Couples Shower Cupcakes

One of my oldest friends, Cyle, is getting married in November and I am so excited for him. His bride, Julie, is so much fun to be around and I'm so excited for her to join our group. Last weekend, Julie's sister Lindsey hosted a Couples Shower for the bride and groom. Of course I wanted to make the cupcakes!

My Mom recently gave me a new Cricut Cake and I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. I made Margarita Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese frosting. Then I made a couple dozen of these cupcake toppers:

The "c" is for Caplinger, the bride's new last name.

Here is the happy couple with their cupcakes:

Practicing for their big day!

On a side note, here are their gifts that I decorated with my regular Cricut:

The shower was a huge success!

MSC: Triple Citrus Cupcakes

For the month of August, Marthe from Culinary Delights chose the Triple Citrus Cupcakes from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. I saw Martha make these on her TV show quite some time ago and I remember being shocked at the amount of butter in these bad boys. But hey, at least you are getting some vitamin C! :)

These were very simple to make. I used key limes instead of regular limes, and they turned out great. I liked the fresh taste of these cupcakes, but I could definitely taste the egg in them. I halved the recipe, and even with the recipe halved, it still required 4 and a half eggs!

Alex and I went over to his grandparents' house today, and these cupcakes were perfect. Alex's grandfather is a big fan of anything orange flavored.

The book recommended that these cupcakes be served the day they are topped with the glaze, and that is most certainly the case. Overall these were a good pick, especially in comparison to my failures from the last couple of months. Check back next month...we are making the Cookies and Cream cupcakes. These sound amazing!

Margarita Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting for my Sister-in-Law Shannon!

This week, my brother Jeff, his wife Shannon, and their son Ryan, came to visit Texas. They live far, far away in a land called Virginia. :)

Shannon's family and our family all met up for dinner at a Anamia's Mexican Restaurant. I thought Margarita cupcakes would be fitting for the cuisine.

No embellishments, I kept it simple this time.


Here is a great shot of my nephew chowing down on his cupcake. It is also a great shot of my sister-in-law, Shannon.


Unfortunately, the whole clan was feeling a bit under the weather on their visit, but we still had a good time taking it easy around my parent's house.

Coconut Key Lime Cake

I had some key limes leftover from a previous project (see Cyle's Graduation Cupcakes below), and I had seen this recipe on Smitten Kitchen's blog so I decided to have a go at it.



After I cut a piece for myself....


That evening, I had plans to meet my sister-in-law Shannon and my friend Brooke for frozen yogurt at Yogurtville. I cut them a few slices and boxed them in my pretty Martha Stewart food gift boxes. I think they were pleasantly surprised by the cake. :)

Cyle's Graduation Cupcakes

One of my oldest friends, Cyle, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin on May 15th. In honor of his big day, I decided to make cupcakes (big surprise, I know!). When I asked him what kind he wanted, it was definitely a new request for me. Cyle wanted Chocolate cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese frosting. He asked me if I had ever made that kind of cupcake, and I told him that I had made them separately, but never together. But, I'm always up for a cupcake challenge...and here is the result:

A close-up...






I saw this idea on another cupcake blog, and decided to give it a try. I made little flags to go in each of the cupcakes. My picture turned out kinda blurry, though. They say, "Congrats Cyle!" on them, in UT orange.


Here is the graduate with his cupcakes....I may have caught him off guard in this pic.....


For being such an odd combination, these were very good together. But most importantly, Cyle loved them.

Here's the recipe from Wilton.com
* 2 cups (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips divided
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 3 eggs
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups water

Makes: Cake serves 12.
Chocolate-Chocolate Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray pan with vegetable pan spray. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips and butter together either in microwave oven or on top of range over low heat. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Pour into electric mixer bowl. Add sugar; beat until well blended. Beat in eggs, one at time. Add vanilla. Stir in 1/2 cup flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Add remaining flour and water; mix until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 40-45 minutes or until cake tests done. Place pan on cooling rack. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup chocolate chips over cake; let stand 2-3 minutes or until chips have softened. Gently spread melted chocolate over top of cake. Cool completely in pan before covering.

And for the frosting, also from Wilton.com:
* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter softened
* 8 ounces cream cheese softened
* 2 tablespoons key lime juice
* 1 teaspoon key lime zest or lemon zest
* 4-5 cups confectioners' sugar

Makes: About 3 cups.

In large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, juice and zest with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add 4 cups confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time; continue beating until light and fluffy. If icing is too thin add additional confectioners' sugar 1 tablespoon at a time.

Lime Meltaway Cookies

I had some limes in the fridge that were begging to be baked with, so I found this recipe in my Martha Stewart Cookie book. They actually DID melt in your mouth.



I took them to work the next day for my co-workers to enjoy. If you want the recipe, let me know and I'll email it to you. :)

Margarita Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

Alex's grandmother Carol's birthday was a few weeks ago. In fact, she has the same birthday as my sister-in-law, Shannon. Luckily this year, Carol's birthday fell on a Saturday. Alex's grandfather, Stan, arranged for an open house all day long so people could just drop by and say 'Happy Birthday!' whenever they could. Carol is a BIG fan of margaritas, so I figured Margarita cupcakes would be perfect for her big day.

This cupcake tree was a wedding present from my neighbors back in Denton, Ward and Patsy Merriman...I am definitely putting it to good use!


Alex did all the key lime accents on the cupcakes. He spend a lot of time meticulously putting these itty bitty key limes on the cupcakes. He did a fabulous job.


I found these cupcake liners at Target. Of course they are made by Wilton, they seem to have the best cupcake liners in terms of design and they are easy to find. I see cupcake liners all the time (mostly online or in books) that I think are beautiful, but can never find them!


Here is the birthday girl. It was great to see so many of Alex's family members all in one place. Birthdays and celebrations are always a good time with Alex's family!!