Chocolate Chip Cupcakes...kids found them delicious

Well I made earlier in the week the Chocolate Chip Cupcakes but I never did get around to frosting them. I decided that I probably would never get them frosted so I brought them for my students anyways. My own children and Fred loved the cupcakes. They found them "chewy and soft"....moist, Aaryanna says "the chocolate chips melt in your mouth". Everyone seemed to like them. 

They were fairly easy to make, I had both my kids helping...they measured the chocolate chips, so not totally sure they got that exactly bang on, LOL. I found that they did not rise as they normally do and were sitting below the cupcake liners, which was another reason I was hesitant to ice them. I am not sure why they did not rise, so maybe I'll make them again and see if it was something I did. 

I found the seemed like little hockey pucks coming out of the cupcake liners, but the were moist, seemed to have a rubbery or spongy texture. They were tasty, but basically pretty bland other than the chocolate chips...well thats pretty normal. It may be interesting to add some berries to the mix, possibly even some butterscotch or peanut chips. These are probably an excellent basic for kids and are fine to make without icing. I will make some more cupcakes in the next day or two and post that, I am still debating what to make...maybe I'll make a few, live vicariously?

Im Back with Chocolate Malted Cupcakes!

Well Hello there,

I have felt so much guilt in not getting these blog posts done. I want to apologize...if anyone even still read them.LOL At the end of last year things got very bad in our world and our father passed away at the end of June....then the summer I just felt like doing NOTHING, I was completely unmotivated. School started for me, and I just did not find the time, but my students keep harassing me for cupcakes, and I figured I better get out of my funk and get back in the cupcake saddle.

Last week I decided to make the Chocolate Malted Cupcakes(could not find it on Martha's site, but you can google and find on other blogs if your interested). The malted milk powder I had purchased awhile ago, and is pricey. I bought some for $11.99 for 400g, in case your wondering what I mean by pricey. I have looked for the recipe online and stumbled across many other people who made these, one indicating "Carnations" as malted powder, so maybe I just did not look hard enough for a more economical solution for Malt powder.

 These cupcakes were super easy to make. I have since last cupcake baking we were doing bought an electric mixer. I found a spectacular deal at Superstore by accident and jumped on it. My sister had started sending me catalogue sales on mixers, to which I went and they would all be gone, so one day while shopping at Superstore I thought "hey I should see if they have mixers" and low and behold they did. I got my Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer for $179.99 and the had the Kitchen Aid Classic Mixer for $149.99. They have since gone off sale, but I think it was a sign that I should have one!

My Daughter Aaryanna has also been trying to encourage me to bake some cupcakes...she constantly asks, so again, I should make use of having a lovely little cupcake helper! This is Aaryanna cleaning up a minor spill I made.LOL

Now I was excited to see what these puppies tasted like, what was the magic malt powder going to do? It said something about adding reminiscence to soda-fountain shops, or something like that, so I was pretty excited that I was about to embark on cupcake territory I had not ever tasted before....yes I am one of those people that get super excited about what new adventures might bring me...

Well my automatic reaction is...there nice, but taste like a regular cupcake. They are extremely moist and stay that way for days. The icing was just the regular fluffy vanilla frosting. Sorry I forgot to get a finished picture, but I promise the future will have some. So to expect with these cupcakes is that they taste like a regular chocolate cupcake, nothing spectacular that I could taste.

Applesauce-Spice Cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese frosting

OMG these cupcakes are delicious! Like an apple muffin with pecans and cream cheese frosting...so moist and full of flavour! I wasn't able to find the same recipe on her website - she had some that were close, but not the same...

So the recipe is nice and easy, took about 15 minutes other than the chopping of pecans - which could have been avoided with purchasing them that way...but I had whole ones of course!

These baked up nicely - recipe said it makes 18, however I got 24...so maybe I didn't fill them enough, but that's okay, as I would have had too much left over icing if I only had 18.

The icing is also very simple, butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar...couldn't have asked for a more simple and tasty recipe. I would make these as muffins for breakfast and leave them un-iced if I was to make them again, and perhaps add in some apple chunks or other things.

