2011 Cupcake Calendar

As many of you know my friend Melissa and I have been working on a little cupcake calendar project. It has been a fun and delicious time and we are done! We recieved our test calendar today and it is YUMMY!! We will be placing a large order this weekend and you can order it now! We came up with yummy flavors that are fitting for each month. Enjoy chocolate covered strawberry in February, root beer floats in June and caramel apple in October. All of these cupcakes are so easy to make, my friend Lilo and my little sister Kate who both are not bakers have impressed many with thier cupcake skills using these recipes! Sooo if you want to order a calendar go here
http://www.pieceofcakecalendars.blogspot.com/
If you are on facebook and want to check out all the pictures go here and become a fan
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/San-Antonio-TX/Piece-of-Cake/160968603935110

We had lots of fun doing this and if you like cupcakes and you need a 2011 calendar that is cute as can be, buy one!

Be Excited!

We are making a 2011 calendar of our 12 favorite cupcakes! Delicious pictures and recipes you won't want to miss out on!
Stay tuned...

Pumpkin Waffles with Pumpkin Cream and Buttermilk Syrup

I made this and posted it on my blog last October, but it was so delicious I made it again for Conference brunch and it was better than I had remembered so I thought I would put it here for all to enjoy again! Super Yummy and EASY!


Pumpkin Waffles:
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
2 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt- Ooops I actually forgot to use salt but it calls for unsalted butter which I didn't have so it balanced out...
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
* Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl, in separate bowl mix following wet ingredients
4 Eggs
1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
3/4 Stick Unsalted Butter
* Add wet ingredients to dry, stir well and make your waffles!
Pumpkin Cream Topping-
1 small pkg Instant Vanilla Pudding
1 15 oz can Pumpkin
1 tsp Pumpkin Spice
* Mix ingredients well, fold in 1 16 oz tub Cool Whip
Buttermilk Syrup-
1 Cup Sugar
1 Stick Butter
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla
*Add all ingredients except vanilla to large pot and bring to boil- this gets very foamy and quadruples in size- Boil for two minutes, remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir until the foam goes down otherwise the foam hardens and stays separated. If there is one thing I recommend making this month, this is it!

Coconut Lime and Snickerdoodle...

I am trying to diet, but there always seems to be a reason to make cupcakes. Tonight I signed up to take some dessert to Relief Society and Kev wants to take cupcakes to school Saturday so I decided to try out some more flavors... I went with the coconut lime and snickerdoodle. So as I am mixing and testing I sometimes forget what I add so I tried really hard to remember to measure what went into the mixes, but as you make these just taste the components to make sure they all taste delicious. I remember one of my teachers in school saying that if all the components of the product taste good then the product will probably taste good as well...


Coconut Lime Cupcakes:
1 Box white cake mix
3 Eggs
3 Tbsp Veg Oil
2/3 Cup Coconut Milk
1/3 Cup Lime Juice
1/3 Cup Water
1 Tbsp Coconut Extract
Zest of 2 limes

DO NOT make the cake as directed on box, just mix the above ingredients, fill cupcake cups 3/4 full and bake at 350 for 25-28 minutes- there is a little more liquid in these than the box suggest so it took longer to cook...
Meanwhile make lime glaze and icing.
Lime Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
2 Tbsp coconut milk
zest of 1 lime
Bring to boil and boil for about two minutes I think- I got a little distracted but it still worked out. glaze should be whitish and sweet with a zip of tartness
When cupcakes cool dip the tops in the glaze and while holding upside down shake off excess glaze, you just want a little layer on top of the cupcake.
Coconut Lime Frosting
1 8oz block Cream Cheese
2 sticks butter
1 lb + 1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp Coconut milk
1 Tbsp Coconut extract
Zest of two limes
Cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth, add flavors and sugar and zest mix till smooth, if it isn't stiff enough add more powdered sugar, however when I was making this though it seemed a little soft but my house was roasting so I just chilled it and it firmed up...
I colored my frosting green, but since the icing isn't really limey I think next time I will leave it white and just garnish with some green sugar sprinkles because I thought the lime green frosting with Toasted coconut looked gross...
These are good though, the sweet coconut frosting goes well with the tart lime glaze.

