Chocolate Sweet Heart Cupcakes

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Before I tell you about these super cute, super EASY cupcakes we need to go over some other things!

First - Have you heard Google Friend Connect is going away?  Not really sure why.  That is how I keep up with all of the blogs I am following.  I have installed the new Linky Followers tool and Networked Blogs tool you can use to follow me if you like.  They are on the sidebar.

Second -  just wanted to say how much I appreciate every feature I have gotten on other blogs.  It really makes my day.  I absolutely love knowing that someone else enjoyed what I baked and wants to share it with their readers.  I have a page that shows all of the blogs I have been featured on.  Thanks again!

Third - Bridger from Flour n' Friends has tagged me in this fun questionnaire!  Bridget's blog is great and I love having her as one of my blog friends.  She very supportive of me and I love supporting her back!  So here I go:

12 Facts About Me:

1. I have two great kids.  Alex who is 3 1/2 and Rachel who is almost 2.  They are the best part of me!

2. I am totally a type A personality.  Very competitive, which comes out all the time.  Especially if you are playing cards with me - or any other game!

3. I have 1 sister who lives in Chicago.  Hi Kimmy!!  I want her to move to Georgia - but so far no luck.

4. I graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in accounting.  And I am a CPA.  I still hold my license and keep it up just in case I need it again someday!

5. I'm trying to work out more.  I can't say more because I haven't been at all!  I still have baby weight from Rachel and really would love to get back into my old clothes.  You know - great move baking all the time :)!

6.   I live in a great neighborhood with a bunch of stay at home mom's and I love when my kids play outside because it is like happy hour for me - minus the alcohol!

7.   I said I would NEVER drive a minivan because I hate the way they look and I am now secretly totally CRAVING one!  I think sliding doors would make my life so much easier!!

8.   I met my husband at work.  He is British and yes, he does speak with an accent.  But I really don't hear it anymore.

9. I don't think I am a very good writer.  After all I am a math geek, CPA.  But I think this blog is helping me become better and I hope you will put up with me.

10.  Every time one of my sweets is featured on another blog I am amazed.  I can't believe that someone else likes what I have baked.

11. I don't think I am that creative!  I am good at getting inspiration from other people and trying to make it my own.

12. I think I am pretty laid back, calm and nice.  But don't mess with my kids.  Remember that movie - The Hand That Rocks The Cradle - ?  The one with Rebecca De Mornay?  I am her - breaking kids arms on the playground if they mess with my babies!

Bridget's Questions for Me:

1. Whose your role model?  Hmmm - that is a hard one.  I have to say my Mom.  She is the kind of Mom I want to be and she is a strong woman.

2. Savory or Sweet? SWEET!!!  Although - I do like savory too!

3. Besides blogging..what's your next go to hobby?  I love to scrapbook also.

4. Goals for 2012?  Finish Rachel's baby book (she's almost 2) and lose those baby pounds :0!

5. Favorite thing to eat?  Chocolate

6. What's your guilty pleasure? Time alone, a.k.a. peace and quiet!

7. Favorite T.V show?  NCIS, The Mentalist, Person of Interest, Modern Family and Parenthood.  I couldn't pick just one!

8. Favorite thing to bake/cook?  Cupcakes.

9. How did you get into blogging?  I took a Wilton cake class and decided to bake something every week to practice my skills and get better.  Blogging was a way for me to keep track of what I had done and for my friends to see.  It has become a much bigger part of my life that I thought it would and I had no idea such a great community was out there.

10. What's your favorite thing to do on a weekend?  Relax and actually spend time with my husband.

11. If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would you go? There are so many places I haven't been.  But I have been to Australia for 3 weeks and it was so great.  I would love to go back - 3 weeks was not enough!

12. What's your favorite website? PINTEREST!  I could waste spend months there!

OH MY!!!  Back to the cupcakes: 

I first saw these cupcakes on Glorious Treats and I fell in love with them.  They are so cute and sooooo easy to make.  Bake your favorite cupcakes and make your favorite buttercream.  Once the cupcakes are cooled use serrated knife to cut the top off.

Then use a cookie cutter of your choice, I chose a heart.  The cookie cutter should be about 1" in size.  If you aren't sure just make sure that it would fit on top of a cupcake leaving a cupcake rim around the edge of the cutout.

