Reindeer (Cupcakes) in a Jar

Sometimes I feel like I am a caricature of myself.  I don't even think i'm a real person.  I am that ridiculous. Or awesome.

I decided this Holiday season that what my life was missing was cute holiday antlers.  I spent a whole week running into drug stores and trying on reindeer antlers I could parade around in comfortably and with little to no shame.  It was hard to find a happy medium between too plain and too much Christmas cheer on my head.   But I found some!  Luckily I had a White Elephant party to attend so I didn't have to wear them just around in my room, in my matching reindeer pajamas.  The antlers, along with said reindeer pajamas, were what inspired these cupcakes in the jar first place. Might as well go all out, right?

The cupcakes are gingerbread latte flavored.  Like the Starbucks Holiday drink I binge on every year.  Yes I know, more gingerbread.  Molasses all over the kitchen for the second weekend in a row!  You could use any flavor you'd  like but why not make something seasonal to impress your friends?

Gingerbread Latte Cupcakes
Makes 22, Bake for 15 minutes at 350*

2 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
1/2 c oil
2/3 unsulphured molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup (hot) strongly brewed coffee

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg together.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat sugars, oil and molasses together, and add in eggs one by one.
3. Add in the flour mixture and the coffee in alternating additions to the sugar mixture.  Beat until fully incorporated.
5. Scoop batter into lined cupcakes and bake.  
6. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack until completely cool.  

Latte Frosting
1 8oz package cream cheese
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons VERY strongly brewed coffee

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
2.  Add 2 tablespoons coffee (or as much as you can before butter and cream cheese starts getting soft).
3. Slowly add in  3 cups powdered sugar by the 1/2 cup full.  
4. Add in remaining coffee.  Add in remaining sugar.


Reindeer Antlers
1 cup melted dark chocolate
1 bag pretzels
Assorted Sprinkles

Directions:
1. Break your pretzels with your hand or a knife until you get the antler "shape" you would like.
2. Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals.
3. Dip pretzel pieces in chocolate, cover completely and place on wax paper.
4. Before the chocolate dries, use sprinkles to decorate.  The sprinkles will adhere on their own if the chocolate is still wet. Make sure the antlers are dry before using.

Jar Assembly

Click here for instructions I used when I made my bunny jars last spring.  Easy peasy, promise.


Admittedly, the antlers were a little tedious to make but only because it is HARD to cut pretzel pieces into the right shape.

The last layer of frosting should be thick so that the chocolate antlers will stay in place.  You can also try making a small hole in the top cake layer with a knife and sticking the end of the antler there to keep it firmly in place.

Once I got to the sprinkle part I was having too much fun.  The possibilities are endless! Mostly I stuck with pretty snowflakes, some holly...

But I couldn't help myself.  Pink heart sprinkles exist for a reason.  I'm sure there are girl reindeer out there, right?

No?  Just me?  Just Anna the girl reindeer being ridiculous?  Yes, I did wear these all night long.  In every single picture.

Happy Holidays everyone!  Shop online, stay out of the mall, go to lots of boozey parties! Enjoy the next two weeks.  I know I will.  It's also my birthday this weekend and in case you are wondering there is no way that I will be baking ANYTHING.  Someone better bring me a cake.

xo,
Anna

P.S.  You can also stick some (stolen) Starbucks straws in these Gingerbread latte cupcakes if you're feeling lazy.  Still looks fancy pants!

Thai Tea Cupcakes

I have a real problem on my hands.  It comes in a plastic cup, you push a giant straw through the top, it has tapioca pearls at the bottom, it is filled with iced milk tea and I just can't stop drinking it.  Oh boba, you're exactly the kind of problem I like to have. Luckily all my friends have a similar problem.  Boba parties, yo.

And luckily-not-so-unluckily, Pam decided she wanted  thai tea cupcakes for her birthday dinner this year.  I say luckily because I got to make these bad boys. Iced thai tea is my favorite flavor!  I say unluckily because when a pound bag of thai tea came to my doorstop I literally made my tummy hurt "testing" the flavor.  I drank a lot of cups of tea.   I also felt the need to stop by a local Ice Creamery to try their Thai Tea Iced Cream for dinner.  Twice. After the gym though!  That makes it sound better, right?  Or Worse?  I'm just educating my palette, totally acceptable.

