Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

Who doesn't like hot cocoa on a cold, snowy day? I've lived in Minnesota my whole life; to us, a mug of hot chocolate symbolizes the end of a fun day sledding, having snowball fights, or, on some occasions, the blessed end to shoveling...again.

I used two different recipes I found online and mixed them up a bit to create these. It's actually the second time I've tried making these, and this time I managed to capture the hot cocoa flavor without it being too overpowering.

Half the fun of making these cupcakes is the fun ways you can decorate them. I saw an adorable version on Pinterest that used candy canes as little mug "handles", but I didn't like having the peppermint mixed in with the buttercream (just my opinion). They certainly added some festive flair, however -- especially cute for the holidays. I chose to stick to the classics -- marshmallows and mini chocolate chips.

Find the full recipe here: HOT COCOA CUPCAKES

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Fine. I admit it. I only made these cupcakes because I wanted to make little gingerbread people out of chocolate fondant. No regrets there. That said, these cupcakes did turn out to be pretty amazing, with or without garnish.

I realized while taking these pictures that I was so excited for the finished product that I didn't bother taking any photos of the process. I don't know. If you're like me, I usually skip those pictures on other blogs and go straight for the recipe or other fun shots of the fully decorated, cutely arranged cupcakes or cookies. I mean, those are the ones I'm going to pin to Pinterest (am I right?).

Can I just tell you that these little round sprinkles used as buttons on the gingerbread people continue to haunt me? Sure, they're adorable, but they're so small...let's just say several were dropped and every once and a while, someone in my family randomly kicks one that was missed and you can hear it rolling all across the hardwood floor, mocking me for being clumsy in the first place. Would I use them again? Heck yes -- look at how cute!

Click here for the full recipe: GINGERBREAD CUPCAKES

Thanksgiving Cupcakes

These Thanksgiving cupcakes are a simple way to create unique table settings for the holiday. There are a number of turkey-inspired cupcakes floating around Pinterest, but I think these are the cutest. And they make four-year-olds to 60-year-olds smile, so they have that going for them.

Start with basic chocolate cupcakes and chocolate buttercream (my go-to recipes are below). You'll also need the following:

Candy corn (for the feathers)
Nutter Butter cookies (for the head)
Reese's Pieces or Skittles (for the nose); orange only
Wilton Candy Eyes (for the...eyes)
Red licorice (for the snood)
White icing (to adhere the candy pieces to the cookie)

After you've frosted your cupcakes, insert six (6) pieces of candy corn around the rim. You'll want to insert them enough that the white portion of the candy corn is no longer visible.

Then it's time to work on the turkey face. Start with the eyes, then the nose, and finish with the snood. I found it was a lot easier to get the candy to adhere to the Nutter Butter (never thought that'd be a phrase I'd use) if I could avoid the seams as much as possible. I piped the icing onto the cookie, then pushed the candy into it. The nose is the hardest, simply because you have to get it to stay on it's edge. Just hold it in place for a few seconds to ensure it's adhered.

I let the cookies sit for about 30 minutes before inserting them into the cupcakes. To keep the cupcakes from tumbling over, insert the cookie just shy of halfway. This height also provides plenty of clearance for most cupcake holders (in case you need to travel with these).

I made these cupcakes using my ENHANCED CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX and FAVORITE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM recipes.

Halloween Sugar Cookies

Happy Halloween!

How adorable are these cookies! I was inspired by this post from one of my favorite baking blogs, Sweetopia. If you haven't checked out Marian's amazing site, you must -- it's a must-have for tutorials and inspiration. I saw these spiderweb decorated cookies on Sweetopia's website and just had to try making them myself. I'll never be as talented at Marian, but it sure was fun trying to recreate some of her beautiful cookies. Just follow her instructions and you're good to go. :)

I'm still learning so much about baking and decorating with royal icing that I haven't really ventured out to try coming up with my own recipes or designs yet -- this is a classic example of me seeing something I liked and trying to recreate it. I think it's the best way to learn.

These cookies were made using several techniques, including marbling. The trick is to just flood the cookie, wait a few seconds, and then take an alternate color and add stripes to the cookie. Shake it a little to get the icing to "melt" into the base layer and then take a toothpick and run it through the lines to create a pattern. Again, I'm going to refer you to Sweetopia for an excellent video tutorial -- she's the best.

Also, note all of the black used in these cookies. Be prepared to use a lot of food coloring and just accept the fact that your fingers will likely stain a nice shade of pale black for a day or two.

I used my FAVORITE SUGAR COOKIE recipe for these and decorated using Sweetopia's Royal Icing recipe.

40th Wedding Anniversary Part 2: Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie-filled Cupcakes

Stupid good. That's all I can say about these cupcakes. Chocolate? Good. Bourbon? Good. Pecan pie? Very, very good (it's my favorite). Topped with buttercream -- so good.

Click here for the recipe: BOURBON CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE-FILLED CUPCAKES