Tag Archives: vanilla

Fall Apple Cupcakes

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Ruthanne

Celebrate fall with these cute little apple cupcakes! Filled with a chocolate chip “seed” core, these are sure to make everyone smile!

Well. Fall is here. I just began to notice the changing leaves this week, and of course every morning it’s a little bit darker on my drive to work.

Every fall, our family makes a special trip to a local orchard to sample apples, doughnuts and cider. As the temperatures drop I find myself looking forward to pumpkins and rustling leaves and all the fun flavors that come with this new season! These little cupcakes don’t taste like apples, but they sure do look like them! I even added a fun seeded core to these, using my trusty cake pop maker.

How fun is that? Surprise chocolate chips are always a plus in my book! You can skip the “core” if you want- just make solid-colored cupcakes instead of using my added steps in the recipe. Either way, these are a lot of fun and easy to make!

Here’s the recipe: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

1 boxed white cake mix (plus oil, water and eggs to make according to package)
Food coloring gels in desired colors.
1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips (if making core)
2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, softened
2 sticks (1 cups) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of vanilla
Colored sugar sprinkles (in desired colors)
Fondant for stems and leaves (or use pretzel sticks for the stems and spearmint gummy leaves instead!)

DIRECTIONS:

Make cake mix according to package
Remove one cup of batter and place in a separate bowl.
Mix in mini chocolate chips.
Bake in cakepop maker (or use a small mini-muffin tin), making 24 cake pops (or mini-muffins)
Divide remaining batter into separate bowls and color using color gels. I did green, red and yellow apples, but you can do just one of those colors if you want.
Place cupcake liners into tins and spoon just a small amount of batter into each liner.
Use a cake pop to spread batter evenly into bottom of liner and then leave the cake pop in the center.
Spoon remaining batter evenly over the cake pops, covering each pop completely.

Bake at 350F degrees for 15-18 minutes.
Cool completely.
Make frosting by placing butters, powdered sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beating on high for 3-4 minutes until very light and fluffy.
Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop frosting on each cupcake, and then turn cupcake upside down into a bowl of decorating sugar, pressing until all of frosting is covered in sugar.
Decorate with fondant leaves and stems, or use pretzels and spearmint leaves.
To use fondant, you can buy it already made in white and color it with gel in green and brown, or you can make it from scratch and color it the same way.
Use a leaf fondant cutter to make leaves and just roll and cut the stems.
If you are new to fondant, we did a tutorial on it here. It is MUCH easier than it seems like it would be, and you can make such cute decorations with it!

My thoughts: These are such a happy fall treat! You can go all- out and make little chocolate chip cores, or just make plain cupcakes in various colors. Either way, they are a yummy, easy, fall treat that look beautiful on a fall-themed table. Hope you get a chance to try these! Enjoy!! ~Ruthanne

Other fun fall recipes here on easybaked:

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged apples, best, buttercream frosting, cupcakes, fall, filled cupcakes, fondant, fun, Halloween, leaves, October, party, recipe, school, teachers, unique, vanilla. Bookmark the permalink.

Pink Champagne and Raspberry Cupcakes!

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Ruthanne

These cheery pink cupcakes are made like a 7-Up cake, but with sweet pink champagne instead! Topped with a raspberry buttercream, they are a perfect way to bring in the New Year!!!

INGREDIENTS: (printable recipe)

Cupcakes:

3 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sweet champagne or bubbly wine (I used Barefoot Bubbly, and wished it had been sweeter)
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups granulated sugar

Frosting:

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons raspberry extract
pink food coloring gel (as desired for coloring both cupcakes and frosting)
fun sprinkles! (I used edible star glitter and pearls—love them!!!)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Place 24 cupcake liners into muffin tins
In a medium bowl, combine champagne, eggs, and vanilla
In a second medium bowl, mix together flour and salt
Use an electric mixer to beat together 2 sticks of softened butter, shortening and granulated sugar.
Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes
With the mixer on low speed, add about 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by 1/3 of the champagne mixture.
Alternate the flour and champagne, mixing until well combined.
Add a little bit of pink food coloring gel if you want a pink tint to your cupcakes and combine well.
Spoon batter evenly into cupcake liners
Bake at 350F degrees for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely.
When cupcakes are cool, you can add a little extra champagne taste by poking holes in the top of each cupcake with a toothpick and brushing the tops of each cupcake with champagne.
Make frosting by combining all of the frosting ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beating on low until combined and then on high until light and very fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
Pipe frosting on tops of cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles as desired.
ENJOY!!

