Flavor of the Month- EGGNOG CUPCAKES- YUM!

My flavor of the month is eggnog. I have a wonderful recipe for eggnog cupcakes with an eggnog filling. They are topped of with rum flavored whipped cream and freshly ground nutmeg. I thought I would share the recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Eggnog Cupcakes

Ingredients
Cake:
1 package yellow cake mix
2 eggs
2 cups eggnog
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon rum flavored extract
Filling:
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups eggnog
1/2 teaspoon rum flavored extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line your muffin tin with cupcake liners.
For the cupcakes: In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cake mix, eggs, 2 cups eggnog, melted butter, nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp rum flavored extract. Put in cupcake liners. Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven until it springs back up at the light touch of finger, about 20 minutes. This recipe can be baked in cake pans as well. Remove from the oven to cool on wire racks.
For the Filling: Mix together the vanilla pudding mix, 2 cups eggnog, and 1/2 teaspoon rum flavored extract in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Using wilton tip #230 and pastry bag fill cupcakes.

Decorate anyway you want. Rum flavored sweet cream is wonderful with this recipe .

Whipped Topping:
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon rum flavored extract

For the Whipped Topping: In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the cold water, allow to stand for 5 minutes to soften and then stir until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Whip the heavy cream in a large mixing bowl to soft peaks. Add the sugar, gelatin, and 1/2 teaspoon extract, and continue whipping to stiff peaks. Refrigerate until ready to use. It looks nice to sprinkle the finished cupcake with freshly ground nutmeg.

One More Pic

Here is one more pic of my recent cuppies.

Christmas Cupcakes

Here are a few Chrsitmas cuppies I have made for the holiday season. I am sure more are to come!

Our Family Kick off to the Christmas Season

Last night my family and I talked more about the Christmas story and about ways to remember what the Christmas Season is all about. We also sang songs- Silent Night is my favorite but I think the kids prefer Jingle Bells, who knows what song is my husband's favorite. Believe by Josh

Groban is probably his favorite but that isn't a song we would attempt to sing as a family! Then we decorated cupcakes and assembled star cookies that I baked early in the day into Christmas trees. We let our little one have a cupcake. Lets just say we don't have to worry about boring cake pics in January for his first Bday, he tore into his little cupcake and would have ate the whole thing if I hadn't taken it away from him to get him all cleaned up.

We had such a great time. Every Monday for the month of December we are going to do something Christmas related. If you have any special traditions you would like to share I would love to hear them!

Pumpkin Pie

My blog is for cake but I was just given a new recipe from my friend Jenny for pie crust and I think it is the easiest and tastiest crust I have ever had! I made a couple of changes and now I am completely in love!
FYI- before this recipe I was pastry crust challenged- very embarrassing for a baker. If you struggle with pie crust this recipe is for you!

2 Crust Pie Recipe
2 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cold water

Combine in large bowl flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix and then remove 1/2 cup of flour mixture to small bowl and set aside for later. Cut in shortening and butter(I prefer to use my hands on this step) just until it resembles coarse crumbs. Pour water into flour mixture in small bowl, mix until combined and not lumpy. Then pour into large bowl and mix together until it forms a loose ball.
Turn out on to floured counter and gently knead once or twice and then roll to your desired size. Trim edges and bake empty at 350 for 12 minutes or fill and bake according to your recipe.
Hope you like this recipe- I love it!!!

Today I filled mine with a pumpkin pie recipe, last night I filled one with apples and made an upside caramel apple pie- yum! I also baked a pie crust today and made my first french silk pie. I am very excited to taste it!
HAPPY BAKING!!!

Cakes Blues

Lately I have lost all desire to create cakes. I need some inspiration for this Thanksgiving. I'm thinking fun and not fancy but I just can't decide!

I had two fun cakes planned for family members this month and I didn't do either of them- the first one I just decided not to do. It was going to be a cake sculpted to look like a metal pail filled with sugar ice and sugar IBC bottles. Eventually I need to make it because I think it would be a lot of fun to make and a lot of fun to show off!
The second was for my daughter's PJ Party. It was going to be a topsy turvy in bright colors with 3D little girls in jammies sitting all around. I was going to incorporate some of my daughter's favorite things to personalize it even more. Unfortunately, Cold Stone Creamery won in the end- my daughter decided on an ice cream cake instead and I don't make them. Oh well, there is always next year.

I need to get back in the mood for caking so I can get some new pics for all of you to see!

Halloween Treats

Here are the eyeball truffles everyone voted on the other day. They are spice cake with cream cheese frosting dipped in white chocolate. The centers are royal icing in green and dark chocolate colored black. I think everyone liked them at recipe group.

To make my dear friend, Dee, happy I made chocolate cuppies too. They are colored black in the spirit of Halloween. The filling was an orange sweet cream. The decorations are made with fondant. TFL and Happy Halloween!

Winning Flavor

Thanks to everyone that voted on cake truffle flavors. Spice cake with cream cheese frosting won so that is what I will be making.
Dee- Maybe I'll make some chocolate cuppies too.

