EASTER EGGS CUPCAKES

 I know, I know, Easter is over...but I couldn't resist sharing these cute little guys with everyone and I finally have a moment to sit down and blog. Between working full time, being a mommy, and doing all these cakes and cupcakes, my free time is so limited right now. But busy is a good thing right?  :)

Since Spring is finally here it's wedding season in the cake decorating world which means lots of opportunity to get my creative juices flowing and making some awesome wedding cakes! I have so many great ideas and designs in mind for this season and I can't wait to share them all with you! But for now let's talk about these adorable cupcakes. :)

 I first saw this idea on Pinterest and I just had to give it a try. Not to mention I rarely have an opportunity to do anything in pastels which I'm really LOVING right now. I love that this idea is so simple and yet so ADORABLE! 

I'm not sure how everyone else was doing them, but at first I thought that everyone was just using a small round tip to make the nests which I thought might take awhile. So I had the idea of using a a Wilton #233 Grass Tip like this one here. This worked out great and made the process so much quicker and easier than I had planned.

The only thing I would do different? Maybe next time I won't use Reese's Peanut Butter eggs since I know I am a SUCKER for peanut butter and couldn't resist eating the leftovers...

Hope you guys enjoy these as much as I do!

KITTY CAT CUPCAKES

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I LOVE cats. So you can only imagine how much I enjoyed making these guys. When I was first asked to make kitty cat cupcakes, I never imagined that they would actually include fur. :) But with the help of my handy Wilton Grass Tip I had some furry cupcakes in no time! Okay that sounds weird but you know what I mean. ;)

 

 For the most part I was able to do these all fairly quickly. I think the most time consuming part about these little guys was cutting out 144 eyes including the white, green and black. 48 ears, and 24 noses. Then I just painted the whiskers and mouths using black or white gel color and vodka (perfectly safe for children because vodka evaporates immediately). 

I'm super happy with the way these turned out. I only wish I had some better lighting to photograph these in but unfortunately it isn't always sunny in Alabama. :) 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! As always feel free to leave comments and questions.

DIY: CAT IN THE HAT CUPCAKE & CAKE TOPPERS

A couple of weeks ago, all of the schools in my area were celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss. So when someone requested some Cat in the Hat cupcakes I got super excited to make some fondant toppers!! 

I really wanted to go about making these the simplest way possible so I thought what a great opportunity to grab my camera and show everyone how I did it. :)

So as promised via my Instagram "teaser" pic, here is a little tutorial on how I made these adorable toppers. 

The Hat:

I started out by rolling out red and white fondant. I rolled them both at the same time to make sure that they were the same thickness. Using a Wilton 4B tip I cut out two white circles, and four red circles.

 

 Once I had my circles cut out, I put them together like little sandwiches using a paintbrush and a tiny bit of water as glue.

Tip: If you don't like the seams to be so noticeable, you can use a tiny bit of water and your finger to rub around the seams and this should help make them less noticeable. If you have the time and patience, the longer you do this, the less noticeable they will be. 

In this case, I was a little pressed for time, and wasn't able to spend too much time on this part but they still came out looking just fine in the end. :)

 Next roll your white fondant a little thinner, and cut out a circle that is a little bigger than the red and white circles to make the brim of your hat. 
Once you have your "sandwiches" stacked on top of your brim, use your finger to press down (or "smoosh" as I would call it) on one side to give it that whimsical look and you're all finished! 

 Green Eggs & Ham:

Now for the easy stuff. :) For the green eggs I first used an oval cutter to make a white fondant oval.

 Okay now remember that Wilton tip we used earlier to cut out the white circles for the hat? Now we use that same tip to cut out a green circle to make the yolk. :) 

 For the ham I started by forming the fondant into a small ball in the palm of my hand. Once I had a perfect ball, I used the outer edge of my palms and rolled back and forth to form a tail and then bent the "tail" a little at the end.

