Tasty Treat to Tingle Your Feet!

Snickerdoodle

2011-04-30T19:33:00.001-06:00

These snickerdoodle cupcakes are by far one of my favorite cupcakes I have ever made. They are made out of white cake batter and cinnamon. The frosting is cinnamon cream cheese, additionally topped with white sugar and a dash of cinnamon. These were also made for Sigma Chi Derby Days. Kendall and I decided that they could even be eaten as a muffin without the frosting because they are so delicious. YUM!

Sigma Chi Cupcakes

2011-04-30T19:27:00.000-06:00

Its the beginning of Derby Days here at DU, so my friend Kendall and I made cupcakes for some of the frat guys. These ones are the White Russians that were previously posted, with a wee bit of extra vodka in the cupcake. On top of the whipped cream frosting are EX for Sigma Chi that were made from dried and dyed white chocolate. They were quite difficult to do, and Kendall did an amazing job!

These include both the White Russians and the Snickerdoodles!

Easter Cupcakes

2011-04-24T17:10:00.003-06:00

To celebrate Easter, I made some Easter inspired cupcakes. I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The cupcakes are frosted in variety of pastel colors and topped with white chocolate bunnies and chicks. Enjoy!

Delta Gamma Cupcakes

2011-04-16T22:04:00.002-06:00

Katie's and my sorority, Delta Gamma, was doing a promotional week, and they asked Katie to make some cupcakes that were to be passed out around campus. She did a beautiful job with these little cakes, and let me tell you, they were a HUGE hit! She did yellow and chocolate cakes, with a simple buttercream frosting that she then died blue and pink. Our DG colors are bronze, pink, and blue so these were just too perfect! She topped them off with our Greek letters as well as one of our symbols (an anchor) that were both made out of hardened white chocolate. Don't they look delish?

Peanut Butter Cup-Cakes!

2011-04-16T21:56:00.000-06:00

For those of you who love the mixture of peanut butter and chocolate, this is the cupcake for you. It is a chocolate cake finished off with some thick, but delicious peanut butter frosting. The mini Reeses on top are the perfect way to complete the cupcake, and the frosting can be applied anyway desired.

Cookies and Cream

2011-04-16T21:51:00.000-06:00

Sorry we have not been posting for a while! I (Ainsley) was abroad in the Czech Republic from August until December, and when I was finally back in the US I had some medical things to attend to, so not much baking for me. Katie is graduating from the University of Denver this year, so she has had a lot on her plate as well.

Anyway, the next few posts will consist of some of the recent cupcakes that Katie has made! This one is the Cookies and Cream, which was a chocolate cupcake, with Oreo-cream frosting topped with some Mini-Oreos!

Girl Scout Cookie Cupcakes- Samoa Edition

2011-04-16T21:43:00.001-06:00

These cupcakes were made just for fun last week. They include a chocolate cake infused with coconut, carmel frosting, and toasted coconut shavings and chocolate sprinkles to top them off! The carmel frosting was extremely rich, but was well balanced with the lightness of the cupcake. So delicious!

Late Summer Cupcakes

2010-08-16T22:33:00.003-06:00

These cupcakes I made for a dinner party and all age groups enjoyed them. I made two different types of cupcakes for this party, one was chocolate with a mocha butter cream frosting and the other was a pumpkinspice with cream cheese frosting. The chocolate cupcakes with the mocha butter cream were topped with a milk chocolate hardened swirl. The pumpkin spice cupcakes with the cream cheese frosting was decorated with mint leaves and raspberries.

Wedding Shower Cupcakes

2010-08-16T22:20:00.005-06:00

I made these cupcakes for a wedding shower they are vanilla cupcakes with a butter cream frosting. There are three different decorations for these cupcakes. The first one is a butter cream frosting that is accented with a white chocolate drizzle topped with a hardened white chocolate swirl. The second is butter cream frosting that is topped with white sprinkles and white pansies. The third is butter cream frosting that is topped with a vertical hardened swirl. Enjoy!!

Birthday Cupcakes

2010-07-26T16:24:00.005-06:00

I made these cupcakes for my grandpa's birthday. The cupcakes are chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, that has been rolled in white sprinkles then piped with orange and yellow frosting.

Sun Valley Sun Cupcakes

2010-07-26T16:02:00.004-06:00

These are Sun Valley Sun cupcakes that I made for a friend who was hosting guests from out of town. I thought it would be fun for them to have some SV sun cupcakes, when they arrived in Sun Valley. These cupcakes are Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting colored yellow.

