Mini Dark Chocolate Blueberry Cupcakes

When I was a senior in college, I had a quarter-life crisis and bought a bunny. Literally woke up one day and said, “I can NOT live ONE MORE DAY without a pet”, hopped on the always-reliable Craig’s list, and within a few hours found myself at a totally-standard-and-definitely-not-sketchy upstate NY backyard farm. Llamas and all.

I ended up purchasing a prize-winning “show rabbit” from a 13-year-old 4H all-star. He had perfect black and white markings and I named him Professor Blueberry.   

This is my real life.

Never mind the fact that I a.) didn’t yet have a job, b.) was graduating in a month, and c.) had no idea how to care for a bunny.  Mere details.

As much as Professor Bluebs was totes the cutest bunny on the block, there’s a couple things I learned during my stint as a pet-owner:

1. Bunnies are cute in theory.

2. Until they poop EV-A-REE-WHERE.

3. Bunnies who still have their…ahem..man bunny parts are not as cute in theory.

       a. They can be mean and will try to kick your boyfriend (sorry Mike). True story.

4. You can’t walk a bunny on a leash.

So, after a month of hiding the Blueb from my landlady and cleaning up 2352397523 poop pellets, I said goodbye to Mr. Blueberry. Luckily my 4H prize-winning bunny-owner friend was able to take him back. Word on the street is he lived a long and healthy life as a prize-winning bunny-maker (if ya catch my drift).

True or false: I received pictures in the mail of Bluebz prize-winning offspring?

My most recent cupcake creation is an ode to the Professor. Fluffy and tiny and blueberry buttercream topped, these cupcakes are almost as cute as my ex-bunny-baby. RIP rabbit friend.*

Dark Chocolate Blueberry Cupcakes (cupcake recipe from The Sweet Little Book of Cupcakes)

yield: 48 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 ounce bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a mini muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.  Stir in the chopped chocolate.
3. In a large bowl or the bowl of stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on high until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla.  With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the buttermilk and allow to incorporate for 30 seconds.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated; turn the mixer up to medium-high and beat for 20 seconds.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full; if you only have one 24-cup mini-muffin tin (like me), you’ll have to bake in two batches.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Top with blueberry buttercream (recipe below).

Blueberry Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 4-6 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. In a food processor, grind the thawed blueberries into a puree for about a minute, or until you can only see tiny pieces of blueberry skin. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and shortening on high until smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the blueberry puree and beat on high until fully incorporated. Add 4 cups of confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and mix on low until it starts to come together, then beat on high for 1 minute.
3. Depending on the consistency you want, add up to 2 cups more of confectioner’s sugar. I wanted the buttercream to be somewhat soft, so I only added one additional cup of sugar. Beat on high for 1 minute, then frost your cupcakes!

*Did I take it too far in this post? True life: I’m a w-e-i-r-d-o.

Homemade Funfetti Whoopie Pies

Rainbow sprinkles make my heart sing.  If you don’t already know this about me, it’s time to do some more careful reading on this here blog of mine.  Sprinkles are my THANG.

I would (and do) happily eat sprinkles on almost anything.  Ice cream sundaes?  Obv.  A big fat slice of cake?  The more the merrier.  A spoon?  Happened last week…?

I blame my mom for this sprinkle obsession, as I can remember from a young age climbing onto the counter to reach the sprinkle cabinet.

Yup, the sprinkle cabinet.

Some families have a spice cabinet, mine has one devoted to nonpareils and jimmies and colored sugars.  Such is life.

A while back, I went to Wegmans (otherwise know as the happiest place on earth) and happened upon the bulk candy section.  Before I knew it I was shoveling rainbow jimmies into a bag by the armload muttering “Tassssttteee the raaaiiiinnboow”.  Thank God for my watchful roomie Domenica, who carefully removed me from the bulk sprinkle situation.  Me and my bank account may not be alive without her.

And, so, now…now I have three pounds of rainbow sprinks and a whooooole lot of baking to do.  I was racking my brain trying to figure out what recipes I could throw handfuls of colored fun into (just you WAIT until you see what I have up my sleeve for Superbowl Sunday) and I came up with this:

Homemade funfetti whoopie pies.  Mini ones, to be exact.  Adorable and fun and sprinklicious.

Here’s what you do:

Make some funfetti whoopie pie batter (recipe below).

Then, make some fluffy rainbow frosting (recipe below).