Pumpkin Cake Truffles

This is my first attempt at cake truffles or cake balls. I like them but would like it if the bottoms of the truffles looked cleaner. The chocolate pools at the bottom, next time I think I will put them on a rack so the chocolate can drip down. I also have a few air bubbles that I should have pricked with a tooth pick. Oh well. They were just a test run.

I am going to try eyeballs next for a recipe group I belong to. If any of my recipe group friends are reading- what flavor are you in the mood for. I was thinking spice cake with cream cheese frosting. Wish me luck.

Fall Cake

This cake was made for a local organization. They asked for chocolate and fall colors so this is what I came up with. It is devils food cake with dark chocolate buttercream. The outside is encircled with pirouette cookies. The flowers are made with fondant and the center are gold dragees. Thanks for looking!

Fancy Nancy Cake

I made this for my daughter's bday cake. She had a Fancy Nancy party. Fancy Nancy is a series of children's books that are all about a little girl named Nancy. She loves things fancy and over the top just like Emma. The cake is a bit busy but that is just how Fancy Nancy would like it! The cuppies just compliment the cake.

Turtle Cuppies

How cute are the turtles!?! I found a tutorial for these little guys on www.cakejournal.com. I made them for my daughter's class for her bday. The kids all loved them. Everything is done with fondant. TFL

Negligee Present

This cake was fun to make. My girl's kept asking me what the fancy night gown was for! Anyway, I made it for a bridal shower and from what I hear they all loved it!

Belle Cuppie

This cupcake was fun to make. I was just playing around with left over frosting and gum paste. I think it would be perfect for a princess party or if done in white, a bridal shower. TFL!

My Dad's Bday Cuppies

These were pretty rich! They were for my dad's bday. Buttterscotch is his favorite thing in the world. One cuppie was butterscotch, it's buttercream was butterscotch, it's filling was butterscotch, and then I dipped it in butterscotch. It was overload to me but he loved them! My mom hates butterscotch so I had to make the chocolate cuppies for her. Hey, it might be my dad's bday but my mom needs a treat too!

Little Minis

These little cuppies were fun to make. I had left over batter and frosting from my son's bday so I thought I would make these. I think mini cupcakes are so cute. TFL!

Chocoholic Dots

This is a chocoholic's dream, it is encircled with a wall of chocolate and topped with handmade chocolate pieces. When this much chocolate is involved it is great to add strawberries! Why not dip them in chocolate and then swirl them in white chocolate too!

Wish you were all here so I could share- then again, maybe not!

And Last Pic Finally!

And Even More Monsters

And More Monsters

More Monster Pics

Monster Quilt Cake Project

Here are pictures from the monster project I mentioned last month. The monsters took me forever but I love the result! Cupcakes were vanilla. I used four different fillings- chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse, raspberry buttercream, and lemon curd. There are several pics so bear with me!Thanks for looking!

Soccer Cuppies

These were made for my friend's son. They were quick and easy to put together and I think they turned out cute too. TFL!

Wii Party

My son just had his birthday. He invited friends over and they played the Wii. I had a lot of fun watching them play Rock Band- my husband played too and that was seriously funny to watch!
Anyway, I made cupcakes for him. The mini Wiis took a bit longer then I thought they would, the little game discs were super fast though! I ran out of time so the ones with Wii actually spelled out are a little sloppy. The boys all loved them. The vanilla cupcakes had raspberry filling(my sons favorite) and the chocolate had a chocolate mousse filling.
FYI- I had some chocolate cuppies left over so I filled them with the chocolate mousse and raspberry filling, then topped them with chocolate buttercream...too die for!!!!

New Project!

I have a new project coming up and I am really excited about it! My friend's grandson is turning one and she asked me to make his bday cake. She made this darling Monster quilt and wants me to base the cake design from her quilt. I am going to do a cupcake tower and a smash cake featuring the adorable little monsters. I think each cupcake will have a fondant monster on it to match the quilt. Anyway, I will take pics along the way. The monsters will take a while but I think they will be worth it! If my friend doesn't mind I will post a pic of the quilt too. This could be a fun trend for 1st bdays or baby showers. I'll post the pics as soon as I get started!

Chocolate Decadence

This cuppie is devils chocolate with a dark chocolate mousse filling and topped with a whipped chocolate buttercream. The flower is dark chocolate fondant. I made these for my mom because she is wonderful and because she just bought me a professional Viking mixer- hooray!

Another Purse Cake

Well, I just finished this up today and really like how it turned out! The cake is done in fondant. I dry dusted the color. The mini purses are done with fondant and royal icing. The handle and flowers are done with gumpaste. The butterflies are hand made with edible rice paper and petal dust.

I hope the little girl this was for loved it!

Thanks for looking!

Fourth of July Cupcakes

These were for a little get together we had last night with some friends. They are vanilla with buttercream and filled with a sweet cream. Some might say that is a boring flavor combo but it is one of my favorites. TFL!