Carmel Apple Cupcakes - Baby Shower Part 2

 

I made The* Most* Amazing cupcakes for the baby shower.

Yes, I am bragging ,

but

They* Were* That* Good !

 

 

 

Since it is fall ,

I wanted to make a "fallish" dessert.

But whenever I have a gathering at my house ,

cupcakes are expected.

Maybe even  required.

 

I had found a recipe last year for Carmel Apple Cupcakes

and made them,

but it was a disappointment.

Way too messy and the flavor just wasn't there.

 

Sooo...

I went to my go to sites ,

Pinterest and Allrecipes.com

Allrecipes was the best source and I did find several.

 

I am NOT a "from scratch" kinda baker.

I am more of a " doctor up a mix " kinda baker.

 

Sooo...

I took the "ideas" from a few and made up my own.

 

Most of the recipes call for the carmel on top.

That's what I did last year ...

one word , MESSY.

And I'm big on surprises inside my cupcakes

plus I wanted the carmel to be significant.

I was afraid regular carmel would melt to fast and kinda fade away,

 

Sooo... ( again)

I choose to use Wherther's CHEWY carmels.

They are not quite as soft , and the flavor is phenomenal.

 

 

I also wanted them to be rich and not "spice cake like".

 

Sooo...

 ( tired of that yet )

I used a Butter Cake mix.

It's a yellow cake mix but you use butter instead of oil.

YUM !

 

Here's my recipe:

1 Butter Cake Mix

 ( I like to use Pillsbury, mostly cause of the DoughBoy on the box, plus there is pudding in the mix )

Mix as directed.

2 apples , finely chopped

( I used Jonathons but I think any tart apple would be great)

Mix the apples into the cake mix.

Fill the cup cake liners

(please use liners )

1/2 full or however full you get them, mine are never the same .

 

Side Note -

One of my favorite cupcake recipes Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes) says to put 3 tablespoons of batter then the peanut butter cup then more batter . Really , I am not a going to take the time to measure tablespoons of batter into the liners. Which is probably why I do not have consistently sized cupcakes. But I'm OK with that.

 

Then ,

 and this is the really important part,

poke an UNWRAPPED Wherther's CHEWY carmel into the cupcake batter !

Top off with some more batter and

WALAA !

Carmel apple cupcakes.

 

Almost as important as the cupcake is the frosting .

Right?

 I topped these delish little guys with a cream cheese frosting.

Not just any cream cheese frosting but a butter cream / cream cheese frosting.

Oh* My* God !

 

I found this recipe on Allrecipe.com also.
 I pretty much followed that one ,

 except,

 I did add more powdered sugar than was called for.

 

I kept saying these were the best cupcakes I had ever made.

Which wasn't good , cause I couldn't stay away from them.

But Hubs still prefers the Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes.

He's more into chocolate than me .

 

Make these !

Please.

Trust me .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Today was my friend Kathy's 60th birthday.

She doesn't read my blog , so I'm not worried about sharing that info :)

She loves sweets of any kind and especially chocolate.

I made supper for her and her son and knew the perfect dessert to serve.

I found this recipe a few weeks ago at The Little Kitchen .

And pinned it to my Cupcake Board .

I have have made them three times in the last couple weeks.

They are absolutely EVERY ONE'S favorite !

My son said there is no reason to make any other kind of cupcake !

Before I "pin" a recipe ,

I follow the link to make sure it is something I will actually make.

I am a lazy cook ( baker , gardener , decorator , etc. the list goes on and on ),

so if the recipe is too complicated , I'll just pass.

( no matter how delish their pictures look )

I am a semi- homemade kind of cook/baker.

I make homemade soup but am not above using ready made broth.

Same with cakes and cupcakes.

I like simple recipes that start with a box mix and add some special ingredients to make them fantastic !

And these fit the bill perfectly !

The most time consuming part of this recipe is unwrapping all those little peanut butter cups !

Look at that pile of wrappers !

Also , I'm not really one to really follow directions...

For instance ,

you are supposed to fill the cupcake wrappers with 3 tablespoons of batter,

then put the peanut butter cup in .

Did I measure ?

Of course not.

Were they still delish ?

Of course.

They may have been a little bigger ,

( that could be why I only got 26 instead of the 30 the author got )

but my family has never complained about cupcakes being too big !

One important direction you should follow though ,

freeze the peanut butter cups.

I ran short and had to use some that were not frozen,

it didn't affect the flavor ,

but they kind of melted into the cupcake....

I'm not going to post the recipe , cause it's not mine.

I will however continue to make them over and over again.

Unless of course my family pisses me off, then they will have to beg forgiveness to get them again !

Anyway...

Please follow the link for this recipe !

You will not be disappointed !

Promise !

