Green Velvet Wee Bit O’ Cake {Cupcakes}

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Oh laddie and lassies the St. Patrick’s Day fun is in full swing! We are on the final countdown to the big Party! This year St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday which means that we can have a party all weekend long! Snake Saturday and St. Patrick’s all in the same weekend?! That is like Crazy Irish Fun Overload! I Can Not Wait!!! Today I am bringing you the best tasting cupcakes that I have ever {and I mean ever} made! You all Love Red Velvet, I mean everyone loves Red Velvet. Just think of that great taste and then multiply by 10,000! This cupcake punches a ton of flavor with that bit of bite that red velvet has and then the most decadent Cream Cheese Frosting tops it all off! You can’t miss the fact that these are Perfect for St Patrick’s Day Treats.

Can you see how moist and fluffy the cake is? This cupcake will just melt in your mouth and fill your taste buds with joy! That Cream Cheese Frosting is thick and rich and sweet and to die for! When the Hubster took these to work the guys almost demanded a second batch right away. It’s such a nice feeling to have your work appreciated and loved. I mean it is why we do all this. To bring joy to those we cook and bake for. I love the warm gushey feeling I get when people tell me they enjoy the treats and meals I make for them!

This recipe was totally different than any other cake recipe I have made. There is no butter but there is Vegetable Oil. I suggest adding more flour than what the recipe called for to help the batter set up during baking. The recipe I provide reflects the extra flour. I found this on Love From the Oven. As soon as I saw these I knew I had to make them this year for my St. Paddy’s Day Fun!

I just love them! Plus even though you can’t see them very well I adore the Green Plaid Cupcake Papers that they are baked in! You know me and my Plaid!

Green Velvet Wee Bit O’ Cake {Cupcakes}

Ingredients

3 cups AP Flour
2 cups Sugar
1 tbs cocoa {I use Dutch Process}
1 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk {to make Buttermilk put 1 and 3/4 tbs of cream of tartar in 1 cup of Milk and let sit for 10 min}
1 tbs White Vinegar {this gives the cake its distinct flavor}
1 tsp vanilla
1 oz green food coloring {that is the whole bottle!}

Instructions

For the Cupcakes:
preheat oven to 350
In a bowl to the mixer add
the eggs, oil, buttermilk, vinegar and vanilla
whisk lightly
then add the sugar, salt, cocoa powder, baking SODA and mix
Slowly add the flour one cup at a time
now add the food coloring
in paper lined muffin tins add just less than 2/3 full {this batter really puffs up during baking}
bake for 20-25 min check for doneness at 18 min
let cool on a wire rack completely
For the Frosting:
in a mixer combine all the ingredients but the milk and mix
then add the milk one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is achieved
frost with a 1M tip or just smear that delicious frosting on top!
Enjoy!

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin

http://www.pandpkitchen.com/2013/03/12/green-velvet-wee-bit-o-cake-cupcakes/

The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen 2012

Oreo Stuffed Sugar Cookie Brownies

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Just the name alone lets you know that this treat is going to be a Sugar Overload of Yumminess! Let me tell you that this one delivers! I had to get these out of the house ASAP so I wouldn’t be a little Miss Piggy and eat everyone of them in one sitting! (Seriously, I think I could have!) So where did I take these tempting treats? To My Work!!! I just could not let them out of my sight! Even right now as I am typing this my sweet tooth is pinging away! I almost want to go to work early so I can grab one. I did say Almost…. You can’t have been anywhere in the blogoshpere lately and not seen an Oreo stuffed into most any cookie, candy, cupcake and the such. Every time I saw a post like that I would begin to drool from the sheer joy of the tasty morsel. I have been searching High and Low throughout Kansas City and I can not find the Gingerbread or Peppermint Oero’s!! Did you hear me NABISCO?!! What have we done to deserve this oversight?! Not one store here North of the River has these cookies!!! Can you imagine just how more amazing this cookies would have looked with the red and white striped creme filing?! Well now I will never know…… I had to use the plain Holiday red creme ones. Ok I hear what you are saying don’t complain as these turned out just absolutely delicious!

I made these morsels for you for The 12 Weeks of Christmas Blog Hop! This is something crazy like week 8, which means that Christmas is only 4 weeks away!! Did I read that correctly? 4 weeks away!!! Holy Merry Christmas Bat Man! Time to switch in to high gear and start the frenzy! Hop on over to Brenda at Meal Planning Magic to learn all about her great Party that she puts together for us all. Take a closer look at these

You want to crawl into your computer screen right now don’t you? I know I do! Are you ready to learn just how easy it was to throw these together? Of course you are! Well here’s the recipe…..

