These pumpkin cupcakes are so festive for October and November.  Just looking at them makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside… with a touch of whimsy.  I got this idea out of one of my favorite cupcake books .

These cupcakes are much more about their cute appearance than the actual cake part. You can use any cupcake recipe you like and make any flavor you want.  With everything I’ve got going on in life I usually look for a semi-homemade approach to my cooking and that’s what I did with these.

I used store bought yellow cake mix, followed the directions on the box and added:

3/4 can of pumpkin

2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

Just look at this beautiful, light, yummy, pumpkin, cupcake batter.

I love all the little speckles of pumpkin pie spice.  I just want to dip my finger into this picture and lick it. Sorry.  Ok… here we go

Another great tip for making pretty cupcakes is to put the batter into a Ziploc bag and dispense it like frosting.

This helps with equal portion control in each cup and it helps to keep from getting batter drips on your paper cups.

I used three different sizes for my cupcakes and just kept a close eye on them in the oven for cooking time differences.

Viola!

What a cute little cupcake family.  Reminds me of a story of three bears and a little girl named Goldilo….

Oh… we’re not done are we? Ahem….

…Onto the frosting.  For making the pumpkin shape I would recommend using a good thick somewhat stiff frosting.  Buttercreme would work, but with pumpkin cake I think it begs a crème cheese frosting.  If you don’t follow the directions here, make sure to double whatever recipe you use.  You’re going to need a good amount of frosting to make your pumpkin domes.

Whip sixteen ounces of crème cheese with two sticks of soft unsalted butter until light and fluffy… about three minutes.

Slowly add:

8 ounces of powdered sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

1 tbsp of milk.

Even if your frosting seems really thick, remember you’re going to be adding some liquid with your food coloring so hold off on adding any more milk until later if you need to.  You don’t want your frosting runny or soupy because then it won’t hold it’s pumpkin shape.

Now it’s time to add the orange food coloring… look at those beautiful swirls.

Just keep adding drops until you get a nice strong orange color.

Lovely, lovely orange!

So now it’s time to frost the cupcakes.

The best approach I’ve found is to use a butter knife and put a big dollop of frosting on top.  Carefully smooth the frosting down towards the cupcake paper being careful to maintain a dome shape.  Don’t worry about making it perfectly smoothe… the sugar crystals will cover up your strokes.

Just focus on making it even and round.

Once you’ve frosted a batch of cupcakes it’s best to put them in the fridge and let them set up for at least fifteen minutes before continuing the decorating.

You can use this time to prepare your other decorating ingredients.

Your going to need a small batch of frosting that is a darker orange than what you used on your cupcakes already.  To achieve this just add a bit of red food coloring to what you’ve already made.

Put the new darker frosting into a Ziploc bag and set it aside.  This is what you’ll use to make the seams.

These rainbow Twizzlers are what you’ll use to make your stems.

Take out a few green ones.

Chop them into some different sized stems and set them aside in a bowl.

Dump your orange sugar crystals into a bowl.  I used a mix of two shades.

Looks like edible fairy dust.  Makes my heart happy.

So now you’re ready to start the final stage of your decorating.

First you’re going to roll your cupcakes gently in the sugar so that the frosting is coated with the sugar crystals.

Next, you’re going to use a sharp knife to cut seems into your cupcakes.  If you’re having a hard time cutting clean seams easily, set your cupcakes back in the fridge for another fifteen minutes, and then try again.

Cut a tiny hole in the corner of your piping/Ziploc bag of darker frosting and pipe it into the seams going from the top of the cupcake down to the paper cup.  Make the hole you cut in the bag REALLY small.  You can always make it a bit bigger if you need to, but once you cut it too big it’s no fun to have to start over and transfer all that frosting into a new bag…. I know… I did it.

Once you’ve piped on all the seems, pick out a stem and gently push it down into the frosting on the top of the cake in the center of where all your seams meet.

And there you go…pumpkin cupcakes!  They make a great treat for a kid’s party.  In fact I think these would be adorable any time of year at a little girl’s Cinderella birthday party.

In October and November these cupcakes serve as a beautiful centerpiece at any family dinner… especially on Thanksgiving.  I bet your guests won’t even realize they’re edible until you point it out.  They’re just so pretty.

If you make some, please leave a post about how it went and what creative things you did with them.

Happy, happy Autumn to you all!

Linked to: Blue Cricket Designs, Someday Crafts, Me and My Bucket, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Funky Junk Interiors, Tatertots and Jello, The Girl Creative, The DIY Showoff, Keeping It Simple, It’s So Very Cheri, Skip to My Lou, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter, Tip Junkie, New Nostalgia, Blessed With Grace, The Diaper Diaries, Tatertots and Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Along for the Ride, C.R.A.F.T.

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This cake WILL change your life!

Seriously.

It will.

Part of why it will change your life is because it is so easy to make.

It starts off with a box mix like this one.

Yeah yeah I know… so it’s not completely from scratch. Let’s not be cake snobs.

No one will ever know you didn’t slave over this thing for weeks in a 17 step process.

They’ll think you ordered this from some exquisite authentic Italian bakery and when you ever so modestly let it slip that you made it yourself…

Well…

You just wait and see what the reaction will be.

Yep.

I told you.

This cake is going to change your life.

It’s also going to change the lives of those you serve it to.

Follow the directions on the back of the store bought cake mix box, and bake accordingly.

Once your cake comes out of the oven and has cooled, transfer it to whatever lovely serving dish you would like to present it on; preferably one with an upturned edge like you see in the picture above.

Now the fun begins.

You get to poke your freshly baked cake with a fork… like this.

All over.

Everywhere.

Go crazy.

You have my permission to play with your food.

Just don’t tear it.

The more holes you make, the more portals available for yummy, drippy, sweet, creamy, goodness to seep through.

We are in fact going to add some of our very own ingredients now.

This is what will make this cake our own.

