MSC: Jumbo Cupcakes

This month for our Martha Stewart's Cupcakes challenge, Jess from Cookbook Habit chose the Jumbo Cupcakes on page 133.  And since this little guy was having a birthday, I decided to make them for him.

He is a big fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and I had some awesome Mickey Mouse sprinkles that I couldn't wait to decorate his cupcakes with.  I was super excited to make the Marshmallow Fluff filling, and I wasn't disappointed...it was so yummy.  I thought the cupcakes, however, were a little dry.  But it seems like a lot of the recipes that we have baked in this challenge have been dry.  I didn't want to leave the tops of the cupcakes without a nice mound of frosting, so I made my go-to buttercream frosting.  This made the cupcakes super rich.  The best part of the cupcakes were the filling.

Here are a few shots of the party we threw for Ryan in the park by my parent's house.

My brother Jeff and nephew Ryan.  Look at him eyeing that cupcake!

My amazing Mom with my nephew Owen

Easter Cupcakes 2010

Last year for Easter I made cookies and cupcakes. This year however, I was not so ambitious. I had some adorable decorations that I couldn't wait to use, like these made by Wilton.  I used Martha Stewart's Carrot Cupcake recipe from her Cupcakes book. This recipe is fabulous, and I love making them because they are so moist and have such a great flavor.

Alex and I went over to his grandparent's house for the day, and had a nice relaxing time.  I love lazy Sunday's with family.  I hope everyone had an amazing Easter with loved ones.

Giveaway WINNER!

Thanks to everyone who entered to win the Calphalon Angel Food Cake Pan.

Drumroll please....the winner is Margaret from Tea and Scones! I have posted a comment on your About Me section of your blog...I couldn't find an email address for you. Please email me within 48 hours with you mailing address so I can get your pan sent to you as soon as possible!

I'll select a new winner if I haven't heard from Margaret within 48 hours.

Congratulations Margaret!

Calphalon Angel Food Cake Pan and a GIVEAWAY!

On Friday, I made my first ever Angel Food Cake. I was a little nervous going into it, but I like to try new things. I found a recipe here on marthastewart.com.

The awesome folks over at CSNstores.com are the sponsors of Cinema Cupcakes' First Ever Giveaway! They literally have everything from cookware to barstools. I selected the Calphalon Angel Food Cake Pan found here to review and to give away to one of my readers.



So Martha's recipe specifically states NOT to spray the pan with cooking spray. And this made me incredibly nervous! But, I knew that Calphalon makes amazing products so I decided to roll with it. Even though my picture may not reflect it, this cake came out surprisingly easy. I think the reason I have some holes in the cake is because I didn't get all the air bubbles out before I baked it. More importantly, this cake tasted great. I was very pleased with the end result.



I dread doing dishes after I am done baking. I mean, really dread it. But this cake pan cleaned up very easily without having to soak or be scrubbed at all. It is dishwasher safe, but I opted to wash it by hand.

And now for the giveaway! To enter to win a Calphalon Angel Food Cake pan from CSNstores.com, leave me a comment below and let me know if you have ever made an Angel Food Cake and how it turned out. Be sure to leave a way for me to get a hold of you if you win. Entries will close at 11:59pm on Monday, March 22nd. I will select a winner using Random.org on Tuesday, March 23rd. Good luck!




FTC Disclaimer: I was given this product for review from CSNStores.com. I was not compensated for this review.

MSC: Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

This month for our Martha Stewart Cupcakes challenge, Megan from My Baking Adventures chose the Lemon Meringue cupcakes. I was very excited to try this recipe since it required me to step out of my baking "box" so to speak. Lemon Curd was something that I had never attempted before. The amount of eggs in this month's challenge was a little crazy. I think I went through about two dozen eggs between the cupcakes (4 eggs), the curd (8 egg yolks and two whole eggs), and the frosting (5 egg whites)!

I decided to make the lemon curd first since it needed to chill in the fridge for a few hours. I thought the actual process of making the curd was pretty simple. It was when I went to check on it a few hours later was when I realized that I had failed, the curd was still runny and had never firmed up. I was so disappointed! I took to my Facebook to rant about my failed lemon curd. My Wilton cake instructor, Dorothy, asked me what went wrong. She talked me through it, and it turns out I didn't cook it long enough. I'll have to give lemon curd another try...