Then frost the cupcake.  Carefully put the top of the cupcake back on over the frosting and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  That's it!!  Easy peasy.  I love these cupcakes and will be making them for every holiday :)

This post may be shared with: Flour Me With Love - Mix It Up Monday, Alderberry Hill - Make The Scene Monday, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms - Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Clairejustineoxox - Creative Mondays, Skip To My Lou - Made by You Monday, Sweetology - Tea Party Tuesday, Crazy for Crust - Crazy Sweet Tuesday, Uncommon - Uncommonly Yours, Mandy's Recipe Box - Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Reason To Skip The Housework - Tuesday Timeout, Inside Bru Crew Life - Trick or Treat Tuesday, Mrs Fox's Sweets - Sweet Party, Made Famous By - Famous Linkz Party, Junk In Their Trunk - Link It Up Wednesday, The Kings Court 4 - What's Cooking Wednesday, Hugs and Cookies XO - Wonka Wednesday, Food Corner - Midweek Fiesta, Something Swanky - Sweet Treat Thursday, These Peas Taste Funny - Link It Up Thursday, Talking Dollars and Cents - Sweet Temptations, Happy Hour Projects - Freestyle Friday, Tidy Mom - I'm Lovin' It Friday, Susie QT Pies - Happy Friday Link Up, Dwell On Joy - Dwell On Friday, Toys In The Dryer - Fun Stuff Fridays, Alli-n-Son - Sweet Tooth Friday, Crumbs and Chaos - Seasonal Inspiration, The Country Cook - Weekend Potluck, Mama Mias Heart 2 Heart - Sharing Saturday, Sweet As Sugar Cookies - Sweets for a Saturday, Randee's Organized Chaos - Sleepy Sunday, Country Momma Cooks - Saturday Link & Greet, Well Seasoned Life - Sweet Indulgences Sunday, Bacon Time With The Hungry Hypo - Crafting Cooking From The Heart Contest, Southern Mom Cooks - Valentine Party

Box of Chocolates

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"Life was like a box of chocolates...you never know what you' re gonna get"  a famous line by Forrest Gump.  Did you know he said that in 1994?  Not trying to make you feel old - or make myself feel old.  I just can't believe how long it has been.  I think that quote is so true!  No matter what you get you have got to make the best of it and decide to be happy!

I'll tell you what I got.  One of my Christmas presents was the Hello Cupcake cookbook.

I love it!  So many cool ideas of how to decorate cupcakes.  I want to make them all.  I am amazed at how creative the authors are and am hoping some of it will rub off on me!  So you will see many designs from their book - I plan on eventually working my way through the whole thing - can't believe I put that in print :). 

The Box of Chocolates was my first recipe from the book.  It uses sixteen mini cupcakes, although the chocolate box I was using only fit fourteen. 

I frosted ten of the mini cupcakes with chocolate buttercream.  I put chocolate jimmies (my favorite sprinkle in the WHOLE world) and Valentine nonpareils in two separate plates.  Then I rolled the edges of the frosted cupcakes in the sprinkles and set them aside.

I used store bought frosting for the remaining four cupcakes.  I put one cup of the frosting in the microwave for about 15 seconds until it has the texture of light whipped cream.  Then I dipped the cupcakes into the frosting.  I gave them a super smooth, darker look.  To finish them off I decorated them with different Valentine candy. I found the Valentine candy corn at Walmart. Surprisingly my candy store didn't have it - but good old Walmart did!

For the chocolate candy looking pieces that adorn some of the cupcakes I used marshmallows. I cut the marshmallows in half and then dipped them in the microwaved frosting.  I chilled them in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes so the frosting could harden.  Once they were chilled I piped on a candy looking design using the buttercream in a piping bag with no tip.  Then I used a toothpick (that I cut in half) to attach them to the cupcakes.

Arranged them all in my chocolate box and then filled the empty spaces in the box with more candy.  Happy Valentine's Day - just a few weeks early!!
 

This post may be shared with: Flour Me With Love - Mix It Up Monday, Alderberry Hill - Make The Scene Monday, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms - Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Clairejustineoxox - Creative Mondays, Skip To My Lou - Made by You Monday, Sweetology - Tea Party Tuesday, Crazy for Crust - Crazy Sweet Tuesday, Uncommon - Uncommonly Yours, Reason To Skip The Housework - Tuesday Timeout, Inside Bru Crew Life - Trick or Treat Tuesday, Mrs Fox's Sweets - Sweet Party, Made Famous By - Famous Linkz Party, Junk In Their Trunk - Link It Up Wednesday, The Kings Court 4 - What's Cooking Wednesday, Hugs and Cookies XO - Wonka Wednesday, Food Corner - Midweek Fiesta, Something Swanky - Sweet Treat Thursday, These Peas Taste Funny - Link It Up Thursday, Talking Dollars and Cents - Sweet Temptations, Happy Hour Projects - Freestyle Friday, Tidy Mom - I'm Lovin' It Friday, Susie QT Pies - Happy Friday Link Up, Dwell On Joy - Dwell On Friday, Toys In The Dryer - Fun Stuff Fridays, Alli-n-Son - Sweet Tooth Friday, Crumbs and Chaos - Seasonal Inspiration, The Country Cook - Weekend Potluck, Mama Mias Heart 2 Heart - Sharing Saturday, Sweet As Sugar Cookies - Sweets for a Saturday, Randee's Organized Chaos - Sleepy Sunday, Country Momma Cooks - Saturday Link & Greet, Well Seasoned Life - Sweet Indulgences Sunday, Bacon Time With The Hungry Hypo - Crafting Cooking From The Heart Contest, Southern Mom Cooks - Valentine Party