And this is what will make our cake a DREAM.

1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1 whole can Evaporated Milk

1 whole can Sweetened Condensed Milk

Stir it all together. It makes about 3 cups of goodness.

Now if you thought poking this cake with a fork was fun, check this out.

You get to pour the milky goodness ALL OVER.

Well…

All over the cake anyway.

Here’s a tip:

You’ll tend to want to pour a whole lot of cream in the center because that’s where you’ll feel safe. When you get over near the edges you’ll start to freak out and lose faith in yourself worried that you’re pouring too much OVER the edges. This will create a super soggy cake in the middle and a super dry cake around the edges. With this kind of cake people who receive an edge piece will not get the delicious unique experience we’re trying to go for here, and people who get a middle piece will think you went a bit overboard with the soaking.

That’s not what we want.

What we want is a super even distribution of liquid over the entire cake. So don’t worry so much about the middle. By all means cover the middle, but that part is easy… the cream will get there.

Put extra thought and focus into wetting those edges.

Just pour slow, take your time, and try to pour the cream not past, not behind, but right into the edges of your cake.

This is what we’re going for.

Creamy Lemony Dreamy Deliciousness.

And see…

A milk moat.

It’s perfectly normal.

Don’t worry.

You’ll see.

Just make sure those edges, center, and entire cake are good and soaked with the ENTIRE 3 cups of dreamy creamy.

Now place the whole thing in the fridge to chill.

When you pull it back out, that moat will be gone! The Lemon cake will have soaked it right up.

See.

No more moat.

Just a leftover creamy glisten, reminding you, you have made something wonderful.

Something special.

Now we’re going to cheat with some store bought stuff again.

To make the topping add 3/4 cup store bought Lemon Frosting to 1 and 3/4 pints of Cold Heavy Whipping cream.

Also add 3 tbsp Sugar.

Whip it on low until it gets thick enough not to splash all over your kitchen and then crank it up to full power and watch the magic happen.

There is just something so fun about watching liquidy cream turn into fluffy whipped goodness like this!

This is such a fun recipe… the whole thing!

Cheating with store bought ingredients, fork poking, cake soaking, cream whipping.

You must try this!

So here’s my yummy bowl of whipped lemon topping, next to my cream soaked lemon cake, on a perfect Spring day with family.

Get out your spreader and start-a-spreadin’.

Don’t be shy now.

Remember we gave up on our fear of edges hours ago.

And here it is.

Lemon  Dream Cream Cake.

I made it up, so I get to name it and I say you have to say the DREAM part when everyone asks you,

“What on earth is this miraculous creation?”

And trust me… they’ll ask.

It’s always nice to give everyone a little hint about the tastes they’ll soon encounter by putting a couple of little lemon slices on the top.

Makes it look pretty too.

Then just serve it up and dig in!

This cake also tastes amazing after it’s been in the fridge a while.

I served it up immediately after making it today, but you can make all of it ahead of time and then put it in the fridge. When you pull it out for your guests, it will knock their socks off.

Adding that lemon frosting to the whipping cream creates a topping that tastes and feels like whipped cream, but when you chill it, it sets up like icing.

The only thing I wouldn’t recommend with this cake is leaving it out for any length of time. It tastes best chilled and it stays together best chilled. Remember, you’re dealing with a whole lot of milk and cream here. And if you somehow forget that…

The cake will remind you.

Look close.

Can you see the milky goodness?

This is when it’s as cold as can be.

If you let this creamy dream sit out on the table for too long, you’ll start to have a creamy puddle.

Keep it cool.

Then it’s perfect.

It’s moist, sweet, lemony, and wonderful.

Serve it up with some great coffee and you will have VERY happy people in your midst.

Here’s What You Need…

Lemon DREAM Cream Cake

Serves 12

1 Box Lemon Cake Mix Prepared – Recommended Duncan Hines Super Moist Brand

3/4 cup Lemon Frosting – Recommended Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 pints heavy whipping cream divided (1/4 cup for soaking and the rest for topping)

3 tablespoons sugar

- Prepare cake according to box directions, and set aside to cool.

- Flip cooled cake out onto serving platter. Platter should preferably have turned up edges to help trap liquid.

- Using a fork make multiple punctures all over the surface of the cake including along the tops of the edges.

- Mix 1 can evaporated milk, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, and 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream in pitcher or measuring cup with pouring spout.

- Pour entire contents of milk and cream mixture evenly over the surface of the cake making sure to soak the edges as well as the center. Set cake in fridge to chill and set.

- Prepare whipped topping by mixing remainder of heavy whipping cream (1 and 3/4 pints) with 3 tbsp sugar and 3/4 cup lemon frosting. Whip in stand mixer on low/med for 2 minutes until thick. Switch speed to high and whip until light and fluffy.

- Spread whipped lemon topping on cake and serve immediately or set in fridge to chill. Garnish with halved lemon slices.

I’m Lovin’ this cake! To see what other people are “LOVIN”, check out “I’m lovin’ it Fridays” at TidyMom.

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When I think of Valentine’s Day treats I immediately think of Conversation Hearts candies.

I love those little things.

I can remember as an eight year old girl sitting in my bedroom the night before Valentine’s Day, putting together my homemade Valentines to hand out at school the next day. I took great care to select each candy heart that would go inside the valentines making sure the right messages went to the right people.

To this day whenever February rolls around I can’t help but grab a box or two of the candy hearts while checking out at the grocery store.

So… naturally these little candy hearts were the obvious inspiration for my Valentine’s Day cupcake design.

I even got inspired to use my favorite Valentine Candies as an inspiration to make some tasty Brownie Pops you can see here.

I started with a basic boxed brownie mix and spread it out about 1/3 inch thick on wax paper, laid on a cookie sheet.

There wasn’t enough mix to fill the whole cookie sheet, but the batter was so gooey that I was able to spread it with a spoon to the desired thickness and it stayed in place.

