memorial day

Happy Memorial Day to you. Remember that Memorial Day is not just about bbq's and parties and sales.  It's a day to honor those that have died while serving our country.  There's no way the fallen soldiers can know how much we appreciate their service but supporting the family members left behind is a wonderful way to honor them.

So in the spirit of honoring American soldiers, this weekend, I decided to make some patriotic cupcakes for our church potluck.  They didn't turn out quite as impressively as I had imagined, but people still seemed to enjoy them.  And this blog post is more instructional and helpful than my previous blogs so it's all good.

This was the finished product with the colors slightly altered by my photoediting app.  The best app, by the way, is Snapseed. I highly recommend it.  

The decorating design was simple but the fun was inside the cupcake.  

Unfortunately the red turned out to be rather pink once they were baked.  I went through A LOT of food coloring for these cupcakes.  It seemed that no matter how much coloring I added, it hardly changed anything!  

Anyway, I wanted to use a very white cake batter rather than something yellowy, so I chose King Arthur's Tender White Cake recipe.  Unfortunately, it wasn't very tender and not the best batter to use for a tri-colored cupcakes.  But that was also my fault, not King Arthur's fault.  

When I started making it, it was really thick, like a cookie dough and I was worried it wouldn't work. 

But once I added the milk, it was WAY too runny.  

I've used runny batters before and they do turn out just fine once they're baked.  But because I needed to scoop different colors of batter, I needed it thicker, so I ended up adding about 2 extra cups of flour!  That's a heck of a lot of extra flour!  I should have added a bit more sugar but I didn't.  So they didn't turn out very sweet or very tender, but more like a soft cookie. Some people actually preferred that.  Whatever.

The recipe called for both vanilla and almond extract.  Very tasty.  I love making homemade vanilla extract.  It's super easy and of a superior quality.  It takes a few months to sit but it's worth it.  I make large quantities at once (notice my large bottle) and when I'm on my last bottle, I make some more so it will be ready when I need it.  Ingredients required: vodka and vanilla beans.  Easy.

I need to throw in some pics of my chef apprentice cause she's too stinkin' cute.  She made sure that Little Pup was working with her and she would give him instructions as she worked.  Who wouldn't love baking with a helper like this?  

My kids know that I'm a freak about messes and crumbs all over and whatnot.  But they've also heard me say, "It's okay to make a mess when you're baking."  And so when my daughter poured in the milk and it started dripping, my initial reaction was to clean it up quickly, but she smiled sweetly and said, "It's okay, Mommy.  It's okay to make a mess when you're baking."  So I actually left the mess on the counter.  Those who know me can now gasp in shock.  But it's true.  Baking can get messy with the drippy eggs, the milk, and flour that spurts out of the mixer when the kids accidentally turn it on too high.  But focusing on keeping it tidy kind of takes the fun out of the moment.  So I've decided to just relax a little.  And now I only have a little bit of anxiety as I see the messes accumulate...

I doubled the recipe and it still made only 32 cupcakes so this is all the batter I ended up with. I colored each bowl and then scooped one scoopful of each batter into the cupcake liners.  

You could layer the colors (which actually might have been even more awesome) or you can scoop into different "corners" of the round liner.  I put the white on top so that it wouldn't clash with the layer of blue frosting I put on top.  

  

I don't have any tested recommendations for how to make the red look less like pink.  But I think it may have something to do with the kind of food coloring I used. I prefer to use a thick gel-based food coloring but that option kind of slipped my mind this time.

For educational purposes, here's a brief breakdown of the different food coloring I use:

These are cheaper colors, water based and very weak (which is why I said "cheap" and not "cost-effective).  But they're also super easy to use, especially for drinks or thin frosting.  I used almost an entire bottle of this stuff for the batter before I gave up and moved on to my Liquid Dye.

This is liquid dye, found at craft stores and baking stores.  It's thicker so it won't change the consistency of your recipe as much.  These are also easy to work with but a little more costly. 

Gel-based dyes are the best. Super concentrated.  They're absolutely my favorite and what I should have used.  I just got distracted by the easy drip dye and kind of forgot about it.  In my defense, it's been a long time since I've been baking.  Anyway, these are the most pricey, but they last a very long time cause you only need a tiny bit of the gel.  I use these when dying fondant because using the liquid dyes will change the consistency of the fondant and it will become gummy and unusable.  

So if you attempt to make these colorful cupcakes, use the right type of food coloring so your red cake doesn't turn out pink.  And remember, it's okay to make a mess when you're baking.  

more ladybugs

This is the second time I've made this design.  (First time was 6 years ago; Ladybugs in the Grass) But this time the design has been improved.  We added caterpillars and flowers (all made from fondant).  And I used a sunny yellow liner for a more cheerful spring-time look.  

