Creativity, my friend.

I made some Strawberry Buttercream cupcakes for a momma and her little girl's birthday party! I had such a hard time with the candy lettering, after hours of practice and two wasted bags of candy coating, I finally went to the store and got a fondant letter mold. It worked perfectly!



Strawberry Jam

The cupcakes were delicious (of course I had to test one out, how else would I know?) and while making them I decided to save some of the extra batter for a new flavor experiment. I'm really glad I did!!! My new cupcake flavor is.... *drum role please!* Blueberry Lemon! It's the same delicious vanilla cake from the Strawberry Buttercream cupcakes, but in the batter I mixed in whole fresh blueberries, lemon zest, and fresh lemon extract. The icing is blueberry lemon cream cheese. I took one bite and got hooked; as did my boyfriend!

I ALSO made a lemon buttermilk bundt cake for my beloved. He tells me lemon bundt cakes are his favorite, and I felt like he needed a happy surprise so I made a buttermilk bundt cake, you can find the original recipe here. I added lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon extract. The lemon extract barelely did anything for me. Next time, I'll get about 4-6 lemons and juice them to put in that bundt cake. It wasn't tart enough. However, the icing I made was tart and sweet! It was a simple powdered sugar glaze, with lemon juice and zest in it for the flavor. All in all, pretty good.

Coconut Dream Cakes

I decided to make some cupcakes for Easter, and what better than coconut! These little vanilla cakes are soaked with a coconut cream, topped with homemade cool whip, and sweetened shredded coconut. I also played around with some beautiful bright Easter colors; blue, purple, and green. I put the cupcakes in a variety of different cupcake wrappers and made some really beautiful cupcakes! Unfortunately, they don't taste up to par (in my opinion), so I'm going to have to attempt a round two when I get time.

When I try these again, I'm going to have to find a way to incorporate the cream into the cupcake without pouring it on top, and make a coconut butter cream instead of homemade cool whip.

Finished product in one of my rainbow wrappers

They are incredibly messy!

I love these colors!

In the refrigerator to cool

The Blue and Purple Marbled cake in the rainbow wrapper is my favorite!

Spring green

Have you ever seen this many colors in a batch of cupcakes?

Marbled and colorful, perfect for Easter.

Velvet Love Cupcakes

Love is a celebration, and today I got the opportunity to help celebrate a couple's first anniversary! The couple requested Red Velvet cupcakes to celebrate, and in conversation asked if it came with any filling. I told them I could make the red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese filling and vanilla buttercream icing; they liked that idea! So today, I whipped up a lovely batch of Red Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese filling and Vanilla Buttercream icing, which I'm calling Velvet Love cupcakes in honor of them. I used a star tip for the icing, and added red lips sprinkles on top.



Velvet Love

Velvet Love



Velvet Love

Oreo Truffles: Fun for Everyone

I went though some old pictures of mine and found some great pictures of yummy oreo truffles! I'll post the recipe here along with some pictures. They take a little bit of time dipping in the chocolate but it's fun and kids can help. I like to swirl white & milk chocolate across the already-dipped truffles. Also, I suggest using two spoons or forks to roll the truffles in the melted chocolate, and then place on foil or wax paper to harden in the refrigerator.

I employed my neices and nephew on Christmas. Yay for child labor! Muahah

Oreo Balls RecipeIngredients:

1 Package regular Oreos (not double stuff), FINELY CRUSHED!

8 oz cream cheese (room temperature is easier to work with)

1 bag dark, milk, or white chocolate or almond bark

Directions:

Mix crushed oreo's with cream cheese in a large bown until thoroughly incorporated. Roll into small balls, roughly 1 inch in diameter. Place on wax paper or foil and chill. Once the balls are chilled, melt the chocolate.

I use the microwave to melt it but it can be difficult. If you microwave for too long the chocolate will burn and harden. In my microwave I melt the chocolate in a glass microwave-proof bowl for 30 seconds, and then at 10 second intervals until it's at a smooth consistency when stirred.

Roll the oreo balls around in the chocolate and place on the foil or wax paper. If you want to do stripey or swirly patterns on the truffles, use a different type of chocolate and a spoon to swirl (if you made white chocolate truffles, use dark or milk chocolate for pattern, etc.)

Refrigerate and VOILA!




Oreo truffles with white almond bark and milk chocolate almond bark stripes



Oreo truffles with milk chocolate almond bark and white almond bark stripes.