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

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I have a problem.  I am addicted to pinterest and all of the wonderful blogs out there. 

Don't act surprised.  I know it isn't a secret and that you probably already figured it out.  You are a smart bunch!

I spend a lot of time browsing all of the absolutely gorgeous sweets I see and my mouth waters.  Sometimes I see something and I know I want it.  I have to bake it.  It can't go on my "To Bake" list - I have to bake it NOW!

That's how I felt when I saw the Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting on the Brown Eyed Baker.  I have to have it NOW!

Yum - dark chocolate and peanut butter.  One of my favorite flavor combinations.  The cupcake recipe is from Cook's Illustrated and the frosting is from Barefoot Contessa.  I was a little apprehensive though.  I looked at the recipes, the cupcakes seemed yummy, but the frosting, I was worried that the peanut butter would be overpowering.  I have never made peanut butter frosting before.

Would it be overpowering???

Nope - it was perfect.  So creamy.  I almost ate all of the frosting and said forget the cupcakes.  But that doesn't make for a good blog entry :).  I frosted the cupcakes with tip 1M.  This is definitely my favorite tip for cupcakes.  It gives you that wonderful swirl.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Frosting (Recipe from Barefoot Contessa at Home)

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used Jiff)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

- Cream confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt with an electric mixer.
- Mix on medium-low speed until creamy.
- Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

This post may be shared with: Flour Me With Love - Mix It Up Monday, Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms - Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Clairejustineoxox - Creative Mondays, Skip To My Lou - Made by You Monday, Sweetology - Tea Party Tuesday, Crazy for Crust - Crazy Sweet Tuesday, Reason To Skip The Housework - Tuesday Timeout, Inside Bru Crew Life - Trick or Treat Tuesday, Mrs Fox's Sweets - Sweet Party, Made Famous By - Famous Linkz Party, Junk In Their Trunk - Link It Up Wednesday, The Kings Court 4 - What's Cooking Wednesday, Hugs and Cookies XO - Wonka Wednesday, Food Corner - Midweek Fiesta, Something Swanky - Sweet Treat Thursday, These Peas Taste Funny - Link It Up Thursday, Talking Dollars and Cents - Sweet Temptations, Happy Hour Projects - Freestyle Friday, Tidy Mom - I'm Lovin' It Friday, Dwell On Joy - Dwell On Friday, Toys In The Dryer - Fun Stuff Fridays, Alli-n-Son - Sweet Tooth Friday, The Country Cook - Weekend Potluck, Mama Mias Heart 2 Heart - Sharing Saturday, Sweet As Sugar Cookies - Sweets for a Saturday, Country Momma Cooks - Saturday Link & Greet, Well Seasoned Life - Sweet Indulgences Sunday, Bacon Time With The Hungry Hypo - Crafting Cooking From The Heart Contest

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

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Cookie Monster is famous in our house.  My kids love him.  I like him - but often feel like a cookie monster myself.  I saw similar Cookie Monster cupcakes on line that used blue colored coconut for his fur.  I knew I wanted to make him, but my kids will not eat coconut.  So I decided to make my own version.

I made chocolate cupcakes in pretty blue liners.  I chose vanilla buttercream to frost them with because everyone in my house loves that.  And when we all can agree there is peace - and I love that!

I colored my frosting with Wilton Sky Blue and Royal Blue Gel Food Coloring.  I just mixed until I got a color I thought matched Cookie.  We have a lot of examples for me to use.  I put the icing into a disposable decorating bag fitted with tip 233.  I love this tip and have used it before on my Dad's 75th Birthday Cake.  I just put frosting all over the cupcake to look like his fur.