The middle caterpillar in the picture below is one that my daughter made.  Yes, I know it looks a bit like an emaciated alien caterpillar but I love it.  She also made a lady bug with huge spots and a top hat.  She said he was the "grandfather ladybug" and needed to have the top hat.  I'm so bummed that I didn't snap a picture of it before it fell apart and got eaten.  

Although many people make this cupcake design with vanilla batter, my daughter insisted that they should be chocolate, like dirt.  (This entire cupcake adventure was her idea).  I haven't cupcaked in a few years but I'm getting back into the teenycake mood so I may post a few more cupcakes soon.  

The recipe I used was new to me.  It was Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cake.  For those of you who don't know, cupcake making usually requires several bowls: one for beating the eggs and sugar, one for sifting the dry ingredients, and one for whipping up the egg whites.  This batter was so easy.  Not my favorite for flavor and texture, but great for a kid's cupcakes adventure.  

The frosting used must be Swiss Meringue Buttercream, also a Martha Stewart recipe.  No other frosting will hold its shape in order to make the grass.  The piping tip is a special grass-tip, found at most craft stores. 

It takes a bit of technique to do the grass and it helps to have a paper towel on hand to wipe off the tip if it gets gummed up.  The holes on the tip need to stay clean in order to make the strands of grass.  

Definitely a fun cupcake design!  

Popcorn buckets

So these are just ridiculously cute.  I can't get enough of them.  I just keep looking at the picture and showing anyone I can find.  They really do look like popcorn!

The original idea came from Hello Cupcake!  But theirs were mini cupcakes and I didn't like the main kernel design as well; it was just a mini marshmallow without altering the top.  I'll show you later...

I made these cupcakes with a regular boxed mix cause I was very pressed for time.  But because I can hardly tolerate the store-bought mixes, I altered it slightly to make it taste more homemade.  When the boxed mix asks for water, I added soy milk instead.  When it asked for oil, I added unsalted butter.  I kept the amounts the same.  

For the "popcorn" you need a bag of white mini marshmallows and 2 bags of colorful mini marshmallows.  (Note: There were not enough yellow marshmallows in one bag of the colorful; we were only able to top 9 or 10 with the amount we had; so buy at least 2 bags if you need to do more cupcakes.)

Separate the yellows from the colorful (or you can make colorful popcorn, I guess). 

We snipped the marshmallows into 3 thin disks that kind of curled up on the edges.  That's the part that will be used for the lower part of the popcorn kernel as shown below.

Then we took the uncut 'mallows and snipped the top in an X.  I think that the x-cut promotes these cupcakes from "oh-aren't-those-neat?" to "omg!-these-are-so-freaking-adorable!"  But that's just my opinion.  :) 

We arranged the little smushy discs in 3 points and placed the main kernel in between.  Sometimes a little frosting helps it stick better. 

After we placed several "kernels" on the cupcake, I filled in the empty spaces with scraps of snipped marshmallow to give it a very full and fluffy experience.  

I downloaded a template for the popcorn bin wrappers, printed them out in color and cut them out.  This particular template is a bit short.  I would recommend enlarging it slightly before printing it out. The edges won't fit on your paper, but it's fine cause it's the back anyway. 

Now as far as how they taste?  I couldn't tell you but the kids seemed to enjoy them, but then again, they also love eating the little marshmallow straight out of the bag.  

I highly recommend this design for an easy cupcake topper.

Rubber Ducky, You're the One . . .

We went to a little baby shower today.  I brought the cupcakes since I'm always looking for an excuse to make some.  

I love polka dots, anytime, anywhere.  Except on my clothes . . . and maybe not in my house decor . . . but everywhere else.  Like in cupcake wrappers and wallets and little girl skirts and socks and hair bands and balloons and napkins . . .

I cut out a bunch of little m's the day before so they could dry but the next morning they were still pliable.  So I heated the oven for a couple of minutes (maybe 4-5 minutes) then turned it off and stuck the m's inside with the oven light on.  At first they looked like they were getting softer but after I took them out they hardened pretty quickly.  

M for Baby Miles.  

I added mini chocolate chips to the vanilla-bean cupcakes.  Yum.

These ducks were pretty easy to make.  I swiped the idea from the another website.  Click here to see the original.  I didn't follow her directions for making them; I just liked the ducky idea.  She uses frosting and food coloring for the eyes and beak.  I just used my Food Writer pens.  Seems much easier.  

I was very pleased with these.  So fun to make!  And so cute!

I love the pearls.  They add such a nice touch.  

The only cupcake left.  

