Travel Themed Graduate Cupcakes

When Mom mentioned they're always telling their Daughter and recent graduate, "The world is hers" I knew just what to do - fun, travel themed cupcakes for this already accomplished world traveler! Vanilla bean cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and custom fondant/gum paste toppers.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting

Tried a new recipe today! And I HIGHLY encourage you all to do the same - especially if you love chocolate and Nutella as much as I do - oh my goodness!! Wonderfully moist, chocolatey cupcakes topped with pillowy rich chocolate frosting - heaven. Just Heaven. I've included a link to the recipe via Sweetapolita's blog below - hope you enjoy as much as I did! :)
https://sites.google.com/site/sweetapolitaprintables/chocolate-birthday-cupcakes-with-nutella-cloud-frosting

Carolina Tarheels Basketball Birthday Cake

Fun cake for a little Tarheels fan's Birthday! Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with all fondant details :)

White Ruffled Wedding Cake

I think I have a new favorite cake (of the moment!) Oh, how I truly loved the way this cake came together! Just lovely! All vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla bean buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant ruffles and modeling chocolate roses. There were quite a few firsts for me with this cake - first time attempting this type of ruffling, first time making white modeling chocolate and my first time sculpting modeling chocolate roses - so glad all those worked out! :)

R2-D2 Grooms Cake

Wow, what a fun challenge this guy was! I was approached about making a cake for a rehearsal dinner for the groom-to-be who's a huge Star Wars fan - the design was left up to me (how fun is THAT?!) So, I went for something fun - R2 all dressed up for the occasion - notice his bow tie? ;) Chocolate cake with oreo buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details. I formed R2's legs from rice krispie treats, covered in fondant. I think I learned a few things while working on my friend here - one thing being begging your cakes to cooperate does not necessarily work. (Although I'm not above trying again should the need arise!)

Brown Bear, Brown Bear Birthday Cake

Second time I've worked with this theme, but the first time in cake form (last time was cupcakes - equally fun!) Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with all fondant details for a "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" themed Birthday party :)

Pink and Purple Unicorn Party

This was a fun little project! I was requested to match the cake and cupcake toppers to pink and purple unicorn party ware purchased for the Birthday girl's special day! I kept the cake fairly simple, as Mom will be adding a toy unicorn topper at the party - we went with chocolate cake, vanilla buttercream filling, covered in fondant with all fondant details. The toppers were fondant/gum paste with all hand drawn details (I used my handy food color markers) matching the unicorns on the party plates - quite pleased with my free hand drawing skills there - surprised even myself on that one! ;)

Minnie Mouse Cake with Matching Cupcakes

Loved this little project! Everything was designed to match the Birthday girl's shirt for the day! Cake was chocolate with oreo buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant/gum paste details. Cupcakes were vanilla buttermilk with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant/gum paste details.

Tropical 1st Birthday Cupcakes

Fun little cupcakes and smash cake for a tropical themed 1st Birthday! The smash cake was strawberry with vanilla buttercream and the cupcakes were strawberry with strawberry swiss meringue and lemon with lemon swiss meringue, both with hand formed fondant/gum paste details :)

Gone Fishin' Cupcakes

I have been working on the most fun cupcake themes as of late - I truly have! A "Gone Fishing" theme was the request for these! A mixture of lemon and strawberry cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant/gum paste details. (The fish were little graham cracker goldfish - perfect!)

Teacher Luncheon Cupcakes

These were such fun to work on! There were actually a mixture of chocolate espresso, strawberry, vanilla and lemon cupcakes with strawberry swiss meringue and vanilla buttercream (but only the chocolate with strawberry swiss meringue are pictured). I made the pencils, letters and sheets of paper using fondant and gum paste and my edible markers for writing in the details!

Pool Party/End of Year Celebration Cupcakes

These were fun little cupcakes to celebrate the end of 4th grade for my Son's class! Can't believe another school year is already over! Chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, Teddy Grahams, gummy Life Savers and graham Goldfish ;)

Baseball Cupcakes

Simple little Birthday cupcakes with a baseball theme - there were both chocolate and strawberry with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant/gum paste baseball toppers ;)

Pool Party Cake - With Thomas!

This was such a fun request! Mom needed a sheet cake in a pool party theme, but the Birthday boy ADORED Thomas the Tank Engine - was there any way I could work him into the theme? Sure! Strawberry cake with all vanilla buttercream and a hand formed Thomas...on his very own surfboard! ;)

80's Birthday

Oh, my goodness - had the BEST time working on this cake! Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream, covered in black fondant with bright colored royal icing "splatters" and various 80's icons cut from fondant for an 80's themed 13th Birthday bash! I had so much fun just reliving "back in the day" and trying out the splatter technique as that was a new one for me - loved it!

