Butterfly Cupcakes & Cake Pops

It has been a crazy couple of weeks around my house and you will get to see part of the reason in this post and part in my next post. I have been super busy in the kitchen as well as traveling for weddings and graduations.


My cousin little girl, Adelynn, turned the Big 1 at the beginning of May and her mom and I had been planning her birthday for several months. Once she picked the butterfly theme, I immediately started brainstorming ideas for the cupcakes. I instantly thought of the Butterfly Cupcake in Hello Cupcake then I stumbled upon a close vision of what I was already thinking on Annie's Eats. Perfect :)


In addition to the cupcakes, I made cake pops in flower and butterfly shapes to put in these pot we made at a pottery place here in Houston. (You can see them in the pictures below)

I tried to take step by step pictures for these cupcakes. The butterflies were made out of candy melts and made a few days in advance. If you have the book, they have pretty good instructions in there. If you dont I will try to walk you through the steps below.

To start I just traced the butterfly wings from the book on wax paper. I cut individual wax paper squares for each of the butterfly wings, 52 in total.

Using the candy melts, (I colored mine black) outline the butterfly wings and make a deep "V" shape for the antennae's.

Do one butterfly at a time, starting with the outline and then filling with the color. This allow you time to move the color around and swirl to the edges of the wing before it begins to dry.

I used bowls to melt the candy coating and then transferred to squeeze bottles. I used a toothpick to swirl around the color to the edges. Sprinkle each wing with the white nonpareils.

I made 3 different flavors of cupcakes for the party. For the chocolate I used the Hershey's recipe I have used in the past here. For the vanilla cupcakes I used my favorite recipe here. But the last flavor, my cousin requested specifically was yellow cupcakes. After looking through my recipes I realized I didn't have a "go to" yellow cupcake/cake recipe. I went searching online and decided on the recipe below. However I have to warn you...I wasn't too impressed with these cupcakes. They were a tad too dry for my taste. So if you have a favorite yellow cake or cupcake recipe, please share!

Yellow Cupcakes from BakingBlonde (She used it as a sheet cake)

2 1/2 cups cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1.2 cups sugar

1/2 cups butter, softened

3 eggs

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 drop Yellow Food Coloring

Preheat oven to 350F. Place the liners in a cupcake pan.

Sift cake flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add sugar and using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed to blend. Cut butter into 4 or 5 chucks and drop into the bowl with the flour. Blend on low speed until mixture looks sandy and no large chucks or butter remain, about 1-2 minutes.

In large measuring cup, combine eggs, milk, vanilla and food coloring. Beat lightly with a fork until combined. With the mixer on low, pour 1 cup of the egg mixture into the bowl. Turn speed up to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Reduce speed back to low and pour in the rest of the egg mixture. Continue to beat at low speed for an additional 30 seconds, until liquid is fully incorporated.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for a few more seconds. Pour into prepared liners. Fill about 2/3 full. Bake 18 minutes at 350. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, I used the recipe I blogged about here. Just a simple buttercream I found on Bakeralla.

Supplies Needed for the Butterfly Cupcakes:

wax paper

plastic squeeze bottles

Cocoa candy melts (I added an oil based Black Candy Color)

Colored Candy Melts ( I used pink, green, blue and orange)

Toothpicks

White Nonpareils

Chocolate Chips

Plastic Baggie

Frosted Cupcakes

As the cupcakes were cooling off, I whipped up a few batches of icing and began separating it into bowls to add the color. I decided on orange, pink, blue, and green for the icing colors to match the candy melt colors of the butterfly wings. Frost your cupcakes as you desire.

To begin assembly of the butterfly cupcakes, first press down slightly on your frosting to create a slightly flat surface.

Place 2 chocolate chips about a 1/2 inch apart towards the top of the cupcake. Insert one wing into the icing and let it use the chocolate chip for support. Continue on to the next one using the same steps.

After the wings are inserted, create the body by piping chocolate blobs in between the wings. I used a plastic bag and just cut off one of the corners.

Next, place the antennea's into the frosting just at the head of the butterfly.

Here they are all lined up before getting packaged in the box.

