These cupcakes were made for a darling 16 year old named Ellen. I know she’s darling because her Aunt Becky told me so. And, you can tell by looking at her! Look how pretty and sweet she is…it must run in that family! She likes bright colors, so I tried to incorporate those colors into the cupcakes. I made half of the cupcakes red velvet and the other half was vanilla. They all had buttercream frosting. Can you say yum??
I hope this was a birthday to remember for Ellen!
“E” is for Ellen!
Name that quote…
I must say, this rose may smell sweeter. Sorry Will. But it’s because of the buttercream. And, it definitely tastes sweeter. These precious pretties were made for a baby shower for a sweet little girl on the way that will have Rose in her name.
Thanks again to my awesome photographer friend who knows how to make a deal…free cupcakes for great photos. I like that deal! I think I get the better end of the deal though…love the photos. Thanks Stephanie (DeLay)…again!
I hope baby Rose loved her rose cupcakes. What a sweet, delicate name.
Here’s a sneak peek at probably my most favorite cupcake that I’ve made. I am awaiting more fun pics from the shower. They are just too darn cute if I do say so myself. They were for a jungle themed baby shower. Monkeys! I love Monkeys. I don’t want to own a monkey, I just want to love them from afar. Two dogs, two kids and my super awesome husband are enough for me. Oh wait, those that I listed are ALL monkeys at some point or another. Ok, so I do want to have monkeys…and I want to have these cupcakes…every day.
Banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting…that’s what a monkey would want, right?? And, sweet little fondant monkey faces. Happy baby monkey, Jessica!
More pics! Thanks for sending.
Well, maybe not THE actual royal wedding of the year, but it’s definitely this bride’s “royal” wedding! The color for the wedding is a royal sapphire blue. I made chocolate cupcakes with baby blue buttercream, candied pearls and faux tiered sapphire wedding cake shaped fondant cutouts. Boy, that was a lot of adjectives! Oh, and I made fondant hearts…because it’s a wedding…duh. I hope everyone enjoyed them. Here they are in all their royal glory.
I made these cupcakes for a friend for a family member’s lingerie shower. The theme was black and white polka dots, lace and pearls. Too cute. And, girly. And chocolate buttercream on a chocolate cupcake is perfect for “girly”. I made an extra one for myself, as I cannot pass up double chocolate bliss in my mouth. Soooooooo good with milk. I think I’ve said that before. My family keeps the dairy farmers in business.
Ok, back to running.
I was asked by my friend, Belinda, to help out with her store’s 2nd anniversary celebration by offering cupcakes to the customers at the event. It was such a great opportunity and I got to meet lots of folks and hand out cupcakes and business cards. (THANK YOU, Belinda!!) It was Valentine’s weekend, so they had a candy hearts theme. I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting and had fondant hearts on some and heart sprinkles on others. I lost count after one hundred cupcakes! I also made some for a neighbor friend (my best customer!)…and she took an awesome photo of them. Thanks Stephanie!
First photo by Stephanie Delay…great!
2nd photo by ME! (Not as great.) The table at the event.
3rd photo also by Amanda. Cupcake LOVE tree.
Happy Anniversary to my hubby. He will be excited about these. I should not have made them, because I will eat them too. Oh well, Happy Anniversary to me too then! Milk chocolate cookies with milk chocolate chips…crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. In honor of our 7th wedding anniversary, I put them on my favorite cake stand. This old milk glass cake stand held our sweet little lavender colored wedding cake. Man, that was a good cake. Man, these have been a fun 7 years. Cheers to you, my BFF (Boyfriend Forever). 🙂
There is nothing sweet to add today, but I do have to write about a “sweet” victory in the meal rotation at our household. Just to start off, I have two VERY picky eaters in my home. A 38 year old daddy and a 4 year old son…like father, like son. My girl, on the other hand, is proving to be like momma. I wanted to share this recipe with you that we had tonight. It’s called Butter Chicken and it’s from Tasty Kitchen. It’s similar to an Indian dish, but I did not relay this information to my husband until after he joined the Clean Plate Club tonight. (Again, he’s picky and doesn’t go out of his way to eat outside of the box.) My son even ate the chicken. He didn’t eat the Basmati rice, but he ate the chicken. Praise the Lord! Ok, so this wasn’t a hit with my daughter, but she’s teething and I’ll let her slide this time.