My thoughts: These are just fun little cupcakes. Use the sweetest sparkling wine/champagne you can though. For an alcohol-free treat use sparkling grape juice. I made a valiant attempt at including the champagne in the frosting, but it was TERRIBLE. Simple buttercream with a touch of raspberry flavor was perfect instead.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Other fun New Years recipe ideas:

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged 7-up cake, best, buttercream, cake, cupcake, cupcakes, dessert, holiday, New years, pink champagne, pink champagne cupcake, raspberry, recipe, sparkling wine, sweets, vanilla. Bookmark the permalink.

Heath Bar Ice Cream Dessert

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Ruthanne

This recipe is a classic family favorite. It is one of my grandma’s recipes, and I say “one of” because my grandma is a treasure trove of recipes (especially desserts!) My cousins and I joke about how many desserts show up at family gatherings. The conversations go something like this:

“Oh no, we only have 8 desserts today…this could be a disaster.”

“There are 24 of us here…that means we can each only have 1/3 of a dessert.”

“I want to try a little of everything.”

“I get a third of that chocolate cake”

“There’s ice cream? Does that count as a ninth dessert?”

This is nearly always one of the desserts at our family dinners. It’s fabulous. Creamy and light and butterscotch-y…oh my. You’ve got to try this one out with your family!

Ready for the recipe? Here you go: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1 package (10 oz) Lorna Doone cookies, crushed (if you can’t get these specific cookies, use 2 cups of another brand of shortbread cookies)
3 packages (3.4 oz) INSTANT vanilla pudding
2 and 3/4 cups milk
1 quart of butter pecan ice cream (softened)
1 (8oz). Cool Whip
One bag of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits (or several crushed Heath bars)

DIRECTIONS:

Crust:

Combine melted butter with crushed shortbread cookies and press into a 9″ by 13″ cake pan (I use glass)

Filling:

In a large bowl, combine milk and pudding and beat on high for about two minutes, until pudding becomes thick.
Add softened ice cream to pudding and stir by hand until well combined.
Pour over crust in pan.

Topping:

Spread Cool Whip topping over the entire dessert.
Top this with desired amount of Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits (I used the whole bag!!)
Cover dessert tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until serving. Allow dessert to warm for several hours before serving.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: I love toffee and pecans and butterscotch and ice cream…this dessert just makes me smile. It reminds me of family meals and laughter and love. You can’t argue with a dessert that does that! I hope you have a chance to try this recipe with your family! Thanks for sharing your recipe grandma! Love you! ~r

Other yummy treats for your family:

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Posted in Frozen desserts, Uncategorized and tagged baking, butterscotch, chocolate, dessert, family, heath bar, ice cream, Lorna Doone, pecan, pudding, recipe, shortbread cookies, thanksgiving, vanilla. Bookmark the permalink.

Classic Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Ruthanne

Creamy classic vanilla cheesecake with a sweet and light sour cream topping.

This is the best cheesecake I’ve ever made. That’s saying a lot because I’ve made many, many cheesecakes.

In case you missed last week’s post, Easybaked is featuring family “tried and true” recipes during the month of November. This week our star baker is my Aunt Vonda. She is the queen of desserts in our family and literally everything she makes is scrumptious! This cheesecake is one of my very favorite family desserts. I’ve wanted the recipe for years and once I finally got to make it for myself I was even more impressed. Not only is is delicious….it is actually easier to make than most cheesecakes I’ve tried….and oh, SO good.

