Vanilla cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream

After all of the candy I made for the Holidays I reallyyyy couldn't wait to get back in the kitchen wanted some time off. The past few weeks have been a nice break! I defnitely enjoyed not having to come home and clean the kitchen every night after work. I also needed to focus on my new calorie-counting regimen with My Fitness Pal app - one of those resolutions for the new year...

Now that my break is over - I was so happy to get back in the kitchen tonight and return to baking. Just needed to make a dozen cupcakes and I decided on the Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes recipe from Glorious Treats. I absolutely LOVE Glorious Treats! She is always making something beautiful and tasty - always with a lovely tutorial us newbies to follow as well.

The thing with trying a new recipe or altering a recipe that you have used in the past...you have to TASTE it to make sure tastes alright. A few swipes of icing here and there - I'm sure the calories were adding up but do I have to tell My Fitness pal? *sigh*

They turned out delicious! Here they are drizzled with a little caramel sauce.

The Caramel Buttercream is based off of a recipe from my Grandmother. I just changed a few things...

Salted Caramel Buttercream:
(makes enough to ice 16-18 cupcakes)

1 stick Butter
4 1/2 Tbsps (light) Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
4-5 Tbsps Half and Half to smooth

Powdered Sugar
Kosher Salt

Melt 1/2 stick of butter with the brown sugar in a sauce pan on the stove on medium high. Once the two have come to a boil slowly add the vanilla and about 1 1/2- 2 Tbsps of Half and Half. (Milk or heavy cream would work as well.)

Once the items are melted together in the sauce pan, turn the burner off. In my mixing bowl, I started with 3/4 - 1 cup of powdered sugar and added the brown sugar mixture with the mixer on low. Once those ingredients were mixed together I wanted a fluffier texture so I added another 4 Tbps, one at a time, of room temperature butter. I continued mixing on medium and adding additional powdered sugar and half and half until I reached the consistency that I liked. (I used about 2 - 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and about 3 Tbsps of half and half.) I also added about 3 pinches of Kosher salt  - but again, this can be left out of the recipe or just added to your desired taste.

I also drizzled a little caramel sauce on top. If you would like a little bit of additional salt flavor and a crunch - they would probably be great with a little bit of crumbled pretzel added on top as well!

The cute cupcake liners were a gift I received, purchase from Sur La Table.

Delicious from every angle!

Enjoy! :)

Holiday baking and candy-making

I hope you had a break from your usual routine and had a chance to enjoy the Holidays. I had a chance to take a little time off to spend with family. I was also busy making cakes and candies though for all these family visits too! There is no way I can show up empty-handed or I could be in danger. :-P I had to take a day off of work to ensure I had time to get candy made for some Christmas gifts.

A family tradition each year are Ohio State Buckeye Candies...the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter. Here is a quick picture after dipping them and then another after I started to cover up the hole left by the toothpick.

Another candy I like to make and gift each year is Peppermint Bark! A quick and easy recipe and it is always a big hit. I found the recipe in a Martha Stewart book. The recipe is still available on her website here.

I also make puppy chow each year - I think that is MY favorite. Another favorite is a simple snack - peanut butter crackers - but then dipped in white chocolate, yum!

Here is a mix of all the candies together.

This year, at the request of my niece, cake pops were added to the mix. I used a spice cake with cream cheese icing.

I love the holidays and all the baking that comes with it, but now I need to get back on the treadmill to burn some of the calories from all the puppy chow I've eaten. :)

Happy Baking!

KitchenAid at Last!

There is something about having your Birthday so close to Christmas. That "something" usually means a combination gift! One gift that counts for both your Birthday and Christmas - and typically you feel like you are missing out on something awesome. Whether you think you are missing out on another gift or a party it feels like everyone else that doesn't have a Birthday in December is getting something extra.

I would be lying if I said I had never felt this way before. I am excited to let you know that THIS year the combo-gift is welcomed. :) To tell you how much this is appreciated I have to back up just a little bit...

Last weekend I was in the kitchen getting ready to make some cake pops...I was mixing my cake batter with my hand mixer when smoke started coming out of it! The hand mixer literally burnt up from use. It isn't that I was attached to that mixer, it had served me well. I also didn't want to spend money on a new mixer. (Just a reminder, we aren't too far away from Christmas and like everyone else I have a list of people to buy things for - or bake things for. :))

I was dreading a month of heavy baking without a mixer and started to panic. This is the month where family and friends are all waiting for me to produce tasty candies and Christmas goodies. It was going to be a loooong month. Fortunately for me, and my tasty treat recipients, the NEXT day I was given an early combo Birthday/Christmas gift - a KITCHENAID MIXER!!! Talk about perfect timing!!! Here is a stock photo of the beautiful KitchenAid Architect 6qt. mixer.

