a new blog series and something sweet

...In My Kitchen...

I've been cooking and baking a lot lately so I thought I would start a new series on my blog, dedicated to sharing recipes and such. I'm not sure if I'll be very consistent or if it will even be a weekly thing, but I'll do my best!

This is my kitchen! Please excuse the ugly beer bottles on the top of the fridge and the all around clutter!

One of my very best friends at work celebrated her birthday earlier this week. I knew I had to make something special for her, so I went with sugar cookies! I used The Cookie Queen's [aka Pink Martinis and Pearls] sugar cookie and royal icing recipes. I also used one of my favorite cookie cutters...a cupcake, of course!

For this particular cookie, I also needed red food coloring, colored sprinkles, and red skittles, in addition to the recipe ingredients. After baking the cookies, I made a batch of royal icing and separated it into 4 containers - one for thick white icing to outline the "frosting" of the cupcake, one for thin white icing to fill the frosting, one for thick pink icing to outline the base of the cupcake, and one for the thin pink icing to fill the base. Once the pink portion dried, I added some vertical lines to symbolize the cupcake liner.

I would say that this time around, my experience was much better than the last time I made decorated sugar cookies.

I packaged the cookies up in these cute little treat boxes I found at Cost Plus World Market. The box was originally for cupcakes and came with an insert, but I just omitted that part. I can't find the boxes online, but it was such a good find. I recommend that if you bake a lot of treats to go check out your Cost Plus soon. They were 50% off so it was around $2.99 for 3 boxes!!


What do you think?

---------------------------------------

And now to continue with the cupcake theme...a Giveaway!

personalized cupcake stationery from etsy seller, MollieDogPaper

cupcake cookie cutters

cupcake spatula

orange-swirl cupcake liners

If you'd like to enter, please leave a comment on this post. It can say anything. Leave it by next Wednesday :)

weekend recap

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well-rested from the weekend, and enjoying the work week! My weekend was fun and it involved ONE lovely lunch with some great friends, TWO movies on a hot afternoon, and LOTS and LOTS of cupcakes!

Last week, I decided to track down all of the cupcake boutiques near my house and the surrounding areas. [By the way, there are tons!] C and I came up with the idea to visit two at a time and do a taste-off between them! So far, we've tried 4 places which equates to 8 cupcakes! Don't worry...we just "sample" them! There's no way we could handle that much sugar at once. I will be posting the taste-offs, complete with pictures and commentary, very soon!

a preview of places we've tried so far...
still so many to try!

1, 2, 3, 4

Once again, this weekend was HOT! We decided to go to the movies to avoid the sun [it was 107 on Saturday] and ended up seeing Inception and Predators. The verdict? I very, very, very highly recommend Inception. It was amazing! The plot, the actors, the cinematography...all wonderful! Aaaaaand skip Predators.


On Sunday, I was able to meet up with Kate, Amanda, and Danielle for a yummy lunch at Toast! We had a great time catching up and it's always good to see them. Of course we didn't take a picture, but I will tell you that Danielle's hair looks great!

a happy marriage between salty & sweet

happy friday, lovely readers! i'm back after a great 4th of july vacation to las vegas [recap to come later]. i'm well rested, tanner than tan, and happy that it's already time for the weekend again. to celebrate the short work week, i made cupcakes to share with my co-workers. i've had this recipe bookmarked for awhile, and i was so excited to finally get to try it. i love the combination of salty and sweet so i knew this salted caramel cupcake was right up my alley. as a side note, one of the best salty/sweet treats i have ever had comes from here. heaven in a single bite!

but, back to the cupcakes...the base is a nice light chocolate flavor with sea salt infused caramel injected into the center after it's been baked. once cooled, i used a vanilla buttercream to frost the cupcakes then dunked them into a bowl of crushed heath bars. lastly, the cupcakes were drizzled with more of the sea salt infused caramel. i highly recommend this recipe if you're looking for a fun and interesting cupcake!




Here's hoping everyone has a GREAT weekend!

Goodbye, Farewell!

Since everyone knows that I love cupcakes, I was bound to get the Big Top Cupcake for Christmas this past year! I finally broke it out last week to make a giant cupcake for a going away party for two of my co-workers. I was a little apprehensive about how it would turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was super easy {I can't really stress just how easy it was honestly} and the end result was an adorable giant cupcake!

I just took a basic chocolate cake mix and made it per the box instructions.


