pineapple something??

Ok, well it's been a really long time since I've last posted anything. But school has just gotten started so I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things. The cupcake below is kind of a mess. I made these cupcakes and after I put them in the oven I realized I I forgot self-rising flour. This is why the cupcakes are so flat. But contrary to the strange way they look, they tasted absolutely fabulous. So I would say that if I actually used the right flour, there cupcakes would be very worth making again. So here I present you with my pineapple-upside down something or other.

devil's food cupcakes turned fancy

One quick, easy and beautiful way to make devil's food cupcakes more fancy is with some cherries and whipped cream. For me the basic devil's food cake is coved in a chocolate glaze so of course, these ones are too. The following steps go on top of the glaze.
In a saucepan, combine a cup of pitted and halved cherries with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Also ad a tablespoon of water, but if you prefer, feel free to replace that with kirsch. Let that simmer until the sugar is dissolved and the cherries are soft, 6-7 minutes. Then transfer to another bowl and let cool in the fridge for at least an hour.
While the cherries sit, in either a food processor or with a whisk, beat one cup of heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of confectioner's sugar until heavy peaks are formed.
After the cherries chill, mix them with the whipped cream. Be care full during this process. You might want to limit the amount of the juice that gets into the whipped cream because you don't want it to loose its stiffness.
Spoon some of the cream on the cupcakes, then place a whole cherry - pit, stem and all - on top of the whipped cream.
I made these cupcakes for a block party and never got the chance to taste them so please leave a comment if you make them and tell me how delicious they are.

Idea from CUPCAKES

Fish Bowl

Alright, this one isn't really a recipe, but more of a super fun way to decorate a cupcake. Through a series of simple steps you can make your cupcakes look like an adorable fish bowls that almost looks real. This cupcake works with any flavor, but I think it would be best to use a lighter colored cake so it doesn't show through.

WHAT YOU NEED: Makes 24 cupcakes
1 (16 ounce) can of vanilla frosting,
plus 1 cup
Black and blue food coloring
1 cup toffee crumbles
Green fruit leather
1 cup goldfish crackers - the mini
ones would work best but the normal
size works just fine

Spoon 2/3 cup of the frosting into a ziplock bag, press out the air and seal the bag. place 2 tbsp. of frosting in a bowl, dye it black, and put it in a ziplock bag. Spoon 2/3 cup frosting into a microwave bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place the remaining frosting in a bowl, tint it light blue and cover in plastic wrap.
Place the toffee in a shallow bowl. Cut the fruit leather into varying leaf shapes, but no longer then 1 1/2 inches. pinch one end to make a seaweed-like shape.
Microwave the blue frosting 10 to 20 seconds, or until the consistency of lightly whipped cream. One cupcake at a time, dip the top into the frosting and cover the top completely. let excess frosting drip off and while the frosting is still wet, roll one edge in the toffee crunch. Set up right and allow to dry.
Microwave the vanilla frosting 5 to 10 seconds. Dip the opposite edge from the toffee into the white and cover it to about 3/4 inch. Allow to dry.
Snip a 1/8-inch corner out of the white frosting filled ziplock. Use the frosting to attach the seaweed and goldfish. Pipe small bubbles coming out of the fishes mouthes. Snip a larger corner and pipe therim of the bowl on the white edge.
Snip a 1/16-inch hoe from the bag with the black frosting. Pipe eyes onto the gold fish.

Recipe came from HELLO, CUPCAKE.

Lemon Poppy Seed Goodness

OK this has to be like my favorite recipe. It’s so delicious, well to me anyway. Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes W/ Creamy Orange Frosting. Don't fret at the name. By no means is the frosting orange, it just tastes like it so it’s all ok. The cake part of the recipe comes from Cupcakes an amazing book by Shelly Kaldunski. The frosting was taken from a recipe in the newspaper and tweaked to taste even better.

THE CAKE:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, unsalted
plus 2 tbsp, at room
temperature
2 large eggs, at room
temperature
1 tsp freshly grated
lemon zest
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/4 cup sour cream

THE FROSTING:

2 tbsp. butter, softened

1(8 ounce) pkg. 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tsp. orange juice

Orange zest to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Spray a regular 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick spray.

In one bowl, that doesn’t need to be very large, whisk the first 4 ingredients, flour through salt. In another bowl, use an electric mixer on high speed to beat the sugar and butter together until it’s fluffy and light, a little more than 2 minutes. Add the eggs, zest and extract. If you do not have lemon extract, you can substitute 1 tsp. of lemon juice. Beat until combined. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture, and eat about 1 minute until combined. Add the sour cream and beat together, stopping as soon as it is combined.

Divide the batter in all 12 cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Set the muffin pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Then remove the cupcake from the pan and lt them sit until cool, around 1 hour.

For the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese together at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until blended. Add juice and zest, stirring until incorporated. Evenly distribute the frosting on all the cupcakes and smooth with a frosting spatula or butter knife. Enjoy and feel free to leave a comment on how you liked them. :D