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Cupcakes

Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit Cupcake Kit

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Peter Rabbit Cupcake Kit

Every now and again I come across something that’s so cute it makes me just want to call it a day. It’s like, “Well, nothing I see or do today’s going to top this, might as well put on my pink pajamas and go to bed.”

The Meri Meri Peter Rabbit Cupcake Kit just had that effect on me and I can’t promise that a day hasn’t, indeed, been called.

Features:

  • Includes 24 cupcake cases and 24 decorative toppers in 4 designs
  • Features beatrix potter’s classic illustrations
  • Coordinates with meri meri peter rabbit party range
  • Designed in England
  • Contains standard size cupcake cases that are oven safe and greaseproof

This beautiful cupcake kit is available on Amazon. Click through for more details.

Dr. Seuss Inspired Cupcakes

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Dr. Seuss Cupcakes

I have a special place in my heart for Dr. Seuss and his wonderful books. I taught each of my little girls to read with Dr. Seuss books, so each time I see one, very warm and precious memories come to mind.

Love that!

The cupcakes, above, are Truffela Trees and were created in honor of the late Dr. Seuss. 109 years ago, on March 2, a little baby boy was born who would go on to have special places in the hearts of parents and children alike.  Just think how many mommies, daddies, grandmothers, grandfathers, and aunts and uncles have sat with children who meant the world to them with only a Dr. Seuss book between them.  When you think about it, Dr. Seuss has an amazing and beautiful legacy!

Below is the recipe for these gorgeous cupcakes. Much thanks to Target’s A Bulleseye View blog for sharing this recipe with us!

Trufulla Tree Cupcakes

1 box Betty Crocker White Cake mix
1 stick butter, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
10 drops green food coloring
1 package pretzel stick rods
1 package Fruit Roll-Ups
Colored cotton candy

  1. Bake white cupcakes in mini-muffin pan according to package instructions.
  2. Beat butter for 1 minute and add powdered sugar in 1 cup intervals, beating thoroughly between each addition, until creamy. Add in vanilla and cream. Beat well for 2 minutes. Add in green food coloring until frosting is grass green.
  3. Use a fluted pastry tip to pipe grass on top of cooled mini cupcakes.
  4. Wrap Fruit Roll-Ups pieces around pretzel sticks. Place tufts of cotton candy on top of pretzel sticks using a bit of extra frosting to help stick the two together.
  5. Stick the pretzel rod carefully into the center of the grass green cupcake. Enjoy!

Click here for step by step pictures!

Recipe and Photo Credit: A Bulleseye View

Buy Harry & David Cake Pops Online

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Delicious Cake Pops

Americana Cake Pops from Harry & David

The beautiful and delicious cake pops you see pictured here are from Harry & David. They were sent to me for Fourth of July, but the package didn’t arrive in time for me to review these beauties before July 4th. They’re so gorgeous and were so amazingly good, though, that I HAVE to write about them. Besides, if you go to the Harry & David (click the link), you’ll find that they have oodles of creative, beautiful, and delicious goodies for you to order.

No doubt each one is as outstanding as these cake pops were.

Notice how I keep saying “were?”  That’s because they disappeared the day we opened the package!

Harry & David Cake Pops

Americana Cake Pops from Harry & David

The first thing I noticed was how beautifully wrapped these cake pops were. If you read very many of my food reviews, you know how important presentation is to me. It sets the mood! These cake pops were wrapped beautifully and, themselves, were dressed to impress. Not only were the cake pops iced in colorful red, white, and blue icings, they were rolled in sparkling sugar (not your ordinary run of the mill sugar, of course). Sometimes it’s that little extra something that just puts an already exceptional product over the moon, isn’t it?

These outrageously delicious cake pops come with 3 red velvet cake pops and 3 yellow cake pops.  I was ready to love the red velvet cake ones so much that the yellow cake pops would be a let down. Wrong!  The yellow cake pops are actually as good as the red velvet cake pops – which is ridiculously, stupendously, outrageously delicious.

While it’s no longer the Fourth of July, I’d totally urge you to order these Americana Cake Pops from Harry & David – after all yummy is always in season.  You can order these babies through September 30, 2012.

Harry & David would be an excellent source for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas gifts and treats. Some of the tempting delicacies that caught my eye are:

You’re going to fall in love with this website and all of the food gifts and treats they have.  Be sure to bookmark the website for the Holidays – they’ll be an endless source of gifts!

How to Make Cake Pops and Doughnut Holes: Perfect Every Time

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Cake Pop and Doughnut Hole Baker

The cutie above is the Nostalgia Electrics JFD-100 Cake Pop & Donut Hole Bakery and, let’s face it, it’s a dream come true.  Who doesn’t LOVE cake pops and doughnut holes – in fact, I love them so much I’m officially dying for some of both right now.