Memorial Day Cake

This cake was just a little reminder for my family and I - of the true meaning of Memorial Day. It's not really about the start of vacation season or cookout season or time with family - even though all of those things are wonderful things. It's about all the men and women who have given their lives to give us all the freedoms we have in our country. And all the families who have lost loved ones in service to their country. I just want to take a moment to say, "Thank you" to all those families. Even though that could never even begin to be enough - I will truly always be thankful for that sacrifice made.

Pink Zebra Graduation/Birthday

This was a fun project - a cake celebrating both a Graduation and an 18th Birthday! I also had the pleasure of experimenting with flavors a bit as there was a new filling request - to somehow incorporate a strawberry cheesecake flavor! The finished cake was a vanilla buttermilk cake with a layer of fresh sugared strawberries, cheesecake filling, covered in vanilla buttercream with fondant zebra stripes. I then fashioned a graduate's cap using rice krispie treats and covered that with fondant and added fondant banners with messages congratulating the new graduate on her diploma and her birthday! There were also vanilla mini cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and sugar pearls in coordinating colors. :)

Red, Black & Ivory Cupcake Wedding

I so enjoyed making these cupcakes for this wedding - my very first attempt at wedding cupcakes! :) There were three different cupcake flavors featured: chocolate, vanilla and red velvet. I used mainly vanilla buttercream (a few of the vanilla had chocolate buttercream) to ice the cupcakes and even though I did not manage to get photos of them I also had some cupcakes decorated with fondant flowers in the wedding colors as well. The bride and groom had a cutting cake made of fluffy vanilla with ivory vanilla buttercream and fondant accent flowers in the wedding colors of red and black. This was a challenge for me as these were the most cupcakes I've baked and decorated at one time, but I really and truly enjoyed it!

Thin Mint Cupcakes

Special request I had for a Birthday - had fun with this one! Chocolate cupcakes, studded with crushed thin mint cookies, topped with a swirl of mint buttercream and half a thin mint cookie! Good enough to make any Girl Scout proud! ;)

Black & White Bridal Shower Cupcakes

Loved working on these cupcakes for a black & white themed bridal shower! Red velvet cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting, black fondant flowers and sugar pearls. :)

Music Birthday Cake

I loved working with this theme! Not that I was ever particularly good at it, but working on this cake certainly brought back memories of many hours spent plunking away at the piano ;) Red velvet cake with cream cheese filling/frosting and fondant details for a music lovers' 14th Birthday!

Campfire Delight Cupcakes

Mmm...these cupcakes. These heavenly, chocolatey cupcakes. I must admit, when I first saw these posted on Sweetapolita's blog, I didn't immediately say, "I must make these!!" It was the malt. The malt held me back. But I'm so glad I finally pushed aside my petty malt problems and tried these - oh, so very glad! Dark chocolate cupcakes with toasted marshmallow filling, malted dark chocolate frosting, dark chocolate sprinkles and malt balls on top - these are a chocolate (and marshmallow) lovers' paradise! Please don't wait as long as I did to try them! ;o)
http://sweetapolita.com/2011/05/campfire-delight-cupcakes/

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Yes, I have been rather busy trying out new recipes :) But that's just always so much fun for me (as long as they work out anyway). And such was the case with this yummy carrot cake! I've never been a huge fan of carrot cake, it's okay, but definitely not a favorite. I'll always choose chocolate any day (sorry, carrots). But I found this lovely carrot cake cupcake on Food Buzz and just the beauty of it astounded me - I simply had to make it! It uses whole wheat flour to give you a slightly less dense cake - you keep a lighter crumb without it being dry at all - it's really quite perfect in my opinion! Please try this lovely carrot cake recipe, you won't be sorry! I've included a link to the recipe below:
http://bravetart.com/recipes/CarrotCake

Samoa Cupcakes

I have to say first off - these cupcakes were such a pleasant surprise for me! I am as BIG a non-coconut fan as is possible. I don't mind the flavor, I just despise the texture of coconut more than anything - just ick for me! But I found I really enjoy toasted coconut as was featured on these cupcakes and the coconut infused chocolate cupcake as well - all super tasty together! So yes, I'm growing up a little - trying new things such as these Samoa cupcakes: coconut-infused chocolate cupcakes with an old-fashioned cooked caramel frosting, melted chocolate drizzle and sprinkling of toasted coconut! Two thumbs-up from this baker! I've included a link to the recipe below so you can try this amazing Girl Scout cookie inspired cupcake for yourself :)
http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/04/01/samoas-cupcakes/