I baked it at 350 degrees for 12 minutes until a toothpick came out clean.

After the brownie sheet was baked and cooled I placed the whole tray in the fridge for an hour to allow the brownie to firm up.

Next I used a small heart shaped cookie cutter to make my hearts.

I dipped the cookie cutter in powdered sugar to keep the brownies from sticking to it.

Again, after all the brownies were cut, I placed them back into the fridge to firm up again.

These melting candies can be found at most craft stores or baking supply stores. They come in all kinds of fantastic colors.

After microwaving the candies in a coffee cup for about a minute and stirring it until smooth, I placed a brownie on a fork over the cup, and began using a spoon to scoop the melted candy over it until it was covered.

Once the brownie was covered the melted candy was so thick that the heart had lost much of it’s shape.

I gently shook the brownie on the fork over the cup allowing excess coating to drizzle away from the heart and cause it to regain it’s shape.

Next I placed the candy heart onto wax paper and allowed it to dry while dipping more hearts.

I then repeated the coating process a second time on each heart in order to completely and smoothly cover each brownie.

After the two coats of melted candy have dried some of the hearts may still be miss-shaped. Simply use a sharp knife to carefully cut away excess candy around the edges.

Any rough edges that remain can easily be smoothed out with the warmth of your finger by gently rubbing them away.

Now it’s time to add all those fun messages.

Markers with edible ink can be found in the bakers aisle of your grocery store or craft store.

I prefer the look of the marker over piped candy or frosting because the effect of the marker better mimics the look of the stamped Conversation Hearts Candies.

These candy covered brownie hearts make a great little treat all by themselves, but they make an even better treat on top of some delicious cupcakes.

I chose Strawberry cupcakes to compliment the chocolate brownies and used food coloring to make pastel frostings that would match the candy colors.

If you want to play along…

Here’s what you need…

Brownie Mix and its required ingredients

Wax Paper

Strawberry Cake Mix

Cupcake Papers

White Frosting

Pastel Food Coloring

Pastel Melting Candies

Red Edible Ink Marker

Enjoy!

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Tuxedo Strawberries are adorable. They are great for Valentines Day, Weddings, Engagement Parties, Bridal Showers, Bachelor Parties, and of course… New Year’s Eve.

They are also fairly easy to make.

So… let’s get to it!

First, rinse the strawberries well under water to clean them. Set the damp berries on a paper towel and allow them to dry completely.

The melted chocolate will not adhere to the strawberries properly, if they are wet.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat White Chocolate discs for one minute. Remove and stir. Heat again for one minute. Remove and stir again until all chocolate is melted into a smooth liquid form.

You don’t want to cover the strawberries entirely with white chocolate, because when you add the darker chocolate on top, the berries will become so heavy that they will break off from their leaves and stems. It will then become very difficult to work with them. To avoid this, only partially cover the strawberries with White Chocolate.

Also, make sure that all the chocolate you are using is very smooth, and that each layer goes on thin, rather than thick, goopy, and heavy.

Roll out a sheet of parchment paper on the counter.

Gently, grabbing a strawberry by the stem or leaves, and holding it at a slant, dip one side into the white chocolate making sure to cover the berry from its leaves, to it’s tip.

Place the berry bare-side down on non-stick parchment paper to dry.

Repeat this step with all of the berries.

In a new microwave safe bowl, heat dark or milk chocolate disks for one minute. Stir and repeat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Make sure you have enough chocolate in the bowl to create a pool deep enough to immerse an entire strawberry.

Once the white chocolate has completely dried on your strawberries (about 15 minutes) you are ready to dip your jackets.

Gently pick up a white chocolate dipped strawberry by it’s leaves, and dip it at a slant into the dark chocolate, creating the shape of a jacket lapel. Make sure as you do this step, to cover half of the back of the strawberry in the dark chocolate.

Next, at an opposite slant, dip the strawberry into the dark chocolate again, creating another diagonal line for the opposite lapel, and covering the rest of the back of the strawberry.

Immediately place strawberry, backside down, on the parchment paper, with the white chocolate triangle facing up.

Repeat these steps for all strawberries.

While the dark chocolate is still melted and smooth, use the remaining chocolate or a new mixture, to fill a plastic sandwich bag.

Press all the air out of bag and Ziploc it shut. Twist the empty part of the bag until the chocolate is held tight in bottom corner of bag, ready to pipe. Cut a VERY, VERY small tip off of the bottom corner of the bag, and pipe two or three buttons, and one bowtie onto each of the white chocolate shirts.

Perfectly fabulous for any special occasion!

Here’s What You Need…

1 lb White Chocolate for Melting and Hardening on Fruit

1 lb Dark or Milk Chocolate for Melting and Hardening on Fruit

3 Dozen Large to Medium Size Strawberries

1 Ziploc Bag for Piping Chocolate Buttons and Bows

Roll of Parchment Paper

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Champagne Cupcakes just sounded like the right thing to do for New Years. But this coming New Year’s Eve happens to be particularly special to me and the details pertaining to that fact are what drove me to create this Almond Champagne Cupcake recipe.

This coming New Year’s Eve will mark the ten year anniversary of the very first date my husband and I ever went on together.

The early morning hours of this coming New Year’s day will be the ten year anniversary of our very first kiss.

And this coming summer of 2010 will be the celebration of our ten year wedding anniversary.

Our wedding took place in the Wine Country of the Temecula Valley, at the Wilson Creek Winery. Their signature Champagne which they are well known for is an Almond Champagne.

Now funny enough, my husband and I don’t drink alcohol at all, but I do often cook with wine and this time I decided to try making an elegant dessert with Champagne. If you want to serve a non-alcoholic version of these cupcakes for your family, or for the kids, just substitute the Champagne in the recipe with Sparkling Apple Cider.

Champagne in cupcakes just sounded so festive for New Years and using Wilson Creek Almond Champagne was the perfect nostalgic ingredient to represent the place where my beloved and I said our vows.

