Carrot Cake Favorite

Most of the cakes I make are variations of my basic cake recipe, but this recipe I adapted from my fan-favorite zucchini cake.  Just so you know--I am going to do some shameless bragging about this recipe.  Feel free to skip the rest of this self-gratuitous paragraph.  This is one of the best cakes, and hands down the best carrot cake, I have ever tasted.  As many of you know, Adam is not generally a fan of sweets, but he snuck a cupcake and a mini cupcake before I could take pictures.  This cake pleased everyone from the ninety-five-year-old Grandma, whose birthday we celebrated, all the way down to the toddlers.

Ok.  I'm done now.  Let's get to the recipe.

Cake Ingredients

• 3 Cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Cups dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 Cup vegetable oil
• 3 Cups grated carrots
• 1/2 Cup golden raisins
• 1/2 Cup black (I'm not sure what these are called) raisins
• 1 Cup crushed walnuts

Frosting Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 Cup (2 sticks) butter - this makes a more buttery cream cheese frosting; if you really like cream cheese, use just one stick of butter
• 2-3 Cups powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla

Mix and Bake (for tips on baking see this post)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together into medium mixing bowl

3. Combine brown sugar and dry mixture in large mixing bowl--mix well
4. Beat together the eggs and oil in the small mixing bowl
5. Add egg and oil mixture to large mixing bowl--add vanilla while mixing these ingredients together (DO NOT OVER-MIX)
6. Your batter at this point will be sort of stiff and sticky like a dough

7. Add carrots, raisins, and nuts, and mix until dispersed--the batter becomes much more moist and like a batter
8. Spray pan with baking spray, and pour batter into pan (use spatula to scrape out mixing bowl)
9. Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 minutes (cupcakes take much less time: about 12-15 minutes for minis and 18-22 for regular)
10. Place pan on cooling rack for 15 minutes
11. Turn cake out onto rack to finish cooling

Mix Frosting (for frosting tips see this post)

1. After putting cake in oven, remove cream cheese and butter from fridge to soften 
2. Cream together butter and cream cheese
3. Add powdered sugar to frosting mixture and mix well; add enough sugar so that it tastes delicious and is stiff enough to hold whatever shape you are going for
4. Mix vanilla into frosting
5. When cake is cool, stack, frost, and decorate

Sesame Street Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a first birthday party last spring.  I couldn't believe how fun and easy these were to whip up.

If you have been reading along for a while, you will know that I already prefer to buy my frosting from the bakery at King Soopers (Kroger stores).  The frosting is less expensive to make than buttercream, is perfectly white, doesn't need refrigeration, has a great consistency, and has a great flavor.  The time saved is also a bonus.

The morning I was making these, I was really running late on time, and I found out that the bakery will sell the colored frosting as well as white.  The colored frosting is more expensive, but the amount of food coloring required to get these rich colors probably about equals the extra cost (I haven't actually done the math, but this past year I have been more short on time than money, so I am willing to go with my estimate).

Here's what you'll need:

• cupcakes (I used my basic recipe)
• red frosting for Elmo
• blue frosting for Cookie Monster
• white frosting for eyes
• black frosting for eyes and mouth (I used the stuff from the shelf that comes in a can with attachable tips) ***I would probably use black fondant cut into shapes in the future***
• 3 piping bags (one for red, one for blue, one for white)
• star piping tip
• large circle piping tip
• orange jelly beans (M&M's might work as well)
• mini chocolate chip cookies

For Cookie Monster:

1. Start with a plain cupcake.
2. Cut your mini cookies in half.  They don't need to be exact.
3. Use the star tip in a piping bag to frost the cupcakes.  You should pipe in a back and forth motion from the center to the outside, moving around the cupcake, to create the furry look.  This is not an exact science; in fact, the more random you make it, the better it looks.
4. Use the circle tip in a piping bag to make large dots of white frosting for the base of the eyes.
5. Use the circle tip of the black frosting to make smaller dots on the eyes.  Cookie Monster's eyes should both be looking different directions (often each looking out).  ***I would use small black fondant circles next time***
6. Stick a cookie half in for the mouth.  It's ok if there are crumbs around the mouth; Cookie Monster is a messy eater.

