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.

Fried Sopapilla Cupcakes

When Cinco de Mayo came around, I was a little late in creating some fun cupcakes for it, but the inspiration gave me time to experiment & try for next year.

One of the things I thought of is a favorite Mexican dessert: SOPAPILLAS! So I wondered if you could fry a cupcake. That's right! I said FRY A CUPCAKE!

Well I was making some lemon-lime slushie cakes & some cornbread cupcakes for some friends, and I had some extra cornbread batter. I decided to bake the leftover seperately in a muffin pan without liners for experimenting in hot oil later.

I baked 'em up, heated my oil on the stove & fried the 6 cupcakes I made. As soon as I pulled them out of the oil, I dipped & rolled them in a cinnamon & sugar mixture. I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top & then drizzled some honey on them just before consumption.

I thought about using a simple white cupcake to fry to do this, but the cornbread ones came out REALLY well!!

My boys LOVED them & couldn't wait to try more...I guess I should be making some more pretty quickly. Time to fry up some more cornbread cupcakes!

Chocolate Birthday Cake & Cupcakes

Well, since we all survived the "end of the world" (said totally tongue-in-cheek), we had my daughter's 15th birthday party. And she wanted devil's food chocolate cake...but...I found these fabulous cupcake liners to use for her birthday, so we went with a cake AND cupcakes! All devil's food.

OK...I was going to attempt Hello Kitty for her cake, but timing & space on the cake didn't really permit. Bummer. But I attempted zebra print on the cake. I probably should have let my cake-decorating mom do the cake, but I was determined!

But I was very happy with the cupcakes. The liners are adorable & I used white buttercream icing &, since she wanted "bling" & glitter, I added edible glitter in pink, purple & green so the cupcakes would also be sparkly.

And now that we have leftovers of cake...we can still enjoy them for a few days!

Cornbread Cupcakes

It is really interesting how & where inspiration comes from, isn't it?

I was at Hobby Lobby not too long ago when I came across these really great red & white striped baking liners. OK...they were in a section set up for Independence Day decorations, but I totally thought of...POPCORN! But how in the heck am I supposed to work a popcorn cupcake??

Until I figure that out, the "corn" part really stuck out! Mmmmm...CORNBREAD!

OK...for my southern friends who may be having a heart attack right now, I know how you are about your cornbread! And I know I have heard it stated that if cornbread had sugar in it, it would be called "cake". So, that's what I've done!

Who remembers going to Tippin's? They were (and still are) known for their pies...but...I loved going for their cornbread! With my sweet-tooth, I love the ginormous pieces of it that came out! So tall & so sweet...and it turns out the secret was that they added yellow cake mix to their cornbread batter!

Well?? That's exactly what I did! I added cornbread to my yellow cake! I then topped it with a honey buttercream icing to give a popcorn-type look!

Different & fun...and you can have it WITH the meal or AFTER the meal! (Or both.)

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!

Football Cakes

My son had his 6th birthday in January & wanted a football party. This is still early (and I mean EARLY) in me playing with cupcakes.

I am pretty sure I made a yellow cupcakes in some really adorable football baking liners I found. I frosted the top with chocolate icing & then made a few small horizontal lines across the tops & then dragged a toothpick down the middle of them. I wanted them to match the liners & give the look of football lacing.

They tasted pretty good, but I was going for more of the look with these. The kids (and adults) enjoyed them. These were to offset the chocolate "cutless" cake that I made. My mom is the big cake decorator...that is NOT my forte'! I'll stick to the cupcakes...

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!