Easter Cupcakes!!

Yup its that time of year. Bright pastel colors, marshmallow peeps, bird chirping etc etc lalalala blah blah blah :) So I took the opportunity to sit down and plan out some cuppycakes for Easter. Most of the designs made the cut...some didn't and others just didn't turn out how I pictured them. But that's ok the ones I did make look really good. Wishing my pictures were better my photography stinks and really doesn't do them justice. I made one type of cake and just decorated them differently. These took a lot of time because I had so many designs to do and couldn't narrow down my creative eye. But it's ok because it's been weeks since I've been able to actually spend time in the kitchen. It was nice especially since no one was home and I had the kitchen to myself.

There are 3 designs:
1.  Chocolate covered peeps

2. Birds Nests

3. Bunny Cupcakes (my personal favorite)

I will do the best I can do break down the designs per ingredient. But I will start with the cake recipe. I tinkered with my white cake recipe, instead of using all purpose flour I used Cake Flour. These came out dense and I have gotten mixed reviews on them so far.

White Cupcake Recipe:
3/4 cup of butter (room temp.)
3 eggs (room temp.)
2 1/2 cups Cake Flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk

1. Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl stir together flour,baking powder, and salt.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
4. In a large bowl beat butter with mixer on medium to igh speed. Gradually add sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time beating until combined. Scrape sides of bows; beat about 2min more or until light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
6. Beat in vanilla extract.
7. Alternate add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
8. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup fill liners, smooth out the top of the batter in each cup.
9. Bake for 18-22min or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Place on wire racks to cool completely before icing.

Cream Cheese Icing
**I doubled this recipe to have enough to cover and decorate all 24 of my cupcakes**
1 8oz package cream cheese (room temp)
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar
white food coloring
(For making peep cupcakes you will also need light pink, light blue, and light yellow food coloring)

1. Beat butter and cream cheese and vanilla with an electric mixer.
2. Gradually beat in powdered sugar.
3. Once Frosting is fluffy add in white food coloring (more is more here add as much to get the "whiteness" you want.  Adding this will turn the icing white since the butter tinges it yellow and will allow the addition of the colored food coloring to take better.)

Peeps Design:
12 peeps
melted chocolate
1 cup pink colored icing
1 cup blue colored icing
1 cup yellow colored icing

1. Melt chocolate, dip peeps place on wax paper and allow chocolate to set up.
2. While waiting for chocolate to set you can swirl the colored icing on the cupcakes. I used about 1 cup of each color to top 4 cupcakes. I made 4 blue, 4 pink, and 4 yellow.


Birds Nest:
1 cup white icing
9 egg shaped M&Ms
green edible Easter grass as the nest
**This makes 4 cupcakes**

1. Swirl white icing on top of cupcakes
2. wrap the green grass around the cupcakes and form a nest. (yes by looking at the picture I would be a bad bird mommy my babies would freeze I am not a good nest builder!)
3. place eggs in the center of the cupcakes


Easter Bunny Cupcakes:
**8 cupcakes*
8 large marshmallows cut in half diagonally (for the ears)
Pink gel writing icing (this is usually sold in food stores near the bakery and birthday candles)
8 mini marshmallows cut in half (so you have two circles)
8 pink jelly beans (for the nose)
16 black jelly beans (for the eyes)
Shredded coconut

1. Cut the large marshmallow in half diagonally and use the pink gel to fill in the center of the ear.
2. Cut the small marshmallow in half so you have two circles.
3. After icing the top of the cupcake with white icing top with shredded coconut.
4. Place the "ears" on top of the cupcake place two black jelly beans for the eyes the pink for the nose and mini marshmallows for the cheeks.

In the opening image you can see one where I tried to add a "smile" but it looked like crud so I did not repeat on the others. I was also going to try to add whiskers but didn't have black writing gel *shrugs* next time. I will definitely want to make these again. They were super fun!!

I hope everyone has an awesome Easter! Eat lots, drink some, converse with friends and family, and play with the kiddies.


