Cupcake Pull-A-Parts

Just some fun "cakes" I made recently. Both of these are made using my strawberry cupcakes. 

I made these for Memorial Day at work. 

These were for a wedding shower. 

Cranberry Maple White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the most delicious gooey cookies I have ever made.  I am not normally a cookie person, but I love these.  They are just the right amount of sweet and they STAY chewy! They have a fall flavor to them with the cranberries and maple syrup but are great any time. You can also adapt them for a more summer feeling by switching the maple syrup for corn syrup and using dried tropical fruit instead of cranberries. 

Recipe:

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp maple sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1/4 c cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c dried cranberries

1/2 c rolled oats

1/2 c sweetened coconut 

1/2 c white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Beat butter and both sugars until fluffy. Add the egg, maple syrup and vanilla.  Mix in half of the all purpose flour on low until combined. Add the other half.  Sprinkle the cake flour, baking soda and salt and beat until well blended. Stir in cranberries, oats, coconut and chocolate chips. 

Shape into 2" disks 1/2" thick. VERY important, cookies do not flatten if left in balls. Bake 15-16 minutes until are golden and centers are dry but soft. Flip halfway through to ensure even browning. Let cool one minute before transferring to cooling rack.  Store in airtight container. Can be stored in the  freezer. 

*If you don't like maple replace syrup for corn syrup. 

**These are also great with pecans or any other dried fruit mixed in. 

Evan's 2nd Birthday Party

As promised, I have pictures of my nephews 2nd birthday party. It was Elmo themed and he loved every minute of it! I made the cupcakes and gift bags. All Elmo products were bought from Party City.

Elmo Cupcakes:

These were chocolate cupcakes with butter cream frosting. The Elmo's were done using a grass tip for fur, half of one cookie from an Oreo, mini marshmallows for eyes, and a jumbo sprinkle for a nose. The others are a yellow butter cream with mini primary sprinkles. 

Cupcakes on Elmo tower

Table:
The table was decorated with a Sesame Street table cloth, balloons, Sesame Street blowers and party bags. The party bags were made using red bags, white and orange construction paper and marker for the mouth. I filled them with Sesame street crazy straws, hats and other small toys.

 Balloons:
You can never go wrong with balloons. Aside from it being almost 75 in the middle of march for his party, these were the entertainment for him. He played with them all day. I would recommend spending the money on a bunch for any small children's party, they cant get enough of them!

Pinata:
I got him a stand up Elmo pinata with pull strings. He loved it! It was very hard to pull the back open, my husband had to do the tugging while they "pulled" the string. He carried that thing around the rest of the day and my sister even reused it back home for his party there.

Cupcakes I've Been Working On

I have decided to write one post including all of my creations, rather than four separate ones. I have not been  able to do a whole lot of baking this spring, plus my camera was full and I put off emptying it until tonight. I hope you enjoy!

Peeps Sunflower Cake:

This is a chocolate cake with with a chocolate marshmallow frosting. I simply mixed one jar of fudge frosting with one 8oz jar of marshmallow creme. I placed the peeps in a ring around the outer edge with leaf tips between each one. Lastly I used chocolate sprinkles for the middle of the flower.

S'more Cake:
This cake was a left over cake. I had intended on making the sunflower cake above a two layer cake but the frosting was too gooey to fill the sides, it all ran out and down! No worries, I simply topped it as a s'more cake. It is the same chocolate cake with chocolate marshmallow creme frosting. I topped it with graham cracker crumbs and chocolate sprinkles. It could have used more crumbs along the edges for a true s'more taste, but the the frosting was too gooey and it was late. It was delicious though!!!

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes:
These I made for a girl at work on her last day. I made them very similar to my strawberry cupcakes. I used a box of white cake mix, some sort of juice ( I don't remember anymore, I think it was strawberry kiwi ) and white chocolate chips. They are topped with a raspberry whipped topping, white chocolate chips and a raspberry. Some in the back have sprinkles instead.

