pumpkin juice

Harry Potter is back! Pumpkin juice cupcakes, anyone? I went back and forth between pumpkin juice while reading the books. Sometimes it sounded delicious and sometimes it sounded totally gross. But as a cupcake? 100% delicious!

For these cupcakes I used the same yummy frosting from Your Cup of Cake that I did on my peach cupcakes. It was perfectly light, and it made a really great pairing with the cupcakes!

Pumpkin Juice Cupcakes:
1 box yellow cake mix
3/4 cup pumpkin
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup water
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
orange food coloring (optional)

curiouser and curiouser

"Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop." -Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland

There really is not much to say about these cupcakes. They are simple and delicious. Start out with a spice cake, end with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Together they make such a lovely cupcake.

The decorating was very easy. I just printed off the text box that said "eat me," cut it out, taped it on a toothpick and stabbed it into the cupcake.

Spice Cake:
Spice cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk all ingredients together and fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Put cupcakes in the oven and reduce heat to 325 - this will help your cupcakes get a nice round top (at least, it did this once. -I will continue to experiment to see if it works every time). Bake 20-25 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 stick butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
pinch salt
2 lb powdered sugar
4 tbsp milk
1 tsp cinnamon
white food coloring - *optional*

Cream together butter, cream cheese, and pinch of salt. Add one cup powdered sugar. Once incorporated, add another cup. Add 1 tablespoon of milk. Continue to add powdered sugar and milk alternately. Mix in cinnamon at the end.

At this point I added some white food coloring to brighten up the frosting.

you're going to want a glass of milk

If you give a mouse a cookie...

I'm going to turn it into a cupcake!

For these cupcakes, I just mixed up a golden vanilla cake mix, scooped it into my liners, then sprinkled mini chocolate chips over the top.

Then I made some delicious cream cheese cookie dough frosting. I spread it on the cupcakes, then rolled it in cookie chunks.

Super yummy!

While I was taking pictures, my cute girl said, "Wanna take a picture of ME?" So, of course, I had to. :)

Cream Cheese Cookie Dough Frosting:
1 stick butter
8 oz cream cheese
pinch salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups (approx.) powdered sugar
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Beat together butter, cream cheese, and salt. Add in brown sugar, flour, and vanilla. Add in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix in chocolate chips.

particular sadness

I read a book a few months ago called The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. I had read the synopsis on goodreads and thought it sounded really interesting and fun - someone who can taste emotions in food? What a cool idea. Unfortunately, I didn't like the book at all. It was really depressing, and the end was too strange for me. And it's hard to find something too strange for me...but this book did it.

Despite the fact that I didn't like the book, there was a part of the book where Rose's (the main character) mom makes her a lemon cake with chocolate frosting for her birthday. I've seen a few lemon/chocolate recipes before, and the combination just seemed weird to me. But I decided to give it a try anyway. It was really yummy!

Lemon Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting:
Lemon cake mix and ingredients needed to prepare according to back of box

1 stick butter, softened
pinch of salt
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4-5 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla

Prepare cake mix according to directions on box.

In a stand mixer, beat butter and salt until butter is loosened up. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and beat on low. Add one tablespoon of milk. Add cocoa and remaining powdered sugar. Beat in two more tablespoons milk and vanilla. If needed, add another tablespoon or two of milk.

timey limey

Any Doctor Who fans out there? Any? I sure hope so! Because if you don't like Doctor Who, we can't be friends.

Okay, okay. Just kidding. I will still be your friend. But I will continue to tell you how amazing Doctor Who is. All the time. Are you ready for that? Let's go.

The good news is, you don't have to be a fan of Doctor Who to loooooove these cupcakes!

I am still experimenting with making my own recipes, but for these cupcakes I went with the tried and true. My favorite cupcake blog ever - of all time in all creation - is Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. She makes the most beautiful cupcakes I have ever seen. And, to be fair, she makes other things, too. Not just cupcakes. I have made a TON of her recipes, and I have loved every single one. Never been disappointed by anything I've ever tried from her.

So when my brother came up with the idea for "Wibbly Wobbly Timey Limey" cupcakes for Doctor Who, I went straight to Kristan's Key Lime Cupcakes. And they were DELICIOUS! I especially loved the frosting!