Enjoy!
<3 Laura ^.^

Lasagna Soup topped with Basil Garlic Ricotta

Ever want the flavors of something but don't want all the hassle of making it? Yea me too, I knew there had to be an easier way to get the hearty cheesy flavors of lasagna without spending all day cooking. So my Deconstructed Lasagna Soup was born! Now I could have mixed the cheese in but then I thought it would seem more like a non baked pasta dish, so instead I topped each bowl with a ball of Basil Garlic Ricotta cheese. I kept the cheese cold so when it hit the warm soup it melted and mixed in nicely.


Ricotta Topping:
1cup Ricotta cheese
2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
3 tbsp Basil-fresh (DO NOT USE DRIED), chopped

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well

2. Prepare a small plate or sheet pan with foil or wax/parchment paper. With a spoon, cookie scoop, melon baller, or in my case I used a round 1tbsp to scoop balls of cheese. Place on prepared sheet/plate and refrigerate until needed.

Soup Ingredients:

3lbs Ground Turkey (Turkey Sausage- cut from casings or a mix of the two would be tasty too)
1 medium Onion, diced
5-6 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste
2- 15oz cans Italian seasoned Diced Tomatoes
2- 15oz cans Tomato Sauce
32 oz Chicken Stock
2- 10oz boxes frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed and squeezed of all moisture
1 box Bow Tie Pasta (yes there are two boxes in the picture but I only used one)

1. Brown and drain meat, add in onion and garlic, season with dried Basil, Italian Seasoning, Red Pepper Flakes, Salt and Pepper, cook until onions are soft.

2. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and chicken stock, simmer for 15-20 minutes

3. Add Spinach and Pasta continue to simmer until pasta is cooked.
**SIDE NOTE: this is how I made it this time, but in the future I will most likely keep the pasta separate as it drank up most of the broth!!**

Now what is Lasagna without the garlic bread you may be asking? Well of course I had to serve something.....*thinks* but to me making garlic bread just seemed like it would be to bulky of a side for this hearty soup. So I decided on Bread sticks! (Although crusty Ciabatta toasted and rubbed with tomato and garlic sprinkled with Asiago cheese does sound good too....)

Ingredients:
1 package refrigerated bread stick dough
1 compound butter mixture (1 stick butter, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, 4-5 Garlic Cloves-minced)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1. On prepared sheet pans place bread stick dough.
2. Slater with compound butter.
3. Top with Mozzarella Cheese
4. Bake 375 degrees for 13min

All that is left to do now is serve! Ladle soup into bowls and place a ball of the ricotta mixture in the center, make sure you use a spatula to do this as the warmth from your hands will ruin the shape of the balls you made when you try to pick them up.

In my opinion this came out really well, it was warm and really hearty and 1/4th of the work of actually making lasagna, not to mention clean up was a breeze! As I mentioned earlier in the post the pasta did drink most of the broth so I will need to add more tomato sauce and chicken broth when I go to reheat it. So next time instead of this being a one pot meal, I will break out another pot and keep the pasta separate until I am ready to dish it out.

Oh, and this recipe could easily be cut in half. I just have the habit of cooking for an army. Left overs make great gifts, or freeze nicely (if planning on freezing I would leave the pasta out until you are ready to thaw and eat)

 Enjoy!
<3 Laura ^.^

Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies

This is the last of the cookie's I made for the box I sent my bestie :) The most favorite the classic chocolate chip m&m cookie. Sandy sugary chocolaty does it get any better? I think not!

I used Pink a white m&m's you could use something like this and pretty it up by using custom colors for baby showers, bridal shower gifts, or birthday parties.

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 Cup sugar

1 Cup packed light brown sugar

2 extra large eggs

2 Tablespoons pure vanilla

3 3/4 Cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

12 oz bag chocolate chips

1 bag M&M’s (you’ll have some left over)

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter and sugars until well beaten.
3. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
4. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl; mix.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips.  Do not mix in M&M’s!!
5. Scoop out the dough for the size cookie you want place onto prepared 2 inches a piece, and push several m&m's into each cookie.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes (depending on the size you made them), until edges just start to turn golden brown.
7. Let cool for 10 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

must have : Grab a tall glass of milk and EAT until your hearts content

 Enjoy!
<3 Laura ^.^

Snickerdoodle cookies

These are my besties favorites! So naturally i had to make them :) These are simple hand rolled crackled cookies coated in cinnamon sugar....yum...

