Pretty in Pink Cupcake

I just found this delicious, pink cupcake on Flickr and I wanted to share it with you. Sweet and simple.

Colorful Cupcake

Check out this cupcake I found in Jeeco's Flicker gallery! I can't figure out which detail is my favorite: the colorful layers of cake? The fluffy cream cheese icing? The colorful sprinkles? Oh yummmmm...

Cuisipro Cupcake Corer

Before I was married, I attended a wedding festival, which is basically hundreds of brides looking at potential local vendors for their wedding.

Upon entering the festival, a local bakery was handing out free cupcakes left and right, and I never turn down a cupcake. It wasn't just any ole cupcake though... it was filled with creamy chocolate. So delicious! I was impressed by the fact that their cupcake was filled with such a delicious concoction.

I took time to browse through Williams-Sonoma's site, and I found this simple cupcake corer. It's just the tool I need to make my next cupcake creation.

gautier cupcakes of love

I just love these cupcakes created by Gautier Cakes. They really put me in the mood for Valentine's Day.





































Photo is the property of Gautier Cakes.

royal icing tips by cake journal

I'm so excited that I have found a Website that gives in-depth instructions on how to frost cookies with royal icing! I have never tried to make frosting from scratch, but I really want to now that I know what a beautiful touch it adds to cookies.

Cake Journal has some great instructions, and beautiful photographs, and their step-by-step instructions are great for folks like me who need picture instructions.

If you have never visited Cake Journal before, then head over to their site now! Here's a glimpse into what they have created, and I can't wait to try it out for myself.

chocolate pumpkin cupcakes by country living

For those of you who love to make Halloween themed cookies, cupcakes, and anything edible...this post is for you.

By now you probably know I have a small obsession with cupcakes, and I cannot resist passing up a cupcake recipe when I see one. So, when I stumbled upon this Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcake recipe by Country Living I wanted to share the love.

Note: This recipe can be used to make a cake or cupcakes. I have divided the recipe into sections for the cake/cupcake ingredients and directions and also the frosting ingredients and directions.

























Cake/Cupcake Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup good-quality cocoa
• 2 tablespoons good-quality cocoa
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh-grated nutmeg
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups (firmly packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs
• Orange Cream-Cheese Frosting

Cake Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter three 8-inch cake pans and fit each bottom with an 8-inch circle of parchment paper. Lightly butter the parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl and set aside. Combine the buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, with an electric mixer set on medium speed, until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture is smooth and light. Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, blending well after each addition.

3. Divide the batter among the pans and bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean -- about 35 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pan for 20 minutes. Remove cakes and cool. (For cupcakes: Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Place cupcake liners in standard cupcake tins and fill each with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 22 minutes.)

4. Trim each of the layers. Place one layer on a cake plate and top with one third of the frosting. Repeat with the second and third layers. (To ensure that the cake layers do not shift, cut three skewers to 1/4 inch shorter than the full height of the cake and insert them before icing the top layer.) Refrigerate until ready to serve.


Orange Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 package(s) (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup(s) (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon(s) fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon(s) grated orange zest
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract
• 4 cup(s) confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) orange food coloring

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting Directions:

1. Blend the cream cheese, butter, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla in a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at medium speed, until smooth.

2. Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy -- about 3 more minutes.

3. Add the food coloring and gently stir until the color is uniform.

4. Chill the frosting until ready to ice the cupcakes or cake.


Yield: One 8-inch, 3 layer cake or 36 cupcakes.

carnival of sweets by ruby press

Today, I found myself over at Ruby Press, where I discovered one of their creations---a Carnival of Sweets. As you can imagine, when I saw the word sweets, I was immediately interested. In 2009, they produced an amazing event for one of their clients. Just check out the beautiful invitation, dessert table, and my personal favorite, showcase of cupcakes. Mmmmm.

orange cream soda cupcakes

Check out these scrumptious Orange Cream Soda Cupcakes I found on Vanessa Contessa's blog. They look so delicious, I wanted to share the recipe. I divided the ingredients and directions between the actual cupcake recipe and the orange buttercream icing recipe.


















Cupcake Ingredients and Directions:

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 bottle of Orange soda
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest

Cream butter and sugar until well blended. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Sift flour and baking soda. Add to mixture alternately with orange soda. Add vanilla. Pour into cupcake liners and bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes. Cool completely.


Orange Buttercream Ingredients and Directions:

• 1 cup butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip butter. Add powdered sugar and orange juice alternately. Add zest and vanilla. Whip for 3 minutes and pipe onto cupcakes. Garnish with an orange candy.

i'm having a cupcake sweet tooth

Recently, I have had the urge to design something cupcake-themed, so that's exactly what I decided to do today. I'm not exactly sure what these will turn into, but here's a bit of my brainstorming.