Doctor Who explains time like this: "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly...timey wimey...stuff."

But don't take it from me. Listen to the Doctor as played by David Tennant (this clip is five minutes long, but if you want the timey wimey part, skip to 1:19):



So, Doctor Who fans, make these for your next Doctor Who viewing party. Or just for fun. And non Doctor Who fans, make these, because they are delicious!

deathly hallows

It's been quite a week. And these cupcakes, adorable as they are, did not make it any better! I had hoped to make a deliciously decadent cheesecake frosting, and it did not turn out. At all. It was like melted ice cream. And I'm still not sure what I did wrong. So I had to pull out the only not expired can of frosting that I had on my shelves.

Then, when I ate the actual cupcakes, the cake was dry. Which was most likely my fault, because I don't believe in timing when I bake. I just check on my cakes a lot. So...they would probably have been delicious if I had timed it right.

In spite of all that, though, the cupcakes turned out to be pretty awesome looking! And I will work on my cake recipe until it's moist and delicious, and THEN I'll share it with you! For now, though - to make Deathly Hallows decorations for your cupcakes, melt some chocolate chips in a squeeze bottle, then squeeze out your shapes! Wait until cool & hardened, then place on top of your frosted cupcakes.

always very curious

Disclaimer: I. Hate. Bananas.

Hey, guess what? I made you some banana cupcakes!

Hahaha.

No, seriously. I did.

Do you know what I thought about them? I hated them.

BUT! Don't stop there! If I counted right, ten out of eleven of my in-laws loved them! #11 was my nephew who also hates bananas. So, with that acceptance, I decided to go ahead and post the recipe for my banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting.

The peanut butter frosting was DIVINE, by the way. Delicious and delectable!

And do you know who likes bananas? Curious George. And you should always go with the monkey.

Sorry for the pictures. They weren't super pretty, and I was really tired...so this is whatcha get!

Banana Cupcakes:

Yellow Cake Mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup water

3 bananas, well mashed

Mix all ingredients. Scoop into cupcake liners. Bake at 350 for 12-17 minutes. Cool completely.

Crunchy Peanut Butter Frosting:

1 stick butter

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

2(ish) tablespoons milk

4(ish) cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

banana runts for decoration (optional)

Whip together butter and peanut butter. On slow, mix in one cup powdered sugar, then another cup. Add milk and vanilla. Then mix in last 2 cups of powdered sugar. Adjust consistency with more powdered sugar or milk as needed.

bruce bogtrotter

Do I even need to explain the title of this post? Chocolate chocolate cupcakes, here we come!

I had book group earlier this week, and we discussed the book The Chocolate War (I wouldn't recommend it - sorry Audrey!). Since the book was (kind of) about chocolate, we each brought a chocolate dessert to share. So obviously I made cupcakes. I also realize that, since we read The Chocolate War, these cupcakes should be for that book. But I borderline hated it. So I am tipping my hat to Matilda instead. Why not?

I love that these cupcakes were super easy to make. All I did was use a dark chocolate cake mix (Duncan Hines) and make whipped dark chocolate ganache for the frosting. They were super yummy!

I also just realized that all of the pictures that turned out looking good for this cupcake are pretty much exactly the same picture. Oops!


Whipped Ganache Frosting:
9 ounces dark chocolate
1 cup heavy cream

In a double boiler (or, you know, a bowl over a pot of simmering water), melt the chocolate chips. Stir in cream until combined well. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour into a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes (I used a Wilton 1M tip).

blackberry

My mother has a blackberry patch in her garden. If you've never had fresh blackberries, you are missing out. They are delicious! So when she called to ask if I wanted any, I drove right over to get some.

Peter Rabbit is a magical story, isn't it? That sneaky little rabbit. I was always worried that he would be caught by Mr. McGregor, and always equally relieved when he got away. Too bad he didn't get to eat blackberries and milk with Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail! You missed out, Peter. You missed out big time!

