Duncan Hines has an outstanding Cupcake Challenge generating a lot of buzz. If you’re a cupcake ninja…. and I know you are… this is the contest for you. Get your spatula in gear and give the challenge a shot.
Best of luck!
Duncan Hines Makes Its Hollywood Debut ….AND YOU’RE INVITED!
Mountain Lakes, NJ (June 2010) – Duncan Hines announces that this year they will be the official dessert sponsor of the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards and Creative Arts Awards Governors Ball. In the spirit of this excitement, Duncan Hines invites their biggest supporters, bakers across the U.S., to enter the “Duncan Hines Red Carpet Cupcake Challenge” contest.
Duncan Hines is asking all creative bakers to submit their most decadent cupcakes for a chance of a lifetime. The winner will have their delicious cupcake creation sampled by the Emmy winners, celebrities and guests who will all be in attendance at this year’s Performer’s Nominees Reception on August 27th. However, the red carpet doesn’t stop there, as the winner will also receive a trip for two to Los Angeles, California and two tickets to Fans in the Stands, the best seat in the house for all the pre-Emmy, red carpet excitement.
Here is how it works, contestants can enter their Emmy award-winning photographs and cupcake recipes using a Duncan Hines product on DucanHines.com now through July 21, 2010. Even though the contest ends July 21st voting continues till July 28,2010. Visitors can go online and vote for their favorite cupcake recipe and photo. The recipes with the highest number of votes will enter the Top 10 phase. The Grand Prize winner is then selected by both Pinnacle Foods Group and celebrity judges based on creativity, ease of preparation, and taste. The winner will be announced on August 3, 2010.
“We are thrilled to invite our passionate baking consumers to share this experience with Duncan Hines,” says Lora Van Velsor, vice president of Marketing for Pinnacle’s Duncan Hines Food division. “Duncan Hines was a real person who stood for superior quality and today we still celebrate Duncan Hines’ inventive spirit through innovative programs like the “Duncan Hines Red Carpet Cupcake Challenge” and sponsorships like the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards and Governors Ball,” continues Van Velsor.
Before Fodor’s and Zagat, there was Hines. At a time when there was no such thing as restaurant critics and ratings, Duncan was onto something new. Four little words would come to have significant importance to restaurants all across the country: “Recommended by Duncan Hines.”
Duncan spent years discovering new trends in food and sharing them with his expanded following of “foodies.” His reputation for honesty and reliability were two of the most important ingredients in his recipe for success. These qualities lead to what Duncan Hines stands for today. Today, the Duncan Hines brand still celebrates the man’s inventive spirit through a relentless commitment to quality and innovation.
About Duncan Hines
A household name for decades, Duncan Hines is one of America’s most recognizable brands. The brand was started by a man named Duncan Hines who was a traveling salesman, food critic and book author in the 1940s. Today, the Duncan Hines product line includes over 80 different mixes ranging from cakes and brownies to muffins and cookies as well as ready-to-spread frosting. With a relentless commitment to quality, every product and recipe is developed in celebration of Duncan Hines’ inventive spirit and passion for baking. For more information on Duncan Hines, log onto www.duncanhines.com.
The cupcakes pictured at the top of the post are the Caps and Diplomas Cupcakes from Duncan Hines. Too cute. Too too cute! Click through the link for more wonderful Duncan Hines recipes.
Yesterday I made a gorgeous Red Velvet Cake – to celebrate baseball getting back into swing. Sure, it’s pre-season but that’s enough for any baseball fanatic worth his or her salted peanuts to get excited about. Since my family is ALL about the St. Louis Cardinals, the dessert obviously had to be red and white.
Naturally, I went with a homemade Cream Cheese Frosting for my Red Velvet Cake. The Duncan Hines Cream Cheese frosting isn’t bad (at all, in fact), but there’s just something extra special about homemade Cream Cheese frosting. I switched up my favorite recipe a little this time because I was feeling it and I loved the results. I believe it was better than ever this time.
Here’s the recipe. Take note that this is for a huge Red Velvet Cake, so you might want to half the recipe. Then again, it’s so delicious, you might want more than you actually need!
Outstanding Cream Cheese Frosting
2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (I use Philadelphia Cream Cheese)
1 stick margarine
4 teaspoons half and half (use a little more if you want it creamier)
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 – 8 cups powdered sugar
Beat the cream cheese, stick of margarine, half and half, and vanilla in a large bowl on low until creamy. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time and blend until it’s has a glorious spreadable consistency.
After I frosted the cake, I covered the top with chopped walnuts and it was almost too beautiful to cut into. Almost.
I always make a little extra frosting than I’ll need for one reason and that reason is a beautiful girl named Brittany. My dear, lovely daughter wasn’t born with “a” sweet tooth – every single one in her head is a sweet tooth. She has her own little system for serving herself a piece of cake as a result. She inserts the cake knife, cuts out her piece of cake… then at the last minute, returns to the cake for an extra helping of icing. This, of course, leaves exposed parts of the cake, so I’ve learned to keep extra frosting on hand in the refrigerator for patching up what has become known as “Brittany’s Barrens.”
Sometimes I use the leftover frosting to frost cookies. My resident cookie monsters love that. It’s also wonderful on store-bought muffins.