This is the cheesecake for a cheesecake purist. No crazy toppings or fillings- just plain cheesecake. Usually I’m not a huge fan of plain cheesecake, but the flavor and texture of this one is incredible.

Want the recipe?

Here you go: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

Crust:

1 1/4 cups Honeymaid graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar

Filling:

3/4 cup sugar
3 (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese bars (must be the Philadelphia brand)~ softened to room temperature.
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch of salt

Topping:

1 pint (2 cups) sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a medium bowl, combine crust ingredients together until well combined.
Press into a 9″ spring form pan, pressing crumbs into bottom and about 1 1/2″ up sides of pan.
For the filling, combine the sugar and softened cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat together until smooth.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition.
Add the vanilla, lemon juice and salt and beat until smooth and creamy.
Pour into crust.
Bake at 350F degrees for 35-45 minutes.
While cheesecake is baking, make topping by simply mixing together all of the topping ingredients.
After 35-45 minutes of baking, remove cheesecake from oven and turn oven down to 325F degrees.
Pour topping over hot cheesecake, gently spreading to edges.
Return cheesecake to oven and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes.
Remove cheesecake from oven and leave sides on pan while allowing cheesecake to cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate several hours (or overnight)
Remove edges of spring form pan before serving and serve with fresh fruit, pie filling or a chocolate or caramel sauce.
Enjoy!!!!

My thoughts: Well, you already know how much I love this cheesecake because I’ve gone on and on about it. This is a must-try recipe. You will love it. A huge thanks to my Aunt Vonda for sharing her recipe with us!!! Yum!!! ~r

Creamy cheesecake with sour cream topping

Other cheesecake recipes we love here at Easybaked:

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Posted in Cheesecakes and tagged baking, caramel, cheesecake, cheesecake recipes, cheesecake with sour cream topping, chocolate, christmas dessert, classic cheesecake, Cream Cheese, creamy, fresh fruit, graham cracker crust, rich, sour cream, sweets, thanksgiving dessert, vanilla, vanilla cheesecake. Bookmark the permalink.

Coconut Cupcakes

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Ruthanne

These coconut cupcakes are infused with coconut cream and topped with smooth coconut buttercream frosting….YUM!!!

Coconut is one of my very favorite flavors. So many people dislike it and I just can’t understand!! Starbucks used to have the most amazing coconut mochas– discontinued due to lack of interest. Recently, Cheesecake Factory discontinued my favorite cheesecake- coconut cream pie. What is this world coming to?

If you like coconut, you will enjoy these cupcakes so much- they are positively bursting with coconut flavor. Honestly, they are my new favorite cupcake, followed closely by cookie dough cupcakes. If you don’t like coconut you should make cookie dough cupcakes. You need cupcakes today.

Yum…..

Here’s how to make them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 12 cupcakes)

Cupcakes

1 ¼ cups of cake flour
1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
3 egg whites and ½ egg yolk at room temp
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/3 cup cream of coconut (plus a little to brush on top)
2 teaspoon water

Coconut Buttercream Icing:

2 sticks (1 cup) of butter at room temperature.
2 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons coconut extract
1/2 cup shredded coconut
White food coloring gel.

DIRECTIONS:

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 325F
Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer combine these dry ingredients well.
Cut (room temp!) butter into 1 tbs pieces.
Add these pieces one at a time to dry ingredients while blending on low speed.
Mix until butter pieces are separated into small bits (no bigger than pea-sized)
In a smaller bowl, whisk together the rest of ingredients.
Slowly add half of liquid mixture to dry, while mixing on medium. Mix until completely combined.
Slowly add the rest of the liquid and mix on high for about a minute until well combined.
Divide batter into 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool in pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Poke holes into tops of each cupcake and use a pastry brush to brush coconut cream on top of each cupcake.
Allow coconut cream to soak in while you make icing.