Black and White Cupcakes

2010-07-26T15:50:00.004-06:00

I made these cupcakes for a family friend who was hosting house guests. These are white cupcakes with buttercream frosting, that is decorated with chocolate ganache and chocolate sprinkles.

Booze-Cakes! Irish Carbombs and White Russians

2010-07-24T13:31:00.001-06:00

These are the cupcakes that I decided to make for my sister's 24th birthday. The White Russians are a basic vanilla cupcake with vodka and Kahlua inside topped with Kahlua frosting. The Irish Carbomb cupcakes are a chocolate cake with Guinness injected with bittersweet chocolate and irish whiskey. The frosting contains Baileys. Here are the pictures!

Irish Carbomb

White Russians

4th of July Cupcakes (A long time delayed)

2010-07-20T21:34:00.001-06:00

I made these 4th of July cupcakes for a family friend of mine who was taking them to a BBQ. The cupcakes were chocolate cupcakes with a light whip cream frosting, that I then rolled in red, white and blue sprinkles. The star topping of these cupcakes is jolly ranchers that I melted in the oven and then cut out with a star shaped cookie cutter.

The other cupcakes that I decorated for this same BBQ was like the dahlia cupcakes, which is marshmellows that are cut in half and then dipped in sprinkles.

White Cupcakes with Raspberry-Lemon Curd topped with Whipped Cream Frosting

2010-07-17T16:23:00.002-06:00

We were asked to do some cupcakes for a charity dinner tonight for 45 people. The cupcakes we decided to make were very summery and light. To begin, I made a white cake batter with white chocolate pudding added into it. While the cupcakes were in the oven, I made a lemon curd from scratch (basically lemons, sugar, and eggs). Once the curd was finished it had to cool for about two hours. I then mashed up fresh raspberries with a teaspoon of sugar and added that to the curd after it had cooled. The white chocolate cupcakes were then injected with the raspberry-lemon curd and topped with homemade whipped cream and a single raspberry. Hopefully those who attend the lobster dinner tonight will thoroughly enjoy these zesty little cakes!

Filling of Raspberry-Lemon Curd!

Final Party Platter!

Chrysanthemum Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes

2010-07-05T22:11:00.002-06:00

For my Glutarded Mother's birthday, I researched some recipes for lemon cupcakes. I found one online, substituted some ingredients, and used a Meringue Buttercream frosting to complete my flowery cakes! The cupcakes turned out to look more like muffins, but tasted absolutely delicious. Before attempting these cupcakes, I had to go to the store to get a few different pastry tips (in order to make the leaves of the flowers, etc.) and I finally decided to buy an ice cream scoop for the batter. I used to doubt the concept of using an ice cream scoop (the kind that scrapes it out), but it worked WONDERS and makes it so each cupcake is the same size....I enthusiastically suggest it to anyone like me who struggles with getting batter in each cup.

Here is the recipe:
2 Eggs
3/4 Cup of Cane Sugar
1/2 Cup of Sour Cream
1 and 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Melted Butter (salted)
Zest of One Lemon
1/3 Cup of Lemon Juice
2 Cups of White Rice Flour
2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Xantham Gum

And of course the best part, the final product!

Gluten-Free Lemon Cupcakes

Yummy!

These bad boys were no easy feat. Katie and I had a few practice rounds in order to make the petals actually stick up. The recipe for the frosting came from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book, however, Martha ain't got shi* on Katie and I!

4th of July Cupcakes!

2010-07-03T17:31:00.003-06:00

Today I decided to make cupcakes in order to celebrate the 4th of July! I used a similar red velvet cupcake recipe to the one below, only changing the cake mix to a devil's food cake one and some minor adjustments to the cream cheese frosting. To make them more festive, I added sliced strawberries and blueberries to the top! It looks like they turned out ok, but the devil's food cake doesn't hold the red coloring very well, even though it is more moist then the other! Pictures below:

Dahlia Flower Cupcakes

2010-06-30T20:30:00.004-06:00

I decided to branch out and make some different flower cupcakes that were inspired by the flowers in my yard. These cupcakes look like Dahlia's and are relatively easy to make. They are vanilla cupcakes that are frosted white with whip cream frosting. The petals are made from marshmallows and colored sprinkles.

