Eggnog+Brandy+Frosting=Merry Christmas!

December 24, 2010 at 12:55 PM | Posted in crunkcakes, cupcakes | 3 Comments

I don’t have much time b/c Hubsy is standing next to me tapping his feet but just in case you haven’t figured out what to bring to Christmas dinner, I thought I’d share what I made for our family. I’m the dessert girl in our family. Always have been always will be. It’s my mission and I accepted. And when it came time to bake some sugar-licious for the fam, I decided that this year we’re all gonna get crunked!

I want to wish my readers a VERY merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Be safe. Eat too much. But don’t drink your eggnog and drive… unless it comes in cupcake form.

xo


Holiday Nog Crunkcakes
Recipe adapted from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski

Makes 18 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

For vanilla 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
1 cup milk (I used half-and-half instead)

For Eggnog Buttercream
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 lb (~4 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup brandy eggnog* (I used Christian Brothers holiday nog)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch ground cinnamon
cinnamon sticks, cut in 1″ pieces, for garnish

* I prefer brandy but you could also use bourbon, whiskey or rum eggnog too. If you want to make this a virgin buttercream then you can substitute with regular non-alcoholic eggnog. But why? lol

INSTRUCTIONS

To make cupcakes—
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare 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 egg and egg white, 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.

Fill cupcake liners 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 before frosting.

To make Eggnog Buttercream—
In a stand mixer, fitted with a flat beater, cream shortening and butter.

Gradually add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, at low speed, beating to combine. If you want to increase speed, be careful of powdered sugar explosions! How do I know this? Let’s just say I’m not sure if all 1lb of sugar got in the mixing bowl or my floor, counter, hair, shirt, face…

Slowly add eggnog until buttercream. If you wanna taste test a little eggnog while you’re at it, ya know, for quality control, that’s acceptable too. Add vanilla extract and stir to combine.

Add nutmeg and cinnamon and mix until light and fluffy. Using a Wilton 1M (or your favorite star tip) frost cupcakes. Sprinkle with some cinnamon (or nutmeg) and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He really enjoyed the eggnog flavor but said next time I need to add more nutmeg. He’s a nutmeg freak!

Wifey rating: A+
I don’t usually like eggnog but I could eat this eggnog buttercream by the truckload! It was SO good. I’m not a nutmeg lover like my husband so I thought the amount of nutmeg was just right. I might add more cinnamon next time though.

Other rating: A+
Everyone was a fan. Even the ones that said they don’t like to drink eggnog. I think my FIL said it best. “This cupcake is over the top delicious!” haha

Cupcake bites make great gifts on a budget.

December 16, 2010 at 9:04 PM | Posted in cupcakes | 24 Comments

My husband, bless his heart, isn’t the greatest at planning ahead when it comes to gifts.

So was I surprised when he asked me Wednesday night at 10pm if I could “whip up some cupcakes for his coworkers’ Xmas gifts”? Nope. Not even when he said… “Oh and can I get them by Friday morning?” followed by an air kiss good night in my general direction before he went to bed. But I’m kinda use to it. It happens every year.

While he drifted off to sleep my mind was racing with ideas. I only had about 24 hours to come up with a yummy gift. Finally before I drifted off to sleep I decided to make cupcake bites since they were such a hit at my in-laws’ anniversary party *AND* I still had some leftover cake left in the freezer. Don’t you love freezing cake?

Happy Holidays to all my little cupcake freaks.


Christmas Cupcake Bites
Recipe adapted from Bakerella

Makes about 50 (I used 1/2 cake and got 48)

INGREDIENTS
1 box cake mix (baked and cooled as directed on box for 9×13 cake)*
1-16oz can cream cheese frosting (I used about 3/4 can instead)
1 package Wilton chocolate candy melts (for cupcake bottom)**
1 package Wilton peppermint candy melts (for cupcake top)
Peanut butter cup candy mold

* If you don’t need the whole cake, do what I did. Just quarter the 9×13 cake, wrap quarters in plastic wrap and freeze. Just remember to adjust the amount of frosting accordingly. Bakerella says each quarter makes 12 bites but I must make them smaller than she does b/c I get about 24 bites per quarter. Go figure! *shrugs*

** If you don’t have chocolate candy melts, I’ve had good success with substituting milk chocolate chips. The only warning is that they tend to melt faster in a warm hand than the candy melt which can make the “dipping” part harder.

