cupcakes

Blue Cupcakes

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When we’re bored, we bake! And of course Liam wanted something blue so he got EVERYTHING blue 🙂 He actually did most of the preparing for these blue cupcakes besides pouring the batter into the pan and piping the frosting. I know, I know… it looks like a 4 year old did it but I don’t have anymore piping bags and the ziplock bag I was using sprung a leak!

It did not take long to make these little guys. They are mini cupcakes (not sure if you can tell by the pictures) and I used a box of Pillsbury cake mix. Half a box of cake mix actually. I needed to use it up and you know I LOVE cake so here we are! Super BLUE cupcakes. I will give the recipe I used below, but you can also just use an entire cake mix and add food coloring. Same with the frosting.

So… here we go! Start those ovens…

What you will need: 

Cupcake tin lined with cupcake liners

Half a box of Pillsbury Yellow Cake Mix
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1 egg
Food coloring
Note: White cake mix would be better, obviously. Ours came out a little on the green side since the batter was yellow.

For the frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food coloring

Sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a bowl, beat all ingredients for the cake until well blended. Pour into prepared cups about halfway full. Bake for about 12-13 minutes for mini cupcakes, longer for regular size.

Allow to cool on a wire rack before removing the cupcakes from the pan. Cool completely out of the pan while you make the frosting.

For the frosting, beat butter and 1 cup of sugar until smooth. Add in milk and vanilla and beat until combined. Add in food coloring and more powdered sugar until you reach desired consistency.

Frost cupcakes, decorate and enjoy! Store covered at room temperature.

Mini Cheesecakes

Or, maybe I should call these Individual cheesecakes. But either way, they are the perfect portion so you don’t accidentally eat too much. We all do it. Then you feel sick and wish you hadn’t. So here is the solution. Cheesecake made in cupcake tins. Super easy, great for a party or gathering, and just as delicious (and super cute!). Go start your ovens…

What you will need:

14 standard muffin cups with cupcake liners ( I know, weird number but the recipe I followed said it makes 12 but I got 14, so just in case, have 14 ready 😉 )

For the crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

For the cheesecake filling:

2- 8 ounce packages cream cheese
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup sour cream at room temp

To make the crust:

In a bowl, stir all ingredients together until crumbs are moistened. Put about a tablespoon of graham cracker crumbs into each muffin cup. Press down with your fingers.

Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge while you make the filling.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit. In a large bowl (or bowl of your electric mixer), beat cream cheese until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, lemon zest and sour cream and beat until incorporated.

Remove crusts from the refrigerator. Evenly divide the filling into each cups, filling almost to the top. Bake for 18-22 minutes until edges are firm but the middle still wobbles a little. Let cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, refrigerate 3-4 hours (or even overnight) before serving.

Once chilled, carefully remove the paper liner from the cheesecakes. Serve with drizzled chocolate and/or fruit. Enjoy!

Firework Cupcakes Recipe

The title of this post should really be Yellow Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting. So if you were looking for a cupcake recipe that exploded, cracked or popped, this isn’t the place. If you read my blog, you know that yesterday, July 5th, I went to my brother-in-law’s lake house and brought corn bread muffins. That recipe called for 9 oz (or half a box) of yellow cake mix. With the other half, I decided to make cupcakes with blue frosting and red sparkling sugar. With half a box of cake mix I made 3 cupcakes. They. Were. Huge. So I guess they did literally explode when they baked. You can make whatever size cupcakes you want with this recipe, but I went overboard and it was fun! Try it sometime 😉 Let’s go…

Oh and I’m going to add that this is the perfect recipe for when you don’t need 12 cupcakes. Just use half the box and store the rest for later!

What you will need:

Cupcake/muffin pan lined with paper liners (I used foil ones)

For the cupcakes:

About 9 oz. of yellow cake mix (half a box)
1 egg
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the frosting: (note: this was enough to cover 3 huge cupcakes)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
Sparkling sugar or sprinkles (optional)
Food coloring (optional)

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients until well combined. Pour into prepared pan, half full if you want normal size cupcakes, or almost to the top if you want huge ones like mine. Tip: If making huge cupcakes, fill every other hole so they don’t run into each other when they bake. Bake for 18-20 minutes but check before the time is up if making regular sized cupcakes. Let cool for 5 minutes in pan, then remove and cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

To make the frosting:

In a medium sized bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar, vanilla and milk and beat until combined. If using, add a few drops of food coloring and mix until you get desired color. I used blue.

Pipe or spread frosting onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!