The Cupcake Queen's Christmas Cupcakes

I just love when people come up to me and tell me they read my blog!

Sometimes it really surprises me.

Yesterday my nephew said he has looked at it !

Made my day :)

Which brings me to a small request.

See that little blue button on the right side?

Right there - look...

It says , " Join this Site".

I would SO love if you would click on it !

It just lets me know that people actually like my blog.

It's a warm , fuzzy kind of thing :)

Thanks!

Now on to todays post.

I have said before,

I am The Cupcake Queen !

Well, not really, but in my family I am !

I made two varieties for Christmas this year and thought I would share them with you.

First one , Turtle Cupcakes.

Simple , simple, simple.

Take whatever chocolate cake mix is your favorite.

I use German Chocolate.

Mix as per directions.

Unwrap a Carmel on smoosh it in the center.

Bake as directed.

Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.

At this point I would top with chopped pecans for a "real" Turtle taste,

but my kids have a thing against nuts,

so I used toffee bits, they love those.

Yum-O

( You know I LOVE Rachel Ray )

Second Variety

Coconut Cream Cupcakes

1 pkg. White Cake Mix

1 (14 oz. can) cream of coconut

(I actually found this in the liquor department in the grocery store.)

1 (14 0z. can ) sweetened condensed milk

I handful ( approx. 1 cup, I have small hands) flaked coconut

Mix cake according to directions

Add coconut

Bake cupcakes according to directions.

In a bowl, combine Cream of coconut and sweetened condensed milk.

While cupcakes are still warm, poke holes in them with a straw.

Pour the cream/milk combo over them.

WARNING - this will be MESSY

Let them cool.

Top with your favorite frosting ( I used Buttercream)

Garnish with more flaked coconut.

Terrible picture !

Geez...

They really are quite beautiful!

A little better , not much .

I got a new laptop for Christmas,

My husband is the BEST !

Maybe I need to ask Santa for a new camera too.

And maybe some lessons.....

These really are delish,

IF you like coconut.

Not everyone does,

apparently none of my children do.

I do :)

OK here is some advise.

These are really messy. The milk/cream mixture that makes them so delish goes everywhere.

The original recipe ( which i modified , I ALWAYS modify) is actually meant to be a cake.

I like to make cupcakes.

It would probably work better as a cake.

Less messy anyway.

I just wrapped them in an extra cupcake liner for less sticky handling.

If you like coconut, please try these.

As cupcakes or a cake, doesn't matter.

This is truly a delish, moist cake.

Let me know if you are brave enough to make it cupcakes!

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas as I did.

I am truly blessed!

Me and my Beautiful Girls !

Christmas Cheers ! From My Family to Yours !

( Niece Spencer, Baby Girl Emily, Sis and Me )

Sharing this Post at:

http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/2011/12/eve-of-christmas-newbie-party-on.html

http://www.askannamoseley.com/2011/12/weekend-warrior-link-party-35.html

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/12/upstairs-family-room-for-christmas.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20BetweenNapsOnThePorch%20(BETWEEN%20NAPS%20ON%20THE%20PORCH)

http://my1929charmerblog.com/sundays-best-holiday-party/

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http://www.vwbblog.com/2011/12/talent-tuesday-its-party-you-should_26.html

Carmel Apple Cupcakes and Girl Time with the Family

It was Bridal Shower weekend in the Trailerhood.

 My oldest nephew is getting married in a couple weeks and I love to have a party , so bridal shower it was.

 Last night we met up with the girls for part of the bachelorette party, just the supper part , cause this girl is getting a little too old for the other part !

 We had Addie with us too.

She needed shoes for the wedding.

 She is the flower girl .

 Can't wait to see how that goes... She is only 2 after all.

Me and Sis ( mother of the groom )

Jenna ( bride-to-be )

Spencer and Emily.

Cousins but more like sisters.

Spencer is going to kill me.

She didn't want her picture taken as they had been paintballing all afternoon and she had paint in her hair ! She is beautiful anyway !

Miss Addie saying " cheese".

Ok , done family sharing. Now onto the subject of this post.

Carmel Apple Cupcakes.

I saw these in a post from Inspired by Charm and thought they would be the perfect dessert for the shower.

Michael didn't include the recipe so I went to my go-to recipe site allrecipes.com . It's a great site , if you haven't used it , you should give it a try.

I found a recipe and it sounded very simple. The biggest job was unwrapping 35 carmels. In his post, Michael said he bought carmel bits instead of unwrapping all the carmel. Well, in my rural corner of the world , I couldn't find them. Sooo, I unwrapped 35 carmels.

Instead of melting them on the stove top , I used the microwave. Stirring every 30 seconds.

