I See Cupcake Wars In Our Future!

So my BFF and I love Cupcake Wars and are intrigued by some of the "creative cupcaking" that we see taking place on the show.  We often discuss how we would me make some of the cupcakes if we were on the show..LOL!  Well as you know I love to go outside of the box when baking and now the BFF has been inspired and has gone on a cupcake frenzy.  Here are a few pics of some of her latest.

Cherry Coke Cupcakes w/Cherry Coke Frosting

Key Lime Cupcakes with Graham Cracker Frosting

Tasty Tasty...Cupcake Wars Here We Come!!!

P.S. Stay Tuned for my Tagalong Girl Scout Cookie Cupcake

*´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)(¸.•´ (¸.•` ¤ Charisse

GIVE ME S'MORE CUPCAKES

So my friend Sundae gave her son a Army/Boot Camp themed birthday party!!  There was camoflague, helmets, dog tags, army planes, mess plates..pretty much you name she had it! And well I worked the registration desk during the party but my main mission was to come up with a cupcake that would work into the theme!!  Sir Yes Sir!  So I called my friend up one day and said that I would do a S'more Cupcake who doesn't like S'mores and they go with the camping theme...I found a recipe in one of my many cupcake books however upon taking a closer glance it was a plain chocolate cupcake with a Graham Cracker and Marshmallow stuck on top...womp womp..LOL!  I really wanted a cupcake that entailed all the flavors and components of S'mores, chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows...you know the deal....So Here We Go!

Graham Cracker Batter with Brown Sugar Graham Cracker Topping

Marshmallow Halves Placed On Top...Oooh Can We Say Gooey!

Chocolate Batter On Top Then Topped With More Graham Cracker Topping

Out Of The Oven, Gimme S'more Luvin!

 

Layered Goodness!

Marshmallow Frosted!! 

S’more Cupcakes

Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I ran whole graham crackers through the food processor)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup oil
 Large marshmallows cut in half

Graham Cracker Crumb topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda together with a wire whisk.
Separate the mixture in half into two bowls.
Stir cocoa into one bowl and the graham cracker crumbs into the other.
Add 1/2 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 cup oil to the cocoa mixture and beat on medium until combined.
Repeat adding the same ingredients to the graham cracker crumb flour mixture.
Prepare the graham cracker crumb topping.
Add the brown sugar and crumbs in a small bowl and pour on the melted butter. Stir until combined.
Pour a little graham cracker cake batter into the bottom of your baking cups and then sprinkle the topping mixture lightly on the surface.
Place a marshmallow half on top and then cover the marshmallow with the chocolate cake batter until it is about 3/4 full.
Sprinkle with more topping mixture.
Bake cupcakes for about 15 minutes.

This recipe will make at least 12 cupcakes. I had a some batter from each left over so you can probably get more like 14-16.



Marshmallow Frosting

• 4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
• One 16-ounce tub marshmallow cream (such as Marshmallow Fluff brand)

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy.
2. Beat in one-fourth of the sugar until fluffy, then repeat with the remaining sugar.
3. Beat in the vanilla, then stir in the marshmallow cream until well blended.

 Enjoy!!! 

Cupcake Recipe and Frosting Recipe Courtesy of Bakerella and Rachel Ray..I Love These Ladies!!

Petite Party Pazzazz: Orange Champagne Cupcakes

Petite Party Pazzazz: Orange Champagne Cupcakes

Orange Champagne Cupcakes

Hey there so last Thursday we had a "Breakfast for Lunch" Potluck at work and it was great all the fixings eggs, turkey bacon, french toast casserole and even shrimp and grits!  But being the resident dessert baker I had to whip up something extra special :)  and boy oh boy did I!  I remembered my friend Keisha over at Cupcake Wishes and Birthday Dreams posting a recipe for a Mimosa cupcake and well I knew that would be perfect!  However there were a few stumbles when developing the recipe and my batter turned out like soup *insert sad face*  So I restarted and came up with a perfect batter and then dumped half a bottle of Verdi Spumante into 2 pounds of confectioners sugar and butter and made what my one of my co-workers deemed as the "Best Cupcake she had ever tasted" !!!  So after all of my trials and tribulations and staying up until 1:30 am to get it right here are pics and THE RECIPE *insert applause*  LOL!