On the other hand, I really enjoyed making the cake. I loved the fragrant smell of lemons while making them. I tried Martha's Seven Minute Frosting again, just to see if I would have better luck than I did last time. But no, they were exactly the same. I guess I figure when I put some much effort into making frosting I expect it to taste amazing, but this frosting is just kind of boring.

When it came time to toast the cupcakes, my husband Alex was more than willing to help me out:




The final results:




The verdict: I would make the cake for this recipe again. The frosting, heck no: I'm done with this frosting. I'll stick to my classic buttercream, thank you very much. And when I'm feeling ambitious (or when I have 8 egg yolks lying around), I'll try making Lemon Curd again.

Be sure and check out all of the other baker's results. You can see a list of all the other participating bakers here.

AND please stay tuned later today for a giveaway!!

Misty's Birthday Cupcakes...and a SURPRISE!

My co-worker and all around great television producer, Misty, had her birthday recently. Misty is probably one of my biggest cupcake fans. She even eats my cupcakes while she is on a diet, she is that dedicated! Deciding what to make for her birthday this year was so easy: Misty's favorite cake and frosting combination is white cake with white icing. I didn't even have to ask what she wanted this year. I grabbed my go-to cupcake recipe for white cake and got to work.

The end result was just as I expected, and just what Misty wanted! Yummy white cake with my classic buttercream frosting. The cupcakes were a great way to celebrate Misty's birthday, even though she had to work that day!



Now for the surprise......

Are you ready?

Coming soon....my very first blog GIVEAWAY! Who's excited?! THIS girl! I have been asked by the great folks over at CSNStores.com to host this giveaway. But, I'm not telling what it is yet, so stay tuned!

I'm off now to look for Alex and I some new barstools...I love this website! I could seriously spend hours looking at all of their stuff. Have a great weekend!

MSC: S'mores Cupcakes

I was excited to make these cupcakes from the start! I LOVE S'mores, so I thought they would be terrific in cupcake form.

Mary Ann of Meet Me In The Kitchen chose this month's Martha Stewart Cupcake challenge recipe.

Now, I know I said I was excited to make these cupcakes, but that doesn't mean I wasn't slightly intimidated by it. Chocolate ganache? I'd never made that. Marshmallow frosting? I'd never made that! Heck, unflavored gelatin...I'd never even BOUGHT that before! And graham flour, what the HECK is that?! But that is the point of this challenge: trying something new and different, and challenging oneself. :)

So I made my way to my favorite health food store in Denton, Cupboard Natural Foods, and bought me a package of graham flour. By the way, if you love dried papaya spears, this is THE place to buy them, they are the best!

Anyway, I'd been feeling a little under the weather, but decided that it wasn't going to keep me from making these cupcakes. I found the cupcakes very simple to make, and they smelled absolutely amazing while baking. I halved the recipe.

I also thought that the chocolate ganache glaze was fairly simple to make. It turned out smooth and glossy, just as I had imagined it would.

As for the frosting, well, I have decided that any frosting that requires preparation on the stove tends to be a little bit of a challenge for me. I think I just need more practice. After heating the water and sugar to the soft ball stage, I whisked it with the gelatin/water combo as instructed. I then put it in my stand mixer for the required amount of time. After five minutes on speed setting '6', nothing had happened. So I upped the speed to '10' and started to see some progress. But, I think I let it go for too long, because the frosting was difficult to pipe onto my cupcakes in the end. But that's okay, now I know to up the speed.

Here they are:




I haven't actually tried these yet. I'm a little nervous that they won't be good! And, I was too stuffed from last night's Valentine's Day dinner to even consider eating one of these! My co-workers will be arriving soon, and they are my usual guinea pigs. I'll update when I have some opinions from them.

On a completely random note, look at what my awesome mother-in-law got for me:

It's a t-shirt! She got it from cafepress.com. So cute!

Be sure to check out everyone else's baking experiences! Our blog roll can be found at our MSC Cupcake Challenge website. Have a great day everyone!

UPDATE: I tried one and enjoyed the flavor of the cake very much, just like graham crackers. Since I made my frosting last night, it had turned into an actual marshmallow overnight! I thought it was pretty cool!!! And the ganache had a great flavor. I would definitely make these again, and apply the things I have learned.