Snickerdoodle:
1 Box White or Yellow Cake mix- I actually made these with white cake but I think a butter yellow cake will taste better and am going to try that out tomorrow so I will update which is more delicious...
3 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1 Tbsp Cinnamon Extract
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
Make cake mix, fill cups almost to the top, (you want these to rise up bigger) and bake at 350 for 25-27 minutes.
When cooled I brushed the outer rim of the cupcake with melted butter and rolled the top in cinnamon sugar, brush excess sugar off the middle of the cupcake because the icing wont stick very well to the cupcake if there is a layer of sugar in between...
Cinnamon Icing
1 8oz block of Cream Cheese
2 sticks Butter
1 lb powdered sugar
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth, add powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Pipe onto middle of cupcake and garnish with half a snickerdoodle cookie. I just got the boxed mix from Pillsbury and made it really quick since the cookie garnish doesn't have to be the most stellar. However I do have a delicious snickerdoodle recipe that I may post later, who knows...
I think I am going to make a cupcake cookbook, nothing fancy just a little photo and recipe book on blurb but if you have any fun flavors you would like me to include just let me know and I will work out a recipe or way to make it delicious and fun.

More Cupcakes!

So I have played around with frosting a lot lately and this is my favorite base:
2 sticks butter
80z cream cheese
1 lb Powdered sugar
Any flavoring you like.
For peanut butter I added 1/2 cup peanut butter and took out 1 stick of butter, then added powdered sugar until it was a nice thick consistency.
For the Pink Lemonade frosting I added pink lemonade crystal light until is was deliciously tart and sweet.
For Coconut I just added coconut flavoring, it always turns out delicious, just make sure to cream the butter and cream cheese till it is smooth before adding the powdered sugar.

To decorate I used fondant flowers and sprinkles, but discovered that rolled out starbursts are a nice substitute if you don't want to make a big batch of fondant. However I don't think you can use starbursts for the babies face :)

For the binkies I melted down some lifesavers on parchment paper (spray the paper with cooking spray) in the oven on 350 for about 5 minutes until it was spread out thin, I took it out of the oven, and while it is still hot I used the big round end of frosting tips to cut the circles and quickly add a lifesaver to the melted candy and let cool.

Cup Cakes... Again

I do believe cupcakes are my favorite treats to make. I was inspired last week when my sister in law and I went to Sprinkles, I had the most delicious coconut cupcake! So when my hubby asked me to make some cupcakes to take to the hospital I knew I was going to do a coconut cupcake! I also did a Mega-Brownie for the third time and I think I have figured out a recipe I feel comfortable posting, and since someone requested chocolate chocolate I did just that, a chocolate-chocolate-chocolate...
I am not to the point where I make the cake from scratch, I don't have the time and I don't think it makes that big of difference...

20 COCONUT CUPCAKES
Grocery List: 1 box white cake mix (+ ingredients to make the mix), Coconut Extract, 2 Sticks Butter, 1/2 cup Crisco, 1 pound bag Powdered Sugar, 1 Bag Coconut flakes

Make the cake as directed, add 2tsp coconut extract to the mix, fill 20 cupcakes about 2/3 full- I don't do the full 24 because I like them a little bigger and round on top... Bake as directed, meanwhile make the coconut butter cream

COCONUT BUTTER CREAM
2 Sticks Butter (softened)
1/2 Cup Crisco
1 pound Powdered Sugar
2-3+ tsp Coconut flavoring- this is the yummy part where you taste to desired coconutty-ness!
2tsp milk- if needed, frosting should be pretty thick and stiff...

Once cupcakes are baked and cooled pipe or spread a thick layer of frosting on cupcake and roll top of frosting in coconut flakes to cover. DELICIOUS!

