National Cupcake Day Countdown: 3 days away!

Only three more days until National Cupcake Day and the new fundraiser in support of SPCAs and Humane Societies across Canada. My team, M&M Sprinkles, is getting closer to our goal of $1,000 and we're hoping our BIG Bake Sale on Monday will get us there.

Our most recent fundraising activity was a Casual Day where our team collected donations at our workplace entrance. As a thank you to any donation above $2, we gave people tickets on a draw for a cupcake tree filled with cupcakes baked by the lovely BA! Big CONGRATS to PT on winning the cupcakes and kudos for sharing with your fellow colleagues.

You may have noticed the three GIANT cupcakes in the picture. Well, those were baked by me and put up on a silent auction for the better part of the morning.  The three flavours were Colossal Carrot Cake Cupcake, Giant Red Velvet Cupcake, and Sinful Cinnamon Buttermilk Cupcake. The silent auction was a huge hit - a big THANKS and CONGRATS to the successful bidders: RP,  MS and Finance. All in all the team had a great day and we raised over $500!

Curious about the baking of the Giant Cupcakes? Or maybe looking for the recipe for the Sinful Cinnamon Buttermilk Cupcake? Those will be featured in future posts, so be sure to check back for that AND the outcome of our Bake Sale on National Cupcake Day - February 25. 

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Strawberry Red Velvet Cupcake

Not a baker but want to impress your sweetie with a baked treat? This is the recipe for you! Over the past few years companies have started releasing Red Velvet Cake mixes, making it even easier to make this popular treat. But we're going to take it one step fancier so that your Valentine will never know you faked your way through this treat...all it takes is a little strawberry seduction.  To make this rich, decadent cupcake all you'll need is...

• Red Velvet Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water...but we're replacing the water for this one)
• Strawberry Puree (to replace the water your recipe calls for, I pureed frozen strawberries)
• Strawberry Syrup (you know, the stuff you put on ice cream)
• Store bought Vanilla Icing
• Butter (room temperate...around 1/2 cup....but it's up to you)
• Icing Sugar (optional)
• Garnish: Strawberry Candy, Fresh Strawberry, Chocolate Covered Strawberry

And now the transformation...

Step 1: Sort of follow the directions on your Red Velvet Cake Mix. Start by preheating your oven and add the oil and eggs...but DO NOT add the water. Replace all of the water your cake mix calls for with Strawberry Puree.  Mix the ingredients together until it is smooth.

Step 2: Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners.  Top each uncooked cupcake with a teaspoon or so of Strawberry Syrup. Bake as directed on the package.  Once they are done baking, let them cool completely.

Step 3: On to the icing! Traditionally you'd use Cream Cheese Icing, but for this recipe we're keeping it easy for the non-bakers.  But if you want Cream Cheese Icing, click HERE for the recipe. To make a simple Vanilla icing just mix together your store bought Vanilla Icing and Butter on high until smooth.  Add some icing sugar if it's not sweet enough for you or just too buttery for your taste.

Step 3: Now it's time to bring it all together and ice your masterpieces! To up the fancy try using an tip in a piping bag.  Just go to Bulk Barn or Micheal's and pick up a simple tip like the #1M (ask a clerk for help).  Ice your cupcakes and top them with the garnish of your choice.

Happy Faking! 

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Will you be mine?

Can you believe that Valentine's Day is just next week? Do you have something sweet planned for your sweetie?  You can always bake them a yummy treat! I've shared lots of great Valentine's appropriate recipes over the last couple of years like my Strawberry Balsamic Cupcake and HOT Chocolate Chili Cupcake.  And this year I have another...Strawberry Red Velvet Cupcake.  For this recipe I have made it even simpler for the people who really don't enjoy baking.  Recipe coming Monday!

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Watermelon Cupcake

With all this cold weather, we could all use a little taste of summer. And nothing says summer like watermelon! Did you know that you can buy watermelon flavour? I didn't until I saw some at Bulk Barn. Now I have to admit, I was pretty hesitant about how well this would work out...but it was (in the words of my coworkers) FABULOUS. For this refreshing taste of summer you'll need...

• White Cake Mix (plus ingredients to make the cake...usually eggs, oil, and water)
• 4 tsp Cocoa Powder
• 1/8 tsp Watermelon flavour (plus a few more drops for the icing)
• Red Gel Food Colouring
• Green Gel Food Colouring
• Store bought White Icing
• Butter (room temperate...around 1/2 cup....but it's up to you)
• Icing Sugar (optional)
• Garnish Idea: Watermelon Candy

And now the recipe...

Step 1: Follow the directions of your White Cake Mix - preheat your oven and add in your eggs, oil, and water.  I usually just throw all three whole eggs in and don't bother separating as directed on the package. Mix together until the batter is smooth.  .

Step 2: Ok, it's time to create two flavours of batter. Remove one cup or so of the batter and place in a separate bowl.  In the small bowl of batter add 4 tsp cocoa powder and mix until smooth.  Then, in the remaining bowl of batter, add 1/8 tsp of Watermelon flavour and some Red Gel Food Colour to make it pink.  Mix well until smooth.

Step 3: Add the pink Watermelon flavoured batter to you cupcake liners, filling them around 1/2 full.  For the chocolate batter, I wanted to make them look like the seeds in a watermelon.  To do this, the easiest thing to do is to place the chocolate batter in a piping bag with a 1A tip.  Stick the tip in the batter and squeeze while you pull up - repeat two more times.  If you don't have a large round tip for your piping bag, you can use a turkey baster - but it's messy!! To use the turkey baster fill it from the top and do the same as you would with the piping bag...you'll just need to keep filling it up. 

Step 4: Place the cupcakes in the oven and bake as directed on your cake mix package. Let your cupcakes cool completely before icing. 

Step 5: On to the Watermelon icing! Mix together the vanilla icing, butter, and a few drops of the Watermelon flavour on high until smooth.  Give your icing a taste and if it's too buttery for your liking add in some icing sugar.  If you want it to be more Watermelony, add some more Watermelon flavour.  Once you're happy with the taste add a little Green Gel Food Colouring and mix well until fully incorporated.

 Step 6: Once your cupcakes are cooled, ice your cupcakes however you feel like.  When you ice your cupcakes, try to keep it near the centre of the cake so that you can see the chocolate poking out at the sides underneath.  Top with the garnish of your choice, I used a Watermelon Candy Slice, and enjoy.

Happy Faking!

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