ORANGE CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKE (AKA MIMOSA CUPCAKES)

Cupcake Batter:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup champagne (I used Verdi Spumante, it's sweet and inexpensive)
• 1 tsp Orange Extract (adjust to your liking, I may have used more)
• Orange Zest (I just added what I thought was sufficient)
• 6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, cream together Butter and Sugar until creamy. In another bowl combine Flour, Baking powder, and Salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternating with Champagne. Once fully combined add Orange Zest and Orange Extract and mix at low speed until incorporated (this is where I taste the batter to make sure it has the right amount of flavoring).

In separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the whites into the batter a little at a time.  Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full (if you have a Pampered Chef Large Scoop it allows for the perfect measurement.

Bake cupcakes in lined cupcake pan at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

 Champagne Buttercream:

• 2 pound bag of powdered sugar
• 1 stick of  butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Slowly add Champagne to reach desired consistency

Beat together Sugar and Butter on low until well blended.  Add Vanilla and Champagne and continue beating on medium until well combined.

Champagne Simple Syrup:

•  3/4 Cup Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Champagne

Add both ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring until sugar is fully dissolved, let cool.  I was in a hurry so I let it cool in the refridgerator while frosting the cupcakes.

Frost Cupcake and drizzle with Champagne Syrup!  Another cool idea that I plan to try next time is poking holes in the warm cupcakes and then drizzle the warm syrup over top so that it will seep into the cupcakes for a Over the Rainbow taste effect!!! 

Weight Watchers Ice Cream House Party!

So last weekend I finally had my much anticipated Weight Watchers Ice Cream House Party sponsored by houseparty.com .  For those unfamiliar, a House Party^™ is thousands of parties across the country, hosted by people like you.  Each event is sponsored by a leading brand and focuses on something cool that the sponsor wants its best fans to experience firsthand and share with their friends. 

Weight Watchers provided me with the party favors shown in my previous post and then I added a few of my Tastefully Simple items.  I combined the party with my Tastefully Simple open house and it was a big success! 

Guests had the opportunity to taste some the new Spring/Summer items that TS has to offer this season (the Mango Mojito Drink Bucket was a HUGE hit)!!!   

We took the What Flavor Ice Cream are you quiz which was really cute and then we created mood boards around themes that inspire us, goals, things we like to do etc.   Everyone really got into the mood boards which was good because I wasn't really sure how it would go over.  

 Welcoming my guests and explaining the Mood Boards

We had a great time enjoying food and drinks!

Although the Grand Finale was the Weight Watchers Ice Creams!!!  WW provided with coupons to pick up 6 FREE boxes of Ice Creams of my choice.  We sampled the newest summer flavors..Chocolate Dipped Strawberry, Dark Chocolate Raspberry, Dulce De Leche (my favorite), Candy Bar (a noted favorite), Strawberry Smoothie Bar, and Strawberry Fruit Bar, oh and I almost forgot the Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Bar (Note the Strawberry theme, perfect for summer)!

  Serving Up the Ice Cream in the serving tray provided by Weight Watchers and in my Cute Apron provided by Weight Watchers!

 These two thought they were doing a commercial or something...LOL!

This is my cousin enjoying her Dulce De Leche Ice Cream Bar!

Everyone got to take home a goodie bag containing Tastefully Simple samples and a $1.00 WW Ice Cream Coupon provided by Weight Watchers!

I also prepared a wonderful low calorie drink made with Pink Lemonade Crystal Light and Reduced Calorie Cranberry Juice!  This is wonderful for the summer and perfect for those trying to watch their weight but want to drink a low calorie flavorful beverage!

Cranberry Lemonade Spritzer

What You Need:

1 bottle (48 oz.) reduced-calorie cranberry juice cocktail

1 pkt.  (makes 2 qt. drink) or 2 pkt. (makes 1 qt. drink each) CRYSTAL LIGHT Pink Lemonade Flavor Drink Mix*

1 bottle (1 liter) seltzer, chilled

 Make It:

ADD cranberry juice cocktail to drink mix in large plastic or glass pitcher; stir until mix is dissolved.
REFRIGERATE several hours or until chilled.
POUR into punch bowl when ready to serve. Add seltzer. Serve over ice.

© 2011 Kraft Foods Inc. All rights reserved

I am soo addicted to House Party^™ now that I have signed up for 4 more parties!!!  I hope that I get selected to host at least one of them!  Wish me LUCK!!!