Breast Cancer Cupcakes: Strawberry Sweetness

A few years ago I snagged a Strawberry Cupcake from Sprinkles in honor of breast cancer.  They had cute little fondant ribbons on top.  I've since seen the Strawberry cupcake recipe online, so I decided I needed to try it out, with a little twist for the top. 

Pink cupcakes are in season any month of the year, but pink takes on a new meaning during the month of October. 

Below are the ingredients for the cupcakes, the cupcakes are a little less moist than a like them, but add the sweet icing and they balance each other out well.  The recipe makes 12 cupcakes.  I cannot verify what happened to cupcake number 12. 

Ingredients for the Cupcakes:

2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed (I used fresh), 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1/2 cup butter, room temperature, 1 cup sugar, 1 large egg, room temperature, 2 large egg whites, room temperature
Instructions for the Cupcakes:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
2.  Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside (1 carton of strawberries was more than enough).
3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
4.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
5.  With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
6.  Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

Ingredients for Frosting (This frosting is am-az-ing!):
1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed (I used the puree I made from the fresh strawberries),  1 cup (2 sticks) butter, firm and slightly cold,  Pinch of salt,  3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, siftedm,  1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions for Frosting: 
Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

I added a swirl of icing (the recipe makes PLENTY of icing), and then dipped strawberries in chocolate and popped them on top. 

Linking To:

Hoosier Homemade

In Appreciation of Our Bus(zzzzz)y Administration Team: Lemon Honey Cupcakes

I saw this recipe for lemon-honey cupcakes with lemon-honey icing in a Woman's Day magazine about a month ago. I wasn't as interested in the flavor combo as I was in the Peanut M&M bumble bee flying around it's hive. I 'needed' to make these, and conveniently, we also needed to appreciate our administrative assistants this week b/c they:
A) Should be appreciated, and
B) The calendar said it was time, plus
C) They put up with people like me.
D) This brings us back to...
A) They should be appreciated.
They are 'busy bees." At least, that's the angle I went with to justify why this was the 'right project.'
I halved the recipe for the cupcakes (listed at the end of this post) that said it made 24 cupcakes. I was only making enough for three people (it made 11 b/c I like to fill 'em up real full). I made the full icing recipe b/c I like a lot of icing to work with on desserts. If I made the full cupcake recipe, I'd double the icing. I also used melted chocolate to make the bumble bee stripes and eyes instead of the suggested materials. I think I'll go with their suggestions next time b/c my ziplock/melted chocolate was a tad messy. Or was that my piping skills? Here's my first of about 16 bees. They did get slightly better, but nobody is going to be paying me to make these anytime soon, so I'm OK with imperfection, messy lines, etc. I also used some Reese's hard shell egg candies I had from Easter instead of PB M&Ms. I ate all the other colors of Reese's that weren't yellow. Eating the other colors was an important step. Don't forget it, or your cupcakes won't turn out.

Does this bee make my hand look fat? Or, maybe that's all the other colored Reese's I ate?
....back to the project...
Pick your favorite method of bee creation if you choose to make these, and then tell me what it is b/c I need help. Oh man, do I need help on so many levels.
Next up...'my' dozen cupcakes. My dozen=11.

Puffy. Puffy is good. They smelled good too. Smelly, puffy, goodness.
Next, I iced. I sprinkled. I 'bee-dazzled.' Sorry, it had to come out. I can't be held responsible for these sort of comments. It's just how God made me.

This has nothing to do with anything, but I did snag a cloche at the store when I was buying some supplies for a project I'm creating next week. I just wanted to know how it would look. I've seen these all over the web, and I was feeling left out...

I'm better now that I'm part of the 'in' crowd. I may use this cloche in every post from now on, because I can. Maybe not.
But really...
No project is complete (this month) without chalkboard paint. What does this have to do with anything? Nothing! It comes out black, and black is good for a bee project. That was my justification. I went to get trivets to hold the cupcakes, but they were a little pricey, so I slid next door to the Dollar Tree, and found these plates on 'sale' for 50 cents each. Did you know they have sales at the DOLLAR store? I didn't.