20 Chocolate-ChoCoLaTe-CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
Grocery List: 1 Box Triple Fudge Cake Mix (+ingredients to make cake), 1 bag Chocolate Chips, 1/4 cup Heavy Cream, 1 stick Butter, 1 8oz pkg Cream Cheese, Cocoa Powder, 1 bag powdered sugar
Make cake mix as directed and pour into 20 cupcakes 2/3 full, sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top of each cup cake- they will sink down as they bake- Bake as directed, meanwhile make the Frosting and ganache

GANACHE
1/2 bag chocolate chips in a glass bowl
1/4 cup Cream- Microwave for 1 minute and pour over chocolate chips, stir to melt. If the chips aren't totally melted boil a small pot of water and put bowl on top of water and stir till melted, remove from heat once chunks are melted.
Once the cupcakes are cooled dip the tops in the Ganache to get a nice cover over the top.
*if there is any ganache left over I use that to flavor the chocolate frosting instead of cocoa*

CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1 Stick softened butter
1 block softened Cream Cheese
1 bag powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa- again add this to taste to make is as chocolatey or mild as you wish
*Sometimes I add the melted chocolate ganache- so I don't end up wasting it*
Check the consistency of the frosting, it should be stiff enough to pipe and hold shape at room temperature, if it is too thick add a small dallop of sour cream or 2 tsp of cream.

Once the cupcakes are baked and cooled, and ganached and cooled, pipe a swirl of chocolate frosting on.

24 MEGA BROWNIE CUPCAKES- These are like the Ultimate Brownie cupcakes from Cocoa Bean- I dream about them sometimes!

Grocery List: 1 box fudgy brownie mix (+ ingredients to make the brownies), 2 8oz pkg Cream Cheese, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, small marshmallows, 2 sticks butter, 1/2 cup Crisco, 1 bag powdered sugar, Cocoa

Mix brownie mix and fill GREASED cupcake cups about 1/4 full. Mix 2 pkgs cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 2 eggs, cream till smooth. Spoon or pipe cream cheese on top of brownie until about 1/2 full. Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes. Cheesecake will be golden and cracked and knife will come out clean. Be sure to do the knife or toothpick test to make sure brownie is cooked all the way. Remove from oven and sprinkle tops with marshmallow. Return to oven and broil until marshmallows are golden, this only takes a minute!!! Remove from oven and cool. Make chocolate frosting, you can make the same frosting from the above recipe or make a simple chocolate butter cream.
SIMPLE CHOCOLATE BUTTER CREAM
1 stick butter
1/4 cup crisco
8 oz powdered sugar
2-3 TBSP cocoa
1 TBSP sour cream
Cream together, frosting should be thick and delicious, add cocoa to taste and more powdered sugar if it is runny or more sour cream if it is too thick.
Pipe a dallop of frosting and enjoy, man these are good!!!
*These are so good and I admit that I have strong feelings for them, like I want to be more than friends with them :)*

Baked Blackberry Brie

I love cheese! Almost any kind, but some of my favorites are Gouda, Boursin, Winsleydale with Cranberries, Javarti with dill, Gruyere and Brie. My favorite way to eat Brie is Baked with a jelly served on apples, we had this at my wedding I love it so much.
Grocery List:
Puff Pastry found in the frozen section
1 small Brie wheel
Any jelly you like

Use a knife or cheese cutter to cut the rind off the brie, I put my brie in the freezer for about an hour or two so that it wasn't so squishy as I tried to cut it off

Thaw out a sheet of puff pastry and lay it out. Put about 1/2 cup of jam in the middle and put the Brie on top of the jam

Fold the edges up and around, grease a cookie sheet, places the folded side down on the baking sheet, brush the crust with egg white or cream and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until golden brown


Delicious, enjoy on apples, crackers, or just plain!

Snickers Cake

This cake is addicting and I ate half the pan by myself!

1 box German Chocolate Cake + ingredients to make cake
1 stick Butter
7 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk
14 oz Caramels
6 oz Chocolate Chips
Pecan Pieces

In double boiler melt butter, caramels and sc milk. While mixture melts make cake according to box. Pour half of cake mix in a well greased 9x13 pan and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and pour caramel mix over cake as evenly as you can. Pour rest of cake mix over the caramel layer. Sprinkle chocolate chips and pecans over top and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until knife blade comes out clean.

This cake is good any time but it's my favorite the next morning as breakfast cake when the cake has cooled completely and the caramel sets up.... mmmmm pass the milk!!!

