Raspberry White Chocolate Cupcakes

So this recipe is actually technically just for the frosting because the cake I used is just a standard box vanilla or yellow cake mix (I did not have a lot of time). But the frosting was AMAZING! It has fresh raspberry puree and melted white chocolate, so how could it not be!?  If I made this again I would make the cake myself and add some white chocolate or raspberry to the cake mix as well. 

Currently I am sitting at home on a rainy day with a very sore throat drinking lemon tea and eating lentil soup. Not the ideal summer day but it forces me to get some things done including posting this recipe!

These cupcakes were not planned at all.  I was hired to make 12 cupcakes for a birthday party and mini cupcakes for a family friends party.  The mini cupcakes are shown below and have the same frosting and chocolate shavings on top. 

I also used these adorable cupcake liners for the minis! I thought the liners for the big ones were pretty sassy as well. 

The birthday party I was supposed to make sunflower cupcakes for got cancelled, but I had already make the cake part so I used my leftover raspberry white chocolate frosting and it worked out just fine! I also topped the big cupcakes with white chocolate chips and pearl sprinkles. 

I was inspired for this frosting recipe from the blog Love Stitched, but I did change it up a bit. 

Ingredients: 

This recipe makes frosting for 24 cupcakes.

1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4-1/2 cup chilled cream cheese (depending on how thick you want it)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
4-5 Tbsp. raspberry puree (made from 1/2 cup frozen raspberries)

*Optional garnish: white chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc. 

Directions:

1. First you should start with the raspberry puree by placing roughly 1/2 cup of frozen raspberries in a strainer over a bowl and let them thaw for at least 30 minutes.
Once they have softened, mash with a spoon inside the strainer until all you have left is the seeds. Set aside for use later. 

2. In a small saucepan bring heavy cream to a gentle boil.  Immediately pour over white chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl and mix with a fork.  
3. In an electric mixer, cream together butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until smooth (may take several minutes).
4. Turn mixer speed down and pour in the cream/white chocolate mixture.  Increase speed until well incorporated.  Add in salt and vanilla.
5. While mixing on low, add in desired amount of raspberry puree, and combine. 
6. Place in the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes to stiffen, if needed, or if not using immediately. 
7. Pipe onto cupcakes or cake with desired tip and add garnish if you wish! Refrigerate right after piping if you are not serving them immediately.

Enjoy! Happy Baking! 

Football Cupcakes!

This post is extremely late but what's new, I have a million things to do in this hectic college life of mine! It was so exciting to see the San Francisco 49er's in the Super-Bowl this year and devastating to see them lose, but they did not go down without a fight. Proud to be a native Bay Area sports fan these days!

I made these a few weeks ago for the Super-Bowl and anyone who was watching in my lounge a few weeks ago.  I'll take any excuse I can to bake, let's be honest. 

Just so you all know before I proceed this is going to be a decorating post, not a recipe post!  I totally cheated because of my time constraints and used boxed chocolate cake mix and bought frosting.  I rarely do this but I had to so sorry about that.

These cupcakes look adorable and are quite simple to execute.  All you need is a few ingredients and a little bit of patience.  They are not only perfect for professional sporting events but also for kids birthdays or just for fun!

I have not been on my baking game lately and I really miss it so I am hoping that maybe this weekend I will be able to carve out a few hours to relax and "whip" out (see what I did there) my oven mitt and electric mixer.  

If any one has any suggestions just let me know, I'm always interested in all of your opinions and could always use some fresh ideas. 

What you will need: 

- Cupcakes and liners

- Frosting (both of these can be found in my recipe index)

- 24 unwrapped Tootsie Rolls

- Small star piping tip and bag

Directions:

Step 1: Start off with 24 ready made chocolate or vanilla cupcakes and your choice of frosting, which must be thick enough to pipe.  Dye 90% of it green for the grass and leave the other 10% white for the lacing on the footballs.

 

Step 2: Microwave the Tootsie Rolls for 15-20 seconds, so that they are still in tact but just soft enough to mold into shape.  Shape each Tootsie Roll so that it is an oval to represent a football.  Using the smallest round piping tip you have, pipe one line in the center vertically and 3 lines across horizontally to displaying the lacing. 

           

Step 3: Pipe the green frosting onto each cupcake using a star tip to try and represent green grass. 

Step 4: Place one football on the top of each cupcake and you are done! Hand them out, bring to a party, make for a birthday, and enjoy!

As always, I hope you try it out and have a good rest of February- spring is going to be here before we know it! 

Happy baking everyone! 

Cupcake Decorating Party and Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

My sisters birthday is on the 21st of December and so close to Christmas so we usually try to have her birthday party after the holiday craze is over.  

She came up, all on her own, with the idea of having a cupcake decorating party! We got adorable take away boxes, which fit 4 cupcakes perfectly so each of her friends could take their creations home.

I spent the night before making 48 cupcakes, half of which were vanilla and half of which were chocolate. 

I also made chocolate and vanilla cream cheese frosting and filled four separate pastry bags with the frosting so all the girls could be decorating at the same time!

We had a wide array of candies, sprinkles, and chocolate chips to decorate the cupcakes!

Here are just a few of the extra cupcakes that I decided to decorate with the left over heath bar, chocolate chips, and frosting!

Have any of you had the peppermint Oreo's from Trader Joes? They are SO good!  For ten of the vanilla cupcakes I placed an Oreo in the bottom of the cupcake liner before filling it with the batter.  I put chocolate cream cheese frosting on the top of these and they were delish.  Here is a photo of one of them: 

I used store bought cake mixtures for the cupcakes but made the frosting from scratch.  

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter (at room temp, but still cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (chilled)
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream

Cream butter in an electric mixer slightly for about a minute and then add in the cream cheese and mix together until combined. 

Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar until it gets fluffy (don't worry it will be a bit clumpy for a few minutes but just continue to mix on medium speed). 

Start by adding one tablespoon of heavy whipping cream and beating for 1 minute (add more if it is not the consistency you are looking for). 

Make sure to keep it refrigerated once you're done!

For chocolate cream cheese frosting add 1/4-1/2 cup of good quality cocoa powder before adding the vanilla and powdered sugar and incorporate fully!

This party was really fun and all the girls loved it! Happy Baking!