Vegan Vanilla Cupcake

I was so excited to try this recipe for vegan vanilla cupcakes that I found at this site: http://shmooedfood.blogspot.com/2006/01/fluffy-white-cupcakes.html
This recipe turned out wonderful!
I also tried this recipe for vegan butter cream icing that I found at this site: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10856-vegan-fluffy-buttercream-frosting.
I didn't have non-hydrogenated shortening or the non-hydrogenated margarine so I bought Country Crock margarine because it said made with non-hydrogenated oils so I made the recipe with just that. It turned out pretty decent with about 1 1/2 more cups of powdered sugar added. I forgot to read the label, just assuming that it didn't have any animal products in it and guess what? Yep, it has milk in it! So, I scrapped that icing and made a new batch of butter cream entirely out of Crisco shortening, powdered sugar, soy milk and pureed strawberries. That actually turned out better than my first try. The frosting consistency is very creamy and it tastes pretty good! So, here is the final product: Vegan Vanilla Cupcake with strawberry butter cream, topped with sliced almonds and candy pearls.

 

Almond Joy Cupcakes

When I was making this cupcake last night I thought to myself how much I enjoy doing what I do....baking. I really do love to bake! Especially when someone bites into to something I bake and I hear their sounds of internal contentment verbalized! That is my goal in baking.
I also realized last night that I incorporate chocolate into most things I bake. I guess it's pretty obvious that I REALLY like chocolate! I'm addicted to the stuff!

This is what I made last night. Almond Joy Cupcake: dark chocolate cake filled with chocolate ganache, iced with coconut butter cream, topped with grated coconut, more chocolate ganache and whole almonds!
These are going to Tuxie's Ice cream and Sub shop today!

Chocolate Divino Cake

I made this tonight for a friend's 31st anniversary. All her husband said when I asked what kind of cake would they like was "chocolate". That's easy for me because I love baking any thing that consists of chocolate.
Get ready for this description: chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse filling, iced with chocolate butter cream, topped with white chocolate dipped maraschino cherries and milk and white chocolate shavings! I figured it out...there is about 13 ounces of chocolate in this creation! WOW! I used Ghirardelli  and Godiva chocolate for the shavings to make it extra special.
I really hope that they like it!

Banana Pudding Cupcakes

Banana cupcake with a vanilla wafer cookie on the bottom, filled with vanilla pudding, iced with vanilla butter cream frosting and topped with crushed vanilla wafer cookies and a chocolate garnish.
I can't remember where I got the banana cupcake recipe from but the vanilla pudding recipe came from:  http://www.marthastewart.com/345537/vanilla-pudding. As always another great recipe from Martha Stewart! Absolutely delicious! 
The icing is a simple vanilla butter cream. I couldn't decide what I wanted to put on top so I just did crushed vanilla wafer cookies. I had some left over chocolate garnishes that I used on the top too......chocolate and banana go together right?  
I'm pretty sure that chocolate goes with everything!

Oreo Cookie Cupcake

I made these tonight. Oreo Cookie Cupcake: I made a vanilla cake batter added crushed Oreo's to it, iced  them with vanilla butter cream and topped it off with crushed Oreo cookies and an Oreo cookie on top! Yum! These are going to Tuxie's tomorrow.

Almost Sugar Free Icing

Yesterday I made sugar free carrot cake cupcakes for the first time. They weren't too bad but definitely tasted sugar free because there was absolutely no sugar added to the cupcake. I accidentally discovered an almost sugar free icing for the top and let me tell you I was sooo impressed by the flavor and consistency. With this icing on top the whole cupcake came together and tasted like a treat! I make a fluffy cream cheese icing that is the best and I wondered what it would be like with no sugar added and it worked!


Almost sugar-free icing:

1- 8 ounce package of Philadelphia cream cheese
1- small container of Cool Whip topping
10 packets of Splenda sweetener 

Mix all ingredients together until fluffy. About 3 -5 minutes.
It will be fluffy enough to pipe on top of your cupcakes.

*The icing does have a small amount of sugar from the cool whip.

Chocolate Creme De Menthe Cupcake

I made the chocolate creme de menthe cupcake again. I added a chocolate garnish to the top! These are going to Tuxie's tomorrow!

Hmmm..what to do today? MAKE CUPCAKES!!

I've got plenty of things I should be doing around the house but today I'm going to blow it all off and bake cupcakes! I'd rather be doing that anyway. Today I'm going to make my German chocolate cupcakes again and I'm going to try my hand at Snickerdoodle cupcakes. Who doesn't love snickerdoodle cookies? They are one of my favorite cookies. Would you believe I never had a snickerdoodle cookie until about 5 years ago! I was at our local farmer's market in Jefferson and there was a baked goods stand where I saw these cookies at and I bought them and tried them for the first time. After that, I had to bake these for myself. My Mother was a great cook and baker. Her way of cooking and baking was a very simple, down-home style but very delicious. I'm surprised that she never made snickerdoodles because they are a simple, old fashioned cookie. She must not have liked them. I know how that is, it's hard to get into baking something when you don't like it in the first place. 
Anyway, I've been researching snickerdoodle cupcake recipes and the consensus is the recipe from Martha Stewart is the go to recipe for these cupcakes. I'm going to give this recipe a whirl today. I have all the faith in the world that these will be delicious just because it is from Martha Stewart. 
I do have a home for all the cupcakes that I will baking today. They are going to Tuxie's Ice Cream and Sub Shop this evening. There is going to be a party there for the cast of Disney's Aladdin Kids showing at the Ashtabula County Arts Center.  My daughter Sarah used to be in most of the productions there from the time she was 12 years old up until she graduated high school. It was such a wonderful outlet for her. So much that she went on after graduation to Ashland University to earn a bachelor's degree in theater and now she is working on earning her master's in theater. The people that worked and donated there time to the cause of theater are wonderful. They had a part in shaping my daughters future. I will forever and fondly remember that time in our lives. Thank you Ashtabula Arts Center! Here is a link to the Ashtabula County Arts Center news: artscenternews.com Check it out!
As soon as I get the cupcakes finished I will post a picture of the final product. So, I'm off to start baking.....

