Red, White, & Blue Cupcakes

I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4^th! I spent the day at a friend’s house for a little BBQ. It was oppressively hot, but I had a great time.

My contribution to the gathering was of course dessert. I brought some red, white, & blue cupcakes.

Why I thought baking in the middle of a heat wave was a good idea, is beyond me! The original inspiration came from something Grace had pinned.

Source

I thought the bundt cake (originally from Betty Crocker) was super cute. I don’t have a bundt cake pan, so I decided to try it in cupcake form. 

I gathered up my supplies - not much needed for this recipe!

I whipped up the cake batter and separated it into three bowls. In one bowl I added blue food coloring. In the second bowl I added (a lot) of red food coloring and the third bowl I left as is.

Next it was time to layer the batter. Red went in first. I put about 1 ½ tablespoons in each cupcake liner.

I did the same with the white batter.

I finished up with the blue batter.

As you can see not every cupcake was perfect, but that’s okay!

I baked them according to the directions. Here’s how they looked out of the oven:

Once they were cooled, I placed them on a wax paper lined baking sheet.

Aren't they so cute?

I scooped a little bit of icing into a bowl and microwaved it for about 10 seconds. That allowed me to just drizzle the icing onto the cupcakes.

Then I scooped a bit more icing out, microwaved it, added some blue food coloring, and drizzled that as well. I finished up by doing the same thing again, this time with red food coloring.

Unfortunately, my red icing was more on the pink side, but you get the idea.

I think they are adorable!

The Verdict: These were a hit! The cake itself was fluffy and light. They made a big impression but were pretty easy to make. I would definitely make these again.

Things to Note/Consider: I wouldn't really change a thing with this recipe. Honestly it was very easy to do. I did use many bowls –making clean up a pain in the rear. Also, prepare to use A LOT of red food coloring. I must have put at least 15-20 drops in the white icing and it still came out pink. 

I'm glad I used plain white cupcake liners. I would suggest doing the same. It was nice to be able to see the layers through the liners. 

Easter Recap

This post might be a little shorter than I originally planned. Over the weekend Joe dismantled our office and therefore our computer in order to get started on finally making it look nice (see home-related goals.) As a result I am on the laptop now with limited access to pics and no photoshop. I am going to do the best that I can with the pics still on my memory card...

I got home from work a little early on Friday afternoon and had a little photoshoot with JJ. Here are some choice outtakes:



Yes, I bribe my son with water bottles.



"Ok, enough of this Mom"

I decided to use this one and add a cute message. I printed out a couple copies to give to family we would see, and emailed it out to those we would not:

Saturday I started baking. My intent was to create this adorable "Carrot Cake" as seen in this pin:


Source: The Partiologist

using some sugar free (and therefore diabetic friendly) cake mixes I searched for. My plan was to use this recipe for the carrots and this one for the chocolate cake. My first issue was that I couldn't find an extra long loaf pan anywhere. So I went for the deepest cake pan I could find at (where else?) Michaels and after some brainstorming with Joe we thought to make two rows of carrots and just cut the cake down the middle. I should have seen the disaster coming at this point. I made the orange cake Saturday, let it cool, then used a pennant cookie cutter I had some a sports pack to cut triangles:

It was very very messy and pretty frustrating. But I soldiered on and froze the little carrots and before I went to put froze them in the pan. In between, I whipped up some puffy sugar cookies knowing that I would have some sort of backup. They came out delish:

Sunday morning, after JJ explored his basket:

You like our "babyproofing" of the fireplace opening? "Use what you got" is the motto in this house!

I set out to make the chocolate cake. I mixed it up, boiling water, chocolate shavings and all...

and poured it over the carrots. I have no pictures of this because it was a mess. They didn't really "stick" to the pan so they floated up a bit when I poured. Also, the chocolate cake batter didn't cover the tops of them. Still, I cleaned it up best I could and threw it in the oven. It took almost an hour for it to cook completely. By then, the carrots that had floated up were hard and it was very misshapen. I took a break from the whole thing and let Joe try and save it. I then made this icing following the tips in the comments by warming up the milk to dissolve the pudding mix and I still ended up with lumpy icing. This, I am ashamed to say, is the final product:

I bought oreos to make a "dirt" topping and cute little fondant leaves, but after two days of baking and this was the best I could get, I gave up on making it pretty.

I will say, though, that when cut correctly, it did make a carrot (sort of):



Although my baking was a frustrating mess, overall our Easter was lovely. I took a vacation day on Monday and the family just recovered, relaxed and enjoyed some playground time. I will leave you with a pic of my little man rocking his sweater vest and bunny bib while playing with his new toothbrush (if only he actually liked getting his teeth brushed!):

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend! 