Cupcakes in Summer Colors

2010-06-30T20:00:00.002-06:00

I decided to make some cupcakes to add to the blog. I made colorful summer cupcakes. I was just playing around with different decorations including sprinkles and m&m's to make bright and fun tops to the cupcakes.

This is a picture that I took before frosting and decorating the cupcakes, I thought it was a fun picture! These are just plain vanilla cupcakes in various patterned papers.

Here are some colorful cupcakes. Enjoy! (These just remind me of summer) These cupcakes are decorated with colored whip cream frosting and m&m's.

These cupcakes are just frosted with white whip cream frosting and different textures and colored sprinkles.

Who Knew Sunflowers Could Be So Delicious

2010-06-23T17:44:00.003-06:00

I literally dedicated my entire day today to make these beautiful sunflower treats for a bbq I am attending tomorrow night. The cupcake is a dark chocolate mix with chocolate pudding and cocoa. On top is a buttercream frosting dyed yellow and an Oreo cookie center! The frosting contains 6 sticks of butter and 8 eggwhites (doesn't sound too healthy) but compliments the chocolatey cake. I am very proud of how the final product turned out and I hope they will be a hit tomorrow night!

Here is a photo of similar sunflower cupcakes Katie made last summer. She used a different type of frosting and added little ladybug m&ms.

Rhubarb Crumple Cupcakes

2010-06-23T17:34:00.000-06:00

Although the title doesn't seem to imply it, these cupcakes are great for breakfast! In fact, I would title them muffins rather than cupcakes. The inside of the cupcake contains fresh rhubarb, cinnamon, and nutmeg with a quality crunchy topping of brown sugar, cinnamon, and oats. Therefore, you can indulge yourself in the breakfast hours or serve with ice-cream for a different take on a traditional crumble! Scope the pic! Yummy!

My Accomplice!

2010-06-23T17:19:00.002-06:00

One of my closet friends, Katie R., who goes to the University of Denver with me, has decided to help me with this blog! She loves to bake as well and has some amazing recipes and pictures to add to the site! From now on you will be hearing about (and seeing) what both of us are making in the kitchen! We hope you like our creations! THANKS

Here we are at an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party!

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

2010-06-16T22:35:00.001-06:00

I must admit, these Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, can be EXTREMELY dangerous. Try to pawn them off to your friends quickly or else you may just find yourself eating every single one! I must give much thanks to my sister for the cupcake book she gave me for christmas for I improvised this recipe from one in the book. Thanks Char!

Cupcake Recipe

Makes 22-24 Cupcakes

Baking Time: 20 Minutes

Paper liners for cupcake pans

1 Package plain German Chocolate Cake Mix

1 Package Vanilla Instant Pudding (makes them moist)

1 1/4 Cup Sour Cream

1/2 Cup of Water

1/2 Cup of Veggie Oil

1 Bottle of Red Food Coloring (1 oz.)

3 Eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, water, oil, food coloring, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with mixer until batter is well combined and somewhat thick.
Fill cupcake pan cups with liners and then place batter into the cupcake pan about 3/4 full.
Place pan in oven and bake for about 20 minutes. To double check they are done, make sure that they spring back at you if you lightly press to tops of them.
Remove pans and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
Frost cupcakes with recipe that follows...

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

2 Packages (16 oz.) Reduced-Fat Cream Cheese (at room temp)

1 Stick of Butter (8 Tbls.) (also at room temp)

6 Cups of Powdered Sugar (ie. Confectioners' Sugar)

1 Tbls. Vanilla Extract

Directions to Make Frosting:

Place cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer until somewhat blended.
Add the sugar one cup at a time until all ingredients have been combined and the frosting looks fluffy.
Place in fridge until cupcakes are ready to frost.

Final Product

To finish them off, take the cooled-off cupcakes (which my father said look kind of like raw hamburgers) and frost with the home-made cream cheese frosting! You can top them off with fresh fruit, shaved chocolate, or peppermint! The ones pictured have raspberries with fresh mint from the garden.

Now Enjoy!

Let the Baking BEGIN!

2010-06-16T22:03:00.000-06:00

Hello All! I have decided to finally exploit my passion for baking to those on the internet! My love for baking began at the mere age of 7 and has only grown since then! Through this blog I hope to share pictures and recipes to those interested in making sugary treats for friends, families, and yourselves! Enjoy!