Auburn Neapolitan Cupcakes

I recently was asked to make some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing for a friend. However, when I made them, I think I may have added too much liquid, so they ended up...ummm...not right. Tasting OK, but I would never deliver them to anyone & be all right with it.

But somewhere it made me start thinking that I might be able to try a red velvet icing...hmmm...

So I baked vanilla cupcakes with a strawberry flavored buttercream icing, topped with a red velvet buttercream. I call them Auburn Neapolitan Cupcakes! Like the ice cream, but with red velvet instead...so it's auburn...like my hair!

This time around, my red velvet icing attempt didn't set well, so I need to keep the cupcakes very cold! I added a little bit of sour cream...however, I think I got fat free sour cream, so it was separating within the frosting. Bummer. Cuz the flavor is really good!

They need a couple of tweaks, but the flavor is pretty good! Apparently...they taste like ice cream for sure!

S'More Cupcakes

Well, Happy National S'mores Day, everyone!

How should we celebrate such a day when it's too hot to sit around a campfire to toast your marshmallows? You make 'em into cupcakes, that's what!

I have wanted to make these for quite some time now. But my Rocky Road Cupcakes kept distracting me. But I had to be focused enough to make these cuties...so I did!
I made a rich devil's food chocolate batch of cupcakes with a crushed graham crust on the bottom of each cake. I left space in the middle to put my filling in...my marshmallow buttercream that I finally made on my tweaked Rocky Road cupcakes. I wanted to top these off with a couple of mini marshmallows...but then discovered that someone ate my mini marshmallows. Bummer. I had planned on toasting the marshmallows on top, but attempted to toast the marshmallow buttercream. It slightly melted into a film on top, but not the results I'd hoped for. I then made a delightful chocolate buttercream to surround the filling. I sprinkled a little more crushed graham on top & placed a Hershey bar piece in the center for the perfect garnish.
They are so adorable & so yummy! I want to make these again when I have some mini marshmallows to toast on top.

On that note...I wish you Happy National S'mores Day again, and hope you had a chance to have s'more, too!

Rocky Road Cupcakes - Tweaked

When I made root beer float cupcakes for my boys, I had to make something that my daughter & I could eat since we don't like root beer.

She had been wanting some Rocky Road Cupcakes that I have done before, but I felt it needed a bit of a tweak & I am very happy with how they came out!
Instead of just marshmallow fluff this time, I made a marshmallow buttercream for the filling! Oh, yes I did! Tried it after the marshmallow fluff expanded & dripped everywhere last time; the buttercream seemed to give it much better stability. I kept the almond crust at the bottom of each cake, then topped each with a ring of chocolate buttercream, mini marshmallows & sliced almonds on top. I baked these beauties in elegant black & gold baking liners.

Gourmet & Gorgeous!

PB&J Cupcakes - Tweaked

I recently baked my PB&J cupcakes again, this time adding the strawberry filling, too, along with the grape jam filling I used before.

I also made a PB&J buttercream to go along with their respective flavors.

Next time...I may add a pie-like crust to the bottom, much like I used with the blackberry cobbler cupcakes!

It's so much fun tweaking & playing to make possible upgrades!

Oh, these were taken for a church potluck & then again for a church meeting. They were finished off & people were "smuggling" some home with them. I'd say they went over pretty well!

Popcorn Cupcakes

When I made my cornbread cupcakes, it was to tide me over until I could try to make popcorn cupcakes! I wanted to do them ever since I found the red & white striped cupcake liners that made me think of a popcorn box. I have also seen some super cute popcorn decor for them online (which I used), but, if you haven't yet figured out, I have to go beyond that & make the cupcakes TASTE like popcorn, too! But how?

I used white cake mix & popped some salted popcorn. I then added margarine to it to help break it down a bit & give it a great buttery flavor. Then it went directly to the batter, handpicked to make sure no unpopped kernels made it into the cupcakes.