Here is another picture of the mixer on my counter, its new home, and next to my other favorite appliance - my Blendtec blender. Think of the mixing power I have now!

Here is the first picture of the mixer in action... <3

So, now that my mixing worries are over and it looks like I will be able to handle even MORE baking this Holiday season...it is time to get started! Here are a few pictures of the first items that started out with a mix in the Kitchenaid.

Cake Pops!!!

Cupcakes!!!

I hope you are enjoying the Holidays!!!

Holiday Cake Pops

The "holiday season" is upon us! I love this time of year!! When I was growing up my Mom always had me in the kitchen with her while she was baking or making candy. You can make candy any time of year but there are special treats saved for the holidays that everyone looks forward to. This year cake pops are added to the mix. :)

I was completely clueless before I tried my first batch that there was such a huge cake pop community that always traces back to the Queen of Cake Pops, Bakerella. I've only created a few batches of cake pops but I definitely know why they are so addicting now. They are delicious and such a treat but completely satisfying with just a few bites.

Even though my cake pops don't even come close to Bakerella's creations and there are no cute characters represented (yet), I think my cake pops are pretty cute and I know they taste awesome! My most recent batches were for a friend wanting to send some goodies home for the Thanksgiving holiday. I used chocolate cake with a homemade chocolate buttercream icing then dipped each one in peanut butter flavored candy melts. I then sprinkled each one with some fall colored, leaf-shaped sprinkles to make them a bit festive.

I need to give a shout out to Wilton for their Chocolate Pro Electric Melting Pot. I recently ordered this from Amazon and it was so easy to use and improved the entire process.

I also did another batch of winter-themed cake pops. I was asked to use a Coconut Cake recipe similar to one my friend's Mom would use to make homemade cakes. I thought they were delicious! I made the white cake mix as directed and then used the sour cream, sugar and coconut mixture to bind all the ingredients. I dipped each cake pop into the blue candy melts and then sprinkled each cake pop with some sanding sugar and toasted coconut.

Here are the cake pops wrapped and ready for shipping!

I hope you are enjoying your holiday baking and candy making as well! :)

Food Allergies and Cupcakes - (Recipe - SunButter Buttercream)

Peanut allergies are one of the most common causes of severe allergy attacks. I recently made some chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter buttercream icing. Unfortunately, there are some people who can't eat these due to the peanut butter in the icing. I was asked to try and make the same cupcakes but using a creamy sunbutter spread.

I used a similar recipe to the peanut butter buttercream but made a few minor adjustments. I think the icing turned out pretty tasty but I will have to let you know what they think tomorrow!

SunButter Buttercream:

1 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup Creamy SunButter

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 pinch of kosher salt

1 Tbsp whipping cream or until you reach the desired consistency

1 tsp molasses

I had the butter out until it reached room temperature. I added the other ingredients and mixed until well blended. It still has a pretty nice fluffy texture compared to the peanut butter. If you think it is still too thick to pipe the icing add a little bit more of the whipping cream until you get a consistency that is easier to work with. It was enough icing for 12-14 standard-sized cupcakes.

Now all you need is a glass of milk to drink with it! :)

A Very Lemon Birthday

I have a friend who really enjoys lemon. I never thought I liked lemon but I do love these cupcakes! A lemon cake, lemon curd filling and a lemon cream cheese icing. Sound like too much lemon? It is just enough!!!

I used the extra lemon curd to add a little bit of color to the top as well. :)

 

Lemon Curd Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens:

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel

6 tablespoons lemon juice

6 tablespoons water

6 beaten egg yolks

1/2 cup butter or margarine, cut up

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan stir together sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon peel, lemon juice, and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.

2. Stir half of the lemon mixture into the egg yolks. Return egg mixture to the saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Add butter pieces, stirring until melted. Cover surface of the curd with plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour or for up to 48 hours. Store covered in refrigerator up to 1 week or transfer to a freezer container and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in refrigerator before serving. Makes 2 cups (sixteen 2-tablespoon servings).

Harry Potter Birthday

A little girl was turning two on Halloween and was dressing up as Harry Potter! I love Harry Potter so I was excited to make these cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese icing with fondant toppers. Yummm! I had a Hogwarts scarf, Harry Potter represented, Platform 9 3/4, a broom and snitch, Hedwig and a Slytherin Snake for the different designs.

The owl, Hedwig, was one of my favorites!