This morning, I was in the process of making some of those remarkable Pillsbury Toaster Strudels (the Strawberry and Cream Cheese variety) when I got a yummy idea. Instead of using the little packet of icing, I broke out my Cream Cheese frosting and… voila!…. something Heavenly was even more so.
This is a truly delicious frosting and makes cakes, cupcakes, and cookies better than they have a right to be.
The Pillsbury Dough Boy would squeal with delight for this Cream Cheese Frosting recipe on his Pillsbury Toaster Strudels!
The recipe below is from recipe from New York Times Bestselling novelist and avid baker Mary Burton.
Just over a year ago, author Mary Burton was quoted in the Richmond Times-Dispatch talking about how her passions—writing and baking—both contribute to her creativity. The article shared a recipe along with Mary’s view that, for her, they are intertwined, most probably because she experiences each as requiring creativity as well as expertise.
So, when the going gets tough, Mary heads to the kitchen where the stress level immediately ratchets down a few notches and she finds herself busy working out dialogue and untangling plot lines before the oven has even preheated. As she told the Times-Dispatch, “…you can tell how the writing’s going by the number of cupcakes on the counter.”
I love that! I find a similar solace in my kitchen as well. In fact, I’m pretty sure there’d be a lot more empty therapist couches is more people took up cooking. What a stress reliever!
For the recently published novel DYING SCREAM, Mary Burton shared her gift with protagonist Adrianna Barrington. Figuring that when Adrianna wasn’t helping track down a serial killer she would welcome a chance to chill, Mary gave her a great kitchen along with a penchant for pastry and other baked delicacies.
And, as long as it’s coming up on St. Valentine’s Day and Adrianna is carrying a torch for Homicide Detective Gage Hudson, Mary also decided it was time for her have her own recipe for readers to bake and enjoy ― Adrianna’s Carrot Cake Love Muffins.
The rest of us get to benefit from her creativity, how cool is that? What’s say, as a thank you (we cooks are nothing if not gracious) to Mary Burton, we all buy her newest novel, Dying Scream? After all, we bakers have to stick together!
To see last year’s Valentine’s Day recipe for Mary Burton’s Buns— CLICK HERE.
Finally, to see the Richmond Times-Dispatch article— CLICK HERE.
Adrianna’s Carrot Cake Love Muffins Recipe
3 cups of shredded carrots
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
To the shredded carrots add eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil and vanilla. Mix well. Shift flour, salt, cinnamon, baking power and baking soda into carrot mixture. Gently mix and scoop into muffin cups. Makes about 12. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
(If possible, hand shred the carrots. It takes a bit longer to shred by hand but the carrots hold more moisture and this really enhances the texture of the muffins.)
Muffins can be dusted with powdered sugar or topped with a cream cheese icing. Both are delicious.
Cream Cheese Icing
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons of milk
Cream all together until fluffy. When the muffins have cooled ice with frosting.
Check out this recipe from Dave Lieberman and Del Monte for Beet Mash Chocolate Cupcakes, just in time for Valentine’s Day! Everyone knows that chocolate is an aphrodisiac, but did you know that beets are too?? (Yes, beets!)
Did you know?: Not only are beets nature’s multivitamin but beets are also rich in boron, a mineral thought to get the love juices flowing.
Dave recommends using canned sliced beets (he suggests Del Monte® Fresh Cut® Sliced Beets)—with canned beets you get all the flavor and nutrition for a lot less money, plus they are easier to mash!
Check out www.Delmonte.com/Solutions for a $1.00 off coupon on any 4 Del Monte® Brand Products to use in your recipe. I heart coupons, so I’ll see you there.
Beet Mash Chocolate Cupcakes (or Cake) with Beet Frosting
Recipe courtesy of: Dave Lieberman, campaign spokesperson for the Del Monte “Value without Sacrifice,” Chef and Author of The 10 Things You Need To Eat
FOR THE CUPCAKES:
One 14.5 oz. can Del Monte® Fresh Cut® Sliced Beets, drained
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
FOR THE ICING:
2 sticks unsalted butter
Approx. 1/2 can of Del Monte® Fresh Cut® Sliced Beets, drained
1 pound confectioners sugar
For Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
For Cake: Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
In a small bowl, mash the drained can of beets finely with a potato masher and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and water. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold in the mashed beets and mix well.
For Cupcakes: Pour the batter into greased cupcake tins. Bake about 15-20 minutes, until set but moist. (Or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean)
For Cake: Pour the batter into a greased 10-inch Bundt pan. Bake about 70 minutes, until set but moist. Let cool, and turn out onto a large serving plate.
Make the Icing: Mash the ½ can of beets finely with a potato masher. Melt 1 stick of butter in a saucepan and add mashed beets. Simmer on very low heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cream the second stick of butter with a mixer in a bowl. Mix in the melted butter and beet mixture until fully incorporated. Gradually beat in the confectioners sugar.
Ice the cupcakes with a thick layer of icing.
The cupcakes and cake serve 12-15.
The wonderful thing about edible gifts for Valentine’s Day is that you can impress the socks off of your sweetheart without spending a fortune. Gifts you make, yourself, are somehow more meaningful.
? After all, we bakers have to stick together!
