Vote IHC for The Next Iron Cupcake Star! +GIVEAWAY?

April 28, 2009 at 6:37 PM | Posted in cupcakes, giveaway, Iron Cupcake | 62 Comments

Remember these cupcakes? (Actually if you ate 1 or 2 or a few you might not remember, eh Scott!? lol)

So… um… yeah. I’d really appreciate your vote. Please? I’ll be your best friend. Don’t make me beg. Because I will.

*getting down on knees intertwining fingers with the pouty-est puppy dog face I can muster*

Hey! Where you going?

Ok hear me out. I’ve got a crazy idea! What if I… Share the wealth!

Here’s what I am gonna do.

Leave me a comment on this post that you voted for my RUM AND COKE CUPCAKES and I’ll enter you into a giveaway to choose any 1 of the prizes I receive *IF* I win. How’s that for a bribe incentive?

Think about it? It’s win win! I get Iron Cupcake fame+admiration and you get [insert awesome prize here]. You know you’ve been drooling over Cakespy art. FYI it really is as adorable as you think.

What you waiting for? You got some votin’ to do… git!

Fine print: There is no giveaway unless I win Iron Cupcake: Soda Pop. (Hopefully this makes sense?) Since I am going on the honor system, don’t be a liar-liar-pants-on-fire! Giveaway only available to US and Canada residents. Please one comment per person. Thanks for your vote!

Would you like some cupcake with your cupcake?

April 26, 2009 at 5:46 PM | Posted in cupcakes | 33 Comments
Tags: ,

Yesterday I spent most of my afternoon baking, dipping and melting chocolate. I remember getting out all the ingredients and materials for my cupcake pop order – 40 Hello Kitty and 40 cupcake pops – and immediately started second guessing myself.

At $1 a pop (no pun intended), I realized at that moment, I did not charge enough. To be honest they take time, effort, steady hands and dipping skills. Some of which do not come naturally for me. But after my initial grumbling about a 4 year old little girl that swindled me with her cute pigtails and “Pwetty pwease Miss Cwara”, I knew I couldn’t back out for fear of said birthday girl’s wrath. Have you ever been the subject of a little girl’s wrath? Trust me. You don’t wanna be. *shudder*

Thankfully after the first few pops, it became almost second nature (although not quite as perfect as Bakerella) and my mind started to wander. I get ideas. Sometimes they are illegal ideas like: I wonder if pot cupcakes would be just as potent as pot brownies? Sometimes they are evil scientist genius ideas like: What if I garnish a cupcake with another cupcake?

Whoa.

That’s worth repeating.

Garnish a cupcake with ANOTHER cupcake?

I think I just opened some delicious time portal.

There’s no such thing as too much of a good thing when it comes to cupcakes.

Agreed?

Happy 4th Birthday Alyssa!

Enjoy it while you can b/c before you know it you’re 20-something going on 30-something and contemplating the importance of having the number of candles on the cake that reflect your actual age. <— The following statement is not based on real events. Any similarities to a certain blogger are purely coincidental.

Iron Cupcake #3: [Soda Pop]

April 19, 2009 at 5:50 PM | Posted in crunkcakes, Iron Cupcake | 66 Comments

Can I tell you something? Just between you and me…

I am kinda fussy about blog events. It’s a love-hate relationship thing. I love participating but I hate having deadlines. I always seem to just make it or just miss it. Story of my life. Oh…? and I rarely participate in blog events that don’t inspire me. What’s the point of participating if you aren’t inspired right? Uninspired work is never your best work.

So I am glad I was immediately inspired by this month’s Iron Cupcake ingredient challenge. I think I started brainstorming the minute I got the email. (Isn’t that right, twitter followers? *wink*) I knew right away I’d be doing a crunkcake. If you didn’t know it already. It’s kind of my thing. Baking with alcohol is always fun and there are so many yummy alcoholic drinks with soda. Am I right? Of course I am.