White Cupcakes (makes 12):
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together dry ingredients. Add butter and mix until sand-like. Add eggs. Add milk and extracts. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Blackberry Frosting:
1 pint blackberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup butter
pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place your blackberries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. The berries will start to produce liquid like crazy! You'll want about 1/4 cup of juice from them, so as soon as you have that you're good to go!

In a stand mixer, combine butter and salt. Add vanilla. Mix in a cup of powdered sugar. Pour in your blackberry juice and mix to combine. Add another cup of powdered sugar and mix. Continue adding more powdered sugar until your frosting reaches the desired thickness. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes (I used a Wilton 1M tip and piped from the center swirling out to create the rose look).

james and the giant peach

Confession: I am not a big fan of peaches. But you can't make cupcakes based on books and just skip James and the Giant Peach. I mean, really? That's got to be one of the best ideas! So I swallowed my aversion to the fruit and baked these up for you. Actually, I made them for my in-laws, but you get the picture.

I used the peach cupcake recipe from Indulge, and the delicious cream cheese whipped cream frosting recipe from Your Cup of Cake. This frosting is my new favorite! I don't know if I'll ever be able to make another kind of frosting ever again! It was extremely light, so even though it was piled up on top, you didn't feel like there was too much of it. It was so, so yummy! Life-changing even. I colored half the frosting a light orange, but apparently I should have done it darker. You can barely tell in the pictures. I'll do better next time!

These cupcakes were a big hit at Sunday dinner with the in-laws. Most people ate more than one, and my brother-in-law declared them "blog-approved." I'm so glad they're willing to be my taste-testers!

chocolate frogs

I've officially decided that it's okay to post a whole bunch of Harry Potter themed cupcakes at the beginning of my new blog, because it's July. And we all know what July is, right? Oh...you thought it was about celebrating America? Well...okay. Maybe a little bit. But let's be honest. July is Harry Potter month! So to celebrate dear Harry's birthday today, we're going to eat up some delicious chocolate frog cupcakes.

I have to say, chocolate frogs were one of the very few things that I liked better in the movies than the books. They just made them so magical and fun! "They've only got one good jump in them." Oh, Ronald Weasley. You silly boy.

Anyway, these happened. And they're pretty much adorable. If I ever make them again, though, I might invest in a smaller frog mold. These frogs were a little too big. I mean, they looked awesome, but that's a big chunk o' chocolate to try and eat. And then there is still a cupcake after that! Wow. Chocolate overload! But if you're interested, this is the mold I have now.

But overall, they were delicious! Chocolate fudge cake, chocolate cream cheese frosting, and that huge chocolate frog squatting on top. They were super easy to make, and super yummy to eat. You can't beat that!

Happy birthday, Harry!

Chocolate Fudge Cake:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. Fill cupcake liners 2/3-3/4 full and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool completely.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 stick butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4-6 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, cream cheese and salt. Add vanilla and cocoa powder and mix until combined. Add about half the powdered sugar and mix. Mix in the milk. Then add the rest of your powdered sugar, adjusting consistency with more milk or powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

everlasting gobstopper

So, two of my favorite blogs, Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Cookies and Cups are hosting a recipe contest! The idea was to take one of their recipes and put a spin on it. So I chose Kristan's Rainbow Nerds Cupcakes and decided to turn them in to Gobstopper cupcakes. Because I'm a cupcake person, and Kristan's cupcakes were bee-YOU-ti-ful! And also, the whole Gobstopper thing totally fits my whole blog idea. You know? Cupcakes from books/movies? Because who doesn't love a little Willy Wonka now and then?

As soon as I chose to do Gobstopper cupcakes, I knew exactly how I wanted them to turn out. I knew they needed layers of color (like a Gobstopper), but hidden layers of color. Like, how you look at a Gobstopper, and it just looks red. But then you suck on it for awhile, and BOOM! It's orange. And then BOOM! It's green. Holy. Cow. That is so cool. I've always loved that about Gobstoppers.

Even though I knew how I wanted them to look, I was a little worried about actually making them turn out that way. But guess what? They turned out SO GREAT! I was so happy! I wanted to run around my neighborhood, shove my cupcakes in peoples faces and say, "Look! Look how awesome they are!"

