Eat your Heart out Hostess!

Hostess Cupcake Look-Alikes

So, I decided to make the Hostess Cupcakes for a bake sale at work to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Dark chocolate cake with a light vanilla filling inside... the best part? Sans preservatives. Dipped in a chocolate ganache top. Hand drawn squiggles on top.. So cute.. and for a good cause!

Go Big Red!!

Throw the Bones

Chocolate Footballs

Who doesn't love Husker football, and cupcakes?  Well, these little beauties were inspired by the Nebraska defense, the Blackshirts.  I created a "throw the bones" mix for the top with bones, and red and black sanding sugars. The others had homemade chocolate footballs--all with homemade chocolate and vanilla buttercreme frosting!  They  made a huge hit at the tailgating party! GO BIG RED!!!  Can't wait for football season to roll around again!

Cupcakes for Breakfast? Yes, please!

It has been a long time since I have blogged.. and a lot of baking has happened-- for sure! In October, I did a pancake flavored cupcake with a maple buttercreme frosting... topped with crispy bacon crumbles.  Embellished with, you guessed it... Chocolate covered bacon.  The perfect combination of sweet and salty-- I can't think of a better way to start the day! Delish!

La la la la... La la la la... Elmo cupcakes! Cookie Monster, too...

I haven't updated in awhile... but that doesn't mean I haven't baked anything! I did some cupcakes for a friend's son's 2nd birthday party. He has quite the love for Elmo and Cookie Monster.  I did some Elmo and Cookie Monster mini cupcakes for him, and then did a traditional cupcake tree with a giant cupcake on the top, in a red candy wrapper! They all were a big hit! I was pleased with how it all turned out, considering I have never tried to do these monsters before... Happy Birthday, Jack!!

Cupcake Trees and Carousel Cake

Well, the carnival graduation party is over, and I lived through the carousel cake.  It did, however, reaffirm my love for the cupcake. They are so much easier, and cuter--in my opinion. I had more fun making the cupcakes, with way less stress.  But everything turned out, and everyone was happy with the outcome.  I, on the other hand, still have two inches of frosting on my counters to contend with--it was a very, very busy weekend!  I made the cupcake tower myself--it held mini cupcakes with vanilla buttercreme and stars, clown cupcakes and vanilla cupcakes with the salted carmel popcorn  buttercreme and cotton candy buttercreme.   The carousel was a 12" vanilla cake on the top tier, and the bottom was two 14" chocolate cakes!  It was a HUGE cake!   Here are a few pictures of the end products.

Once I get my kitchen back in order, I have an "Iron Cupcake" challenge from a co-worker--they want me to incorporate bacon into cupcakes.  This should be interesting!

Gimme S'more!

With the nicer weather upon us, it's getting to be camping season for a lot of people... and when I think about camping, I think about campfires, and when I think about campfires, I think about roasting marshmallows, and when I think about roasted marshmallows, I think about S'mores!  So, I decided to try a S'mores cupcake-- it has a graham cracker bottom (kinda like a jello no-bake cheesecake would have) and then chocolate cake, then sprinkled with the left over graham cracker crust for topping...then iced with a gooey marshmallow icing, sprinkled with more graham crackers and then a piece of chocolate....I need to get me a kitchen torch so that the next batches can have the fire, burnt topped goodness.... I suppose I can use the broiler, but I would prefer to have a sweeeet new kitchen gadget to play with!  These give you the taste of a s'more without the bother of smelling like smoke for days from a campfire...BONUS! They are quite tasty...problem is, eating only one.

Da Bomb!!!!

So, what would make a cupcake better? What makes most things better?  Booze, of course!  The Irish Carbomb cupcakes--named for the drinks have plenty...making them the most expensive cupcakes I have ever made in my life--not to mention, the most time consuming, the most requested, etc.... Anyhow-- they start with a Guinness stout chocolate cupcake, with a chocolate ganache center with a sneaky peek of Jameson Irish Whiskey stirred in, topped off with a Bailey's Irish Creme frosting.  Sounds odd, I know, but they smell and taste amazing! If you aren't Irish, you want to be Irish and if you sample enough of the drinks while baking them, you just might believe that you are!