Orange Creamsicle Cupcake

Whether you're looking for the taste of summer or a Halloween appropriate treat, this cupcake has lots of flexibility.  Plus, it's both kid and adult friendly!  For this recipe you'll need...

• Vanilla Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water, but no water required for this one)
• 1 cup of Cream  (this will replace some of the water your cake mix calls for...feel free to use any cream you want like whipping cream, blend cream, or even coffee cream)
• Orange Juice
• Zest of Two Oranges (Some for the cake and some for the icing)
• Store bought Vanilla Icing
• Butter (room temperate...around 1/2 cup....but it's up to you)
• Icing Sugar (optional)
• Orange Food Colouring (gel is preferred)
• Garnish Ideas: Candy Corn for Halloween or half a Popsicle stick 

On to the recipe...

Step 1: Preheat your oven as directed on the cake mix package.  Add all the ingredients your Vanilla Cake Mix calls for EXCEPT for the water.  Instead of the water, replace one cup of the called for amount with Cream and top the rest off with Orange Juice.  So, if your recipe calls for 1 1/3 cup of water, add one cup of Cream and 1/3 of a cup of Orange Juice. Then add the zest of one orange.  Mix the ingredients together until it is smooth.

Step 2: Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners and bake as directed on the package.  Once they are done baking, let them cool completely.

Step 3: For the icing, I decided to make it as authentic to a Creamsicle as I possible could, so I made the centre of the icing vanilla and wrapped it in orange flavoured icing.  To do this I had to make my icing in two steps, but it's really easy!  First, make the base of your icing by mixing together your vanilla icing and butter on high until smooth.  Give it a taste and if it's too buttery for you, add some icing sugar.  Once you're happy with the taste and consistency, you're ready to add a dab on top of your cupcake.  Try to put it as close to the middle as possible. I used a piping bag with tip #12 to make it a little easier.

Step 4: Now that you have your cream filled centre, it's time to make the orange flavoured icing!  Simply add the zest of one orange and a tablespoon of Orange Juice and mix it together on high.  To give it a true Creamsicle colour, add some Orange Food Colouring.  I prefer the gel food colourings because it doesn't alter the consistency of the icing.  Then, simply cover your vanilla icing over with the orange flavoured icing.  You can use anything you like to add the icing onto your cupcake, but it is easiest to use a piping bag.  And that's it!     

Happy Faking!

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Bakers Unite for United Way

As a fundraiser for United Way, many of my colleagues and I hit our kitchens this past weekend and baked up a storm for our company's United Way Bake Sale. Every baked good variety you could think of was represented and, surprise surprise, I made cupcakes.  Since it's so close to Halloween, I decided to make something that was Halloween themed, or at least in colour - Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes.  Although I didn't get a chance to have one myself because they sold out quickly, from what I heard they were quite good.

I also raffled off a dozen Christmas themed cupcakes for the upcoming holiday season - big congrats to JT for being the lucky winner.  I wonder what festive flavour she'll choose...or maybe she'll decide on a tried and true flavour already featured or sampled. I guess we'll all have to wait and see.  But in the mean time, I'll share my seemingly popular cupcake at today's bake sale in my next post, the Orange Creamsicle Cupcake.

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Pumpkin Patch-Pie Cupcake

Love pumpkin pie or just looking for a fun Halloween themed treat? Well, look no further, I've got you covered.  This recipe takes pumpkin pie to a whole new form of deliciousness - cupcake style.  You can serve it as is, or you can add a few little garnishes to make it even more Halloween-ey.  For this recipe you'll need:

• White Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water, but no water required for this one)
• 1 Cup of Pure Pumpkin  (replacing part of the water called for)
• Milk
• 3 teaspoons of Cinnamon (1 teaspoon for cake and 2 teaspoons for icing) 
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• Pinch of Ground Cloves
• Store bought Chocolate Icing
• 1 baked pie crust, crumbled
• Garnish Ideas: Spooky Chocolate Designs or Pumpkin Shaped Candy

And here's my fun, spooky and easy recipe...

Step 1: Preheat your oven as directed on the cake mix package.  Add all the ingredients your White Cake Mix calls for EXCEPT for the water.  Instead of the water, replace one cup of the called for amount with Pure Pumpkin and top the rest off with Milk.  So, if your recipe calls for 1 1/3 cup of water, add one cup of Pure Pumpkin and 1/3 of a cup of Milk. Then add 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of Ground Ginger and a pinch of Ground Cloves.  Mix the ingredients together until it is smooth.

Step 2: Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners and bake as directed on the package.  Once they are done baking, let them cool completely.

Step 3: For the icing, simply mix in 2 teaspoons of Cinnamon into the icing and mix well. Spread your chocolate cinnamon icing on top of your cupcake.

Step 4: And now it's the fun part!  Dip your cupcake icing side down into the pie crumbs.  And that's it!  You can serve them as is or add a fun garnish.  I used a Chocolate Decorator to create my own spooky shapes and made a spooky pumpkin patch seen with a couple of candy pumpkins.   

Happy Faking!

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Fancy Stuff Review #2 - Chocolate Decorator

A little while ago my friend was at an Epicure party and she bought a little device simply called a Chocolate Decorator (also called a Decopen).  Since she wasn't going to use it right away, she gave it to me to experiment with - thanks AM.  Well, after the big move move, multiple trips to the Rock and a chaotic few weeks at work, I finally had the chance to try it out.  In fact, I also finally baked my first batch of cupcakes at my new place!

