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!