INSTRUCTIONS

Crumble the baked and cooled cake into a large bowl and add cream cheese frosting.

Form the cake mixture into 1″ diameter balls. Or if you are OCD like me, weigh each cupcake ball at about 0.5oz. Chill in the freezer until firm while you prepare the chocolate candy coating for the cupcake bottom.

This is my hand. This is my hand after rolling 48 cupcake balls. Do not be alarmed. This is normal.

I know that Bakerella likes to use a squeeze bottle but I prefer using a piping tip and microwave. I fill the piping bag about 1/2 way, don’t seal so that warm air can escape and nothing explodes and melt in 20 sec intervals until chocolate candy melts… uh… melt. (Does that sound redundant? Sorry I was too lazy to pull up my thesaurus.) Snip a small hole at the bottom of the piping bag with scissors and fill the peanut butter candy mold about 1/2 way.

Grab your cupcake balls out of the freezer and slowly push them into the chocolate candy melt so that the chocolate goes up the sides of the mold. This may take some trial-and-error to get it right but be patient and you’ll get it after a few practice runs. Trust me. It’s worth it.

Chill the peanut butter molds in the refrigerator for a few minutes so that the chocolate can harden. To remove them from the mold gently squeeze the bottom of the mold until each cupcake bite pops out.

In a separate bowl, melt your 2nd candy melt in the microwave on 20 sec intervals. I used peppermint vanilla candy melts b/c peppermint IS Christmas to me. Doncha think? But you can use whatever color or flavor you’d like. It’s all good.

Slowly dip your cupcake bite into the peppermint candy melt to the edge of the chocolate candy melt. Swirl it around a few times so that the top 1/2 is evenly covered. If your candy melt gets kinda thick pop it back into the microwave for 10secs. Keep on dippin’! (Great. I have that song “When I Dip You Dip We Dip” stuck in my head!) Now the fun part. Adding the sprinkles! I found these adorable candy cane and holly sprinkles by Wilton at Michaels. The candy melt hardens fast so I added the sprinkles after I dipped each cupcake bite. If you wait to add sprinkles at the end, the sprinkles won’t stay attached very well.

Now what’s a gift without packaging right? I’m a sucker for packaging. It borders on hoarding. Every box or bag I get as a gift I save. You never know when you’ll need a gift bag! I think I have a problem. These 4x3x3″ peek-a-boo boxes are from the Container Store and are way too adorable for words. It even has a handle. Add some ribbon and a decorative tag. Cuteness overload.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+ (for taste)/A++ (for packaging)
He’s such a teacher. HA HA

Wifey rating: A+
I love these cupcake bites. A little tedious but well worth the effort. Just a little bite to wet your whistle and under 100 calories! (Don’t quote me though. That’s just what I tell myself.)

Happy 3 year Blogiversary to meeeeee!

December 16, 2010 at 11:29 AM | Posted in cupcakes | 2 Comments

Thank you to EVERYONE that left me a comment on my giveaway post. Comments make me happy. See? It’s that easy.

Without further ado. (Am I the only one that laughs at the word “ado”?)

#105 Amy, I bet that pumpkin pie and banana pudding were yummy! (CB’s favorite cupcake book trio)

#114 Amanda, I’m gonna need that recipe for spiced chai whipped cream. Please and thanks. (Cupcake decorating tip set)

#56 Hamann, Love me some caramel apple anything dessert! (“Cupcake+Multivitamin=Super Breakfast” tshirt size M)

#79 Gayle, I love desserts in bites! (Cupcake iPhone case)

#23 The Mess Pot, I never need a reason to eat cheesecake! (Cupcake earrings)

CONGRATULATIONS! to all winners.

Please email me with your shipping address within 48 hours or I will keep your prize for myself draw another winner.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and an even more merry Christmas!

But wait! The fun’s not over yet folks.

Come back later today and I’ll show you a cupcake gift idea that I’m doing for some friends and family that will be sure to make them lick their lips!

Ciao cupcake.