Oreo Stuffed Sugar Cookie Brownies

This is Super easy to make! It would be a fun cooking project to do with the Kiddo's!

Ingredients

1 package of Brownie mix ( I used Dark Chocolate Fudge)
1 package of Sugar Cookie Mix (I told you super easy!)
1 package of Oreo's
eggs, oil, butter and water as called for on your mixes
colored dusting sugar (optional: I really wish I would have not used it. I didn't like the look when it was done)

Instructions

line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners
make the brownie mix and sugar cookie mix according to your packages
place 2 tbs of brownie mix in each liner
then an Oreo Cookie
then take 2 tbs of sugar cookie dough and press on top of each to cover
bake at 350 for 15 min
cool, remove wrappers and then proceed to stuff them all in your mouth!
Enjoy!

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin

http://www.pandpkitchen.com/2012/11/15/oreo-stuffed-sugar-cookie-brownies/

The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen 2012

If you have missed any of my other 12 Weeks entries take a look at them here!

Apple Caramel Bread Pudding, Peppermint Fudge Cookies, Snowflake Cake, Egg Nog Cake, and Christmas Blondies

You can find me at these great Linky Parties this week:

Crazy Sweet Tuesday’s, Trick or Treat Tuesday’s, Totally Tasty Tuesday’s, Back for Seconds , Cast Party Wednesday’s, Whatcha whipped up Wednesday’s, Sweet treats and Swanky Stuff Thursday’s, Just My Crazy Kitchen, Strut Your Stuff Friday’s, I’m loving it Friday’s, Crumbs and Chaos Saturday’s, Weekend Pot Luck!

!– start LinkyTools script –>

Brownie Treats with White Chocolate Frosting

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Happy Wednesday Foodie Friends! I have some wonderful things planned for you in the coming weeks! I have brownies, cookies, candies, cake and pies, oh and a few wonderful savory dishes to boot. I mean we can’t live off of Sweets alone can we? Well I would like to…. Yesterday I sat down got all organized and made a game plan of recipes that will take me all the way through Christmas! Twenty-Five of them to be exact. Looking in all the recipe books and sifting through my idea folder really made me hungry and excited to get the whole show going! To start the Holiday Season off right I thought I would do something fun and rewarding. Rewarding to you my loyal followers! I am having my Second Giveaway here at The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen! My First Giveaway was a Cookbook and I was so excited to Mail it out to the winner. Terri, I hope that you are loving the cookbook and have made some yummy treats from it!

This month I decided to offer you a Subscription to a fun and easy little cookbook magazine. We all thumb through them in the checkout line at the grocery store, sometimes we even buy them. Most times we can find a really good quick and easy meal in them and they usually become family favorites.

You know this kind of fun little cookbook! Now I realize that we are supposed to pretend that we are such wonderful cooks, nay mini chef’s even, that we have all the recipes running around in our heads all the time. Well that simply just isn’t always true, no matter what image that we like to project. The great thing about these little cookbooks is that they have some great starter recipes that you can jazz up and really make your own. Take these brownies for instance. I added a table spoon of instant coffee granules and used a high quality white chocolate bar in the frosting. The recipe didn’t call for those items but boy did just those two little changes give these brownies a POP! I am hoping that you will enter and spread the word! The prize is a year subscription to Pilsbury Classic Cookbooks! You will recieve 6 issues in 2013 that is every single one, best part is you don’t even have to stand in line to get them! From the comfort of your own house you can enter in your pajamas even!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Another reason that I am having this giveaway is that I am trying to hit 500 followers on Facebook by Thanksgiving! I have grown almost 100 in the past weeks, so I am really ramping up the marketing plan to hit 500! If I can make my goal I am going to do a big giveaway as my thank you to you for helping achieve my goal! So enter here and enter often and spread the word!

Brownie Treats with White Chocolate Frosting

This recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker Homemade for the Holidays 2012

Ingredients

1 box fudge brownie mix
egg oil and water as called for in mix
1 tbs instant coffee granules
1 12 oz premium White Chocolate Bar Chopped
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
6 tbs butter room temperature
3 tbs milk
24 mini chocolate bar bites

Instructions

make the mix according to package instructions adding the coffee
spoon into 24 greased regular sized muffin tins filling about 2/3 full
bake at 350 for 20 min
remove and cool completely
to make the frosting melt the chopped white chocolate in the microwave for 30 sec intravals
let cool slightly
mix the sugar and butter and milk
fold in the melted chocolate
pipe or smooth frosting on top of brownies and place a candy bite on top!
Enjoy!