Before I get to the recipe or the flavors though, let's take a second and discuss these liners.  I'm sure you can find them anywhere, but I found them at this adorable cake supply shop in Berkeley where they sell cupcake shaped spatulas, SPRINKLES, cookies, liners and anything else you may need.  It's named Spun Sugar and I want to move in there.  And I mean, orange scalloped liners?  The only thing more appropriate for Pam would have been if they'd been lace, too.

To keep with the orange theme of the liners and the cupcakes themselves I had to make orange flowers to top them off.  They were super simple to make.  Just melt orange candy melts, pipe out some squiggly flowers on some wax paper and add a cluster of white pearl sprinkles in the center.  As long as the candy melt is still soft, they will act as glue.  Pop  in the freezer for a few minutes to speed up the drying process.  Way too easy.

Thai Tea Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes, Bake for aprox. 15 minutes. at 350*
Adapted from Bowen Appetit

2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup condensed milk
3/4 cup thai iced tea mix
2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 c. sugar
4 eggs, room temp
1/2 tsb vanilla extract

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 block cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. In a small sauce pan/pot combine whole milk and condensed milk along with the thai mixed tea mix.  Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
2.  Remove from heat and cover with a lid, let seep for 10 minutes.  Pour mixture through a fine sieve and let cool to room temperature. You will only use 1/2 a cup of the thai tea milk mixture.
3. Whisk flours, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
4. In your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.
5. Add eggs in one at a time and beat until fully incorporated.   Add in vanilla.
6. Alternate add in flour mixture and thai tea milk mixture to the stand mixture, starting and ending with the flour.
7.  Scoop batter into lined cupcake liners and bake until done, around 15 minutes.  Cool fully before frosting.


Thai Tea Frosting
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 block full fat cream cheese, room temp
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 cup thai tea and milk  mixture (see below)

Thai Tea and Milk mixture:
3/4 cup condensed milk
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tbsp  thai iced tea mix

Directions:
1. Combine the two milks in a small saucepan/pot along with the loose thai tea and stir occastionally until mixture simmers (not boils).  (8-10 minutes. )
3. Remove from heat and cover pot with a lid and let seep and cool for an additional 10 minutes.
4. Strain tea through a small sieve.  (Note: Boiling and straining will reduce the liquid down by almost half.  You should have 1/2 a cup.)  Let the mixture cool to room temperature.
5. In a stand mixture, cream butter and cream cheese together until fluffy on medium speed.
6. Slowly add in the Thai Tea and Milk Mixture and continue beating.
7. Add powdered sugar 1/2 a cup at a time and beat.
8. Add vanilla in and beat until fully incorporated.
9. Pipe onto cupcakes.

The frosting came out perfect.  The cupcakes need one additional tweak -- which I have changed here. They should come out perfect... now  ;)  I especially like the color. A light orange color all around, with the smallest little specks from the tea leaves. Coupled with the other orange accents and I made Pam a happy girl.

I'm really proud of how pretty these came out.  I was tempted to have Pam take pictures of them for me instead.  But since it was her birthday and she was busy stuffing herself with pizza, I gave her a pass.

For the record, yes Pam gets her every birthday request granted.  She is spoiled like that.  I have no doubt she is already formulating ideas for what she wants next year.

And to no one's surprise I will leave you now... to go find some boba.

xoxo,
Anna


P.S.   MINIONS LIKE CUPCAKES TOO!

Carrot Cupcakes with Marshmallow Bunny Toppers

I went to Target earlier this month and bought a bag of bunny shaped marshmallows.  I also bought a bag of Haribo gummi bunnies (who knew they existed?).  Yup, my love of  bunnies has been going strong.  I have only found use for the marshamallows thus far.  This means that I will be eating a whole bag of gummi bunnies soon.  And I guess I HAVE to eat the leftover adorable bunny marshmallows too, right?  I don't believe in wasting time.  Or candy.   Welcome to eat like an easter rabbit month here at My Feelings Taste Like Cupcakes Headquarters.  :)  All bunny, all the time.  I'm totally wearing rabbit ears as I type this*.

