Friday, November 1, 2013

WELCOME!

Hi there, my name is Alyssa and welcome to my blog! I like to bake - a lot. It's mostly cupcakes, but I have been known to make cakes, cookies, and even the occasional pizza. Everything I make is from scratch and I have been told I've been good at it so far. What I do is take a recipe and see how I can make it better by adding my own little twists. I thought that I should share them with the world. :)

Please click the links on the side (----->>>)
 to go to any of the various pages. Enjoy!


Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting

I bake a lot and I like to make my frosting form scratch as well. Cream cheese is always my go to. In my opinion it goes well with most everything, is relatively simple to make, and not to mention delicious :)


Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick (4oz) of butter (room temperature)
4 oz of cream cheese (room temperature)
2 C powdered sugar
1 t vanilla

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese. and 1 t of vanilla and mix well. Add 2 C of powdered sugar and fold it into the mixture until fully incorporated.



Baker's Tips
- I instruct to fold because powdered sugar can get very messy. Folding the sugar in works much better than trying to mix it in. Not only will you get it done faster without as much of the mess, you also won't have as much powdered sugar sitting at the bottom of your bowl.
- Mix things up! Some times I like to add a tablespoon or two of cinnamon to give the frosting that extra kick; especially in the fall.
- this frosting comes out a bit thick, so that it can be easily piled on top of the cake or cupcake. If you would prefer a slightly thinner frosting, just add a tablespoon of milk.


Candy Corn Infused MiniCupcakes

So Halloween is over, what to do with all of that leftover candy? One of the most pesky ones is candy corn. pure sugar and you have no idea how to get rid of it at all. I had that same problem, so I thought, why not make cupcakes out of them?




 Candy Corn Infused MiniCupcakes

1 1/2 C Candy Corn (plus extra for garnish)
1/2 C milk
2 C flour
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1/2 C butter (room temperature)
3/4 C sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350F
In a medium bowl whisk together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time and then add the vanilla.

Place the candy corn and 1/4 cup of milk into a glass bowl. Microwave at 30 second increments until you get a melted goo. Make sure to stir well in between sessions. It will take 4-6 sessions to get it melted.  Not all of the candy corn will be completely liquefied, but that's ok. You'll just have candy corn pieces in the cupcakes.
after about 1 or 2 sessions in the microwave
After I had finished heating the candy corn


In a separate larger bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add in the Candy corn mixture and stir well. Then add in the egg and butter mixture. Lastly, add in the other 1/4 cup of milk.



spoon the batter into the cupcake tins and bake for 10 minutes.

When they are cooled, top them with your favorite frosting (mine is cream cheese) and a candy corn garnish!! Enjoy!!




Baker's Tips
-if you want to make this a regular cupcake recipe, just bake for approximately 20 minutes instead of 10. use  
- If you love cream cheese frosting as much as I do, I have a cream cheese frosting recipe from scratch! Check out the other desserts page to see it!