Baked With Love

I haven't blogged about cupcakes in a long time. That doesn't mean that I have stopped making them. Because if anything, I am making more lately. Ever since I got my new kitchenaid mixer, baking has been a thousand times easier and so I love doing it more. If that's even possible.

A few months ago my grandma asked me to make some cute cupcakes that she could take to a friend who had just adopted a baby girl. So my first thought was pink. After looking through my "bible" (my Martha Stewart cookbook) I decided to make little piggies. Obviously they didn't come out as perfect as Martha makes them, but they still were pretty dang cute! I used mini m&m's for the eyes and bubble tape for the ears. I made a ton extra so I could take them to my sunbeams the next day. I don't think they had anything to do with the lesson. But of course that particular Sunday the other teacher decided not to show up so I had double the number of kids and didn't have enough cupcakes. So I had to wait until after church and deliver them instead.

The last week I was in Provo I decided to make the s'mores cupcakes from the cookbook. I searched all over for graham flour the whole summer and finally found some at my favorite place in Provo, Sunflower Market! So all semester I planned to make these cupcakes. But I never had a special occasion for them. Since the marshmallow cream is torched, they had to be eaten right away to be able to fully enjoy them. Well I tried making them in December and failed miserably. Miserably. But once again, this kitchenaid has saved my life. I could not live without it. I tried them again to make them for my grandma's send out cards party. They tunred out a thousand times better. They are so fun to torch too!

Bill and Heidi came to town last month and we celebrated Jenna's birthday while she was here. She loves strawberrys so I decided to try out the strawberry cupcakes with strawberry butercream frosting.

It all started with some fresh strawberries.

Then we put them in the yummy batter.

This is the finished product.

Rebekah helped me frost some of them.

Jenna loved them. It was also Valentine's day weekend, so I took them to my sunbeams at church. When Spencer's brother picked him up after class he exclaimed, "You got cupcakes again!?!?!" It made me laugh.

Because it was Valentine's Day weekend, and Adrianne came out for the weekend, I wanted to send some cupcakes back to Provo for some of my friends. Once again, this batch was a rebake. My very first cupcakes that I made with the Martha Stewart book were the Chocolate Marshmallow cupcakes. The book says to mkae them jumbo, but they didn't turn out very well. Plus the marshmallow cream for the filling was gross. So I decided to give them a try again. This time I made them regular sized. They turned out great! And then I covered them with a chocolate ganache and my mom (who has better writing with frosting skills than me) wrote Valentine and I love you on all of them. It took me hours that night to get them secured perfectly for travel the next morning. But it was so worth it. I am glad I could send a special treat to some people in Provo.

A favorite cupcake in our house is the flourless cupcakes. They bake like normal cupcakes but when they cool down they fall into the liner. And then you put a scoop of Tillamook Vanilla Bean ice cream. It's a delicious combination. I got these huge cupcake liners in my stocking this Christmas, and they are perfect for this recipe.

mmm. chocolate and butter.

turns into this.

and then poured into the egg mixture.

to make these yummy and easy treats.

Two weeks ago the sunbeam lesson was on flowers and trees, so I wanted to make some cute flower cupcakes. I decided this a little too late on a Saturday night, so I raced around town before the stores started closing to find the supplies I needed. I didn't find exactly what I wanted, but they still turned out pretty cute.

On Monday it was Howard's birthday and we had a bunch of people over for dinner. I was in charge of the cupcakes. Of course. He loves cherries and chocolate. So I made the black forest cupcakes sans the alcohol. These are very chocolately cupcakes that are then cut in half after baking. They are brushed with marishino cherry juice on each side. Then a handful of cherries are put on top on the both half. Followed by some pastry cream (think cream-filled donuts) Then I put the top back on and cover it with a layer of chocolate ganache. They were a hit. I don't really care for canned cherries, so I didn't actually have one.

There's still more yummy recipes to try. I picked up a few cupcake books from the library, so I keep adding to the list of recipes I need to try.