St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun Cupcakes

Celebrating the Luck of the Irish!

Step 1: An Idea

An Irish lass myself, I knew I had to come up with something spectacular for St. Patrick's Day this year.  Luckily for me, I stumbled upon a great cupcake blog called "Sugar Swings! Serve Some" that had just what I was looking for. I decided to go with chocolate cupcakes again because they were specifically requested. I iced them with a green Sprinkle's buttercream frosting.

Step 2: Heads

Heads with indents for eyes

I started, as Sugarswings suggested, with the heads. These consisted of vanilla tootsie rolls softened in the microwave for 10 seconds and then rolled into ball shapes. Remember to pull off a little bit for the hands and nose. The nose gets attached right away, but the hands don't get added until later. I rolled them all and set them to cool on wax paper. The only real difference, at this point, is that I pressed little holes for eyes into the faces with a toothpick. These were later filled with black gel that I dabbed in with the same toothpick that I created the holes with. She used a food pen to draw them on. 

Step 3: Hats

mini-marshmallows and candy melts

I then made the hats as Sugarswings directed. She suggests piping circles on the wax paper with green candy melt waffers. After piping them all, but before they cool, you press a mini-marshmallow into the center to create a hat and brim. Once these cool, you are to dip the marshmallow top of the hat into the candy melt to coat it green. This worked, but the hats were a bit too rounded because of the excess candy melt. I decided to do it backwards. For the second round of hats, I dipped the marshmallows first and then pressed the already dipped marshmallows into the piped circles. It resulted in a cleaner hat with more definition. These second-round hats ended up on the cupcakes without leprechauns.  Once they were solid, I drew a little black "ribbon" around the brim with black gel. It was a bit sticky, but it does dry after awhile. When they were served, the hats were no longer smudging.

Step 4: Bodies

The bodies are made out of Hershey kisses with the points cut off. The flat surface allows for the head to attach more securely. First you cut the tips off, and then you dip them in the same candy melt as the hats. Obviously you would melt the chips in stages. It wouldn't be the same batch of melts, but it would be the same thing. This was my first attempt at working with the sugary substance, so I was shocked at just how easy it really is to work with. The piping is stiff yet forgiving, which is essential for newbies like me. 

Step 5: Assembly

Once all of the pieces are dipped and cooled, the heads are attached to the bodies with piped on candy melt. Then the hats were attached to the heads with piped on candy melt. The little hands were attached to the sides with the same candy melt. It works surprisingly well because it stiffens up so nicely when it cools. The red beards were added with a "leaf" tip. I simply piped it on around the "ears" and under the "nose".

Step 6: Decorating:

Once the little men were all assembled, I decided to pipe on more hair under the hat to fill him out more and added a reeses pieces to the brim for a gold buckle. The leprechauns were then added to the center of the frosted cupcakes. Grass was added with a different green frosting that I purchased already tubed and ready to go. I also added sparkly green gel to jazz them up. Finally,  piles of "gold coins" (reeses pieces) were sprinkled around the cupcake as though the leprechaun lost it on his journey. A dozen cupcakes were made with the leprechauns and a dozen were made with only hats. I did the same basic cupcake, though I tried to add a bit more gold.

Before deciding on hats, I tried to make cauldrons to hold the piles of gold, but I couldn't think of a way to make them. Looking back, I am envisioning a melted tootsie roll heated and formed into the shape of a pot and then dipped in chocolate melts or chocolate almond bark. It's funny how I just couldn't think of it then. Maybe next year...

 Step 7: Share!

I presented these to my colleagues at a staff meeting. They really loved them. The biggest problem was that nobody wanted to eat them. They thought they must have taken a lot of work and felt guilty about eating them. One of my friends at school actually left it on his desk for around a week. He only at one little part at a time. I, on the other hand, did NOT have that kind of self control. They were scrumptious! :-)

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

 A Classroom Treat!

  

Step 1: The Idea

Although most of my cupcakes have been pretty time intensive, these were not. My niece Sophia requested some special Valentine's Day cupcakes to bring to school. As I am a teacher, I thought it a good idea to bring in some for my own classroom full of kiddos as well. The key here was simplicity.

