Funfetti Cupcakes for 3

When you just need a few cupcakes, this recipe comes in handy!

I made these for Mason's 5th birthday in 2020. He loves funfetti cake and since I was also making a cake for my sister-in-law whose birthday is the day after Mason's, I figured I'd make a small batch just for him. I was supposed to post the birthday cake that I made for my sister-in-law last Friday, but haven't gotten it up yet. I hope to do that soon, so if you're interested in a Take 5 cheesecake, keep your eyes peeled for that :)

Butterbeer Cupcakes

To celebrate the birthday of the Boy Who Lived (despite the author), these cupcakes are full of butterscotch flavor!

Oof. A hard post to get to write after some of the behavior of the alleged author of the Harry Potter series, but I am not condoning or agreeing with any of her stances. They are wrong. She is wrong. I wanted to post this recipe today because it is Harry's birthday. I have yet to have butterbeer from Universal and don't know if I'll ever get around to it to be honest. Especially not in the near future.

These are fantastic little butterscotch cupcakes. The cupcakes base is cream soda/vanilla flavored and then you have a butterscotch filling that goes into the cupcakes and into the frosting AND drizzled on top. You don't have to be a Potterhead to enjoy these sweet little cupcakes!

Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cupcakes

Perfect vanilla cupcakes with a white chocolate ganache filling, tart cranberry frosting, and sparkling cranberries!

Hear me out on this little "story"...when I was a kid, I had only experienced cranberries through the jellied cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. I just assumed that I didn't like cranberries. As an adult, I have tried new foods and foods that I previously thought I didn't like to see if I changed my mind. So now that I know I like cranberries, I'm trying to make all the cranberry things. These cupcakes are so great because they have the candied cranberries AND a white chocolate ganache filling. Honestly, what more could you ask for for a festive holiday treat?!

Prosecco Infused Moist Vanilla Cupcakes

Celebrate any holiday with a little bubbly in your cupcakes!

I am so happy that I'm finally getting around to posting these amazing vanilla cupcakes. I had the idea last year to make wine-infused cupcakes for my mother-in-law's birthday. I didn't really find a recipe to make, so I went to one of my favorite dessert blogs to get a solid vanilla cupcake recipe. The cupcakes and frosting alone are fabulous. The frosting in particular is one of my all-time favorites. It's so creamy and just the right amount of sweetness (for me).

The wine part wasn't hard to figure out from there. My mother-in-law prefers dry wine and she likes white wine, so I bought some cutesy heart pipettes from Amazon and filled them up with this Cupcake Prosecco. Cupcake for the cupcakes :) They turned out so well and the prosecco was a perfect compliment to the cupcakes. I will definitely have to do these again.

Twinkie Cupcakes

Fluffy yellow cupcakes filled with marshmallow creme and topped with marshmallow buttercream frosting - you won't be able to stop at one!

What's better than a Twinkie? A Twinkie in cupcake form, of course. This isn't quite a sponge cake, but it does have a delicious marshmallow creme filling and marshmallow buttercream frosting. It does taste like a Twinkie and they are so light and airy, so it makes you want to eat more than one. I followed the directions and filled 20 cupcake liners, but I think that it would be much better with 22 to 24 cupcakes total. I did have to kind of trim edges of cupcakes that overlapped the edges of the muffin pan cups. Unfortunately, these cupcakes won't survive the apocalypse...but that's because they won't last more than a couple days in your home :)

Junior Mint Cupcakes #Choctoberfest

These aren't your ordinary cupcake - just like the candy on top, the cupcake has a sweet mint filling!

I talked about my kids choosing their birthday cakes each year yesterday, but I also had to share these adorable cupcakes that I made for my mom's birthday last November (last year). I do typically pick out cakes for the adult family members based on what I think they will love. My mom loves Junior Mints and has always loved them, so when I found the recipe, I saved it immediately. I knew it would be perfect. I tend to find recipes months in advance and then it's just a waiting game to make them.

These are relatively easy cupcakes that start out with a boxed cake mix with some extra goodness added to it. The mint buttercream is perfect, but what takes the cake is the insanely amazing mint filling! It tastes exactly like the candy's mint filling and it's such a surprise when you bite into the cupcake.

Since it's the last day of Choctoberfest, I just wanted to say thank you to Allison of The PinterTest Kitchen for hosting once again and hope y'all have found some lovely recipes from my fellow bloggers. Each day of the week that I posted a chocolate recipe, you'll find a blog hop at the bottom with tons of chocolately amazingness linked up!