Icing:

Add all ingredients except shredded coconut into a mixing bowl and combine with a mixer on low. Then whip on high until light and fluffy.
Frosting will be an off-white color because of the butter. To make it more “coconut” colored you can add white food coloring gel to your desired shade of white.
Add shredded coconut and blend well.
Scoop icing on top of each cupcake using a cookie scoop. Evenly divide icing among the 12 cupcakes.
Press coconut on top and sides of entire scoop of frosting.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: There are so many fun little cupcake stores out there. I’ve been trying them out and picking my favorites. I’ve come to the conclusion that made-from-scratch cupcakes have more potential than boxed mixes. Potential for both good and bad. I’ve had some terrible cupcakes and some absolutely heavenly ones. I’ve decided that I need to be brave and venture into developing my own from-scratch recipes for cupcakes. This was my 1st attempt and I was really excited they turned out well! If you need a QUICK coconut cupcake recipe, use a white cake mix with some coconut flavoring and this coconut buttercream. Here’s to new adventures in life! Enjoy!! ~r

Love cupcakes? Try one of our four most-viewed recipes!

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, best cupcake recipe, coconut, coconut buttercream, coconut cream, cream of coconut, cupcake, dessert, homemade cupcakes, photo, recipe, shredded coconut, vanilla, white cupcakes. Bookmark the permalink.

K-cup Cupcakes

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Ruthanne

These mini vanilla cupcakes are topped with the yummiest fondant and decorated like Keurig K-cups! So fun!!!

My friend and coworker Mary just got a new job. When I was thinking about her going-away party I just kept wondering how I could make a dessert that looked like a K-cup coffee pod. Mary is known in our lab as the K-cup supplier. Anyone who finds themselves without a coffee pod can find one in Mary’s supply…she literally orders by the case online and at any given time she has maybe 10 different flavors. Now that she’s gone we really miss her (and her coffee!)
This is less of a recipe and more of an “idea” post. It was a good chance for me to practice with the fondant recipe my friend Megan gave me a couple of months ago and a fun little art project to challenge my (terrible!) painting skills!

(It was also really a fun project to take pictures of!!!)
Want to know how to do this crazy edible art project?
Here it is:

Make thick buttercream icing and fondant first. It’s easiest if I just send you to my original fondant recipe for the tutorial and directions. Just click here to open that page.
For the cupcakes just use your favorite cupcake recipe (which for me was a white cake mix!)
I used little cocktail nut cups as my cupcake liners, because they look like the sides of the K-cup pods, but you could certainly use mini white cupcake liners.
Place the liners in mini muffin tins and fill about halfway up with cake batter (under-fill them a little, so that the tops bake relatively flat and not mounded up like a typical cupcake)
Bake according to your recipe. My mini cupcakes baked for 12 minutes at 350F degrees.
Color fondant as desired and roll it flat. Cut it into circles that are the size of the cupcake tops. I used a small round cookie cutter.
Use thick buttercream to frost a smooth layer on the top of a cooled cupcake and then immediately press a fondant circle on top of the buttercream.
Cut colored fondant into any shapes you might need on top and use a small amount of water to attach these shapes to the top of the fondant circle.

Once those extra pieces are attached, use a small brush to wipe away excess powdered sugar and then use gel food coloring and a fine tipped brush to paint on the fondant. I used an actual pod as a model to paint from.

(note: you might need to add a little white food coloring to the dark colors to make them show up- otherwise your dark blues and greens will look like black when used as paint.)

Be creative and use your imagination! I just pulled all of my pod flavors out and tried to pick ones that were fun – but also ones I thought I could handle copying! I wanted to do a Starbucks pod- but that logo…! Yikes. No way I could paint anything that looked like that!!

My thoughts: These aren’t what I would qualify as easy, but they are really a fun afternoon project. Very relaxing. I’m POSITIVE you all can paint better than I, and if you like to just create and paint and color you will love this project! Take your time and enjoy the process. (and don’t actually try to brew one- lol! I had someone ask me about that and I had to explain that the above picture is simply a creative presentation of a cupcake!!)

I’m dedicating this post to you Mary!! I miss working with you and I hope your new coworkers realize how lucky they are to have you!!!