And smush ‘em together and roll in extra sprinkles, just for good measure.

I took a picture of these babies with an oreo to show you how tiny and cute they are.  You could make regular-sized whoopie pies, but this way is just so much more adorable.  You might even call them FUN-sized FUNfetti..?

Funfetti Whoopie Pies (adapted from Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingley and Amy Treadwell)

yield: ~18 mini whoopie pies, depending on size

Ingredients

• 1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon milk (I used vanilla soy milk)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat liner.  In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium high until fluffy.  Scrape down the sides and beat in the egg.  In a small bowl, mix the milk, baking soda, and vinegar.  With the mixer on low, slowly pour in half of the the milk mixture. Add the vanilla and half of the flour mixture.  Blend on low for about 30 seconds, then add the other half of the milk and flour mixtures.  Beat on medium until fully combined, about one minute.  Fold in the sprinkles.
3. Using a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, pipe ~2 teaspoon mounds of batter onto prepared pans, leaving about an inch of space between each.  Bake for 8 minutes, or until the cookies are just beginning to turn golden brown on the bottoms.  Allow to cool on the pan for a minute, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

Fluffy Vanilla Rainbow Frosting

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ~1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

Directions

1. Beat the fluff and softened butter on high until fully incorporated, about 1 minute.  Add confectioner’s sugar to desired taste, starting with 1/2 cup and adding up to 1 cup.  The frosting can be quite sweet so don’t add too much!
2. Add the vanilla and pinch of salt; beat on high for 2 minutes.  Add the sprinkles and beat until incorporated, about 10 seconds.
3. With a pastry bag or knife, put a teaspoon of frosting on every other whoopie cookie.  Sandwich with a similar-sized whoopie cookie, then roll in sprinkles.  Store at room temperature.

PS- I’ve entered my Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcakes in a competition at Celebrations.com for the most creative cupcake!  Please vote for me, it only takes a second!  Click on the button below, then click “Vote for this cupcake!” Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Healthy(er) Vanilla Cupcakes with Berry Glaze

In my classroom, we’ve decided to investigate hyenas.  This is actually a little strange, because when you do some digging, you’ll discover that hyenas are…

Well, they’re mad weird.

We’ve learned that hyenas eat bones and trash and that their babies are born with teeth so that they can KILL EACH OTHER hours after they’re born.  We’ve learned more than we could ever care to know about hyena anatomy and we’ve learned to preview educational “nature” videos before showing them to children.  We’ve learned not to watch this and we’ve learned how NOT to teach children to make animal noises.

Because listening to 18 children laughing like hyenas is a one-way ticket to Migraineville.

We’ve created our own life-sized hyena and are currently in the process of making a hyena “habitat”, which is basically just a giant piece of paper covered in sand and brown paint.  Because… “hyenas are dirty.” #wordsofwisdom

All of this has nothing to do with the cupcakes I made today, unless you consider the fact that these perfectly adorable pink and purple cuppycakes are the exact opposite of dirty brown baby-eating hyenas.

Soooo…that’s a stretch.

What I’m trying to say is make these cupcakes because they are cute and *added bonus*…HEALTHY.  Half the butter is replaced with white bean puree, and the frosting is made of berries.  Health food.  Daily serving of fruits AND veggies.  Delicious and nutritious.

Just don’t make them for hyenas.  I hear they prefer eating bones.

Healthified Vanilla Cupcakes (adapted from Everyday Food, Jan/Feb 2012)

yield: 24 regular cupcakes

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (15.5 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar*
• 2 eggs + 2 egg whites
• 1 cup soy or regular milk*
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

*note: I used vanilla flavored soy milk, so I reduced the amount of sugar that the recipe originally called for.  If you’re using unsweetened soy milk or regular milk, you might want to bump up the sugar by 1/4 cup

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a food processor or blender, combine the beans, butter, and sugar.  Process until smooth, then add the eggs.  Blend until fully combined.
3. Whisk the bean+butter+egg mixture into the flour mixture until all ingredients are mixed.  Stir in the milk, vanilla, and lemon zest until smooth.
4. Divide batter among muffin cups and bake for 17-19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely, then top with fruit glaze (recipe below).

