Showing posts with label cupcakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cupcakes. Show all posts

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Luck of The Irish Cupcakes

It's been a very emotional week for me.  We had to wish my mom and niece a farewell and say good-bye to them so they could go back home.  A couple days later, my friend Toni from ( A Taste of Alaska Blog ) came through town and had dinner with us.  Unfortunately it was very bittersweet as we only got to see her for a couple hours and she had to get back on the road.  I was so sad to see her leave since we live so far from each other (I powered down some chocolate cake when she left..I told you it was a rough week,).  It was also the anniversary of my sister-in-law Jodi's passing, which is always very sad for me this time of year.


On a brighter note though, my grandmother (a.k.a. GGMa) celebrated her 88th birthday!!  She is such an amazing lady and quite honestly is doing better than all of us. So, to help cheer me up, my husband and I took our labradors for a very long walk this morning.  It was a glorious, sunny start to our day and I needed fresh air.  We ended up taking the dogs and walking to our new favorite breakfast spot, Mac's Place.


We found a perfect table out on their patio, tied up the dogs to the bike rack, I ordered up my 2 eggs scrambled, bacon, hash browns and sourdough toast with strawberry jam...just what the doctor ordered.


Earlier in the week I also picked up my niece's rainbow clover that she painted at Crackpots.  It was fired, glossy and so very cute.  Her artpiece inspired me to make "Luck of the Irish Cupcakes".  I saw them on Pinterest a few weeks ago and thought they were just adorable.  My friend Toni who is so incredibly creative when it comes to bakery confections, I know she would be proud of me to take these on.


I wish my niece could have been here to help me make these, she would have loved it.  


I am bringing a tray of them to my girls' tournament tomorrow. 
 Hopefully, it will bring them a little luck.


One Year Ago:  Simply Salmon and Shrimp Tortellini

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

It's So "Sweet" To Be 16


 

The ever anticipated "Sweet 16" birthdays can never be taken too lightly.  My daughters came up with their color scheme and theme for their birthday party to celebrate with friends, three months ago. (I can't imagine where they get their pre-planning from).  Once I received my direction, I started searching out plans, ideas, etc...it all finally came to reality this weekend.

The "Sweets" 16 Buffet
Complete with 16 different delicacies.

Purple flowered cake
Purple sugar dusted cupcakes
Grape Kool-Aid
Grape Vine Licorice
Purple Macaroons
Grape Laffy Taffy
Purple frosting drizzled pretzel rods
Grape Jelly Beans
Purple M&Ms
Dark Chocolate Hershey Kisses (purple foil wrapped)
Hershey’s Bliss Milk Chocolate (purple foil wrapped)
Purple sugar glazed shortbread cookies
Purple frosting glazed Rice Krispy Treats
Grape cotton candy
Grape saltwater taffy
Grape Pixie Stix

Custom ordered macaroons from Happy Cakes.
Purple sequin tabletop overlay from Wal Mart.

Homemade tiered cake and cupcakes.
Black lace cupcake holders
and purple sugar from Michaels.
Our dining room was transformed into the Great Gatsby(esque) event.


Various home cooked fondues for the menu.
(Traditional Swiss, Italian Pizza and Mexican Queso)
Serving ware from Bed, Bath and Beyond,
Party City and Dollar Tree.
Down to every detail.
Black chair bows made from cut rolls
of glittered tulle material from Wal Mart.



Lined the coffered ceiling with white twinkle lights
and swags of black and gold glittered tulle.
One Year Ago:  Hungarian Goulash

Friday, July 4, 2014

Happy 4th of July - Apple Pie Cake


Happy 4th of July to everyone today!  Hope you are all enjoying a relaxing and restful long weekend full of BBQ and sweet delights.


Last weekend I pulled out my annual buntings that I got for a steal at a garage sale a few years ago.  I just love my nostalgic buntings.  They drive my husband crazy and can't understand why I tote these around every time we move.  How can you not love these - they remind me of the old western movies when they always had them out for some big parade or election....they just scream out John Wayne to me.


I'm sure our new neighbors just loved our patriotic showing as well, since I continued our theme and lined the front garden wall with my miniature flags.  I did notice a few double takes as people drove by.  Really now, it's only once a year and it is the time to get your spirit on!!


We are having a dessert, tailgating, fireworks watching evening with Matt and Heather, complete with Blue Velvet cupcakes, red velvet cookies and their patriotic embellishments.




