Happy holidays!!!

48 cupcakes, 4 batches of frosting, and 7 hours later, I decided that I don't have the energy (or proper tools) to be a professional cupcake baker. *SIGH*. Oh well, there's always teaching music! :p

I decided to go with the idea that I should bake cupcakes for presents this year. Do I regret that decision? Absolutely not. Was I tired? ABSOLUTELY. Will I be participating in another baking marathon? Weeeeell, maybe. But not for awhile :)

I was really thinking about Christmas and the different flavors that you see around the holidays, and I did some searching to see which of those flavors could be incorporated into cupcakes. I finally settled on 4 winter-themed cupcakes...and here's the first one up!

Cinnamon Cupcakes

I used this recipe to create the Cinnamon cake base, but I decided to add to the cinnamon flavor by making a butter-cream cheese cinnamon frosting! Unfortunately, I can't really help you with the frosting recipe; I ended up improvising most of it. I CAN tell you that I forgot to add the buttermilk to the cake...oops. So for those of you who ate these, I'm sorry if they tasted kind of bland! I would definitely make these again, but next time I won't forget the buttermilk, and I would probably throw in some apples into the batter. These would be DELICIOUS for breakfast :)


Next in the line-up is another cupcake that is suitable for breakfast, especially with the Maple syrup cream cheese frosting that I ended up using on top.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cupcake

I had A LOT of batter; so much, in fact, that I ended up making a dozen of these cupcakes, and 20 mini cupcakes (which were served for breakfast the next day). I don't have a recipe for the frosting, but I can tell you that I used about a half a block of cream cheese, and added maple syrup and powdered sugar to taste. You may want to add more cream cheese, but if you're not a fan of tooth-decaying gobs of frosting on your cupcakes, half a block will be enough.

The next dozen is a recipe that I experimented with earlier in the month, and I took these cupcakes (in mini form) to the Annual Fund potluck (whoo, shout out to the AF team!)
One of the things that I love the most about the chilly weather is that I get to bundle up and enjoy a nice steaming cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. I tried to capture this flavor in cupcake form, and here's the result:

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

I revisited the chocolate cupcake recipe that I used for Jonathan's birthday which were suitable for even those who aren't real chocolate fans. For the frosting, I used this light and fluffy Martha Stewart recipe for marshmallow cream frosting, and I added mini chocolate chip morsels for decoration :)

Last but not least, I made...

EGGNOG CUPCAKES!!!

To be completely honest, I'm not a fan of eggnog. It's too thick, too sweet...just too much. I was skeptical about making these cupcakes, but who doesn't think about eggnog when Christmas is mentioned? These turned out to be AMAZING, which only proves that things are always better in cupcake form. The cake was light and fluffy, and paired very nicely with the just-sweet-enough frosting.

Oh yes, the frosting. The recipe calls for powdered sugar. 2 cups of it. I'm sure everyone knows by now that I don't like sugar overpowering my cupcakes, and as mentioned above, I already think eggnog is too sweet. While I understand that the sugar is meant to make the butter cream nice and thick, I also think that there are other ways to make your frosting nice and thick without sacrificing a couple of good, healthy teeth. I opted to put in cream cheese instead (yes, cream cheese saved the day once again!) and ended up with a very delicious frosting. I highly recommend that you steer clear of the sugar option and just add cream cheese until you get the right consistency :)

Okay, so there you have it! Those were the cupcakes that I decided to make for the holidays. School starts next week, so I think it's safe to say that I won't be baking again for awhile. Maybe I'll be inspired by something during the quarter, though...and maybe I'll end up coming back. In the mean time, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Best wishes for 2010, and happy baking! :D

WOW!

Have I been neglecting this blog or what? I certainly hope that this doesn't meet the same fate that my Xanga did...(R.I.P....I know you're floating around somewhere in Internetland...)

Anyway, needless to say, I haven't been doing a great job keeping up with this, but I also haven't been baking much, either. Who knew that getting your Masters degree and teaching credential could be so gosh darn time consuming?! I sure didn't. That's pretty much what I've been up to. I just completed my first quarter as a graduate student, left my post as teacher and orchestra conductor at the local music conservatory (I will miss those kids!), and have wandered my way back into the kitchen during my winter break (which, by the way, is ending all too quickly).

I'm sure most of you know what the holidays mean....stress, shopping, and more stress! Which is why I came to the conclusion that I should show my loved ones that I love them...by baking cupcakes! I managed to bake 48 in one day...that post is coming up soon! ...

...which brings me to my next item on the agenda. I logged into this thing realizing that I had an entry that I meant to publish back in September. I'll go ahead and finish that one first, and then I will publish my holiday cupcake adventures :)

Happy baking, everybody! :)

ERROR: Fail cakes!!!

Can somebody PLEASE tell me where August and the first half of September went?!

*sigh*

Seriously, I'm about to start class again this Thursday. This does not make me a happy camper. Neither do fail cakes, which have been becoming frequent...well, they don't look pretty. But they taste pretty good :)

Anyway, I decided that the economy sucks (yes, I JUST decided that). Bad economy + very little hours at work = broke Anne. Broke Anne = no money for extravagant birthday presents. But who says that sweet teeth need to suffer from the bad economy? Not I! Therefore, I have decided to hand out cupcakes in place of birthday presents. They're cute, sweet, delicious, and they take effort...therefore, they show that you care.

September is full of birthdays.