Daisy Birthday Cake

To borrow a quote, "Daisies are such a friendly flower!" ;) Can't claim inspiration for the design on this one, the Birthday girl sent me a picture and asked if I could replicate the cake - unfortunately I'm not sure who to give credit for on this lovely design! Fluffy lemon cake with lemon swiss meringue buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details. I added a fondant plaque bearing a "Happy Birthday!" message for the birthday girl :)

Pink & Black Ladybug Baby Shower

This was a fun theme for a baby shower! I matched the cake and cupcakes to the invitations - pink and black ladybugs! The cake was fresh strawberry with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant details. The cupcakes were half vanilla with fresh strawberry swiss meringue, half chocolate with caramel swiss meringue, both with custom fondant/gum paste toppers.

Lego Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting for a Lego fan's Birthday! I made the lego cupcake toppers using fondant.

Pirate Cupcakes

Fun request for a pirate themed Birthday party! Half chocolate, half fresh strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and custom fondant/gum paste toppers for a little guy's 3rd Birthday!

Peanuts & Coca-Cola Cupcakes

As soon as I saw this recipe post on Sprinkle Bakes' blog, I knew I had to try them for myself! Having grown up in North Carolina, throwing salted peanuts in a bottle of Coke was as natural as breathing to me when I was little! Oh, the memories this one simple recipe evoked...! I highly recommend trying her recipe for yourself even if you're not familiar with the Southern practice of Peanuts & Coke - you won't be sorry :)
I've posted a link to her recipe below.

http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2012/04/peanuts-in-my-coke-cocoa-cola-cupcakes.html

Lego Birthday Cake

Fun cake for a Lego themed Birthday party! Chocolate cake with Oreo buttercream filling, covered in fondant with all fondant details!

Carrabba's Cheesecake Inspired Cupcakes

This was a fun request! I always enjoy being challenged - either by a design request or a flavor request! In this case, it was by flavor. I had a friend request that I create a cupcake inspired by her favorite flavor of cheesecake at Carrabba's for her Birthday! So this is what I came up with: a dark chocolate cupcake, white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream, fresh raspberry reduction, topped off by a fresh raspberry! I'm told it was exactly what she had in mind which made me very happy and I had the fun of trying both a new flavor of swiss meringue and a new technique (berry reduction) which also made me very happy! :) Win-win!

Fine Wine Birthday Cake

Really enjoyed working on this cake for a special 60th Birthday celebration! Fluffy vanilla cake with vanilla bean latte swiss meringue buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant/gum paste details. The wine bottle reads, "Like a fine wine, Suzy only gets better with age!" So cute! :)

Hunter's Birthday Cake

Simple little cake for a hunting fan's Birthday! Fluffy vanilla cake with fresh strawberry buttercream filling, covered in fondant with fondant and buttercream details. Had fun adding the little deer prints across the cake!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

So I've done peanut butter buttercream before, yes but the traditional "american" buttercream which was good - don't get me wrong! But, it was a tricky balance to get right - almost too easy to make it too dry for my taste. Now Swiss Meringue on the other hand...oh, this stuff is dreamy! The dreamy stuff that dreams are made of! Seriously, folks - you must try this buttercream! When paired with my chocolate espresso cupcake and topped off with a mini peanut butter cup - mmm...heaven! <3 I will say the two times I've made this swiss meringue it's come out much thinner than other flavor varieties and if I can find a way to alter that, I'll be sure to post the correction, but it's still good for piping on cupcakes - wouldn't advise using as a filling on cakes though.

Peanut Butter Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients:

5 large egg whites

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

2 cups unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 - 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, to taste

Add egg whites and brown sugar to bowl of electric mixer and simmer over a pot of water, whisking gently, until temp reaches 140 degrees, or until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot, about 8 minutes if you used room temp egg whites.

Place the bowl back onto the mixer stand and with whisk attachment, begin to whip until the meringue is thick, glossy and the bottom of the bowl feels neutral to the touch (can take up to 10 minutes or so). Switch 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 (if it curdles, keep mixing on medium low and it will come back to smooth).

Add vanilla flavoring and peanut butter and continue to beat on low speed until well combined. (I had to increase the speed on my mixer to fluff it up a bit before piping on my cupcakes).

Double-Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes

Special request for a Birthday - chocolate cupcakes (with half an Oreo baked into the bottom) with rich, chocolate buttercream frosting garnished with half an Oreo cookie!

Bridal Shower Charm Pull Cake

Traditional charm pull cake for a bridal shower! Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, fondant ribbon roses and leaves.

Jungle Animals Birthday

Fun little cake designed to match party decorations! Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant details.

