Orange Sherbet Cupcakes

My friend, Charlene asked me if I could make cupcakes out of a recipe called Orange Sherbet Bundt Cake by SK Hunter which she published on Just a Pinch Recipes.  Of course I can make cupcakes out of any cake recipe, but I knew I would change the frosting because the cake just has a glaze.  Here is the original recipe:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 salt
3 eggs
1 stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup melted orange sherbet
1/2 orange with peel/remove core/process in a food processor
1/2 cup instant vanilla pudding or 1 small box
1 cup crushed walnuts (optional)

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. melted orange sherbet

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  In a small bow, whisk together flour, dry pudding mix, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
2.  Place sugar and butter in mixer bowl and beat until well combined.  Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition.  Turn the mixer speed down to low and add vanilla extract and orange.
3.  Add the flour mixture and sherbet alternating to the sugar and butter mixture.  When it is all combined mix for about 3 minutes on medium speed.  Stir in the nuts by hand.
4.  Put the batter into a bundt pan that has been greased and floured.  Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let rest for 10 minutes before inverting on to a plate.
5.  When the cake is cool mix together the orange sherbet and the powdered sugar and drizzle over cake. 

The only thing I did different for the cupcakes is I didn't add walnuts mainly because I don't like nuts inside the cupcakes.  For the frosting I used my buttercream frosting recipe but substituted orange juice and the sherbet for the milk until I got the desired consistency for piping and also added a bit of orange flavoring and orange food gel to make it a pale orange color.  Then a fondant tulip on top!

I hope Charlene enjoyed them.  She had been in the hospital lately and I wanted to surprise her with a little something to cheer her up! 

Thanks for reading!  Deana :)

Halloween Cake

Halloween Cake

Since you know I took a cake decorating class, I've been practicing making cakes as well as cupcakes.  My second course got canceled for this month which has given me an opportunity to just practice on my own.  I've worked with fondant before so I thought this would be fairly easy to cover the cake and cut out the Halloween designs, a piece of cake as the saying goes.  But Ha, not quite!  The marbled effect that you see is actually on purpose.  I liked the way it looked when I was adding the color so I left it this way although it doesn't quite look as pretty in the pictures.  You guys also know that I am not a photographer, but perhaps that will be my next class! 

I dragged my sweet husband all over town looking for something to attach the top witch, bat and ghost to until I finally decided to just use popsicle type sticks.  The orange, white, and black bottom border and top for the display is rolled fondant. 

More Halloween designs to come because I have all these new Halloween cookie cutters to make some fun things!  Until next time, thanks for reading.  Deana :)

Olympic Cupcakes

I had been planning to make Olympic cupcakes in July but as you can see it is now the weekend of the end of the 2012 Olympics so these will be the closing ceremony cupcakes.  Perhaps I will start thinking about the 2014 Olympics now so I might have those ready before the winter olympics start.

Making the fondant olympic rings was not as easy as I had envisioned.  I don't have any round cookie cutters that tiny and since I waited until the last minute it was a little too late to order anything.  While making the beach cupcakes, it occurred to me that I could use the back of the decorating tip for the outside and a smaller round tip for the inside.  Ah, perfect! 

The printable cupcake round toppers I found from thepurplepumpkin.co.uk, cut them out, glued them on a popsicle stick and tied red, white and blue ribbon around it.

Maybe I should start contemplating Halloween now!  
Deana :)

Cake Decorating

I've been taking the Wilton Cake Decorating class for the last few weeks and last night was the end of Course 1 where you actually have to decorate a cake.  Now you guys know that I am a cupcake decorator but I thought this course would help me be more creative with cupcakes and learn a few things. 

I missed the very first lesson so I was already behind the other students.  When I showed up for class for lesson 2, they all had their cakes ready to learn new decorating techniques.  I had all kinds of decorating tools but no cake, lol.  Not a good start.  But nevertheless I practiced on the practice board and at home.  I wish I knew how many cakes ended up in the trash, too many to count.  I started buying Kroger brand white cake mix for practice sessions since no one was going to be eating these cakes anyway. 

Last night we had to bring a 2 layer cake with a smooth icing technique.  OMG, who knew how much time that takes?  Cake decorators, that's who!! 3 Kroger brand white cake mixes later, a couple of you tube videos, reading my instructions at least 30 times,  I finally had a somewhat smooth cake.