I sprayed them with chalkboard paint, b/c it's kinda my thing. They look better black, and now they can also double as a fun catch all tray you can write messages on...OR something to throw at me if I get too annoying in my request for help.




How did they taste? I don't like lemon desserts too much, but I gave the extra to my Mom, and she liked it. I took a small bite, everything tasted fresh, and lemony. This is a good/bad thing-depending on your taste preference!
Here is the full cupcake recipe. (Makes 24 if you aren't me. If you are me-makes 22. If you are me, we need to talk.)
INGREDIENTS
Cupcakes
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp each baking powder and baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 T grated lemon zest
4 T lemon juice
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
Lemon-Honey Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 T grated lemon zest
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
7 t lemon juice
4-5 drops yellow food color
Bumblebee
Tootsie Roll (I used melted semi-sweet chocolate.)
Yellow peanut M&M
Brown food marker (I used melted semi-sweet chocolate.)
Clear spice drop candies
Small cookie cutter (I just molded the spice drops with my (clean) hands.)
PREPARATION
1. Cupcakes: Heat oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
I just combined steps 2-4 and mixed them all at once with a spoon. They turned out fine, but if you like to be particular about your baking....follow their instructions...
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sour cream, milk, lemon zest and juice in a small bowl until well mixed.
3. Beat butter, honey and sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended.
4. With mixer on low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, then the sour cream mixture. Beat in remaining flour mixture until just combined.
5. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each muffin cup. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
I also just combined all the frosting ingredients, and mixed with a mixer, but here are the magazine's instructions...
6. Frosting: Beat butter, honey, and lemon zest in large bowl with an electric mixer until creamed, about 2 minutes. On low speed, beat in confectioners’ sugar until blended. Beat in lemon juice and a few drops food color until mixture is fluffy and pale yellow.
7. Spoon into a large ziplock bag, snip off one corner and pipe honey comb on top. (I also had to 'snip' my corner a little bigger after my first attempt, my 'comb' had too many layers, and even doubling the recipe I was running short, but with a bigger cut, it seemed to go further with fewer 'layers', weird, but true.)
P.s. I should say at this point I thought this cupcake would be super duper cute inside a mason jar. I got some kitchen tongs out and slowly lowered one inside. I added some black and white dotted ribbon to the outside, and decorated the lid. It looked awful. My mason jars have failed me. :Frantically searching for a therapist who can conduct an emergency session.:
Linking To: 
Entertain Exchange


Funky Junk A Vision to Remember

Chocolate Sundaes Keeping it Simple Sweet Thursdays

Fresh Cupcake Kitchen Sign

I was messing around on the net one evening, and I came across this blog, Miss Mustard Seed.  I started exploring her house, and I fell in love with a sign in her dining room, it spoke to me. 
I went down to Goodwill on the hunt for a frame I could spray black, and frost the glass. 

I paid too much for the this frame considering there wasn't a back, but it was already black, and the proceeds go to the Goodwill, so, fine.  There is some irony in buying these empty frames b/c once upon a time I would have thrown away frames that didn't have all their pieces, and I can't even count the number I've donated through the years when I was 'finished' with them. 
I used my cricut to cut out my life long kitchen mission:  fresh cupcakes.

I ran the letters through this xerox machine.  They make the back sides of things sticky, but they can be repositioned pretty easy on paper, and relatively easy on glass. 

I had to do a lot of repositioning. 

In the past, I've used a bottle of etching paint, but I finally decided to try the spray paint kind.  I found this can of Krylon glass frosting at Michael's....it's 101% better than the painted kind, no strange streaks! 

I sprayed, dried, and then pealed away my letters.

I used a wet qtip to wipe away any sticky residue.