This is also a shout out to Keurig and the genius of those delicious little coffee pods– you make every morning so much happier for me!!! Lots of love from Easybaked to all of you! ~r

Other mini desserts you might enjoy:

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baking, coffee pod, cookie cutter, creative recipe ideas, cupcakes, dessert, fondant, fondant recipe, food, food coloring gels, fun cupcakes, Keurig cupcakes, Keurig K-cups, muffin tins, powdered sugar, vanilla, white cake mix. Bookmark the permalink.

Gender Reveal (Surprise!) Cupcakes

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Ruthanne

These cupcakes hold a secret—- is it a boy, or is it a girl? The latest trend of having a gender reveal party is SO much fun when the gender is revealed with a yummy dessert! Plus, I’ve included free printable cupcake toppers to go along with your party theme!

A few weeks ago, Easybaked featured a Polka Dot Cake using a Cake pop maker. It was so much fun that I couldn’t help but think of other ways to use the idea. These cupcakes are just wonderful– when you bite in the color is seamless- you can’t even tell that the cake pop was baked ahead. Want to know how to do this?

Here we go:

INGREDIENTS:

1 white cake mix (for about 18 cupcakes) or 1 white/ one chocolate for a combo and about 36 cupcakes
The oil, eggs and water required by your boxed mix(es)
Gel food coloring
Frosting (I used my buttercream recipe ~double it if you add the second cake mix)

This little chart should help you see how many cupcakes are made with just the white mix and how many are made when you use both a white and chocolate mix (I’m bad with math…I need visuals!!):

DIRECTIONS:

Plug in/heat up your cake pop maker
Make white cake mix according to box.
Take about 3/4 cup (1 1/4 cup for the double batch!) of batter and place it into a smaller bowl.
Color the batter using color gel (I like Wilton brand of Gel food coloring because they always come out bright. Try Aqua or Pink.)
Follow the directions on your cake pop maker to use the colored batter to make cake balls. Helpful hints: work fast and use a small cookie scoop to evenly spoon batter into cups, and check them- I burnt my 1st batch following the directions! You should have enough batter to have a practice round and adjust.

While cake balls cool, spoon small amounts of your remaining white cake mix into 12-18 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin. (start with 12 and see how much batter you have left for the rest).
Spread the batter out along the bottom so you have a thin layer in each liner.
Set a cooled cake ball in the center of each liner and carefully scoop batter over the top (I found a medium cookie scoop to make this job MUCH easier!)

After your 12 are filled, continue on until you have used up all of your cake batter.
Bake at 350F degrees for about 20 minutes.
(If you are making the double batch, make your chocolate cake mix while the white cupcakes bake. Set these up with the cake balls hidden inside the batter and bake for the same amount of time.)
Remove from tins immediately and cool on the counter. Frost and decorate as desired.

Do you see how I piped the two-tone icing colors? I’m sure there must be a better method than this…I am so not a cake decorator. It turned out ok- but it was a little fussy to keep equal pressure on both colors at the same time.

The toppers are easy and inexpensive to make. Simply click here to get a free pdf file of the owl toppers. Print them on a heavy card stock paper, cut them out and use double sided tape to stick them back to back around a toothpick (one boy owl and one girl, back to back).

It’s a boy!!!

My thoughts: I love how the final cupcake is….just a cupcake. It isn’t anything fancy or cream-filled…just a cupcake with a surprise. These would be fun cupcakes for any party- you could even incorporate them in a game—whoever gets the (__color___) cupcake gets a prize! I hope these make their way into a party of yours soon! Enjoy!!! ~r

It’s a girl!!!

Want some other shower ideas from easybaked? Click on the image to be taken to the recipe.

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Posted in Cupcakes and tagged baby shower, baby shower dessert, baking, buttercream frosting, buttercream recipe, cake pop, cake pop maker, chocolate, cupcake, cupcake liners, cupcake toppers, cupcakes, dessert, desserts, food, free printable, gender reveal cupcakes, gender reveal party, owls, polka dot cupcakes, two-color frosting, unique cupcakes, vanilla, yummy dessert. Bookmark the permalink.

A collection of mini cupcakes and a fundraiser for FUSION!

