Unicorn (Rainbow) Cupcakes

Yesterday was kind of a miserable day so I got to thinking what could make it better? Cupcakes of course. It was a REALLY bad day though and not just any cupcake would do so we made 'unicorn' cupcakes! I suppose you would call them rainbow, but I prefer the monicure unicorn cupcakes. They where loads of fun and turned out great, even if my hands are multi-colored and it made a lot of dishes. I wish I had taken step by step shots for these, next time I make them I certainly will!

Steps:

• Mix cake batter, divide into 6 bowls
• Dye bowls one of each: Purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red (or pink)
• Layer each cupcake with a small spoonful of these colors in the above order (purple on bottom) They make BIG cupcakes with all those layers!
• Bake and enjoy!

Tips:

• I love the wilton gel colors for dying the mix, it makes for really vibrant colors
• Use a very light colored batter. A true white batter or mix works well and is what I used here vs. the typical yellow.

I started out thinking about making a valentines cake, then I thought maybe cupcakes. Then I remembered I kinda hate valentines day. So I thought of making anti-valentines cupcakes, but that felt to bitter. (Hey its my day off I am in a good mood) So I went with a tattoo theme since I am a big fan of tattoo art. The cupcakes are red velevet (I was not really thrilled with the recipe) with buttercream and fondant decorations, some are hand painted

I was looking for a quick chocolate cupcake recipe, basically as an excuse to try and make some fondant roses. I picked this one from allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
3. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Frost with your favorite frosting when cool.

The recipe was actually really moist and chocolaty. But it made more than the 16 cupcakes the recipe estimated. Even when I over filled them slightly.

I had envisioned pink flowers on dark chocolate icing however in my haste I failed to remember that I did not have any cocoa powder left for the icing. So I had to Macgyver it and use a packet of hot cocoa. Tasted good but gave me a paler color.

Almost Nanas Banana Muffins

I have not felt all that well the last couple days and banana muffins where sounding like an edible option. Still can't find where I packed my grandmothers fantastic recipe so I typed it in google, and picked the first recipe I found. So this one is courtesy of catcancook's blog. I have to admit it was really easy, quite yummy, and lower in fat and sugar than grandma's. The recipe made 12 regular sized muffins

3 or 4 Large bananas, mashed

1/2 cup white sugar

1 slightly beaten egg
1/3 cup melted margarine or butter
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and margarine together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients together, as with most muffins, don't over stir. Pour into greased muffin tins, and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or golden brown on top

Kraft Peanut Butter Cookies

The best Peanut Butter cookies I have ever tried or cooked myself are the easiest ones to make, nothing fancy or labour intensive here. Just yummy cookies

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Egg

Beat until blended, drop by teaspoon full onto cookie sheet, press with fork. Bake until edges are golden brown.

I really enjoyed these, maybe a little too much. I need a big family of cupcake lovers to try all my test flavors. So here it is:

Neopolitan Cupcakes

Vanilla half

1 3/4 cup flour
2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temp)
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Whole milk (I used 2% with good results)

• Preheat oven to 350 Prepare two standard 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
  


• With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well until combined. On low speed beat in 1/2 of the flour mixture, followed by milk, end with remaining flour mixture, mix until just incorporated Do not over mix. Set aside while you make the chocolate half, using the same steps above only reduce the flour to 1 1/4 cups and add 1/2 cup cocoa powder.
  


• Fill muffin cups with 3tbsp of each batter side by side according to the recipe, I suscribe to the 'eyeball' it method though. Bake until it tooth pick tests clean, about 17-19 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool

...Est voila! Beutiful half and half cuppie cakes. To turn them into Neopolitan though we need to add some strawberry icing. I LOVED this icing

2 cups confectioners sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
1/4 cup strawberry preserves or jam (homemade works fantastic)
Pinch of salt
Strawberries sliced for garnish

• In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Add strawberry preserves and salt mix until well combined. Add sugar a 1/2 cup at a time, beat until frosting comes together and is light and fluffy 5-7 minutes
  


• Spread or pipe frosting over cooled cupcakes. I went super ghetto and sniped the edge off a ziploc bag and piped it on since my tips are packed up. Top each with a sliced strawberry
  This makes a small batch of frosting only enough to frost 16-18 cupcakes. I make my cupcakes a little on the big side so I came out with 16 vs 24 as the recipe says and I easily frosted them all with this amount.

This makes a small batch of frosting only enough to frost 16-18 cupcakes. I make my cupcakes a little on the big side so I came out with 16 vs 24 as the recipe says and I easily frosted them all with this amount.