They're Always After Me Lucky Charms...

Joe, JJ, and I had an annual St Patrick's Day Party to attend this past weekend. It snowed on Friday, but the skies cleared and it was sunny, warm, and over 50 degrees for Saturday afternoon. Last year I made Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting but I didn't want to repeat the same thing. Luckily I had pinned these fun looking Lucky Charms Cupcakes a month or so ago:


Source: Just Call Me Maria

It doesn't look like Maria is actively blogging anymore, but she also posted about some mint bailey's brownie bites last year that also look tasty if you want to check them out.

I had limited time Saturday morning so I actually baked up the cupcakes Friday night. I started by crushing up 1/2 cup of the cereal pieces and pulling out the marshmallows:

I was definitely eating the marshmallow as I was going along - that little bowl needed to be refilled!

When I realized that 1/2 cup whole pieces does not equal 1/2 cup of crushed pieces, I had to do it all over again and crush up some more. Not really a big deal because the rest of the recipe is easy. I added the cake mix, eggs, vanilla, sour cream, milk, and oil to my mixer and had it going for about a minute.

Then I slowly started adding the green food coloring drops. I used about 20, but it could have used a bit more.

Once it was all mixed thoroughly, I folded in the cereal pieces and divided it into lined cupcake pans.

Gently folding in the crushed cereal pieces

 

Here they are fresh out of the oven

You can sort of see the cereal pieces in them.

I let them cool and stored them in an airtight container until I made the frosting Saturday afternoon. The frosting was pretty easy, just a little sticky and messy. Start by beating the butter, fluff, vanilla, and 2 cups of the powdered sugar:

mmmmm, butter

And then gradually add in the rest of the sugar at 1/2 cup intervals.

Once it was done, I piped it on the cupcakes, sprinkled on some green sugar, and right before we left I added the marshmallow pieces on top.

All ready for their sprinkles and marshmallow!

Here are a couple shots of the final product:

 

 

 I also typed up a quick label and taped it to the bottom of the cupcake holder - that way everyone would know what they were grabbing without having to hunt someone down and ask. It took maybe 3 minutes and I thought it would be helpful.

 

The Verdict: I have got to be honest, I never got a chance to actually taste a completed cupcake. I ate one of the cupcakes Friday night, and taste tested the frosting while making it, but I never ate an assembled version. By the time I was ready to grab one at the party, they were gone. Considering it was only a little more than an hour after we got there, I think that means they were a hit. The cake alone was tasty and light (I think the secret is the sour cream), but to be honest I didn't really taste the cereal pieces. The frosting was good, but very sweet (13oz of Fluff and 4.5 cups of powdered sugar is a lot!). I think the cake with it would have helped balance it out, but I can't say for sure.

 

Things to Consider: I have never worked with Fluff before. To be honest, I have never before even purchased a jar of it. I do not know why I was surprised, it is marshmallow afterall, but it was very very sticky. And because of all the Fluff and all of that powdered sugar, I thought the frosting wasn't going to work out. I thought there was too much dry and not enough wet ingredients, but it came together in the end. And I think the consistency of it was probably the best I have ever made in terms of piping ease. It wasn't too stiff that it would be too hard to squeeze out, but it wasn't too wet that it dripped all over the place. Also, for some reason, my cupcakes never really rose that much. I am not sure if I over or underfilled the cups or make some other error, but they were a little flat.

 

I will definitely have to try these again so I can get a taste. There were a lot of kids at the party (which is another reason I wanted to avoid a boozy baked good) and they all seemed to enjoy them. Before I leave, here's a little pic of me and my boy from the party. Please ignore the bruise on his head, he was running around like a wild man and not really watching his step. Happy (early) St. Patrick's Day Party everyone!

 



 

 

Lucky Charms Cupcakes

from Just Call Me Maria

1 box white cake mix

3 eggs

¾ cup sour cream

¾ cup milk

1/3 vegetable oil
½ tsp vanilla extract

½ cup finely crushed Lucky Charms (cereal pieces only, no marshmallows)

~25 drops green food coloring

Marshmallow Buttercream

4 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup room temperature unsalted butter

1 (13 oz) container marshmallow fluff

Optional: Green sprinkles

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners.
2. In a large bowl blend cake mix, eggs, sour cream, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
3. Mix in drops of green food coloring until desired color is achieved.
4. Mix in finely crushed Lucky Charms crumbs until combined.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter and bake 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
6. Take cupcakes out and let cool completely.
7. In a medium bowl beat room temperature butter with an electric mixer.
8. Add two cups of the powdered sugar, the vanilla, and the marshmallow fluff and mix until smooth. Continue to add the powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, mixing between each addition.
9. Pipe onto each cooled cupcake. Top with green sprinkles and a Lucky Charms marshmallow (do not top with Lucky Charm marshmallow until ready to eat*).