I hope this recipe can also make some of your coming celebrations extra special.

Start by combining brown and white sugars with butter and almond paste in a stand mixer bowl. Whip until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.

This is almond paste. It can be found in some grocery store baking aisles and most cake supply stores.

In a separate bowl hand whisk together, eggs, milk, baking soda, and Vanilla.

It’s convenient to transfer this mixture into a container with an easy pour spout.

In a third bowl sift together flour, spices, and salt.

Now with all three bowls prepared it’s time to combine them into one delicious Almond Cupcake Batter.

Alternating between the egg mixture and flour mixture continue adding both to the sugar, butter mixture until all your ingredients are together in one bowl.

Mix on medium only until all ingredients are combined. Do not over mix.

You will end up with a light colored batter, speckled with spices, that smells like sweet Almonds.

Delicious!

To create clean, perfect Cupcakes, fill a Ziploc bag with your Cupcake Batter, cut off the tip of one corner, and pipe the batter into your Cupcake Papers 2/3 of the way.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove your cupcakes from the tins. While they cool there is plenty more to do!

On to making the Almond Champagne Buttercreme.

Now I know what you’re thinking… Marshmallow Fluff? What in the world is that for?

The Marshmallow Fluff is what allows us to have a thick buttercreme that can hold a fancy shape on top of our cupcakes, even though we will be adding a full cup of liquid in the form of Champagne to our frosting.

So here we go.

Empty entire contents of two jars of Marshmallow Fluff into your mixing bowl and begin whipping. The fluff should begin to soften and smooth making it easier to combine with other ingredients.

Slice 5 sticks of room temperature, unsalted, butter, into tablespoon size slices.

If you’re like me, you might often use “salted” butter because it’s just what you always have on hand, even in recipes that call for “unsalted.” THAT WILL NOT WORK IN THIS FROSTING.

You MUST USE UNSALTED BUTTER or your frosting will taste like a you are biting into a raw stick of butter on top of your cupcakes. Trust me… in this recipe it makes all the difference in the world!

Pop open a new bottle of Wilson Creek Almond Champagne and measure 1 cup.

Add Champagne to Marshmallow Fluff and begin mixing the two together. After 2 minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl to retrieve all of the marshmallow fluff stuck to the sides. Then, begin mixing again and continue until the marshmallow and Champagne are completely combined.

Begin adding slices of butter a couple at a time while the mixer is on a medium speed. Allow each addition to completely combine before adding the next.

Once all the butter has been combined into the frosting, add 1 tsp of Vanilla.

Next add Powdered Confectioners Sugar to your mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. Mix on medium speed until well combined.

And that’s it… your Almond Champagne Buttercreme is ready.

Make sure your cupcakes are completely cool before frosting them or you will have a sad, melted mess.

Using a butter knife, spread a thin layer of frosting on each cupcake.

Choosing well shaped Almond slices, place each piece of Almond into buttercreme on edge of the cupcake, in a single row, creating a flower petal appearance all the way around each cupcake.

Most of the time when I make cupcakes I just apply my frosting with a simple make shift piping bag made from a Ziploc.

For this special occasion however, and for this fancy of a cupcake, I suggest actually using a real piping tip with a special star or flower shaped cut, to finish off your Almond Champagne Cupcakes with an elegant design.

Pipe the frosting in a swirl and sprinkle on clear decorating sugar.

Beautiful!

The combination of the sprinkles and the color of the frosting looks just like bubbles in Champagne.

I just love it.

I made my first few cupcakes just like this because it looks so beautiful, but after eating one, I decided to continue piping the rest with only 1/3 of the frosting you see in the picture.

Just one spiral around and into the middle so that the cupcake top is covered, is plenty of frosting. This will make your cupcake/frosting ratio better balanced for taste, and allow your guests to fit their mouths over the cupcake to more easily take a bite.

And now for the fancy Chocolate topper!

This part is so fun and it opens up a whole new world of possibilities in cake and cupcake decorating.

Here’s what you need.

This Candy Kote by CK is like hard but melt-able chocolate in a tube that makes it easy to write with. I found mine at a local Cake Supply store, and there are many places that sell it online.

Place your candy tubes in hot water to melt them. To make toppers for eighteen cupcakes I recommend purchasing at least four tubes.

If you’re not comfortable creating your toppers free hand, you can create and print your designs on a simple piece of paper from your computer.

Then place your sheet of designs on a flat surface and cover it with a piece of parchment paper.

Use your tube of melted Candy Kote just like a pen and trace your designs. Make sure to allow a thick enough flow of candy to come out in order to create a strong piece that can stand up once dried.

Double check to make sure that each letter or number in each topper is connected to create one fused piece, and draw a stem on the bottom of your design to create a type of stake to stick into your frosting.

Allow your candy toppers to dry for at least 20 minutes to ensure their strength and ability to stand up on cupcakes.

Gently peel your candy piece from the wax paper and lightly press it’s stem into the cupcake frosting and…

Stand back and be amazed with yourself!

These cupcakes taste really good on their own but they’re even more delicious with some chocolate covered strawberries.

I hope if you decide to make these cupcakes, they make your special events even more spectacular!

Here’s What You Need…

Almond Champagne Cupcakes

Bowl 1

1 stick – 8 tbsp – unsalted butter, softened

3 ½ ounces almond paste (baking supply store)

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

Bowl 2

3 large eggs

2 ½ tsp baking soda

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp Vanilla

Bowl 3

2 cups all-purpose flour

¼ salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp allspice

¼ tsp cloves

½ tsp cocoa powder

(These spices are all optional… you can create your own mixture of your favorite and available spices. Just keep them to a minimum so as not to overpower the almond flavor.)

18 Silver and Gold Cupcake Papers

For Almond Champagne Buttercreme and Decoration

2 Containers – 32 oz. – Marshmallow Fluff

5 sticks UNSALTED butter – This is crucial!!! Must be unsalted or your frosting will taste like greasy, salty, butter.