And a picture of the dessert table at the party.

A close up...(Note I made several extra sets of antennae's and brought with me because they are a little fragile)

The birthday girl with her special cake. Her cake was a 6 inch double layer vanilla cake, frosted with the pink frosting and had 3 butterflies on the top.

Here she is sharing with her daddy!

These cupcakes turned out beautiful! I got so many compliments on them, they were definitely worth all the work. If anyone has suggestions for a yellow cake/cupcake recipe please let me know!!

Happy Memorial Weekend to everyone!

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MIA Lately but... I have cute ladybug cupcakes to make up for it!

So I know I have been MIA lately and haven't visited anyone's blogs. Life lately has been a little crazy. From packing up the apartment and now unpacking in the new house while we are also trying to remodel some...it's been a little hectic. Hopefully after a girl trip this weekend to Vegas my life will slow down a little.

A friend of mine from work, Shelley, had a birthday party for her little girl's 1st birthday. Once she decided on a ladybug themed I started to brainstorm possible ideas.


We decided on ladybug cakeballs and used those to top the cupcakes. For centerpieces I put a few of the ladybugs on sticks and had them in ladybug pots (see picture below).

In order to make it look more like a plant, I crushed up Oreos and sprinkled them in the pot to resemble dirt. However, I can't take credit for these cute planters, Shelley found them at Hobby Lobby. I used a round Styrofoam ball and cut it in half to hold the pops in place.



I tested out a few way to make the lady bug pops but in the end used 2 size cake balls for the head and body and use candy melts to attach them. Below is a picture of the antennas. Which were also attached with candy melts to the head after the body and head were attached.

Below is a picture of the ladybugs drying before I added the eyes. Looking back I probably could have added a red smile line or something and made it even more lifelike.

I used buttercream as the frosting and tinted it Kelly Green to get the grass effect before adding the ladybug toppers.

A few I just used white frosting and added red sprinkles for a little contrast!

Here is a picture of her dessert table, if you look in the back you can see one the centerpieces with the ladybug pops! Sorry I must have spaced out and not taken any :) Off to the sides is Avery's special cake :)

A close up...










How cute is the birthday girl and mom too!!

For Avery's cake, I made hers a little bigger than a cupcake. It's a 2 x 2 inch cake with 2 layers with a ladybug on top of course!

These cupcakes were so much fun to make! If you look closely you can see the birthday girl liked the green icing as well! I promise I will be back to visiting your blogs and baking soon! Enjoy :) Print This

An Award & Cake Ball Pops Recently

Last week I received a fun award from Michelle of One Ordinary Day. Thanks Michelle! Not only is this my first blogger award but this one has a fun twist with it!

Soo...here is what you do.

1. Thank the person you gave you the award. (Thanks again Michelle!)
2. Copy the logo and paste it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you.
4. Tell us up to six outrageous lies about yourself and at least one outrageous truth.
5. Allow your readers to guess which one or more is true.
6. Nominate seven "Creative Writers" who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.
7. Post links to the seven blogs you have nomiated.
8. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them!

And now for the creative part....UPDATE actually two of the below are true!

1. I secretly love watching CSI Miami.

2. Carrot cake is my favorite cake of all time.

3. I auditioned to be on Real World while in college.

4. I hate watching TV.

5. I was a superstar athlete as a kid.

6. As much as I love desserts, I love working out more!

7. I had a custom pink bowling bowl with my name on it as a kid.

Now can you guess which one is true?

Other Creative Writer Bloggers: I choose these 7 because I love reading their blogs and thought they might have some fun with this award!

1. Bake*tastic

2. Ice Cream Before Dinner

3. Me & My Pink Mixer

4. Sara's Sweets

5. What's for Dinner

6. Diana's Cocina

7. Symphonious Sweet


Now...on to the cake ball pops!

My boyfriend is in the process of buying a house and a few weeks ago we showed our realtors my blog. She asked if i could make her something for an open house that was coming up. After discussing we decided on cake ball pops since they are easy to display and have very little mess and clean up.

The pops before I packaged them.

All packaged up and tied with a pink ribbon.

