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!