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.