Lemon Chiffon Cupcakes with Assorted Toppings

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baking tips, buttercream, cake flour, chocolate, cupcakes, food, foodies, frosting, lemon, recipe

My student teacher’s last day is tomorrow! At my school, the cooperating teacher usually brings a cake in to celebrate this occasion. However, each of my classes want to have a goodbye, congrats & good luck party… so the last day, Miss N will be over sugared. I decided that during the grade-level meeting yesterday, I’d surprise her with some yummy cupcakes.

I wasn’t sure what flavor cake she would like, so I decided to make lemon chiffon cake with two different frostings; an almond buttercream and a whipped chocolate frosting. I piped on a thick layer of frosting and garnished them with lemon zest.

Lemon Chiffon Cupcakes with Assorted Toppings

Almond Buttercream Frosting Ingredients:
1 c. unsalted butter (softened), 2 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream, 1 Tbsp. almond extract, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar (10X)

Almond Buttercream Frosting Directions:
Sift sugar before measuring. At a low-speed blend extracts and butter. Add heavy cream. Slowly add sugar, 1/2 c. at a time.

Achieving the perfect buttercream is different depending on the outcome you desire. Adding more or less sugar will not only affect its sweetness, but also the stiffness of the frosting. I like to pipe frosting on cupcakes and spread it on cakes.

Whipped Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:
2 c. heavy cream, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/4 c. sugar, 1/4 c. cocoa powder

Whipped Chocolate Frosting Directions:
Chill metal bowl and beaters in freezer for about an hour. Whip all heavy cream on low-speed, add in vanilla, sugar and cocoa. Turn mixer to medium speed and whip cream until desired texture is achieved. Add more sugar and cocoa to taste.

Other toppings I like for lemon chiffon cupcakes: lemon curd, whipped raspberry topping, or blackberry whipped topping. Garnish with lemon zest, raspberries, blackberries or chocolate curls.

The cupcakes were a big hit and Miss N had one of each.

What has sweetened your life recently?

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Boston Cream Cupcakes

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Boston Cream, chocolate ganache, cupcakes, dessert, dessert table, ganache, recipe, sweets, vanilla pudding, yellow cake, yellow cupcakes

Hubster started his fall semester, which includes a 180 hour internship for one class and a 1, 185 page book for another class. In addition to juggling full-time grad school, he also still has his full time teaching job and coaching responsibilities. On top of that our school is being renovated and his gym is where they’re storing the equipment! Needless to say, my Hubster is stressed!!!

The best way to help beat stress is to be surrounded by the things you love… right?? Okay, so Pumpkin and I don’t exactly help de-stress him. But Hubster does love Boston cream donuts (and chocolate eclairs)… so why not surround him with them?.. sort of...

I didn’t want to give him lot’s of fried donuts, so I varied from the original idea and made Boston Cream Cupcakes. I didn’t make the cake base completely from scratch, but if I use cake mix, I always “doctor” it up a bit.

Boston Cream Cupcake

Yellow Cupcake Ingredients:
1 pkg. yellow cake mix, 1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding, 1 c. water, 1/3 c. vegetable oil, 3 eggs, 2 Tbs. butter flavoring, 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. ground cardamom

Yellow Cupcake Direction:
Preheat oven 350°F. Mix all ingredients together with a mixer a medium speed, about 2 minutes or until well mixed. Fill 20 lined muffin cups, fill a little more than 2/3 full. Bake about 20 minutes (until an inserted toothpick comes out clean). Allow cupcakes to cool completely before assembling.

Boston Cream Cupcake Ingredients:
Yellow cupcakes, french vanilla pudding, chocolate ganache

Boston Cream Cupcake Directions:
Using an icing press or pastry bag with a long tube tip, squirt vanilla pudding into center of cupcake. Pour ganache over cupcakes while still warm. Place cupcakes in refrigerator for 30 minutes to help set them. Serve with a tall cold glass of milk.

Yes, I use food to make my Hubster feel better… don’t judge me, it worked (until the next homework assignment).

What type of food is your spouse’s/partner’s comfort food?

