Boozy Mini Cupcakes

Make work a little more interesting and delicious!

Chocolate cupcake with whiskey buttercream (on left)

Lemon cupcake with Raspberry Chambord frosting (on right)

Moccachino cupcake for people who cannot hold their liquor (behind)

World Series 2012- SF Giants

We made it to the World Series, so let's eat cake! The Baseball Hat replica cake is an 8-inch four layer Spice cake. We found that making two cakes, splitting both, and frosting the four layers makes a good sized cake for a hat. We wanted the cake to be a realistic size.  Covering an 8-inch cake is not too difficult, however, covering a larger cake such as the jersey cake is a little more tricky and requires two people. For the Jersey replica cake, we made a double layer 13x9 Chocolate cake. We made an extra cake so we could cut out the sleeves. We made fondant and rolled it out smooth. We always make our fondant; store-bought fondant does not taste very good and making your own is more cost-effective. To see our fondant recipe, check out our Cat Cake post on October 15th. We placed one large piece of fondant to cover half of the cake, and another to cover the other half. This made it easier working with two pieces rather than one large piece that can easily rip. Also, we think it made a cool look as though it is a button-up jersey. Let's Go Giants!!

Pumpkin Patch Birthday

We made pumpkin cupcakes for a 1st Birthday.  Two flavors: chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate ganache and pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes. The grass was made with a white creamy buttercream and the pumpkins were made from homemade fondant. Happy Pumpkin Picking!

Halloween Candy Cake

What could be better than loading chocolate cake with an awesome variety of candy bars? Ana and I cannot think of anything better. Chocolate cake with a chocolate buttercream and topped off with Kit Kat bars, Reese's cups, and Reese's Pieces.

Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes

My favorite dessert are mini cheesecakes; no competition. They're always delicious.  I've been using the Betty Crocker Company Cheesecake recipe (you can find it in the 70's Betty Crocker cookbook) for years and it's never failed.  I modified the recipe slightly so that it works for mini cheesecakes.  The original recipe calls for a fruit glaze.  I personally like a whip topping. 

Company Cheesecake 
Base: 
1 1/4 c graham cracker crumbs (or 1 1/4 cup finely crushed whole wheat flake cereal), 
2 T sugar, 
3 T margarine or butter melted 

Filling: 
2 pk (8 oz) plus 1 pk (3 oz) cream cheese softened, 
1 c sugar, 
2 t gated lemon peel, 
1/4 t vanilla, 
3 eggs 

Directions: 
1) Heat oven to 300. Mix cracker crumbs 2 tablespoons sugar and the butter. Press in bottom of 9 inch springform pan. Bake 5 minutes: cool. 
2) Heat oven to 350. Beat cream cheese in large mixer bowl. Add 1 cup sugar gradually, beating until fluffy. Add lemon peel and vanilla. Beat in 1 egg at a time. Pour over crumb mixture. 
3) Bake until center is firm, about 1 hour. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate at least 3 hours but no longer than 10 days. Loosen edge of each mini cheesecake with knife before removing side of pan. 20 mini cheesecake servings.

We added about half a bag of mini chocolate chips to the batter to yield amazing chocolate chip mini cheesecakes. 

Let's go Giants!

Let's make it to the 2012 World Series!

Cat Cake

For cat lovers:
A chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream. The cat was made with homemade fondant.

Fondant recipe:

3 cups of mini marshmallows

1/2 oz. white baking chocolate

1 tbsp butter (cut up)

1 1/2 tsp milk

1 tsp clear vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

1. Combine marshmallows, white chocolate, butter, and milk in microwave-safe bowl.

2. Microwave on high power for one minute, stirring occasionally.

3. Stir vanilla into marshmallow mixture. Add 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.

4. Stir with wooden spoon until the mixture becomes sticky.

5. Sift some of the remaining 1/2 pound  of sugar onto a smooth work surface and add as much of the remaining sugar as the mixture will take.

6. Knead the fondant, adding a little more sugar if necessary, to form a smooth pliable mass. Rub the vegetable shortening on your thumbs and knead it into the fondant. 

7. Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and place it in a tightly sealed container to prevent it from drying out. If the fondant dries out it can be revived by microwaving it for a few seconds and kneading it back to life.

Swimmer Cupcakes

Swimathon cupcakes for an annual benefit for pediatric patients in honor of Korrine Croghan.  

Beer Cupcakes

Perfect dessert for Oktoberfest and game day.  Blue Moon Cupcakes. Vanilla cupcakes infused with Blue Moon Belgian Wheat Ale with a beer jelly filling and topped with a frothy white frosting.  Because of the beer and the jelly filling, the cake was so moist. Delicious. We used Miss Make's Frothy White Frosting:

Frothy White Frosting

2 egg whites, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp orange juice

1 c sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1/3 c water

Vanilla Bean Latte Cupcakes

A vanilla cupcake with espresso cream filling and a vanilla espresso buttercream. This cupcake is for Starbucks' addicts.