Marshmallow "cake" cupcake decoration

Today is my daughter's 15th birthday!  

Her request for chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting met with approval from the enchanted menfolk around here.  

The best recipe I have ever found for chocolate PB is The Barefoot Contessa's which you can find here.  It is deeeeelicous!  The only adjustment I made was to add an additional cup of powdered sugar to the frosting so it would be a bit stiffer for piping.

I hurt my brain trying to come up with how to decorate these cupcakes.  I didn't want to make them Easter themed - this is HER big day, and brownish peanut butter frosting isn't exactly a looker on it's own.  

Isabelle has always LOVED marshmallows, so I wanted to somehow incorporate them into a decoration.  

And then it hit me - my poor aching brain had a good idea!  

Decorate a marshmallow to look like a tiny birthday cake and put it on top of the cupcake.

Muhaha!

Here is how you do it.

Poke a toothpick midway through a marshmallow.  Decorate the sides like you would a cake.

The toothpick allows you to turn the marshmallow while decorating and also serves as a "pick".  I had a block of floral foam sitting around, so I used it to hold the marshmallows while they dried.

Next, I broke a toothpick in two and pushed it into the top of the "cake".

Taking white icing, I covered the bottom part of the toothpick to make it look like a candle.

Then I used yellow icing on the tip to simulate a flame.

Cute, cheap, fast, and very easy to do!  The designs on the sides of the marshmallows can be as simple as you want - squiggles, stripes, polkadots, or whatever floats your boat.

Once they dried, I just stuck them into the frosting on the cupcakes.

All I had to then, was add one birthday girl!

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How to make royal icing shamrocks

St. Patrick's Day is in the air, and my Irish blood is stirring!

Time for leprechan mischief and green treats galore!  

Ready to learn how to make 

 ROYAL ICING SHAMROCKS?

  The first step is to make traditional royal icing - this is the type of icing that hardens, used to make three dimensional roses or sticking gingerbread houses together.  I use the Wilton recipe that you can find here.  

When you prepare this recipe, you will notice it is quite stiff, and that is a good thing when making embellishments that will stand alone.  

Once you have the icing prepared, add food coloring till you get the shade of green you like, and then load into a pastry bag that is fitted with at least a # 3 tip.

On a piece of parchment or wax paper, draw a heart shape.

Now make a second heart on the side,

and now a third heart on the other side.

All that is needed now, is a cute little stem.

I was having such fun, I made quite a few!  

Then I moved on to trying Celtic knots,

and then changed to a star tip to make stars with a large green dragee in the center.

I just kept on cruising until I ran out of icing!

All that is left to do, is allow them to dry (and that doesn't take long).  Just peel them off the paper, and they are ready to add to cookies, cupcakes, or cakes.  

AND, they keep indefinitely in a storage container.

IRISH BLESSINGS MY FRIENDS!

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Cupcakes with kids

While I was back in Iowa for Thanksgiving, and I made cupcakes with my two great nieces.  Nine year old Starr and six year old Kylie LOVE to help out in the kitchen.  We made boxed cake mix and divided it into three bowls, each being a different color. 

Then I let the girls spoon the colors into the cupcake papers.  It was funny because Starr went to town with eleven of them, and Kylie used the tiniest amounts of batter and worked on one cupcake the entire time.   Oh my, how she loved making that one cupcake!

After the cupcakes cooled, I made some buttercream and then "painted" stripes of gel food coloring  in stripes along the inside of the piping bags.  When the bags are filled with the buttercream and piped on the cupcakes,
SOME MAGIC HAPPENS!

Happy girls and swirly colors!

Starr's favorite cupcake is on the left and Kylie's beloved cupcake is on the right.  They were soooooo proud of them!

And what is sweeter than cupcakes?

Big smiles and wonderful memories.

Candy filled pinata cupcakes

My darling Isabelle and a friend hosted a surprise birthday "fiesta" for another friend.  Of course, I thought about cookies but couldn't find any cutter at local stores and I didn't have time to order any.  

I SWEAR that I see southwestern cookie cutters all of the time, but when I actually needed some it was 

NO BUENO.

Not being in the mood to hand cut a bunch of cactus, serapes, and pinatas, I decided to go the cupcake route.  

Pinata cupcakes!

This was super easy to do, and I think they turned out kind of cute. First I baked a batch of funfetti cupcakes, and after they had cooled, I cut the centers out with a knife.

I bought some brightly colored  candies and sprinkles.

Then I stuffed the hollow of the cupcakes with the goodies.

Took the top of the cut out pieces, and plugged up the hole.

Now all that had to be done was the frosting.  I colored my frosting three shades of festive, and then piped it to resemble the crepe paper pieces that make a pinata.

You can even top each cupcake with a pretzel rod which can be the  stick to whack the pinata with.

And just like a real pinata, when you break it open, you get a shower of candy!

FUN!!!

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Blue moon baking day

I happen to have a case and a half of Blue Moon ale sitting in my garage fridge.  Living in good old Pennsylvania, we have to purchase beer by the case at the beer distributor.  Mr. Enchanted likes a Blue once in a great while, and it takes FOREVER to get through a case.  When I opened my fridge (which is usually a nasty surprise of food that I have forgotten about putting in there), and saw it sitting there, I thought about a recipe for Blue Moon cupcakes that I found on Pinterest.  