My BFF’s Baby Shower

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appetizers on a stick, Baby, baby books, baby shower, baby shower theme, brownie bites, caprese kabob, Centerpieces, cupcake tree, cupcakes, hostess, hosting, lollipop bouquet, mini brownies, mini pizza, mini quiche, party appetizer, party food, shower food, skewer appetizer, strawberry rosebud bouquet, sweet and sour meatballs, teriyaki skewers

Don’t get confused, yes, I used a similar title for a earlier post. Same concept, my other best friend is the lucky mother-to-be this time. As soon as her pregnancy was confirmed, her sister and I began planning her baby shower (being the planners we were). We decided where to have it (church basement) and when (May). We both loved the build-a-library (look here for book suggestions) concept for the shower; every guest brings a baby book and writes a message for the baby inside, in lieu of a shower card. Her sister quickly selected invitations, decorations, plates and cutlery. We talked about the favors and food. We also made a pact not to play the gross poopy diaper game.

The main colors on the invitations were green and purple. Since my BFF is having a boy, I decided to incorporate the purple but play it down using more green and adding blue. I carried this color palette into the desserts and favors.

I thought it would be a good idea to serve tiny food to go along with the baby theme. Fingers food are always easy at showers and parties. I thought that sandwiches wouldn’t keep (if made ahead of time) or travel well. So I asked my BFF’s sister to order the sandwich trays for the shower and get the ice.

Menu

Desserts & Centerpieces
I immediately planned to make white chocolate lollipops in the form of baby carriages and baby bottles for the favors. My BFF is planning an

My BFF has an airplane theme for the nursery (her husband is a pilot) and I wanted to reflect that in the shower somehow. I found cute airplane candy molds and made airplane gummi candy in the shower colors.

I made chocolate topped pretzels (stolen idea from my other BFF’s sister) that continued the colors.

I planned to make chocolate covered strawberry rosebud bouquets for the table centerpieces. Having to travel further, I planned to make the chocolate dipped strawberries before the trip and wait to place them on skewers and arrange them until I got to the church. Then I dropped my vat of chocolate on the floor… I turned out to be plain strawberry rosebud bouquets instead.

Something I wanted to include, but didn’t have time to make was mini eclairs and mini cream puffs. They were store-bought and somehow didn’t disappear like the rest of my food.

Once again I got to pull out my cupcake tree and icing press, to make cupcakes that were just as appeasing to the eyes as they were to the palette.

Cute Cupcakes

I made brownie bites with cream cheese frosting (I believe the desserts are becoming my signature for baby showers).

Food & Snacks
I thought the vegetable tray would be very fun if it was stocked with baby veggies; baby carrots, baby corn, cherry tomatoes, mini cucumbers, baby and mini bell peppers. The veggies were served with my ranch dip which is way better than any store-bought dip and just as easy.

Baby Bell Peppers

The cheese tray included baby swiss, mini pepperoni, small crackers, baby goldfish.

I made grape and cheddar kabobs and served them with a honey lime yogurt dip (and idea stolen from my other BFF).

Caprese Kabobs were an easy was to turn the classic salad into a finger food.

Caprese Kabobs

I made mini Quiche ahead of time, as I could heat them quickly before serving. Some were turkey ham & cheddar, some were plain swiss.

The salmon puffs (one of my favorites) were a big hit and disappeared quickly.

Salmon Puffs

I served hot cocktail weenies in a sweet chilli sauce.

I prepped Teriyaki chicken skewers, marinated for 24 hours ahead of time. I grilled them before hand and heated them quickly before serving.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs were served, with three meatballs skewers on a stick.

I kept the hot food  warm using my buffet warming trays and chaffing dishes.

Tea sandwiches do not travel well, so I asked her sister to order a tray for the shower. I had baby gherkins and baby dill pickles to serve with them.

Beverages
I served lemonade and iced-tea in 3 gallon dispensers. I provided half pint water bottles and mini orange juice containers in an iced galvanized tub.

Several people asked me for my business card, many people asked for recipes and almost everyone complimented me on something they ate. The ultimate compliment I actually heard several times, “This is the nicest shower I’ve ever been to.” I so glad that my Bff’s sister and I were able to give that to the momma-to-be.

I’ll share some photos over the next few days.

Red Velvet Baby Bundt

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bundt, bundt cake, chocolate ganache, cupcakes, dessert, dessert table, ganache, mini bundt, red velvet cake, sweets, sweets table

Hubster is almost done finals (the past two weeks here have been crazy), so I’ve been the stressed one and needed some therapeutic baking. I decided to celebrate my blogiversary and him finishing this semester with a cake. Red Velvet Cake. I have this idea in my head that it is a southern recipe/tradition, but there’s no fact backing it. Maybe it’s due to Steel Magnolias or Jessica Simpson. Anyway red velvet cake can be so delicious.

