Holiday Baking!

Happy December! These are red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, topped with sprinkle-coated decorative marshmallows.

Baby Salted Caramel Cheesecakes!

This is possibly one of the best desserts I have ever made. Mini salted caramel cheesecake cupcakes .... you need to make them.

Baby cheesecakes are SO easy to make and they taste very fancy! They are also super versatile - you can add cocoa powder or food coloring to the actual cheesecake part to change up the flavor, and then top them with anything ranging from candy, fruit jelly, whipped cream, frosting, etc. 

Recipe: http://simplybakings.com/?p=965

Birthday Cupcakes!

I made these fun, beach-themed Kahlua cupcakes for one of my good friends at work last month. The decorations were my favorite part!

Halloween Cupcakes!

Vanilla bean pumpkin cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting!

Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes! 2

Pumpkin ale cupcakes are a dream. A beer-enriched chocolatey batter and a pumpkin spice-flavored heady buttercream to tie all the flavors together.

Recipe courtesy of My Baking Addiction.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Hearty and healthy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! Recipe courtesy of Joy of Baking.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcakes!

Happy October! It is most definitely the season of pumpkin. To kick off the pumpkin baking, I started with basic pumpkin spiced cupcakes and cream cheese frosting - a classically delicious combination. Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Guiness Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting!

These were made in honor of a special Irish-American friend's birthday - Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting! I adapted the recipe from Brown Eyed Baker, essentially just removing the whiskey ganache filling part. I topped the frosting with a dark chocolate espresso bean. Yum!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom's birthday cupcake request this year was a bit odd - she requested chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's frosting. Nothing wrong with that combo (nice one Mom!), but it was a bit out of character for my fruit-loving, booze-shunning mamma. Regardless, the birthday girl had it her way!

Espresso Chocolate Cupcakes with Pink Bailey's Buttercream (rosette themed)!

Mac n' Chese Cupcakes!

For a co-worker without a sweet tooth (gasp!), I had so much fun playing around with a savory cupcake recipe. These mac and cheese 'cupcakes' were delicious and adorable - the baked breadcrumb topping really set them off!

Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes!

For a very special co-worker birthday, I made chocolate Kahlua cupcakes. The batter contained Kahlua and so did the cream cheesey buttercream, and both came out fabulous! I topped each one with a milk chocolate-covered pretzel for garnish. Yum! Why are boozy cupcakes the best?!

Mini Donut Cupcakes!

In a team as big as mine, it is always somebody's birthday at work, it seems. This time, I decided to make mini donut cupcakes - with a simple vanilla base, and coffee-flavored creme glaze, and topped with a perfectly miniature sized donut. These bring 'coffee & donuts' to a whole new level!

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey's Caramel Frosting!

I didn't even know that Bailey's came in caramel-flavor, but once I made this happy discovery (quite accidentally), I knew it needed to be incorporated in frosting, and soon. I decided to make a super chocolatey cake and top with a chocolate buttercream frosting with plenty of Bailey's caramel. Topped with a dark chocolate chip!

Dulce de Leche Cupcakes!

Dulce de leche cupcakes ... the occasion being yet another co-coworker's departure. I baked the dulce de leche into the cake to make it moist and fluffy, and topped the dulce de leche-infused buttercream with a little extra of the deliciously thick sauce. Needless to say, these were quite decadent!

Gender Reveal Party!

One of my good friends recently had a Gender Reveal party to find out the sex of her baby. It was a wonderful idea and so much fun. Since we (of course) did not know ahead of time, I made two sets of Vanilla Latte Cupcakes - customized with 'boy' or 'girl' accents.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

For daddy's birthday this past June, I made his favorite, plain vanilla. I made a vanilla mascarpone buttercream, which was made light and fluffy by adding plenty of heavy whipping cream. Some sweet sugar pearls sealed the deal!

Mother-in-law's Birthday!

I made these fun, simple lemony vanilla cupcakes to celebrate my mom-in-law's birthday back in May. They were cute and easy, using pink food coloring and rainbow sprinkles.

Starbucks Inspired!

I made these mocha macchiato cupcakes with butterscotch drizzle for a co-worker's going away party back in May. I did not use a frosting tip, and was pleased with the thick swirl result. I used a bottle of butterscotch topping for ice cream as a drizzle, much like Starbucks would over a freshly made latte. Yum!

Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes!

A few weeks ago I baked up some lemon raspberry cupcakes for a pool party with friends. I saw the idea on Pinterest and loved the cute little white cups to bake them in (recipe from Pastry Affair). These were perfect for a hot summer day here in South Florida - light, creamy, and full of fresh fruit flavor.

