Simple Strawberry Cupcakes

These were just some simple strawberry cupcakes with strawberry whipped buttercream made with fresh strawberry puree - such a lovely shade of pink! :)

Basketball Birthday Cupcakes

Fun Golden State Warriors/Basketball themed cupcakes for a Birthday boy! Cupcakes were strawberry and chocolate, with vanilla buttercream and custom fondant toppers.

Spring Floral Cupcakes

I finally took the plunge and ordered Russian piping tips - I so enjoyed trying them out on these cupcakes!

Cupcakes Make Me Happy

I love making cupcakes - baking those perfectly domed little beauties with perfectly swirled buttercream on top - there's something so satisfying about achieving those uniform swirls :) These were some recent cupcakes of mine:

Chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes (chocolate cupcake with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream, topped with a chocolate dipped strawberry).

Cookies & Cream cupcakes (Chocolate cupcakes with Oreo buttercream, topped with half an Oreo cookie).

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Fun and simple little buttercream pumpkin cupcakes for a Fall get-together! Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream piped pumpkins.

Super Mario Brothers Cupcakes

Fun Super Mario Bros themed cupcakes for a little guy's birthday! Flavors were chocolate with whipped chocolate buttercream and strawberry with whipped vanilla buttercream. All fondant toppers.

Duke Basketball Cupcakes

Fun Duke University/Duke Basketball themed cupcakes for a dinner party! Flavors were vanilla bean with whipped vanilla buttercream, chocolate with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream and chocolate with whipped chocolate buttercream. Hand crafted fondant cupcake toppers.

Gold Wedding Cupcakes

So here I am, yet again - posting work I did long ago (back in December to be exact!) This was a lovely, lovely wedding I provided cupcakes and a cutting cake for, held at The King's Daughters Inn in Durham, NC. Everything was decorated so beautifully and they were truly a joy to work with. The cupcake flavors were red velvet with vanilla swiss meringue and vanilla bean with vanilla swiss meringue. We accented some of the cupcakes with glittering gold heart picks and others simply with gold sprinkles. I hand made a golden gum paste topper for the couples' small cutting cake at the top of the stand.

Batman & Superman Cupcakes

Fun cupcakes to celebrate two little guys' birthdays! One loves Batman, the other Superman, so we made a mixture of fondant toppers for them. These were chocolate cupcakes with toasted marshmallow filling and fluffy chocolate buttercream, with fondant toppers.

Lego Wolverine Cupcakes

Fun little Lego Wolverine cupcakes for a special little guy turning 5! A mixture of vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with hand made fondant toppers. Felt kind of bad making Wolfy so cute ;)

Superhero Comic Birthday

Super cute and fun, classic comic book superhero themed cake and cupcakes! Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered with fondant and fondant details. Cupcakes were a mix of chocolate and vanilla with vanilla buttercream and fondant toppers.

Rustic Buttercream Wedding Cake

Loved, loved, loved working on this sweet couple's wedding cake & cupcakes! Wedding cake flavors were: chocolate with oreo buttercream, red velvet with vanilla cream cheese, pumpkin spice with cinnamon cream cheese and vanilla with vanilla bean buttercream. Cupcakes were mocha with caramel buttercream and vanilla bean caramel drizzle, sprinkled with sea salt.

Hello Kitty Cupcakes

Fun little cupcakes to celebrate a Hello Kitty fan's birthday! Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream swirls and fondant Hello Kitty toppers.

Football First Birthday

Super fun theme for a little guy turning 1! All vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and some fondant details.

Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Ah, Fall baking! A pretty big part of why I love Fall so much! :) Give these a try if you dare...you won't be able to stop eating them!

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Maple Cinnamon Swiss Meringue & Sugared Pecans

Sugared Pecans:

1 cup chopped pecans

¼ cup packed light brown sugar

2 tbsp heavy cream

Cooking Spray

-Preheat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, combine pecans, brown sugar and heavy cream. Mix thoroughly. Spread into a baking pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until coating is dry and slightly crystalized, stirring once. Remove from oven to cool and stir once more.

Cupcakes:

1&1/4 cups all-purpose flour

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp allspice

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup sugar

6 tbsp butter, at room temperature

6 ounces (or one small) sweet potatoes, peeled & diced

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

-Heat the oven to 350 F and line a 12 cup cupcake pan with paper liners. Steam the sweet potatoes until fork tender, about ten minutes. Set aside to cool slightly then mash with a fork until smooth. In a medium bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light in color, about three minutes. Add the egg, sweet potato, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix until well combined. In a large bowl sift the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and whisk until no large lumps remain. Do not over mix. Divide the batter evenly between the baking cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed in the center. Cool for three minutes in the pan then remove the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

Buttercream:

2-3 large egg whites (75 grams)

½ cup plus 2 tbsp light brown sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp maple flavoring

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cinnamon

-Add egg whites, brown sugar and salt to mixing bowl and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly but gently, until temperature reaches 160 F. With whisk attachment of mixer, begin to whip until the meringue is thick, glossy and the bottom of the bowl feels neutral to the touch (This can take up to 10 minutes or so). Switch over to paddle attachment and, with mixer on low speed, add softened butter in chunks until incorporated, and mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture. Add vanilla, maple flavoring and cinnamon, continuing to beat on low speed until well combined.

 Pipe buttercream on top of cooled cupcakes and top with sugared pecans, if so desired. Enjoy!

*Makes 12 cupcakes

Sofia the First Cake & Cupcakes

Who doesn't love this cute, spunky little Princess? A fun cake with matching cupcakes for a Sofia the First fan :) All fondant decor, gum paste tiara and toy Sofia figure.

Watermelon (Cake!)

So this little mini-cake (only a 4" round) and matching cupcakes was made for a bridal shower - loved, loved, LOVED the theme! Unfortunately the flavor isn't watermelon - could not find a SINGLE watermelon when I went shopping for the ingredients! (I know - really?!) Instead, I used gel coloring to tint the vanilla cake pinkish-red, mixed in mini chooclate chips for "seeds" and then paired that with green buttercream - watermelon flavor, no - but still cute and tasty!

Ninjago Birthday

I'm actually quite surprised that I haven't had a request for a Ninjago cake before now (especially that I haven't had a request from my son being the Lego nut he is!) Really had fun with this design! Chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and fondant toppers.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes

After seeing a picture on Pinterest of a cupcake with this styling, I was inspired to create my own using recipes already on hand - I was quite pleased with the results and this turned out to be such a yummy (albeit rich!) flavor combination! Rich, chocolate cupcakes dipped in chocolate ganache, fluffy peanut butter buttercream, another drizzle of chocolate ganache, topped off with a mini pretzel and a sprinkling of sea salt!

S'mores Cupcakes

Mmm...a new love of mine - s'mores cupcakes! I make these by using my favorite moist chocolate cupcake, topped with a marshmallow frosting, rimmed with crushed graham crackers which is then put under the oven broiler for just a minute or two. Then I take a bite (especially good when just out from under the broiler) of the melty, chocolatey, marshmallowy goodness :)