Step 2: Supplies

I was able to use all of the same candies that I did for the "love bug" cupcakes: twizzlers, conversation hearts, spiced heart gumdrops, and fancy Valentine sprinkles. I decided to bake simple boxed red velvet cupcakes. Again, I was short on time or I would have tried making one from scratch. The icing was the same cream cheese frosting that I used on the "love bugs" as well. A little bit of red food coloring gave the beautiful pink that you see in the photo above.

Step 3: Assembly

After playing around with a few ideas, I decided on a few basic patterns: cupid's arrow, gumdrop hearts with pink sugar sprinkles, conversation hearts with fancy Valentine sprinkles, and XOXs made out of twizzlers and conversation hearts. The patterns were easily made by cutting up strips of twizzlers and pressing them into the frosting. It was a very easy process and the results were delightful as well as delicious. :-)

Love Bug Cupcakes

Valentine Love Bugs!

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

 Step 1: The Idea

My sister decided to host a Valentine's Day party for my nieces and nephew this year. Of course, I was asked to come up with a creative cupcake idea. Luckily for me, there are some adorable ideas circulating on the Internet! With a quick Google search, I found perfect little LOVE BUG cupcakes on the Wilton baking website. I did not have heart shaped tins at that time, so I knew I might have to do some modifying, but that was easy.

Step 2: Shopping

After coming up with an idea, I made my usual trip to Walmart to collect supplies. I found beautifully patterned paper wrappers and a variety of gels and premixed frosting tubes in shades of pink and red to save me some time. I also found conversation hearts, little heart gum drops, twizzlers, and a Valentine mixture of sprinkles. Sometimes it is best to buy a variety of supplies in case something doesn't go as planned. Finally, I picked up the ingredients for the homemade strawberry cupcakes and cream cheese frosting and made my way home.

Step 3: Baking and Decorating

Things did not go so smoothly this time. I thought it would be a cute idea to make strawberry cupcakes from scratch. After a couple of HOURS in the kitchen, two dozen flat, spongy messes were tipped into my trusty garbage can. Apparently making strawberry cupcakes without using some artificial gelatin is just crazy.  I decided to go with the delicious spice cake mix that I use as the base for my low-fat spice muffins. This time I just followed the directions on the box and they came out perfectly. With only a couple of hours until the party, it was a good thing they did. 

Once they cooled, I frosted them with a pink cream cheese frosting. I used the tubes of red and light pink frosting to pipe large heads on the front of the cupcakes. The corresponding colored gels (red heads got red dividers etc.) were used to draw lines down the backs of the bugs to create divided wings. To create the spots on their backs, I picked out mini m&ms and pressed them into the frosting. I stuck with red, orange, and brown to match the pink and red color palette. The faces were made by piping white gel dots onto the heads and then black gel dots within them. The nose was made out of a tiny heart sprinkle. I resorted to using tweezers to get them on straight. The mouth was piped with the opposite color gel of the head (red faces had pink lips and pink faces had red lips). For the antennas, I cut up twizzlers into pieces around 1 inch long. These were then cut into fourths lengthwise. The spiced gum drop hearts were sliced into thirds and stuck to the strips of twizzlers. They were then slipped into the heads to create 3-D antennas. 

Step 4: Presentation

My sister decorated the table and room with a red and pink Valentine theme. There were pink, white and red Valentine balloons all over the ceiling and shimmery red heart banners strung across the room. She even had little red heart lights twinkling around the doorways. The food, including little heart sandwiches, was set out in little dishes around the table, along with coordinating plates and napkins. It was really beautiful.

 I layered pink tissue paper over her heart covered tablecloth to keep the cupcakes together. I even brought over a bouquet of three pink roses for the kids. They all love flowers; I think my mom inspired that love in them. The vase took center stage, while I arranged the little love bugs underneath. Then I filled in around them with handfuls of conversation hearts. 

Step 5: Share!

The love bugs were a big hit. The kids and adults alike devoured my little creations. It was fun to hear them rave about the taste as well as the decorations. I didn't know if kids would enjoy spice cake as much as I do! 

The kids helped themselves to treats.

