Cupcakes for kids and grown ups too!

This week I decided to make two different types of cupcakes: one for adults and one for kids (or in this case, my sister).

Adult Cupcake:

For these adult cupcakes, I got to try out two different techniques for the first time: booze-infused cupcakes and two-tone frosting. I wanted to make some kind of fruity cupcakes, and when I remembered that we had some fruity alcohol I decided that I had the perfect idea: pomegranate cosmopolitan cupcakes! Well, I couldn't find a recipe that I was happy with, so I created my own. I knew that I wanted to use pomegranate, lime, and orange flavors, so I decided to do pomegranate cupcakes (infused with smirnoff pomegranate martini and POM juice) topped with limeade and an orange triple sec buttercream frosting.

They didn't come out nearly as boozy as they sound, but they did turn out to be deliciously tart and sweet! For the triple sec frosting, I decided to do a pink-orange swirl to represent the two flavors. Here are some pictures!

Kid Cupcakes:

While these are kid cupcakes, they were actually requested by my sister. These are not my creation, but I was very excited to try out the recipe (not to mention my kitchen torch)! These are smores cupcakes: graham flavored cupcakes filled and topped with chocolate ganache and topped with a marshmallow meringue, lightly browned (in some cases, not so lightly). Well, they turned out pretty well, but Martha Stewart led me to believe that the marshmallow topping would pipe out into graceful swirls. About two minutes after piping, I turned around to find the marshmallow melting all over the cupcake! I don't know if it was the humidity, or if it was the recipe, but something tells me that that marshmallow was never going to stay up... so we got a little creative and made a number of marshmallow variations. I have to say, using the kitchen torch was my favorite part of the whole recipe!

Here's a picture of the torch in action:
...the beautiful marshmallow peak:
Strawberry marshmallow variation:
A variety of smores cupcakes:
Enjoy!

Mango Coconut Key Lime Pie! And Challah!

My mom and I recently bought 12 limes because they were on sale for $1. Well, the best way to use up a bunch of limes is really to make a key lime pie. I have made many key lime pies before, and wanted to mix this one up, so I decided to incorporate mango and coconut flavors.

Here is my key lime pie, topped with mango compote, coconut meringue, and toasted coconut:

Here is a close-up a piece:

Also this week, we decided to try to make challah, which is a traditional Jewish bread that is sweet. We made our challah with dates to make it really sweet. Here's a picture!

Did you say MEAT cupcakes?

So I was messing around on the computer and found these adorable cupcakes on cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com, one of my favorite cupcake blogs.

They were made originally by Mishella (via Epicute) and look just like the traditional cookout foods that we all enjoy! However, these cookout cupcakes come without real meat. Seeing these made me wonder what other kinds of meaty cupcakes are out there. I typed "meat cupcakes" into google images, and came out with a bunch of images that had no visible meat.

...

I found a few of the popular hamburger shaped cupcakes, and a set of brain cupcakes (I worry about the person who classifies human brains as meat). The rest of the cupcakes appeared to be normal cupcakes. That's when I came across these beauties, from wrightcreatively.com..

I did a little research and found that these deceiving cupcakes are actually MEATLOAF cupcakes topped with mashed potatoes! MEAT CUPCAKES?!?

However, the more I look at these cupcakes, the more I start to wonder what other foods I could make into cupcakes... pizza? tacos? Hmm... there's potential there.

What do you think? Meat cupcakes... take them or leave them?

CONGRATULATIONS WHITNEY!!

My older sister just graduated from grad school and got her first real job, so I wanted to surprise her with some baked goods. She had been requesting something for a while, but I didn't bake it because it is such an odd combination. Well, I have finally given in and made her what she requested...

...carrot cake cupcakes with purple sparkly frosting.

I made a rich carrot cake filled with pineapple, carrot, coconut, and raisins.

Here they are coming out of the oven:
I made what turned out be a whipped cream cheese frosting and added the purple food coloring. I had the worst time piping them (my bags kept popping, resulting in purple frosting explosions all over!) but I finished and covered them in a dusting of lilac luster dust and purple edible glitter. I topped them off with edible pearls. Here are some pictures of the finished product!




Congratulations Whitney!!! Enjoy!

Whoops... peach crepes!

Okay, so I know I said that I wasn't going to be making any more desserts for a while, but the granola was healthy... and I'm eating these peach crepes for dinner, so it's kind of like it isn't dessert.

My mom had picked up some really good peaches at the store the other day, so we decided to make peach crepes tonight. In my house, whenever we have crepes, they are always filled with a cream cheese filling (as they should be).

Here they are!

Crepes filled with a cream cheese filling and topped with fresh peaches and whipped cream!
Enjoy!

Delicious Homemade Granola

For the past few days, I've been wanting to make homemade granola. Granola, while not thought of as a traditional dessert, is a great healthy snack.

Here's the granola before it baked:

...and after it baked:
I made my granola with almonds, pistachios, raisins, dates, and dark chocolate:

Enjoy!

Accio Delicious Wizard Treats!

Well, I think it is time that I take a break from baking for a few days. My family is up to our elbows in cake balls, beignets, and the like, and cannot eat any more sweets (while still maintaining a weight below 300 pounds). I'm sure I will be forced to make some more sweets soon, but until then, I'm going to do some blogs about desserts that I find.

