Funfetti Mug Cake for one.

What do you do with funfetti cake mix when half of the box was already used? Make a cupcake! I've seen a lot of recipes for making muffins in mugs and have yet to try one, but with this half box of cake mix predicament in front of me, this was the perfect opportunity to try to do some baking in my microwave. It came out amazing!

What could be better then the perfect cake portion for one that took a minute and 30 seconds to make? I'm sold and will be trying more recipes similar.

Here is the one I following, which I got from here.

Ingredients:

- 8 Tablespoons Funfetti Boxed Cake Mix 

- 1 whole Egg Beaten 

- 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil 

- 3 Tablespoons Water

Directions:

 1. Beat Egg
2. Add the rest of the ingredients in
3. Microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds.

Enjoy! 

Everything taste better in a jar

Mom and I are obsessed with Undercover Cupcakes from Cookie Confidential in Philly. Today we made our very own copycat versions!

I love drinking out of mason jars. Everything always seems to taste better in a jar! So why not put a cupcake inside one? Genius, right? Such a lovely presentation AND it allows for extra layers of frosting which helps fill my motto: the more frosting, the better!

Directions:

1. Bake up any cupcakes of your choice.
2. After they have cooled, cut each cupcake in half horizontally. You will be using 1.5 cupcakes in each jar.
3. Prepare your favorite frosting and get it ready to pipe out. (You could also just spread it, but I found to get down deep into the jar it was easier to aim with the tip of a bag.)
4. Place your first layer of cake in the jar and pipe a layer of frosting on top.
5. Repeat process two more times.
6. Voila perfectly pretty jar filled cupcakes.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Caramel lovers here is one for you.

 

It has been far too long since I have made cupcakes. This recipe incorporates my new favorite apple cider cake into cute cup form and paired with, what better sweet, then caramel.

I made my apple cider bread recipe as is. The recipe yielded 22 cupcakes.

The caramel frosting I made tasted devine. Super sweet and caramel-ly, but it didn’t allow for the presentation I was hoping for. I really like to pile on frosting. This frosting had a more sticky consistency and didn’t have enough body to withstand heights. Caramel is such a sticky texture I don’ t know if this would be possible.

Here’s the recipe for the frosting:

Caramel Frosting:

Ingredients:

- 1 cup sugar

- 1/4 cup water

- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

- 2 large egg yolks

- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Directions:

1. Stir sugar and 1/4 cup water in medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. 

2. Increase the heat to medium-high and boil until syrup turns deep amber color. (This took a lot longer then I was expecting. Be patient.)

3. Remove from heat and add cream.

4. Put back over low heat and stir until caramel bits dissolve. 

5. In a separate bowl whisk egg yolks

6. Gradually whisk hot caramel into yolks.

7. Let this cool to room temperature.

8. Using electric mixer, beat butter and salt in large bowl until smooth. 

9. Add in caramel then powdered sugar and beat until smooth

10. Let stand for about an hour or put in the fridge to frost later.

(Frosting recipe was thanks to Bon Appetit.)

Cupcake in a jar?

 So down south in the land of Philly there is a company that makes delectable bakes goods and then jars them up. Undercover cupcakes! My lovely sister bought some of their cupcakes for us to taste test. They were the bomb. Cake was moist, frosting was sugary, and I do love eating out of a small container. One could say this was the perfect 4 oz. dessert. Then 10 minutes later I was longing for another. Next time I buy myself one I'll have to go for the double decker.

They ratio of frosting to cake was PERFECTO; about 50/50. This is my kind of numbers!

We tried Vanilla Buttermilk, Strawberry Limeade, and Blueberry Lemon. I would rank them in that order! Get yourself to Philly and try one!

Cupcakes make people happy.

In honor of my birthday.....A motto I live by:

Butter Lane's Frosting Shots: Best Idea Ever

No Birthday is complete without cake. This weekend my mom and sis came into town and we got some cupcakes to celebrate.....me.

I wanted to try a different shop, since NYC has so many to offer. We tried out Butter Lane. These people are genius. This doesn't even have anything to do with their little cakes. Look at what they have on their menu:

Frosting Shots!