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 cup Powdered Sugar (plus more if needed to thicken)

1 cup Wilson Creek Almond Champagne

2 Bags Thin sliced Almonds

Clear decorative Sprinkling Sugar (baking supply store)

Dark Brown CK Candy Kote (baking supply store)

Clear parchment paper for baking

Baking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. In stand mixer bowl whip together almond paste, butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. In separate bowl, combine eggs, milk, Vanilla, and baking powder. In third bowl, whisk together flour, spices, and salt. Alternate adding egg mixture and flour mixture to sugar and butter mixture just until completely combined. Do not over-mix. Spoon batter into plastic sandwich bag, cut off tip of bag, and pipe batter into paper cupcake liners until each is 2/3 full. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan and allow to cool completely.

Almond Champagne Buttercreme

Cut sticks of room temperature butter into tablespoon size slices and set aside. Scoop two jars of Marshmallow Fluff into Stand Mixer Bowl and begin to mix on medium speed. Pop open new bottle of Wilson Creek Almond Champagne and measure 1 cup. Add Champagne to Marshmallow Fluff and continue mixing until combined. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl to retrieve all of the marshmallow fluff and combine with Champagne. Continue mixing.  Pour in Vanilla. Gradually add in slices of butter while beating well to combine each addition. Continue until all butter has been added and mixture is smooth. Scrape bowl again and continue mixing while adding Powdered Sugar until all is well combined. Add extra sugar if needed to adjust texture. Frosting should be soft and creamy but able to hold a shape for decoration on cupcake.

Using butter knife or frosting spreader, cover each cupcake with thin layer of buttercreme. Choosing well shaped Almond slices, place each piece of Almond into buttercreme on edge of cupcake, in a single row, creating a flower petal appearance all the way around cupcake.

Spoon rest of frosting into piping bag or tube with star shaped tip. Pipe one full spiral of frosting onto top of cupcake until covered. (it is not recommended to pipe on more frosting than this to create a cone shape appearance on top of cupcakes like seen in picture. This much frosting looks pretty, but is too much frosting for eating when serving to guests.)

Lightly sprinkle frosting with decorative sugar.

Decorative Candy Cupcake Topper

Place liquid candy tube in hot water to soften. On computer select desired font, size, and word content for cupcake topper. Place several copies of text on word document and print on a regular sheet of paper. Place page of text on flat surface and cover with clear parchment paper. Using liquid candy, pipe and trace over text on parchment paper. Make sure all letters or numbers are attached to one another creating one single cupcake topper. After text is completed, pipe on a thick attached stem to bottom of text creating a type of stake to insert candy text into cupcake frosting. Allow candy pieces to dry completely, about 20 minutes.

Gently remove candy text from parchment and delicately press into frosting on cupcake.

Happy 2010!

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]]> http://www.mommytopics.com/food/almond-champagne-cupcakes/feed 16 http://www.mommytopics.com/food/2009-christmas-cookie-extravaganza-this-is-it http://www.mommytopics.com/food/2009-christmas-cookie-extravaganza-this-is-it#comments Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:33:55 +0000 admin http://www.mommytopics.com/?p=112

Here are the boxes of Cookies we are giving as gifts to our family tonight!

I just love the windows in them so you can get a peek at what’s inside.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the cookies shall we?

I love making these face cookies. These are what inspired my idea for the cupcakes I entered into the “Hello, Cupcake Challenge.”

This is my own design, and it comes from little faces I’ve drawn my whole life. If you could see any of my notebooks from high school where I was supposed to be taking notes, they are covered with doodles like this.

The eyes are made out of mini marshmallows cut in half. We made the mouths by putting  holes in the dough with a straw before baking the cookies.

Here’s Santa and an Elf.

My mom made this one. She says he’s a Christmas Caroler with Earmuffs. He looks Italian to me. I picture him singing on a street corner in New York City outside of his Pizzeria.

Speaking of New York City…

Here’s a NYC Snow Globe. I’ve never been to New York, but if I ever go, I’d love to go at Christmastime.

Merry Christmas NYC!

Here’s another Santa.

This is probably my favorite Cookie out of all of them. Remy made this all by herself. She saw how we were making our Faces with the marshmallow eyes, and she made this one completely on her own. It looks just like all of her little characters she draws. So cute!

Here Remy is decorating a Christmas Bulb Cookie… I’ll show you those further down the page.

And here is another Cookie Remy made. Again… just like one of her little characters. I’m such a proud Momma.

Here’s Leo hard at work making a Snowman Cookie he saw in one of the many books we had on hand for inspiration.

Leo made this one too. He says it’s a portrait of the Professor.

We made sure to put it right in the window of the Professor’s Cookie Box!

He’ll be flattered I’m sure.

My mom and her sisters made these ones. They are Ginger Cookies filled with Lemon Butter-creme. Yum!

My Aunts are great Cookie Decorators.

They made all kinds of fun Cookie designs.

They are also great bakers.

My Aunts provided these delicious little Cookies to add to our boxes. They are called Anzac Bicuits and the recipe is from my cousins in Australia. They taste like Chewy, Buttery, Coco-nutty, goodness. You can’t eat just one!

Speaking of Australians…

This is Daniel. He’s from Australia too. He is one of my cousins friends and he’s been staying with my Aunt while visiting California.

He made several very good looking Santa Clause Cookies. We thought he was doing a great job. But then…

He made this.

He couldn’t explain it… He just made it… and left it with us.

Kind of reminds me of one of the stores I did some of my Christmas Shopping at. Also reminds me a bit of a certain hat… worn by a cat.

Everyone contributed to the production of Christmas Tree Cookies.

In addition to making Sugar Cookies, we made some Chocolate Sugar Cookies by replacing 1 Cup of the flour in our recipe, with one cup of Cocoa Powder, and reducing the vanilla content down to only 1 tsp.