Here it is! Snickerdoodle cupcake. The recipe for the snickerdoodle cake from Martha Stewart is excellent! I made a cinnamon butter cream for the icing and topped it off with a fresh baked snickerdoodle cookie.

I also made these this morning....German chocolate cupcakes

  

German Chocolate Cupcake

First time for me making German chocolate cake! I think they turned out great. The cake is moist, the cream cheese icing is so fluffy and the German chocolate icing is delicious. 

Boothbay Harbor, Maine Web Cam

My favorite picture taken near Boothbay Harbor .

http://boothbayharborwebcams.com/

Check out this link to the only place on earth to be at! ( besides, of course, Jefferson, Ohio) I woke up this morning thinking that this time last year my daughter and I were on the road driving to Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Man, would I love to be on the road today on my way there!

This year my family and I are going to try something new...we are still going to go to Maine but this time we are going to go around Christmas of this year. I know my family is all about going to Maine but the going around Christmas time I'm pretty sure they're not crazy about. It's the frigid cold weather that they are worried about. Let me tell you though, winter time in Maine only enhances all of the natural beauty that you are surrounded by there. It really is breathtaking. I personally love winter time. I don't like being cold but somehow everything else about winter makes up for freezing; the crisp cold air is so refreshing to breathe, the snow (I can't get enough of it), the stillness of a good snowfall is so serene. I could go on an on! My family and I will just have to wear lots and lots of layers and once they get there they will forget about being cold! Ya, right.

Yes, this a giant lobster statue sitting on top of the frozen water near Reid State Park in Maine.

This was taken at Reid State Park near Bathe, Maine. The temperature on this day was around 30 degrees. It wasn't too bad but the wind was crazy! We were both soooo cold we had to go the car and warm up and then we went back out into the tundra. I absolutely loved going to the beach this day. I think we spent a couple of hours there.

 

 

Cotton Candy Cupcakes

Cotton Candy Cupcake

I have been wondering how do I get a dome on my cupcakes every time I bake. So, I researched on line and most answers were to preheat your oven to 400 degrees, put your filled cupcake pans in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to the what your recipe tells you to the bake the cupcakes at. I couldn't wait to try this and I have an order for 1 dozen Cotton Candy Cupcakes so I had to try this theory this morning. It worked! (at least on this recipe) I will definitely keep trying this to see if it continues to work.
Any way, I got this recipe for Cotton Candy Cupcakes at: http://bakingdom.com/2011/07/honeydukes-candyfloss-cupcakes-and-an-awesome-harry-potter-giveaway.html 
This is a really nice recipe and a great idea to put the cotton candy into the batter. The cake turned out very moist, light and colorful. (you do have to put just a little pink food coloring in the batter  and just a tiny bit in the butter cream too.) I filled the cupcakes with marshmallow cream and topped it off with sugar sprinkles and cotton candy!

UPDATE: I learned to not put the cotton candy on top until just before serving...it kind of melts on the icing or put a sizable amount on top to allow for that.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies

This recipe for brownies is the best! I highly recommend making this one. The link to it is:  foodnetwork.com/recipes/peanut-butter-cookie-dough-brownies-recipe/index.html
This recipe is pretty much the only one that I make now.
Right now I am in the process of completing this batch....so, when I finish I will post a picture of the final product.

Well, I am done baking for the benefit! I managed to bake about 6 dozen cinnamon-nut rugelach cookies, about 4 dozen raspberry thumbprint cookies, about 3 dozen buckeye brownie bites, about 3 dozen peanut butter cookie dough brownie triangles and 2 1/2 dozen of banana split cupcakes. It took me about 8 to 9 hours total to complete all of that. Now for the fun part...packaging it all up! Seriously though, I really am looking forward to that. 

Every goody is packed and ready for auction.

Here it is....the final product- peanut butter cookie dough brownies. I opted to drizzle white chocolate on top rather than chopped nuts. And, I cut each square into half to make triangles. I think it looks nicer that way. See the layers; the bottom layer is chocolate brownie, then a layer of peanut butter cookie dough and on top of that is a layer of chocolate ganache. These are VERY rich! You want to cut these into small squares because of that.
 

Baking Today For A Cause...

My co-worker; my dear friend,  lost her husband to cancer almost two weeks ago. My friend and her family are having a benefit dinner, in her husbands name, this Saturday. She had asked me if I would donate baked goods and cupcakes to their auction at the benefit. I let her know that I would be more than happy to do that for her. Today I am off of work and I'm going to dedicate the entire day to baking rugelach cookies, raspberry thumbprint cookies and brownie buckeye bites. I'm going to try to make at least 4 dozen of each. Tomorrow after work I will be making a layered peanut butter cookie dough brownie and Saturday I will be making my banana split cupcakes.
I thought I had bought everything I needed for all of this baking...this morning I realized that I didn't have sour cream! I'm off to the store at 7 this morning to buy sour cream!