When those baked up, I made sure to use my filling "corks" to make way to fill the centers with a coconut buttercream. After I filled the popcorn cupcakes with the coconut buttercream, I spread a layer of it on top of each cake. This would be the "glue" for mini marshmallow topper. As I learned from other sites, you take the marshmallows & rip them in half; take 2-3 (3 works best) of the torn pieces, squish them together & it forms a "kernel". After each "kernel" was formed, I placed them all over the top of each cupcake, making sure to secure them to the icing. When the top of the cupcake was covered (about 15 "kernels" per cake), I had to take it a step further...I sprayed the tops with butter-flavored cooking spray.

It took 2 hours to arrange the tops of 24 cupcakes, but it did look like movie popcorn!

Not only to they look like a tub of movie popcorn, but it has a really great taste that isn't too sweet & isn't too over-the-top. I used the coconut in the buttercream to be reminiscent of the movie days of using coconut oil to pop the corn. YUM!

However, since there is actual popcorn in it...keep some floss around...you still get the fun pieces stuck in your teeth.

Banana Yellow Cupcakes

This round of cupcakes holds a very special place in my heart. Since I've started creating & baking my cupcakes recently, my 6-year-old son got inspired to create one, too! So, we made his very own Banana Yellow Cupcakes!

When he told me about them, he had it all planned out: banana cupcakes with a filling of banana slices, topped with yellow icing & yellow sprinkles. That boy knows what he wants! And then he asked if we could bake them in the foil liners that I used for the Outer Space Cakes. Why not? It's his creation!

They came out beautifully moist, absolutely adorable & totally tasty!! My hubby has proclaimed them to be one of his favorites. And my son helped me with pretty much every step of it! He made his own cupcakes!

So proud of him! And I love that my inspirations inspired him right back. In turn, it has inspired me back again for an upcoming cupcake I want to try.

Rocky Road

Boy can I ever get in the mood for chocolate! This happens fairly often.

I had an idea to make S'more cupcakes. Don't worry, folks...they are coming! But then I got spontaneous thought to do Rocky Road ones instead! I'm not big on nuts, but I love me some almonds! Chocolate? Almonds? Add marshmallow? Yes, please!

These cakes are devil's food cupcakes that have marshmallow filling. There is also an almond "crust" on these babies, then I topped each one with some chocolate icing with a fluffy marshmallow center & topped with more sliced almonds!

I would like to let you know...they are REALLY good! And they hit the spot for that chocolate fix I needed!

Hope Cakes

For Dr. Seuss' Birthday, when I made Seussy Cakes, I also made Pink Ink to drink...just like the Yink! LOL! Pink Ink consisted of me making a gallon of a strawberry pink lemonade concoction...it was pretty good, if I do say so myself! When my 14-year-old drank it, she told me, "*gasp* This tastes like hope feels." She got the amazing line from a book she was reading at the time, Paper Towns by John Green. But it got me thinking...a pink drink = hope. What a beautiful tie-in to breast cancer awareness!

Like many of us, we have had some sort of connection to breast cancer. I know of a couple of friends who have been through it, plus some family...and even some scares that makes you VERY aware! I am so glad they are OK now...PRAISE GOD...but it is never really over, and we must learn that it can truly happen to ANY of us...even you, gentlemen...

So...if that drink "tastes like hope feels"...then why can't I place that hope in cake form? DUH!

So I made strawberry pink lemonade-flavored cakes (based on my slushie cakes) with a strawberry filling, topped with a light strawberry-infused icing & a bright cherry ribbon on top.

I first made these for Mother's Day to take with us to my grandmother's house where we were going to have ALL mom's together! And I thought it was important since my mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor, my mom, where a couple of her sisters have had issues, and an extra scare within the family that we are still keeping an eye out on.

Well, we went to church first & then had to head straight to my grandmother's from there. Well, I wasn't thinking about it being over 80 degrees out that morning...and all of the icing melted into the cupcakes. I was devastated! Never even thought that through since we were running behind that morning. I thought I had some pix of my failures, but I guess I didn't. I wanted to show how sad they were & where my learning curve is for my cupcakes. I'm more sad that I can't share my tasty failures than I am sharing about them. But they still tasted pretty good.

So...I did redo my Hope Cakes & baked them in some adorable cupcake baking liners I found that are PERFECT! Pink swirl liners with bright pink cupcakes & a hot pink "ribbon" on top! I think it makes a statement. I also have displayed them in a new toy: a 4-tier dessert tray. I am much happier now.

