cupcake challenge ::: week 5 ~ earth day

This is my inspiration for this weeks cupcake challenge:

This bag of crushed up Oreos kinda looks like a bag of dirt and since earth day was this past Sunday there is my theme. 

 And this is what I came up with (with the help of my Littles.)

I know it's a mess but it actually tasted yummy.  Once the sour worms came off.

I made golden cupcakes and chocolate mousse for frosting. Then topped them with crushed up Oreos, green coconut flakes and sour worms.

The chocolate mousse is the just add milk and whip it kind that comes from a box.  Crush up some Oreo cookies to sprinkle on top.  Mix a little green dye in the coconut flakes and place around the edges.  Add some worms, or not.  I have to say my favorite part is the cupcake itself.  I set a couple off to the side to eat later with a glass of milk.

Golden Cupcakes

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, separated at room temperature

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350*F and put liners in 12 cupcake tins if you fill them 3/4 of the way and 18 tins if you fill them 1/2 full.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes.   Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla very well

In another bowl sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add about half of the flour mix to the butter/sugar mix.  Then half of the milk.  Then the rest of the flour and milk. Mixing the whole time.

With clean beaters beat the egg whites for about 4 minutes on high till stiff peaks form.  Gently fold the egg whites into the batter with a spatula.

Fill the cupcake liners and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

I know it makes more dish mess and takes more time to separate the eggs and whip the whites. It is worth it though.  I've made the cupcakes by tossing the whole egg (out of the shell of course) into the butter/sugar mix because I didn't want to deal with the extra steps.  The texture of the cupcake isn't as nice and they aren't as fluffy.  If any of y'all decide to make the golden cupcakes; it's worth the extra work and dishes.

Now, I'd love to see any cupcakes y'all make and maybe try out a new recipe.  So go ahead and leave a link in the comments and I'll stop on by.

cupcake challenge......anyone???

How does that phrase go... even well intended plans fail?  That's the cupcake challenge right now.  There were 20 participants.  We were getting our challenge on Saturdays and had one week to make our cupcakes then post a picture and a link to the recipe to the group.  Sounded fun to me!

There has been a growing pattern to the group that kinda made me laugh when I thought about it.  Because it happens so often with life.  We intend to do something and life gets in the way and..... well you know.  So I thought I would share with all y'all in case you can laugh a little and say "yep, been there. done that."  If that quote isn't in your vocabulary, you probably don't know me personally and might count yourself lucky for that.

The Pattern:
1st challenge ~ strawberries = 9 participated
2nd challenge ~ mocha = 4 participated
3rd challenge ~ Easter = 2 participated
There was a week that no challenge was given due to admin changes
Then the 4th challenge ~ chocolate.....
Can you guess from the pattern above how many participated?  If y'all followed the pattern and said 1 you got it right.
This past Saturday there wasn't a cupcake challenge given.  But y'all probably already figured that out too. 

And I was having fun with the cupcake challenge too!  It's been a helpful distraction from the "D" word.  So I'm not going let this little bump in the road of life get me down.  I've decided to copy the cupcake challenge over here and make it personal.  I'm going to challenge myself each week with a cupcake theme/idea...something cupcake like.  Heck, if any of y'all want to join in you are always welcome.  Don't worry I'm not going to keep tabs or stats. Like I said it's personal now.

Check back in a while and I'll have a theme figured out. If y'all are wanting to make some cupcakes too...GREAT!  I'm thinking it might have something to do with my kid's dessert last night and what was left over.

 ***no Oreos were licked in the cleaning off of the creamy center. 

(at least not the ones in the container) 

cupcake challenge ::: week 4 ~ chocolate



Though not the devils food cupcakes with chocolate mousse buttercream frosting I mentioned on Monday.  I looked for a recipe that was the same as the one in  Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey to give all y'all a recipe link.  But didn't have much luck.  Though I found this recipe.  No, I didn't make those cupcakes either.  I need to get to the store to pick up sour cream and keep getting sidetracked by the beach; every day this week.  Can you see where my priorities are? 

Last night I raided my pantry for a box cake mix.  I found a Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix and a 4oz box of chocolate fudge instant pudding.  I added the pudding mix to the cake mix and followed the box instructions for the cake.   Except for substituting softened butter for the oil and adding 1 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to the mix. 

I needed to add about 10 minutes to the cooking time.  Checking their doneness by the spring back method rather than inserting a toothpick.  Because the chocolate chips will make the toothpick come out dirty.

I made a basic chocolate buttercream frosting that my mom taught me to make around age 12 without measuring ingredients. So it ends up a little different each time but basically the same. This recipe will work.  I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate and heavy cream instead of the milk.  After frosting the cupcakes I dipped them into a bowl filled with chocolate sprinkles.

cupcake challenge ::: leap week

Last week we didn't get our challenge due to a few changes with the admin. in the group.  But things are back on track and we have been given the theme of chocolate.  Right away I thought of the yummy devils food cake with chocolate mousse buttercream frosting that I made for my oldest's birthday last year.  I found it in the book Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor.

 The book is so worth looking into if you have a serious sweet tooth.  **Warning** Stay away from if you want to stick to your diet; there is nothing low fat about it.  Now to adapt it to cupcakes!


acropolis

I received some pictures from the port call in Piraeus, Greece and wanted to share them.

Acropolis at night; beautiful!

My Love was thinking of me while seeing these amazing places and went to the market (not one of his favorite places) to get me some Mati beads ~ evil eye beads.  I'm a lucky lady!

