Taylor Swift decorated cupcakes!!

In honor of my (arguably slightly creepy) adoration of Taylor Swift and the recent concert I attended in Pittsburgh, I decided to make Taylor Swift decorated cupcakes.

The cupcakes were inspired by her most recent album "Speak Now". I admit that being 29 years old and being starstruck by Taylor Swift is slightly odd but A.) I can't help it B.) I am ecstatic that my nieces have a positive role model to look up to. I feel much better when they are running around singing "Love Story" instead of Katy Perry's "Let me see your pea

cock cock cock" (yes, they have sung this out loud in public). If you haven't had a chance to see a concert of hers, I would highly recommend forking out the dough for a ticket. It really was such an amazing concert. Taylor is stunning in person and despite her mishaps in a few music award shows where she sounded less than ideal live, she sang flawlessly. The concert was very theatrical with multiple costume changes, acrobatics and play-like skits for specific songs. Here is a shot from the sold out concert in Pittsburgh:

So anyway, the cupcakes were a huge hit with my boyfriend, nieces and sister. I made the decorations using ready-made fondant from Michaels. I have done fondant before but I was too lazy to make it myself. I was also too lazy to make mycupcakes from scratch so I used Pillsbury White Cake mix and Pillsbury Vanilla frosting. The tie-dye appearance was really cool if I do say so myself :). Enjoy!

taylor swift cupcakes.

1. Mix cupcake batter according to box directions. Any type of white cupcake batter will work.

2. Separate into 3 sections in separate bowls.

3. In one bowl add the desired amount of pink dye, in another bowl add the desired amount of purple dye, and leave the third bowl plain batter with no dye.

4. Add one spoonful of white batter to each cupcake paper.

5. Add one spoonful of purple batter on top of the white bat

ter (see below).

6. Add one spoonful of pink batter on top of the purple batter (see below).

7. Swirl the 3 colors together with a toothpick.

8. Thats it! Now just bake according to directions on the box and adore your beautiful results.

9. So from here out, you are on your own. I just used premade frosting from Pillsbury and added some food color. I also dyed the fondant and cut out fondant shapes using cookie cutters or my own non-artistic ability to cut out the numbers and letters.

Black Bottom - Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cupcakes and Happy Birthday Mom!

So I finally had another free weekend where I've actually had a chance to bake something. I actually spent more time trying to figure out what I want to bake then I actually did baking. My baking time is so scarce these days that I end up wanting to bake everything that I see. As this weekend happened to land on my Mom's birthday, I geared my choice to her taste and ended up with Black Bottom cupcakes. I was really stoked about the way these ended up. They aren't very sweet, not the way you would imagine a chocolate cupcake and while it took me a hot second to get used to, I'm glad I didn't add more sugar because I think these are actually my favorite chocolate cupcakes. I used dark chocolate cocoa instead of dutch processed and I cut out some of the sugar. If you like your cupcakes sweet, I would actually add a little more sugar in addition to what I cut out. As an added bonus, they were surprisingly simple to make and of course, they were a huge hit with the fam.

Enjoy!







black bottom cupcakes: Adapted from Baking Bites

cream cheese filling.
16-oz cream cheese, room temperature (I used 1/3 less fat)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 large egg whites, room temperature
2 tbsp sour cream, room temperature (I used low fat)
1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips

chocolate cupcake.
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I used Hershey's dark chocolate cocoa)
1 1/4 cups sugar (I only used 1 cup here. Again, you might want to add more if you prefer sweeter cake)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream (low fat)
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
(You know what's awesome? No eggs! Not that i have an issue with eggs but I'm pretty sure that is why these cupcakes were so dense and delicious)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

To make cream cheese filling:
2. Beat together cream cheese, sugar and salt until smooth.
3. Beat in egg whites and sour cream.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and set aside.

To make cupcakes:
5. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, salt, flour, cocoa powder and baking soda.
6. Make a well in the center and add in sour cream, water, butter and vanilla.
7. Stir together until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.