Ho Ho Oh No! I’m meltingggg…

December 5, 2010 at 6:37 PM | Posted in cupcakes, Mystery Cupcake Challenge | 13 Comments

I miss my little brother.

So I made these cupcakes for him.

I remember when we were little, both our parents worked so we stayed in daycare 5 days a week. I don’t remember much except 2 things. We watched The Wizard of Oz every day (I have no idea why?) during nap time and he won’t admit it but he was afraid of the flying monkeys.

Currently my brother is 3000 miles away in New York doing his radiology fellowship. As you can see, he’s the smart one in the family. And I am so proud of him. He’s my retirement plan. Oh I’m just kidding. Ok maybe I’m a little serious. haha. Unfortunately he won’t be home for Christmas this year. *sad face* So I made him cupcakes with a little homage to The Wizard of Oz: “I’m meltinggggg….” ala Wicked Witch of the West and plan to send him the picture along with his Christmas gift. I can’t wait to see him again this May when he gets married. *sniff* They grow up so fast.

But don’t worry. The actual cupcakes won’t go to waste. My other little brother will eat them. B/c brothers have each others’ back like that, yo.


Frosty is Melting Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

12 cupcakes, cooled to room temperature and frosted
white fondant
black fondant
red fondant
chocolate covered sunflower seeds, orange
petal cookie cutter
clear vanilla extract*

*You can use water if you don’t have clear vanilla extract but I like using vanilla extract b/c the alcohol content will evaporate as it dries instead of getting absorbed into the fondant and helps make the fondant less mushy IMO.

INSTRUCTIONS
Roll out white fondant to about 1/8″ thick and cut out base of snowman with a 2-1/2″ petal cookie cutter. Set aside.

(HINT: I usually cover my work-in-progress fondant project with saran wrap so that no stray water/moisture gets on it while I work on other parts.)

To make the snowman head:
Pinch off some white fondant weigh each piece at about 0.2oz. Roll into a ball between your palms. That is approximately about 1/2″ diameter. Insert the sunflower seed into the head. (You can use a little frosting if you want but I didn’t and it stayed fine.) Adhere the snowman head to the snowman base with some vanilla extract.

To make the snowman’s top hat:
Roll out black fondant to about 1/8″ thick and use the wide end of a Wilton 1M piping tip to make the circular base of the hat. Pinch off some black fondant and weigh each ball at about 0.1oz. That is approximately about 1/4″ diameter. Gradually shape into cylinder with your fingers and adhere to hat base with some vanilla extract. Set aside.

To make the snowman’s buttons:
Roll out black fondant to about 1/8″ thick and pinch off itty bitty (Yes, that’s the technical term) pieces for buttons. Cut out 3 buttons per snowman. Shape into flat circles. Adhere them to the snowman’s base with vanilla extract. (Alternative: You can draw on the buttons with black food safe marker.)

To make the snowman’s scarf:
Roll out some red fondant to about 1/8″ thick. Use a straight edge and pizza cutter (or knife) to make a strip about 2-1/2″ to 3″ long. Create the frayed ends of the scarf by cutting strips with your pizza cutter (or knife). Drape the scarf around the snowman’s head. Adhere with vanilla extract.

Let snowman dry overnight at room temperature.

Add your snowman topper to cupcake. And eat!

ENJOY!

***********************************************


I’m submitting this to Mystery Cupcake Challenge: For Someone Special.

The winner of December’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:

Thank you to all our prize sponsors!

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad (in law).

December 2, 2010 at 1:18 PM | Posted in cupcakes | 6 Comments

I’m a visual person.

I like pictures.

Pictures are a must have in many of my cookbooks. They inspire me to bake.

Just thought I’d share a few pictures from Hubsy’s parents’ 40th Wedding Anniversary Party last weekend hosted by yours truly. Since 40th anniversary gemstone is ruby according to (this) website, our theme was red and white. You can imagine Hubsy’s excitement over red velvet desserts. He totally squealed. <– Oops I wasn't suppose to post that part.


See anything I should write a post about? Maybe the pound (cup)cake trifles, fondant mini roses or red velvet cupcake bites?

Hopefully my pictures inspire you to bake too.

Happy Thursday readers. It’s almost Friday!

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