Princess Jacqueline's 5th Birthday Cupcakes

Princess Jacqueline will be celebrating her fifth birthday this upcoming Tuesday but her parents threw her a Princess Tiana themed party today. The birthday girl's cupcakes were grown-up funfetti cake which is a vanilla buttermilk cake dotted with green, purple and yellow specks and the frosting was a vanilla butter cream frosting. I did eighteen cupcakes with white/violet swirl adorned with gold fondant crowns and the remaining eighteen cupcakes were white/green swirl with chocolate froggies. Lucky for Jacqueline, I was taking a basic fondant class and decide to decorate the cake for her. I baked grandma's oriole chocolate cake and covered it with butter cream fondant (which is to die for). I had so much fun baking and creating these cupcakes. I truly hope that the birthday girl and her court of friends loved them just as much as I enjoyed baking them.

Happy Birthday Princess J!

Ethan's 1st Birthday Safari Cupcakes

I met Ethan's mommy while we were planning our June 30, 2007 weddings. Back then we obsessed about wedding details and now we obsess about our children. Danielle and Joseph are such a sweet couple and they threw an amazing first birthday party for Ethan yesterday. Dani had purchased the liners and picks so all I had to do was bake these healthy cakes. They were a carrot and pineapple cake made with whole wheat flour and agave, very kid friendly and perfect for any tiny tot soiree!

Happy First Birthday Ethan, we cannot wait to continue to watch you grow!

Maple French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes - Recipe #9

This combination of maple, cinnamon, french toast and bacon have been on my list for a very long time but I wasn't sure how I was going to go about it. Today, while surfing the Internet like I do everyday, all day I randomly stumbled upon the food networks site and found this recipe for maple french toast and bacon cupcakes. I knew right away that I needed to prep the kitchen and bake them right away for Doug's birthday. I have to apologize to you Doug, I know you are a bacon connoisseur but all I had on hand was normal store-bought smoked bacon; it's not that fancy schmancy stuff your palette is used to tasting. ;)

Any who, these cupcakes are pretty good. Dense but good. The actual cake tastes just like a slice of extra thick (dry) french toast, but the frosting is simply amazing! If I make these again I will alter the cake and maybe soak the cake in a little maple syrup so it gives an actual french toast texture.

Overall, pretty damn good. Doug-o-lis I hope you enjoy these and my first ever attempt at a fondant animal.

Happy 26th Birthday!

Bee Mine Cupcakes - Recipe #8

This recipe for Lemon-Honey cupcakes came to me from Women's Day magazine. While I was getting my hair done last week the cover caught my eye with the cute little bee's so I decided to give the recipe a try but added a few pink fondant hearts for a Valentine's Day twist.

The cake didn't carry as much honey packed flavor that I thought it would, considering it has 3/4 of a cup. The frosting recipe calls for 7 to 8 Tablespoons of lemon, I only added 4 and it was almost too overbearing. Overall, they weren't my favorite but they were something different.

INGREDIENTS

Cupcakes
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 TB grated lemon zest
4 TB lemon juice
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs

Lemon-Honey Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 Tbsp grated lemon zest
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
7 to 8 tsp lemon juice
Few drops yellow food color

Bumblebee
Tootsie Roll
Two pieces of string
Yellow peanut M&M
Brown food marker
Clear spice drop candies
Small cookie cutter

PREPARATION

1. Cupcakes: Heat oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sour cream, milk, lemon zest and juice in a small bowl until well mixed.

3. Beat butter, honey and sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended.

4. With mixer on low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, then the sour cream mixture. Beat in remaining flour mixture until just combined.

5. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove cupcakes from pan to wire rack to cool completely.

6. Frosting: Beat butter, honey and lemon zest in large bowl with an electric mixer until creamed, about 2 minutes. On low speed, beat in confectioners’ sugar until blended. Beat in lemon juice and a few drops food color until mixture is fluffy and pale yellow.

7. Spoon into a large ziptop freezer bag, snip off one corner and pipe onto cupcakes, or just spread frosting onto cupcakes.

To make the bumblebee: Tear off a piece of a Tootsie Roll and roll between the palms of your hands to make a thin string. Wrap two pieces of string around a yellow Peanut M&M for body of bee. Using a brown food marker, draw two dots for eyes. To make wings, roll out clear spice drop candies and cut out a 1⁄2-in. circle using a small cookie cutter. Cut circle in half; attach each half by pressing into the front band of Tootsie Roll on the body of the bee.