Monster Balls

I mentioned in the last post that I had wanted to start this blog last year, but never really followed through with it. I made these Monster Balls for a kids' Halloween party with the intention of sharing them on this platform. A year late but oh well. Happy Halloween baking ;]



I used chocolate Rice Krispies and followed the traditional recipe. Before I let them set, I formed them into balls. Then I cut fondant circles with a small fondant cutter & piped the details.

Margarita Cupcakes with {Fluffy} Margarita Buttercream Frosting

I am dreaming & scheming of fabulous fall recipes to share {I promise}, but I love summer & margaritas! The great thing about these cupcakes is that the lime makes them taste so fresh {and smells so delicious in your kitchen}, that you could make them in the middle of winter and still taste the aroma of summer.

I love & adore Vegan Cupacakes Take Over the World, even though I'm not vegan. I will definitely be trying more of their recipes {they have some great fall flavors}. Great pictures & it's a hilarious read. Trust me. One more thing... I love how the vegan cupcakes look in cupcake liners! They don't have any eggs, so they really allow the color of the liner to shine! Speaking of, I found some adorable Halloween cupcake liners I can't wait to share!

You can find the Mucho Margarita Cupcake recipe on HostessBlog.com.




Their cupcake recipe tastes great, but the icing does come out as more of a glaze than a true buttercream. I have to say that piping big fluffy swirls is part of what makes a cupcake a cupcake for me. I altered the recipe a little to make it taste like a margarita and have the thicker consistency I like. I omitted some of the lime juice and substituted lime zest. It makes for thicker frosting but still punches a lot of flavor. I also took out the milk, because Margaritas don't have milk in them! I also thickened my frosting with piping gel and a bit more shortening. As a bonus, I made a quick Lime Tequila Glaze to intensify the flavor of margarita on the cupcakes!



My Original {Fluffy} Margarita Buttercream Icing

1 stick of butter, softened
3 tbsp shortening
1 tbsp lime zest
1 tsp lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp tequila
3/4 + cup fine sugar
1 tsp piping gel {I use the Wilton brand that you can find at craft stores & cake suppliers}
1 1/2 tsp meringue powder mixed with 1 1/2 tsp water {let sit for about half an hour}

Cream together butter, shortening, lime zest, lime juice, tequila, & sugar. I found that this can take a few minutes and looks weird. Don't be discouraged, keep mixing! Add piping gel and meringue powder and continue to beat until fluffy. Add in more sugar as needed to make frosting thicker {more liquid makes it thinner}. Cooling the icing & cupcakes tastes delicious!

Lime Tequila Glaze

2 tbs sugar
3 tbs tequila
1 tsp lime zest
1 tsp corn starch

Heat ingredients over medium heat, be sure not to burn the sugar. Stir constantly while mixture warms and thickens. Remove from heat when it reaches a jam consistency. Poke holes in cupcakes and use a pastry brush to spread glaze over warm cupcakes. I prefer to use a silicone brush because it's easy to clean. Allow cupcakes to cool before icing with Fluffy Margarita Buttercream Icing.

I think I got most of my summer fix out of my system, I'm so excited for Fall recipes. It's hard to believe that last year at this time my husband had just left to his first deployment. I had wanted to start a cooking blog very much, but ended up losing enthusiasm & inspiration for multiple reasons. I feel so thankful to have him home this fall and there is a part of me that can not wait to include him in everything this year. I will make sure to keep updating this so that when you come I have something to share with you as well ;]

Next up: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Buttercream w/ my oh so awesome cupcake liners!

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

I know I just said that I have a post about Margarita Cupcakes coming next, but these babies snuck into my weekend. They were such a lovely late summer surprise...

I used Martha Stewart's Lemon Cupcake Recipe from her fabulous book, Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. This cupcake book is fabulous! There are a ton of flavors & her staff was good about describing the recipes and making them easy to follow. Gorgeous pictures too!

Martha Stewart's Lemon Cupcakes

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (about 3 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions for Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in zest and vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk and lemon juice, and beating until just combined after each.
3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Martha Stewart's recipe does include a lemon curd topping {and Meringue}. Trader Joe's sells a delicious lemon curd for around $2.99!

My original inspiration for the frosting was from the blog Love and Olive Oil.