Tip: Marshmallow buttercream may become difficult to mix. If it becomes too stiff, stop adding powdered sugar and finish mixing by hand. *The Lucky Charms will get mushy and loose their crispness if they remain on top of the frosting too long before eating.


Egg Free Dough Dips

Shannon's Funfetti Cake Batter Dip is one of our post popular posts ever (her coconut oil hair treatment is getting pretty popular now too) - its not surprising, who wouldn't want to eat cake batter as a treat? Since we live a couple states apart, I never got to try it. I came across this pin from Willow Bird Baking awhile back and figured I would get to try a cake batter dip and a couple others as well.

They are all egg free so they are intended to be consumed raw.*

The annual Wine and Cheese Christmas Party I have with my girlfriends every January seemed like the perfect time to try them out. You may remember last year I made these chocolate gooey butter cookies for the same party.

I started with the chocolate chip cookie dough dip.

 

After I creamed the butter and sugar together, I added the dry ingredients. It was super powdery and I was afraid I was off to a bad start.

 

 

But after what I think was 4 tablespoons of water (added one at a time), I got a nice consistency. I made it a littler runnier than what cookie dough should be in hopes that it would be easier to dip.

 

Here it is all pretty and on my serving dish:

The other two dips went pretty much the same. Here's a pic of the powdery stage of the sugar cookie dip:

 

That powdery mess turned into this delicious looking dip:

I definitely used a little more than the 2 tablespoons from Julie's recipe. Lastly was the cake batter dough:

It looks almost the same as the sugar cookie dough but you can see the sprinkles in there. This one used more water than called for as well. Here is the final cake batter product:

Here they are all together. I had the perfect three-slot dish I use for my Christmas dinner mashed potato and sweet potato bar fixings. Don't they look delicious??

When I was at the store grabbing the funfetti cake mix, I picked up some chocolate teddy grahams, pretzels, and vanilla wafers as dippers.

The Verdict: They were absolutely delicious and possibly addicting. I heard a lot of "they remind me of dunkaroos" which just brought me back to middle school. I am not the only one who would take the tiniest amount of frosting with each cracker and then on the last one take the entire scoop of the frosting that was left, am I?

Things to consider: They were a little more work than Shannon's first post, but still pretty easy. With the exception of the cake batter dip, I had everything else I needed in my pantry. They were a bit on the hard side for dipping (I had them in the fridge after I made them but thought they would thaw out a bit on my drive to Hoboken). I was afraid the sugar cookie and funfetti doughs would taste too similar, but they had two distinct tastes. Also, each batch made a little less than double what you see here. What I couldn't fit got sent to my cousin Claire's new house on her move in day (remember her Now-and-Later Cookies housewarming gift?) for her and her helpers. All in all, I will definitely be making these again, maybe for a future book club.

As always, the party was a fun time. Thanks for hosting Mary Claire! I thought I was slick by "stealing" a gift this year but joke was on me, it was stolen from me too. I had a brand new silpat mat (side note: anyone have any experience with those? should I invest in one?) and cupcake carrier in my hands before it was taken. I wound up with a great gift in the end: a bottle of prosecco, a gift certificate for a great restaurant, and an excuse to go back to Hoboken for brunch!

Egg Free* Dough Dips
from Julie at Willow Bird Baking

Chocolate Chip:
Yields: about 1 1/2-2 cups cookie dough
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (a few people have found this to be too much; if you want, just add a pinch and increase to taste. I add the full 1/2 teaspoon and enjoy it!)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (again, you might want to add this a teaspoon at a time to taste. I add the full tablespoon and enjoy it!)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
water
Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the flour, salt, vanilla and chocolate chips. Add water one tablespoon at a time (stirring between each) until the dough reaches cookie dough consistency.


Sugar Cookie:
Yields: about 1 1/2-2 cups cookie dough
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1-2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in flour and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency.


Cake Batter:
Yields: about 1 1/2-2 cups cookie dough
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sprinkles
4-8 tablespoons water
Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in salt, flour, cake mix, sprinkles, and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency.

*Julie does use the following disclaimer which I guess I should repeat. Clearly, though, I was not concerned: "Note: Since posting this recipe, scientisty types have also found that raw flour — just like produce — can carry E.coli if it’s been contaminated with it. This article suggests that the risk is even smaller than the tiny risk of getting Salmonella from eating cookie dough with raw eggs, but it’s still there and I wanted you to know about it. "