Another Tiki Peeki

My first attempt at molded truffles... These guys are dark chocolate and  have a coconut filling.  Super cute and super tasty

Mini S'mores cupcakes

I've been wanting to make these for awhile... I made them mini because most s'mores cupcakes are fork cupcakes and I wanted these to be easy to eat with no utensils.  There's a graham cracker crust, chocolate cupcake with graham topping and a marshmallow topping toasted with a torch. Yum!

Another peek...

First time playing with hard candy. Learning all kinds of new things.

Sneak Peek

Flash of brilliance from my husband - dye the lollipop sticks!

Score!

Check out what my awesome husband found in the clearance aisle at the grocery store!

I haven't posted here in awhile. In fact, since last I did, I've had a baby, gotten a new job, baked dozens and dozens of cupcakes, cakes, and cookies, and gone through two ovens doing it. I plan on going back to weekly posts, now that my life has calmed down a little. Stay tuned!

Facebook Cupcakes Round 2

The cupcakes I posted on Thursday were a test run for another order, which was due tonight at 9:30.  I started cutting out the new fondant shield pieces on Saturday, and glued them all together Sunday.  I also baked and frosted the cupcakes today too.  Baking and frosting the cakes was the easiest part of this project.

I didn’t like the way the “like” icons turned out last time, so I put a dark blue background on them, which not only makes them more accurate but allowed me to put them on white background instead of blue.  I can never get the right blue out of my buttercream because, by nature, it’s a little yellowish.  All blues look greenish no matter how much coloring goes in. This round of cupcakes got an un-dyed vanilla bean buttercream. Here they are, all packaged up and ready for pickup:

The cupcakes are dark chocolate and I used a store bought fondant with some gum paste powder worked in to make it stiff.  Next time I do the fondant work, I will remember to take pictures so I can do a step-by-step, but for now, enjoy the recipe below.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

16 T        (two sticks) unsalted butter

4 oz        bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 c           (3 oz) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1½ c       (7½ oz) all-purpose flour

1½ t        baking powder

1 t           baking soda

1 t           salt

4 lg         eggs, room temperature

2 t           vanilla extract

1½ c       (10½ oz) sugar

1 c           sour cream

1.       Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

2.       Melt the butter, chocolate, and cocoa together in a double boiler or a medium bowl over simmering water, stirring constantly, until smooth.  Let mixture cool slightly.  In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.

3.       In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla together by hand until uniform.  Slowly whisk in the sugar until combined.  Slowly whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture until combined.

4.       Sift about a third of the flour mixture over the batter and whisk in.  Whisk in half the sour cream.  Sift half the remaining flour mixture and whisk in, followed by the remainder of the sour cream.  Sift the final portion of the flour mixture over the batter and whisk until completely incorporated (the batter will be thick).

5.       Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined.  Using a greased ¼-cup measure or #16 portion scooper, portion the batter into each lined cup.  Bake one tin of cupcakes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through baking.  Repeat with second tin.  Let the cupcakes cool in the tins for 10 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Facebook Cupcakes

Here's another quick post, since I didn't get one up Sunday night.  A coworker asked me yesterday to make some Facebook cupcakes for a training session today. Thankfully, I had all the stuff on hand to make dark chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. I also happened to have half a tub of fondant left over from Oscar's dragon cake, so I used this as an opportunity to try out a new skill - fondant gumpaste cupcake toppers. I was up way too late, but I'm pleased with how they turned out!

Picture by: Jamie Trudel