves and a watering hole on the top.Here is the finished product, I apologize for the picture the cake shifted a little in transport, but you can get the picture. 



I also made a mini-cake for Benjamin and topped it with the zebra figurine.  I didn't quite get the smash cake picture I wanted but at least he touched the cake, lol.

This was Benjamin moments later

I had a great time making this cake for Benjamin and look forward to other opportunities to make other cakes.  Hope you enjoy!

1st attempt at Benjamin's birthday cake

I have found a new interest in decorating cakes with fondant.  I have found a few good links via google that make it look way easier than it really is.  I first started by making some fondant animals for Benjamin's birthday cake since we are having a zoo/safari theme.  I definately like the lion and the elephant the giraffe is a work in progress.

I then tried to make my own fondant which wasn't too bad.  All you need is marshmallows, water and powdered sugar, but the key is to not overmix which I unfortunately did.  I have had this grandeouse idea that I was going to make a three tiered birthday cake with homemade palm trees, a watering hole and all of the fondant figures, needless to say I am way over my head.  So the picture below is a scaled back version of my first attempt at Benjamin's cake.

To be continued.....