Caramel Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

One of the first things I learned on Pinterest was how to make caramel from boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk. WOW!!!! It makes an amazing soft, creamy, milky caramel. This is a different type of caramel than the other kind I make. Those are filled with the chewy, gooey, caramel apple type! Both are AMAZING!!!


This a tray of cupcakes that i sent to work with my hubby! YUMMY!!!

I am currently working on a price list...

Halloween Baby Shower

I was asked by my sister-in-law (http://glambieandbrian.blogspot.com/) if I would make cupcakes for her baby shower which was a Girly Halloween theme. Of course I will do it....duh!!! Even though we had just drive from Washington and moved into a rental home the weekend before in AZ. I was a little nervous about how my fondant would act here in the heat. It looks like it did fine! I made a little baby blanket with her cute skull design (with a bow) blanket and made tiny feet sticking out the bottom.

On the other ones I made girly skulls and black stars.
The cupcakes are my YUMMY Seattle's minus the coffee filling. The pink frosting was SO FUN!


The momma to be was VERY happy with how they turned out! What to make next? I really need a kitchen with double ovens!

Don't double the buttermilk!!!

I was supposed to be making a double batch of my Seattle cupcakes and I was talking on the phone...big NO NO for me while I bake! I know this, but I was and this is what I got! I figured out that I double doubled the buttermilk! NOT GOOD! They didn't taste horrible, but they were definitely not what they were supposed to be....

LESSON LEARNED!

My first fondant covered cake

I was going to make cupcakes for my neighbors birthday party at the skate rink. BUT for some reason they don't allow cupcakes only a cake! What kind of CrAzY rule is that? First off who has any sort of rule against cupcakes must be nuts! Second their rational is that they make more mess than cake. I guess I can't wrap my brain around that since you have plates and forks with cake and someone ALWAYS drops their plate!

Oh well...fondant cake here we go..........

My chocolate cupcake mix (2 batches) to make this double layer 9in cake.
Frosting to hold on the fondant topping. YUM!!!

For this I made marshmellow fondant which would be really good with the chocolate cake and crumb layer as the main "frosting". I rolled it out and thought I knew enough of what I was doing as far as the size went.

NOPE....to BIG! See the folds and trimming it on the bottom was not as easy as I thought it would be. AHHHHHH! This is when I started to STRESS.
I already had all the top fondant decorations made to match her invitation. But, I had to go back and make some larger flowers to cover the folds on the side. Cause once you put the fondant down on the frosting layer on the cake...game over! There is no going back to make it smaller.
Over all I am very happy with it since it was my first attempt and TOTALLY out of my cupcake comfort zone!




Not so sure I will make a cake anytime soon! It is to much STRESS for me! I like having a LOT of chances to make them FUN!

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

These are Martha Stewarts caramel cupcakes (kinda)! Actually, the frosting is not hers, but I am sure hers is also amazing! This is a tricky recipe to make due to the caramel making...at least for me it is. I did the caramel correct the first time I made it, but the last few times I have had it still be a little grainy. But it is sill GOOD! I took this to a house warming party that we went to...everyone loved them!
It is amazing the flavor that the sea salt adds to the chocolate and caramel. YUM!

Book Club (saved me)

I got a call from a good friend last minute asking if I had 12 cupcakes she could have for her book club. I did infact have extra from the baseball cupcakes, which I was SO HAPPY to share! Otherwise they would have been in my house and I would have had to fight the temptation! They were the chocolate cupcakes so I made cream cheese frosting (which is to die for with the chocolate if you dont mind me bragging!) I also had some extra fondant so I made a quick fun design and off they went)
I just love these cases from Safeway...dont get me wrong the large plastic ones that carry 27 are great also, but as for sharing these are the bee's knees!

They show off the "goods" while also being a practical and needed tool of the cupcake trade!
Cheers to CUPCAKES!

Chocolate, carmel, & sea salt (need I say more)

I checked out Tons of cupcake books from the library and my all time favorite was the Martha Stewart one! AMAZING!
This is where I found this recipe and I went out to Williams Sonoma and got the book! (Thanks dad for the gift card to play with)!!!I am NOT a chocolate cake person, with that said...these are amazing!
I MADE HOMEMADE CARMEL!!! That is crazy exciting to me! :) It is very good! It makes extra, so i put it in a jar for an ice cream topper.

***CONFESSION*** I have a sweet tooth! I LOVE SUGAR! So I was afraid I would want to eat more than one, however that is not needed with these! They are that amazing! I love Martha...she is a genious!