Cherry Nut Chicken Salad

One thing I miss most about my job is the free lunch. The Deli had some amazing Chicken Salad! My favorite was to get the Cherry Nut Chicken Salad on wheat bread with a smidgen of the Spicy Chicken Salad (it was extra spicy) smeared on top of the Cherry. I don't know the exact recipe but this is how I made my own
Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts
Crushed pineapple
Dried Cherries, I actually used Craisins because I didn't want to go buy Cherries
Pecan pieces
Mayonnaise

The amounts you use depend on how many servings you want to make, I use 1 chicken breast per serving and add the rest of the ingredients to my liking. I think I will make this in batches to last me all week and use 5-6 chicken breasts...

Boil the Chicken breast and cool off. Put chicken in a mixer- sounds weird but it breaks the chicken down nicely and easily-


Add about 1/4 cup crushed pineapple per chicken breast. Mix in desired amount of cherries and pecans, the more the merrier. Mix in mayonnaise until moist. Its like tuna, some people like lots of mayo, some a little, mix it how you like it.

This is delicious on a sandwich, on lettuce and spinach, or straight up plain. Enjoy!!!
For the spicy Chicken version instead of pineapple cherry and pecans add bacon, Serrano peppers, and cilantro, chop the three in a food processor before stirring into chicken.

Pink Sugar Cookies

I love most cookies, and when it comes to sugar cookies as long as there is frosting I am not picky, but these are by far my favorite!

Sugar Cookies
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup melted butter
Cream together, add
2 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup milk
Mix well
In seperate bowl mix:
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
Add dry ingredients to mixture and mix completely
Mixture will be very sticky, it's okay it's just because the butter was melted
Refrigerate for 4 hours
Roll out on floured surface, you may need to add extra flour if dough is too sticky
Cut in shapes
Bake 350 10-12 minutes, until edges are light brown

Pink Frosting
1 package cream cheese (8oz)
1 stick butter
2-4 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tbsp milk
***just add powdered sugar and milk until desired consistency and taste***
food coloring of choice, I prefer pink
Yummy Yummy, Enjoy!

Mug Cake

This cake is different but its a fun quick little dessert for two, maybe for your sweet Valentine! From nothing to belly in about five minutes...


4 Tbsp Flour
4 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
A dash of salt
1 egg
3 Tbsp Milk
3 Tbsp Oil
Dash of Vanilla
4 Tbsp Chocolate Chips


Mix dry ingredients in a mug. stir in egg, mix well. add wet ingredients, stir well. Stir in 3 Tbsp Chocolate Chips. Pour remainder of chips on top. Microwave for 3 minutes, Cake will rise up out of cup, but no worries. After its done pull it out, run a knife around the edge and dump on a plate. The texture of this cake is different. Spongy. But it tastes pretty good and its super fun and duper easy.
Yummy with ice cream!!!

Chicken Caprese Panini

I love a good Caprese Salad. Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, some basil or pesto and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I also love Sandwiches, in this case paninis. I have been craving a caprese panini, but since I was making this for dinner and Kevin likes meat for dinner I decided to add some chicken... These turned out AWESOME!

INGREDIENTS:
Choice of Bread. If I had the time I would make some soft Foccacia but without the time to bake my own bread I just used Walmarts flat sandwich rounds found in their bakery.

Sliced Tomatoes
Sliced Fresh Mozzarella
Pesto Spread- you can make your own pesto with fresh basil, olive oil and pine nuts but I just got the spread at the store.
1 Chicken Breast
Balsamic Vinegar



Marinate the chicken in some Balsamic Vinegar. I just pan fried the chicken but you can throw it on a grill. If you cook it in a pan add a little balsamic and water so the vinegar doesn't just burn. I tried cutting the chicken in half and also in strips. I found that cutting it in half was best and actually for round two of the sandwiches I used one chicken breast for two sandwiches, it depends on the size of the chicken.

Spread the Pesto on one side of bread- or both if you're feeling wild.
place sliced mozzarella and tomatoes on top of pesto spread. I don't have a panini press so I just use my George Foreman and it is awesome for paninis. If you don't have a George Foreman or a press you can just use a frying pan and flatten it with a another pan or a spatula.
After the mozzarella is melty and the bread is crusty pull it off the grill and add the chicken. The first time I made these I put the chicken on before cooking the sandwich and the juices pressed out of the chicken and made the bread soggy so it is just better to add the meat at the end.