You saw my post from earlier this week, my cupcakes in a jar?  Well I made more cupcakes than I had jars.  Cupcakes sans jars are easier to distribute anyways.  But I wasn't sure how to top them. I had some easter bunny sprinkles... but the frosting on these is so delicious that I didn't want to throw the flavors off balance with too much sugar.

And then I found the marshmallows in my baking cupboard.   Just add toothpicks and it's so easy it's really frankly cheating. =x

But they look so adorable I don't care.  I love the little guys hopping over mounds of cream cheese frosting, skipping over the walnuts with such ease.  They're living the life!

They're the same recipe as before, obviously.  Can't stress it enough, make these.  The cupcakes are amazing.

Wouldn't you love to get him in your Easter basket?

No I lie, you want him and all of his bunny friends with you.  What do you call that?  A family?  Not a herd, not a school...  I'm googling now because I bet you're dying to know.  You're welcome.  

A COLONY.  YOU WANT A WHOLE COLONY OF EASTER BUNNY MARSHMALLOW CARROT CUPCAKES.  Wow, my blog is educational now too.  You are DOUBLE welcome.

Do you know who doesn't care about these cupcakes though? Poodles.  Poodles do not care about cupcakes.  They just care about getting in the way of my shots.

Happy Easter everyone! From me and my spoiled poodles.  May you stay away from peep shows. And may I stay away from that ENTIRE bag of gummy bunnies.

xoxo,
Anna

*No I'm not.  Or am I?

Lemon Curd Filled Blackberry Cupcakes

I almost forgot to post about these!  The holiday baking and planning has consumed all other thoughts.  Surprising though, seeing as how I was SO obsessed with how the color on these cupcakes came out.  Obsessed.  They are such a rich, deep shade of  purple/blue that you'd be SURE that there was food coloring involved in the batter. I mean the batter looks dyed right?

But I assure you that there was none.  Just perfectly ripe blackberries that made perfectly plump cupcakes.

That were immediately cored.

And filled with yummyness.  Oh, and the contrast between the blue of the berries and the yellow of the lemon curd?  So pretty.

These were part of the dessert table I blogged about two weeks ago.  Because of the unique color, people actually thought they were chocolate unless they took the time to read the signs. (The adorable signs made my pandippo that you can still download here.)

I used purple polka dotted liners to match the theme and they were placed on top of bright blue jelly bellys.

The recipe I used was a modification of the Lemon Blueberry cupcakes that I made a few months ago.  Birthday Girl had gotten to eat those, and requested the same for her party.  Unfortunately, blueberries are out of season and were nowhere to be found.  So I made do.  Although similar, the taste of the two is very distinct.  Give them both a try, I say.  :)

Blackberry Sauce

1 conatiner washed blackberries
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons water

Directions:
1. Take blackberries and place them in a saucepan with sugar and water over medium heat.
2.  Stir blackberries occasionally to prevent from sticking to pan, with a potato masher, mash berries until mixture starts becoming a sauce.    
3. Puree blueberries in blender.
4. Strain to remove large pieces and set aside to cool. 


Blackberry Cupcakes
makes 12, bake at 375* for 18 minutes

3/4 c flour
3/4 c sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter 
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup blackberry sauce
1.5/4 c buttermilk

Directions: 
1. Beat together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a stand mixer.
2. In a separate bowl combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a third bowl or cup combine sauce and buttermilk.
4. Add flour mixture and sauce mixture to the butter/eggs mixture in five additions, alternating between the two, starting and ending with flour.
5.  Scoop batter into your muffin pan and bake.
6. Core cupcakes and fill with lemon curd (see below)

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick butter
1 cream cheese brick
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:
1. Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy and smooth.
2. Add lemon zest.
3. Add 1/2 a tablespoon lemon juice.  Add 1/2 a cup powdered sugar.  Alternate the two until you get the desired consistency and flavor.

Lemon Curd recipe can be found in this post here.

xoxo,
Anna

Walnut Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!

The holidays are well under way and I've already gained my obligatory five pounds of winter squish.  A little early this year because I just came back from a 7 day cruise to Mexico where I ate my face off, yes, but also because I just had my first of at least four Thanksgivings.

Yes you read that correctly.  I am having at least four Thanksgivings this year.  And of course I will be baking for all.