Berry Glaze

• 3-4 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/4 cup fruit puree (puree fresh or frozen berries in a food processor or blender till smooth.  Push through a mesh sieve to eliminate skin and seeds)

Whisk confectioners sugar into fruit puree, 1 cup at a time, until glaze is thick but pourable.  Dip the cupcake tops into the glaze and allow to set for at least 10 minutes, then dip them again and allow to set until the glaze hardens slightly.  Store in a sealed container at room temperature.

S’mores Bites

When I was 9, I decided I was going to make list of every single person I knew.  I sat at my desk in my bedroom and racked my brain, filling my Lisa Frank notepad with tens of people.  The total came to about 80, including names like “my best friend’s brother’s best friend”.

The following year, I started a list of every website.

Every website.  On the internet.

I was a waaaay cool kid.  I had at least 80 “friends”.

Now in my adult years, I’ve decided to make a list of every single s’mores baked good for the S’melanie.  Good to know that things haven’t changed much… I’m still way cool.

My latest creation stemmed from the idea that I needed to add something bite-sized to my s’mores repertoire.  A graham cookie cup holds a milk chocolate nugget and some toasted mini marshmallows – all the best s’mores flavors in a three-bite package!

S’mores Bites (adapted from Diana Rattray’s Graham Blondies)

yield: 24 bites

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 large bar milk chocolate
• ~1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter and allow it to cool to room temperature.
2. In a large bowl, mix the butter and brown sugar until smooth.  Add the egg and vanilla; beat until fully combined.
3. Stir in the flour and salt until there are no pockets of flour; gently swirl in the graham cracker crumbs until just combined.
4. Divide the dough evenly into a (24-cup) mini muffin tin.  Bake for 9 minutes, or until the edges are barely golden and the center still looks a bit gooey.  While baking, cut the chocolate bar into 24 1/2-inch pieces.
5. Remove from the oven and quickly press the chocolate in the center of each cookie.  Top with 2-3 mini marshmallows.
6. Put your oven on broil and place the bites under the broiler for about a minute, or until the marshmallows have browned.  Cool completely and remove from the muffin tin.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cakes in a Jar

Want to show someone you love them this Christmas (or any time of year)?

Make them these chocolate cakes + peanut butter frosting in a jar a la Forgiving Martha.  Girlfriend KNOWS her chocolate cake.  I followed her cake recipe (substituting greek yogurt for the sour cream) and it was one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve had.  So moist and fluffy.  And you bake it right in the mason jar!

Then you top those cute little jar cakes with peanut butter buttercream (recipe below).  I’m telling you.  If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be peanut butter buttercream.  I want to bathe in that stuff.  As did all 6 of the coworkers I gave these cakes to.  Seriiiiously.  Heaven.  Leave one of these cakes in a jar for Santa and I bet you’ll get EVERYTHING on your wish list.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons milk (I used soy)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• chocolate chips, for garnish

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening on medium high until smooth.  Scrape down the bowl and add the peanut butter.  Beat on medium high until fully incorporated.
2. Scrape down the bowl and add the confectioners sugar.  Start with the mixer on low, and as the sugar becomes incorporated, turn it up to medium.  Beat for about a minute.
3. Add 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla, and salt.  Beat on high for 2 minutes, or until frosting is light and fluffy.  If the frosting seems too thick, add another tablespoon of milk. Pipe onto the cakes and garnish with chocolate chips.

Wildlife Wednesday: Kitten Snuggle Edition

This makes me reeeeeeaaaalllllyyyy want to snuggle.  A kitten or a human or both.

Can you even?  So comforting.

Wildlife Wednesday: Kitten Edition

Meet Leo and Finn, teeny tiny fluffball kittens recently adopted by newlyweds Liz and Dave.

Leo showing off his dance moves.

Want to eat. kitten face.

I’ve got a kitten on my back and I ain’t afraid to show it, show it, show it… No? You heard different words?

Happy little family. Mew!

Pumpkin Cake Balls

Did you ever play “Momma had a baby and her head popped off“? You know, that totally weird and random game where you decapitate dandelions and sing a little song about it?

I invented that. Except I originally called it “Barbie had a baby and her head popped off”.

Seriously! Google it. You won’t find my name (or anyone else’s), but that’s because this is the first time I’m coming forward as “anonymous inventor of Momma had a baby and her head popped off”.

I invented it when I was playing Barbies with my bestie one day and my {faulty} Barbie was in labor and her head fell off. Clever, eh?