But I didn't. Because even though I'm crazy, I don't like to let people know I'm crazy.

So instead I just took a picture on my phone and sent it to my husband. A quick thank you to him for responding with the proper enthusiasm. :)

So, here are my Gobstopper cupcakes in all their gloriousness! Please love them. And please send your luck my way. Because ohmyGOSH I want to win that beautiful crystal blue KitchenAid!

Gobstopper Cupcakes (*adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen):
White cake mix
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs
Red, green and yellow food color

Mix all ingredients except food coloring. Separate into three bowls and add colors. Spoon some of each color into liners. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

Cool completely.

Frosting:
2 sticks butter, softened
pinch salt
2 lb bag powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk (honestly, though, I didn't measure - you may need more)
1/2 cup gobstoppers
1/4 teaspoon strawberry extract
Purple, orange, and red gel color
additional gobstoppers for garnish

In the bowl of a mixer, beat butter and pinch of salt until smooth. Add powdered sugar and milk alternately until your frosting reaches desired consistency. Put gobstoppers in a blender, and pulverize into a powder. Add 4-6 tablespoons to your frosting. Make sure you taste as you add, and stop adding when the flavor is good for you. Mix in strawberry extract.

Divide frosting into three bowls and add coloring to each (I used red and blue for my purple, because I didn't have purple...) Spoon into three separate piping bags fitted with round tips (I used Wilton tip 12). Pipe on a small mound of one color. Take a second color, and swirl over first until completely covered. Then swirl your final color over that second color. Smooth top layer with a knife until the swirl lines aren't visible. Top with a gobstopper.

*I am entering this Gobstopper Cupcake in the Creative Recipe Contest hosted by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Cookies and Cups!*

fizzing whizbees

Another Harry Potter cupcake! Hooray!

So a few years ago...like maybe between 2005 and 2007...my brother was serving an LDS mission in Louisiana. We would write letters back and forth, and these letters often contained our very own Harry Potter illustrations.

I give you Exhibit A:

My brother drew this. Isn't it awesome? For those who can't tell (because it took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure out), those fireworks are spelling "poop." Just like in the book. It happens - don't try to tell me it doesn't!

Anyway, I remember reading about fizzing whizbees in Harry Potter, and I immediately knew that they would be like Zots. Turns out they are really large sherbet balls that make you float when you suck on them. What!? I think Zots are a better candy. I mean FIZZING whizbees? Seriously - Zots. C'mon people. There's no other option.

These cupcakes were an experiment, and according to my two test subjects (aka my friends), they were yummy. So HOORAY! I get to share the recipe with you. And - BONUS! - it's super simple! Hope you enjoy them!

Fizzing Whizbee Cupcakes:
1 white cake mix, plus ingredients needed to prepare as indicated on the back of the box
1 packet strawberry Kool-Aid powder

Mix it all together, pop them in at 350 for 12-17 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

For the frosting, I tried out Duncan Hines Frosting Creations. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's pretty much a can of (vanilla?) frosting, then you can by a variety of flavored mix-in powders. I'd seen them in the store, and I'd been curious whether or not they tasted good. So when I was at Target a few weeks ago and saw that both the frosting and the flavor add-ins were on clearance, I went ahead and picked some up. For this cupcake I went for the strawberry shortcake flavor. I added in an extra cup of powdered sugar to stiffen it up a little, because it was really soft. It turned out okay, but I think I'll stick with homemade frosting from now on... :)

oculus reparo

So, we've already established my love for Harry Potter. You know - how I made fun of the books before ever reading them? Well, let me tell you about my second exposure to Harry.

It was Christmas. Probably the same year that I made fun of the books. My grandmother sent us a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. My family gathered in the living room and my mom read us the first chapter. Magic, people. Magic. I remember the feeling I had when Dumbledore pulled out his fabulous put-outer, when the cat turned into a person... I have always wished I could experience Harry Potter for the first time again.

We were supposed to read the whole book as a family, but my siblings and I kept sneaking into my mom's room, stealing the book and reading ahead.

Worth it.

Well, nothing says Harry Potter like round, taped up glasses and a lightning bolt scar. Let's face it - one would hardly recognize him without them.