The first thing I've baked so far are these very autumn themed Walnut Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes.  After two or so years, I think I have finally perfected my pumpkin spice recipe.  I'm very excited about that.  I'll be adding nuts each time I make it now though, that's for sure. But I am also very happy with the aesthetic of how they came out.  (That means I think they're prettyyyyyy.)

At first I was not even excited about making these.  Until I made a basic pumpkin spice cupcake my own, of course.  Add walnuts.  Add a ginger molasses cookie crust.  And more walnuts on top.  Done.

But I also wanted them to LOOK like fall.  I had done leaves before and I loved how they had come out but they needed something more.  And then I remembered the teeny tiny little leaf shaped cookie cutter that I had bought almost a year ago in a set of cookie cutters at Sur La Table.  I bought it for the star to use on my red velvet cupcakes, but the pack contained a leaf too.  I searched about the grocery store until I found some type of candy I could roll out and settled on gum drops because of the added sugar sprinkle flare. They're quite easy to roll out once you get the hang of it.  But until you get the hang of it, it's a sticky mess so beware.

Gum Drop Leaves
Large Pack of Large Gum Drops/Spice Drops
Small Leaf Cutter

Directions:
1. With a rolling pin and medium pressure, roll on top of gum drop. Turn gum drop 90* and roll again.  Flip gum drop over and repeat until gum drop is mostly flat, about an 1/4 inch long.
2. Press cutter over gum drop and remove excess gum drop from sides before pushing out the leaf.
Tips:  The reason you are are slowly rolling out the gum drop is because if you apply too much pressure and roll it out flat at once, you will make a sticky mess.  You want the gum drop to retain the sugar on top so that it not only looks pretty, but also so that you can still work with it.  Once it's too thin you won't be able to use it anymore.


Initially I wanted to use ginger snaps.  Unfortunately I couldn't find them at the two stores I went to and it was pouring rain so I ended my search and bought molasses cookies.  I spiked them heavily with ginger instead.


Ginger Molasses Crust  (optional)
1 package (10 medium-large) of molasses cookies
2 tsp ginger
1/8 c butter, melted


1. Crush cookies with rolling pin and place in bowl.
2. Add melted butter to cookies, add just enough to make the crumbs workable.
3. Add ginger. Spice to taste.
4. Place one tablespoon of crumbs at the bottom of a lined cupcake tin and press down.
5. Bake in oven for 3-4 minutes at 350* and set aside to cool.



Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
Makes 15, Bake for 350* for approx. 15 minutes

1 1/8 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbls baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. oil
1 egg
1 c. pumpkin
1/3 c. sour cream
1/3 c. roasted walnuts

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, all spice, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
2.  In the bowl of your stand mixer, stir two sugars, egg, oil, pumpkin and sour cream until combined.
3.  Slowly add in your dry ingredient mixture to the wet mixture, beat on medium speed.
4. Fold in roasted walnuts.
5. Scoop batter onto the top of the ginger molasses crust and bake in oven for 15 minutes or until done.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Cream butter and cream cheese in stand mixer until smooth.
2. Add in vanilla.
3. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time and beat until fluffy.
4. Frost cupcakes.

I can't say how much the walnuts added to these cupcakes.  Really.

That and the fact that they bake up super fluffy and full of moisture.

Actually I think it's the combination of the spice and the walnuts and the ginger crust that makes these so good. When people first bite into the crust, they know it's good but they aren't even sure what it is except that they like it.

It's all the flavors of fall (dressed up with a bow of course) in your mouth all at the SAME time. Awesome.

Let's see what else I end up making this week.  Hopefully you fill your kitchens and your bellies with something wonderful.

xoxo,
Anna

Mexican Chocolate Sugar Skull Cupcakes

I like skulls.

That's probably the best way to preface this (really long, picture heavy) post.  Regular skulls.  Sugar skulls.  On my ears.  On my mugs.  On my scarves.  On my swim suits. On my clutches. On my shirts.  On my Giants gear.  I dig them, okay?  Mix them with flowers or studs and OMG-must-buy.  So I decided that I wanted them on my cupcakes too.

