Tutti Fruity Cupcake

Here's a great summer recipe that will please kids and adults alike! Perfect for the patio party or Canada Day get together, this fruity cupcake is refreshing and fun!  To make this summer treat you'll need...

• White Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water)
• Frozen Fruit Punch Concentrate (you'll be replacing the amount of water it calls for...and you'll want it to be thawed too)
• Reg Gel food colouring (optional)
• Store bought White Icing
• Butter (room temperate...around 1/2 cup....but it's up to you)
• Icing Sugar (optional)
• Garnish Ideas: fresh strawberry, fruit flavoured candy

Now for the recipe...

Step 1: First things first, you'll want to thaw your Fruit Punch Concentrate because it's pretty hard to mix it in frozen solid! Once it's thawed to a liquid, you can start making your batter.

Step 2: For the most part, follow the direction of your White Cake Mix - preheat your oven and add in your eggs and oil, but replace the water with your Fruit Punch Concentrate. If you'd like to make them a pink or deep pink colour, add some Red Gel food colouring. Mix the batter until it is smooth. 

Step 3: Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners and bake as directed on package. Once done, cool completely before icing

Step 4: On to the icing. Mix together your vanilla icing and butter on high until smooth.  Taste your icing and if it's not sweet enough for you or too buttery add in some icing sugar. To ice them, you can use a piping bag or whatever icing method you prefer. To garnish your cupcake try topping them with a fresh strawberry or fruit flavoured candy..

Happy Faking!

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Oh My - Feeling the Sweet Love

An amazing friend of mine, and fellow blogger, recently tackled a fun collaborative project that brought many blogging worlds together to create a sweet treat that all can enjoy.  You should check it out by clicking HERE! Why? Well, it has some sweet cupcake toppers you can print and use yourself AND one of my cupcake recipes were featured.  I wonder what Canada Day posts they may have in-store over the next few days.  I know mine is just cooling on some racks as I type.  Stay tuned for my Canada Day inspired Tutti Fruity Cupcake. 

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Faking Fancy Cupcake Wedding Centrepieces #1

Here's the first of a few wedding centrepieces that are easy to do and can also save you money by doubling as your cake.  For this centrepiece all you need to do is rent or buy additional glassware.  I'd recommend getting lost of different types of glasses - like martini glasses, snifter glasses, water glasses and wine glasses - so that they have different heights and it will also add variety to your table.

To display your cupcakes simply turn the glassware upside down and place your cupcakes on the base of the glassware.  If you chose to buy all the glassware, you can also make the glasses into your wedding favours by making tags that thank your guests for attending.  If you'd like, you can even add their names to add a touch of personalization.

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Iced Tea Cupcake

It wouldn't be summer without a tall glass of Lemonade or Iced Tea at some point.  Since we have the Pink Lemonade Cupcake covered, it's time to serve up the recipe for an Iced Tea cupcake.  To make this summer treat you'll need...

• White Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water)
• Frozen Iced Tea Concentrate (you'll be replacing the amount of water it calls for...and you'll want it to be thawed too)
• Store bought White Icing
• Butter (room temperate...around 1/2 cup....but it's up to you)
• Icing Sugar (optional)
• 1-2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice (optional)
•  1 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest (optional)
• Garnish Ideas: cut down straw, fresh lemon slice, lemon peel curl

Now for the recipe...

Step 1: First things first, thaw your Iced Tea Concentrate because it's pretty hard to mix it in frozen! Once it's a liquid, you can start making your batter.

Step 2: For the most part, follow the direction of your White Cake Mix - preheat your oven and add in your eggs and oil, but replace the water with your Iced Tea Concentrate. Mix the batter until it is smooth. 

Step 3: Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners and bake as directed on package. Once done, cool completely before icing

Step 4: For the icing, mix together your vanilla icing and butter on high until smooth.  Taste your icing and if it's not sweet enough for you or too buttery add in some icing sugar.  If you'd like to keep your icing plain, then you're done!  If you'd like a lemony kick to it, add a tsp of Fresh Lemon Zest and 1-2 tsp of Fresh Lemon Juice.  It's really up to you and how lemony you want your cupcake to be and if you want to add the zest or pulp in the icing.