Coating:
3 tbsp sugar
1tsp cinnamon

Cookie Dough:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
2. Stir together the dry ingredients.
3. In a bowl with a paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add the sugar and continue to mix, then add the eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla, and mix thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients and mix until blended.
4. Chill dough 1 hour if it's sticky or difficult to handle.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
6. line cookie sheet with parchment paper
7. Roll balls of dough about the size of a walnut then roll them in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Place on sheet pan 2 1/2 inches apart.
8. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until puffed up and the surface is slightly cracked. Let cool on the cookie sheet a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

These were yummy I had one...ya know just a tiny one to make sure they were good enough to send the my bestie :)

Enjoy!
<3 Laura ^.^

Cranberry Walnut Oat Cookies

It seems I took a small break from my blog. I have been very busy with work and then my birthday then this week I have been sick. But two weekends ago I spent a full day making DOZENS off cookies. I planned on breaking them up sending some to work, sending some to my best friend, and leaving some at home. Well my family (mainly my father lol) pouted and wouldn't let them leave the house.

This is a pic of the container I sent my Best Friend :) In this container are:
Chocolate Chip M&M
Snicker Doodle
Cranberry Walnut
Oatmeal Raisin.

I will make separate posts for each cookie in the next few days. Through all of the cookies I made the ones that disappeared first were the Cranberry Walnut, so I shall start with that recipe.

For this recipe I basically used the same basic recipe as the oatmeal raisin cookies but swapped ingredients.




Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups rolled oats (I added these just for texture they are optional)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together.

3. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture.


4. Stir in the oats, cranberries, and walnuts.

5. At this point you can either chill the dough for a bit in the fridge and then scoop it, or scoop the cookies onto a sheet and then chill the whole tray before baking them. You could also bake them right away, if you’re impatient, but I do find that they come out with a better final product after being chilled. (I was impatient but still wanted to chill the dough so I put it in the freezer for about 30min in a metal bowl).

6. The cookies should be two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool. If you try to take them off the parchment paper before they cool a bit they will just fall apart they need to "set up" a bit before being moved.


Enjoy!
<3 Laura ^.^

Cherries and Cream Cupcake

These are the cupcakes I promised to post for you. This is the second flavor I made to bring to work on V-Day. Ok my inspiration for this honestly was a bottle of soda I had seen. It was Cherry n cream flavor. I thought hmmm that would make a good cupcake and well this is the result. This is a Cherry filled vanilla bean cake topped with super white swirled sparkly pink buttercream icing with a cherry on top. Yea that's a mouth full but really I spent a full week dreaming of making these and how they would turn out. I'm pretty happy to report that they actually turned out as pretty as I imagined them.

I was making these the same time I was making the red velvet so please forgive me, I did not take pictures of every step like maybe I should have. These are a little bit more involved then mix and scoop but I am incredibly happy with the process.

Ingredients for the cupcake:
1 ½ cups + 2 tablespoons cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites or 4 tbsp egg substitute
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean (you could leave this out but it is soooo worth it to use)
1 can cherry pie filling (you can make your own but I used the canned stuff this time)
 **Preheat Oven 350 degrees**

1. In a sauce pan heat milk , split and scrape vanilla bean into milk, place empty pod in milk also. Slowly heat to just under a simmer for several minutes take care not to scald. Take off heat and let steep and cool. Remove empty pod and set aside to dry.
2. Beat the butter for about 3 minutes on medium speed, then add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the egg and beat for 30 seconds. Add the egg whites, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds each.
4. In one bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another whisk together the vanilla steeped milk, vanilla extract, and sour cream.
5. Add the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter sugar egg mixture in alternating additions (dry-wet-dry method), starting and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined being sure to not over beat.
6. Divide the batter into cupcake papers in a muffin tin and bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Tops may seem soft to the touch but will harden as they cool.
7. Set on wire rack to completely cool before frosting.
8. Once cool using a paring knife cut a hole in the middle of the cupcake from the top. Do not discard "lids" as you will replace after filling. You can also use a cupcake corer if you have one handy.
9. Fill with a small amout of filling, do not over fill as it will ooze out when you put the lid back on. Place lids back on and set aside for icing.