Sugar skulls are particularly big right now and with Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) just a few weeks away I felt compelled to celebrate a little early.  Google failed me when searching for pre-made sugar skulls to use as garnish.  But etsy didn't!

I bought plain skull molds and lotsssss of candy melts. Colored melts that I'd use to make the skulls into Day of the Dead skulls.  I love their heart shaped eye sockets!  The teeth were the only parts that I didnt' hand pipe.  The rest I had to do by hand. But nothing a steady hand, patience and some ziplock bags couldn't handle!

Once I knew I was making them, I racked my brain for what flavor to make the cupcakes.  I was going to do Mexican hot chocolate but my dear friend Katie brought me back something from her trip from New Mexico that was so delicious and awesome that  I instantly knew I had to use that instead.

She brought me back this Mexican chocolate from Kakawa Chocolate House.  A darker grade of chocolate at 60% cocoa, (who actually likes milk chocolate anyways?) with hints of cinnamon, almonds, cane juice and Mexican vanilla. The blend has something of a kick to it.  Not your ordinary chocolate here, so no way was I going to melt this stuff into a batter when I am still looking for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe.

That'd be a waste.   I was making this into ganache.  I wanted to taste that kick that cinnamon and spices gives to the chocolate. I wanted to make holes in my cupcakes and shove so much chocolately goodness in the middle that it spilled over the sides.

It had to be done.

And to compliment the light spicyness of the chocolate I added cinnamon to  this chocolate recipe. And then since I was so heavy into the Mexican theme anyways, I busted out my trusty Mexican caramel -- cajeta.

Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcakes
Bake at 350* for 19 minutes, makes 20.

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Ghirardelli) 
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs
3/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In bowl of stand mixer, combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt and cinnamon) and sift together.  (Use a sifter.)
2. Turn on mixer on medium and add in wet ingredients (eggs, hot water, cream, oil and vanilla) one by one.
3. Mix until fully incorporated.
4. Bake cupcakes, cool on rack and then core middles to fill with the ganache below.


Ganache
4 oz "Modern Mexican" chocolate (Kakawa Chocolate House)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
1. Warm cream on stove top or in microwave until hot but before boiling.
2. Pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth.
3. Once cool enough to handle, put into a ziplock bag with the end cut off and pipe into centers of cupcakes.


Cajeta Frosting
1 stick cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/2 cup cajeta
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
2. Add in cajeta and beat until fully incorporated
3. Add powdered sugar slowly until desired consistency is reached.
4. Pipe onto cupcakes.


The result was Cinnamon Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes with Cajeta Frosting.  Some had more of that divine Mexican chocolate garnished on top.

But the majority had my bright sugar skulls.

I loved how the skulls came out.  Although I do admit I wish the molds had been smaller since they covered all the cupcake/frosting, the bigger skulls worked well because they gave me more room to "draw" on them.  I think they all have some personality to them right?

I must admit that I have my favorites though. Mainly the two below.

Whats't not to love about mustaches right?  PURPLE MUSTACHES people!

Sadly, I am still waiting to find my PERFECT chocolate cupcake recipe.  I used Sprinke Bake's recipe this time because I am currently in love with her and think everything she touches is magic.  But it was a little crumblier than I hoped it would be.  So the search continues.  Anyone have any recommendations?

In any case, they cupcakes were still good and the addition of the cinnamon to the batter was an excellent choice.  When you eat them all together it turns into a mess of course, but the mess was so rich and delicious that it more than makes up for having chocolate crumbs and sticky frosting all over your face and hands.

But wait boys and girls.  There's more.  If that wasn't enough I decided that I had to take it one step further.  I mean, yes Mexican Chocolate cupcakes rock.  Yes, Day of the Dead Sugar Skulls on top of said cupcakes are even more awesome.  What else could I do?

San Francisco Giants Sugar Skulls.

With mustaches AND a beard!

 Loosely based off this awesome Oaklandish shirt I got earlier in the season.  A bad ass season that's brought us into the Post Season now!

I guess you can say that I'm a fan right?  First cookies and now cupcakes?  What will I do next? When we win the World Series (right before Dia de Los Muertos), i'll let you know.  Viva Gigantes! Happy Early Halloween!  Happy Day of the Dead!  (Orange) October is awesome.

xoxo,
Anna