For Elmo:

1. Start with a plain cupcake (this isn't its own step because it wouldn't have looked as good in the collage-ha ha). Use the star tip in a piping bag to frost the cupcakes.  You should pipe in a back and forth motion from the center to the outside, moving around the cupcake, to create the furry look.   This is not an exact science; in fact, the more random you make it, the better it looks.
2. Use the circle tip in a piping bag to make large dots of white frosting for the base of the eyes.
3. Use the circle tip of the black frosting to make smaller dots on the eyes and the curve of the mouth.  ***I would use small black fondant circles and black fondant crescents next time***
4. Stick a jelly bean in for the nose.  I poked the long side in to create a circle nose instead of an oval--the oval looked more like Gonzo's nose.

Mini Cupcake Variation - I made these cute mini cupcakes with the extra batter and supplies; you know I am a sucker for mini cupcakes.  The basic technique is the same, but you use a smaller chunk of cookie for Cookie Monster's mouth, and cut the jelly bean in half for Elmo's nose.

Cupcake Toppers in ... 1 - 2 - 3

I have to confess that I am generally not a fan of cupcake toppers.  It is the snobby cake decorator in me that wants everything on a cake (or cupcake) to be edible.  Last year, when the craze for cupcake toppers hit, I was less than thrilled.  I like to expend creative energy on edible decorations.

However, I finally gave in.  Last August, my niece and nephew had a superhero birthday party.  They wanted cupcakes with "the little toothpick things" as the 3/4 year old described them.  I was walking down the kids craft aisle of the craft store, when I saw these foam stickers, and...BAM I knew what I was going to do.  I grabbed a bag of the stars, a paint pen, and headed to the checkout.

When I got home, I couldn't wait to get started.  I used the white paint pen, and a fine black sharpie to write on the foam stars.  I wrote superhero words like "bam," "pow," and "zap."  I also added a few "happy birthday's" and many letter "m's" for their names.  The stars already came with that fantastic border, so no other decoration necessary.  When I was done, I had a pile of stickers that looked like this:

To construct the topper all I had to do was pull the back off the foam stickers, and place a toothpick between two stickers (sticky sides together).

Stick in a cupcake, and you are ready to go!  How easy was that?  I used the "Grasshopper" (mint chocolate) cupcakes from this post, and chocolate cupcakes with strawberry icing.

Tausha's Wedding Cake

Hello again!  How have you been?  I know...I know...it has been a long time.  This past year was the most difficult of my teaching career so far, but it is summer once again, and I am ready to hit the ground running here at Snips and Spice (not literally running--I hate running).  Although I was too busy to blog, I have been busy cooking, caking, and crafting.  Over the next few weeks, I will be posting many of the projects I worked on over the last nine months, and working on new projects to share with you as well.

One of the things keeping me busy these past months has been cakes.  It got really crazy around Christmas with two weddings (one of which was my sister's).  The week before Christmas entailed this three-tier wedding cake, about 85 cupcakes, and the birthday cake for the bride's father.

Although the cake looks complicated, it was actually pretty easy to decorate.  I covered the cake with fondant, then piped the decorations on the side--see this post for frosting cakes, and this post for covering cakes with fondant.  To transport the cake, I boxed each tier individually. 

Most of the cakes I make do not have space between the tiers, so I use cardboard bases for each tier.  For this cake, I used Wilton'sstackable square cake bases for the top two tiers, and a foil-covered square for the bottom of the cake.  The stackable bases click into place with the columns--creating a stable cake that will last throughout the day.  This was the first time I had used this type of construction, and I couldn't believe how easy it was.  I used a dab of frosting to secure the ribbons in place around the base of each tier after I stacked them.

My friend Pam helped me cut the fruit and dab it on paper towels to keep the juices from dripping on, and melting, the fondant.  The cut fruit and flowers quickly filled the gaps between the tiers and completed this cake.