Vanilla Chai Cupcakes

If you love chai, these cupcakes will be a dream come true for you!

I love making cake for birthdays and pride myself on trying to find something for each person. For May 2016, we were celebrating both my husband, Nick, and my brother-in-law, Nick's birthdays the same weekend, so I had the task of trying to figure out what to make that they would both like. Luckily, they are a lot alike. They both were deployed to Iraq around the same time and had been raving about their favorite Green Beans drink, the chai tea latte. So I knew I would have a winner in these Vanilla Chai Cupcakes. They have Chai in the cupcakes and the buttercream frosting, so there is spice in every bite.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream and Candied Bacon #Choctoberfest

Moist chocolate cupcakes with light and airy caramel frosting and a candied bacon garnish

I have been so excited to share these cupcakes because they were literally a labor of love. My eldest baby turned 9 earlier this year and he asked me to make him chocolate mint caramel bacon cupcakes for his birthday party with his friends. No, I'm not joking. I didn't think they would ALL work together, but I did figure that I could throw out the mint and come up with something.

I took an old tried and true chocolate cupcake recipe, altered a buttercream recipe that I loved, and made a batch of candied bacon. I thought they worked very well together. The cupcake portion is fluffy, moist, and so dang good. The caramel buttercream is made with dulce de leche and lighter than air. The candied bacon...really honestly I don't even need to talk about it at all. It's candied bacon.

They got huge compliments from all his friends and some of the parents too. I was really happy about it because one of my all-time favorite things to do is make someone their birthday cake. I like to make something that they will absolutely love. Unfortunately, my turd of a kid decided that he didn't want to eat them. I honestly cannot remember what the reason was now...it may have been because the bacon touched the frosting, but it was definitely something silly like that. LOL. Such a moody little guy.

And at the bottom of this post you will find more recipes from the #Choctoberfest bloggers! Tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway and the last day of #Choctoberfest 2016.

Mini Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes #Choctoberfest

These bite-size cupcakes are deliciously full of rich chocolate

This recipe comes straight from my stash of saved Food Network Magazine recipes. I wish I remembered what the cupcakes were a part of, but I can only assume it was some type of "Desserts to Make During The Year" list and this was December's dessert. I think it's a really perfect cupcake for the winter because it's so lovely and rich and chocolatey. I honestly think it would be great with a red wine. I just adore that they are two-bite cupcakes :) 

There is more #Choctoberfest goodness at the end of the post, so be sure to stop by my blogging friend's posts!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Rum Frosting

These delicious spiced cupcakes flavored with real pumpkin are topped with a decadent maple rum buttercream frosting!

When my husband was tasked to bring dessert in for a company holiday lunch last year, I immediately took to the kitchen to make a pumpkin recipe of some sort. I am bad for hoarding dessert recipes, but even worse with pumpkin recipes and I know they are more welcome in the fall than any other time of the year. I personally like them any day of the year, but some people look at you like you're crazy to give them a pumpkin cupcake in July. Same with if you offered someone a peppermint treat in April...even though peppermint is also good any time of the year.

I chose to make these cupcakes because of the maple rum frosting. That's not necessarily my go-to thought when I think of what to pair with pumpkin. I knew that Nick would love it and thought it would make for a great recipe for him because he loves maple anything and rum is his favorite liquor. While I was not necessarily the biggest fan of the frosting, I loved the spices in the cupcake. Nick loved the maple rum frosting. It was really fluffy and he said the maple and rum complimented each other perfectly. They were a huge hit at the office too!

Cappuccino Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Decadent dark chocolate coffee cupcakes topped with lighter than air chocolate and cappuccino frostings for the fancy pals in your life!

My mom-in-law, Francie, is one of my favorite people and I am so lucky to have her in my life. She is strong, selfless, and such a strong positive force to everyone around her. Her birthday on December 30th, so we try to go out of our way to really celebrate her birthday because it can be overlooked with it being so close to Christmas and New Year. I find that I really enjoy trying to find a recipe that she'll love. She loves German chocolate cake and red velvet cake - I've made those in past years. For 2014, I wanted to do a coffee chocolate cake. I found a few recipes that I modified to fit what I wanted to do for her and came up with this recipe!

