02 Nov
Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Posted by Michelle as Cupcakes | 43 Comments
If you’re looking for a fall dessert that includes all of the best flavors of the season – pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger – and that just so happens to have a healthy dollop of cream cheese frosting on top, then these cupcakes are definitely for you. Warm, spiced, sweet and utterly addicting. In the oven for only 5 minutes and I could have sworn that time had been thrust forward a few weeks and it was Thanksgiving day. The aroma from the cupcakes was heavenly. I almost said, “I wish I could bottle that smell!” but then realized that I could, in fact, go out and buy a pumpkin pie-scented candle 
I owe another nod to my Chief Culinary Consultant for this one, as I was trying to think about what to make to bring to a little Halloween gathering that we were going to and he suggested pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Brilliant, of course! The cupcakes were every bit as scrumptious as I suspected they would be.
30 Aug
Lemon-Limoncello Cupcakes
Posted by Michelle as Cupcakes | 56 Comments
These cupcakes have almost rendered me speechless. Trying to come up with the words to describe the incredible flavor experience that these provide is no small task. These lemon beauties topped off an Italian-themed meal (one that had begun with the Fontina-Stuffed Bacon-Wrapped Dates as an appetizer) and was the perfect clean-flavored dessert that I was looking for. There are three levels of lemon flavor in the cupcakes that combine to deliver the perfect balance of tart and sweet, and had people fighting over the last cupcake (seriously). The batter is flavored with lemon zest, lemon juice and a punch of limoncello; a tart lemon curd fills the inside of the cupcakes, and on top sits a sweet cream cheese frosting with the subtle tang of limoncello. These are simple and classy, a perfect dessert for a summer meal.
09 Aug
Black-Bottom Cupcakes
Posted by Michelle as Cupcakes | 34 Comments
It is seriously beyond me how I have never made these before. Especially considering they’re a hybrid of my two favorite sweets – chocolate and cheesecake, and honestly there’s really no way anything made of chocolate and cheesecake can be anything but spectacular. These cupcakes are no exception, as they take a super moist and intensely chocolate devil’s food cake and drop a cheesecake filling with chunks of bittersweet chocolate right in the middle. These rank way up there on the ladder of favorite things I have ever made. I was sitting outside for a bit while these were in the oven and when I came back into the house it smelled like I could lick chocolate off the walls – the aroma wafting from the oven completely permeated the house. Mmmm…
09 Apr
I am a Hero… A CUPCAKE HERO
Posted by Michelle as Cupcakes | 0 Comments
This was my first month entering the Cupcake Hero event over at quirky cupcake because, well, truth be told, I don’t consider myself very good at being creative in the kitchen. I can follow a recipe to a T, but when it comes down to creating something on my own I don’t feel very confident in my abilities (or my creativity). So imagine my shock when I open the round up and see that I’ve actually won!
The cupcake that I submitted was an Ambrosia Cupcake. This was created to adapt the popular salad that includes fruit cocktail, miniature marshmallows, coconut, and Cool Whip. We always had it a lot growing up, and it was one of the first things that I thought of when I thought of marshmallows!
I’m so very excited to get a tshirt with the ubiqitous Cupcake Hero logo on it, and will be sure to model it for everyone!
Head on over to the Cupcake Hero roundup to see what 51 (awesome turnout!) other people did with marshmallows and cupcakes!
28 Mar
Cupcake Hero: Ambrosia Cupcakes
Posted by Michelle as Cupcakes | 25 Comments
I’d first like to thank Laurie for still being my friend, as this is my first Cupcake Hero entry. I know, I’m a bad, bad friend.
This month’s ingredient theme for Cupcake Hero was marshmallow. The very first thing that came to my mind was smores, and I’m pretty sure that was the first thing that popped into about everyone else’s head. After seeing a number of smores entries show up in my Google Reader, I decided to rethink my approach. I was brainstorming all of the wonderful things that I have eaten that contained marshmallows in some way, shape, or form. A few popped into my mind, but I kept coming back to one – Ambrosia.
For those that have never had it, ambrosia is basically a “salad” of fruit cocktail, Cool Whip, coconut, and miniature marshmallows. My grandma used to make this all of the time around some holidays, but it mostly reminds me of Easter. It’s such a light dessert and Easter is typically the gateway holiday to warmer weather. So here we are, the week after Easter and I had to do something with marshmallows – Ambrosia Cupcakes it was!
These cupcakes are made with a base of fruit cocktail cake, then freshly whipped cream is piped into the centers (you’ll see that I didn’t quite pipe deep enough), topped with a marshmallow creme frosting, sprinkled with coconut, and, just for good measure, topped with a cherry. I had never made homemade marshmallow creme before and, wow, that’s dangerous to have sitting around! So good!