8.Divide cake batter evenly among 24 cupcake liners.
9. Top each portion of batter with 1 rounded tablespoon cream cheese mixture (It is ok to have a little left over).
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the side (cake only part) should come out with a few moist crumbs on it. **Rotate pans halfway through baking if you are using two racks.
11. Cool in pans for 5 minutes.** Cream cheese filling should sink slightly in this time.
12. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Cotton Candy Cupcakes

Carnivals. Ferris Wheels. Funnel Cakes. Cotton Candy. Cupcakes.  Oh yea. Thats right, I said it...cotton candy cupcakes.  In celebration of summer and to cherish my last week of freedom until school is going to take over my life, I created this fabulous cotton candy cupcake.  Okay, I didn't really create it but sort of.  When my mom and I were on our road trip to Alabama, we stopped at for every possible reason you could imagine.  One of those stops was a Krogers and I found Jelly Belly pudding flavors, one of those being Cotton Candy.  What a fabulous idea.  Whoever thought of cotton candy pudding, thank you.  I think I love you.  The recipe is about as simple as can be but they look and taste fabulous.  They kind of make me happy just looking at them. Here's what you do:

1.) Take a strawberry cake mix, follow instructions on the box for cupcakes. I used Duncan Hines.  I got 23 cupcakes.  Let them cool.

2.) Using the cone method (check out my blueberries and cream cupcake post to see the method) fill the strawberry cupcakes with about a tablespoon of pudding each.  Put the tops back on.

3.) Frost with whipped icing.  I used jarred icing because I was lazy.  I used the whipped kind which turned out perfect because its not as sweet as regular frosting.

4.) Decorate them pretty.

Cupcakes! Chocolate and Vanilla Root Beer Float Cupcakes, AKA Black and Brown Cows

I never thought I'd be saying this, but I love going back to my hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania for of course my family, but also because it is so so cheap compared to D.C.  I'm talking about groceries here (um...and food and clothes taxes and rent).  We have discount grocery stores that have the most random things, like for example, these cute little white, brown and black cow sprinkles.  I immediately had to have them when I saw them and the first thing I thought of was black and brown cows.  Now, I'm not THAT old but black and brown cows were simply root beer floats with either vanilla or chocolate ice cream and I think the name originated in the 60s or 70s.  Okay, I'm kind of making that up but I first heard it called that in the movie 'Now and Then' (love that movie) which was set back in 1970.  Regardless, if we can have chocolate and vanilla root beer floats, then of course we can have chocolate and vanilla rootbeer cupcakes.

Hence, I bring you Black and Brown Cow Cupcakes; idea by me, sort of.

Root Beer Cupcakes (This came from my 'Baked' book's Root Beer Bundt Cake recipe)*
(makes 24 cupcakes)

2 cups root beer (not diet!)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Fill cupcake pan(s) with liners.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted.  Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved.  Remove from heat and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together. 
4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into the cooled cocoa mixture until combined. 
5. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture*.  The mixture will be slightly lumpy - do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a small, sharp knife comes out clean.  
8. Let cool completely before frosting.

*I don't really think this tasted like root beer at all.  However; the consensus among my friends was that you could taste a hint of root beer.  I could be bias because  I was eating cake batter and drinking root beer and then tasting the cupcakes but I didn't taste root beer at all, but I will say, I think this is my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe from now on.  The cupcakes were really moist and the chocolate flavor was really rich. 

Whipped Cream Filling (more like pastry cream):
2 teaspoon warm water
dash of salt
1 3/4 cups marshmallow fluff
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup confectioners sugar*

2 teaspoon warm water
a couple dashes of salt

1. Beat first 4 ingredients together with a stand or electric mixer until fluffy
2. Dissolve salt in warm water and add to marshmallow mixture**
3. Beat on high speed about 1 minute longer

* I'm really sorry but I'm not actually positive it was 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  I just kept adding it until I thought the texture/taste was right.  I start with about 1/2 cup, maybe a little less. Beat, add the salt mixture and then add more sugar if needed. 
**Make sure to add only had 1 or 2 dashes of salt.  I put too much salt in the first time and it tasted horrible so I had to remake it.  

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (from How to Eat a Cupcake)- recipe halved
1 cup shortening
4 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons vanilla
3 fluid ounces heavy cream

1. Cream shortening until fluffy.
2. Add confectioners sugar and cream until blended.
3. Add salt, vanilla, and cream.  Beat on low speed until moistened.  Add additional cream until desired consistency if necessary.
4. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

I did something wrong when I made this frosting. I'm not sure what though (LOL).  It was too heavy or something because when I piped it onto the cupcake, it just collapsed and ran down the sides; but when I made it again (below) with the chocolate, it turned out great.  I must have just not been paying attention or zoning out or something.  Anyway, I ended up throwing away the vanilla frosted cupcakes (all except 2), they tasted good but were a huge mess.