St. Patty's/Thin Mint Bundt Cake:
 I specifically made this for St. Patty's day, but it would be good any time. I used my chocolate bundt recipe. I replaced the chocolate chips for the semi-sweet mint chip blend found at the holidays. I topped it with the glaze, crushed Thin Mints, chocolate chip blend and green sprinkles.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream:

I made these for my girls weekend. They are a chocolate cupcake topped with buttercream and pink sanding sugar. The first round over-flowed and had huge tops, hence the crusty's on my pan. They were delicious though!

Chocolate Bundt

This was my first bundt cake and may I say, it was the moistest chocolate cake I have ever had!! My last trip to Target sent me over to the seasonal department, this is where I stock up on sprinkles and holiday themed bake ware. There I found a Nordicware bundt pan that matched all of my kitchen stuff. I had to buy it on the spot. Once I got it home, the only recipe I had was for a banana loaf specifically made for bundt pans. I was not in the mood for banana loaf so I asked dear hubby what he wanted and his response was chocolate. So there began my hunt for a chocolate bundt recipe.

I wanted one that was tried and well reviewed. I looked over many recipes and most of them called for buttermilk, which if you read by banana bread post know I HATE buttermilk! I finally came across a recipe that was a semi-homemade chocolate bundt. It was rated 5/5 stars by over 350 people with many photos and reviews. I thought I had hit the jack-pot, which after trying I know I did. I knew a well tested semi-homemade recipe would be perfect for testing out my new pan. I always get nervous for the first bake in a new pan, I never know how the pan will cook!

The cake turned out beautiful. It was slightly candied/crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. It was not as dense as I thought it would be, instead it was almost airy on the inside. The little bits of chocolate left little molten chocolate of heaven strewn throughout the cake. The glaze added that extra layer of chocolate but was completely extra, this cake would be delicious with just a sprinkling of icing sugar.

 As you can tell by my rambling, I am completely smitten with my perfect shade of blue bundt pan. I hope to post many more recipes in the upcoming weeks using this pan, including the banana bread recipe I have. I will also be hosting, decorating, cooking and baking for my nephew's second birthday in the upcoming weeks, so I apologize now for the Sesame Street/Elmo takeover that is immanent.

Cake and Nordicware Bundt Pan

Cake:
1 dark chocolate cake mix
1 4oz package of chocolate instant pudding mix
1-2 cups of chocolate chips (the recipe called for 2, I only used one for personal preference)
1 3/4 cups water
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour pan.
2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix and chocolate chips.
3. Combine water, eggs and vanilla.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. (I just used a spatula)
5. Fill pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.
6. Cool for 15-20 minutes before turning out, finish cooling on wire rack
7. Top according to your preference

Glaze:
1/3 cup cream
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat cream and vanilla until just before boiling
2. Pour over chocolate chips, let set for two minutes
3. Give a quick whip with a hand beater to ensure smooth texture
4. Pour over cake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

This cake has become my second favorite recipe, second to my strawberry champagne cake. This is a 4 layer cake technically, consisting of two cake rounds each filled with chocolate gnash. A peanut butter-marshmallow filling lies between the two cake rounds. The whole cake is covered with a chocolate gnash whipped topping. I use the peanut butter marshmallow fluff to decorate the cake and mini Reese's peanut butter cups for garnish.

Here you can see the peanut butter marshmallow filling.
You can also see the thin layer of gnash  in the middle of the cake.

This is what the cake looks like prior to frosting

Here is the frosted cake.

I decorated my cake with a simple shell base border.
The top border is rosettes topped with the mini Reese's cups.

I also added the mini Reese's cups along the bottom  border.

All packed up and ready to go!
I wish I could have cut into it to show you the layers,
but that will remain a mystery to you until you make it yourself.

S'more Truffles

I have made my second batch of truffles! This time I made plain chocolate truffles dipped in various toppings and s'more truffles. I used the same 1:2 cream to chocolate ratio for my gnash. These toppings included: cookies 'n' cream ice cream topping, toffee crunch ice cream topping, chocolate sprinkles and Valentine's day heart sprinkles.

I created the s'more truffle by rolling the gnash around a mini marshmallow and then rolling in graham cracker crumbs. I added the marshmallow by pushing my thumb into the gnash, making an indent for the marshmallow. I then molded the the chocolate around the rest of the marshmallow. Lastly, I rolled it in the crumbs.