This Owl cupcake cake was probably one of my favorite cakes to make. My friend Katie and I make it for my brother’s girlfriend. It was fun to make, and you can of course easily change or alter it to make it suit your occasion! I will definitely be making this again sometime.
Source: http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/night-owls-cupcakes-984215/
Lemon is one of my favorite flavors when it comes to dessert. These Lemon Thumbprint Cookies definitely satisfied that craving! I made these one rainy day when I had nothing to do, and they went fast! So if you love lemon I would suggest trying out these cookies.
Classic Red Velvet Cupcakes. I was looking for something fun and new to make a few weeks ago, and it hit me! I had never attempted to make the beloved Red Velvet Cupcakes! I knew I had to give it a try, how could I call myself a baker when I had never tried one of the most popular flavors of cupcakes? So I did it! Turned out to be simple enough, and quite tasty, although I am more a fan of classic vanilla cupcakes. The cream cheese icing, as always, was my favorite part!
Source: http://annies-eats.com/2010/09/17/red-velvet-cupcakes/
Brace yourselves….these are Reese’s STUFFED Oreos. Yes you heard that right. A Reese’s candy, stuffed inside of an Oreo cookie, and dunked in chocolate. I liked these not only because they are delicious but because you can have fun with them! Fun and different take on dessert.
![Chubby Hubby Truffles. I made this a few months back to bring to a Christmas party and they were a huge hit! Perfect combination of peanut butter, pretzels, and chocolate. I will definitely be making these again. Simple and delicious :]
Source: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/12/chubby-hubby-buckeye-peanut-butter.html](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzg3glXZEd1qzuqymo1_1280.jpg)
Chubby Hubby Truffles. I made this a few months back to bring to a Christmas party and they were a huge hit! Perfect combination of peanut butter, pretzels, and chocolate. I will definitely be making these again. Simple and delicious :]
Source: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/12/chubby-hubby-buckeye-peanut-butter.html
Reindeer cupcakes, perfect for the holidays! Use Vanilla wafers and an M&M for the nose, white candies for the eyes, and pretzels for the antlers. Fun project for first time bakers or children!
Source: http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2010/12/pretzel-antlers-and-cookie-nose.html
![Sugar cookies! Just for fun :].
Source: http://annies-eats.net/2010/06/23/sugar-saucers/](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvpr70IrLm1qzuqymo1_1280.jpg)
Sugar cookies! Just for fun :].
Happy Halloween! Well, happy day after Halloween. This is my favorite holiday, so I knew I had to try something new. I had never decorated with royal icing before so I decided to try it out, and I was very happy with the results! The skulls are definitely my favorite, I think they came out perfectly. The icing was wonderful to work with, although I think it may take me a few more times to really get the hang of handling it. I got the idea for the spiderwebs and mummies from Annies Eats:
http://annies-eats.net/2010/10/26/halloween-sugar-cookies-2/
Also the link for extra help on the spiderwebs:
http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/2009/10/spiderwebs-step-by-step.html
She also has links of there for the dough and the icing. All in all the cookies tasted wonderful, I added a little extra lemon to the dough, it was great :].
Ever since I saw this cake on Martha Stewart’s website I have been dying to try it out. When I got the call to do a Princess themed cake for a little girls 4th birthday, I knew this would be perfect! The ruffles made for an elegant and feminine look and were perfectly complimented by the crown! Now I was kind of nervous to try this technique because it looked pretty difficult, but after watching this video on how to decorate with ruffles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHYX0qXDVy0 I felt I could handle it. I then encountered the problem of making swiss meringue buttercream without a stand mixer. So I just hoped for the best and used my dinky hand mixer. It took a little bit longer than it would have had I used a stand mixer but the end result was fabulous! I read a few blogs that encouraged not to give up if the icing was looking curdled, which mind did for awhile, but if you keep pushing on it should become silky smooth after about 10 minutes of beating the egg whites and sugar and another 8-10 after all the butter is added. Anyways, the recipe was adapted from Martha stewart, I used her yellow cake instead of lemon:
http://www.marthastewart.com/357676/ruffle-tower-cake
The cupcakes were half yellow and half chocolate with buttercream icing and fondant crowns.
