st. patricks day dessert

Lime Soda Cupcakes!

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Ruthanne

Sweet lime cupcakes topped with a swirl of marshmallow buttercream.
A perfect flavor combination!

A while back, I shared with you an impossibly difficult (but amazingly yummy!) candy recipe from my friend Gail. It was a recipe for Opera Creams passed down to her from her grandmother. We spent the entire day together, candy making. For lunch we ran up to a little soda fountain from the 50s that is still in business. (Arnolds Drive In, for you folks that live near Indiana) They have burgers and fries— and yummy soda fountain drinks. Gail recommended the “Ole Green River” and I got the most wonderful lime phosphate topped with marshmallow cream. It was beautiful and as that marshmallow dissolved into the drink…? Unbelievably good. Here’s my Instagram record of it:

I’m not sure what brought it to mind the other day, but I decided to use those flavors to create a cupcake version of that yummy Ole Green River. I think they turned out great. Nice and green for St. Patricks Day!!!

Here’s the recipe: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS (makes 24 cupcakes)

One boxed white cake mix, plus oil, water and eggs to make according to box.
One small packet of Lime Jell-O.
4 sticks of salted butter (at room temperature)
2 teaspoons of clear vanilla
3 cups of powdered sugar
2 jars (7 oz. each) of Jet-puffed marshmallow creme
White food coloring (optional- only if you want that bright white marshmallow color.)
Sprinkles and decorations as desired.

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to box, but add Jell-O along with other ingredients.
Divide batter evenly into 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins.
Bake according to box, a toothpick inserted into the center of one should come out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool while you prepare frosting.
Combine (room temperature) butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on low until combined.
Beat on high for several minutes until light and fluffy.
(optional) add white food coloring at this point, to whiten up all that butter- I did not have any, so you can see my icing is more of an ivory color.
Add marshmallow creme to frosting and beat until completely incorporated.
Spoon frosting into a large zip top bag that has been fitted with a decorating tip, and pipe frosting over cupcakes.
Decorate as desired (paper straws are fun!!!!!!)
Enjoy!

My thoughts: I really loved these flavors together. Marshmallow and lime. So yummy. The cupcakes are very moist because of the Jell-O, so take care unwrapping them, they are a little more likely to fall apart than other cupcakes. I experimented with the marshmallow butter cream, just adding the fluff to my usual buttercream recipe, and I thought it was fabulous. The marshmallow flavor was not lost! I hope you enjoy these little treats, and if you’re ever near a soda shop that has lime phosphates on the menu, ask for one with marshmallow cream on the top! Enjoy! ~r

Other fun St. Patrick’s Day treats you might want to try:

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, best, buttercream icing, cupcake, cupcakes, dessert, green, jell-o, Jell-o cupcakes, lime, lime phosphate, lime soda, marshmallow, marshmallow buttercream, marshmallow fluff, paper straws, St. Patricks Day, st. patricks day dessert, white cake mix. Bookmark the permalink.

Gender Reveal Cupcakes!

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Ruthanne

Is it a boy? Is it a girl? You’ll have to take a bite of this cupcake to find out! Such a fun way to reveal the gender of a coming baby!!!

About a month ago I was on a mission to create some gender-reveal party desserts for my cousin Ericka. I posted a gender reveal fudge cookie that she actually used and everyone loved. She’s a teacher and her students loved the idea that the cookies held a “secret”. I promised to post more recipes for gender reveal parties and this one is SO INCREDIBLY EASY!!! It uses a cake mix and some food coloring and thats IT. I was browsing the baking aisle a few weeks ago and came across a new product by Betty Crocker called “FUN da-Middles“. It is a cupcake mix that comes with a creamy filling. They come in both yellow and chocolate. I simply HAD to try this (because who doesn’t love filling inside of anything??!!). They work beautifully- easy to make and they bake up into the most beautiful cupcakes. But I wondered if you could change the filling color without causing a recipe fail.

This was the result: so much fun! Here’s how:

INGREDIENTS:

One box of FUN-da-Middles cupcakes with a white cream filling (plus eggs, water and oil to make according to box, and 12 cupcake liners).
One tub of Betty Crocker Rich Creamy Vanilla Frosting 16 oz
1/2 container of Cool Whip topping
Wilton Icing Color in pink and blue (or in any other color you want!)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Make cupcakes according to box- but instead of cutting a corner off the bag of cream filling and piping over cupcakes, pipe it into a bowl and color it 1st.
Color cream filling with Wiltons Icing color- it won’t change the consistency of the filling because it is a gel and you only need a TINY bit to create a bright color.
Place colored cream into a small ziptop bag. Zip it shut, clip a corner of the bag off and pipe filling on to cupcake batter as directed on box.
Bake according to box and cool completely.
Mix 1/2 of a container of Cool Whip with a can of white frosting.
Clip the corner of a large ziptop bag and slide a cake decorator tip into the open corner. Fill the bag with frosting, zip it closed and pipe generous amount on top of cupcakes.
Decorate as desired. (I used Wiltons candy melts in a Dessert Accents Candy Mold to top these gender reveal cupcakes).

Not having a baby? Not throwing a gender reveal party? These cupcakes can be customized for really any occasion or holiday. Next weekend is St. Patricks day– so how about these?