These Chocolate Cookies make a nice contrast for the Frosting and add another look to the designs.

They taste really good too!

Speaking of delicious! Don’t these look yummy… if you like candy… which I do.

My husband always makes fun of my affinity for candy. He thinks it’s weird to still like candy as an adult. He says it’s because I wasn’t aloud to have much of it as a young child. My Mom preferred to give me Carob Chips, raisins, and sugarless gum when I was little. Now I prefer candy over most any other sweet treat.

Aren’t these cool? We made the cord with Black Licorice Rope… strictly for photographing purposes. Then we divided them up and put them in the boxes.

Another Snow Globe.

These kind of look like Snow Globes too.

Gifts.

A Wreath.

And a partridge in a Pear Tree!

Merry Christmas!!!

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]]> http://www.mommytopics.com/food/2009-christmas-cookie-extravaganza-this-is-it/feed 5 http://www.mommytopics.com/food/christmas-cookie-extravaganza-almost http://www.mommytopics.com/food/christmas-cookie-extravaganza-almost#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:52:09 +0000 admin http://www.mommytopics.com/?p=110

As promised, the Christmas Cookie Baking Extravaganza in my family did begin today… but we’re not finished. We spent a good half of the day pouring, mixing, flouring, rolling, cutting, baking, cooling, mixing, food coloring, and preparing piping bags. We did manage to get some of the cookies decorated, but rather than show you only some of this year’s designs, I thought I’d save all of them for later this week when they are finished.

So today I’m just teasing you with some glimpses into the Chaos, and preparing you with some helpful tips we’ve learned over the years.

Find a well recommended Sugar Cookie Recipe and Frosting Recipe and test them before the big day. One night when you’re watching TV and you want a little snack, make up a batch and see if it’s a good fit for all your Cookie Baking Goals. I did a Dress Rehearsal for the big day and ended up finding a great recipe for the Cookies and the Frosting.

Find some designs you’d like to try. This book has some FANTASTIC ones and it will help you prepare by providing info on the kinds of decorating ingredients and tools you’ll need to accomplish each particular design.

Set up a separate table where at the end of the day, everyone involved can pack up boxes and bags of cookies as gifts for friends and family. Prepare the table with gift boxes, bags, twisty-ties, ribbon, blank labels, and pens and markers.

Each year buy a couple new cookie cutters and build a collection.

Finding unique and inexpensive cookie cutters throughout the year and stashing them away until Christmas is a great idea. Look at these cute ones I got last May…

They make these cute cookies that fit on the edge of a Coffee Cup. This is a Christmas Cookie Gift that can keep on giving long past Christmas… like every morning when you have a cup of coffee and every time you serve Coffee to guests.

Buy a lot of piping bag tips and lots of different food coloring, so you can use several at once.

Make lots of Piping Bags. This way you can create any design your little heart dreams up. It’s like having a crayon box of colors at your disposal.

Acquire lots and lots of different sprinkles each season, hang on to the leftovers, and watch your collection grow. Unique sprinkles bring about all kinds of design inspiration.

Lay down an inexpensive disposable plastic table cloth… things can get pretty messy and this makes for easy clean-up when you’re done. Just wrap up the mess inside, and toss it.

Put out trays of veggies and dip, crackers, cheeses, and fruit right there on the table where everyone is working. This will allow you to munch whenever you get the urge, but avoid making yourself sick by nibbling on cookies and candy all day.

Enlist the assistance of a good floor cleaner. Someone you can depend on to quickly snatch up whatever falls off the table.

Here’s a final Sneak Peak… More designs to come this week! Stay tuned!

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]]> http://www.mommytopics.com/food/christmas-cookie-extravaganza-almost/feed 2 http://www.mommytopics.com/food/christmas-cookies-the-dress-rehearsal http://www.mommytopics.com/food/christmas-cookies-the-dress-rehearsal#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:18:39 +0000 admin http://www.mommytopics.com/?p=100

When it comes to Christmas Cookies… we don’t play around.

My mother and I take it quite seriously and each year we try to up the anty with superb designs and taste.

You may have seen my post about our planning session that took place… in NOVEMBER.

I told you… we aint playin’.

This year we have been considering two new Sugar Cookie recipes.

The first one is from this spectacular little book called “Cookie Craft Christmas.”

The other recipe we’ve been considering is from this blog I stumbled upon a couple weeks ago.

So last week when I knew “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and Disney’s “Prep and Landing” were coming on abc, I thought it would be a good night for a trial run of making Christmas cookies, to see how the recipes taste.

It would also be a good trial run to give my 3 and 7 year old some practice for the big event… the real event… the Cookie Baking Extravaganza!

I told you… we don’t play around.

We plot, we plan… we even practice… and then… We Attack!

You can see all of it here next week.

So for our cookie making practice we made some dough, used some cookie cutters, and tossed on some random sprinkles hiding in the cupboards.

We also left some un-sprinkled so we could try a new icing recipe and get some icing practice.

We baked, we decorated, we tasted and we decided…

We will be using some of the inspirational ideas from the “Cookie Craft Christmas” book. Very Cute!

And… we will be using the Sugar Cookie and icing recipes from “i am baker”.

The cookies were delicious and so was the icing. We liked the taste and texture of these cookies better than the ones made from the recipe in the book. The “i am baker” recipe was also much easier to work with. The dough was soft enough to roll out easily, but the cookies all still held their shapes perfectly. They were also easy to cook all the way through, without ending up with any browning on the edges whatsoever.

The finished result was soft, fluffy, a bit chewy, and lightly sweet in a way that is complimented perfectly by lots of icing. That is EXACTLY what we need because  we’ve got a lot of fancy decorating to do!

Thank You Amanda for generously sharing your delicious Sugar Cookie recipe with the world!

If you want Amanda’s Sugar Cookie and Icing recipes, check out this cute Christmas post on her main blog  here.