I got pretty ambitious with her cupcakes and wanted to make them really fancy because her nickname is "Fancy Francie", so she got these cursive "F"s on her cupcakes along with gold sugar sprinkles and pearls. Because Fancy Francie is a classy lady!! :) The cupcakes were fluffy, moist, and rich. The dark chocolate flavor really came through and it was just everything. Everything! Add the airy, light frostings in both chocolate and cappuccino flavors - oh yes! They pair with the dark chocolate cupcakes wonderfully. I had to stop myself from eating the frosting by the spoonful because it was so so good.

I think that my mom-in-law really loved her cupcakes and everyone else was really impressed with how they turned out, as was I.

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting #10000cupcakes #CookForTheCure #ad

Have y'all heard of Cook for the Cure? What about 10,000 Cupcakes? I am incredibly excited because I have paired with hhgregg and KitchenAid to Cook for the Cure. We all know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and KitchenAid is supporting the cause by donating $1 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation when anyone bakes and shares cupcakes for 10,000 Cupcakes this month. How can you get involved? Read on! 

When you bake cupcakes this month, post a picture to Twitter or Instagram. Be sure to use the hashtags #10000cupcakes and #donate - and don't forget to tag @KitchenAidUSA - and KitchenAid will donate $1 to aid in breast cancer research.

Did you know in the U.S. alone - there are over 2.9 million breast cancer survivors? [source] That is a large number, but unfortunately many still die from breast cancer - and I definitely want to do my part to raise awareness and help the cause! I know at my children's school, there are two teachers and a member of our small PTA that were recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I'm sure all of us know someone who is currently fighting or in remission. So that is why I immediately went out to get ingredients to make cupcakes [with a little pink thrown in there] to Cook for the Cure!

Pink made me think strawberry or raspberry and chocolate always pairs very well with berries. I originally was trying to find some raspberry flavoring, but struck out. I couldn't be too bummed out though because these are like chocolate covered strawberries in cupcake form - and that is definitely a win in my book!

 

I had to, of course, break out my pink potholder and pink spatula that I purchased over the years to support the Susan G. Komen foundation. KitchenAid has pink mixers for Cook for the Cure that can be purchased through hhgregg, if you're in the market for one. I don't think I could talk Nick into having a second one just because it's pink, so maybe I'll decorate mine with some pink vinyl. Black and pink go so well together, right?!

These cupcakes use prepackaged cake mix with some additions - they turn out very fluffy and light. Almost like sponge cake. The strawberry syrup turned the buttercream a lovely soft pink color and I added a touch of hot pink sanding sugar. I cut my frosting recipe in half because the original buttercream recipe I adapted utilized 4 sticks of butter and 1 1/2 lb. powdered sugar and I really don't think I needed THAT much frosting!!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting #SundaySupper

 

Hello, all! I'm back for another round of the Sunday Supper Movement. Today's theme is Fall Flavors and, of course, I couldn't think of anything more fitting than these little cupcakes that I had made last year for my birthday. But somehow I still hadn't posted on the blog. Gotta love when it's been more than a year since you've made a recipe before it goes up on the blog. Whoopsies.

Every year for my birthday, I sit down and scour my cake/dessert Pinterest boards for the recipe I most want to try for my birthday cake. I know some people find it weird, but I love making my own. I don't really have enough excuses to make cake, so I am definitely using my own birthday as a time to make cake! Each year I go in thinking I'll make a cheesecake, but ultimately end up with something else. Part of why I love September so much is because pumpkin everything is out. And when pumpkin everything starts coming out, I go CRAZY. I buy all the pumpkin everythings. This year I have purchased at least one new pumpkin product each time I've gone to the grocery store. So I think it was no surprise to anyone when I chose to make pumpkin cupcakes for my birthday.

These little cuties are very moist and delectable. Buttercream is one of my favorites and honestly, this buttercream takes the cake. Hardy har har. But really it does. It's so delicious and I could see it going with so many other flavors, too. But it definitely complimented the pumpkin so very well. I chose to make them look super fancy with some gold sanding sugar and edible pearls. I just adore how they turned out and almost hated to eat them! All in all, they were perfect for my birthday and I definitely need to make them again this fall!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Root Beer Buttercream Frosting

Each year, I struggle to get Nick to pick a dessert for his birthday. He always claims to not really like sweets (which is a total lie - I've seen him snatch 4 cookies off the cooling rack before they are even cool!) and it makes it pretty difficult to make him something. This past year, I chose to make dark chocolate cupcakes with raspberry buttercream. I think he likes the idea of cupcakes as much as I do, they are single serving, easy to clean up and store, etc. However, my raspberry buttercream did NOT turn out. I'm not sure where I went wrong, but it was a hot mess that I couldn't fix.

