Mini Vanilla Bundt Cakes With Chocolate-Amaretto Glaze!

At some point over the last three years, I purchased this adorable mini Bundt cake pan.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Mini-Cavity-Fluted-Pan/dp/B0045Y17JU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1432822003&sr=8-2&keywords=mini+bundt+cake+pan

I've used it a grand total of once before this past weekend. To make (of all things) cheesy spinache quiche mini Bundts. Why? No idea.

Last weekend, I FINALLY put it to good use, and made mini vanilla Bundt cakes, and topped them with a chocolate Amaretto glaze.

Recipe: http://technicolorkitcheninenglish.blogspot.com/2012/06/amaretto-glazed-chocolate-cake.html

Halloween Cupcakes!

Vanilla bean pumpkin cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting!

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!

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.

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.

Crispy Chocolate Cookies!

Yesterday I was in a cookie-baking mood. I'd previously made two cookie recipes from Joy the Baker, her Cappuccino Cookies and her Dark Choc & Pistachio Cookies, both fabulous, but I decided to try a mash-up version of both recipes, and add a special ingredient. Instead of simple espresso powder, I ground up dark chocolate-covered espresso beans into powder, and used that instead. The power of espresso bean and chocolate really brought home those flavors. I used a little more sugar, and baked the cookies for a bit longer so that they really flattened and crisped up. Beforehand, I made sure to stop at Homegoods to stock up on vanilla extract and a cute new spatula!

What goes great with deeply chocolatey and coffee-flavored cookies? A full-bodied red of course! The man and I tried a new one, The Velvet Devil, from Washington State! Love the name and loved the taste :)

Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen: Manic Monday Party #13

More Birthday Cupcakes and Dinner!

Summer is always so full of birthdays! Most recently, I celebrated my dad's birthday and since his favorite cupcake flavor is vanilla, I made raspberry vanilla mini cupcakes. I used raspberry extract to get the flavoring without changing the airy lightness of the cake or the pale yellow color, and topped the whipped cream frosting with a fresh raspberry. I tried a different basic vanilla cupcake recipe, this time from Brown Eyed Baker.

Dinner for daddy's birthday was at J Alexander's, my favorite restaurant in Boca. I ordered grouper in lemon butter sauce and peppery haricot verts ... yum!

For today I kept it simple; fresh shrimp poached in butter, white wine, minced garlic, and lemon juice; sauteed spinach in olive oil mixed with garicky rice pilaf; and balsamic roasted red potatoes, a great recipe I have been meaning to make for some time from the lovely blog, Words of Deliciousness.

Yum!

Happy Father's Day!

For father's day, I knew I had to make my dad's favorite dessert - vanilla cupcakes. He loves the simple flavor and I only use the best vanilla extract:

So I decided to jazz up the traditional vanilla cupcake by adding Godiva white chocolate liquor. Then I made some pink vanilla buttercream frosting with milk and coconut oil, and topped with coconut for a tropical take on the traditional vanilla cupcake classic!

For breakfast, we kept it simple at home. Pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup, omelets with hash browns, and some cute chocolate and apricot cookies from our local Italian bakery. Paired with a lovely latte and cupcake - it made for a wonderful Father's Day brunch!

Love you papi!

Vanilla "Doctor" Cupcakes!

My very good friend just finished his Ph.D (yay!) so a group of us went out to dinner last night to celebrate. In his honor, I made simple cupcakes with a twist - little chocolate "Dr"s on top! It was my first time doing it and it was so easy. Melt a bar of bittersweet chocolate and when cooled, pour into a small ziplock bag and snip one of the corners off. Then 'draw' the word, letters, or design you want on wax paper over baking sheets. Put them in the freezer to harden and the peel them off and top your cupcakes! Super cute and easy!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting!
 
Made on 03/12/12.