DIY baking decorating project

I have an old spice rack that I never used for spices since I kept them in a container in the cabinet. So I decided to make use for it again. Why not turn it into a sprinkles/cupcake decorating station instead.

In my baking cabinet it is a mess of organize chaos, but I need to be better about it. This sprinkles decorating rack will definitely help with that!

Apple Pie cupcakes

Here it is! The recipe everyone has been asking for: Apple Pie cupcakes!

It was very easy to make, it just took longer than I expected. Super good, and it got great reviews at work from my co-workers!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened until easily spreadable
• 2 cups dark brown sugar

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients and spices in a large bowl. Mix milk, eggs and vanilla extract in a 2-cup measuring cup.
2. Beat softened butter into dry ingredients, first on low, then medium, until mixture forms pebble-sized pieces. Add about 1/3 of the milk mixture and beat on low until smooth. Add remaining milk mixture in two stages; beat on medium speed until batter is just smooth. Add the sugar; beat until just incorporated, about 30 seconds. Pour batter into cupcake pan.
3. Bake until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the cake's center comes out clean. (I start checking at 15 minutes, and then every few minutes to see if it is ready) Let cool, then fill it with the apple filling recipe!

For the apple filling: ( i adjusted the ingredients so it would make more of the filling because I had run out of it, and liked my cupcakes to have extra yummy filling!!)

3 tbsp. butter

3 tsp. cinnamon

3-4 tbsp. sugar

5 large apples, peeled, cored and diced

To make the apple filling, heat the butter a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cinnamon and sugar and cook for a minute, until the mixture begins to bubble. Lower the heat to medium and stir in the apples. Mix well. Cook until the apples are somewhat tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

While the apple mixture is cooling, use the cone method to remove a chunk from the center of each cupcake, making sure to leave a rim around the top of the cupcake. Fill the holes with the cooled apple mixture. To decorate, top each cupcake with a swirl of vanilla buttercream.

Pumpkin Cupcake

I made some cupcakes for my bro-in-law for his birthday. He absolutely loves pumpkin rolls. I only really make pumpkin rolls around the fall season. So why not make it in a cupcake? I hate to toot my own horn, but I make some AWESOME cream cheese icing. I have been told so. Topping the cream cheese icing on top of the pumpkin cupcake, was the icing on the cake. Absolutely fabulous. 

Ok. Enough bragging about myself. Well, these came out surprisingly awesome. I brought some into work this weekend. I made a bunch of mini ones. They were ranked the favorites out of all the other cupcakes I made. I even ate some for breakfast! You need to try this recipe. It will be an instant hit!!!

Yummy Filling in the center! These cupcakes are SO moist and good!!

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• a few pinch fulls of pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 
  
• extra cinnamon for garnish
• 
  
• Directions

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. (I used Jumbo Muffin Pan, and it made about 8-10 giant cupcakes!) Sift together the flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, allspice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
• Beat 1/2 cup of butter, the white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree after the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
• While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting. Once the cupcakes are cool, frost with the cream cheese icing, and garnish with cinnamon on top.

Lissa Bee's Cream Cheese Frosting

Giant Cupcake Cake

I bought this GIANT cupcake pan a few years ago. I wanted to make a fun cake for my niece's 1st birthday. It was fun to make, but can be interesting to decorate. You definitely need a rotating cake stand to help decorate it.

First piece of advice, try using a box cake mix on your first try, just so you get the hang of it at first. It takes about 1- 1 1/2 box cake mix, and then once you get a feel for the pan, feel free to use your own recipe like I did. 

Bake time: If a recipe says 350 degrees for 25 minutes, put it in the oven for 25 minutes, and then monitor it. It does bake a little longer than a normal pan cake, but not by much. I think the one I made last night was about 30-35 minutes. 

When decorating: decorate the bottom first, and then decorate the top. I find it  easier that way. Also make sure to level out the cake so the top piece sits flush on top of the other. I also stick a wooden rod in the center to keep it from moving around and to help stabilize the cake. 

I made this one today. I didn't have my cake stand, so the decorating isn't as perfect as I like, but it still looks good. The icing on top, I used a 1M cake tip by Wilton.

Here is the what the pan looks like. It bakes all at once in two different parts.

The cake I made a few years ago for my niece's 1st birthday party.

Found these cute designs online:

Red Velvet

People always ask me to make red velvet cupcakes. I am just not a fan of the taste, perhaps because at every bakery I have tried red velvet, I have had a bad experience. People like them, so I make them! I made these cupcakes for my co-worker, and it got great reviews from him (thank-you Sharif!) ! Hopefully people will order more! I had extra batter, so I made a few mini's as well. They are so cute!!