Product Features

  • Make up to 7 donut holes or other baked treats quickly and easily
  • Non-stick coating for easy cooking and clean-up
  • Comes in injector for making jelly or cream filled donuts and more
  • Recipes included for donuts, muffins, brownies bites and more
  • Great for baking both sweet and savory treats of all kinds

Product Description

Now you can cook delicious donut holes and other pastries at home without even turning on an oven. Make jelly donuts, puff pancakes, mini cinnamon buns and more. It’s great for snack time, party time or anytime! A handy injector is included to give your donuts a variety of fillings such as jelly, cream or caramel. Delectable appetizers and h’ordeuvres are ready in minutes. Use your imagination and have fun!

Click through the link or image above for more information. The Nostalgia Electrics JFD-100 Cake Pop & Donut Hole Bakery would serve up countless smiles – the ear to ear variety!

More For Cake Pop Fans:

Pull Apart Football Cupcakes

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Did your team make it all the way to the Superbowl? Mine (Broncos) didn’t, but there’s always next year, right?!

In the cooking tutorial video above, you’ll see how you can easily make a Superbowl Dessert everyone will rave about – whether their team’s playing or not.

If you’ll notice, I did indeed mark this post as a “Holiday” recipe. You see, with the football fanatics in our family, any day NFL is on tv, it’s a holiday. Same with baseball and college basketball. We pretty much have holidays every day in this house. 🙂

If You Love Cupcakes and Sweets

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Lov'in Goodies

Lov’in Goodies
Buy This at Allposters.com
I was looking online earlier for chocolate art prints and I came across the adorable art print above. These little ladies don’t just make a statement, they’re making me hungry… for sweets! I’m about 2 minutes from raiding my kitchen for anything and everything chocolate. Hmmmmm, I seem to recall some chocolates left over from my husband’s Christmas stocking.

Santa meant to put them in mine anyway.

If you’re in the mood for something sweet, check out our cake recipes.

Adorable and Fun Cake Pops… Make That Pups

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Somethings in life are too cute for their own good and these Bullseye Cake Pops (more like Bullseye Cake Pups) are a classic example. They’re from the creative mind of Bakerella and would delight kids of all ages… literally all ages because I’m beside myself with delightment. And, yes, I did just make that word up. Can’t imagine someone hadn’t thought of it before now.

Bullseye Cakepops

Instructions: (Click HERE for visual step-by-steps)

1. Bake cake as directed on box for a 9 X 13 cake. Once cooled completely, finely crumble into a large bowl.
2. Mix about 3/4 of a can of frosting into the cake crumbs using a large spoon. You won’t need the rest
3. Roll mixture into 1.25 inch balls and place on a wax paper covered baking sheet.
4. Place cake balls in the freezer for about 15 minutes so they will firm up. After that, you can transfer them to the refrigerator to remain chilled and avoid freezing.
5. When they are firm, form the cake balls into a rounded cone shape.
6. Melt white candy coating in a heatproof plastic bowl so that the coating is at least three to four inches deep for easier dipping. Melt in the microwave in 30-second intervals on low, stirring in between. Repeat until melted and smooth.
7. Dip the cut side of candy corn pieces into the coating and attach to the cone shaped cake ball for Bullseye’s ears.
8. Return shaped cake balls to the refrigerator to remain chilled for dipping.
9. When chilled again, remove a couple of shaped cake balls from the refrigerator at a time to work with.
10. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted white candy coating and insert stick into the bottom of Bullseye’s head. Dip the entire cake pop into the bowl of melted candy coating. Dip and remove in one motion without stirring. Make sure the entire cake ball is covered. If your coating is too thick, you can add a little vegetable oil or shortening to help thin it and make it easier to work with.
11. Remove and allow any excess coating to fall off the pop and back in the bowl.
12. Attach a black-coated sunflower seed in position for the nose before the coating sets. If desired, insert a miniature pink confetti sprinkle in position for a cute little tongue.
13. Place in a Styrofoam block to dry.
14. When dry, draw a bullseye where the left eye should be using a red edible ink pen. You can also pipe it on with red candy coating if desired.
15. Let dry and place miniature black confetti sprinkles in position for the eyes.
16. Use a toothpick to dot white candy coating on the black sprinkles to add sparkle to the eyes.
17. Draw on smiles with a black edible ink pen.
18. Attach Lifesaver collars using leftover melted candy coating.
19. Let dry completely.
20. Wrap in treat bags tied with a ribbon and store them in an airtight container.
21. Enjoy!

Cake Pops Kit by Bakerella

Check out the Cake Pops kit by Bakerella on Target’s Website.