The batter was split between the top and bottom mold. Baking varied, but I think it took about 35 minutes for the top mold to bake all the way through and about 45 minutes for the bottom one to bake.


I was worried that there wasn't enough batter in the molds, but it definitely expands as it bakes. Once they cooled, I cut off the rounded parts so the two pieces could fit together flatly and make the cupcake shape.


By putting frosting between the two pieces, it ensured that the cupcake stayed together. Then I just frosted the top with a can of Betty C*rocker's Whipped vanilla frosting and I decorated it with the Cupcake Icing {also by Betty} and sprinkles!



Here are my two co-workers that left for new and better endeavors!


I don't normally use box mixes and I never use pre-made frosting, but I think it turned out great. It's definitely cheaper than making the components from scratch! I heard reviews from the people who ate it and they were impressed so it must have tasted pretty good as well {I usually never eat the cakes or cupcakes I make...I don't have much of a sweet tooth}.

I really enjoyed throwing together this fun little treat! Have any of you used it??!

Cupcakes...again!

I made cupcakes for my co-workers today! I went with the basic chocolate cake and tried a new peanut butter icing recipe. From what I hear, it was the best I've ever made! I thought I would share the recipe for the icing since it got such rave reviews.

Taken from Beantown Baker: Adventures in a Boston Kitchen {she's amazing!}, which she got from Mermaid Sweets, which she got from Food Network...or something like that...wherever it came from, it's a keeper for sure!

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

I doubled the recipe for 24 cupcakes and had a little bit left over. Then I cut up little Reese's and put them on top! Let me know if you try this recipe out!

I hope you all have a great weekend! We don't really have any plans, but it will definitely be nice to just relax :)

i'm still alive...

...but so exhausted!

I only got a few pictures of the cupcakes once they were set up on site, but here they are! I'm so relieved that it's all over. The couple was so pleased with the cupcakes and the display so that made me happy! The selection was: blue velvet with vanilla cream cheese frosting, chocolate devil's food with peanut butter buttercream frosting, chocolate devil's food with mint chocolate chip frosting, banana with honey cinnamon frosting, and strawberry with fresh strawberry buttercream frosting. All the regular size cupcakes had beautiful wrappers around them (that I found here).

A big thanks to my mom and the boyfriend for keeping me sane the last 48 hours!

Yesterday was also my Mom's birthday! After finishing up the cupcake display, we all headed to Paradise Cove Beach Cafe in Malibu. This is one of our favorite restaurants! It's right on the beach and the view is just gorgeous. It was wonderful to relax and just breathe. Of course we had to tell the server that there was a birthday, and they brought Mom the biggest slice of chocolate cake we'd ever seen!!

{Mom and the boyfriend on the beach}

{Me and my Mom - we're not ready!}

Today we are off to eat lunch and get massages! After all, we deserve it :)

Have a great weekend my lovelies!!

Thursday Update!

Typically, Thursdays are my favorite day of the week, but for the next 8 weeks I will be sitting in Strategic Staffing from 6:30 until 10 pm. Not my idea of fun! Ha!

Do any of you watch Toddlers and Tiaras?! I never thought I would be hooked on a show like this, but I love it {most of the time}. I really do think that pageants can give young girls self-esteem and confidence so I can see why parents may want their kids to do them. But there are some parents that are featured on the show that go so overboard and it makes you feel bad for the kids, especially when you can see it on their faces that they know their parents aren't satisfied. I think it was this earlier this season when twin sisters were featured and the mother clearly favored one over the other {I was crying for the poor girl that the mom didn't like, it was so sad} and I really didn't like seeing that. But last night's episode was so cute with the "Sparkle Sisters" and they were so sweet to each other and seemed genuinely happy to be doing pageants together. And their mom was so cute as well and proud of all of them. Any of you watch this series?!

Yesterday I returned home from work to find a BIG box from my Prep for Fall Swap partner, Megs. I had so much fun and Megs was a great swap partner. Look at all the wonderful stuff she sent me - stationery, kitchen towels, soap, a loofah, hot tea, a candle, and the cutest flower ring. And it all came in the best green basket that will look great in front of my fireplace holding the dog's toys.

Thanks again Megs for being a great swap partner and also Hopsy for hosting such a fun swap!