I have been wanting to make these cupcakes for years, but I have been extremely nervous. I mean, it's super easy for things to go wrong. The tiny little chocolate glasses and lightning scars could break so easily. In fact, they might not even look good in the first place.

Well, the cupcakes turned out awesome! The pictures, unfortunately, didn't do them justice. So just trust me. They look great! :)

So here's how you do it. Draw (many, many, many) pairs of glasses until you make an acceptable-looking one. Then, put some wax paper over the drawing and melt some chocolate chips. Pour that chocolate into a Ziploc bag and cut the tiniest bit of the corner off. Trace the glasses with the chocolate.

Then you'll have to melt (just a tiny bit) of white chocolate. Ziploc it, cut the tiny corner off, and squeeze it onto the bridge of your glasses for the tape.

Finally, melt some yellow candy melts (again, just a little bit) and squeeze out some cute little lightning bolts.

After they all harden up, you can put them on your frosted cupcakes!

creamsicle

Well, this isn't from a book or movie, but it's the perfect cupcake for summer!

Orange cream popsicles are my favorite! When I was in my last trimester of pregnancy with my daughter, I ate boxes and boxes of orange cream popsicles. They're delicious; no question. And let me tell you something - they're equally as delicious in cupcake form!

I made them mini-sized, but you can obviously also be made normal-sized. I liked them as minis, though, because then you could take them by the stick, peel off the wrapper, and just pop them into your mouth.

Orange Cream Cupcakes:
White cake mix
1 can orange soda

Mix the soda with the cake mix - no eggs, oil, or water necessary. Fill cupcake liners and bake at 350 for 10-20 minutes. Cupcakes should be set, but will be sticky. Cool completely

Frosting:
8 oz container cool whip, thawed
1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
3/4 cup milk
orange extract
orange gel color

In a stand mixer, beat cool whip, pudding mix and milk together. Add a few drops of orange extract (check for flavor) and orange coloring. Mix until combined and smooth. Pipe onto cupcakes. Top with a popsicle stick, if desired.

florean fortescue

Confession: I always have and always will be obsessed with Harry Potter. I cannot wait until the day my daughter is old enough that I can introduce her to the magic of Hogwarts - the moving pictures, the ghosts, the magical candy, the spells...

I remember my first exposure to Harry Potter. I was probably in fifth grade, and I was in my elementary school library. One of my best friends came up to me and showed me the title of the chapter she was reading in her book. It was Platform 9 3/4. Do you know what I told her? I'm ashamed to admit it. I said, "What a weird book. Why would you read that?"

Looking back, I hang my head in shame. I am horrified that I ever scoffed at Harry Potter. Please, Harry, please - accept my heartfelt apology.

After finally giving the books a chance, I knew that a part of me would always live in Harry's world. One of the place's I've always wanted to visit is Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley. Can you imagine how delicious that ice cream would taste? Sigh...

So the first post on my blog is dedicated to Harry Potter and his favorite summer study spot before his third year at Hogwarts.

To make these cupcakes, I just baked some cupcakes - any flavor will do - and frosted them with cream cheese frosting. I colored a little bit of the frosting pink and a little bit brown. Then I picked out the five biggest, prettiest cupcakes and swirled on the frosting with a Wilton 12 tip. After swirling it on, I didn't feel like it looked like ice cream. So I kind of dragged the tip through, swirling again, but not squeezing any frosting out. It gave the frosting more of a scooped look instead of a swirled look. Make sense?

Then I arranged them with the cone on the board (cardboard covered with wrapping paper) and added the little swirls in between the scoops. Topped with sprinkles, crushed nuts, crushed Oreos, sprinkles and mini chocolate chips.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick butter, softened

8 oz block cream cheese, softened

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla

powdered sugar (2-4 cups)

heavy cream (a few tablespoons)

Beat the butter with the pinch of salt to loosen it up a bit. Add in the cream cheese and beat some more. Add vanilla and mix away. Add in some powdered sugar. When it starts getting thick, drizzle in some cream. Keep it up, alternating powdered sugar and cream, until your frosting reaches the desired consistency and flavor.