The twelve-inch bottom tier of the wedding cake was comprised of four layers of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  The ten-inch center tier was four layers of lemon poppyseed cake with vanilla buttercream, and the eight-inch top tier was white chocolate cake with white chocolate raspberry filling.  I used my basic cake recipe for these cakes found in this post about baking beautiful, delicious cakes.

I made the cupcakes with the same flavors as the cake tiers.  I simply colored the frosting to match the wedding colors; see my post about food coloring here.  There are so many different cupcake holders, cupcake wrappers, cake stands, and candy to decorate with right now, that you can easily create whatever look you want.

This particular wedding was a little different because it took place on the bride's father's birthday.  Father of the bride is a man who loved apple and had a deep respect for Steve Jobs, so what could be better than a surprise Apple birthday cake at the reception?  You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the apple cake was the size of a large apple.  My sister helped me create the iPod out of fondant.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you come back this week to see what else I have been up to.

Lace Stenciled Cupcakes {Guest Post from Katy at Sweet Verbena}

Don't look mom!  I'm serious!  This post includes powdered sugar!  My mom has an irrational fear of powdered sugar, which is perhaps why I have never seen this technique before.  I am excited to have Katy from Sweet Verbena here today for our last guest post of Cupcake Month. 

Hi there!

My name is Katy and I'm visiting from Sweet Verbena.

I'm a junior in college at Texas A&M university and when I'm not busy studying, I love to create. Hope you'll stop by my blog and say "Hi" sometime!

I am so excited to participate in cupcake month! Today I'll be sharing a technique rather than a recipe: Lace Stenciled Cupcakes! 

I purchased an 1/8 of yard of lace at Hobby Lobby and cut the strip into 12  squares. 

(If you want to make 24 cupcakes purchase 1/4 yard of lace)

It couldn't be more simple. Place a square of lace over the cupcake and generously sift Powdered sugar over the top. 

(Be sure to use a new square of lace for each cupcake)

Carefully remove the lace, 

and voila! A beautifully stenciled cupcake. 

Lovely, aren't they?

Thank you so much for having me Malory! I am loving all this cupcake fun this month at Snips and Spice. 

Thanks Katy!  These are so pretty!  This is a great option for those who are watching calories, or don't like frosting (I can't imagine who wouldn't, but still an option).  You know I LOVE frosting, and I am thinking that I could frost a cupcake, then use this same technique on top of the frosting.  These would make elegant cupcakes for a wedding, and be great on a hot day when the fats in frosting would melt.  Katy has posted some really cute sewing patterns, like this bow tie top.

and this dress.

She created this great tutorial on sewing a zippered lining into a bag (which you might find helpful with next month's sew-along bag).

Sneak over to Sweet Verbena to check out more sewing tutorials--she posted a great one just this week for reverse applique.

Plum Perfect Cupcakes {Guest Post from Tammy at Peppermint Plum}

I am so excited about today's post!  Tammy is one of my friends that I have known for years, and we actually started blogging about the same time.  Tammy and her sister Annie normally blog over at Peppermint Plum, but today Tammy is here sharing this new creation...Plum Perfect Cupcakes!

 Hi! I’m Tammy from Peppermint Plum.

I’m here at Snips & Spice to share my recipe for

Plum-Perfect Cupcakes

Thanks to Malory (my friend IRL!) for the opportunity to share in this fun event!

I’ve been toying around with the idea of a plum cupcake for a while now, and decided this was the perfect chance to experiment.

I have to say that I think these turned out really tasty. They have a plumb-perfect blend of sweetness {from the frosting} and tartness {from the filling}.


You’ll need to plan ahead a little for this recipe…the plum sauce takes about 10 minutes to make and at least an hour to chill in the fridge before it is cool enough to use.

{Plum Perfect Cupcakes}

1 white cake mix

3 fresh plums

8 oz cream cheese

1 cube butter, room temp

3 Tbsp prepared plumsauce (see below)

1 tsp vanilla

7-8 cups powdered sugar (approx 2 lbs)

First, you will need to make your plumsauce filling. Cut fruit (with skin) from the pit of 3 fresh plums and process in a blender or food processor until the skins are chopped and blended in. Pour into small saucepan, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the texture resembles that of applesauce.