This can be as spicy as you want it. I chose to cut down on the spice because I wanted them to eat it. I also cut back on the tomato sauce and the cream, because I wanted a thicker sauce. I didn’t have one of the spices it called for, but I just went with it. I also added some cinnamon which was really good in it. Not a lot, just a little…cinnamon goes a long way. DO take the time to marinate the chicken. I didn’t marinate overnight, just about 5-6 hours. Don’t skimp on the lime in your marinade. I also chose to cut the chicken in bite sized pieces, so they could really take on those intense spices while marinating. The chicken tastes awesome after mixing and mingling with all those spices and lime. And, the smell. Oh so good. Anyway, I just wanted to share this with other desperate ladies (or men) looking for a new meal to throw into the rotation. It’s very easy too. It’s not low-cal, but hey, it can be thrown in once a month! Maybe try subbing yogurt for the cream and there’s your lower-cal. Guilt-free. Sorta.
Here’s the link. You won’t be sorry.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/main-courses/butter-chicken-2/
I am up with the chickens and a teething daughter this rainy and cold Sunday morning. So, I thought I’d post about my recent cupcakes. This weekend, I made some Strawberry Shortcake themed cupcakes for a sweet girl’s 5th birthday. I am not quite gifted enough yet to actually draw Strawberry Shortcake herself on each of the cupcakes, but I tried to do the next best thing and put strawberries on the cupcakes. I made the strawberries from fondant and used an edible marker to draw on the seeds. I piped green buttercream frosting using a leaf tip for the leaves (is that what they are called on a strawberry?). The cupcake itself was a chocolate cupcake with strawberry buttercream frosting. I know I love chocolate and strawberries together and this turned out to be a great combo. I know this to be true, because even though I am supposed to be refraining from cupcakes, they were beckoning to me from their little container and I broke down and ate one last night. With lots of milk. I went on a good run yesterday, so I don’t feel too ashamed of it. However, I am pretty sure all the calories I burned were in that cupcake.
And, now for the cuties.
So, I had somewhat of a holiday bake-fest in December…bake-fest, sweet-fest, over indulgence-fest, whatever you want to call it. It’s over now, that’s all I can say. Back to reality…for now at least. I did make a lot of sweets over the holidays for gifts for some friends of our own as well as other friends’ gifts to others. This “gift” was a bit selfish…but I did share, because I would be in a sugar coma right now if I wouldn’t have shared. These are courtesy of the Pioneer Woman. Her cinnamon rolls, which make gobs and gobs of gooey cinnamon rolls. I got about 44 rolls to be exact. Cinnamon rolls are probably in my top 5 things to eat in the world. I just love a good one. This roll is a lot like the ones I usually make, but her icing is different. It has maple and coffee in it. Yes, that’s what I said. Maple and coffee. Delish. I hope everyone devoured these like I did. Hello heaven.
I also made some cookies for a friend to give as teacher gifts. These are cranberry white chocolate cookies. I love these two flavors together. The tartness of the cranberries and the sweetness of the white chocolate is really a match made on Match.com. I prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate when it comes to chocolates, but these two are meant to be in a cookie together.
One more thing. We have an annual cookie exchange on my street every year. This is such a fun time for everyone. And, it’s competitive! We have awards for best presentation and best taste. I made Christmas Kitchen Sink Cookies and presented them on the newest member of my cupcake stand family along with my cupcake ornaments. Yes, obsessed with cupcakes. Sure. Why not.
Before I start baking again, I better quit talking about these sweets. I’m off to eat a hard boiled egg and continue my day as a boring eater. Talk to you soon!
Sweet Teeth 