Chocolate Butter Cream*
*I just created the recipe above, again.  But I replaced 1/3 cup of confectioners sugar with 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa.

Overall, I really liked the concept here, however; it didn't turn out quite the way I imagined...which was these beautiful chocolate and vanilla frosted cupcakes that tasted exactly like root beer floats and looked amazingly cute with the little cow sprinkles.  They moreso just tasted like chocolate cupcakes with frosting and cream filled centers. And by the time I got them to my friend's house in Fredricksburg, they icing had melted and was dripping down the sides of the cupcake papers. My friends enjoyed them, however; they said they were ridiculously sweet and one "passed out on the car ride home from being in a sugar coma". Hahaha. For what they turned out to be, it was a lot of work and I probably won't make these ever again.  So how now brown cow?

blueberries and cream cupcakes.

So, I've had 2 bags of frozen blueberries in my freezer for the past couple of months and I am determined to get them out of there. I think my original intent was to make smoothies and then I realized that I don't really like blueberry smoothies...so what better way to use them than to make cupcakes?! I adapted this recipe from howtoeatacupcake.net. Her site is amazing by the way, check it out if you haven't already. My idea for the 'cream' in these cupcakes, believe it or not came from Strawberry Shortcake. My mom made it for Easter last night and it got me thinking about that doll from the 80's, you know, the tv show and those cute little dolls where their hair supposedly smelled like their names? Ah, the joys of being a child of the 80's.

Okay, I just checked and the name is actually Blueberry Muffin, I thought her friend's name was Blueberries and Cream so my idea came from a figment of my imagination, neat. Anyway, enough chatter and onto the recipe:

blueberry muffins:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
1 Cup Sugar
1 tbsp canola oil*
2 Eggs (room temp)
1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup of milk.
1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line cupcakes pan with papers. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar and oil* together until light and fluffy (its okay to over beat here, if you are feeling up to it, beat away, now is the time).
Add eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated into the butter/sugar mixture.
Sift (I don't sift, I whisk and this works fine) flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
 Alternate adding flour mixture and and milk, beginning and ending with flour until fully mixed. This is where you do not want to over beat. As soon as the flour is mixed in, stop beating unless you want tough cupcakes (whatever that exactly means, I'm not sure but I don't want it to happen).
 Fill cupcakes liners 2/3 full and bake for about 18 minutes. The original recipe apparently says 22-24 minutes but howtoeatacupcake.net said hers took 18 minutes and mine did as well. I got 18 cupcakes. Let cool completely.

*I add a tbsp of oil to all my cupcakes. I don't know why. For whatever reason, it gives me peace of mind. You don't have to do this and I'm not sure I ever have seen any recipe add oil to a butter cupcake. In my head, it keeps the cupcakes from coming out dry. I definitely could be making this up in my head, but I haven't had a dry cupcake since I started adding it.

whipped cream filling (from food network)
1 Cup heavy or whipping cream
2 tsp confectioners sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla paste or extract

Chill the bowl that you will be mixing the ingredients in. Make sure cream is very cold.
With a whisk*, or an electric mixer beat the cream and vanilla until loose peaks form. (If you lift up the beater, it should hold a "lazy curve".
Add the sugar and mix until soft peaks form. Be sure not to over beat the cream or it will start to look lumpy (I think these are actually little chunks of butter forming).
 After cupcakes have cooled completely, either using the cone method (cut a cone shaped hole in the center of each cupcake and then slice the top of the cone off so you have sort of a lid) or using a cupcake injector tip, however you decide, get the cream into the center of the cupcake. Replace "lid" if you used the cone method.

In hindsite, this whipped cream tasted terrible. It was almost bitter, like there was too much vanilla and not enough sugar. I kept adding more confectioners sugar (about 4-5 more tsp) until it tasted good to me. Also, the cone method was slightly stupid as it was a little bit messy (blueberries = messy). It wasn’t horrible but if you have one, maybe use the injector thing.

