Simple Yet Gourmet

When it comes to summer, I pull out all the lemon and lime recipes.  Ask my family, I love lemon anything!  Who doesn't love a key lime pie?  Here is a recipe for your favorite pie in cake form.  I took it a step further and created key lime cupcakes.  The recipe is for a 3 layered cake, but I found these cute cupcake holders that I had to use.  Plus, I was able to share these yummy treats with more people in cupcake form.   Don't let all of the steps scare you, it just takes time but I promise it will be worth the wait!  Graham cracker crust on the bottom, moist lime cake in the middle, a yummy layer of homemade lime curd and topped with a creamy vanilla buttercream.  I hope your family and friends enjoy this amazing summer treat as much as mine did.

These cupcakes are a peanut butter and chocolate lovers dream!   There are four main components to these delectable little cakes, starting out with a moist chocolate cupcake base sprinkled with chocolate chips. Next comes an absolutely dreamy peanut butter frosting, a drizzle of milk chocolate ganache, and a Reese's Peanut Butter cup to top it off. Holy Moly. These are SO good! My favorite part of these cupcakes has to be the peanut butter frosting.  It is just so delicious! It's packs a big peanut butter punch while still being fluffy and just sweet enough without being overly sweet.   I made these for Danny's 7th birthday with his favorite candy bar in mind and he LOVED them!  He also insisted that he get to help by unwrapping and placing the Reese's on the top of the cupcakes, so if they look a little skewed that's why ;).   Any type of Reese's will work here, or you can leave them off all together.  We used Peanut Butter Lovers for these....

I haven't made cupcakes in so long! When Valentine's Day was right around the corner I decided that I wanted to make some cupcakes to send into work with Aaron.  Just for fun! It seems like in the past I've always done some sort of chocolate so this year I decided to mix it up with a fruity frosting.  It ended up being amazing! I came across the idea of using Freeze Dried Strawberries for the flavor and it worked like a charm. The frosting is bursting with strawberry flavor, but without the moisture, and I even got this beautiful color to boot!  Although I made these for Valentine's Day, I'm thinking they would be perfect for Spring/Summer.  I paired these with some lemon cupcakes but they would be delicious with a variety of cakes.

As many of you know I love to make cupcakes. These came out to be really cute.  I made a smaller version and used them in my cupcake bouquet I made for a friend.  These are easy to make and super cute to take to a picnic dinner.  I made these a while back but have had many request for the recipe.  I think the lime and strawberry flavors are a great combination.  With strawberries in season, what a great way to eat them! Enjoy.

Don't you just love the color of this frosting?  So beautiful! It reminds me of Spring. Anyway, when I decided to make these cupcakes,  I was going to just make the Luscious Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream and then I remembered I had leftover raspberry syrup in the fridge and decided to throw that in too.  Worked like a charm and we got this color to boot!  I am typically not a fan of buttercream but I actually did like the taste of this one, and you really can't beat buttercream for piping frosting.  It holds it shape and stays soft for days!

 Is anybody else ready for Spring?  This winter has been so cold!  We find ourselves staying inside a lot of the time.  Such was the case a few days ago as I was trying to think of something to do other than watch TV.  When I asked Brynlee what she wanted to do she enthusiastically suggested a food craft.  I had seen these a while back and decided to give them a try.  I love the way they came together!  So bright and cheerful.  Almost like real flowers...almost.  These will have to do for the time being, but at least for a little while, we got a small taste of Spring.

I made this recipe a while back, but forgot to post the recipe.  With the holidays just around the corner, this is a great recipe to use for those school parties or family reunions.  If you like the sheet cake version, then you will like the cupcakes as well.  Like I have mentioned before, I like cupcakes because I don't have to worry about plates and, knives or spatulas when I take these to different functions.  Easy, delicious and functional, what else can you ask for?  Enjoy!

Pam and I must be on the same page about this time of year.  As soon as the fall hits, I break out the pumpkin and apples.  I love my house smelling like baked apples and warm pumpkin pie.  My family is getting a little tied of all the pumpkin recipes, but since I'm the cook, I get to choose what we eat!  On Sunday I made a big pot of white chicken chili and then made these for dessert.  Even Mike, who does not like pumpkin or dessert ate two of them, and even liked them.  They are extremely moist due to the sour cream and buttermilk.  They have a nice pumpkin spice flavor and the pumpkin cream cheese just adds that extra kick.  If you are not a pumpkin fan, I encourage you to still give these a try, they are amazing!  Get baking and enjoy this great time of year!!

I have never been a fan of carrot cake, but ever since a friend of mine gave me a fantastic recipe, I love carrot cake.  Not a fan of pineapple and raisins in my cake, but a good carrot cake is to die for.  That carrot cake recipe I make often, but I was excited to find a great carrot cake cupcake recipe to make for church dinners, picnic lunches or just a quick dessert after dinner. I love cupcakes because you don't need a plate or forks to enjoy this little bit of heaven.  They easier for someone to just grab and go, plus they feed more people than the cake does.  This recipe was quick and easy and the cake turned out wonderful.  I think that carrot cake is better the next day and this is the case for these as well.  Enjoy!