The girls and I hit our local fireworks tent last night and found the perfect pyrotechnic.  How can you not love a firework that is named after you - my husband loved it!!


Last weekend we celebrated a little early with this Apple Pie Cake.  So sweet and delicious.  Since we are still working on our eating changes but needed a little treat, I substituted using an unsweetened apple pie filling and 1% milk and topped it with low fat Cool Whip. Oh so yummy, incredibly easy and tastes exactly like an apple pie!!


Apple Pie Cake
Courtesy of Plain Chicken

Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
1 (21oz) can apple pie filling
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk

Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup milk


Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 inch pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, apple pie filling, vanilla extract, cinnamon, eggs and milk. Mix with an electric mixer just until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Whisk together powdered sugar, cinnamon and milk. Pour over warm cake. Allow cake to cool completely before serving.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped topping or fresh whipped cream.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Margarita Cupcakes

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!  We celebrated yesterday with Heather and Matt with Beef Fajitas, Homemade Guacamole and Mexican Rice and Beans.  I was so happy to have found my authentic Mexican dishes to serve the salsa and tamales in.  My sister-in-law and I were in Mexico about 20 years ago and our group came upon this tiny restaurant on the beach with the most unbelievable food and drinks.

The little grandma let Jodi and I tour her kitchen and because we were (and still are) dish fanatics, she actually let us buy some of her dishes right out of the kitchen.  Great memories of that day and these dishes always bring me back to it.


Needless to say, we had food coma by the end of the night, but certainly made enough room for Key Lime Pie and Margarita Cupcakes.


Margarita Cupcakes
Courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker, May 2011

For the Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
Zest and juice of 1½ limes
2 tablespoons tequila
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk


To Brush the Cupcakes:
1 to 2 tablespoons tequila (I prefer Patron Silver).  

**I believe you should only cook with something that you would actually drink.

For the Tequila-Lime Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¾ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila
Pinch of coarse salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

4. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs one at at time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and tequila. Mix until combined. (The mixture may start to look curdled at this point, but don't worry, it will all come back together, power on!)

6. Reduce the mixer speed low. Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches. Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

7. Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just slightly golden and a skewer shows only moist crumbs attached, rotating the pan at the halfway point.

8. Allow cupcakes to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack. Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the 1 to 2 tablespoons of tequila. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.

9. To make the frosting, whip the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low, and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated. Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the lime juice, tequila and salt mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy. If the frosting appears a bit too soft, add some additional sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes and garnish, if desired, with lime zest, an additional sprinkling of salt and a lime wedge.

*Note #1: If you would prefer to not use liquor in these cupcakes, you can absolutely omit it from both the cupcakes and the frosting with no problem. If you do omit it, I would add 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract to the frosting.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Birthday Party - Chapter 1 - Pottery and Painting

Since our girls were born just 3 days after Christmas it is always a little challenging for birthdays.  The good news for them is they typically score on gifts for a week straight in December.  The difficult part is school is on break and they will never know what it was like to have a classroom birthday party and most friends are out of town on Christmas vacation with their families.

The challenge is when to let them have a fun celebration...it varies every year. Sometimes it's right after the new year, other years it has been late January.  Well, this year we picked right in the middle.


We decided to change it up a little and venture out.  Us girls (yes I consider myself to be quite the cool and hip mom) started our afternoon at The Pumphouse Restaurant in old town.  We took over the upstairs dining room and had a beautiful sunny view of Main Street.  In typical teenager fashion, we had an appetizer frenzy.  (Not a good time for my PMS either).  I think I inhaled more than the girls did.

Before the food coma kicked in, I had to keep this party moving.  We walked down the street to our local hands-on pottery studio called Crackpots.  I had reserved a room for all the girls and set them free to pick out their favorite pottery piece that they could then paint.


It was the best two hours.  The girls got their phones out to play music and I watched the creativity begin.  They chose mugs, owls, kittens and fish to paint.  Crackpots has a phenominal selection of pottery and paints to work with.  You pick your piece, paint away and in 5 days after they have prepared and fired your works of art, you come pick them up.


They even let me paint special memorable custom birthday plates for each birthday girl that all their friends signed before we fired them in the kiln.  They turned out absolutely precious.  The girls have decided that they want to eat their birthday cake every year on these special keepsakes.


Since we were gone most of the day, I took the easy route for dessert....party sprinkled cupcakes from your basic boxed cake mix.  Nothing fancy, but very "girly girl" colors inspired from our painting excursion and really yummy.  Cupcakes just seem to always hit the spot, especially on my hips.