Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

I must say, these cupcakes are absolutely sinful, but worth it. This was my first attempt at lemon blueberry cupcakes and they were a huge hit with my co-workers (guinea pigs). 

A lot of the recipes I researched had Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting and I specifically wanted to avoid cream cheese frosting, since not everyone likes it. 

The cupcake recipe I tried is from best.momscook.co. There isn't a website name listed, just a list of recipes and an author. I personally found her recipe and information to be fabulous. She gives a lot of tips and tricks. I accidentally forgot to add the lemon zest to my batter, but I did put in her optional lemon extract. Next time, I will add both. I want more than a hint of lemon. In addition, make note that her recipe makes only approximately 15 cupcakes. I failed to notice this until the last minute and had to bat my eyes for my husband to please rush to the grocery store for more blueberries! I was able to get 18 cupcakes from my batter and was not upset in the least that I ended up with 36 cupcakes.

The lemon buttercream frosting recipe I found is from Two Sisters Crafting. It's titled The Best Lemon Buttercream Frosting and they are not lying! I have made this frosting twice and it is wonderful! I made this frosting for Easter and colored it yellow. This last time I chose not to color my frosting so I could decorate it with lemon zest and blueberries. These cupcakes not only looked delicious, they were delicious!

If you have any suggestions or comments for altering the recipe and/or new dessert ideas please feel free to comment :)

Peppermint Buttercream Frosting

This recipe is so simple and so good. This is my first time making a Peppermint Buttercream and I must say, I will definitely be making this again before the holidays are over! 

I made a Classic Vanilla Buttercream recipe, which I have a link to here. There is also a link for Chocolate Buttercream as well. I bet the peppermint would taste great with the chocolate too!

The only addition I made to the vanilla buttercream recipe was 2 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil. That's it! This is my first time using an essential oil in my baking. I will definitely have to venture out of my comfort zone more and try other oils. 

To top off my cupcakes I took a few candy canes and put them inside a Ziploc bag and crushed them with a rolling pin. My daughter had a lot of fun helping with this part!

There you go! A very easy, but festive holiday dessert that is sure to impress. 

Simple Wedding Cupcakes

This is the first time I ever made wedding cupcakes. I just needed to come up with something simple and easy to commemorate a special newlywed couple. My daughter and I did lots of Pinterest research and we saw the idea of using piped chocolate decorations. 

To keep this super simple we made a vanilla box cake and our "go to" favorite Classic Vanilla Buttercream frosting. I alternate between the vanilla and chocolate all the time and absolutely love them. Check out the Turkey Cupcakes we made for Thanksgiving and you'll find the buttercream frosting recipe links on that page. 

We bought Wilton's Dark Cocoa Melts to pipe our words onto wax paper. Follow the instructions on the package and place your piped chocolate words into the fridge for 5 mins to set. This was extremely easy even for a beginner like me. I can definitely see lots of future cupcakes and desserts utilizing candy melts. I spent the extra $4 for Wilton's disposable candy melts bags. Throw the candy in the bag and follow the directions for melting, then snip the tip and pipe. No mess.

Use a jumbo tip to pipe on the buttercream frosting on your cakes. We bought black sugar pearls at Michael's and sprinkled them on. Lift the piped chocolate words from the wax paper using a frosting spatula and place on your cupcake. 

Viola! I still need some practice to make my chocolate words and hearts flow smoother but not bad for a first time. We even made two monograms, "T" and "D" for the groom and bride. Displaying your cupcakes on a stand always enhances the presentation as well! 

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

This is undoubtedly the best carrot cake recipe out there! I cannot take credit however. In my search for a classic homemade carrot cake I came across Sigrid's Carrot Cake. It's as easy as any store bought carrot cake mix, but homemade and way better! 

This is the 3rd year in a row that I've made this particular cake for my boss's birthday. This year however I chose to make cupcakes instead so it's easier to serve at work. This recipe does not give a bake time for cupcakes so I took a stab in the dark and guessed. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Yields 30 cupcakes. 

I did not have enough icing to frost 30 cupcakes. I barely frosted 26 so basically the last 4 were carrot cake muffins. Breakfast. You're welcome. 

I chose not to mix in the chopped pecans since some individuals may prefer no nuts, like myself. I sprinkled half my cupcakes with chopped pecans. Personally I think the pecans sprinkled on top is more visually appealing anyway.

Easy peasy as my daughter says ;) 

Coconut Cupcakes

This is my first attempt at coconut cupcakes and I used my entire extended family as guinea pigs :) I do have to say upfront that I myself do not like coconut and during my time in the kitchen I felt like I should be at the beach with coconut sun tan lotion! My husband was my taste tester and gives his seal of approval. 

I found this recipe at Cupcakes and Kale Chips and decided I'd give it a try and surprise my father-in-law. You can print off her full recipe and instructions. I changed 2 things with my recipe and I mention them below.

The cupcakes have a nice little surprise inside - a sweet coconut filling! I used a jumbo frosting tip to insert into the middle of my cooled cupcakes and gave them a twist to remove part of the cake.

The first thing I changed in my recipe was to chill the filling I made while the cupcakes cooled. In my opinion the consistency was easier to work with and less "watery".

When I added the filling I did this one cupcake at a time since you have to replace the small piece of cake you removed over the filling.

The second thing I changed was I decided to roast some shredded coconut in my oven (follow directions on package) and sprinkle on cupcakes when cooled. Everyone loved the coconut cupcakes and surprisingly it's not an overpowering flavor with all the coconut added to this recipe. This recipe is pretty easy and I would certainly repeat for future occasions! 

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

I can't even begin to describe how good this strawberry buttercream frosting tastes! I only recently learned how to make it and I've read several different recipes online. The consistency of the frosting was a bit hard to master. I have no idea how others got their frosting to look so pretty and not be watery from the pureed strawberries. So I tweaked the recipe to my own version, without jeopardizing the taste a bit!

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted softened butter (not melted!)
1 stick salted softened butter
4 cups powdered/confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
3/8 cup of strawberries (pureed)
Pinch of salt

Turkey Cupcakes

Perfect for Thanksgiving!

These cupcakes are pretty easy to make and they'll be a hit on Thanksgiving! I ran across this recipe originally on the Betty Crocker website, which even provides a video tutorial on how to make the turkey design.

I tweeked the recipe a little. First of all I much prefer homemade frosting compared to store bought. You have much more control over the consistency of the frosting.

I have 2 Buttercream Frosting recipes I live by, that I found on Savory Sweet Life:

Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

These frosting recipes are simple, even for a beginner, and best of all the recipe doesn't call for eggs, so no salmonella poisoning ;) I started making this frosting about a year ago and rarely use store bought any more.

I used Wiltons tip #199 to pipe my frosting on in circles until I covered the entire top, then piped a big plop of icing for the head. I used cupcake gems/pearls for the eyes. 

I did try and use some store bought frosting for the turkey's head, at first. I had orange frosting and thought it'd look really cute to have the turkey heads in orange and make it more colorful. However those 3 turkeys look slaughtered lol. The frosting ran and dripped down the cupcakes, even though I put the frosting in the fridge to stiffen it up prior to piping it on. Homemade is just better, specifically for this reason. But you could always make the Classic Vanilla Buttecream frosting and add Wiltons orange food coloring.

The kids will certainly enjoy helping to create the turkeys, so make it a family event as we did!