I'm looking forward to the Labor Day holiday! I am mostly excited for Tuesday though because my MOM is coming to visit!! I haven't seen any of my family since my brother's wedding in early May, so this visit is long overdue. I wish my Daddy-o could come too, but someone has to keep an eye on the four {fur}babies they have. Mom's visit has two purposes though: 1) to visit her favorite daughter {duh!} and 2) to help me make 100 regular size and 200 miniature cupcakes for a wedding I'm catering. I don't think I've mentioned on my blog yet that I'm doing this job, but I am excited and nervous for it. Mom and I will be in the kitchen for the first part of her visit, but we'll reward ourselves with a yummy dinner and a trip to the day spa over the weekend!

Well, this is turning into quite the long post! I better stop now before I lose all of you :)

Blog Bake Off Entry!

I am participating in Summer and Becky's Blog Bake Off contest. I knew I wanted to make a cupcake of some sort, but was lacking in the ideas department. I turned to a fun cupcake book I had gotten at Christmas called Hello, Cupcake! I'm sure you've all seen it! There are some really cute ideas in the book.

Here is my interpretation of the popcorn - yellow and white mini marshmallows atop mini funfetti cupcakes! Next to a stack of my favorite movies it almost looks like a real box of popcorn!!

I also made the corn on the cob cupcakes. I used pale yellow and white after dinner mints to represent the kernels and a pat of "starburst" butter. Sprinkle on some "salt" and "pepper" (colored sugar crystals), and this summer staple looks good enough to eat!

So there's my entry...be sure to submit your baking creations by this Saturday!!

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

We recently had some new neighbors move in so I thought I'd send over a homemade treat in hopes of making some new friends! Last night I made some lemon cupcakes with a lemon buttercream frosting! I gave some to our apartment's maintenance men too - they work so hard to keep our complex clean and tidy!

What do you think? Kind of looks like a glass of lemonade - perfect for a hot summer day!

If you want the recipe, I'd be happy to e-mail it to you. It's super easy and VERY tasty!

Have a lovely day!!! Don't forget to enter my giveaway for personalized stationery from The Design Girl!

Also, my bloggy friend Shell is celebrating her blog's 2nd birthday! How exciting - she is having a giveaway a week and the first one is for a Vera Bradley handbag in the peacock print! Go visit, enter for your chance to win, and make a new friend in the process!!

Cupcake and Frosting Recipe - Yum!

Happy Happy Friday!

Thanks for all of your sweet comments on my last post! I am not sure how the bf liked the cupcakes yet as I didn't see him before I left for work this morning! I'm certain he will L♥VE them because...sshhhh...don't tell anyone, but I tried one of the finished products last night and all I can say is yummy!

The cupcake is a yellow cake and one of the simplest recipes that I've found. The cupcake turns out moist and buttery, not at all dense or muffin like. The frosting is a simple semi-sweet/milk chocolate frosting made from a few ingredients and it comes together in no time. I highly recommend both recipes!

Easy-Mix Yellow Cupcake Batter
(from Elinor Klivans' Cupcakes!)

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola or corn oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

• Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the egg and yolk and sugar until thickened and lightened to a cream color, about 2 minutes. On low speed, mix in oil and vanilla until blended. Mix in sour cream until no white streaks remain. Mix in the flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter is smooth.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.
  

Makes 12 regular cupcakes.

Milk Chocolate Frosting
(from Food Network Kitchens)

3 1/2 ounces milk chocolate
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt

• Melt chocolate together. Add the confectioners' sugar, milk, butter, vanilla extract, and salt and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

Cupcake Love

Last night after class I decided to do something sweet for my boyfriend, who is always doing sweet things for me. I truly believe my bf has a heart of gold and deserves so much more than me, but I am lucky enough to be the one he chooses to be with (for whatever reason, I'm still not sure). Since the bf started his new job it's been difficult on both of us. He works 9 pm until 5 am so I see him for about 4 seconds in the morning and an hour and a half in the evenings. But I have class on Wednesday and Thursday nights so essentially I don't see him for two whole days! Also, he has only had one day off since he started. Great for the paycheck, not so great for the relationship! Ha!

I decided to make him cupcakes. I wanted to write out the letters I (heart) U on 3 of them, but was too lazy to make a different colored frosting. So I ended up only using the chocolate frosting. I jerry-rigged some homemade toppers (pictured above) so the bf would know that these were made especially for him! I only had one frosting tip because my others have been temporarily misplaced (i.e., lost somewhere in my very messy pantry) so it was definitely challenging to come up with designs. Oh well, I think they turned out cute and will portray my message perfectly.