My husband Landon wasn't a fan...said they sounded gross...he hates applesauce...and had a bite and gave me the rest...I think he is secretly pretending not to like them...but I don't care as I LOVE them.

Honey Bee Cupcakes

So this week I wanted to make something that wasn't chocolate for my pal that is going chocolate free for lent. So, I found the Honey Bee Cupcakes (unfortunately they aren't on her website from what I can find).

They are very cute and smell delicious, however I have decided to leave them unfinished by not making the little bumble bees that are supposed to be set on top...I figure nobody is really going to eat them anyway since they are a weird texture and all, so I will save my creative juices for when I am actually making them for entertaining.

The bumble bees would be quite simple to make, but Taylor would likely think I am playing with Playdoh and would want to help...and that would not be a good thing! LOL

I haven't yet tasted these cakes, I baked them last night and iced them this morning with a yellow tinted swiss buttercream frosting...yet again, not my favorite, but I am glad that they are not all my favorite or I would be eating all of the cakes I have been making!

I am thinking I may make the cream filled chocolate ones again too, since they were so scrumptious and simple, other than the assembling...

Peppermint Chocolate Cupcakes

I haven't updated in a while, but I have been baking! Last weekend I made peppermint chocolate cupcakes with mint buttercream icing.

These cakes were delicious and moist with a lovely minty taste. I didn't love the mint buttercream as I am not a huge fan of buttercream normally, and this was less sweet than the usual buttercream and was lack lustre for me.

These were a nice simple cupcake that I would recommend to anyone who likes mint and chocolate, but maybe put a traditional icing on them with a hint of mint instead?

Lady Bugs

Chrysanthemum Flowers

Bluebirds in their Nest

10 Cups of Meringue Buttercream Icing

Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Well, I have been wanting to try these for a while, but was discouraged as they are supposed to be JUMBO cupcakes and yield 12...but after thinking about it, I realized that was likely close to two dozen standard size cupcakes which is pretty average, so I went for it. I must say I was pleasantly surprised...they are my most favourite cupcake yet...Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

These were a tad more labour intensive that I would have liked, but I knew that going in, and did them last in a morning full of baking. I had a weekend without my husband at home, and my daughter Taylor woke up at the crack of dawn as usual, so I decided to bake the morning away since it was terribly cold out and we were going to be staying in for the day. I baked 8 dozen cupcakes/muffins this day (I was baking a few extras for a friend with a new baby and a couple of other young ones as well, so I figured who couldn't use muffins in their freezer).

So, I baked mini banana muffins, banana blueberry muffins, fruit explosion muffins (like Tim Horton's) and these cream filled cupcakes...and they were all scrumptious!

So the cake part was easy...other than the fact that I had to open a new can of cocoa and it exploded all over my kitchen...it made a pop sound like a pringles chip can and a large poof of cocoa came out...i had to giggle, but didn't date to take a picture as I didn't want everyone to see my messy kitchen - which I ended up having to tidy and clean up after the spill!

The cake batter is very thick like brownie batter - which is why this cake is so moist and dense, which is likely why I loved it so much, since anyone who knows me knows that I can't say no to a good brownie.

I found this a little more intensive and messy, as the recipe calls for greasing and then cocoa dusting the cupcake pan instead of using cupcake liners...which is difficult to me, as I am sure most people know cocoa is usually kind of crumbly and doesn't dust very well...I must research a better way to do this as I have done it twice now and cursed alot at how much cocoa ends up on the floor and counters and all over me while I am doing it.

Anyway, the cupcakes baked well, but the cocoa seems to make the cakes look burnt even though they aren't...as my husband gaped at the finished product saying...YOU BURNT THEM ALL? to which I replied, just taste it, it isn't burnt...so maybe I am just doing something wrong?