Frosting is my favorite thing on the planet. Being able to just order is genius. Forget cupcakes! I want to skip right to frosting. But no I actually had cupcakes too!



The cupcakes were good, but not my all time fave. The cakes was pretty decent, not super dry. The frosting I chose for my shot was peanut butter, which didn't give me the best first impression. I guess it comes with their name, but they are more of a buttery then sugary frosting. The vanilla frosting on my cupcake was much better. I also tried their cinnamon honey one. This one could have used a different flavor cake. They paired the special frosting with regular yellow cake. I think I would have been more into it if the cake had cinnamon in it as well.

Lovely little shop though. I'd love to take one of their classes sometime!

Pamcakes - More Cupcakes

Philly Style!





For my sister's birthday it was a given we had to find some cupcakes! We tried out a cute little shop nearby her place called Pamcakes. Turns out Pam was the one we bought them from which I didn't realize until we were home and I was google stalking her. Her shop is adorable and I love her decorations. They were actually doing a photoshoot of some Valentine's Day themed cakes when we were there.

So I tried out a plain vanilla and then split a Vanilla Chai to go with the Vanilla Chai I had drank earlier in the day (my new found drink that I like with caffeine....makes me feel a little crazy due of my long life of never having an ounce of caffeine in my body)

Frosting is my favorite thing in the world and her frosting was a delight. The cake though was dry and a little disappointing. Now my family tried two others which they said had nice moist cake, so I guess I just lucked out this time around.



The Vanilla Chai was such a fun different flavor to try. It had quite the bite of Chai. I really liked the originality of it!



Will return and hopefully the dryness was just a fluke. Unless there is a better Philly cupcake out there to try???

Yet another cupcake review

In the hunt for the best cupcake, I’ve always wanted to try LA’s claim to fame, Sprinkles. I was just talking about it yesterday, so I was super stoked when the opportunity fell into my lap when a box was brought into work today!!!

They were delicious, BUT New York definitely still gets my vote for doing a better cupcake. A variety was brought in and I made sure to get claims on a vanilla. The cake was nice and moist and did have a nice taste to it. Frosting is my favorite part, but the cake is where things can go extremely wrong. The cake should taste good enough on its own to not need frosting. Sprinkles made a good showing in this department. They only have a layer about 1/8” thick of frosting which is just not enough in my book.

They are definitely scrumptious and I wouldn’t think twice about buying some of them, but Crumbs of New York, and Sweet Tooth of Southie are definitely still way higher on my list!

Good thing I don't work on 39th Street anymore.

Baked by Melissa has a new store front on 7th Avenue between 38th and 39th.

Having this around the block from work, would be DANGEROUS!

Mother's Day Mini Frittatas

Happy Mother's Day to all! I had the pleasure of being home this weekend and spending some short, but sweet quality time with my mom and sis! We indulged with a visit to Sweet Tooth yesterday! Still the best cupcake I've had to this day, but I will keep on eating numerous other cupcakes just in case there is an even better one out there! When we were a block away, I could already smell the deliciousness! I know it is boring, but I had a plain vanilla. The classic is the best!


This morning we made a delicious brunch before my sister had to depart. We made cute Mini Vegetable Frittatas. Check out how cute they are! They came out quite amazing and delicious!


Mini Vegetable Frittata

Ingredients:
1/2 small zucchini, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/6 cup good olive oil
salt and pepper
1 teaspoons minced garlic (1 clove)
6 large eggs
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 scallions chopped

Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Grease 12 cups muffin tins
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Saute zucchini, peppers, and onion in olive oil adding 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and garlic
- Once cooked set vegetables aside
- With oil remaining in the sauté pan, add in scallions and cook for 1 minute over medium-low heat
- Add the vegetables to the pan and toss with the scallions.
- Add the egg mixture over the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes over medium-low heat stirring.
- Pour mixture into muffin tin
- Bake for 15 minutes
- Using a rubber spatula to loosen the frittatas from the muffin cups and slide the frittatas onto a platter.
- Enjoy!

(Used tips from Giada mini frittata recipe for baking temp and time!)

Refueling after a hard run..........with a cupcake.

