Chocolate Camo Cupcakes

These are some cute cupcakes I had for an order several months back. They requested chocolate cupcakes with some type of camouflage frosting. I googled several different options and just didn't find what I was looking for. I have swirled colors of frosting together before but never more than 2. I really wanted these to have a true camouflage look so I went for 4 colors! Rebel....I know :) I was really happy with the way they turned out. The chocolate cupcakes recipe comes from Baking Bites and they were delicious. Moist and chocolately with mini chocolate chips. Will definitely be making these again!



Moist Chocolate Cupcakes from Baking Bites





3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners in 2 12 cup muffin tins. In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt until thoroughly mixed.


In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, water, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla.


Whisk into flour mixture until all ingredients are mixed and no streaks of flour remain.


Add in mini chocolate chips, if using.


Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Remove cupcakes from the pan and allow to cool completely before frosting. They had the perfect cupcake dome after coming out of the over!


For the frosting colors I used Americolor Gel Paste, Leaf Green, Avocado, Chocolate Brown and Copper. Just scooped several spoonsfuls of each color in a pastry bag and that was it.


Pretty little camo cupcakes....alright maybe pretty shouldn't be used for camo! Haha manly cupcakes :)


Now I wish I had found these camouflage cupcake liners before. The birthday boy liked them so I guess that's all that matters. Print This

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

For Memorial Day my family had a BBQ. I wanted to bring desserts (obviously) and decided quickly on 2 that I had been dying to make. First was these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes and the other was a Chocolate Cobbler, which I will post about soon.

When I first saw these cupcakes on Annie's Eats I knew I would be making them soon. They turned out absolutely delicious and I even had a few people tell me they were their new favorite!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes from Annie's Eats

Yield:24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)

For the filling:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tbsp. light brown sugar, packed
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
7 oz. sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

For the frosting:

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
3½ cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. milk
2½ tsp. vanilla extract

For decoration:
Tiny chocolate chip cookies
Mini chocolate chips

Directions:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners (24 total). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl on low speed, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing each addition just until incorporated. Blend in the vanilla. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the cookie dough filling, combine the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla until incorporated and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture has firmed up a bit, about an hour. You can put in the freezer for about 15 minutes instead, if you are pressed for time.

To fill the cupcakes, cut a cone-shaped portion out of the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a chunk of the chilled cookie dough mixture. ( I will say after eating these I wished I had put a larger piece of dough into the centers. So don't be scarce with the cookie dough load it in!)


To make the frosting, beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.
Frost the filled cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with mini chocolate chip cookies for decoration. ( You can make your favorite chocolate chip cookies to top these cupcakes....or you could cheat like me and buy the mini chips ahoy cookies.)

For a printable version of the recipe go here. Now, go run to your kitchen and make these...they are delicious and too cute too pass up!
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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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Super Moist Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

This month the Cake Slice Bakers baked up a Banana Cake with Chocolate frosting. I was really excited to try this out with all the raves reviews everyone was giving them. I decided I would make mine into cupcakes instead of a 9 inch layer cake. I brought them to work today to share and everyone loved them! I had one with and without frosting and they are actually really good both ways. So even if you don't love frosting, these are amazing! The cake is super moist and delicious with a great banana flavor.

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten slightly

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)

Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 cups butter

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup evaporated milk or half and half

4 cups sifted confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla

To make the cake, heat the oven to 350F. Grease your 9 inch cake pans or line the cupcake pans with liners. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to combine well.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla. Beat well for 2 or 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally until you have smooth batter.

Using a large spoon, stir in half the flour just until it disappears into the batter. Stir in the buttermilk and then the remaining flour the same way. Quickly and gently fold in the mashed banana and then divide the batter evenly into cupcake liners.

Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched lightly in the center.

Allow to cool in pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

To make the frosting, combine butter, cocoa and evaporated milk (or half and half) in a medium sauce pan. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Cook, stirring often for about 5 minutes, until the cocoa dissolves into a dark buttery mixture. Remove from heat and stir in the sifted confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at low speed until you have a thick smooth frosting.

Frost cupcakes as desired and Enjoy!

For a printable version of this recipe go here.

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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