Recipe of the Week - Dark Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Valentine's Day is coming and I have started to think about chocolate...cupcakes of course.  This recipe for dark chocolate buttercream will taste great on any cupcake...chocolate, yellow, or vanilla! 

Cake It Better

Dark Chocolate Buttercream

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter - room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar - sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pounds semisweet chocolate - melted and cooled

Combine cocoa and the boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved. Beat butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl if needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture. Frosting can be refrigerated up to 7 days, or frozen up to 1 month (before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again).

Cupcake Kindle Cover

I was shopping for a new skin for my Kindle...and look what I found!  Cupcake Kindle Covers!

available from Amazon

$19.99

Cupcake Oil Painting

This is a 12 x 12 inch original oil painting by Roz (available on Etsy).  I love the colors and textures.  Don't you just want to bite into the canvas?

RozArt  via  Etsy

$85.00

Heart Cupcakes

Those giant Valentine cupcakes yesterday put me in the mood for more heart-themed cupcakes! 

offmycake

GrannySweet'sCakes

adele.turner

Cupcake Hat Winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Neff Cupcake Beanie giveaway. 

Congratulations to Janet D. from Conroe, TX. Your beanie is on the way!

Giant Valentine Cupcake

I haven't used my giant cupcake pan in a few months and was thinking about making a giant Valentine's cupcake.  Here are some of my favorites!

customcakeshop

Cakes by Miranda

Sugar Craft by Rosie

Recipe of the Week - Triple Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes

My friend Lynn left me a newspaper article on the bulletin board at work this week.  It came from the Nevada Appeal (Carson City) and was a recipe for Triple Chocolate Cupcakes which have a chocolate ganache center and are frosted with white chocolate buttercream.  Thank you to Amanda Skiba for sharing her recipe and I encourage you to follow her blog Stuff Your Face.


Triple Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Poison Cupcake  via  Flickr

Carpe Cupcakes! and the Facebook Dilemma

To Facebook or not to Facebook....that is the question.  I saw The Social Network and it was an awesome movie. Carpe Cupcakes! has a Facebook account...it may even be the only Facebook account in existence with no friends.  After this post I may get some friend requests, but that is not my intention. My dilemma is why Facebook at all?  Is Facebook just a turbo photo-sharing site?  Do I really need to know that my friends went to the beach today or bought a new pair of jeans?  Is there anything on Facebook that really changes our lives or are we just collecting "numbers" of friends?  Are they really friends and if so, how are they friends?

My dilemma is that I started this blog to share cupcake photos and recipes, but the pressure to join a social network is increasing and I am not sure why.  I will eat a cupcake and think about that a little more.

This photo has nothing to do with

Facebook...I just love the box!

hiOakie  via  Flickr

50th Anniversary of John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Speech

On January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered his only inaugural address immediately after taking the oath of office.  The speech was 13 minutes and 59 seconds long and is considered to be among the best presidential addresses in American history.  (full text of the speech)

Notable passages:

"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

"...the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."

"we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty."

Use patriotic decorations on the cupcakes
you make today!

nushuz

Sherry White

Cupcake Hat Contest - Reminder!

The clock is ticking!  Send an email to carpecupcakes@gmail.com  to enter ...the deadline is January 25th!