Strawberry Lemonade Buttercream Frosting

• 2 ounces of fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 6 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (approximately 1 large lemon)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions for Frosting:

1. To make frosting, first wash and hull strawberries and toss them into a food processor. Puree strawberries and set aside. {I just chop them with my Pampered Chef Food Chopper}.
   
2. Add sugar and egg whites into a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.
3. Using the whisk attachment on a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.
4. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. Don’t freak out if your buttercream curdles or separates, keep beating and it will come together again.
5. Once the buttercream is thick and smooth, gradually beat in the lemon juice on medium speed, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. By this point you should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. You can stop at this point if you want to stick with lemon buttercream. For strawberry buttercream, gradually add in strawberry puree, beating on medium speed until well incorporated.

There are a few things I have learned about frosting this year.
I aim for the right flavor and consistency by keeping the ingredients balanced. If you follow a recipe but find your frosting is too stiff or too soft, then change it carefully.

• Usually, in fruit frostings, the trouble is that mine is too runny. Fresh juices from the berries or lemon make for a lot of great flavor, but can make for thin {un-pipeable} frosting.
  
  
• Powdered sugar is the Wilton method "fix all" for running frosting, making it thicker. I do not enjoy frostings that are too sweet. I try to use extra powdered sugar sparingly.
  
  
• Butter will overwhelm the mixture and make it taste like... well, butter.
  
  
• So when I followed these directions for the frosting above and had runny frosting, I added about a cup of powdered sugar, a half cup of crisco, and a teaspoon and a half of corn starch {and blended well after each addition}. Then refrigerated the icing for about half an hour in a metal mixing bow to help stiffen it up. Worked fine & tasted delicious!
  
  
• Crisco is not my flavor of choice, but it helps to thicken runny frosting without adding sweetness.
  It's my secret weapon.
  
  
• I enjoyed using fresh lemons to juice, allow some of the pulp to get into the frosting and it gives you tangy bursts of lemon flavor. {Remember to squeeze lemons over a sieve so you don't get seeds in the mix}.
  

The aroma of the lemon zest in my kitchen is almost motivation enough to make these again. These cupcakes are light, bright, and taste best served the same day. I highly recommend making the frosting a day or two ahead of time, then save the cupcakes for the day you will be serving them.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream Recipe [Anniversary Cake]

My husband, in his infinite wisdom, forbade me to bake my own wedding cake. I am so thankful he knew better than me, because it's a lot of work to go about baking cakes. Especially for a perfectionist who wants them to taste delicious and look like a piece of art.

Rock joined the Air Force the summer before our first anniversary. I moved to Texas days before August 29, and sadly, our wedding cake did not survive that summer transition.
For our fifth wedding anniversary, I made a six inch baby cake for just the two of us [this size is perfect for personal birthday cakes as well]. I made the gumpaste flower inspired by my favorite brown headband in the hotel room. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring food coloring so it was more beige than the deep brown I envisioned.

When it came to the flavor I wanted something simple and elegant. I love homemade yellow cake, especially when I use half cake flour and half regular all purpose flour. The crumb is delicate but not too soft. I've made a lot of coffee and chocolate icings this summer, so I opted for vanilla bean icing. It's light, but packs in a lot of flavor that doesn't come off as too sweet.

My original recipe came from Beautiful Cakes Irresistible Cakes and Cookies by Peggy Porschen. I bought it in the bargain section of Barnes & Noble. I refer to this book very often, it's one of my favorites! If you ever see it, buy it. Trust me.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting
Makes 2 1/2 cups

2 1/2 Sticks Unsalted Butter, softened

1 1/2 Cups Confectioners Sugar, sifted

Pinch of salt

Seeds of one Vanilla Bean

Use the paddle attachment to blend all the ingredients on low until combined, then medium until the icing is light and fluffy.

* In addition to her recipe, I add 1 teaspoon or more of Pure Vanilla Extract, depending on the consistency I need. Her recipe omits it, but I like a strong vanilla flavor so I add it. If you need to stiffen the icing for piping, slowly add more powdered sugar.

I like how Ina Garten always says to find the best vanilla you can afford. I save this recipe for special occasions and am never disappointed. The Vanilla Bean Buttercream is reminiscent of ice cream, especially when you refrigerate the cake before serving!

***** If you live in the Dayton area, I make Baby Cakes for $20- $40 depending on flavor choice and design. *****