I filled the glass vases with M&M's and mini M&Ms. We did one vase of red velvet pops and one with vanilla pops!

I heard they were a huge hit and I think I might have gotten another customer out of it! So thanks again Sharon & Buck I really appreciate it!!

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Baby Shower Cupcakes & Karsyn's 3rd Birthday

A friend of mine from work, Shelley, was co-hosting a baby shower and birthday party for a friend of hers. She asked if I would make some cupcakes for the shower and something special for the little girls 3rd birthday.

For the shower I made 48 cupcakes, using vanilla, chocolate, oreo, red velvet, chocolate & peanut butter, and snickerdoodle as the flavors. I used chocolate, vanilla (which I made baby blue), cream cheese, peanut butter and seven minute frosting for all the icing! On top of the cupcakes I made airplanes out of a chocolate mold in all the primary colors of the babies nursery. I think they turned out super cute. Here are a few photos I snapped for delivering.


Here are some of the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes!


A shot of the box, all chocolate and vanilla with a few red velvet!


Snickerdoodle cupcakes with 7 minute frosting. (From Martha Stewart's Cupake Book)


Oreo Cupcakes....

Red velvet cupcakes....

And the favorite from what I hear, chocolate & peanut butter cupcakes!


Another shot of the other box.


Here are a few pictures they sent me afterwards on the set up! I think their presentation was adorable!
A little closer up on the cupcake plate!

For the little girls birthday, she wanted to do so strawberry cake pops. So how could I go with anything other than pink! I picked up a square 6 inch vase from Michaels and we order M&M's with the little girls names on them in both the light and dark pink. I filled that vase up a little more than half way with the M&M's and they stuck the cake pops in! This was the only picture I got before I left, but I thought it showed all the cute sprinkles!

Below are a few more shots she sent me after the party! How cute is this presentation! I love it!One with the cute birthday day girl, Karsyn!

Recipes of the cupcakes soon to come!!! Just thought I would share a few pics :)

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Birthday Cupcakes & Cake Balls

My aunt had a surprise party for my uncle's 60th birthday last week, and I was in charge of making desserts for the event. It was a low key thing she had at a sports bar so I didnt want to get to crazy with a cake since many people dont eat cake and drink at the same time. Anyways I decided I would be pretty simple and stick to basic, vanilla & chocolate cupcake and red velvet cakes balls or cake ball pops since I put them on a stick!

It has taken me a few days to get a post together mainly because I am a moron and didnt take any pictures or anything, not during or even after. Though I will say I got stuck at work later than usual last Friday and was in a rush to get everything ready and out the door for the party. Thank goodness my mom was there and she got a few pics so I can share with you guys!

I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with both vanilla bean and chocolate frosting. I also made chocolate letters that spelled out happy birthday on the cupcakes just for added decoration. Every sprinkle I had just seemed to girly to me. So I went for simplicity on these! :)

Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising*

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (Room Temperature)

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly coat cupcake pans in nonstick spray with flour; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour. Consistency will be crumbly.In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.Divide batter evenly among pans, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Hershey's Chocolate Cupcake

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

3. Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Makes about 30 cupcakes.

Vanilla Bean Frosting from Cupcake Bakeshop via Monica at Lick the Bowl Good

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
4-5 cups powdered sugar ( I used 4 cups)

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined. Then add the vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, and 3 cups of powdered sugar and beat at low speed, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar to arrive at the consistency and sweetness you like.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

All in all the cupcakes turned out great, but the vanilla vanilla cupcakes were by far the best! I am acutally going to use this cupcake recipe for mini Tiffany's Box Cakes I will be doing for my best friends brial shower coming up here in a few weeks!

The dessert table where clearly I was unaware of the color scheme :) haha I was originally going to do a Houston Astros theme, which is why I went with the red and yellow. I change my mind when I decided to go for a more simple look.

Another picture, and you can see people started to get dessert at this point, the "B" in birthday is gone and the cake balls are starting to disappear!

Haha again with the "B" missing..

Sorry I didnt get anymore photos, I promise next time I will do better! Thanks mom for taking the pics you did :)

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