Since rum is my hard liquor of choice…

PS. While googling for Coke cake recipe I found this fun Coca-Cola© factoid website. Guaranteed hours of “Seriously?” <— At least that’s what I said more than a few times outloud. LOL

Thanks to IC’s sponsors this month—
* A creation by FRUITFLYPIE, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=16748
* cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281
*Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
* CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382
* HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com
* HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com
* JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com
* TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com
* A tshirt from http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/
* 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com


Just ignore the empty glass of rum and coke, k?
Rum and Coke Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from The Coca-Cola Company & Take The Cannoli

Print this recipe

Makes about 30 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For cola cupcakes
2 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) margarine (I used unsalted butter instead)
1 cup Coca-Cola©
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cup mini marshmallows (I used about 15 jumbo marshmallows)

For brown sugar rum IMBC
1-1/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup water
5 eggs whites
1 lb (4 sticks) butter, unsalted and softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp dark rum* (I used 3 tbsp of Myer’s Original Dark for a little extra kick)

IMBC = italian meringue buttercream
* You could substitute with 4 tbsp rum extract too

INSTRUCTIONS

To make cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line pan with cupcake liners.

In stand mixer fitted with a flat beater, combine flour and sugar; set aside. In saucepan, combine margarine, cola and cocoa and bring to a boil.


[NOTES: I decided it would be fun to melt the marshmallows with the cola mixture instead.]

Remove pan from heat and pour over flour and sugar. Mix thoroughly to combine. Add buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, vanilla and miniature marshmallows. Mix well.

Fill cupcake liners about 1/2-2/3 full and bake for about 17-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool before frost.

[NOTES: Don't worry if batter seems a little thin. It will bake up fine.]

To make IMBC—
In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar and water and bring to a boil. Boil until sugar has reached soft-ball stage (235º-240ºF).

While sugar boiling, place egg whites into a clean, stainless-steel mixer bowl. Using the whip attachment, beat on low speed until foamy. Raise the speed to medium high and whip until stiff.

With the mixer running, add your brown sugar syrup slowly into the beaten egg whites in a steady stream. Continue beating on high speed until the mixture has cooled down, about 3 minutes.


Keep the mixer running and add butter 1 tbsp at a time. Add vanilla and rum. (Don’t worry if buttercream starts to look curdled. Just keep beating until buttercream is smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.)

ENJOY!

Husband rating: N/A
He’s not a big alcohol in desserts person so he opted out.

Wifey rating: A/A-
I love the brown sugar rum buttercream. So smooth, silky, caramel delicious and rum-tastic! The coca cola cake is an interesting flavor. It’s not my favorite “cake” recipe but it went really well with the rum buttercream b/c you could taste the hint of coke in the cake.

Other rating: A
I made these cupcakes for my BIL’s birthday. He’s more of a wine lover (he prefers red over white) than hard liquor but when he does drink, it’s a good ol fashion rum and coke so he thought the cupcakes were awesome. Many of our friends commented that it totally reminded them of a rum and coke. I got many compliments especially on the buttercream.

Taste the rainbow…

April 12, 2009 at 2:53 PM | Posted in cupcakes | 93 Comments
Tags: , ,

Sometimes I struggle with what I want to bake and bring to parties.

There are so many things that factor into my decision: portability, travel-bility, allergies, in/formality of event, age group of dessert eaters etc etc. But this time I knew exactly what I wanted to make. So I threw caution to the wind. I didn’t even think twice about it.

Maybe it’s me but rainbows and Easter just seem to go together. Dontcha think?

Hoppy Easter readers.

Hope the Easter bunny brought you all the peeps and cadbury creme eggs you can eat! (I know I am gonna regret all the ones I’ve already eaten later BUT it was SO worth it! *licking chocolate off fingers*


Taste The Rainbow Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski

Print this recipe

Makes about 18 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For cupcakes
2-1/2 cups AP flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cup sugar
12 tbsp (1-1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 large egg + 2 egg white, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used Lorann butter-vanilla emulsion instead)
1 cup milk (I used half-and-half instead)
food coloring: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple (I used Ateco coloring gel)
garnish (skittles, peeps, sprinkles)

cream cheese frosting (favorite recipe or canned)

[NOTES: You could substitute a white cake mix for the cupcake recipe too but the quantity and consistency of the cupcakes will be slightly different.]

INSTRUCTIONS

To make cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, fitted with flat beater, beat the sugar and butter until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and egg whites, one at a time, beating on low.


Then add vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, ending with the flour mixture.

Divide the batter into 6 different bowls. Add food coloring per bowl and mix to combine until you get the vibrant color you want. Add batter color by color, about 1 tbsp of each color until all the colors fill the cupcake liner about 1/2-2/3 full.

Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

Pipe cream cheese frosting on cupcake with Wilton 1M star tip and garnish with rainbow sprinkles, peeps or skittles! (Or all 3 like me. I’m such a party animal! LOL)

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He will pretty much give a high rating for any cupcake that has cream cheese frosting. He’s an easy critic. HAHA

Wifey rating: A
I absolutely LOVE how colorful these cupcakes are. This vanilla cupcake batter is thick so the colors don’t mix together easily and kept their great layers. Surprisingly the skittles were such a yummy flavor addition to the cupcakes too. It probably helps that skittles are one of my favorite candies. The chocolate mousse flavored peep bunny wasn’t bad either. *wink*

Other rating: A+
Nothing but ooohs and aahhhhs for all the pretty colors. More than one person asked me for the recipe. Just something about rainbows… it’s hypnotic.

Ask IHC

April 7, 2009 at 7:56 AM | Posted in Ask IHC | 3 Comments

Hi CB!

I love your blog! Your giveaways are always so awesome! I want to start doing some giveaways on my blog too.

Why do you do giveaways?
How often do you do giveaways?
Can you give me some tips on how to get sponsors?
Do you use your own money? Where do you get the money?
How do you set up your giveaways?

You don’t have to answer if these questions are too personal.

Thx, Anna

Hi Anna,

Whoa. Slow down with the questions. I’m getting whiplash! LOL

I am pretty much an open book (just don’t ask me my age and weight) so I’ve answered these questions a few times for other readers.

Why do you do giveaways?
- Honest truth? I am a comment whore (CW). There I said it. Simple as that.

How often do you do giveaways?
- I really don’t have a schedule. Just whenever I feel like it. I try to space them out though. Don’t want my readers to get giveaway overload.

Can you give me some tips on how to get sponsors?
- When I started my blog I wasn’t in it to get sponsors. I think you should take time to focus on your blog and the sponsors will come. You have to be dedicated though. I try to blog 2-3-4x a week. Sometimes it’s less but that’s my weekly goal. On the other hand, sometimes I’ll find a product that I love and want to share with my readers so instead of waiting for them to approach me, I am proactive and email them. I just briefly tell them about my giveaway idea and my blog. You can’t be afraid of rejection though. But the worst they can say is “no” right?

Do you use your own money? Where do you get the money?
- I’d say that more than 1/2 of my giveaways are funded by me. Also don’t forget that shipping costs add up too. All of the money that I make from my blog goes into my blog budget and that’s the money I use to sponsor my own giveaways. I like the idea of giving back to my readers. (I tried to convince husband that I should be able to use the money in our house savings too but for some reason he said no. Go figure?)

How do you set up your giveaways?
- I assume by “set up” you mean how I figure out who wins? I structure my giveaways pretty similar for each one. I’ve found I get the most entries by making it easy. I know that *I* rarely (if ever) enter giveaways that require me to re-post on my blog. Too much work IMO. Sometimes I’ll give extra entries to do other things but the main way to enter is to simply leave a comment and answer a question. Winner picked by random number generator. Easy peasy.

This is what works for me. I am always changing and modifying but for the most part I stick to this formula. It may not work for you and it’s all good. We all find our own way.

Hope that helps!

CB

PS. What’s your blog?

Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.

April 4, 2009 at 11:12 PM | Posted in cupcakes | 49 Comments
Tags:

Ugh I am stressed out! Kill me now.

When I am stressed out. I bake. But I don’t bake just anything.

I tend to choose projects that take more than average creative energy and many steps. Why? You ask. I think it’s because the more brain cells that are occupied on my baking project leave less to be occupied with the “thing” that is stressing me out. Make sense? So basically I just admitted that I have limited brain cells. Hmmm… maybe that has something to do with my memory (or lack thereof). LOL

It didn’t take long for me to decide what I wanted to bake up.

Actually it just “popped” into my head.

*readers groan simultaneously*


Cupcake POPS!
Recipe from Bakerella

Makes about 40 cupcake pops

INGREDIENTS
1-13X9 baked cake (I used Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake mix)
1 can cream cheese frosting
1 flower shaped cookie cutter (1.25″ wide X .75″ tall)
1 package chocolate candy melt*
1 package pink candy melts**
lollipop sticks
garnish for cupcake (sprinkles, M&Ms)

*I used Mercken brand
**I used Wilton brand

INSTRUCTIONS

Bake a 9×13 cake from a mix or from scratch and cool completely.