ENJOY YOUR SANDWICH, THESE WERE YUMMY YUMMY!!

Pizza Loaf

This is not gourmet. It is not a classy dish for a Sunday get together. This is, however, something you can make if your husband is installing recessed lighting in the kitchen and the room is covered in plastic, dust and tools. It only takes one pan and is super easy. As kids we used to make biscuit pizzas all the time, this time I just layered it all in a loaf pan...

Preheat oven to 350
You need:
2 Tubes of biscuits- the cheap kind that come in packs of 4 for like $1.29
1 Can Pizza Sauce
Cheese
Pepperoni- or any topping you like

The process is quite easy, spread 8 biscuits along the bottom of the pan

Next, layer sauce cheese and toppings-

Layer more biscuits, for the rest of the layers I just did four biscuits flattened to fill the space, the biscuits in the middle won't cook all the way if they are too thick. Continue with sauce and cheese and toppings. Bake 35-40 minutes.


I like to dip in in a ranch pizza sauce mix... mmmmmmm pizzzzaaaaa....

CuppyCakes

I absolutely love cupcakes. I love the size. I love the variety. I love the taste. Really what isn't there to love about a cupcake... Oh ya, the cost of a cupcake at a cupcakery. I don't have anything against a delicious cupcakery. My friend is head decorator at So Cupcake in SLC and she is amazing. I had extra delicious cupcakes from a spot in Provo across from Provo Towne Center Mall. My first Cupcakery experience was in Vegas and the cupcakes there were worth every penny. But then I went to a cupcake shop here in San Antonio- I won't give a name because A: I don't remember it and B: I think they are out of business now anyway; I was really excited when I found this place, but when I went in they didn't have many cupcakes on display, just the names written on a chalkboard. I ordered a S'mores cupcake and $2.75 later I was handed a small chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing spread on by a knife, dusted with graham cracker crust, and topped with a tiny unroasted marshmallow. I was less than impressed. I created my own S'more Cupcake and a delicious Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake. So to start out the new year try out these Yummies!



S'MoReS CupCaKes (Makes 24)
ONE BOX CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX(I used swiss chocolate but any chocolate flavor is fine)
24 HERSEY KISSES(optional)
36 LARGE MARSHMALLOWS
12 GRAHAM CRACKERS
1 CUP CHOCOLATE CHIPS-I love the Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips
Make mix as box instructs.
Before baking I topped each cup of batter with a Hershey Kiss. It doesn't make a drastic difference but adds a little bit of chocolaty richness. Bake according to box.
After baked transfer to cookie sheet and top each cupcake with 1 large marshmallow cut in half (place cut side down so it sticks to the cupcake, plus the powdered side roasts better. Place tray on middle rack in oven and broil for about a minute, keeping eye on them so they don't burn!
Pull out cupcakes and top immediately with chocolate chips and half a Graham Cracker. The Graham Cracker may not stick the best but it will as the chocolate underneath melts and cools. I topped each Graham with another half of marshmallow and broiled for about thirty seconds more til mallow was toasty but careful not to burn the Graham, remove from oven and top with a chocolate chip.

These are just as fun and messy to eat as a real Smore!!




PeANut BuTTer CupCaKEs Makes 24
1 BOX CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX
2/3 CUP PEANUT BUTTER
1/3 CUP POWDER SUGAR
Mix PB and Powder Sugar mixture should be dry enough to mold with hands, if not add more Powder sugar. Form 24 little balls. Make batter as directed. Fill cups and place a peanut butter ball on top of batter (it will sink as cupcakes bake).
Bake and cool.
PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING:
(Usually when I make frosting I eyeball it so here are the measurements if its too runny add more PB and Powder sugar, if its to stiff add a little cream. This should come out pretty stiff for piping).
2 TBSP SOFTENED BUTTER
1/2 CUP PEANUT BUTTER
2 CUPS POWDERED SUGAR
2-4 TBSP HEAVY CREAM
Beat together till smooth and creamy with stiff peaks
Pipe onto cupcakes.