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Ruthanne

This post is a mid-week collection of cupcake recipes and a celebration for my friend Josh who is a missionary in Slovakia. Those of you who have followed my blog for awhile will remember my lack of recipe posts for several weeks every summer because I travel to Slovakia to work with a mission organization called Josiah Venture. This organization helps local churches reach teenagers with the message of God’s love for them. Two of the ways they do this is through English camps (Americans going and teaching English–which is how I’ve been a part) and also through teaching music at camps. My friend Josh heads up the music portion of this ministry in Slovakia. After camps, he is able to go into schools and start clubs that teach music theory and also various instruments. Many of the kids he works with come from really difficult home situations and they call Fusion “family”.

Easybaked was able to come alongside Josh for a fundraiser for Fusion this past weekend. He hosted a coffeehouse and we helped provide (800!) mini-cupcakes in 8 different flavors. It was such a great time to hear about what God is doing in Slovakia though Josh and Josiah Venture, and a lot of support was raised to help him in his work.

I rarely stray from simply sharing my recipes here, but I just had to give a shout-out to Josh and his hard work with these teens. If you’d like to know more about him just click here. You’ll be taken to his home page with Josiah Venture and also connected with his blog.

Thanks for giving your life here up to serve God far from home Josh!!!!!

Now cupcakes……

800 would have been impossible to do alone I think (how do bakeries manage?!?) So I enlisted 7 friends to help. We had a training session in making butter cream and piping it and WOW—they did such a great job!!!!

These were our practice cupcakes….which we promptly ate up!

The night of the event we brought all of our unfrosted cupcakes to the venue and piped and decorated there– it ended up being a lot of fun to do them all together:

The eight flavors of cupcakes came either directly from the pages of easybaked- or they were inspired by a recipe here. Since we are racing toward the holiday season, I thought I’d share each of the recipes with you in a unique way– with free printable recipe cards. That way you can make them and share the recipe with your friends and family! Fun!!

Click on the photo to be taken directly to the easybaked recipe that inspired the mini-cupcake. Click on the words “recipe cards” under each photo to get a pdf that you can print and share.

Red Raspberry Minis — recipe card Andes Mint Minis — recipe card

Caramel Apple Minis — recipe card Cinnamon Roll Minis — recipe card

Strawberry Lemonade — recipe card Bubble Gum Minis– recipe card

Chocolate Ganache Minis–recipe card Wedding Cake Minis —recipe card

The very last recipe wasn’t inspired by any recipe in particular, so if you click on the photo you will simply get….a photo. Sorry about that! My apologies also for the photography ~ my iphone did all of the work on this post 🙂

I hope you enjoy this collection of cupcake recipes and cards~ and thank you for allowing me to share a little bit of my heart with you in this post! Back soon– in the meantime….enjoy! ~r

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Frostings, Fillings and Fun!

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Ruthanne

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked about this blog is this: How do you keep coming up with new and original recipes?

The answer is this: I find elements (usually a filling, topping or frosting) that I love in one recipe and imagine ways to use it again in a totally new recipe.

Here’s an example: My friend Dawn’s friend Lily gave her a recipe for caramel chip bars. I changed a few elements in the recipe and made it my own. The bars are reeeeaaaaalllly good. The best part about them is the amazing caramel sauce that makes up the middle layer. How have I used this caramel sauce since?

(click on a picture to see the whole recipe)

This post is dedicated to sharing my favorites in the frosting, topping and filling world– I hope you can use some of these elements to create your own yummy treats (and if you do, please share them here with the rest of us!!!)

FROSTINGS:

Buttercream Frosting:

By far, my favorite frosting recipe ever. Light and whipped and a perfect blend of sweet and a touch of salty. If you want it flavored use extract in place of the vanilla. You can also add colors.

Ingredients:

1 stick (4 oz.)of salted butter (room temp)
1 stick (4 oz.)of unsalted butter (room temp)
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3 t. vanilla (use clear if you want white frosting)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat on high until light and fluffy.
This is enough to frost 12-18 cupcakes. Double this recipe to frost more or to frost an entire layered cake.

