Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes

So, having hit my creative brick wall, I asked Mr. Himself what I should make.  His reply?  Coffee Cupcakes.

Coffee Cupcakes?  What kind of icing?  Chocolate? Mocha?

Vanilla.

Vanilla?

Yup.

OK. How about caramel in there?

Sure!

And the Caramel Macchiato Cupcake was born!  Mwahahahhahahahhahhahaha!\

They are a rich coffee flavored cupcake, soaked in a coffee simple syrup. Then filled with a butter caramel center and topped with vanilla butter cream.  And finally topped with more butter caramel.

Note: add the final butter caramel drizzle only when you are ready to eat them.  Also - these are definitely fork and plate cupcakes. They are ooey-gooey-messy goodness!

The pictures make the butter cream look pale. It's actually a light beige color with just the perfect amount of vanilla flavor.

These are most certainly a cure to the coffee craving!

The taste testers gave it a two-thumbs-up and went back for seconds.

Pimping a fellow blogger - Royal Wedding Give-Away!

A message board buddy and fellow blogger is hosting a nifty Royal Wedding Give-Away.  Go here, and read up: Royal Wedding Give-Away!

She's really witty and I've read much of what she writes with a smile and a lot of laughs!

Enjoy!

Vanilla Pound Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Oh My! These were really, really, good!

I started with a very buttery vanilla pound cake cupcake and topped them with a Hershey's Cocoa buttercream hat.

The pound cake tends to be a bit on the dense, dry side, so I applied a few brushings of vanilla simple syrup to the top of each and let it soak in for a few minutes before topping with the frosting.

The buttercream is much lighter than I expected, but still very rich.  It did require a trip into the fridge to firm up a bit, but the chilling didn't affect the taste at all.

I love how glossy the frosting is and how chocolaty the flavor is.  I added an extra 1/4 cup cocoa powder, just to give it that rich, dark color.

Mr. Taste-Tester gave them a thumbs-up and said he can't wait for my next trip into cupcake land!

Chocolate Peanut-butter Decadence

Inspired by the new little tasty cupcake bites at our favorite coffee house, these are a combination of a brownie-like chocolate cupcake and a peanut-butter fudge based frosting.

I really wanted something that would mimic a peanut-butter cup candy and this certainly does that!

Things I learned:

• I need a bigger star tip for piping the frosting
• I no longer own a mini muffin pan
• Piping frosting is fun!
• My taste-testers eat a LOT of cupcakes
• The frosting makes a fine PB&J sammich

The cupcakes use a recipe that's really low in flower so they are dense, chocolaty, and chewy; with a crunchy top.

The peanut-butter fudge frosting is UBER thick and very hard to pipe through a small tip, but really tasty and the peanuty goodness comes through the sugar well.

And it begins at the beginning...

It's been a few days since the idea started to take shape in the vast open spaces of my mind, but here I am... making cupcakes?


Yes, cupcakes!  


I know, I know! This thing called "cupcake" is nothing new.  However, as projects for me go, it's right up my alley: 

• Quick
• Fun
• Quick
• Fanciful
• Quick
• Tasty
• Quick
• Artistic
• Did I mention quick?

I love to create and I love to eat. I also know me well enough to know I need some creative outlet that doesn't require a lot of time, patience, or planning.  Enter CUPCAKES!


So, join me as I make the cakes and eat them, too...