I then set it in the frame, and ran hot glue along the edges to hold it in place. 

It looks the best when hanging so light can shine through, but for now....it's hanging on my wall, I'll move it eventually, it just needs the perfect hanging ribbon, and you just can't rush decisions this important. 

Linking To:  Funky Junk I Heart Naptime Under the Table Masterpiece Monday Keeping it Simple CraftOManiac Dittle Dattle The Girl Creative CRAFT Today's Creative Blog Sugar Bee Tip Junkie Krafty Kat Ladybug Fireflies Gluesticks HOH Paisley Passions Funky Polkadot Crafty Soiree 504 Shindig Saturdays T2T Tuesday

Good Morning, Texas: Halloween Lights

I'm headed to Good Morning, Texas this morning to do a few fall crafts-in particular-candles.  I'll be doing two segments-frosted glass, and then a mish mash of fun Halloween candle holders.  My friend Jo created a facebook page to house the segments if you are interested, here is the link where old segments have been posted, and new ones will continue to go up....along with some other blog type happenings. 

I'll be sharing this tutorial (links to the full tutorials are the underlined names above each picture)....

Frosted Bats and Boo Candle Holders: 

I'll also be sharing a collection of frosted creations I've put together over the last year or so....frosted glass spray is another item you can add to my growing list of addictions.  The nice thing about so many addictions is that I don't have time to let any of them 'own' me. 

Here are the links to the wine glasses, and fresh cupcakes sign, and unity candle. 

In segment two, I'll be sharing....

Vintage Vellum Candle Holder:

Tissue Paper Pumpkin:

Mummy Candle: 

...and a few other candle holder ideas.  The fall weather is finally here.....now bring on the crafts!!!

Frosted Floating Candle Unity Vases

 I made this last spring for Jessica's weddingg.  She decided she want to have floating candles for her unity candle.  She grabbed the two smaller vases at the dollar store and the larger one at a craft store and asked me if I could think of a way to 'etch' their names onto the vases.  I used a similar technique to my Fresh Cupcakes sign. 

 I was working on a curve though, so I used some left over vinyl and my cricket to cut out the letters.  I positioned these onto the glass, and then I sprayed with my frosted glass spray (so much better than the kind you paint on). 

Strawberry Cupcakes

 You must...must...must try this strawberry cake recipe.  Shirley, who provided a delicious broccoli salad recipe a few months ago shared this one with me as well.  Just like I place the bacon/mayo covered broccoli under the 'vegetable' category, I'll be calling these a fruit when I mark it down in my calorie counter.  These would be really cute decorated like actual strawberries, but I was working with little energy and little time when I put these together, but I did use a few of the 420 vegetable baskets I bought....need...intervention...now. 

Cupcake Ingredients:  White Cake Mix (18.25 oz), 1 pkg (3 oz) strawberry gelatin, 1 c. mashed fresh strawberries, 1 c. vegetable oil, 1/2 c. milk, 4 eggs, 1 c. flaked coconut, 1/2 c. chopped pecans

Cupcake Instructions:  combine cake and gelatin mix.  Make a well in the center and pour 1 c. of berries, oil, milk, and eggs.  Beat until well blended (about three minutes).  Fold in coconut and pecans.  This makes  a very full 24 cupcakes.  Bake 18 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  I used this strawberry icing recipe with this recipe.   

Pancake Cupcakes

These are super easy to make, really delicious (hello, I said, "pancake" and soooo much less of a mess than the grill, which is what tempted me!)

But first....

Ode to a Pancake

Pancake, pancake, 

Light and fluffy.  

Pancake, pancake,

I don't even mind that you make my tummy puffy.  

You.  Are.  Welcome.  

And now, the rocket science required in putting these together.  

Basically, make your favorite batter, pour into greased muffin tins.   If you have fresh fruit or breakfast meats you can toss them on top. 

Bake at 350 for 14 minutes.  Top with butter, syrup, syrup, and maybe some syrup.