Veda, enjoying a heart shaped sandwich

My niece Sophia (center) and her friends Cooper (left) and Veda (right)

Jen Baker and her daughter Nathalie

Jackson (left), my nephew, Alex (center) and Mariya (right)

My nephew Alex thoroughly enjoyed the candy!

Even the big boys loved the cupcakes! From left to right: Veda, Caleb, Kayla, and Dylan

Groundhog Day Cupcakes!

Groundhog's Day 

Punxsutawney Phil!

 Step 1: The idea 

           After seeing the many cupcakes I had been making, one of my colleagues at school challenged me to come up with a fantastic cupcake worthy of Groundhog Day. I have to admit that I wasn't all that sure about what these would look like myself.  It took a few Google searches to come up with the idea of a the little critter popping out of his den. Much of the ideas suggested included flat face, but I knew I had to go 3-D. After much searching, I found a video from Kitchen Daily that offered a strong contender. It ended up being the Hello, Cupcake people again. I loved their idea, but I wanted to make this one my own. You will notice that there are a few differences in the final design, but the basic layout is the same. 

Step 2. Baking and Decorating

          I started with chocolate cupcakes made from my mom's wacky cake recipe (this one is similar). Then I covered them with chocolate/ peanut butter frosting. This is definitely a family favorite.  The "holes" are made from crushed chocolate cookies (the "fake"oreos). Simply put them in a baggie to crush them up, cut a hole in the corner, and make little piles in the center of each cupcake. Now you are ready to assemble your groundhogs.
          For the body, I decided to go with miniature milkyway bars instead of peanut butter cookies. First of all they taste better, and secondly, they are a better color and shape. All decorations on his face were adhered with extra peanut butter frosting. I added a large chocolate morsel for the nose instead of frosting cheeks. Notice that the natural curl at the top works to make a snout and split for the lip. I also used the same candy eyes that I found at Walmart for my turkeys. The teeth were cut up pieces of marshmallow, as the video suggests. Don't make them too big or they will look like beaver teeth. The ears are mini-reeses pieces. I laid them flat because groundhogs' ears tend to lay close to their heads. Once assembled, you simply press the little critters into the centers of the dirt piles.  

Step 3: Share!

          The staff members were thrilled to receive these tasty little critters. Hands down, these were my favorite to eat because the flavors worked so well together. They were really rich and 

creamy. Who would have thought Groundhog's Day could be so much fun?

I love their little expressions!

Punxsutawney Phil and his pals!

A Frog Prince for a Birthday Girl!

A Frog Pond Fit For A Princess!

(above) My sister Kate and her two children, Sophia and Alex

My sister loves frogs, so it was an easy decision to make her a frog pond full of possible princes to kiss. It wasn't just about the cupcakes this time; it was also about the presentation. 

Step 1: Baking

I started by baking my mom's famous "wacky cake" recipe, and then I whipped up some buttercream frosting according to the Sprinkle's Bakery recipe.  To get the right color green, you need to use most of the little bottle of food coloring.

Step 2: Decorating

This little guy was a practice, so he has yellow fruit slices instead of green.

Each cupcake was sprinkled with green sugar. Mouths and nostrils were drawn with sparkly green gel. The eyes sit up off of the cupcakes with green fruit slices that are halved, then halved again and adorned with a candy eyeball. The crowns are made with rolled out fruit chews that were cut into points and finished off with edible pearls. 

Step 3: Presentation

I bought special pink water lily wrappers to set the finished cupcakes in. They were in the cake decorating aisle at Walmart, not in the baking aisle with the cooking supplies.

Huddled together on a tupperware cake taker.

When I got to her house, I laid out blue tissue paper on the table and green tissue paper cut into the shape of lily pads. The frogs were then arranged around the table to set the pond theme.

Blue and green tissue paper sets the pond theme.

Frog Prince Pond

To finish off the look, I cut out tiny dragonflies with my sizzix machine and attached them to toothpicks to fly above the frogs. I even made a little sign that said "Have a hoppy birthday" to stick in one. 

 

Step 4:  Celebration!

It was fun to present Kate with many frog themed gifts adorned with green wrappings! The kids even colored pictures and presented her with their own artwork.

Gifts!

 

 

Plate Presentation

Blowing out the singing candle!

Sophia

Alex

Cavan

Sisterly love!