Margarita Cupcakes! (A Second Time)

Ah the delicious world of boozy cupcakes ... I think they may be my favorite kind to make! They are just so fun and people are always pleasantly surprised to hear that, yes, there is alcohol baked right in!

Margarita cupcakes are a revelation ... I first made them for Cinco de Mayo last year (check them out here). I used the same recipe from Brown Eyed Baker, but I went for a different frosting. Instead of a tequila-infused buttercream, I went for a more basic, lighter heavy cream-based frosting infused with lime zest and freshly-squeezed lime juice. The lightness of the airy frosting was a complement to the cupcake.

Piña Colada Cupcakes!

A few days ago I decided to bake up some Piña Colada cupcakes, recipe courtesy of the always interesting Cupcake Project. I was intrigued by her recipe which included coconut milk, pineapple juice, shredded coconut, and actual chunks of crushed pineapple. The frosting was a cream cheese based frosting with a dash of coconut cream. The amount of coconut rum in this recipe is small but the flavor definitely comes through. I enjoyed them but next time would go without the chunky bits of pineapple; although they resulted in a really moist cupcake, the cake was a bit too dense for me, although this was many of my co-worker's favorite aspect of the dessert.

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes!

Is there anything better than baking on a rainy day? I am going to a pool house party with some friends tomorrow and wanted to bring something baked ... the verdict ended up being these banana chocolate cupcakes I had seen on Pinterest last week. I topped the cupcakes with a banana chip for garnish. I like these because they are not too sweet and the banana flavor really comes through. The chocolate frosting is light and fluffy and only lightly sweetened.

Recipe courtesy of Feast on the Cheap.

Pink Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes!

I made these cute pink velvet cheesecake cupcakes for a lovely co-worker birthday last week. Unfortunately the cheesecake part came out more red then pink velvet, but I compensated by making a hot pink vanilla buttercream topped with white sugar pearls for an elegant finish. I used confetti oreos for the crust!

Recipe courtesy of Cares Bakery.

Red Gold Cupcakes!

I made these simply flavoured vanilla cupcakes with a red-tinted, golden sparkly vanilla buttercream for an FSU-loving coworker's birthday a few weeks ago. I am clearly enjoying the wilton 1M tip to make the rose design, it is both easy to use and lovely to look at. Recipe from Annie's Eats!

Happy Easter!

For Easter this year, I wanted to get a bit more creative then last year, where I used pre-made cupcake toppers. I saw the idea for this year's cupcakes on Pinterest, but I can't find it anywhere now, and very uncharacteristic of me, I didn't pin it to my cupcake board.

The idea is for green buttercream frosting to look like grass, then toasted coconut nests, holding jellybean eggs. Cute right? This kind of arts & crafts moment makes me wish I had kids already! (Note the sneaky kitty in the background.)

I used a new vanilla cupcake recipe, from Glorious Treats and it came out very tasty, and the cake itself a bit spongy. I winged it with the buttercream; butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, coconut oil, confectioner's sugar.

Blackberry Lemon Cupcakes!

I first saw these cupcakes on Pinterest, courtesy of the lovely blog Tide and Thyme. I loved the idea of a cupcake with fresh lemon and blackberries, perfect for springtime, and pretty pastels too!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of all things Irish, this year I made Guiness chocolate cupcakes with Bailey's cream cheese frosting. Recipe courtesy of Annie's Eats. Any dark stout complements chocolate so perfectly in a cupcake, and I was just as happy with the flavor of these as I was back on Halloween, when I made Pumpkin Ale Cupcakes. Yum!

Chai Spice Latte Cupcakes!

Another fabulous recipe from Gimme Some Oven, these Chai Latte cupcakes had been on my radar from some time, also thanks to Pinterest. I was intrigued about making chai cupcakes without using chai teabags; instead the recipe calls for the baker to mix her own chai spice mix. I loved this extra element! I did not have cardamom on hand, so I substituted (a little less) allspice. I also added some Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur to the chai spiced buttercream for a little kick. I garnished with half a cinnamon stick for style. Fab!

Potato Quiche!

This is probably the 10th quiche posting on my blog, as quiche is one of my favorite things to make. You can customize your recipe to include whatever is on hand, both in pantry and fridge. It is fun to make, and interesting, as you probably will not have the same exact quiche each time.

This particular past Sunday, I had some extra red potatoes on hand, so I peeled, sliced, and roasted them. I mixed up a variety of cheeses to make the quiche filling, including diced slices of Munster, ricotta, shredded cheddar, heavy cream, cream cheese, and Parmesan. I was lazy and did not want to make a crust, so I just filled my tartlet pans with the cheesy mixture, and then topped with the roasted potato rounds. Yum!