*The original recipe says you can hand whisk this but I'm not sure I would recommend it. Call me lazy but I feel like my hand would fall off if I tried to make whip cream without a mixer.

blueberry swiss meringue buttercream (from howtoeatacupcake.net)

4 egg whites
1 Cup granulated sugar
1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but cool
1 cup of blueberry preserves
2 tsp vanilla extract

Put egg whites and sugar into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is hot (about 160 degrees).
Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff peaks.
Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7* minutes.

*For whatever reason, and pardon my language, but I had to beat the shit out of the egg whites and sugar until I got stiff peaks. I'm not sure if I did something wrong but it ended up beating for about 45 minutes on high until I got stiff peaks. If anybody has any idea why this happened, please feel free to let me know.

While mixture is beating, bring the blueberry preserves to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the pulp.
Set aside the blueberry liquid to cool to room temperature. Switch to the paddle attachment.
With mixer on medium, add cool butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition.
 Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes.
Reduce speed to low; add cooled blueberry liquid and vanilla extract and continue beating about 2 minutes to combine. If in doubt, just keep beating. She warns of this going through a "soupy curdled phase" which it really does but hang in there. It really does work in the end.

These cupcakes, entailed a lot of work (not gonna lie) BUT, let me tell you, they are seriously amazing. Well worth the work.

Like these? Try my Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

cookie dough, the beginning.

Hi! Welcome to baking blog.  I would love to consider myself an all around culinary mastermind but I am afraid I cannot claim such a title.  Recently I acquired 3rd degree burns on my hand from trying to cook a steak in a frying pan...hot oil, hot pan, not a pretty picture.  So alas, I will stick to baking.  I have always loved to bake since I was a little girl, however; it has only been recently where I have used baking as an outlet, stress reliever, shoulder to cry on, best friend to celebrate with...just kidding.  I just simply enjoy it.  Hopefully as I move on, I can become better and eventually learn to pipe frosting...baby steps though.

I did have an awesome website that I created through iweb, but alas it is extremely difficult to add comments boxes and all other kinds of widgets that can be on blogs, so I decided to just suck it up and go with the traditional way.  I'll be posting all of my current recipes over the next few dates and of course more to come as I continue bake my way along, but until then...what better way to start off a blog called "cookie dough", than with a chocolate chip cookie dough cupcake?

chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes.

So, my oldest sister just recently found out that she is pregnant.  Being that she LOVES chocolate chip cookies, I decided to whip up something special for her for Easter.  Her exact words in response to them were, and I quote, “And this is why I love you...in that way.”  Granted, they were a little bit of work, but with a little bit of cheating, you can lighten your load a little bit and trust me...they are well worth it.  Enjoy.

 Brown Sugar Cupcakes
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
   1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
      1/8 teaspoon salt
         1/2 cup milk
         1 teaspoon vanilla
       2 TBSP canola oil (I added this to add moisture to the cupcakes)

1. Make or buy chocolate chip cookie dough, roll into 1.5 inch balls, place on cookie sheet and let freeze for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
4. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds after each.
6. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
7. Measure out milk and vanilla together.
8. Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine.
9. Add about one third the milk/vanilla mixture and beat until combined.
10. Repeat above, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture.
11. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and drop 1 frozen ball of cookie dough* into each.
12. Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden and the cake springs back when lightly touched (mine took 18 minutes)

*This is where the cheating helps.  I bought Pillsbury Dough Chocolate chip cookie dough.  The kind that are pre-cut into 24 pieces.  Just put them on a cookie sheet and throw them in the freezer.

                            Cookie Dough Frosting
                        1-3/4 cups confectioners sugar
                        1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
                                    1/8 teaspoon salt
                            1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
                                    1 tablespoon milk
                         Eggless cookie dough (recipe below)

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 1-1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, unsalted butter, salt, and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.
2. Add milk and continue mixing until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary. With the mixer running, slowly add remaining 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, mix until well combined.
3. At this point you can mix in the eggless cookie dough.

                             Eggless Cookie Dough
                              1/4 cup butter, softened
                     1/4 cup brown sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
                                   2 teaspoons water
                                  1/2 teaspoon vanilla
                                         1/2 cup flour
                                      1/4 teaspoon salt
                         1/3 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

1. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add water and vanilla and mix well.
2. Add flour and salt and stir to combine. Stir in mini chocolate chips (optional). 
3. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.