Mike (and my mom, and pretty much anyone I tell this story to) thinks I *might* be remembering this event a bit incorrectly and it’s *possible* that I heard “Momma had a baby and her head popped off” from someone else and simply incorporated it into my play.  But to them I say, pooh pooh!

Similar to my innovative dandelion decapitation song, I’m also 99.99% sure I am the first person to invent pumpkin cake balls and they will soon overtake the world. I haven’t bothered to Google-check this fact as I feel that discovering someone else had the idea of combining pumpkin and cake balls first would be a pretty serious blow to my ego.

Regardless of origin, these are the nummiest cake balls I’ve ever encountered. The only thing better than mixing cake and frosting is mixing cake and PUMPKIN and frosting. SoooooooooooO good.

You can even make these if you are on a diet because pumpkin replaces half the usual amount of frosting in the recipe, so technically these are a health food.

Pumpkin Cake Balls (yield: ~30 cake balls)

Ingredients

• 1 box white or yellow cake mix
• 3 tablespoons + 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup canned vanilla frosting
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• candy corn

Directions

1. Mix cake according to directions on box (with eggs, water, and oil), but replace one egg with 3 tablespoons of pumpkin and a teaspoon of baking powder. Stir in pumpkin pie spice. Bake as directed.
2. Allow the cake to cool completely, then crumble until there are no large pieces of cake left. Stir in 3/4 cup frosting and 1/2 cup pumpkin until incorporated.
3. Form the mix into small balls, then dip in white chocolate candy melts.
4. Decorate with candy corn. Store in refrigerator.

Chocolate Marie Biscuit Bars

A few weird things happened this week:

I ate an entire head of cauliflower. By myself. And by ate I mean shoveled into my face at top speed because it was the best thing I’ve ever tasted. More on that later.

I made these better-than-crack Marie Biscuit Bars despite the fact that they have a raw egg in them. Which is weird because I always learned never to eat raw eggs but not weird because I have no problem eating 75 tablespoons of unbaked cookie dough.

And, the most beautiful newborn baby in the world was born. Usually newborns look like… aliens? Not so cute? Too small and wrinkly? In my belief system babies don’t get cute until they are one week old. But then I met baby Chloe on her one-day-old birthday and my belief system changed and now I’m worried that when I have a newborn baby (in ten years, relax Mom) it won’t be as cute as Chloe. This thought keeps me up at night.

LOOK:

This cutie patootie little doll belongs to one of my co-teachers, Michaela, and she was born this past Sunday. Tell me she isn’t the cutest baby you’ve ever seen. I dare you.

What. A. Bean.

So – Michaela is from South Africa and sometimes brings in these Chocolate Marie Biscuit Bars. The first time I tried one I was all like “Huh? What is a Marie biscuit? And why does this taste like it was sent down from heaven? Can I move to South Africa?” They are like chocolate fudge with crispy chunks of biscuit mixed throughout. The bars are also 0% good for you, which is a pre-req to most things I make.

I immediately got the recipe and vowed to make Marie Biscuit Bars ASAP, but inevitably forgot until Michaela brought them in on her last day before maternity leave.  I then remembered that they are made of sugarplum fairy dust and I finally made them myself and despite the raw(ish) egg I ate the entire batch.*

Not only are these bars addicting and incredibly tasty, they are SO easy to make. Here is the recipe for your eating pleasure.

Chocolate Marie Biscuit Bars (yield: ~20 bars)

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 box confectioner’s sugar, or about 3 1/2 cups
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 large egg (I’m thinking you could probably substitute 1/4 cup milk for the egg if you wanted), slightly beaten
• 1 package Marie biscuits (made by Goya, these can be found in the international foods section of your grocery store), roughly crushed

Directions

1. Melt butter in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stove. While the butter is melting, sift confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl.
2. Pour the melted butter into the sugar/cocoa mixture; stir until fully incorporated.
3. Add the beaten egg (or milk) to the butter and sugar. Mix thoroughly. It should be somewhat runny – add milk if necessary to thin it out.
4. Stir in the crushed biscuits until all pieces are coated with chocolate.
5. Coat a 9×9 inch pan with cooking spray. Press the fudge into the pan and allow to set in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or until firm. Cut into squares and serve. Store in a cold place.

*Exaggeration. I ate half the batch. The other half is sitting in my freezer “for when I need a little treat”. Aka tomorrow.

Frenchie Friday

Smush-face dog, meet smush-face cat.