So what is the Chocolate Decorator or Decopen exactly?  Well, as you can see in the picture to the right, it kind of looks like a mini plastic pot with a nozzle.  To use it, all you need to do is take the cover off, add in some chocolate, stick it in the microwave to melt the chocolate, put the cover back on and decorate. Super easy and super awesome!  You can do all kinds of fun things with it like decorate a plate, draw designs on the top of desserts or create decorative chocolate figures you can put on your baked goods to make them look super fancy!  Surprise surprise, I did the latter and boy did my cupcakes look fancy... and spooky!  In preparation for Halloween I made a Pumpkin Patch-Pie Cupcake complete with a spooky touch.  Stay tuned for the recipe in my next post.

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Faking Fancy Wedding Cakes(?) Part III

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today I am thankful that I'm not making that darn wedding cake.  Yes, I think it may have scarred me for life.  I keep saying it was the first and last wedding cake I will ever make...we'll see if someone can sucker me into it again.  But all that said, I do owe you the final installment of my Faking Fancy Wedding Cakes(?) adventure...

It was the day before the wedding. The wedding cakes were baked, the icing was mixed and the test cake was a breeze to assemble. Things were looking up for the big wedding cake assembly day, until I remembered that the cakes were still in the freezer...ooops - I blame it on the wine the night before at the rehearsal dinner.  But it was still only early so I took them out and they were good to go an hour later.

To keep the stress to a minimum on the day of the wedding, we decided to assemble the cake at the venue (a small local brewery) and simply place it in the cooler on site.  That way we didn't have to deal with the stress of transporting it.  Besides, things were stressful enough seeing how we were being hit by a Tropical Storm, and there was still one guest coming from Ontario who hadn't arrived.  After many blustery, rain soaked trips back and fourth from the car to the house, we were finally all packed and ready to go to the brewery.  

Of course, what we packed into the car needed to be transported into the brewery, which meant we were in for another wind and rain beating.  But despite the rain and wind, it wasn't too uncomfortable because it was warm and HUMID.  As we entered the brewery, the humidity outside was amplified inside - trouble!  We made our way up to the room only to discover it was not air conditioned.  In fact, the entire brewery was not air conditioned. Plus, they had me in the same room that their brewery tour stopped in...not a good scene.

After barely icing the bottom layer, my icing quickly became a soupy slop and it became nearly impossible to get the icing to stay onto the cake.  After a quick scramble, we managed to find the only room that had some form of air conditioning which was a tiny office with an even tinier portable air conditioning unit.  Hovered around the air conditioner, I slowly piped on the icing while JS followed quickly behind with a spreader to keep the icicng from falling off.  After the messiest icing job in the world, we threw it in the fridge to harden.  Once the icing had hardened and stabilized on the cake, I quickly took off the excess icing with a hot knife.  After a few choice words, we finished the third tier and got the heck out.

The next morning I went down to the brewery with my father to add the flowers...and to see if the cake had survived.  Thankfully it had made it through the night and I added the final few touches.  It took me a little longer than I expected, but I managed to finish decorating the cake, prep for the wedding and make it to the pre-wedding photo shoot because..did I forget to tell you...I was in the wedding party too!

When the ceremony was over, my Mom was hesitant on bringing the cake out before the cake cutting ceremony because of the heat.  But, as I said to her, there was NO WAY I was NOT having it out for people to see after all my slave work. So we put the cake on display and it survived in the heat.  And so ends my first and last wedding cake I plan on making in this lifetime.  Big THANKS to Donna McMullin for taking photographic evidence of my labour.  And although it was quite lovely, I really believe that cupcakes are the way to go and are so much cuter!

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Cake Truffles

When life gives you too much cake, make CAKE TRUFFLES!  This is a simple, tasty and fancy treat you can make with any leftover cupcakes or cake.  All you need is some chocolate and some leftover iced cake and you're ready to go!  I made this with the leftover wedding cake from my sister's wedding and they were a HUGE hit.  In fact, if I had my time back I would have packaged them to go as a fun parting gift for her guests.  That way they could have their cake and take it home too! So here's what you'll need...

• Left over iced cake (or you can bake a cake and add icing to the mix)
• At least 1 cup of chocolate (milk, white, dark...it's up to you)

To make your cake truffles, all you need to do is...

Step 1: Mix the cake and icing together until it is a big bowl of mush.

Step 2: Once it's all mixed together, spoon out a table spoon or so of the mixture and roll it into 1 1/2 inch balls.  I highly recommend wearing gloves while you roll them, but you can use your bare hands.  Once rolled, place each ball on a platter and place them in the freezer until they are firm - around 30 minutes.     

Step 3: It's time to melt some chocolate.  The amount of chocolate you need will depend on how many cale balls you made.  Plus, it's easier to dip if you have plenty of chocolate in the bowl.  So, I would melt around 1 cup of chocolate for 24 truffles.  You can use any kind of chocolate.  I used milk, white and dark chocolate so that I could get a pretty platter of colour.  Big thanks to Donna McMullin for the great pic of my truffles. 

Step 4: And now for the dipping.  Take a fork or skewer and stick it into your frozen cake ball.  Dip it into the melted chocolate and coat the ball.  Place the chocolate covered cake ball on a platter lined with wax paper.  Once your tray is full, place it in the fridge to harden the chocolate.  And that's it!  I recommend serving them cold, but you can let them get to room temperature if you want.  And you can even freeze them for later.  If you like, you can add sprinkles on top of your truffles or drizzle them with a different colour chocolate.

Happy Faking!

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