Stay tuned next week for my post that will be titled “Christmas Cookies – The Main Event.”

It’s going to be… really… very…. super…. completely…

Just come back and see!

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]]> http://www.mommytopics.com/food/christmas-cookies-the-dress-rehearsal/feed 1 http://www.mommytopics.com/food/the-spice-merchant-giveaway http://www.mommytopics.com/food/the-spice-merchant-giveaway#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:02:27 +0000 admin http://www.mommytopics.com/?p=96

An hour north of San Diego, California, surrounded by mountain ranges in a quaint little valley, is the pituresque shopping and dining delight of Old Town Temecula.

I first started visiting Old Town Temecula as a very young girl. Twice a month my parents would take my brother and I to visit our grandparents in Ontario, California. One of my favorite things about making the trip from San Diego was stopping in Old Town Temecula on our way and getting an ice cream cone from the Corner Deli. That particular shop closed down years ago, but Old Town Temecula has continued to grow and develop into a popular Southern California destination.

Old Town is a wonderful place to visit for unique shopping, fine dining, and a quaint small town atmosphere reminiscent of the Old West. Some of the fabulous vendors include: The Temecula Olive Oil Company, the Rancho Fruit Market, The Farmer’s Wife Gifts, Cafe Bravo Coffee House, The Gambling Cowboy’s Chophouse and Saloon, the Dog House Hot Dogs, Sweet Lumpy’s Western BBQ, Saturday morning Farmer’s Market made up of locally grown produce and products, several antique stores, the Temecula Cheese Company, Cactus Flower Apparel, Rosa’s Cantina Mexican Food, The Rootbeer shop,  Palumbo’s Italian Bistro, the Swing Inn Cafe, The Edge Fine Dining Restaurant, and among many, many more vendors, one of my personal favorites… the Spice Merchants.

This is one of my favorite places to shop. Every time I visit I always find something new and amazing!

At the Spice Merchant you have a chance to experience a sensory journey through the spices of the world!

Over 350 fresh, high quality spices, herbs, and blends.

A variety of rices from around the world.

Here is a perfect example of the inspiring ingredients you’ll find that you never even knew existed.

At least, I never knew green bamboo rice existed.

Unique gifts including unusual utensils, spice racks, grinders, mortar and pestles.

A variety of honey.

I bet you never thought about Honeys having different flavors based on the different flowers bees who make them, retrieve pollen from.

Orange Blossom Honey, Clover Honey, Mountain Sage Honey, and by golly out here in good ol’ California we even have Avocado Blossom Honey.

Who knew?

Not me… that’s who… er… not knew…. I mean….

Never mind!

A wonderful assortment of loose-leaf teas and accessories.

And beautiful gift boxes for all occasions.

And speaking of gift boxes…

The generous Spice Merchants are offering this great gift box, to one of YOU!

Let’s see what’s inside shall we?

Oooooooh! Aaaaaaaah!

Want to see more?

I knew you would.

Now let’s take an even closer look.

This is a bottle of Tahitian Vanilla extract. I used some (not out of this bottle… I have my own Baker’s Gift Box) in my Christmas sugar cookies, and it was wonderful. You might think Vanilla is Vanilla is Vanilla, but you are mistaken. This Vanilla tastes and smells wonderful. It makes you sit up and take notice.

Yum, yum, yummy!

You also get a bottle of Dutched Cocoa and Allspice. I’ve been experimenting with these two in a recipe for New Year’s. I can’t give you the details now, but it’s gonna be GOOD.

This is Vietnamese Cinnamon. It’s much stronger than most… perhaps all… cinnamons you’ve dealt with before. This bottle will last you quite a while and the taste and smell is wonderful.

And last, but CERTAINLY not least is this magical stuff.

Cinnamon Sugar.

It’s pure cane sugar in a raw crystal form that has been infused with cinnamon flavor. Just imagine this sprinkled on whipped creme in your coffee, gracing the surfaces of Snicker-doodle cookies, or beautifying the top of an apple pie, crumble, or crisp.

Flavored sugars are one of the most inspiring things I’ve seen at the Spice Merchants.

Cinnamon Sugar, Lemon Sugar, Lime Sugar…

Raspberry Sugar – recommended for sprinkling on cookies, cupcakes, and cakes. Also can be used to coat the rim of a glass of lemonade or other beverage. Try mixing some into a green salad with Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar Dressing.

Hello! Are those awesome ideas?

And check out this one…

Sweet Onion Cane Sugar – I knew I had to have this the moment I laid eyes on it. I love savory with sweet dishes and this one opens up a whole new realm of possibilities. Some of it’s suggested uses are to sprinkle it on buttered popcorn, cooked asparagus, or grilled prawns.

Now these last two lovely sugars – raspberry and onion – are not part of the giveaway. But… don’t worry your pretty little head.

Anything mentioned in this post that has caught your attention can still be yours.

Just call the Spice Merchants and place an order – Mon – Sat 10am – 5pm and on Sunday until 4pm: 951 587 2223

Mention that you saw the Spice Merchants on MommyTopics.com and get a 10% discount on your order when you call or stop in!

You can also view available products at www.spicemerchants.biz, then make the call to place your order from the Old Town Temecula, California Store.

They love it when people call and place orders… really… they do. They are waiting for your call.

The Spice Merchants products make fantastic Christmas presents and of course will add flavor and flair to any of your holiday dishes.

Now… back to the GIVEAWAY.

All this can be yours.

All you have to do is place a comment at the bottom of this post telling me how your Christmas shopping and gift wrapping is going. Inquiring minds want to know… Have you been done with all of it for weeks and is it all neatly placed beneath the tree? Are you still in need of some last minute gifts? Are you like me and haven’t even started yet? Are you completely stuck wondering what to buy for that one person who already has everything? Or, are you someone who doesn’t purchase Christmas gifts… if so, tell me what you’ve been doing with yourself lately, instead!