I used Wilton white candy melts for his eyes and drew on his pupils with an edible food marker (I like Americolor.)  Then I put a mini Chips Ahoy in his mouth.  This cupcake was easy and the kids loved it, well Rachel did. 

This post may be shared with: Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms - Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Clairejustineoxox - Creative Mondays, Skip To My Lou - Made by You Monday, Sweetology - Tea Party Tuesday, Crazy for Crust - Crazy Sweet Tuesday, Inside Bru Crew Life - Trick or Treat Tuesday, Mrs Fox's Sweets - Sweet Party, Junk In Their Trunk - Link It Up Wednesday, Hugs and Cookies XO - Wonka Wednesday, Food Corner - Midweek Fiesta, Something Swanky - Sweet Treat Thursday, Talking Dollars and Cents - Sweet Temptations, Happy Hour Projects - Freestyle Friday, Toys In The Dryer - Fun Stuff Fridays, Alli-n-Son - Sweet Tooth Friday, Mama Mias Heart 2 Heart - Sharing Saturday, Well Seasoned Life - Sweet Indulgences Sunday, Living Life Intentionally - T.G.I.F. Linky Party

Christmas Tree Cupcakes

Are you ready for Christmas?  Is your list done?  You better hurry!!!  Here is another Christmas cupcake.  Easy peasy and great for a party.  I made chocolate cupcakes, and vanilla buttercream.  I tinted the buttercream with Americolor Forest Green gel.  I piped the frosting on the cupcakes with tip 1M.  I just piped the frosting up higher to look like a tree.  I used CakeMate Celebration sprinkles for the decorations and Wilton Gingerbread House candy for the stars.  Easy and delicious!! 

This post may be shared with:
Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms - Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Sweetology - Tea Party Tuesday
Crazy for Crust - Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Mrs Fox's Sweets - Sweet Party
Junk In Their Trunk - Link It Up Wednesday
Hugs and Cookies XO - Wonka Wednesday
Something Swanky - Sweet Treat Thursday
Happy Hour Projects - Freestyle Friday
Toys In The Dryer - Fun Stuff Fridays
Well Seasoned Life - Sweet Indulgences Sunday
JDaniel4's Mom- Christmas Traditions Link Up

Holly Cupcakes

Are you going crazy like me??  Only 6 more days until Christmas and I still have a lot to do!  Of course I am baking a lot more now because of the holiday and will be trying to post everything this week.  I am going to keep the posts short and sweet for us :).

I saw these cupcakes on The Seven Year Cottage blog.  They are so cute and festive!  You use green gum sticks for the holly leaves and a red gumball for the holly berry.  I made chocolate cupcakes and topped them with chocolate buttercream.  I used my new large french tip to frost them.  This is the first time I used this tip and I liked it a lot.  Can't wait to use it again.  Only problem I had with these cupcakes was finding green gum!  I couldn't remember the color of the different types of gum so I tried 3 different kinds and none were that green!!  I ended up using Wrigley's Extra Spearmint which was the gum I liked the best out of the three I tried.  It wasn't the greenest, but it was the best width and color.  These were great cupcakes to bring to my Christmas party.  So festive.  Enjoy!!

This post may be shared with:
Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms - Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Sweetology - Tea Party Tuesday
Crazy for Crust - Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Mrs Fox's Sweets - Sweet Party
Junk In Their Trunk - Link It Up Wednesday
Hugs and Cookies XO - Wonka Wednesday
Happy Hour Projects - Freestyle Friday
Toys In The Dryer - Fun Stuff Fridays
Well Seasoned Life - Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Something Swanky - Sweet Treat Thursday

Ghost Cupcakes

As usual I am running behind!  I wanted to post these for Halloween.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute!  Ghost Cupcakes - I thought they were adorable.  I got the idea from a picture in Food Network Magazine that a friend brought over.  I made chocolate cupcakes and covered them with chocolate fudge frosting - yum.  I stuck an unwrapped lollipop into the cupcake to hold up the ghost.  Then I used a 4" circle cutter to cut circles out of white fondant for the ghost body.  I had to mold the fondant to get the ghost body to look right.  I used black icing for the eyes and tip number 3.  They were easy to make and really cute!

Happy Halloweeen!  We will be trick or treating tonight with Lightning McQueen and a Blue One Eyed Moster!

S'mores Cupcakes

I wanted to try these cupcakes because I love S'mores and they are so comforting and it is getting cold here!  I used the Perfectly Chocolate Cupcake recipe and made my cupcakes.  I made sure to fill my cupcake liners only half full with the batter.  The cupcakes baked a little over the top of the liner so next time I may try to add even less batter! 