Now to get it to class with the cake in the cake container without icing touching anything.  I'm driving soooo slow already when a deer darts out across the road.  My cake survived, who cares about the car?  Just kidding, no damage to the car or the deer!

My instructor tells me that I did an excellent job.  But right at the very end when I was putting the finishing touches on my cake, my arm brushed the side and messed up my cake, <sigh>.  No worries, my pantry is full of Kroger brand white cake mixes and I have 3 more courses to go!

4th of July Cupcakes

Last night my mind was filled with thoughts of what kind of topping would I make for my 4th of July Cupcakes.  I had already decided the strawberry cupcakes would be great for this holiday and I made pretty stars out of fondant for Memorial Day so I wanted something different for the 4th.  Something sparkling like fireworks.  My first thought was to use candy melts and make squiggly lines or make them out of fondant, but that wouldn't really give me the sparkle that I was looking for.

Luckily Hobby Lobby had some red, white and blue tinsel left.  I cut them about 2 inches long, taped the ends together and glued a toothpick on the end to make my own homemade picks.  They even had little flags in  the tinsel but now that I look at it in the picture, maybe that is supposed to be a hat. lol

So there we have it, strawberry cupcakes with buttercream frosting, red, white and blue sprinkles and something that sort of resembles fireworks on top! 

Father's Day Cupcakes

Today is Father's Day.  I wanted to create a cupcake in honor of my Dad.  He loved coconut pie so naturally I thought of making a coconut cupcake.  One of my nieces, Regina thought I should have a tractor theme.  Ahhh perfect!  All the grandkids loved riding with their Grandpa on his tractor.  I remember my Dad sneaking out the backdoor and return shortly with the tractor in the driveway.  What a thrill for the grandkids!  I found a few old pictures of my son, Derek riding with his Grandpa in 1985.

I made a coconut cupcake with coconut buttercream frosting sprinkled with green colored coconut and wrapped the cupcake with John Deere wrappers and a John Deere tractor pick for the topping.  Oh and they taste delicious too!  I miss you Dad today and everyday but I bet you were delighted to see my little creation!  :)

The Best Strawberry Cupcake

     I've been searching for a fabulous strawberry cupcake for quite a while, actually since last summer.  My first attempt was Candace Nelson's strawberry cupcake even though some of the reviews weren't that favorable, I still gave it go. After all, she is a judge on the popular "Cupcake Wars"  and owns Sprinkles Cupcakes.  To my utter dismay, those ended up in the trash.  Perhaps I did something wrong, so I made them again adding a bit more strawberry extract.  Another batch in the trash! Ughhhh!!! I'm sure the ones in the Sprinkles bakery are delicious, but on to other recipes.
     Many attempts with many different recipes, each time I changed things when they didn't come out quite right.  I even used my go to vanilla recipe and just added strawberries.  April and I made some strawberry cupcakes for her friend using yet another recipe.  They turned out soggy and sunk in the center.  We threw them away and made Betty Crocker strawberry cake mix and added strawberries since it was late at night.  At least we laughed about it!  April said, "Wow this is just like "Cupcake Wars".  I can almost hear Candace Nelson saying, "What happened to your cupcakes, these are the worst tasting strawberry cupcakes ever!!"  Exactly!!!
     Last week, I began my search again since it was Memorial Day and I wanted to make a strawberry cupcake to go with my red, white and blue theme frosting with big stars for the topping.  I think this is the winner, at least April and Kim think so!!

The Best Strawberry Cupcakes from Simply Sweet Bake Shop

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3 egg whites
2 tsp. strawberry extract
1 cup pureed fresh strawberries
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter on medium speed.  Add egg whites on at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in strawberry extract, pureed strawberries and sour cream
In medium bowl, sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Gradually add to butter mixture until combined
Pour batter into cupcake pans
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean
Let cool for 10 minutes the move to wire rack
Cool completely before frosting

I added a little red gel coloring because otherwise you will end up with a grey color cupcake.  I used just a regular cream cheese frosting so I could add the swirls I wanted.  I think they came out pretty and delicious.  Now on to Father's Day!