cupcake roundup!

Wow, so much for attempting a post every weekend...two weeks in, and I missed the third! Although I've got a legit excuse for this one - poor little Gadget was sick last weekend. I had to play kitty-cat doctor, and run around on cleanup duty for a day or two. But, he's all better now and I'm back in action.

Well, sort of back in action. More like back in a walk down memory lane. Cupcakes are my absolute favourite thing to bake and have fun with, so this is basically me gushing about the best, most delicious, and most fun ones I've made in the last year or so. I'll link recipes when they're online, or suggest others if I got lazy and went with a mix. (Yep, it pains me to say it, but I've broken down and used box-cupcakes in my time. Tragic - but SO handy!) 

Being from Chilliwack, I've always had a thing for delicious corn on the cob. So, when I found a photo online of these super-cute cupcakes, I knew I had to give them a shot. And they were totally worth the trek to find corn-cob holders and trays, and also totally worth all the Jelly Bellies I had to buy to decorate them. I'd use a plain yellow cake recipe, like this one here, and just some kind of plain buttercream frosting like this one from bakerella (scroll down a bit, it's after the cupcake recipe). Then, it's just a matter of assembling the troops! I sprinkled a bit of sugar on them as well - not because they need it, but because it looks like salt. I think I'll get my act together next time and use some fondant for faux-butter too.

Next up, a little bit of a twist on a classic - blue velvet. It was REALLY strange putting a literal TON of food colouring into them, but whatever. I got the recipe from Sprinkle Bakes, but I've had a hard time finding gel food colouring, so be warned. I wasn't totally happy with the colour I got, but that's just because I had inferior supplies. Still, pretty cute! I just don't think I'll attempt it till I find gel colouring. One day!

Jaroween is a special time of year, and for this festive occasion I went for a more traditional red velvet, with some chocolate frosting and cute little Halloween-themed sprinkles. They looked appropriately hideous/spooky, and were delicious, so winning all around I'd say! I just used the blue velvet recipe, but obviously used red food colouring instead. You can almost see the coour a bit in the first picture, the cupcake at the top right. I also went a bit lazy and used from-a-can-frosting, but that's because I didn't really have a lot of time - I also made my costume (an elephant) from a pack of grey work socks. I was busy, so sue me.

I know this is a bit out of order, time-wise, but I made these cute little pumpkin cupcakes for Thanksgiving. (That would be Canadian Thanksgiving, the one that's in October like it's supposed to be.) I got the recipe from a cookbook I've got, called What's New, Cupcake? I don't know the technicalities of posting their recipe online, but I will totally hook you up with my cookbook if you come for a visit! Honestly, the recipe basically involved putting a can of pumpkin pie filling into a pack of vanilla cake mix. (Almost as easy as diet coke cake.) I think the cookbook recommended using cream cheese frosting, but since I don't like cream cheese, I'd suggest maybe a vanilla buttercream and a cute little dusting of cinnamon! Mmmm...

Here's another of my fancier ones...These cute little burgers were a blast. I just used that brightly coloured frosting that you can get at the grocery store, but if/when I make them again, I'll use buttercream and tint it myself. The recipe I used was this one for zebra cake - I just made the chocolate and vanilla, and used one for the "buns" and one for the "patties." Then just assemble them like you would put together a normal burger. To get the sesame seeds on top, use a pastry brush, dip it in sugar water, brush it on top, and then sprinkle away. Deeeeelicious!

And now for some more recent ones. My current favourite cupcake recipe is actually this one, which is really for a cake. It makes 2 dozen cupcakes, but it's pretty straightforward to cut it in half, which is handy if you only want half a dozen. I've done them a ton of times - the strawberry ones for my dad's birthday (Martha's got the how-to for the strawberry chips here), rose ones (learn how to make the roses here - they're easy!), and I even used them for Oscars cupcakes, with caramel buttercream and orange sprinkles for some glitz!

Last but not least, probably the fanciest looking ones I've made - triple salted caramel cupcakes from Sprinkle Bakes. These look super impressive, and aren't actually that tough, but making caramel for the first time can be a bit tricky. Patience is the key, and I haven't got enough apparently. But I would definitely recommend trying it, and by the time you've done all the parts of these puppies you'll have more practice than you know what to do with! My only tip for these? Try not to eat more than two in one sitting, or you'll feel pretty ill. Or, go for it...the stomach-ache is mostly worth it.

And that's that! Hopefully you've got a few ideas and some inspiration, or you're just really craving a cupcake right now. I definitely am, so I'll probably be baking tonight. Enjoy!
c.