Step 5: With the icing all mixed together, it's time to top your cupcake with the sweet or lemony icing.  Add as little or as much of your icing as you'd like.  You can use a piping bag or whatever icing method you prefer. To garnish your cupcake you could try cutting down a straw and sticking it in the icing with a fresh lemon slice or just top it with a fresh lemon curl.

Happy Faking!

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Faking Fancy Cupcake...Wedding Centrepieces?

It's summer and you know what that means...wedding season! This year I'm feeling pretty lucky with only one wedding to attend.  It's not that I don't love going to weddings, it's just that the 9 I attended last summer was a little excessive - but lovely.

Experiencing it myself and watching friends do the same, it's pretty amazing how quickly wedding costs can add up. So, this summer I've decided to share a few fun cupcake wedding ideas that not only cover the cake, but the centerpiece too! But before I share a few DIY - or as I usually call them FFF-DIY (no, it's not profanity...but that could be applicable...it stands for Force Family and Friends) - I'll be sharing another deliciously summer cupcake recipe, my Iced Tea Cupcake.

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Pink Lemonade Cupcake

The first day of summer is just around the corner, which means sunshine and VACATIONS.  What better way to enjoy the sunshine and the patio than with a tall glass of lemonade...PINK lemonade to be exact!  This recipe was inspire by just that - summer sunshine and my back deck.  For this recipe you'll need...

• White Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water)
• Frozen Pink Lemonade -concentrate (you'll be replacing the amount of water it calls for...and you'll want it to be thawed too)
• Red Gel Food Colouring (Optional)
• Store bought White Icing
• Butter (room temperate...around 1/2 cup....but it's up to you)
• Icing Sugar (optional)
• 1 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest (optional)
• Garnish Ideas: cut down straw, fresh lemon slice, candy lemon slice

Now for the recipe...

Step 1: First things first, thaw your Pink Lemonade.  For fun, I strained my Pink Lemonade and reserved the pulp for my icing....but you don't need to - after all, it's an awful lot of trouble.  On to the cake mixing!

Step 2: For the most part, follow the direction of your White Cake Mix - preheat your oven and add in your eggs and oil, but replace the water with your Pink Lemonade Concentrate. Mix the batter until it is smooth.  If you'd like to make your batter a little more PINK, add in a small dab of Red Gel Food Colouring and mix well. 

Step 3: Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners and bake as directed on package. Once done, cool completely before icing

Step 4: For the icing, mix together your vanilla icing and butter on high until smooth.  Taste your icing and if it's not sweet enough for you or too buttery add in some icing sugar.  Next, you can add in the reserved Pink Lemonade Pulp and/or add a tsp of Fresh Lemon Zest.  It's really up to you and how lemony you want your cupcake to be and if you want to add the zest or pulp in the icing.

Step 5: With the icing all mixed up, it's time to top your cupcake with the sweet (maybe lemony) icing.  Add as little or as much of your icing as you'd like.  You can use a piping bag or whatever icing method you prefer. To garnish your cupcake try cutting down a straw and sticking it in the icing with a fresh or candy lemon slice.

Happy Faking!

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Cupcakes 4 a Cause (Year 2, Round 2)

It's hard to believe that May has come and gone again! Through many great activities and donations an outstanding cheque was presented to the IWK this past weekend. One of those contributors, RS, I owe one dozen cupcakes! Now that it's June, maybe he'll want a summer inspired cupcake like my Pink Lemonade Cupcake...recipe coming soon!

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Baby's First Fancy Cupcake #5

Just a few short weeks ago AS and NS welcomed their beautiful baby girl to the world. LGS is a sweet little girl with quite the head of hair!  The big question is, at what age will she be out kayaking with her parents? But one thing is for sure, she will be a beautiful flower girl in September.

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