Since I made 32 cupcakes we had quite a few left over after the party.  We were at a park so I went around handing out cupcakes to random kids.  The other ladies in our party thought that was hilarious and outrageous that these kids were accepting cupcakes from some strange cupcake lady.  Now, just to be clear, I always asked the parents if they wanted their child to have a cupcake.  Not a single parent said no.  I had a couple of kids who said "no thanks" but then their parents would encourage them to eat one.  "Come one, honey.  Are you sure?  Did you see what they looked like?"  

That just cracked me up.  I think I would have probably declined a stranger offering home-baked goods which makes it so much funnier to me.  I guess I look safe.  

Garden Variety

We had a couple of my son's classmates over for lunch yesterday.  I thought they'd have fun playing with fondant.  As you can see from above, they did some adorable stuff.  

The cake was Trader Joe's Vanilla bean.  And because I only had 4 T of butter in the house, I softened it and mixed it with a bunch of powdered sugar and a can of marshmallow creme.  Don't ask me why I had marshmallow creme; I'm not entirely sure.  But now I don't have it so it's just as well.  It was tasty frosting but since I over-heated the butter it was a little too soft.  Very sticky.  But very yummy.  

So next time you feel that marshmallow creme is unhealthy, try adding butter and sugar to it, then the original won't seem so bad.

We had 3 moms, 3 girls and 1 boy working on these.  The two younger boys preferred to play outside.  2 of the girls did a great job.  My 4-year-old, however, kneaded that fondant until it was as soft as peanut butter.  Then she decided she needed to eat it since it was too soft.  Oh boy!

This cupcake is a combined effort.  Andrea made the sweet pea, Kadence made the strawberry base, Liz made the strawberry top, and I dotted the berry with a food writer.

The original plan was to make ladybugs but then I tried to make a caterpillar that ended up looking like peas.  So then we made peas and strawberries and even a radish and some lettuce.  They're so cute!  

Of course, I wouldn't let them eat them until I had snapped up some pictures.  

Maci decorated her own, full of "peas" and one strawberry.

These were super fun to make.  I just know I'm going to have to make more this summer.  They're so easy too!  Maybe I can make a 4th of July variety with fondant blueberries.  Nah, I'd rather use real blueberries. But I love the radish idea and sweet pea, maybe even some carrots.  Oh my goodness, I want to make some more today!

Pink-a-Frilly Party

Our daughter turned 4 last week so we had her bday party yesterday. It was pink.  Very pink.  It was princess and fairy and pinkalicious and frilly and all things pink.

The cupcakes were vanilla bean from Trader Joe's and filled with Raspberry filling.  They were topped with 7-minute frosting, rolled in pink sprinkles with a round red ball on top.  

The colors in the pictures is not accurate to the colors before our eyes.  I had to adjust a lot of levels and still couldn't get it right.  The cupcake above looks almost purple but I assure you, it was very pink.

Yeah, this totally looks wrong as far as color is concerned.  My only camera is the iPhone camera so I borrowed the camera of a friend to take my pics.  His camera made a HUGE difference but I still had problems with light because my house is so dark.  It seems that I will either need to move to a glass house or buy a 2-million-dollar lens and 3-trillion-dollar fancy flash in order to get decent pictures in my house.  In any case, I'm still pleased with the result since the iPhone camera would have likely made me cry.  

My house is very, very dark.  The light you see in this picture is an indication of my friend's good camera and some Snapseed app adjustments.  

My little princess's name tag.

My little princess, looking a little purple, but still cute.  

I don't believe my daughter has the capacity to stand still, hence the blur.

I loved the stars.  They were simple paper mache stars from the fabric store.  I painted the stems white and the stars pink then glittered them with Martha's fabulous glitter.  Then attached some ribbon.

Okay, they're looking a little more pink here. 

I made pink tutus for the princesses to wear.  Just a little elastic band then cut tulle into strips and knot it around the elastic.  It wasn't too hard but it did take more time than I anticipated to make 10 skirts.  I had a couple of friends help too.  But, oh, they look so cute hanging up in a row.  

Okay, here we go with the stars again.  I loved them.  Yeah, so this is a cupcake blog but this is not a cupcake post.  It's really just an opportunity to put up pics of the party.  I have no other method of sharing pics like these. 

A darling little princess named Sophie.

We scattered some photos of Maci's last 4 years throughout the food tables.  

The many faces of Maci.

The cake:  Chocolate cake with cherry filling and pink roses. My mom piped the roses.  But in the rush we ended up using store-bought frosting.  Never use store-bought frosting for piping.  NEVER, I say!  It looked good for about 5 minutes, then started to literally melt off the cake.  Within 20 minutes, the remaining uneaten half of the cake completely slid off it's layers.  

My sweetie with her princesses.  

If the princess wants to sit, I guess the princess gets to sit. . .

Again with the stars!  Ooh, I just had a birthday party idea!  Stars!  Planets, constellations!  I totally have to do that for my son's party in September.  I better get started. . .