For the recipe, check out The Bitchin Kitchen blog.  

Now, I am not a beer/ale fan as the result of an unfortunate experience in college that involved a little toddy called  "strip and go naked".  The drink was made in a clean (I think) garbage can and was composed the cheapest beer that could be purchased, vodka, and lemonade.  In the spirit of conviviality, I drank my fair share, and  not surprisingly, ended up in the 3rd floor girl's bathroom in Stanley Hall at the University of Iowa 

TURNING INSIDE OUT.

Several times.  

Moving right along...,  

The minor adjustments I made to the recipe was to add orange emulsion instead of peel (because I didn't have any oranges), and I made a glaze instead of frosting.  The glaze was a simple mix of powdered sugar, a little more orange emulsion, a dribble of vanilla, a pinch of salt, about a tablespoon of Blue Moon, and enough milk to make it a runny glaze.  I popped a few blueberries on top for style.

Lord have mercy on my soul - THESE ARE DELICIOUS!

Tastes a bit like beer bread, but with a lot more swag.

I'm not sure what got into me, but I then made a crockpot chicken that used with one can of beer, garlic, onion powder, and Italian seasoning.  The chicken fell off the bone, and was declared delicious by one and all.  

Time for me to stagger  meander off to bed!  

Stop by my new blog The Enchanted Acorn Studio!

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Harry Potter cupcakes for Isabelle

I'd like to introduce you to the greatest Harry Potter fan in the world.

My daughter Isabelle, who is celebrating her 14th birthday today!

Since I have done Harry Potter cookies for her a number of times, I decided it would be fun to do some cupcakes.

I made a "butterbeer" cake that I filled with a rich butterscotch "goo", and topped with a cream cheese frosting.  Hedgewig was embellished with slivered almonds, candy disks, and a cashew for a beak.  

I also made some cupcakes with Harry's scarf made out of fruit roll ups.

We celebrated with an overnighter with besties Grace and Chloe, and a marathon shopping day.  The girls tried on lots of formal dresses in anticipation of their first high school homecoming dance next year.  No one can accuse them of procrastination...

So armed with her new magic wand and spinning head owl, my dragon slaying elfin daughter had a very happy birthday.  

Oh, and the butterscotch "goo" was a big hit!

Christmas flower cupcakes

I had some left over cupcake batter that needed to be baked, so I decided to try my hand at making Christmas flowers.

I wanted RED, GREEN,  PINK, and AQUA - my take on traditional Christmas with a little twist.

I love having fresh flowers in the house at Christmas.  Poinsettias, roses, Christmas cactus, mums, amaryllis, paperwhites - so beautiful!

I can't stand poinsettias that are spray painted or glittered, but a little sparkling disco dust on the cookies is very pretty.

MAKE YOUR SEASON SWEET WITH FLOWERS!

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Sweet flower cupcakes and a very special link

I had to face my old nemesis THE CUPCAKE again.  A friend requested them, and gave me free reign on the design as long as it was not Christmas themed.

I put on my thinking cap, and this is what I came up with.

So I made a vanilla white chocolate cuppie topped with Swiss meringue buttercream.  I double loaded the bag with pink and soft blue and made hydrangea flowers.  Yum-o-la!

The second cupcake was a rich chocolate topped with pink cream cheese buttercream roses and further embellished with various royal icing flowers and leaves.

And it looked like a spring garden.  Aaaaah.

I had an all time record of icings in my kitchen on the same day - SMB, traditional royal (the kind that dries hard as a rock), cream cheese buttercream, and my cookie icing.  I do believe it was the worst mess I have ever made in my kitchen.  It was truly horrifying.

But worth it.

And although cupcakes are sweet, the following link is even better!

 I hope everyone reading this post will visit  Sweetology 101 where my blog buddy Trish is dedicating her tea party Tuesdays to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, to raise funds for this incredibly worthy cause.  Please visit Trish and hear about her visit to St. Jude's and learn more about the wonderful work being done there.  Every year for Christmas, I make a donation to what I feel is a worthwhile cause, 

and this year it is St. Jude's.

Will you consider making it yours?

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Witch finger cupcakes

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I'm giving you a finger.  No, not THAT kind of finger - a chocolate witch finger.  Did I mention that it is nestled in a cloud of buttercream frosting? 

I painted the frosting bag with lime green and orange food coloring gel and then loaded it with white buttercream.  To see how to do it click here.  I also added some black dragees because it made everything seem a bit creepier.  The witch fingers are made with a candy mold designed for a pretzel rod.  I just filled them with Wilton melting chocolate, chilled, and popped out of the mold.  I LOVE the yellow/green color that you can only find this time of year.

Did you notice the gorgeous flowers in the background?  An anniversary gift from Mr. Enchanted!   

Then to make my witch cuppies just a little more magical, I made three colors of cake batter and layered them before baking.  It is always so much fun to see the reaction when someone takes their first bite.

These are for my field hockey girls, and it is time for me to leave for the game.  I just got my car back from the shop and I have the cupcakes loaded up in the back and I'm off to Gettysburg to cheer on my favorite group of girls! 

Tomorrow I will share what I have cooked up for the Blue Devil football team.  And because I am a nice witch this halloween season, it is wicked good.  See you then!

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