Usually red velvet cake is layers and uses butter cream frosting or cream cheese frosting, but last night I decided to drizzle it with chocolate ganache. I used my baby bundt pans (so fun!). My recipe isn’t quite yet perfected, but it’s quite tasty. I think two more batches and I’ll have it down. Hint: Use dark baking cocoa…

Red Velvet Cake

Look at that color!

Peanut-butter Frosting

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cake, cupcakes, dessert, dessert recipe, dessert table, frosting, icing, peanut-butter, peanut-butter frosting, peanut-butter icing, sweets table

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I lost my peanut-butter icing recipe. A friend gave me her husband’s recipe, which I though was too sweet. I was able to recreate my frosting recipe last weekend, and had a few requests to share it with you.

Peanut-butter Frosted Cupcake

Ingredients:
2 c. peanut-butter, 2/3 c. butter, 1 c. confectioner’s sugar, 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract, 1 c. milk

Directions:
Allow butter to soften. Microwave peanut-butter for about 30 seconds to loosen. Using an electric blender, mix all ingredients together until well combined. Frost cake and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Cutesy Cupcakes for a Blushing Bride

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Baking, bridal shower, cupcake tree, cupcakes, dessert, dessert table, shower, sweets, sweets table, work party, work shower

One of our sweet new teachers is getting married next month (yay! a new young wifey) and yesterday we surprised her with a bridal shower.

Usually we order a cake from a bakery or have someone local and talented make a nice cake. Our school’s social committee has an unspoken rule, chocolate peanut-butter cakes for every baby or bridal shower. Of course if you deviate from the tradition, they’ll tell you about it. Our cake plan fell through, so I offered to take over. I love any excuse to use my cupcake tree and cupcake carriers, so I asked the committee if cupcakes would suffice. Now, I’m not a fan of the chocolate peanut-butter combinations (except, Reese’s Pieces or GS Peanut-butter Patties), so I used this opportunity to my advantage (plus with all the peanut allergies!). I made half of the cupcakes chocolate peanut-butter and make the other half yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I added chocolate curls and chocolate shavings to the top of the peanut-butter frosting.

Cutesy Cupcakes

I didn’t have time to make the cupcakes from scratch, so I doctored up the cake mix with pudding mix and other add-ins. I made the cupcakes the day before and enjoyed using my icing press to decorate the tops. I lost my peanut-butter icing recipe, so a friend gave me her husband’s creation. I started to whip up a batch and quickly changed several things. I’ll post the recipe later…

Cupcake Tree

During my planning time, I had to have another teacher hold open a side door, so I could sneak them in and hide them from the bride-to-be. We set up her shower in the school library, where we thought she was attending an after-school meeting. We pulled off the surprise! And everyone enjoyed the cupcakes (only two more peanut-butter one were eaten than chocolate). I always get just as many comments on my cupcake stand and carriers!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

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cake, chocolate, chocolate covered strawberry, cupcake recipe, cupcakes, dessert, dessert recipe, petit fours, recipe makeovers, strawberry, strawberry chocolate cake, strawberry preserves

I’ve had several request to post this recipe from my Valentine’s Day Feast.

I had been given a box of strawberry cake mix for which I had no use. Then the idea came to me, I could alternate the cake layers with different flavors.

I pulled out my mini square cupcake pans, whipped up the strawberry cake mix and my chocolate cake batter. I poured the strawberry batter into 12 of the cups and the chocolate batter into 12 different cups and baked them. Once the cakes were cooled, I used my cake leveler to cut the cakes into 4 layers. I then alternated the layers and spread the fresh almond whipped cream between each layer. I then drizzled chocolate ganache overtop of the mini cakes and garnished with a fresh strawberry slice.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:
1 box devil’s food cake mix, 1 c. ricotta cheese, 1 c. water, 2 eggs, 1/2 c. vegetable oil, 1 Tbs. chocolate liquor

Chocolate Cake Directions:
Bake at 350°F until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Strawberry Cake Directions:
Mix together ingredients listed on the cake box, adding 1 c. smashed strawberries and bake according to package directions.

Almond Whipped Cream Ingredients:
2 c. heavy whipping cream, 2 tsp. almond extract

Almond Whipped Cream Directions:
In a chilled metal bowl, with chilled metal beaters, whisk together cream and extract until light and fluffy.

Hubster & I loved this dessert!!! Yum!