Super delicious birthday cookies

Over at The Awl a few weeks ago, Jolie Kerr told us how to make margarita cupcakes with tequila shooter toppers! Those are pictured below, and apparently, very popular. She writes:

The recipe for margarita cupcakes is built around a white cake mix with a whole bunch of add-ins. Normally I wouldn’t advocate for the use of boxed cake mixes because, really, how hard is it to mix together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt? That’s pretty much what a cake mix is, but also are you really going to trust that the fine folks at Betty Crocker aren’t cutting their cake mixes with laxatives and baby powder? Right, do it yourself, if only to ensure that your cake mix is as pure as possible and the DEA isn’t going to bang down your door to confiscate your Sachertorte.

For the sake of this recipe though, it’s fine to use a boxed mix and here’s why: This is not the simplest cake to make. It's not hard, it's just got a number of steps and also? We’re hardly talking about fine pastry here. We’re going to shoot tequila off the tops of these cupcakes, so I think we can all agree to relax our standards a bit.



And Village Voice food blog Fork in the Road lets us know about a New York margarita cupcake coming up from Robicelli's:

Robicelli's will be hawking its latest cocktail cupcake -- or caketail -- creations at Joe the Art of Coffee locations February 21 and 22 in honor of National Margarita Day.

Robicelli's Partida Margarita Cupcake is a lime cake infused with Partida Blanco tequila and lime butter cream, and garnished with candied lime zest and Maldon flake sea salt. The Angry Mango Cupcake is made with chili-spiked Partida Reposado tequila and topped with mango butter cream and a sweet-salty jalapeño slice.

See robicellis.com for more information and to keep up with their innovative new flavors.

I was trying to think of something to say about these cupcakes to convey exactly how amazing they look to me, and how much I'd love it if someone made me these, but I can't, so the photos, via Hoosier Homemade for their Cupcake Tuesday feature, and the first in a pie (!) series, will have to suffice. Get the recipe from Hoosier Homemade, and be sure to bookmark them for their ongoing deliciousness. Here's the first instruction:

I started with a Chocolate Chip Cupcake, filled and frosted it with Homemade Hot Fudge, topped with Vanilla Ice Cream and another drizzle of Hot Fudge!! Unbelievably good!

Aren't these rosebud cupcakes perfect for Valentine's Day? You can find out how to make them from our friend and food blogger Diary of a Mad Hausfrau, who can also be found on Facebook. Via Flickr.

Cassie Murdoch over at The Hairpin tells you exactly how to make these last-minute Valentine's Day cupcakes, and all you need are:

Cupcakes
Vanilla buttercream frosting
Red food coloring
Powdered sugar for sprinkling (about 1/2 cup)
Kitchen sieve/strainer (the smaller, the better)
Cardboard
Ruler
Scissors/X-acto knife
Tinfoil



Visit The Hairpin for detailed instructions on how to make them - and Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

There's no further info on it at this time, but in August you'll be able to buy a Martha Stewart 2012 cupcake wall calendar. Just went up for pre-order on Amazon.

Speaking of Martha Stewart and Valentine's Day, click here to watch her show Josh Turner how to make meringue and raspberry cupcakes.

And click here to find out how to make the beautiful handwritten Valentine's Day cupcakes with chocolate glaze pictured below.

Valentine's Day is coming up and I've been stumped on what kind of cupcakes to make. I am definitely making my favorite red velvet cupcakes but that seemed a little too obvious.

Something with strawberries seemed like a good choice...but I'm completely repulsed by strawberries, I hate the smell and the taste, and since I wanted to eat a cupcake I had to re-think my idea.

I came to the conclusion to toss some Valentine's Day sprinkles into some vanilla cupcake batter and bake, top with a classic vanilla buttercream, and garnish with more heart sprinkles. You can read a little more about them and see more photos by clicking here or just skip below for the recipe.

Valentine's Funfetti Cupcakes
Adapted from Cakespy

Makes about 12 cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoon butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 whole egg plus 1 egg white, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean)
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
Heaping 2 tablespoons valentine's sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, cream the sugar and butter until well combined, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg and egg white, one at a time, beating on low until just incorporated.

Add vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk in two additions, ending with the flour mixture. Fold in sprinkles.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Vanilla Buttercream
Adapted from My Baking Addiction

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
Pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add confectioners' sugar and continue creaming until well blended.

Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

I'm pretty sure the episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay I judged is airing tonight, so I hope you'll watch at 8:30 pm ET. Other air times, according to the Food Network site, are:


Feb 19, 2011

7:00 PM ET/PT

Feb 24, 2011

7:00 PM ET/PT

Official show description:

What happens when a 6 foot 5 inch guy decides to open up a bakery that makes the best cupcakes around? You get 'Big Man Bakes" of course! Cupcakes are the hottest food trend, but William "Chip" Brown was ahead of the curve when he opened "Big Man Bakes" now LA's biggest little bakery in town. What will happen when chef Bobby Flay brings his best mini's west to put them to the test against LA's sweetest tastemaker. It's a mini cupcake Tinseltown Throwdown!



And they have recipe links for you:

Mini Vanilla Bean Yellow Cupcakes with Creamy Chocolate Frosting

Rum Raisin Cupcakes with Rum Raisin Buttercream

Blogger EatPlayLove breaks down what you need to know to make easy chocolate frosting! She writes - and be sure to visit her blog for the recipe!

Once you make buttercream at home, there's really no reason to ever buy canned. I could make a 1,001 comparisons, but really homemade is the way to go. There is no chemical aftertaste, it spreads like butter, it has real ingredients, and it tastes divine. If you really need a shortcut, used boxed cake mix instead. Homemade frosting takes about 5 minutes. You don't need fancy ingredients either, this recipe uses 5 ingredients.

Blogger A Pocket Full of Buttons had me at "whipped peanut butter filling." I love peanut butter and these cake mix cupcakes with a twist look pretty easy to make - visit her blog for the recipe for her French Vanilla Cupcake with Whipped Peanut Butter Filling and Chocolaty Nutella Frosting!