Mini Red Velvet, Cream Cheese Frosting

Red Velvet, cream cheese frosting

Lissa's Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick butter, melted

4 cups confections sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz package cream cheese

Cream all ingredients together, add one cup of sugar at a time until everything is blended together.

Add more or less sugar depending on how sweet you like your frosting.

I like mine sweet! I use 4 cups!

Classy Raspberry!

Dress up any cupcake with a raspberry! It just gives it such class!

For example take the recipe below: Take your favorite vanilla cupcake recipe. I had cinnamon butter cream frosting on top (DELICIOUS!!!). Then I put some crystal sprinkles on, and added a raspberry for effect. These cupcakes I made for my mom's birthday. 

Lissa's Cinnamon Buttercream Icing:

• 1 box of confectioners sugar ( or like 3-4 cups)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup of butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons of milk (you can add more if you want a thinner frosting)
• CINNAMON! I love cinnamon, so I added like 2 tsp. You can add as much or little as you like.

Throw it all in a box, mix it up, and YUM YUM YUM!

Chocolate & Peanut Butter.....my favorite combination!

Funky Chunky Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cupcakes

 Finished product. It is YUMMY right out of the oven with a glass of cold milk!

Layer it up in the cupcake liner!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups Pillsbury BEST All Purpose Flour
• 1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup Crisco Pure Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 EGGLAND'S BEST egg
• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips
• 1/4 cup HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips  

Directions

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 18 regular-size muffin cups.
•  In large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add oil, water, vinegar and vanilla to flour mixture, stirring just until smooth (do not overmix).
•  In another large bowl, beat egg, cream cheese, peanut butter and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar; beat until creamy.
•  poon 1 level tablespoon chocolate batter into each cup; evenly spread 1 level tablespoon peanut butter filling on top. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with peanut butter chips and chocolate chips.
•  Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack; cool 15 minutes. Serve warm or cool. 18 cupcakes.

It says 18 cupcakes: BUT....I was able to make 24 cupcakes!!! I guess it just depends on how much you fill your cupcake liners up. I try not to over fill them.

St. Patty's Day tasty treat

Chocolate Irish Cream Liqueur Cupcakes

Take your favorite cupcake recipe and give it a twist! In your cupcake recipe, when it calls for water, just cut that in half! For example, if it calls for 1 2/3 water....make it 2/3 water & 2/3 liqueur.

I saw a recipe for an icing for brownies, but it didn't suit my needs for the cupcakes. So i played around with ingredients, and found something that worked great! And tasted good too!!

Lissa's Irish Cream Liqueur Frosting

3-4 cups confectioners sugar (depending on how thick you want consistency)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tablespoons Irish Cream Liqueur

2 tsp milk

a pumpkin roll....in a cupcake!

I am dedicating this post to my brother-in-law Danny, who gave me the idea for this recipe!

Danny LOVES pumpkin rolls, so he told me i should make it into a cupcake! So, I figured I would give it a try and see how it went!

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Make the batter...

Fill the cupcakes...as you can tell I am far from perfect when doing that!

Put them in the oven......

Let them cool......

Time for icing/filling! See my post on cinnamon cream cheese icing!

Take a cake decorating tip. I used a #21 by Wilton. Get your icing bag ready.

Insert the tip into the cupcake and squeeze some icing in.

Then take whatever cake decorating tip you want, and decorate the top. I did a cool swirly looking one

And you are done! yum yum!

Put in refridgerator so the icing doesn't go bad. Its like a pumpkin roll in a cupcake!

bridal shower cupcakes

My friend Jenn is getting married in July (yay!). Her wedding shower was this past weekend, and I got to make cupcakes for her shower. I wanted them to be AWESOME!

Prior to decorating these cupcakes, please check out my other posts of

Making the Cupcake

Playing with Fondant

This design was my goal. How had could it be? hahahahaha................

Pick your decorating tip.....

Here are some of the pictures of the cupcakes I made. They are far from perfect, and now have a HUGE respect for people who are professional cake/cupcake decorators!

My older sister even decorated a few!

Black & Pink are the bride's wedding colors.

One of my favorite cupcake designs I did!

Ribbons, I discovered, are also very hard to tie on cupcakes. I gave up after one. :-)

This was the bride's cake. I want to learn how to do this!!!! How awesome looking is this cake?!!

It was a fun long process making these cupcakes, but I can't wait to do it again!