When boredom struck on a Thursday afternoon I decided to see what ingredients I had lying around my kitchen and what I could do with them! I ended up making this delicious Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. They caught my eye on foodgawker.com because of their unique look and because of the extremely simple recipe. They had the perfect crunchy outer shell with a soft and chewy center, much like a brownie. The only issue I came across with the recipe is that it says to let dough sit in fridge for 3 hours or so and I didn’t have that kind of time (I’m not the most patient baker) so I just refrigerated for about 15 minutes before making the dough into the balls and they came out just perfect! SO here is the recipe, perfect for a quick baking fix:
http://muchmorethanahomemaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/chocolate-crinkle-cookies.html
![Crumb-topped Cherry Pie Muffins. Need I say more? Well I will anyways. These muffins were awesome. I’m a sucker for anything with a crumb topping, so I knew I had to try these out. The cherries were a great compliment to the crumb, my only regret is that I didn’t add MORE cherries. Especially since I made larger muffins I would have liked to have more cherry in each bite. But overall very happy with the turn out. So here’s the recipe! Enjoy :]
For the crumb topping:
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Muffins:
1 and 3/4 cup all-purpose plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup granulated sugar (white)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup pitted tart red cherries (fresh, forzen, or drained canned), coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 6 large or 12 standard muffin cups or line with parchment paper cases.
For the crumb topping, in a small mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar and flour. With a pastry blender, two knives, OR your fingertips (I used fingertips) cut or rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
For the muffins, in a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Stir in the granulated sugar. Make a well in the center.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the egg, milk and oil. Add all at once to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. (The batter should be lumpy) stir in cherries.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them two-thirds full. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins. Bake until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of once comes out clean, about 25 minutes for large muffins, 20 for standard muffins. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes. Serve warm (this is a must)! Or transfer to wire rack to cool and warm later using the microwave (about 20 seconds).](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrsrs0htLe1qzuqymo1_1280.jpg)
Crumb-topped Cherry Pie Muffins. Need I say more? Well I will anyways. These muffins were awesome. I’m a sucker for anything with a crumb topping, so I knew I had to try these out. The cherries were a great compliment to the crumb, my only regret is that I didn’t add MORE cherries. Especially since I made larger muffins I would have liked to have more cherry in each bite. But overall very happy with the turn out. So here’s the recipe! Enjoy :]
For the crumb topping:
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Muffins:
1 and 3/4 cup all-purpose plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup granulated sugar (white)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup pitted tart red cherries (fresh, forzen, or drained canned), coarsely chopped
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 6 large or 12 standard muffin cups or line with parchment paper cases.
For the crumb topping, in a small mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar and flour. With a pastry blender, two knives, OR your fingertips (I used fingertips) cut or rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
For the muffins, in a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Stir in the granulated sugar. Make a well in the center.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the egg, milk and oil. Add all at once to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. (The batter should be lumpy) stir in cherries.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them two-thirds full. Sprinkle the topping over the muffins. Bake until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of once comes out clean, about 25 minutes for large muffins, 20 for standard muffins. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes. Serve warm (this is a must)! Or transfer to wire rack to cool and warm later using the microwave (about 20 seconds).
My cousin’s daughter also had a birthday this weekend! So I made her a Mini Mouse cake to go along with the theme of her party. The mini mouse hat is made of Rice Krispy treats covered in fondant. The cake itself is chocolate and covered in fondant, the cupcakes are a mix of yellow and chocolate with buttercream icing dyed pink.
![Since Black Forest is my Mom’s favorite type of cake, I had to make these Black Forest cupcakes for her birthday! I used real cherries for the topping because I personally find them tastier and prettier than maraschino cherries. The whipped cream icing is also wonderful. This was also my first time making filled cupcakes. I used the cone method which just involves using a paring knife to cut out the center (after baking) pouring in the filling, and placing the excess cake back on top. They really are wonderful :].
http://annies-eats.net/2011/06/10/black-forest-cupcakes/](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqaxiqJf381qzuqymo1_1280.jpg)
Since Black Forest is my Mom’s favorite type of cake, I had to make these Black Forest cupcakes for her birthday! I used real cherries for the topping because I personally find them tastier and prettier than maraschino cherries. The whipped cream icing is also wonderful. This was also my first time making filled cupcakes. I used the cone method which just involves using a paring knife to cut out the center (after baking) pouring in the filling, and placing the excess cake back on top. They really are wonderful :].
![My wonderful boyfriend got me this book with some great muffin recipes in it! I had never made home-ade muffins before this, but it was actually quite simple! And they turned out perfect :]. These are Apple muffins, made with chunks of real apple. My favorite part was the crumb topping, so good!](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnzsofmSch1qzuqymo1_1280.jpg)
My wonderful boyfriend got me this book with some great muffin recipes in it! I had never made home-ade muffins before this, but it was actually quite simple! And they turned out perfect :]. These are Apple muffins, made with chunks of real apple. My favorite part was the crumb topping, so good!
All American Apple Pie for the 4th of July! this was such a fun recipe to make, the stars on the top were such a cute addition to the pie, and everyone loved it! I got the recipe from the always wonderful, Annie’s Eats! Try it out :D