Transformers Birthday Cake

Fun theme to work with - Transformers cake in Bumblebee colors! Vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, the autobots symbol was hand cut out of fondant and the flames on the side of the cake were "painted" with buttercream.

Curious George Birthday

Curious George has been quite popular with the Birthday set this year! ;) Vanilla buttermilk cake and matching cupcakes, both with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant accents.

Easter Hydrangea Cake

I loved making this cake! And as far as inspiration goes...wow, where didn't I get inspiration from for this one? ;) I used a recipe from Sweetapolita's blog and combined techniques from I Am Baker and Glorious Treats for this lovely little cake! I made Sweetapolita's lemon blueberry layer cake with lemon curd filling (oh, so yummy!) and used a light lemon buttercream to pipe the hydrangea blossoms. The overall idea of the hydrangea cake was from I Am Baker, but the execution (using a Wilton 2D tip to pipe the blossoms) came from Glorious Treats. Again, loved making this little cake and can't wait to cut into it at our family's Easter meal!

*Note - Sweetapolita's recipe makes 3 - 9" layers, to make my cake - I used a 6" round pan and half a Wilton sports ball pan, and as you can guess I had leftover batter so I actually had enough to make two identical cakes.

You can find Sweetapolita's Lemon Blueberry Layer cake recipe here:

http://sweetapolita.com/2011/02/triple-lemon-blueberry-layer-cake/

Easter Peep Cupcakes

Nothing fancy or complicated about these little cupcakes - just pure, colorful, sugar-filled fun! Chocolate cupcakes with green buttercream nests and marshmallow Peeps for my Daughter's school party! They were so simple and quick to put together - I simply used my grass tip to pipe the buttercream in long streams around the cupcake in a messy "nest" pattern ;)

Coffee Squared Cupcakes

This is yet another one of those instances where I'd like to smack myself in the forehead and say, "You dummy! Why haven't you thought of this before?!" Mocha cupcakes -AND- latte buttercream?! Can you say, "Heaven" for a coffee-junkie such as I?! Oh, such a yummy combination! I have truly become quite the SMBC addict - I have yet to try a variation I didn't like!

Cupcake Ingredients: (Makes appx 24)

3/4 cup strong hot coffee

3 tsp instant espresso powder

3/4 cup dark cocoa

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups brown sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp sour cream, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners

Whisk together coffee, espresso powder and cocoa in a small bowl and set aside. Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder in another small bowl and set aside. Measure out buttermilk and mix with vanilla extract and set aside.

In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar and salt. Add eggs, one at a time, beating each egg in thoroughly and scraping the side of the bowl before adding the next egg. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until combined. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk and mix until combined. Repeat, ending with the last of the flour mixture. Add the cocoa and coffee mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Fold in sour cream.

Divide equally into prepared cupcake liners. Bake for 16-18 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool thoroughly on wire racks before frosting.

Vanilla Bean Latte Swiss Meringue Buttercream Ingredients:

5 large egg whites

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Either 1 scraped vanilla bean -or- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

2 tbsp instant espresso powder dissolved in 4 tsp hot water, let cool before adding

Pinch of salt

Wipe the bowl of an electric mixer with vinegar on paper towel, to remove any trace of grease. Add egg whites and sugar, and simmer over a pot of water (not boiling), whisking constantly, until temperature reaches 140 degrees F, or if you don’t have a candy thermometer, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the egg whites are hot.

With whisk attachment of mixer, begin to whip until the mixture is thick, glossy, and cool. Switch over to paddle attachment and, while mixing on medium speed continuously, add softened butter in chunks until incorporated, and mix until it has reached a silky smooth texture (if curdles, keep mixing and it will come back to smooth). Add vanilla, vanilla beans (or paste) and salt, mix well. Slowly add in cooled espresso/water mixture – it will take just a little while for this to incorporate fully, give it some time! You can scrape your bowl once or twice and whip well, then fill your piping bag and enjoy!! (For those interested, I used the Wilton 2D tip to achieve the look in the photo.)

I topped my cupcakes with dark chocolate coated espresso beans for even more coffee kick :)

Honey Bee Cupcakes

These were just a fun little project since I didn't have anything "official" to do this past weekend ;) Browned-butter banana cupcakes with honey swiss meringue buttercream I tried to pipe to mimic a beehive, topped with marzipan bees with almond slice wings! As I said, these were completely just for fun, but I couldn't help thinking how sweet these would look at a baby shower, no?

Duke Cupcakes

Just a slight variation of Duke cupcakes that I've done before - I inverted the colors on the toppers...and think I like these much better than the originals! Vanilla bean cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and hand cut gum paste toppers in the iconic Duke University "D". Finished of with a sprinkling of blue sugar crystals. :)