As anyone who knows me knows, desserts and Harry Potter are two of my favorite things in the world. So I thought, there are so many desserts in the Harry Potter books, why don't I go through a few and figure out what exactly they are. I assume most of them are traditional English desserts, while others are the invention of J.K. Rowling. Here is a little bit about some traditional desserts found in the Harry Potter books!

1. Treacle Tart

(Courtesy of reallynicerecipes.com)

-Treacle tart is mentioned a lot throughout Harry Potter, and I never had any idea of how to even picture that pastry. Apparently, treacle tart is a traditional english dessert made of a dark syrup similar to molasses (treacle), breadcrumbs, and a number of other ingredients. According to Harry Potter wiki, Harry loves it so much that he smells it in the love potion, Amortentia.

2. Pumpkin Pasties

(Courtesy of mamavg's Flickr)

-Pasties are pies that can either be sweet (such as pumpkin) or savory (such as meat). Pumpkin pasties are basically similar to pumpkin pies. Usually pasties are made by placing filling on a round piece of dough and folding it into a pocket shape. In Harry Potter, pumpkin pasties are sold on the Hogwart's Express.

3. Butterbeer

(Courtesy of i09.com)

-As far as I can tell, butterbeer is a drink that was created for Harry Potter. It is alleged to have a slight alcohol content, which has a greater effect on house elves than humans. Butterbeer can be served hot or cold, and is often enjoyed by Hogwarts students in Hogsmeade at either the Three Broomsticks or the Hog's Head. I am still looking for a good recipe for butterbeer, but Universal has created both a regular and an iced version of this drink for the Harry Potter theme park!

4. Pumpkin Juice

(Courtesy of Harry Potter wiki)

-Another drink that is consumed throughout the Harry Potter series is pumpkin juice. Pumpkin juice is consumed at all times of the day and was described as being a combination of apple cider and pumpkin pie. Pumpkin juice is another drink that will be sold at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

5. Chocolate Frogs

(Courtesy of star-wands.co.uk)

-Chocolate Frogs are a treat enjoyed in the magical world. In the package, they hold a chocolate frog and a wizard card. In the magical world, the chocolate frogs will hop away if you aren't careful. In our world, they are just chocolate.

6. Cauldron Cakes

(Courtesy of Harry Potter wiki)

-Cauldron cakes are desserts in the shape of a cauldron that are covered in chocolate on the outside and a yellowish liquid in the center. They can be bought on the Hogwart's Express trolley or in Honeydukes, or can be reproduced at home!

7. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

(Courtesy of houseofzathuras.com)

-Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are like jelly beans, only they really do come in a bunch of flavors. Their flavors include baked beans, centipede, compost, and even vomit. For a flavor list, look here.

Enjoy!

Baking To-Do List

I have so many desserts that I want to try that I can barely keep track! I am starting to make a baking to-do list, just so I can remember everything that I want to try. Hopefully I can get to most of these before summer ends!

Baking To-Do List (in no particular order):

-Beignets (done!)

-mango key lime pie with coconut meringue (done!)

-pie pops

-some kind of drink-inspired cupcake (cosmo, margarita, pina colada, etc) (done!)

-cheesecake balls

-ice cream

-creme brulee

-lava cakes

-candy corn cupcakes

I'm sure I will continue to think of things that I want to make. Let me know if you have any other good suggestions!

Red, White, and Blue Beignets!

While watching The Princess and the Frog, I couldn't stop looking at the delicious desserts that Tiana served up at the restaurant. They were deep fried and covered in powdered sugar; two things that add up to a great dessert! Here is a picture from the movie where Tiana makes those amazing looking desserts:

After doing some research, I learned that the doughy desserts that Tiana was making are beignets (pronounced ben-YAY). Beignets are popular in the French Quarter of New Orleans, as they are pretty much the French version of a doughnut.

I wanted to modify my beignets a little by adding fruit and cream cheese topping. I ended up creating three different sauces for my beignets: strawberry compote, blueberry compote, and cinnamon brown sugar cream cheese.

Here are the fresh fruits I used for the compotes:

Frying up the beignets:

Here is a close-up of the doughy, powdery beignet pile!

And here are the beignets with the different toppings:

Enjoy!

Rhubarb Crunch

One of my family's favorite summertime desserts is rhubarb crunch. If you have never had rhubarb, it is pretty tart. When rhubarb is mixed with a crispy sweet crumble and vanilla bean ice cream, it is perfect!

Here are some pictures of the crunch that my mom and I made tonight!

Here is a picture of the crisp before it was baked to show how much delicious sugary topping was put on top.

Here is the crunch after it baked.

And here's a piece with vanilla bean ice cream on top!

Enjoy!

Happy 4th of July, America!

I love the fourth of July!!!

I love the fireworks, the parades, the hot dogs (even though I can no longer enjoy them), and the red, white, and blue!

In honor of the holiday, I have found some really cool cupcakes celebrating this amazing holiday!

-I have to start with these ones, from Ally Cake Designs' Flickr. I love the mini hot dogs on top. They are so adorable! If I cannot eat the real things, I would love to try out these fakes!

-This design, from alwayshungry.com, looks like a lot of work! These simple vanilla cupcakes look amazing in the flag pattern and are a unique way to celebrate the fourth!

-These corn on the cob cupcakes, taken from charmingcards.com, look almost like the real thing. I love the corn on the cob holder detail, but I'm not sure how I feel about eating a cupcake with that many jelly beans!

..and one more flag cupcake, from Highbush Blueberry Council!