I always read the reviews of the recipes before I make them. Sometimes people post comments of what they would do differently or what they did or didn't like about the recipe. This one had a few comments about the carmel topping being to thick and gooey. I had the opposite problem. My carmel was really runny and made a mess ! But it was SO delish!

I put nuts on some and left some plain.

 Sometimes you feel like a nut , sometimes you don't.

Really , I know Sarah doesn't like nuts... but I do .....

All in all , a very good recipe. I would give it 4 stars.

 I would give it 5 but they were so messy !

OK , forgive me ... one more family picture.... well maybe two...

My beautiful girls.....I love them so.....

Say "cheese" !

Linking this post to these wonderful blogs:

Funky Junk Interiors

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/ ( or click on the button on the sidebar)

Under the Table and Dreaming

http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2011/10/sunday-showcase-party-with-freschetta.html

( click the button on the sidebar)

Between Naps on the Porch

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ ( or click on the button on the sidebar )

A Bowl Full of Lemons

http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2011/10/one-project-at-time-tuesday-link-party_18.html ( or click button on the sidebar )

Vintage Wannabee

http://micheleravendesigns.blogspot.com/ ( or click button on the sidebar)

Dittle Dattle

http://dittledattle.blogspot.com/2011/10/amaze-me-monday-46.html ( or click button on the sidebar)

You're Talking too Much

http://youaretalkingtoomuch.blogspot.com/2011/10/meet-me-monday-linky-party-8.html

Primp

http://micheleravendesigns.blogspot.com/

A Creative Princess

http://acreativeprincess.blogspot.com/2011/10/its-party-25.html#comment-form

Naptime Creations

http://nap-timecreations.blogspot.com/

The Cupcake Queen and her Sprinkle Princess

This weekend we celebrated my Granddaughter Addie's 2nd birthday. She won't actually be 2 until the 29th, but Addie has so many people that love her and wouldn't miss her birthday for the world that her smart Mommy decided to divide it into two parties. And OUR side of the family was this past weekend.
In my family , I am THE CUPCAKE QUEEN ( in other families , I might not be as impressive , but in mine , I am the BEST ). So when Addie was asked what she wanted for her birthday party and she said " CUPCAKES AND BALLOONS ! " It was up to me to deliver on the cupcake part.
Now I have to back track a little to last years party. It was a "ladybug" theme ( Addie's Mommy was very into themes back then ). And I have to say the theme went a little over the top, plus we had both sides of the family together ( TOO many people) . I made close to 100 ladybug cupcakes ! Her Mommy made her ladybug cake ( I think , I don't remember clearly , visions of ladybug cupcakes dancing in my head)

Isn't she ADORABLE ?
Anyway, when I found out this year that she just wanted , " CUPCAKES AND BALLOONS" ( she actually yelled that every time you mentioned her birthday) , I was a pretty happy Grandma. I decided to take her to a nearby store that sells bulk food and has an awesome selection of sprinkles and let her pick out the sprinkles for her CUPCAKES. The first ones she picked out were Breast Cancer sprinkles ( white sprinkles with little pink ribbon sprinkles) , OK , we can get those. Then she picked out red, white and blue stars . Hmmm... well , how about some multi colored flower sprinkles instead ....YEP....phew....
On Friday it was time to bake our cupcakes. Addie was a big helper.

She put the cupcake liners in the pans.

Of course, she licked the whisk ! She gets her sweet tooth from her Papa.



Now we don't just make REGULAR cupcakes in our family . No... we have FILLED cupcakes. And what they are filled with depends on the occasion. For Addie's 2nd birthday , it was white cupcakes with cheesecake filling and chocolate cupcakes with fudge filling . Sounds impressive huh ? ( well, I am the Cupcake Queen , duh ! ) It's not really. It's just cupcakes from a mix ( I'm a Queen , not a Saint ) and the filling is either pudding, or pie filling or pastry filling ,depending on what flavor is needed. Now I'm going to let you in on my secret.

The cake decorator from Pampered Chef. I LOVE THIS GADGET ! I would not be the cupcake Queen without it ( I have actually gone through 2 of these, really ! ), just fill the container , stick it in the center of the cupcake and pull the trigger. WALLAH ! Filled cupcakes ! It also comes with many different attachments  for frosting. I tend to use the "star" tip the most.

On Saturday Addie's Daddy brought her back to decorate all the cupcakes. I also made her her own little cake . Of course when I took the cover off to show her her cake , she stuck her finger in the icing !

She put some of both the sprinkles she picked out on her cake plus some black and white cow sprinkles leftover from her Daddy's birthday ( my son , the dairy farmer).

Her masterpiece !

Funny ... I didn't get any pictures of her cupcakes! Oh well... I started out volunteering to make the cupcakes for her party and ended up making a priceless memory with my Granddaughter ! It doesn't get much better than that !