For recipes, Holiday tips, and shopping fun (and I do mean FUN), be sure to check out Target’s A Bullseye’s View. I’m headed back there myself right now for Turkeys, Tabletops, and Thanksgiving. (Say that three times fast!)

 

Wilton Silicone Reusuable Baking Cups?

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Silicone Reusable Cupcake and Muffin Liners

I’m pretty much obsessed with cupcakes and muffins – okay, more than pretty much, I’m obsessed to the core. Obsessed enough for 10 people. If I had a dime for every package of paper cupcake and muffin liners I’ve bought I’d buy a Hummer for my husband, a Corvette for each daughter and son-in-law (present and future), and a lifetime supply of Whiska’s for my cats.  For myself? I’d buy all the chinchillas in the world so they could always keep their own fur.

Reasonable, right?

I’ve (obviously) spent oodles of  money on paper liners and, each time, wished for a better way. I have to admit, I get a twinge of green guilt each time I buy paper products.  That’s why I’m so excited about the Wilton 415-9400 Easy Flex Silicone 3-Inch Reusable Baking Cups, 12 Count, shown above.

An ingenious and eco-friendly alternative to buying hundreds of disposable paper muffin liners, these guys can be used again and again and again – saving you money and the earth another headache.

Product Features

  • Set of 12 baking cups measuring 3 by 3 by 1-1/2 inches each
  • Food-grade silicone construction; internal fill lines eliminate guesswork
  • Resists stains and odors; ensures even heat distribution for superior baking
  • Use in standard muffin pan or place on cookie sheet or jelly roll pan for stability
  • Freezer, microwave, and ovensafe (up to 500 degrees F); dishwasher safe; limited lifetime warranty

Amazon Description:
The 3-by-3-by-1-1/2-inch cups fit in the cavities of standard metal or glass muffin pans, or they can be placed individually on a flat cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan for stability. Constructed of food-grade silicone that resists stains and odors, they deliver exceptional baking performance and even cooking for a variety of delicious treats–everything from birthday cupcakes and fresh breakfast muffins to individual brownies, mini cheesecakes, and more. In addition, the flexible cups ensure easy removal of baked goods or molded gelatins, and their crinkled edges impart that traditional muffin edging so popular in coffee shops and bakeries. While safe for use in the freezer, microwave, or conventional oven (up to 500 degrees F), the versatile baking cups can also be used to hold colorful candies, individual party favors, or multi-colored sprinkles and edible glitter while hosting a cookie-making party or decorating cakes. Best of all, they feature convenient fill lines that take the guesswork out of baking. Stackable for compact storage, the set of 12 baking cups (6 red and 6 blue) cleans up easily by hand or in the dishwasher and carries a limited lifetime warranty.

If you’ve ever used silicone pans or kitchen tools, you’re familiar with their fabulousness. A few days ago, while using a silicone pastry brush, I told my cat that I wished every kitchen tool I had was silicone. She seemed to agree – either that or she was humoring me in hopes of another bite of tuna.

See Wilton 415-9400 Easy Flex Silicone 3-Inch Reusable Baking Cups, 12 Count for more information.

More Cupcake Love

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Cupcakes on Cupcake Tower

Above is a picture from the first time I used The Cupcake Tower.  I took the picture with the levels on the “reverse” side to show you the pre-cut holes that are perfect for cake pops.  I didn’t have everything on had to make the pops but I ALWAYS have everything on hand for cupcakes. Always.

I made Orange Cupcakes with Orange-Flavored frosting this time because Orange cake is one of my husband’s favorites.  For the icing, I simply used my favorite Vanilla Frosting but substituted Orange Flavoring for the vanilla.  If you wanted the frosting to LOOK orange as well as TASTE orange, you’d simply have to add food coloring.  I knew I wanted to pipe orange icing around the outsides, so I left the frosting white.

When it comes to cupcakes and cakes, always experiment with different flavors – you can subsitute a flavoring of your choice in place of the vanilla in the cakes and icings for outrageously fun and delicious variety. My youngest daughter, Stephany, once made a cake from scratch and used Maple Flavoring in place of the vanilla.  I had cake envy so badly it’s a wonder I didn’t pass out.  Then again, I couldn’t pass out because I was too busy shoving it into my face.  It was outstanding.

I often use almond extract, lemon extract, and orange extract – but I’m making it a point to branch out even further.

Also, another fun tip.  At your local bakery, when you see great looking cupcakes decorated with especially cute decorations, buy quite a few. You can wash and use (and reuse and reuse and reuse…) the decorations.  I have an entire drawer full of Disney princesses, movie figurines, butterflies, elves, cartoon characters, and so on.  It makes decorating cakes and cupcakes extra fun.  I’ve built up a set of tools many bakeries would envy.