Icing:
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar (I had used 5 but was told it was to sweet so I cut back the recipe)
white food coloring

1. Whip butter in electric mixer until light and fluffy
2. Add Vanilla extract and mix to combine.
3. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time
4. Add as much/little white food coloring as you want. Remember to incorporate this fully throughout the whole icing, you may need to mix by hand.
5. Whip icing until light and fluffy

10. Spread/pipe icing on cupcakes as you wish. I piped mine on using a start tip in a circular motion. I used sparkly pink icing gel made by wilton (can be purchased at Michaels) and used the same technique as in my chocolate peppermint cupcake recipe. Make a few stripes of Pink inside the piping bag fill with super white icing. the pink will naturally swirl in when you squeeze out the icing onto the cupcakes.
11. Top with a cherry :)

Reviews: Well there wern't any left....the day I made them they were super good but it seemed the longer they sat the sweeter the icing turned. I had used 5 cups of powdered sugar so I listed the recipe as 4 cups. 

Enjoy!
<3 Laura ^.^

Classic Red Velvet Cupcakes

Holy moley! Where has this past week gone? I have been *SO SO SO* busy with work and hectic stuff going on that I have not had time to post anything. Please forgive me! I wanted to post this before Valentines Day but I didn't get the chance. For Valentines Day I made cupcakes for work. I made two kinds Red Velvet and a vanilla bean (recipe posted later this week). Earlier last week I asked what kind of cupcakes they wanted me to make, So what do they do? They google...yes he google and the first thing that came up was Red Velvet. Can you get any more Valentines Day then dark red cake and stark white icing? I think not! Here is my cupcake and icing recipe (and secret for super white icing).

**Pre-heat oven 350 degrees**
Cupcake:

3 1/3 cup cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 oz red food coloring
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp white distilled vinegar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1. I always prepare my cupcake pans ahead of time, line them with cupcake liners if using a silicone pan no need to line or grease but do remember to place them on top of a baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the red food coloring, cocoa, and vanilla, add to the batter and beat well.
4. In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour.(Flour, milk, flour) With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat.

5. In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir by hand getting the bottom of the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.
6. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake each tray for 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Take care not to overfill the cupcake liners, I tend to do this and my cupcake tops come out like muffin tops.
7. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 1 hour. Remove from the pans and cool completely on a wire racks before icing.



Cream cheese Icing:
2- 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened and cut up in pieces
6 tbsp unsalted butter softened and cut into pieces
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4-5 cups powdered sugar, sifted (sweeten to taste but remember the more powdered sugar you add the less you will taste the tangy cream cheese which is a classic component for Red Velvets)
****White Food Coloring

1. In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese and butter until smooth, stop often to clean off whisk attachment.
2. Add Vanilla and beat in well.
3. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, incorporating well.
4. Add white food coloring, use as much as you need to gain the whiteness you desire
5. Whip on high speed for several minutes until light and fluffy
6. Refrigerate for 1-2 hrs before piping onto cupcakes.

****I have to say I am in love with white food coloring. I hate when you want really white icing but the butter tinges it an off white. And if you aren't using a clear vanilla extract, that can color your icing as well. The answer is a simple trip to Michaels away! This is definetly a time when more is more. It makes the icing bright and white and B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!! Just make sure you incorporate it well into the icing.

These were a HUGE hit. Everyone told me how much they loved them. And I have to admit I gave in and had a small bite of one, and wow it was good!

Enjoy!
<3 Laura ^.^