Sunday, January 31, 2010

Recipe of the Week - Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

Week 29

Chocolate and zucchini?  I never would have put these two together in a cupcake, but these are de-lish-uss!




Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup cocoa, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp allspice
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl mix together the sugar, butter and oil. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla, buttermilk, and zucchini.

In a separate bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients. Add the liquid ingredients and mix until well combined. Spoon batter into liners. Bake for approximately 20 minutes (don't overcook them or you will lose all the moist goodness - you want them to look almost done in the oven - they will continue to cook for a few minutes after you pull them from the oven).

Frost cupcakes with your favorite frosting or eat them plain!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Unfortunately...I Am Not Martha

The cover of the February 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine shows a delicious chocolate tart adorned with colorful meringue hearts.  So for Valentine's Day I was thinking I would make a batch of red velvet cupcakes and put the meringue hearts on top. I decided to make a practice batch today. 

I am not Martha!  My cupcakes and meringue hearts tasted great....but the hearts did not look like hearts.  They looked more like shark's teeth.  I have never claimed to be artistic but you would think that a heart would be easy.  NOT!  The project was fun and I will try again, but next time I will download a heart template instead of freehanding the hearts.



February 2010
 








meringue hearts
( a.k.a. shark's teeth )



meringue hearts
( a.k.a. the letter Y? )



Friday, January 29, 2010

Scrabble Cupcakes

Scrabble is my favorite app on the iPod Touch.  I would like to honor that great game with cupcakes!




 


 
  

Blog Disclosure

This past week I have been reading about legal issues associated with blogs and most articles suggest posting a disclaimer on the blog. So....the information provided in this blog is for fun and entertainment only.  I go to great lengths to credit and provide links to everything posted here that is not my original work.  If I choose to feature a specific entity or product it is because I believe strongly in that product and want to share it with my readers.  I have never received any type of compensation for text or images posted on this blog and will not do so in the future.

Now that we have that out of the way....thank you very much for participating in the cupcake universe!




Thursday, January 28, 2010

Baby Sock Cupcakes

I am preparing to make a cupcake tower for a baby shower and came across these baby sock cupcakes.  I am going to mix in some sock cupcakes with the real ones!



 






 




How to Make a Baby Sock Cupcake



Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Be My Valentine...Cupcake

When I opened my email this morning, there was a new catalog from one of my fav-o-rite places to order cupcake decorations and supplies...Fancy Flours .  It's never too early to start thinking about Valentine's Day Cupcakes!



cake stand wrapper


 

Bee Mine picks


 

Lips cupcake picks






sugar hearts







Heart wrappers


 

conversation heart cupcake picks

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Monday, January 25, 2010

Alice in Cakeland

This afternoon I watched a preview of the upcoming Johnny Depp movie Alice in Wonderland.  Shortly after that I saw a link to Alice in Cakeland - a bakery in The Netherlands.  The owner is Rebecca Treherne, an American who now lives in Rotterdam with her Dutch husband.  The bakery is also on Twitter & Facebook.

Her bakery offers American-style cupcakes in regular, mini & designer (create your own).  The flavors are named after Alice in Wonderland characters and look yummy!




Cheshire Chocolate





Mad Berry




Tweedle-Dee-Nilla





White Chocolate Rabbit





wedding cupcake tower

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Recipe of the Week - Lemon Blossoms

Week 28

This is my absolute favorite Paula Deen recipe - Lemon Blossoms.  Mini cupcakes so lemon-y they will make your mouth pucker.  Make a double batch because they will disappear fast!





Lemon Blossoms

18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil   (at 7000 ft. I decrease the oil to 1/2 cup)

Glaze:

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature cupcake tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth - about 2 minutes. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel.

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix until smooth.

Using your fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Vampire Cupcakes

My friends Kristi & Caryn are huge fans of the Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse books.  I know I am the only person on the face of the earth that hasn't read any of the Twilight series and I haven't seen see the movies either...but I have downloaded these books to my Kindle.  I promise to get started. 

Are there vampire cupcakes out there?   Yes!
























Photo via Zen Cupcake blog

Friday, January 22, 2010

Cupcake Messages






















And my favorite (but this blog does not close on Mondays)....




Thursday, January 21, 2010

(Cupcake) Pants on the Ground

Pants on the Ground by General Larry Platt has taken the country by storm!  After appearing on American Idol last week, Larry has been featured on viral video, TV and a possible record deal is in the works.

Maybe Larry can write a second verse that says "cupcake pants on the ground..." 













Life is Good pants



Cupcake Furniture by Jellio

Jellio has fun cupcake furniture...and more!




this giant cupcake can be a seat or ottoman
$900





cupcake tables with glass tops come in lots of colors
$750

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Let it Snow (more)...Let it Snow (more)...Let it Snow (more)!

It is snowing like crazy this week at Lake Tahoe (10-12 feet by the weekend) so I could not resist more snowflake cupcakes!

























If you don't want to create your snowflake toppers with frosting, bake snowflake cookies!






Snowflake cookies from Rolling Pin Productions