. Mornin' Cupcake! .

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I had this today....

Its a chocolate cupcake with a slice of banana inside topped with peanutbutter buttercream frosting and bacon dipped in chocolate AAAND it was my breakfast. Diet shmiet. I had no regrets after eating it. It was that good:)

If you're ever in Guam, try one out at Sugarnomics.

Hmmm, now to figure out my own version.....

. Look What I Found! .

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Treasure!!!!!

I was finally able to browse Ross the other day, sans squirmy toddler and I found some delightful things. One was an apothecary jar and another was an egg tray. I think its called an egg tray. Or maybe a porcelain egg carton?? Whatever its called, I was happy I found one. What? You've never dreamed about owning a porcelain egg tray thingy before? Now that's just sad. lol

the eggs love it. can you tell? lol

cute, right?  <3

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i hope to some day collect more of these. they are so pretty.

have you seen them in candy buffets?

it seems to be the trend lately.

for now, i'll just use it to house my little hello kitties:)

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. Snickers Cupcakes .

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OMG...................

Have you ever heard of Snickers cupcakes? Me neither until I started doing this blog and stumbled upon different variations of this recipe. My Baking Addiction's blog has a really good one but I also hope to try the one from Annie's Eats someday as well.

I made them for a get-together my husband had for work and used My Baking Addiction's recipe. I changed the measurements for the frosting and only added 1 pound of confectioner's sugar. It didn't turn out as stiff but it was still a hit! Some guys had 3 in one sitting! So I guess it's safe to say that these were really GOOD. Lol. I liked them too and so did my family. The cake was so most and fluffy. I also didn't put as much frosting as pictured in MBA's blog though. I thought it was enough to pipe on about a tablespoonful on top. Still, there were no complaints;)

Snicker's Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs; lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 24-30 frozen Snickers Miniatures (they're just regular snickers mini bars that where thrown into the freezer for at least 2 hours.)

For the frosting:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter; room temperature
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 pound confectioners’ sugar
• 1/3 cup caramel topping; plus more for drizzling
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Procedure:

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line (2) 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla and water.
Evenly divide the batter amongst the prepared pans.
Gently push a frozen Snickers Miniature bar into the center of the batter and smooth the surface making sure to cover the candy bar with batter.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool cupcakes thoroughly on wire rack.


For the frosting:

Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer.
Add the vanilla extract, salt and caramel syrup and combine well.
Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition.
After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, give it a taste and decide if you want to add in more caramel syrup.
If you prefer thicker frosting, you can gradually add in a little more sugar. Don't forget that it'll also be a little more sweeter than before so be sure to taste as you add sugar.
Garnish with chopped Snickers bars and a drizzle of caramel of caramel syrup.

adapted from my baking addiction.

the batter wasn't really that dark. it was just the camera ;p

i kinda went overboard on filling some cupcake liners in my first batch

that some ended up looking like muffins.

those were "discarded" and quickly eaten up by the 4 yr old cupcake monster living in my house.

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. Fondant Fun .

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Sooooooo....

I was asked to make a couple of birthday cakes for a friend's mother and sister. I was honored that she thought of me to make them for her family:) so of course I said, SURE!! It was difficult deciding on the designs for both cakes especially when you are so limited on materials:(

My original plan was to mainly pipe the designs onto the cakes but then I realized that the icing I chose to use isn't stiff enough to hold up in this humid weather. Anywhoo, I had to change the plan and use fondant instead. Being pressed for time and also being a mother of a very clingy 1 yr old, I wanted to buy the ready-to-use kind. Unfortunately, the stores that carry it were all sold out. :(  What to do, what to do?!! Then it finally dawned on me that I could make my own! Duh. I googled a recipe and found one that worked great. It even tastes waaaaay better than the ready-made stuff. If you want to try to make some for yourself, you can find the recipe at the end of this post.

Here are the end results. I just went with simple designs because I thought it looked cleaner. Oh and mostly because I'm still practicing :p

red velvet cake

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devil's food cake. halfway done~ just needed to add the "N".

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Here's a couple of Hello Kitty cupcakes and my attempt at making My Melody.

I made them a couple months before but I used a different fondant recipe. It had different measurements but its taste is exact to the most recent one I used.

my first time using homemade fondant and I over did it

with the powdered sugar. that's why she looks all blotchy.

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Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg (16 ounces) white mini marshmallows
• 2-5 tablespoons water
• 2 pounds (about 8 cups) sifted confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

Procedure:

To make marshmallow fondant, place marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds on high; stir until mixed well. Continue microwaving 30 seconds more; stir again. Continue until melted (about 2 1/2 minutes).

Place 3/4 of the confectioners' sugar on top of the melted marshmallow mixture. Fold sugar into marshmallow mixture. Flavoring can be added at this point if desired. Place solid vegetable shortening in easily accessed bowl so you can reach into it with fingers as you are working. Grease hands and counter GENEROUSLY; turn marshmallow mixture onto counter. Start kneading like you would dough. Continue kneading, adding additional confectioners' sugar and re-greasing hands and counter so the fondant doesn't stick. If the marshmallow fondant is tearing easily, it is too dry; add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time) kneading until fondant forms a firm, smooth elastic ball that will stretch without tearing, about 8 minutes.

It's best to allow the fondant to sit, double-wrapped, overnight. Prepare the fondant for storing by coating with a thin layer of solid vegetable shortening, wrap in plastic wrap and then place in resealable bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Marshmallow fondant will keep well in refrigerator for several weeks.

When not working with fondant, make sure to keep it covered with plastic wrap or in a bag to prevent it from drying out. When ready to use, knead fondant until smooth. Roll out fondant 1/8 in. thick.

If you want to color the whole batch of fondant a certain color, add a little food coloring to the melted marshmallow mixture before adding confectioners' sugar. For smaller amounts of tinted fondant, add food coloring to portions of fondant as needed.

from wilton.com

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