Crumble cake into a fine consistency into a large bowl. To make it easy, you can run it through a food processor. Add a can of cream cheese frosting. Blend thoroughly.


Prepare a wax paper lined baking sheet. Roll cake mixture into 1.25-1.5″ size balls and lay on baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for several hours. (You can also freeze for about 15 minutes if you are short on time.)


Remember when Martha Stewart said on her show it looked like a turd? LOL. Man I love that woman.

[NOTES: I used my digital scale and weighed each cake ball at about 1.0 oz]

Remove cake balls from refrigerator and begin to shape into cupcakes using a small flower-shaped cookie cutter. Take the chilled ball and roll it into a “log” shape and slide bottom into cookie cutter. Push it into cutter halfway. Then push the shaped cupcake carefully out of the cookie cutter from the bottom. Set right side up on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining balls. Cover and return to refrigerator overnight. (You can also freeze for 5-10 minutes.)


I made some cupcake pops and some bites.

Melt brown and pink candy melts per package instructions in large bowls. Remove naked cupcake pops (NCP) from freezer and prepare another wax paper covered cookie sheet. Take the NCP and dip bottoms into the melted chocolate halfway – just to where the “cupcake top” starts. Lift from chocolate and shake so that the excess chocolate drips off. Then lay on the wax paper “cupcake top” side. Insert the lollipop sticks while the chocolate is still wet. Continue with rest of the cupcakes. (Dip end of your lollipop stick in the melted chocolate before inserting into chocolate bottoms.)

Let chocolate set completely, about 15-20 minutes. Once set, dip the tops of the cupcakes in the pink chocolate until the “cupcake top” is completely covered. Rotate and let excess chocolate drip off. Place an M&M on the top and add sprinkles. Let set upright in a styrofoam block.

To complete the presentation, cover the cupcake pops in a little plastic bag and tie with a ribbon.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He was very impressed with how “cute” and tasty they were but requested that red velvet would have been better with cream cheese frosting than the chocolate cake. One track mind.

Wifey rating: A+
These are so fun and whimsical for any occasion and they are pretty darn delicious too! Call me silly but I am also excited to cross “cupcake pops” off my baking bucket list now! w00t!

Other rating: A+
I brought some cupcake pops over to see my godsons. J, age 5, loved them (esp the green M&Ms pops because that’s his favorite color) and E, age 18 months, had more end up on his shirt than in his mouth but he cried when mommy took it away so I think that means he liked it. HAHA

April Fool me once, shame on you.

April 2, 2009 at 6:25 AM | Posted in cupcakes, giveaway | 11 Comments

Seriously people? Don’t you know how an April Fool’s joke works?

You don’t give away the punch line in 5 comments! *Giving Catherine stink-eye* If you figure out the joke, you keep the joke running. You egg ppl on. Come on!! Do I have to do everything? Let’s try to do better next year mkaythx.

I do apologize to all the readers that were upset about my April Fools Joke though. I am sorry you got punked but I have to admit I was a little taken aback with the emails. Some of you were honestly POed at me! I think I even got a death threat? Kidding kidding. But you all are pretty serious about your giveaways for sure. I don’t blame you. I’d stab someone in the eye with a sprinkle to get a free beater blade too.

To make it up to you, have a red velvet cheesecake cupcake on me.

So… we cool again? Am I forgiven?

No forgiveness for you!

Aawww come on… I don’t like when my readers are mad at me. *sniff*

I might have a little evil streak in me at times but I hope that my readers know me well enough that I couldn’t really be THAT mean. I take my giveaways seriously and TRULY appreciate each and every comment. Honest! Girl Scout’s honor. (Hmmm… does that work if you were never a girl scout? LOL)

… and the winner is???

Congratulations #146! Please email me your shipping address and I’ll drop your pink beater blade in the mail as soon as I can find a box to put it in. To all the other commenters, don’t fret. I am bound to have another giveaway soon. Very very soon. Ok maybe not that soon.

Happy Thursday-It’s-Almost-Friday readers!

Giveaway Indian Giver

April 1, 2009 at 7:17 AM | Posted in giveaway | 23 Comments

Thanks to everyone that entered my PINK BEATER BLADE giveaway! Loved reading all your fun dream kitchen color combination comments, your tweets and reading your blogs about all the IHC cupcakes you’ve baked.

(Ok enough sweet talk.)

So um… yeah… I decided to keep the pink beater blade for myself.

But thanks for playing. *SMILE*

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