This GIVEAWAY is open to all U.S. residents and runs now through Thursday, December 17 at 9pm Pacific Standard Time.

Only one comment per person please.

One winner will be chosen randomly and announced in the GIVEAWAYS section of this blog on Friday, December 18, 2009 at 10am. Please check back then to see if you won and to exchange information so I can get this lovely Gift Box to you before Christmas.

Happy Commenting! And shopping… and baking…. and wrapping… and shipping…. and…. all the craziness that is your life during this wondrous holiday season!

Happy, happy, happiness to you!

And by the way….

If you can make it to Old Town Temecula this weekend you wont be disappointed!

Outdoor Ice Skating in the New Town Square begins this Friday the 18th and runs through Dec 31. The whole street is decorated in Christmas Cheer and when the sun goes down, Old Town is all aglow with Christmas lights everywhere. Take a horse drawn carriage ride, enjoy the music of strolling Dickens Carolers, Visit Santa’s Cottage and take a family picture, shop till you drop, and enjoy dinner out… in Old Town Temecula!

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]]> http://www.mommytopics.com/food/the-spice-merchant-giveaway/feed 101 http://www.mommytopics.com/food/ornament-cupcakes http://www.mommytopics.com/food/ornament-cupcakes#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:40:18 +0000 admin http://www.mommytopics.com/?p=90

These do not go on your Christmas tree.

These DO go in your mouth.

These DO go best in your kids mouths due to the amount of frosting, sprinkles, and candy… with a little bit of cupcake.

These DO make adorable gifts, great centerpieces, and fantastic Christmas Party treats.

I decided to start off with Red Velvet Cake!

I made mine from scratch by following the recipe in “The Pioneer Woman Cooks.”

If you don’t DO “from scratch” you can still DO Red Velvet.

It’s the perfect festive Cupcake for these pretty little Ornaments.

This totally looks like icing.

It’s not.

This is my cake batter…. in a Ziploc.

Snip the corner off…

And pipe your batter into your cupcake papers.

I’ve found this to be the best method for getting equal portions into each cup, and avoiding a mess… well… almost.

Just look at these gorgeous little things!

The next step is to frost each cupcake with an even smooth layer, using a butter knife, and then roll the tops in bowls of colored sprinkling sugar.

If you want to get really fancy you can make different color frostings to match your sprinkles.

I didn’t have any food coloring on hand, so I just used white frosting for all of mine.

Store bought frosting, Homemade frosting, Creme Cheese frosting, Butter-creme Frosting, …. pretty much any thick, white, frosting will do.

What these cupcakes absolutely require, is a great candy supply for decorating.

I bought my sprinkles and dragees (the shiny ball sprinkles) at a JoAnne’s Fabrics and Craft Store.

The other great place to get AWESOME decorating candy for Cookies, Gingerbread Houses, and Cupcakes, is at your mall Candy Store.

You know… the one with all the bins you can scoop from.

It’s so convenient to be able to dish out just the perfect amount for your project.

Staring at all those bins of goodies is sure to spark all kinds of new decorating ideas.

What you absolutely must have for these cupcakes are:

Mini M&M’s

Smooth thin Licorice Rope in black and red (other colors too if you can find it)

Spice drops

Have you seen these before?

These are chocolate and candy coated Sunflower Seeds. Basically Sunflower Seed M&M’s… but not made by the M&M company.

These are also available at some mall candy stores… That’s where I got mine.

I love these for decorating Christmas treats because they are shaped just like Christmas lights. They look adorable on Christmas tree cookies, lining the roofs of Gingerbread houses, and on these Ornament Cupcakes.

Here are your ingredients for making the Cupcake Ornament Toppers.

Spice Drops, Black Licorice Rope, and Pretzels.

Poke a hole in the rounded top of a spice drop using a toothpick.

Insert the pretzel.

Make two more holes; one on each side of the top of the spice drop, with a toothpick.

Cut a small piece of black licorice rope, and insert it into the top holes so that it forms a rounded loop.

See?

Cool huh!

The pretzels allow you to insert the toppers into the cupcake and make them stick in place just where you want them to.

I ended up breaking my pretzel sticks in half so they didn’t poke out the bottom of the cake.

Next you need some good ol’ Fruit by the Foot.

These red ones were already cut in perfect ornament, decorating, shapes.

You can also use Starburst Chews for this and just flatten them out with a rolling pin.

The blue Fruit by the Foot was not already cut into shapes.

This nifty little Fondant Cutter that I found at the craft store came in handy for making elaborate edges.

You can also use fancy edged scrapbooking scissors, or if you’re really talented… a sharp kitchen knife and your own imagination.

There aren’t any rules.

Just cut some fun and frilly shapes to put on your cupcakes.

When you make (or buy) your frosting, set some aside in a Sandwich Bag. This will be the glue that holds all your decorations onto your sugar coated cupcakes.

Using your spice drop tops, bag of gluing frosting, candy, and Fruit Snack strips… start decorating.

They look really cute too if you put some of the spice drop tops on the edge, and others right in the middle of the cupcakes.

It gives a perspective that each one is laying differently.

Once again this idea orginated from my favorite Cupcake Book – “Hello, Cupcake.” (Which by the way would make a FANTASTIC Christmas Gift!)

When you’re done, line them all up and marvel at your masterpieces.

Here’s What You Need…

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Thick white frosting – store bought or homemade (Food Coloring if you want to use Colored Frostings)

Cupcake Papers

Pretzel Sticks

Fruit by the Foot

Fondant Cutter or Scrapbooking scissors

Colored Sprinkling Sugars

Spice Drops

Thin, smooth, licorice rope in red and black (more colors optional)

Mini M&M’s

Candy Coated Sunflower Seeds – optional

Dragees – Shiny ball sprinkles – optional

Whatever else your heart desires.

Fa – la – la – la – la…. la – la…. la…. la!

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