German Chocolate Frosting:

Ingredients:

1c. sugar
1c. evaporated milk
1/2c. butter
3 egg yolks (beaten)
1 1/3c. flaked coconut
1c. finely chopped pecans.
1 t. vanilla extract

Directions:

In saucepan combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter and egg yolks. Cook over low heat (stir constantly!) until this thickens considerably (took me about 8 minutes).
Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut.
Chill until thick enough to spread.
This makes enough frosting to frost a layer cake.

Kool-Aid Frosting:

Just plain fun. Use different flavors to be as creative as you want!

Ingredients:

2- 8oz. packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened to room temp.)
1 packet (0.23oz.) of Kool-Aid
Food coloring (to deepen color if desired)
1- 7oz. container Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
1/3 c. powdered sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip Topping

Directions:

Cream together cream cheese, Kool-Aid and food coloring (if desired) until smooth.
Beat marshmallow creme and powdered sugar in and then fold in Cool Whip until completely smooth.
This makes enough frosting to frost a layer cake.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

2 packets of Dream Whip (4 come in one box)
3/4 c. milk
1/2 t. vanilla
4 oz. (1/2 brick) of softened Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/3 c. powdered sugar (divided)

Directions:

Cream together softened cream cheese and about half of the powdered sugar. Set aside.
Add remaining ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and stir until all powder is combined.
Mix with an electric mixer (beaters are ok, but I like to use my whisk attachment if you have one) on high until very stiff peaks form.
Add cream cheese mixture and continue beating on high until stiff and thick.
This makes enough frosting to frost a layer cake.

Royal Icing:

Not my favorite frosting to work with, but perfect for a smooth and hard topping for cookies. Beautiful but a lot of work…

Ingredients:

1 lb of powdered sugar
3 T. meringue powder
6 T. water
1t. vanilla (use clear if you want white frosting)
Food coloring

Directions:

Add all ingredients together and mix with a mixer for at least 2 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Color as desired.

FILLINGS:

Mint Filling

This is perfect for layering inside of brownies and cakes. I’ve even made a peppermint patty tart using this filling as a layer inside.

Ingredients:

5 c. powdered sugar
8 tbsp. (one cup) melted butter or margarine
2 tsp. peppermint extract
food coloring (if desired)

Directions:

Add melted butter to sugar and extract.
Mix well, using water to bring it to a thick but spreadable consistency.
Add food coloring if desired.

Kool-Aid Filling

Perfect for making a cream pie or putting in little cookie cups- this filling’s potential is as endless as the flavors of Kool-Aid on the shelf! Kids will LOVE this!

Ingredients:

8oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 (0.22 oz.) packet Kool Aid in any flavor
2c. marshmallow fluff
8 oz. Cool Whip (refrigerator temp)

Directions:

Cream together Kool Aid and Philadelphia Cream Cheese
Add Marshmallow fluff and blend well.
Fold in 1c. of Cool Whip.

Chocolate Mousse:

A perfect creamy filling for a layer cake–YUM!

Ingredients:

2 packets of Dream Whip
3/4 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
3T. cocoa powder
3T. powdered sugar

Directions:

Put Dream Whip, milk, vanilla, cocoa powder and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl and blend together.
Using a mixer, beat until stiff peaks form (3-4 minutes)

Easy Cheesecake Filling:

I’ve used this no-bake cheesecake filling for years- I like to make it and fill a pre-made graham crust for a super easy dessert!

Ingredients:

8 oz. of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1/3 c. granulated sugar
2 t. vanilla
1 (8 oz) container of Cool Whip
1 c. mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Cream together softened cream cheese and sugar.
Add vanilla.
Fold in Cool Whip and 1 c. chocolate chips.

TOPPINGS:

Chocolate glaze:

This glaze is nice because it hardens just enough to still cut- like a really hard fudge.

Ingredients:

12oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
12 tsp. butter (do not substitute margarine here!)

Directions:

Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until completely melted and smooth.
Pour over dessert and spread evenly. Allow glaze to harden.