Next up was the Marshmallow Frosting.  I got the recipe from the Glorious Treats Blog.  I made the frosting according to the directions and it did not come out ok!!  My frosting was so thin.  I couldn't pipe it on the cupcakes (see picture).  I just had to spoon it on. 

I hate when something doesn't come out right.  Drives me bonkers!!  I knew what I did wrong.  Directions step 3 - beat the egg white mixture for about 2 minutes.  Well - I am a very literal person and that is exactly what I did.  WRONG!  I needed to make sure the egg whites thickened and became like a meringue.  So I made the frosting a second time.  I put the whisk attachment on my mixer and beat them for a long, long, long time.  I would say over 10 minutes.  The frosting came out better and because I was bringing them to a party I didn't have time to make it a third time.  So I went with it. 

I piped the frosting onto the cupcakes with a 1M tip.  I browned the frosting with my handy dandy kitchen torch.  I am so happy that we have found another use for that thing.  We have had it for 7 years and have maybe used it twice.  Be careful doing this though - it does get hot!  Then we put a piece of graham cracker and hershey bar on each cupake and done! 

Next time I would make sure I beat the egg white mixture on high with my whisk attachment for a long time until they were very thick.  And - I should have followed my own rule of not baking something for the first time when I need to take it somewhere!  I will definately make these again.  Love the marshmallow frosting.

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Tea Party Tuesday

Halloween Cupcakes

I am not sure if you guys are like me, but if you are, you like things that are simple.  I don't have a lot of extra space in my head for complicated recipes.  That is why I have always made my cupcakes, cakes or brownies from a box.  But since I am now on a quest to become a better baker I need to start experimenting with recipes from scratch.  I have made things from scratch before like the Carrot Cake Cupcakes I made a few weeks ago or the Buche de Noel cake I made for Christmas last year (definately one for the blog if I make it again!)  I searched the web and found a recipe for Perfectly Chocolate Cupakes on the Glorious Treats blog and decided to go with them.

The real test with these cupcakes is whether or not I would be able to make them with two toddlers at my feet!  I preheated my oven to 350*F and got to work.  Everything went smoothly and was much easier than I thought.  I filled my muffin pans and popped them in the oven.  The recipe says to fill the liners 2/3 full with batter.  I was using a large measuring cup to pour the batter in and it flowed fast.  I think most of my cupcakes were a little more than 2/3 full.  That resulted in a larger cupcake top then I would have liked - see photos below.

Once they were cooled I frosted them with my favorite buttercream recipe, which I will post at some point (if you want it now leave a comment and I can email it to you.)  I wanted a white/orange striped look for the frosting so before I filled my piping bag I used a toothpick to line each seam of the bag with orange gel food coloring.  Then carefully filled the bag with frosting and was on my way.  Another great tip from Glorious Treats!! 

I have to say this experience of baking from scratch was great.  It was a lot easier than I thought and I know I will be doing a lot more of it in the future!!

Anniversary Cupcakes

I have a great group of friends from my old neighborhood.  It really is amazing that we all moved in so close to each other at the same time and became such good friends.  Ten years, four marriages and six kids later we decided to have a party to celebrate!  I made cupcakes for the occasion.  I frosted all of the cupcakes with buttercream and then applied fondant in different designs.  I used homemade Marshmallow Fondant.   For the adults I put a "10" on the cupcakes to commemorate the anniversary, for the girls I did cute pink piggies and for the boys brown sheep.  I got the idea from Joanna Farrow's book Cupcakes.  They were cute, but the sheep look a little weird I think!  Next time I need to work on those and possibly some other animals.  Maybe for one of my kids birthdays I will have a barn party and make the cupcakes - or maybe order from Publix :).  Just kidding - I am almost ready to vow to never buy a cake again - almost!  Here are some pictures:

I bought cupcake liners on-line that keep their color better after being baked.  Can you tell - the blue color of the liner still looks pretty good.  You have to look for cupcake liners that say "grease-proof".

Carrot Cake Cupcakes!

I love reading other blogs about wonderful sweet creations.  One of my favorites is Sweetopia,    http://sweetopia.net/  .  A few weeks ago she did Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.  So I decided to try it.  It was the first time I have made cupcakes from scratch.  I think they came out well and everyone loved them!  Here is a link to her recipe:

http://sweetopia.net/2011/08/carrot-cake-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-icing/

The hardest (or most time consuming part) was grating the carrots.  Remember if you want your sweets to taste great you need to use good quality fresh ingredients.  They smelled so good in the oven!  They were delicious.  You should try them!

Here is a picture of Alex's cupcake when he was done with it.