I would love to spend the rest of my life on a beach like this; with all my family and friends.  But the beach wouldn't look this pristine for long.  It would end up looking like the circus moved in.

cupcake challenge ::: week 3 ~ easter

carrot cupcakes with cream cheese whipped cream-spiced  frosting topped with toasted carrots, coconut, and sugar nest holding jellybean eggs.

I made these cupcakes with a pre-packaged carrot cake mix following the recipe on the box. 

The frosting was made following this recipe with a couple changes.  I used 1 cup of powdered sugar instead of the 1/2 cup white sugar called for.  I didn't add the almond extract but used 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a dash of allspice.

Mix 1 cup of coconut and 1 cup of grated carrot and toast in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes; stirring every 5 minutes.

When the coconut and carrots cooled down I frosted the cupcakes and dipped them to pick up the flakes.

My Girlies picked out the nest of jellybean eggs at Target.  They look like they would be easy to make using royal icing.

cupcake challenge ::: week 2 ~ mocha

I'm not a mocha drinking kinda girl so when this challenge came up I started thinking of how I could participate but not have to smell mocha filling the house.  I thought about decorating cupcakes to look like the mocha moth, but I didn't want to try and pull that one off.

Then I got to thinking of ways to make cupcakes look like a cup of mocha... mug cakes!  In the little espresso cups I got my Girlies for tea parties.  The best thing about these cup-a-cakes is it takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. 

a-cup-a-cake
4 Tablespoons flour
4 Tablespoons vanilla sugar
2 Tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder
1 small/medium egg or 2 Tablespoons of a large whisked egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
4 Tablespoons chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients in a 1 cup glass measuring cup or a large mug.  At this point you can nuke the cup-cake in the microwave for about 3 minutes.

I separated the mix into 6 espresso cups filling them half full.  Then put 2 of the cup-a-cakes at a time in the microwave for 1 minute 20 seconds. 

If you like mocha you could substitute the sugar and cocoa powder with Ghirardelli Chocolate Mocha Hot Cocoa powder.

I spooned some vanilla whipped cream on the top and then a little chocolate whipped cream in the center and swirled it with a toothpick.

whipped cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons vanilla sugar
1 Tablespoon of dark chocolate set aside

Whip cream, vanilla, and sugar together until it starts to thicken up.  Spoon onto each of the cup-a-cakes.   Add the dark chocolate powder to the remaining whipped cream and mix in.  Spoon in the center of the vanilla whipped cream and swirl with a toothpick.

Now to enjoy my cup-a-cake!

cupcake challenge ::: week 1 ~ strawberries

strawberry shortcake cupcakes

vanilla butter cupcakes 

whipped cream

1lb strawberries

I like homemade whipped cream, but you could use store bought or cool whip.  Toss the bowl and beaters into the freezer to chill them while slicing the strawberries. 

whipped cream

2 cups heavy whipping cream

6 Tablespoons vanilla sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Take the bowl and beaters out of the freezer and add heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla to the bowl and whip on high till whipped cream consistency.

Spoon whipped cream onto the cupcake and arrange the strawberries.

- My Littles didn't want to decorate their own.  They just wanted to eat them as I made them.

-Cream cheese whipped cream frosting sounds yummy.  So next time I will give this one a try.

vanilla butter cupcakes

I decided to join a cupcake challenge.  Tonight I baked my cupcakes and tomorrow I will be decorating them to go with the week one challenge ~ strawberries.  My Littles are looking forward to decorating their own cupcakes too!

Vanilla Butter Cupcakes
2 stick unsalted butter (1/2 pound)  ~ at room temperature
1 3/4 cups vanilla sugar
4 large eggs ~ at room temperature
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and place 24 cupcake liners in 2-12 cup muffin tins.  Sift flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.  Add vanilla to the milk and set aside.  In a large bowl cream butter and slowly add vanilla sugar, beating until light and fluffy.  Continue beating and add eggs 1 at a time.  Keep mixing the batter adding 1/3 of the milk mixture then 1/3 of the flour mixture.  Repeat until all ingredients are combined. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 22-28 minutes.

-Since this was a cake recipe I turning into cupcakes there was a little batter left.  I coated a small baking dish with no-stick cooking spray, poured in the remaining batter, and baked it in the oven for 33 minutes at 350 degrees fahrenheit.

-The recipe could easily be halved or quartered. 

-If you don't have cake flour you can make it by sifting flour and cornstarch together.  Measure a cup of flour and then remove 2 Tablespoons of the flour and add it back to the bag. Pour the flour into your sifter and add 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch.  This recipe calls for 3 cups of cake flour so do this 3 times.  Now you sift the mix together 4 times.  When you are done sift it another 2 times just to be sure it is sifted together.

-If you don't have baking powder you can make it with 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 4 teaspoons cream of tarter, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Use a whisk to mix it together very well and measure off the amount you need.  Store the remaining in an air tight container.

Now I'm going to eat some of my little cake with the last jar of strawberry cranberry juice jam I made last year.

just do it

There are lots of excuses why I have neglected my blog but it all comes down to Military life and deployment.  I am not feeling too chatty but with the encouragement of Senior Chief telling me “just do it” I will make a post today. 

Including a picture of some of the yummy treats he left me with.  (I am not going out to the freezing garage to get a picture of the freezer stocked with my favorite ice creams.)

I would give up yummy chocolates and ice cream for the next year if only......