Recipe : Pipe-able Cream Cheese Frosting

I made some carrot cupcakes this weekend for a family get together and since it was close to Easter I wanted to make them a little bit fun. Cream cheese frosting is not necessarily known for it's pipe-able properties. It is definitely known for being delicious and pairing perfectly with carrot cake though so it was only natural I thicken it up some how to make the pretty little bird nests you see pictured.

This yields enough to pipe small nests on about ten cupcakes and spread another ten. (The cupcakes I made were very muffin like without frosting so I chose to leave some bare for snacking.)

Ingredients
2 cups icing sugar
1-8oz package of cream cheese (Softened)
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
cream (Optional, use only if you find consistency not creamy enough)
Food colouring

Directions
With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together.
Add vanilla and colouring
Add icing sugar slowly until well combined.
Add cream tsp by tsp if consistency too thick. Alternatively add more icing sugar if it is not thick enough.
Put into icing bag and use immediately on cooled cake/cupcakes/cookies.

This is not so stiff you cannot spread it nicely, but if you want it creamier add another 1/8 cup of butter and cream by the teaspoon until it reaches desired consistency.

Halloween-is-a-comin'

Pretty awesome yes? I really want to say these were fun to make but I had a deadline and things just seemed to keep going wrong! First, a batch of twelve Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes burned thanks to the muffin tin I was using. The bakers Secret non stick tins cook really hot. I don't like it. But the recipe says it yielded 36 cupcakes and it actually yielded almost 48. This was especially helpful because in my haste I forgot to spray the mini muffin tin and was only able to save half of those as well. So much for being the cupcake fairy to a few friends.

But I got over it and moved on to the icing, a Swiss Meringue Butter Cream again a la Martha Stewart. Again a big fail. First it took a pound of butter which I didn't have on hand and had to wait until Wednesday was finished lunch before I could go and purchase. Then, I don't think I let the meringue qhip enough because after I added the butter and let that whip It really just tasted like sweetened whipped butter. And to top it off when I added my colouring it separated and made the icing look (but not feel) gritty instead of green. Grr!

But, I managed to whip up a cream cheese icing that turned a great shade of green and finally began to decorate. The time limit I had (we were going to a relative's for some pumpkin picking fun) meant I couldn't calm down and let my creative juices flow, or really use any icing for decorating but the pictures in Martha's Cupcake book were super easy and super healthy and I ended up copying most of them.

All in all they did turn out great (Both in looks and taste) and I did learn a few things so next time it should not take me four hours to make some cupcakes! They were enjoyed by those that ate them and that is what counts. Although Wednesday woke up asking for marshmallows and cupcakes for breakfast.

Author's note: I find it hard to bake fom Martha's book when it is not a special occasion because the recipes yield so many (on average I think 24) and I do not eat many sweets. I am more of a muffin kind of gal, fruits and nuts and such right? But Halloween is the perfect time to break out of that norm right? Right!

Beer + Cupcakes = All Awesome

The thing I love most about baking before the smells and tastes and satisfaction is the giving and sharing. That is what I love most about baking, sharing my creations. No recipe is small enough to keep to yourself and so your family and friends all get a piece of tasty goodness. Yesterday I baked for my brother-in-law's 38th birthday. I made Stout Cupcakes from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book.
Funnily enough, it was my brother-in-law who gave me this book for my birthday last month so it only seems fitting that he receive the first batch of baked awesomeness.



And awesomeness they were. They tasted very much like gingerbread without the ginger due to the molasses and spices. They were incredibly moist and tasty and not to big or too sweet. The glaze is made from beer and icing sugar and adds that perfect bit of 'oomph'. They were so good.

Because these were not iced or piped with anything fancy, I printed up some little flags from marthastewart.com and I also photocopied a couple templates from the cookbook. They were the perfect touch. (It really is a wonderful book. Full of gorgeous photos and delectable recipes.)

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes = Wonderful!

Last week we were invited to a friend's place for BBQ. We were to not to bring anything but who does that? So, I brought desert. Cupcakes! Chocolate cherry ones to be exact. I needed a recipe to test run making cupcakes for my daughter's birthday party. I have never made cupcakes before. I have made a lot of cakes and what seems like thousands of muffins but nary a cupcake to be seen. I had some beautiful fresh local cherries and felt the urge to use them so I did some googling and figured a chocolate cherry cupcake was the way to go. Really, it was brilliant and I am not only happy with the results but I used the same recipe to make 105 cupcakes for the party.

Anyhoo...I bring to you Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting.



I modified the recipe by using chopped fresh cherries instead of maraschino cherries. (I think I chopped about twenty to make 1/2 cup.) And I used vanilla in my frosting instead of maraschino syrup. Also, I left out the chocolate sauce because of time restraints. Oh yes, and I used fresh cherries as garnish instead of maraschino ones. (Eww. You know they bleach those and add colour and flavour right?)



And just for awesomeness sake, here is a picture Wednesday at her first kiddy table at said BBQ. :D She was so well behaved, she ate all her dinner, played with Sidney, not just with her toys. She gave kisses and hugs and only needed one time out for fence climbing lol. It was a wonderful way to spend three hours. :D



Wednesday is on the left in blue.