And, on another note...our Pink Ink also goes by Hope Juice.

So...these are totally done in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness & for the survivors & fighters. Please be sure to check yourself...it could save your life!

Reese's Cupcakes

When I started making my cupcakes with the little hole for a filling, I noticed the little hole was about the perfect size for a Mini Reese's peanut butter cup. So...the wheels started turning...

I made a devil's food chocolate cupcake with a mini peanut butter cup (yes, Reese's) in the center with a peanut butter & chocolate icing.

If you are like me, you are an honest believer that peanut butter & chocolate are one of the most amazing couples to ever have gotten married! These cupcakes are total proof of that!

Raspy Strawmonade Cupcakes

Well, yesterday was Easter. When we gather to eat with our friends & family, it's a great time to bring out the grilling & barbecue entrees & fabulously light side dishes. Perfect time for veggies, salads, fruits, jellos, etc. It's also a great time to pull out some springy light & bright desserts, too!

So, for our 3 family gatherings yesterday, I made Raspy Strawmonade Cupcakes! They are lemonade cupcakes with a tart raspberry filling & a strawberry-flavored icing on top! Beautiful, bright & slightly tart. The raspberry filling is a raspberry jam that my aunt Karen made. She has fantastic jams, jellies & preserves! She sells them under Nine Shoes Farm!

They are a perfect cupcake for the spring & summer get-togethers! Oh...and they are delicious! Plus I finally used some very adorable baking cup liners that were part of a kit I got from my stepdaughter & mom-in-law for my birthday! So cute!

Outer Space Cakes

OK...these were WAY fun! Perfect for kids & kids-at-heart!

I needed white baking cups for some cupcakes (because I like color my slushie cakes to show through). At one point I could only find the ones that were with foil liners. I was baffled as to what to do with foil liners! However, it made me think of space. So...what if I made Tang-flavored cupcakes?

So, I made Outer Space Cakes not too long ago. Yes, they are Tang-flavored! I filled them with "lighter-than-air", almost gravity-defying marshmallow fluff. I colored the frosting with an edible silver pearl powder & added some blue food coloring to the decorating bag. Then, for the super fun final touch, I added pop-rocks to the top! And I baked them in the foil liners.

I took this batch to my son's kindergarten class for snack & they LOVED them!

These would be awesome for any out-of-this-world/space/rocket/astronaut/alien party!

Peanut Butter & Jelly

With my rising near obsession with creating & making cupcakes, I got some pretty cool stuff for my birthday recently to help me with the creation part of my ideas. One thing I got in particular was a cupcake pan & a device to help make way for fillings!

So, of all the ideas I had to try out the new device? Peanut butter & jelly cupcakes!

I made a peanut butter cake batter (YUM!) & then filled the centers with grape jelly. I then made a creamy, dreamy peanut butter & jelly frosting for the top.

I added a vanilla wafer "crust" on the bottom of half of the batch. So there was PB&J with crust AND crustless! I added crushed graham to the top of the cupcakes with the "crust".

Once I figure out the crust thing (see the previous Erin's Lush post), I should be able to adapt it here. So a future repost for this cupcake is a possibility, too!

I will also look to try this with strawberry jam/jelly. Looking to add a grape on top of the grape jelly filled & a strawberry on top of the strawberry filled ones! Of course, still crushed graham to decifer the difference between crusted & crustless.

Plus, add a glass of milk & some chips...you can have your sandwich AND dessert together, and still have a complete lunch!

Cherry Sweetheart Cupcakes

I hope you all enjoyed my last post about the Slushie Cakes! Because they are the basis for a couple I did before Valentine's Day!

I took my cherry-flavored slushie cakes & topped them with pink, cherry-flavored icing & mini red cherry chips on top. SO adorable...and yummy!

I then made a batch of black cherry-flavored cupcakes with cherry pie filling oozing from the center. I topped it with a layer of cherry-flavored icing & adorable red sugar sprinkles.

Both batches looked like Valentine's Day had exploded in the kitchen!