I heart Cupcakes

My favorite part of these cupcake: the Leatherby's caramel filling!
E loved her princess cupcake. And I love her!
Yep, that's my dog as a cupcake.



My nephew was really into lawnmowers. He's a fun one. (this would be cute for father's day, but with coconut colored green as the lawn.)
The blue cupcakes were to spread the good news that we are having a boy:)
Not sure if you can tell: these are bowling cupcakes. (remember I only do this for fun:) )


Little snake toppers made my little guy's day. I am not a fan of fondant...or maybe the right recipe hasn't found me.

KJ's birthday was on Thanksgiving this year. She chose turkeys. These were too much work...good thing I lover her. This picture is as close as you'll ever get to seeing them again.

It's been a fun little hobby of mine to make cupcakes and cakes for mi familia's birthday's. I love it! First of all, homemade treats are half the price of store bought, and it's so fun to see my kids and nieces and nephews reactions to something personalized for them...I guess a cupcake from me is a way of saying "I LOVE YOU!"
But, and this butt is huge, they HAVE to taste good too!
My two favorite batter recipe's, and one super yummy whipped cream frosting. I hope you show someone you love them with a cupcake or 10 too:)

Easy White Cake
1 box white cake mix
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 1/3 cups water
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (use clear vanilla if you want a pure white cake)
1 tsp almond extract

Mix all dry ingredients with a whisk, then add wet ingredients. Beat for two minutes until fluffy.

For Cake: Pour into greased, floured pans (fills two 8 or 9" rounds) and bake according to cake package directions.

For cupcakes: fill paper liners 3/4 full and bake according to box directions. Makes 36 cupcakes.

The BEST Chocolate Cake
1 box devil’s food cake mix
1 package Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans). For cooking time, I use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide and usually add 10 mins to whatever it says. Then I do the toothpick check, and if it’s not done, I check on it every 5 mins after that. :) It usually takes around 45 mins for two, 9-inch pie pans.

For cupcakes: fill paper liners 3/4 full and bake according to box directions. Makes 36 cupcakes.

For valentines I am going to add about a pound of pureed strawberries and some red food coloring (I heard they will be a grey color if you don't). Let's cross our fingers!
Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling
recipe by ourbestbites.com
3 T Flour
1/2 C milk (I use heavy whipping cream)
1/2 C real butter
1/2 C sugar (that's granulated sugar, not powdered sugar)
1 t vanilla extract, or other flavor if you wish.

Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. I think this is the critical point for any of you who have had problems with this recipe. I have a feeling people are under-cooking this part. Let it cook, while stirring, until it looks like pudding (you should be able to see the bottom of the pan when you stir it). And then let it cool completely to room temp. or chill it in the fridge. It needs to be cooled completely. If you don't let it cool completely, it will melt the butter and you'll have runny frosting.

It an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. You'll want to use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, not the flat paddle. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat on the highest speed you can get to without it spraying all over the place for 7 minutes. Yes, 7 whole minutes, maybe even 8 or 9. I know that seems like a long time, but that's when the magic happens!

You will be scared because it will look like a weird goopy mess at first and you'll wonder what on earth you did wrong. Keep beating and something amazing happens. It goes from that goopy mess to something thick, velvety smooth, and perfectly fluffy.
Use it to fill cupcakes or other pastries, or as a frosting on top. You can't go wrong putting this on just about anything :)

One batch makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes. Plan on tripling this recipe.