Pour into separate bowl and refrigerate for one to two hours, until sauce is cool to the touch. To speed up the process, stir sauce a few times while it is cooling.

Next, preheat your oven and mix cake batter according to directions. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full, and bake for about 15-17 minutes at 350. My mix made 30 cupcakes.

Allow cupcakes to cool.

Reserve about 3 tablespoons of cooled plumsauce to add to your frosting.

To fill cupcakes, pour remaining plum sauce into a pastry bag with a round tip, stick tip directly into the center of the cupcake, and squeeze a little sauce into each one.

Once filled, your cupcakes are ready for frosting.

This recipe makes a large amount of frosting, because I like to swirl big heaps of it onto my cupcakes. Feel free to halve the recipe if you don’t want as much on yours.

{Frosting}

Mix cream cheese, butter, 3 Tbsp plumsauce, and vanilla with hand mixer until well-blended. Slowly add powdered sugar one cup at a time until thick enough to pipe and hold up.

Frost, Decorate, and Enjoy!

-Tammy

Thanks Tammy!  I cannot wait to try making this recipe!  You can see why Tammy and I are friends--just look at how much frosting she piled on that cupcake!  Tammy and Annie recently returned from a blogging break, and I can't wait to see what they have in store for us.  Some of my favorite posts from Tammy and Annie include their free printables like this one:

I am currently trying to take control of my health, and I always try to prepare veggies that look this appetizing.

I ooh and aah every time they post about home decor.  This kitchen is so beautiful and full of light (unlike my kitchen that feels like a black hole).

I also love the look of these keys.

Tammy also shares ideas for kids--like this slime.

Take a trip over to Peppermint Plum and search around; I promise you will find something there you like!

Marshmallow Surprise Cupcake {Guest Post from Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life}

When I first decided to host Cupcake Month here at Snips & Spice, I knew I had to ask Jocelyn from Inside BruCrew Life to come guest post.  I think Jocelyn is the cupcake queen!  She makes all sorts of delicious cupcakes with different fillings, flavors, and frostings.  I am so excited she wanted to participate, and I know you will not be disappointed with this recipe.

Hello Snips and Spice readers:-)

I'm Jocelyn from Inside BruCrew Life.  I have a huge sugar addiction and it shows up quite regularly in my blog posts.  If you come poke around some of my older posts, I guarantee you will leave wanting something sort of sugar substance!!  I am super excited to show off one of my cupcake creations here at Snips and Spice. 

I love a good cupcake, but I love hiding some sort of yummy candy or treat down inside the cupcake to surprise everyone.  I have had a bag of chocolate covered marshmallows hiding in my cupboard for quite some time now.  How they have survived this long without my sweet tooth finding them, I will never know:-)  I was wanting to try some sort of smore cupcake, but wanted it be slightly different.  I think it worked, what do you think?

Marshmallow Surprise Cupcakes
vanilla cake mix
vanilla wafers
chocolate covered marshmallows
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 350*  Place liners in cupcake pan and set aside.  Mix up the cake mix according to the package directions.  Spoon 1 tbsp. batter into liners.  Place one vanilla wafer on top of that batter.  Now finish filling the liners 3/4 full of batter.  Bake for 8 minutes.  Very carefully open your oven door and push 3-4 of the chocolate covered marshmallows into the centers of every cupcake.  Close the oven door and finish baking for another 12-14 minutes.  As soon as the cupcakes come out of the oven, push 3-4 more marshmallows into the center.  Let cool completely.  Pipe on some butter cream goodness.  Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl for about 30-45 seconds.  Stir until smooth.  Drizzle over the tops of the cupcakes. 

Vanilla Butter Cream
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. shortening
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar

Beat butter and shortening until creamy. Add the salt, water, and vanilla and cream again. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Add another 1-3 tbsp. water, beating after each one. You want the frosting to be creamy, but stiff enough to frost cupcakes.

Thank you so much Malory for inviting me to your cupcake month celebration.  It has been so much fun posting here today!

Thanks Jocelyn!  Another wonderful cupcake post from the cupcake queen herself!  Some of my favorites are as follows (Click the pictures to be taken to the recipe page):