Needless to say, I've been baking A LOT! I have 3 cupcakes to share with you :)

Okay, first up are my sister's birthday cupcakes. I got a gorgeous rose-cake pan from my Auntie Connie, and I decided to try to make Red Velvet rose-shaped cupcakes with a cream cheese filling, with white chocolate leaves and a side of vanilla ice cream. Sounds amazing, right?

oops.

Turns out I didn't butter the pans enough, so the roses had a bit of trouble coming out. They tasted delicious, though! And I think the chocolate leaves were a nice touch:

Anyway, you can use the Martha Stewart recipe that I used here.

Of course, baking cupcakes is always so much more fun when you bake with a friend. What about baking with your sister? THAT'S TWICE THE FUN! :D We decided to try some of Martha Stewart's cupcakes from a recipe book that my sister got for her birthday. Check it out!

Martha Stewart's Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

And that's my lovely sister/baking mentor frosting Martha Stewart's blueberry cupcakes! These are perfect for breakfast! <3

Enjoy, and happy baking!

Jonathan's birthday cupcakes

Attention chocolate lovers (and non-lovers)! I think I've found the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe. I made these cupcakes for Jon's (belated) birthday...and if I do say so myself, they were pretty darn good. Even my chocolate-sort-of-hating boyfriend liked these...so that's gotta mean something, right?

Anyway, this cupcake does come packed full of chocolate flavor and goodness, but the cake is surprisingly light and fluffy. I was kind of worried that the frosting might have been a tad too sweet, but it's the perfect balance to the unsweetened cocoa that the cake portion of the recipe calls for. The frosting is a simple butter cream, but I think next time I might want to try a chocolate/cream cheese frosting.

So...behold! I present, the best chocolate cupcake recipe! Oh, and you might want to have a tall glass of cold milk ready to go. Don't say I never warned you.

Chocolate Cupcakes

I'm still baking!

Birthday cupcakes for Jelissa and Melissa (*haha, that rhymes :p*)

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Thai Tea Cupcakes

See? I'm not MIA. It's just been waaaay too hot to bake and I'm working a new summer job that leaves me tired at the end of the day. I'm missing Jon's cupcakes, which I hope to bake soon...apparently, he likes chocolate cupcakes so I'm looking for a really good recipe!

Also...I just got a beautiful rose cupcake pan from my Auntie Connie :) I hope to bake some red velvet rose cupcakes with a cream cheese filling...I hope it cools down some day soon!

Throwback!

I haven't made any cupcakes since last Tuesday (but my sister and I probably will for July 4!)...so I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of previous batches.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

My very first attempt at cupcakes...I loved these, and I think they were a hit at work. The coconut milk that the recipe calls for really makes the cake moist, and the sweet-tangy frosting is really light. This would be a VERY refreshing summer dessert :)

Cherry-Limeade Cupcakes

These...were kind of sweet. Like I said before, I'm not a fan of diabetes spread on top of my cupcake. Okay, I'm being dramatic. These weren't THAT bad. I'd probably eat them again, but I think I would much rather eat the Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes. These were fun to make and decorate, though!

Thai Tea Cupcakes

Feeling adventurous? This is definitely a recipe that you want to try. I think my sister and I spent most of our time trying to find the Thai tea syrup, only to discover that you could only really buy it online. We needed to improvise, and we bought a whole bucket of tea leaves and ended up brewing and straining them instead.

The custard inside didn't really firm up, so we ended up with a pretty goopy (but delicious) mess. I really liked these cupcakes...my sister, not so much. These were just sweet enough, and it really tasted like Thai tea (thanks to the custard center and the Thai tea cream cheese frosting)

P.S...I LOVED the orange color <3

Sorry! None for you, Charlie!



Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

These need some work. From what I remember, the frosting got kind of hard and I think we can cut back on the sugar a lot more. But I really loved the cake :)

I hope to perfect this one by the end of the summer!

That's it for this throwback entry. Make sure you check back here around July 4...more cupcakes to come!

Tiramisu cupcakes

Reader, meet the Tiramisu cupcake. I've had my fair share of cupcakes in my life, and I'm pretty positive that this is the best one that I've ever eaten...and I just HAD to kick off this blog with an introduction to the best cupcake EVER.

I'm really not a fan of cavity inducing frosting or heavy cake, and I was a little worried that these cupcakes would be just that. Instead my sister and I were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The cake is based on a fairly simple vanilla cake batter - not too sweet, not too bland. After going in the oven to bake, a coffee-marsala wine syrup is drizzled over the cupcakes. The frosting is made from a VERY light and fluffy cream and marscarpone cheese combination, and then the cupcakes are dusted with cocoa powder...absolutely AMAZING.

Honestly, the first word that popped out of my mouth after taking the first bite was "WOW." This cupcake didn't take too long to make (and of course, it helps to have a sister that's really good at baking). I think we'll definitely have to try this one again!

Woot.

Okay, so I caved in. I got a real blog (although I still have my Xanga). But I decided that I wanted to dedicate this blog to cupcakes, and possibly any other baking adventure that I may have.

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I've developed a love of anything cupcakes within the past year. I have discovered a love of cupcake fashion, thanks to Johnny Cupcakes...and of course, I love baking and eating them, too! There's something about the tiny, beautifully decorated and delicious treats that I just can't get enough of.

My sister just got the Martha Stewart cupcakes book, and we decided that we're going to attempt to bake our way through the entire book. Most of the recipes will be from there, and others will be from websites that I find.

Okay! So here we go! My first real post is coming right up...that is, as soon as I can upload my photos :D