I ended up only frosting 4 cupcakes - just enough for each of us to eat one on Nick's birthday. He seemed to like the frosting just fine, but it was not pretty. I don't think I even got a picture...destroyed THAT evidence. I froze the remainder of the cupcakes - which by themselves were pretty darn fantastic.

At this point, I had no clue what to do with them. I really wanted a rum buttercream frosting, but at the same time, I was craving root beer like no other! Root beer is about the only soda I drink and it's on rare occasions I have it. For example, I had it on New Year's Eve (out of a bottle - yum!) but hadn't had it for months prior to that.

So I thought that I would go with a root beer buttercream based off my go-to vanilla buttercream frosting. I had had some root beer concentrate in my cabinet for quite a while and I thought I oughta use it. The buttercream turned out perfectly and it paired with cupcakes perfectly as well. It made me such a happy camper!

Caramel Frappuccino Cupcakes

Deployment is over, but I'm still trying to catch up sharing what we had to celebrate one more month gone. These were our September cupcakes to celebrate 5 months done. I used the leftover cupcakes I had frozen from the Andes Mint Cupcakes from the month before. I loved the caramel inside these cupcakes and the whipped topping was light and delicious. However, I'm already thinking of modifications...like a mocha chocolate buttercream and maybe salted caramel sauce!

Andes Mint Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes as part of our one month down in the deployment cake a few months ago. Mint and chocolate is one of my favorite flavor combinations. And much like my 6 year old, I will choose chocolate cake over any other type of cake when given the choice.

What is great about these cupcakes is that not only is it a rich devil's food moist cupcake, but it also is filled with a mint chocolate ganache and topped with a mint buttercream frosting. Could you think of anything more delicious?!

Pina Colada Cupcakes

Nick is currently deployed for the third time and this go-around the kids are really old enough to grasp that concept. Last deployment, we did a kiss jar. I'm not gonna lie...I really didn't want to count out 365 kisses times two again. AND Matthew is too much like me and has a major sweet tooth that has landed him 8 cavities (that are all thankfully filled now). So I decided to kind of do a cake a month type deal...almost like a birthday. So each month, we've had a cake or cupcakes for one more month done. I let Matt & Cami pick out what they wanted from my cakes and cupcakes boards on Pinterest.

For May, I picked out the Pina Colada cupcakes that I've been wanting to make for so long. They are so cute and I'm big on coconut flavored cake or frosting. Top it with a cherry and umbrella - and you have the cutest cupcake EVER!

Rolo Cupcakes

For my little man's 6th birthday, he picked out a Rolo Cake. I showed him the cupcakes I had on my cupcake board and asked him which ones he wanted me to bring to his Kindergarten class and he went with the matching Rolo Cupcakes.

The cake recipe reminds me of the Best Chocolate Cake Ever - which is the best chocolate cake ever. Plus it has a Rolo baked INTO the cupcake and a decadent, rich caramel buttercream frosting.

Brownie Batter Cupcakes

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is to make someone a treat that I know they'll love. One of our good friends had a birthday and he loves brownies. Usually he gets a brownie for his birthday "cake", but this year, I wanted to try and combine the two. This was the perfect dessert for that. The brownie is baked into the cupcake and makes a muffin top, but with brownie. *drool* And the frosting is to die for!

Chocolate Week: Nutella Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream Frosting

Today is the conclusion of chocolate week - and I'm ending it with a bang.

For those who don't know, I live in upstate NY, a mere thirty miles from the border of Canada. My husband is in the army and we live in a duplex that was we shall call hastily built. There were tons constructed as quickly and cheaply as possible. One of the unfortunate things about our house is that we have windows all along the backside wall of our house, both upstairs and downstairs, but virtually no windows on the front or sides. My kitchen has one window and it's technically a sliding door to the porch/side yard that has a giant tree shadowing it. It is not often that I have enough natural light to get a great picture of food. Also since a majority of the food I share is main dish, it's already dark out here and I have NO natural light.

I was really lucky the day I made these cupcakes. It was during a bright, sunny day and I took advantage of the full wall of windows in my living room. I am going to go out a limb here and say that the final food pictures are the BEST food pictures I have ever taken and I'm very proud of them.

I'm also starting to get better with frosting cupcakes - my momma who went to school for decorating would be so proud! These Nutella cupcakes were rich, smooth, velvety, and really everything I could have ever wanted out of a cupcake.