     Here is another wonderful cupcake recipe.  Someone asked me why do I make so many different types of cupcakes.  I love to take cupcakes to different parties or school functions so I always need a great new recipe.  Plus I think cupcakes are easier to serve and so much fun to decorate.      These cupcakes took no time at all and they looked amazing.  I love the fresh lemon taste of these cupcakes as we start the summer season.  I hope you enjoy these lemony treats!

Today we celebrated Brynlee's 4th Birthday!!  I wanted to make her something extra special for her cake, so I made a batch of these butterfly cupcakes.  You can use any type of cupcakes and frosting that you like, as long as the frosting is thick (in order to hold the wings in place).  Brynlee requested strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, so that's what we had.  I made the   Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcake s from a few weeks ago and the Cream Cheese Frosting  from   the Lindt Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes.    For the Butterfiles, I followed the instructions found in the book Hello Cupcake  for Monarchs.  Brynlee loved these and thought they were so beautiful!  Perfect for a spring birthday.

Who wants a cupcake?  I have been thinking about this combination for a while but wanted to find the perfect recipe.  I found the cupcake recipe on Martha Stewart.  Have you ever heard of Sprinkles Cupcakes?  They were kind enough to share their recipe for strawberry cupcakes with us.  The cupcakes are sturdy enough to hold up to frosting, deliciously moist, and just sweet enough.  They recommended topping these with a strawberry buttercream, but I thought a strawberry cream cheese frosting would be awesome, and I was right!  We all loved these!

I know Pam already posted a recipe for chocolate cupcakes, but I made these for a church function and many have asked for the recipe. This was a super easy recipe and the taste of raspberry really made the cupcake! I always say you can never have to many great cupcake recipes! Also, don't be impressed by my picture, the one I took got deleted so I used the one from the cupcake website. Instead of a raspberry on top, I sprinkled the cupcakes with mini chocolate chips, they were really cute!

Happy Valentines Day!  This is one of my favorite Holidays baking wise, because chocolate is a given.  To celebrate I made these decadent cupcakes for Aaron and his co-workers.  From what I heard they were a huge hit!!! I was a little nervous having never tried the cupcakes or the frosting before so I told Aaron not to tell anyone that I was bringing these in, just in case they didn't turn out.  I shouldn't have worried though-they turned out even better than I expected!

Crazy good!  That is all that needs to be said.  I found this fun recipe and had to try my hand at it.  They do take some time with all the different steps, but they were well worth the time and effort. I love a dessert that has the wow factor and these do the job.  I hope you won't be afraid to try these, I promise you won't be disappointed.

For my sister Becky's wedding she chose to have a cupcake tower instead of the usual wedding cake.  The inspiration for this tower came from the book Hello Cupcake .  This is a really fun book with all sorts of ideas for decorating cupcakes.  Most of them are silly, but this cupcake tower turned out really pretty.  The tower in the book was a 4 tier tower and so she just did cupcakes for the whole thing with one giant cupcake on top.  However, I could only find a  three tier so we made a 6 inch cake to go on the top instead.  I'm not going to go into all the details that went into the external decorations ( unless somebody is really interested ), but rather I thought I'd share the cupcake and frosting recipe I used.

These cupcakes are beyond delicious!   Divine is how my sister Becky described them.  I served these at her Bridal Shower on Saturday and everybody loved them!  I honestly think they are the best cupcakes I have ever eaten .  I'm not the only one who had that opinion either :) These are a chocolate lovers dream.  Here's the rundown.  A Lindt Lindor truffle is baked in the center of a rich and very moist devils food cupcake.

This coming Saturday I am hosting a baby shower for my sister Kristi.  We are going to have a light lunch including Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Buttermilk Rolls , Great White Punch, Strawberry Spinach Salad , a fruit tray with dip, mini-cheesecakes, and these adorable cupcakes.  As Aaron will tell you, I always have to try recipes out before making them for something and these cupcakes were no exception.  I had already tried out one cupcake recipe and they did not turn out well at all.  These came through for me though, and I'm so glad.  I think they will be just perfect for the baby shower!  I'll have more of these recipes for you after the shower :)

These happen to be my favorite cupcake! I love cream cheese frosting, chocolate chips and chocolate cake! Well this recipe combines all of those yummy ingredients to create a mouthwatering treat. The middle of the cupcake has a surprise of cream cheese and chocolate chips. I like to add toffee bits to the cream cheese filling sometimes for an added crunch and flavor. The cake is moist the frosting sweet and the middle, divine!! I haven't meet anyone who hasn't loved this cupcake!