Being a cupcake connoisseur, I need to get on top of my game and keep at the taste testing. There are far too many cupcakes in NYC that I have yet to get my hands on.

Numerous people have told me Billy's Bakery is their favorite. Today after running a hard race, what better way to refuel then with a cupcake? After finishing, my mom had a little bag of goodness waiting for me which was consumed while riding the metro cause there was no way I was going to be able to make it all the way before indulging!

I have to say the standard bar has now been set by Sweet Tooth and all are now being compared to them. I like the simple look of Billy's cupcake. He has a signature swirled design to the frosting and mine was topped with a couple sprinkles. Looks nice and enticing!

The cake: was a disappointment. It was very dry. My style of eating a cupcake involves first biting off the bottom. This allows for a better cake to frosting ratio for the rest of the eating. Even though the frosting is the most important part that does not mean you can get away with a dry, bland cake. Cake should be moist and tasty without any frosting. You can easily mask a mediocre cake with frosting, but when this is done it's a huge problem. So Billy's was dry and not quite up to par with the taste. I'm not sure if I got a dud as far as the dryness goes, so I am going to have to give them a second visit to make sure.

The frosting: Was good. It kind of tasted like the buttercream recipe my always made that I now make. It is a balance between sugary and buttery. I have had better before, but it is still at a standard I like and I will definitely return to this establishment because of it.

Happy Birthday to me!

A birthday is not complete without cake! And this year I was very very pleased to get to indulge in an amazing cupcake from Sweet Tooth in Southie for my special day. Might be the best cupcake I've ever had! The cake is nice and spongy and light and the frosting is my dream frosting: nice and sugary. They also have a great ratio going for them. This picture is deceiving. These are not jumbo cupcakes, but just your standard muffin pan size. They were cooked to have a muffin top though. The muffin top shape allows for a larger surface to apply frosting to and MORE frosting!

Next time you are in Boston, you must stop by Sweet Tooth!

Cupcakes by Melissa.

Thanks to work, I got to try Cupcakes by Melissa. They are this cupcake shop in NYC that was trying to win the record for making the itty bittiest cupcakes alive. She's got some really neat flavor that are super tasty and leave you want more. Being bite size doesn't really deter you from eating less, if anything you probably eat more because they are so easy to pop in your mouth. The beauty of the size is that you get to try multiple flavors! For an event you can buy a pizza box full of 100 cupcakes! My favorite flavor, I highly recommend you trying are: Tie Dye, (just a plain vanilla on vanilla jazzed up with food coloring for the kid inside you!) chocolate chip pancakes, (they cake has maple syrup in it, so you really feel like you are eating pancakes; it is to die for!) and last but not least cinnamon! They are also some popular flavors of the chocolate persuasion you would probably enjoy!

Cupcake Taste Test.

I love sweets; especially cake.

At social gatherings when cake is passed around the room, after, many plates will have an L shape of frosting leftover. People have told me they just think frosting is too sweet?!??!?!?! I'm sorry, but I just can't comprehend this notion.

We have proof of my love for cake thank to uncle Paul videotaping my fourth birthday. Most children at parties will take a few bites, then grow bored and run away to play. Well not me; while all my friends had scampered away, I sat alone at the table finishing my slice of amazing cake from Connors Bakery.

In New York City, there are two very popular cupcake houses: Magnolia and Crumbs. This past weekend I conducted a taste test to see which was better. I purchased one of each and brought them home to eat them simultaneously, so I could fully compare and contrast.

I purchased the standard vanilla frosting, yellow cake from each. The winner: CRUMBS!
Crumb's cake is much lighter and fluffier. Magnolia's cake is more dense like a pound cake. Both cakes were moist, which was good because there is nothing worse than dry cake. No amounts of good frosting can make up for bad cake. Crumbs also get kudos in the frosting dept. I feel there was a more sugary taste, while Magnolia's was a buttery taste.

Before I had even tasted, I have to say I was more impressed in the Crumbs store. They have tons of different flavors and brightly decorate all their different concoctions. I do have to say they play in on the supersized American style. All the fun flavors come in the jumbo size while the standard size come in basics. They do sell a mini variety pack which is kind of fun.