So once the cakes have cooled completely, you need to cut a hole in the bottom and scoop out some of the cake inside (it says to use a small melon baller, but I improvised with a small measuring spoon which was just as effective). The recipe says to discard the crumbs...and I am sure there is a better use than tossing this yummy goodness...(I squished the remaining crumbs into a gingerbread cookie cutter which I forgot to ice and later ended up throwing it away...but I tried!)

The cream filling is a combination of marshmallow fluff that you buy, and butter to make it easier to work with, and it cuts the sweetness of the fluff - as usually that stuff makes your teeth hurt it is so sweet...but it turned into a nice fluffy soft creamy goo...

So once the bottoms were filled and I pushed the bottoms back on, I was worried about them leaking out, so I left them upside down for a while while I made another batch of cream filling - since the recipe only calls for 12 jumbo cupcakes, I didn't have enough to put the swirls on top, only to fill the 21 cupcakes I managed to yield from the recipe.

I goofed up on the first few, and then managed to get the swirling down to a science...it is all a consistency and speed thing to be mastered...LOL

I truly recommend these scrumptious cupcakes - and look forward to the challenge of finding a new favourite!

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Well I keep procrastinating about updating the blog, and then I forget, and then I don't have time, and then I procrastinate some more...so I apologize for not updating regularly...I have been baking up a storm!

Last week's submission should have been carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, so here she goes...

I bought some lovely carrots at Costco with the stems still attached feeling that these lovely carrots would make a difference in my carrot cupcakes...they sure did...it took a long time for me to grate them...I ended up using a whole bag to get enough carrots...which I wasn't quite sure of since the recipe was in pounds...so I went with the standard in most other recipes of approximately 2 cups of thinly shredded/grated carrots.

I also didn't purchase golden raisins which is the standard for these, I used Saltan (?) the dark ones like the ones you eat out of the little boxes and give to your kids...as I like them and keep them on hand at all times usually.

The recipe was nice and easy and followed with a simple cream cheese frosting...which I must say is my favorite of all of the frostings...and partly the reason I selected this recipe - as I was craving a nice heavy cake with a fluffy cream cheese frosting :)

So, this was a nice quick and simple recipe that I would always recommend...and I even garnished them with the toasted coconut, which as funny as it sounds was easy and got plenty of compliments on as people felt they were fancier...it was a very simple way to dress up the cupcakes. As usual, the folks at work gobbled them up in record time...

Gingerbread Cupcakes

I have adapted Martha's Gingerbread Cupcake Recipe for my husband's 50th birthday.

I actually had all of the ingredients in my house as this is a truly simple cupcake to make. I have substitute the flour for a 1:2 corn to rice flour mixture and I added a tablespoon of corn starch. Which in hind sight I should not have as I think that is why they exploded.



The cupcakes pulled away from the wrappers really badly making them very difficult to ice prettily. I accidental added tsp of allspice but it just added a delightful addition to the cupcakes. I baked them for 15 minutes, not 30, as I used regular sized cupcake wrappers. Mine only come in one size lol.



You have to make two kinds of icing one is a glaze and the other is a meringue butter cream. Make the Meringue Butter Cream icing first as it needs time to chill thoroughly before being piped. I still don't have any icing bags so I used a ziplock baggie. When I boiled the sugar I messed up big time. When I added it to the whipped egg whites it solidified and did not mix well into the egg whites. The Butter Glaze was SUPER simple to make and would have been a wonderful consistency to dip the tops of your cupcakes with; HOWEVER, mine are in no shape to be dipped into anything. I used a wide knife to spread the glaze on top of each cupcake before refrigerating them for 15 minutes to solidify the glaze before I wrote on them.



My daughter told me that they taste great; even though, they don't look that good. She likes the two different icing but prefers the meringue butter cream. Brad could not tell the difference between the two icings and neither could Mike (my hubby). Mike said that they are the moistest cupcakes I have ever made and they are amazingly good. He loves the seriously flavourful spicy cake and the icing was a prefect amount to complement and balance the cake.

I love these cupcakes I am just a little sad that they turned out so sloppy. I was hoping for a really pretty presentation as we have company coming tonight. Oh well, we will see how my brother and nephew like these little cakes when they come over.

Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Fluffy Coconut Frosting...from Late as always Leah!

Well, not even going to mention being late this time...I decided to make a cupcake that makes a larger yield so I could share with my grades 7/8/9 class as they always get missed due to being a "bigger" class (kind of  funny as there really are only 24 of them, but we are a small school...small in numbers big in heart). I am struggling as I type this as I dumped cranberry juice on my keyboard this weekend and everything is sticking now and I will need to see if they can clean this...I have a Macbook...in case your wondering what type of keyboard.

So I thought the Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes would be good...also trying to use up the Buttermilk I bought (I froze some buttermilk and whipping cream, so we shall see how that work, this way I always have on hand). Anyhow I have no idea how they taste as I have a special diet I am on for 4 days while I do tests, so could not taste. My kids loved them! I have seen on Martha's website that some have found them dry, etc. I don't think mine are, but I think you have to really watch how long you cook them...I think I did 14 minutes where the recipe says 20 minutes or until they spring back when you press on them. Other suggestions if you do find them dry were to use vegetable or canola oil in substitution of the butter. As an added spin on the "yellow" I added red food coloring, but not a lot so the cupcakes are a kind of pink-coral colour

I frosted these with the Fluffy Vanilla Frosting except instead of  using vanilla I substituted with a coconut extract for something different....again I will have to wait until my students test taste these puppies and let you know. Just noticed as I hyperlinked to the recipe that the sugar was supposed to be sifted...forgot to do that, but they seem to look okay. LOL

They Red Velvets were a tremendous hit. I actually did not bring them in until yesterday, but I tend to just freeze the cupcakes if I am not having them eaten right away which seems to work. You will notice I freeze a lot of stuff...LMAO I am kind of a freezer nut!

Everything went really well, no big issues. My husband Fred likes to put the butter I am leaving out away in the fridge...which actually is one of the reasons I am bloody late sometimes!

Black Forest Cupcakes

So this week's cupcake was Black Forest Cupcakes. I didn't LOVE them, but there were alot of people that really liked them...so I guess it just depends on what you like. These are not your traditional Black Forest cake style cupcakes...same ingredients more or less, but very different.

I used Disaronno instead of cherry flavored brandy since I don't generally have that on hand LOL.

These were labour intensive, as the cake part was quick, but the pastry cream needed to be made and cooled for two hours before using - which is basically vanilla pudding...and the chocolate ganache is really quick, but you don't want to do prepare it until just before you are ready to assemble and garnish the cupcakes...so it was a few hour extravaganza which involved me making supper in between...

The cake was soft and moist, the pudding was nice and light, and the chocolate ganache is a very rich dark chocolate that is not sweet, so maybe that's why I didn't love them...not sweet enough for my taste buds...most people that are dark chocolate lovers, would appreciate these ones.

Valentine's Brownie Cupcakes

Sorry for the delay - things have been busy! For Valentines Day I made Martha's Brownie Cupcakes. Since we were having a little pot luck at work that day, I also made Red Velvets by request.

The brownie cupcakes were easy, however next time I would try to make them softer, as they were very thick like a brownie and had very soft pink buttercream icing...but my all time favorite was the little hearts made of brownie that get placed on top. This was a very tedious project and wasted alot of brownie, so beware.

The red velvets were easy as usual - and turned out better this time since I think last time I over mixed and they didn't rise as much last time. They were great.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing....

SO I am late yet again, and there will I am sure be many more dates in the future. I just cannot seem to find time lately with school, medical appointments, etc...just not getting much done, or doing too much! I cheated a tad as I have cooked the Red Velvet cupcakes before and I know they are easy and straight forward. My students have "requested" these, so I figure that I am killing two birds with one stone.

I did get to use my new cocoa so that may change the taste a bit, which I think would be good...well hopefully it makes them "richer". I find that Martha's Red Velvets tend to be a very light cupcake in comparison with other Red Velvets I have had, which are a heavier cake. So if you like a lighter cake, you probably will love these! The cream cheese icing is always divine...