It's a Fun Day- Funfetti Cupcakes!

You know how you get fixated on one food craving and you just cannot stop thinking about it until you eat that cheeseburger or get that brownie? Well actually that happens to me several times a week.... Boys, you may not know what I'm talking about. Just skip ahead to the recipe. :) Anyway, I saw a picture of these amazing Funfetti cupcakes on How Sweet it Is and I literally could not stop thinking of biting into a big vanilly buttercreamy rainbow sprinkly cupcake for 2 weeks.

I finally just went ahead and made them. Because I wanted to. Because I needed to have just one. Small problem, this recipe makes 12- luckily I was able to find 11 very lovable cupcakes a home. Mission accomplished. :) And these are OH so much better than a box mix. I just cannot do box mixes anymore- they just taste off to me.

The frosting is so fluffy because its whipped extra long- its almost like a marshmallow frosting I think. My cake was slightly dry due to over baking by a few minutes. Be careful not to do this. You can even add a little more milk if you like to make them more moist.

Please don't want for a birthday to make these. Any day is a Funfetti day!

P.S. Can I bribe anyone to vacuum the extra sprinkles with a cupcake? :)

Fourth of July Flag Cake

I wasn't sure I was going to attempt this cake from Glorious Treats. Someone I convinced myself I could do it. I did it! Yay! It is confusing to explain, so beat with me. I read the entire thing at least 10 times before I started to get the method right. OK. Got it. It's really not that hard once you read through. I invested in some Americolor gel food coloring and some circle Cooke cutters in preparation for the big event, and it was worth it! Now thanks to me not making this in advance, I've allowed you plenty of time to learn how to make this cake for next year! Or maybe Labor Day? :)

I highly recommend the Americolor gels- they are so bright and don't water down your batter! It also helps to have a cardboard cake circle so you can ice the cake in one spot and later move to a box/cake dome.

Next I had to find the perfect white cake recipe. I decided to go with this one from Brown Eyed Baker. It is originally a Dorie Greenspan recipe, which means its very good. It was very light, fluffy and moist due to the fact that it uses (sifted) cake flour and egg whites only. I added some lemon zest and extract to give it a fresh summer flavor (which was GREAT by the way), but you could omit those if you just want plain vanilla.

The frosting is really tasty too- vanilla buttercream is my favorite. Note that both cake and frosting recipes are for double batches. If you just want to make a regular cake, you will need to halve them.

P.S. If you're not sure what to do with your leftover egg yolks, don't throw them away! You have enough to make 2 batches of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Why not add some Reese's or strawberry puree into into one batch? Yummy! :)

The Sweetest Treat...Little Cookie Cake Sandwiches

 

I know this is way late, and that I should have posted like a week before Valentine's day so that you all could make this in time. I know. I'm SORRY! I really have to get with the program on my timing of holiday-themed posts...I mean, what did you expect after this Chili Dip recipe popped up 2 weeks post-Superbowl? Oh well, its OK because you can really make these ANY day in any shape/color! :)

They are very yummy. I don't think you will want to wait until Feb 14th every year to enjoy these. I made them for a sweet treat potluck for work, and I was so glad they were all gone so I didn't have to take any home with me! Well, I did have to reserve one for the bf though, and apparently he was unable to restrain himself and enjoyed a lovely sugary chocolately chippy Vday breakfast!

Now, I've made cookie cake before. It is pretty delicious and seriously the easiest dessert to make. Also, Everyone LOVES cookie cake. I wanted to do something a bit different than the norm this time, so I cut out mini heart shapes from the cake and made them into mini "sandwiches" - anyone familiar with the double doozie? So sinfully DELISH! :)