The Cupcake Tower Kung Fu Panda

The cupcakes in this post feature some adorable characters from Kung Fu Panda.  I got these quite a while back but they’re a favorite for decorating with.  What can I say, I’m in love with the movie.

Also, frequently check the birthday aisle in your favorite stores.  Plastic rings and other trinkets are also fun ways to decorate your cakes and cupcakes.

The Cupcake Tower Kung Fu Panda

It just occurred to me, I think I know the main reason I love desserts – from cupcakes to cookies and from pudding to cobblers.  It all comes down to getting the most out of life.  If you want each day to feel like a party, you have to treat it like a party!  For me, baking special things for my family sets the party in motion.

Party on!

Click through to read more about The Cupcake Tower.

The Cupcake Tower

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The Cupcake Tower

Cupcakes are all the rage right now. About time they got their due! If you want to know how to display cupcakes, and really show off their beauty, The Cupcake Tower is your answer!

One of my favorite things to plan, make, bake, decorate, eat, and… heck, even look at is cupcakes. They’re impossibly cute, consistently fun, deliciously tasty, and always a hit with people of all ages.  What’s not to love?!

The only tricky part of my relationship with cupcakes is the fact that they can be a little bit of a challenge to display impressively. Let’s face it, no matter how cute they are, they’re only so impressive when crowded around a platter.  Cakes (adult cupcakes) are easier.  You can place them on a cake stand and, voila! – a beautiful dessert and lovely presentation.

The Cupcake Tower has now made it just as easy to present your adorable cupcakes.

I was sent a Cupcake Tower to test and review for the food blog. As someone who bakes almost on a daily basis, I’ll be forever and ever grateful to these brilliant fellow cupcake enthusiasts.

The beautiful, well-made, and incredibly sturdy Cupcake Tower is a cinch to put together and take apart – even for someone as un-mechanically inclined as myself.  My family and I are LOVING this Cupcake Tower! I’ve made cupcakes twice since the Tower came my way. (I told you I was somewhat obsessed with cupcakes)

See the picture at the top of the post? Notice the ribbon. Ironically, the Cupcake Tower I was sent came with purple ribbons to place on the Tower. Guess what my favorite color is…. purple. Booyah!!

Each ribbon is pre-cut, and even pre-stiched.  All you have to do is slip one around each level of the tower. It’s as easy as putting a bracelet on your wrist. Click HERE to see their many different, colorful ribbon sets. You can order the colors you want. This will be awesome for the holidays.  I can order orange (along with black, maybe) for Halloween, Autumn colors for Thanksgiving, Reds and Greens for Christmas, and spring colored ribbons for Easter.

As a huge sports fan, I can’t wait to order the blue ribbons for  UK Basketball and Football season, the red for St. Louis Cardinals baseball season, and the orange and deep blue colored ribbons for Denver Broncos game-day!

There are also zebra stripes, leopard print, and rainbow ribbons – endless possibilities.  One of my favorite ribbon sets is the Ladybug one – red with adorable black dots.

You can always order spare parts from the website as well – but I can’t imagine ever needing to.  Each part of this Cupcake Tower is incredibly well made and sturdy.  It’s obvious (right down to the ribbons) that they’ve only used the best of the best in making these beautiful towers.

Here’s something else that’s cool about the Cupcake Tower I was sent – the flip side of each layer has pre-cut holes which can hold cake pops.

From the website:

NEW! Our new reversible round cupcake towers have holes drilled on one side offering the ability to use your stand to display cake pops! Flip them over and they work just like our traditional stands. These versatile stands hold up to 216 cake pops or 208 standard-sized cupcakes. Choose your size below to get started!

You can choose between a square cupcake tower or a round cupcake tower. Either will be a huge hit in your family.  They can be used for holidays, birthdays, wedding showers, baby showers, game-day get togethers, church socials, school events, office parties, poker night, or any time you choose.  As I’ve said, I love to bake and will often surprise my family with a beautiful dessert that’s on the counter or table greeting them when they come home.  I never get tired of seeing (or hearing) the reactions.

As you can well imagine, the sight of the cupcakes on the tower above with the rich, delicious chocolate frosting elicited many oohs and ahhs.  One of my mottos has always been: Make each family member THRILLED to be home.

You’d be amazed at how well cupcakes help contribute to the cause.

Speaking of causes, I saved this information for the last because I think it’s extra special.  The Cupcake Tower donates 10% of each order to charities. Can you imagine how many precious lives could be touched if every company in the world did that?!  Wow.

If you love cupcakes and desserts even half as much as I do, I know you’ll want to read more about The Cupcake Tower. Click the link to view pictures, read more, and of course, check out the beautiful ribbons. The Cupcake Tower is outstanding from top to bottom.  Great people, great product.