 Yay! Now that we have all of our figures formed we can start painting. For the paint I used gel food coloring mixed with a tiny amount of vodka (yes this is safe for children because the vodka evaporates almost immediately) to paint the details and lines. And now we're all finished!

The cool thing about making fondant figures like this, is that you can make them as big or as small as you want them, and they can be used on cupcakes or cakes depending on your project. I hope everyone found this helpful! If you have any questions or comments I would LOVE to hear from you! 

XO
 -Reva

PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE CUPCAKES

 I'm a little late in posting this because I actually made these around Thanksgiving. I can't even believe how busy I am baking this year! :) I made these pumpkin cupcakes for someone at my son's daycare, and also gave some to my co-workers. They were a big hit! And the best part is, I stumbled upon this recipe by accident and out of desperation!!

So I was up super late one night getting ready to fill this order and I hadn't even started baking yet when I realized I didn't even have any eggs. :( It was way too late to run to the store and this order was due the next morning!! So I had no choice but to figure it out. I grabbed a box of Duncan Hines Spice Cake mix from my cabinet and this is what I came up with. I am so amazed at how these turned out and I will be using this recipe from now on!

P.S. The topping is crushed graham crackers!! Yummm!!!! 



Enjoy!

Feel free to leave comments and suggestions! :)

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix

1 small can pumpkin pie mix

1/2 cup water 

Baking Instructions:

NOTE: Do not mix cake mix as instructed on box. Only use the ingredients listed above. :)

Fill cupcake liners 

Bake at 350° for  20-25 min 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 oz unsalted butter (softened)

4 oz cream cheese (softened)

2 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Beat together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time with mixer on low speed until creamy. Mix in vanilla extract.

MOCHA FRAPPE CUPCAKES

Three letters for you coffee lovers out there: O.M.G!! Haha! I know one thing, these guys are YUMMY!! 

Opening a box of these babies smells just like walking into Starbucks!! 

And the best part is that they are filled with yummy, gooey chocolate ganache!

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

(Depending on how pressed for time you are, you can either use Devil's Food boxed cake for this, or you can use an extra yummy chocolate cake recipe which I'll list below. I adapted this one from FoodNetwork.com  :) 

•  1/4 pound unsalted, at room temperature.
•  1 cup sugar 
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 16 fluid ounces chocolate syrup 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons ground coffee

For the frosting:

• 1 cup butter, softened 
• 3 teaspoons ground coffee, or espresso 
• 1 pinch salt
• 2/3 cup milk
• 3+ cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

For the ganache:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

For the cupcakes:

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in the chocolate, vanilla and coffee. Add the flour and mix until just combined. (Don't overbeat, or the cupcakes will be tough.) 

Using an icecream scoop, fill your cupcake liners just a little over halfway. 

Bake at 325°F for 25-30 min. 

For the frosting:

If you're using instant coffee, mash it in a bowl with the bottom of a spoon until it becomes powdery. 

Beat butter until smooth. Mix in vanilla and coffee. Beat in confectioners' sugar and milk alternating until desired consistency is reached.

For the ganache:

Pour all 8oz of the chocolate chips into a med bowl. Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan over med heat. Bring just to a boil (be careful not to boil over) and pour boiled cream over your chocolate. Whisk mixture until smooth. 

Once your cupcakes have cooled, hollow out the centers using an icing tip. Fill cupcakes with slightly cooled ganache using a piping bag. The last step is to ice with the YUMMY frosting!! 

BACHELORETTE CUPCAKES

I had so much fun making all of these little fondant corsets and rings for this Bachelorette party! Not to mention the very yummy cupcakes! 

I was a little pressed for time on these so I wasn't able to snap pics for a tutorial. But I couldn't resist sharing these so if anyone is interested in how I made them or has any questions please feel free to leave comments and questions below.

I also did a BACHELORETTE CORSET CAKE

Spiderman Cupcakes