Ganache:

This is a big go-to topping for me- you’ll see it in many varieties in my recipes. You can change the flavor by changing the type of chips you use. I’ve made dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch, cinnamon and peanut butter ganache using this recipe— it makes a GREAT (easy to cut!) topping for cheesecakes.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. whipping cream
1 c. chips (any flavor)

Directions:

Warm whipping cream in a small saucepan until just bubbling around edges (stirring!)
Turn off heat, add chips and cover pan for 5 minutes.
Stir melted chips into hot whipping cream until smooth (add a little heat if the chips aren’t fully melted)
Pour over dessert (or into cookie cups etc.) and allow ganache to harden.

Melted Frosting Glaze:

Such a simple topping- yet so yummy!

Ingredients:

One can of pre-made frosting

Directions:

Spoon frosting into a microwave safe bowl.
Warm in microwave for about 30 seconds.
Stir until smooth and runny.
Pour over dessert and allow glaze to harden.

Wilton’s Candy Melts:

The best thing to drizzle any dessert with. These are little candy wafers in a variety of colors that you can melt and drizzle. They harden into a solid layer though- so cutting them is more difficult.

I hope this collection of my favorites inspires you to create wonderful new treats!

Enjoy your weekend– and Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads out there!! -r

24 Comments

Posted in Easy recipes, Miscellaneous and tagged best frosting recipes, buttercream frosting, chocolate, filling, frosting, ganache, german chocolate frosting, mint frosting, peanut butter frosting, royal icing, store-bought frosting, vanilla, Wiltons candy Melts. Bookmark the permalink.

Turtle Cheesecake

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Ruthanne

This rich vanilla cheesecake is topped with a thick layer of soft caramel, smooth chocolate and pecans–YUM!

INGREDIENTS:

Cheesecake:

9 oz. chocolate wafer cookies (I use animal crackers)
1/4 c. margarine (melted)
2 (8oz.) packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese (softened)
1/2c. sugar
3 eggs
2 c. white chocolate chips (melted)
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp. margarine (melted)
3 tsp. vanilla

Caramel Topping:

32 Kraft caramels (unwrapped)
1/2c. margarine
1 can (14oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Chocolate Topping:

1/4c. heavy whipping cream
1/2c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

About 15 pecan halves.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Crush cookies into fine crumbs and add melted margarine. Combine well and press into the bottom of a 9-Inch Springform Pan
Beat softened cream cheese with sugar until smooth.
Add eggs one at a time, beating in between each one.
Add remaining cheesecake ingredients, beating until smooth.
Pour into crust and allow to sit at room temp for 30 minutes.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 60 minutes,
Turn off oven, open oven door a little and allow to sit for another 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and run knife around edge of pan. Remove edge of pan.
Allow to come to room temperature (make toppings during this time)
CARAMEL: Put caramels, condensed milk and margarine into a saucepan and melt over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth (6-8 minutes)
CHOCOLATE: Put whipping cream into saucepan and heat just until bubbling at edges. Turn heat off, add chocolate chips, cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, stir until smooth.
Pour caramel over top of cheesecake, smoothing to edges
Refrigerate about 10 minutes.
Pour chocolate over caramel and smooth into a center circle.
Place pecan halves around edges and drizzle with any extra caramel you have (if desired)
REFRIGERATE cheesecake overnight before serving for best consistency. Remove bottom part of pan when cake is chilled.

My thoughts:

I made this for my friends Spencer and Rachel this weekend. They are having a party to celebrate their baby’s 1st birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASILINN!!!!!

I haven’t made a cheesecake in awhile and I’ve missed it! This cheesecake recipe is my staple recipe– the toppings and crust may vary, but the cheesecake recipe stays the same– I haven’t found another that I like better… The caramel on this is THICK (you may want to half the recipe for it if you aren’t a huge caramel fan like I am). This might seem like it’s a difficult recipe because of all the steps, but it really isn’t hard– start early in the evening though because its a process! Hope you get a chance to try this! ENJOY! -r