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin

http://www.pandpkitchen.com/2012/11/14/brownie-treats-with-white-chocolate-frosting/

The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen 2012

You can find me at these great Linky Parties this week:

Crazy Sweet Tuesday’s, Trick or Treat Tuesday’s, Totally Tasty Tuesday’s, Back for Seconds , Cast Party Wednesday’s, Whatcha whipped up Wednesday’s, Sweet treats and Swanky Stuff Thursday’s, Just my Crazy Kitchen, Strut Your Stuff Friday’s, I’m loving it Friday’s, Crumbs and Chaos Saturday’s, Weekend Pot Luck

Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

This time of year is just filled with great outdoor activities! I just got back from a visit to my home state. Well as much as I can call anywhere home! Having lived in 9 states makes it very difficult to call anywhere home. For me I call Nashville Tn home. I spent the best part of my 20′s there and that is the home of my BFF and her 3 wonderful children. One just happens to be my God-Daughter! Oh she has a pretty Nifty husband too. Middle Tennessee had this magic quality that is steeped in her beautiful rolling hills where the mist settles nicely in the early morning. The sun is always high in the sky shinning down, the air is brisk in the morning but warms you through and through during the day. The history, the scenery and that it is all a great round about place to live, really tugs at my heart and makes me very homesick while we live in all these other places. None of them hold the place in my heart like Tennessee! Plus there is not that much emphasis on the Country Music as you would think. It is pretty much just all in its little own world. Which suits me just fine.

I actually made these cupcakes before I left and didn’t get a chance to post them. Well that delay worked out great, because lo and behold while I was away we went to a PUMPKIN PATCH!!!! What great time we had! It was just me and the 2 little ones. Although I can just hear the 10-year-old moaning now,”Aunt Chandra I am not LITTLE anymore!” We got to choose just the perfect pumpkins, ride a hay ride and get lost in the corn maze. Well we weren’t really lost but it was fun to pretend!

All that we needed was a big bonfire and some marshmallows! Maybe the next visit! Now as for these totally amazing Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes! The frosting and the filling are the same and let me tell you that this is Amazingly good!!!! I took these to work (bloggers tell me you do the same! We would be big as a house if we ate all our goodies!) and they were gone lickty split! So easy to make and they have a great WOW factor for guests and family! There is like 4 ingredients minus the cake needs. I love being able to take a boring ole box mix and jazz it up! I mean really we hardly have the time to get all the family, work, cleaning, baking, cooking, picture taking, post writing, networking done in one measly day! So anything that can help us is a really good thing! The frosting and the filling were light as air and really kicked up the flavor value of this cupcake. Kids will love this cupcake, but really this is more of what we as adults are looking for in a desert. It is light, airy and full of flavor! Oh and not to mention Cute!!!

There is even fun delight in the middle!

Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes

This is an easy and very impressive looking dessert to serve to guests and to take to potlucks!

Ingredients

1 box of yellow cake mix and the eggs, oil and water it calls for
1 tbs pumpkin pie spice
1 14 oz pumpkin pie filling
1 pint of Heavy Whipping cream
1 9" pie crust

Instructions

In a mixing bowl beat the cake mix and it's called for ingredients
add the pupmkin pie spice and stir in
pour the batter into 24 prepared cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake for 20 min or until done
cool on a wire rack so your bottoms don't get soggy
whil they are cooling take the pie crust and cut out 24 little pumpkins with a mini cookie cutter
score in the pumpkin details and cook at 400 for 10 min
when cool freeze your whisk attachment to your blender and the bowl
beat the whipping cream in the frozen bowl untill stiff peaks are formed
fold in the pupmpkin pie filling
place in a pastry bag with the largest star tip you have
take out the middle of the cupcakes ( used a mellon baller)
pipe the filling in the hole and top the cupcakes with star points to make a pretty presentation
place a pie crust pumpkin on each cupcake
Enjoy!

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin

http://www.pandpkitchen.com/2012/10/15/pumpkin-patch-cupcakes/

The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen 2012

You can find me at all these great link parties this week!

Making you crave Monday’s, Crazy Sweet Tuesday’s, Trick or Treat Tuesday’s, Tasty Tuesday’s, Totally Tasty Tuesday’s, Cast Party Wednesday’s, Whatcha Whipped Up Wednesday’s, Sweet Treat and Swanky Stuff, Kitchen Fun with My Three Son’s, Crumbs and Chaos, I’m loving it Friday’s, Weekend Pot Luck, and Six Sisters Stuff

Neapolitan Cupcakes

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

One of the great summer delights I remember as a child was when you would hear the music wafting across the breeze from a block or two away, you know that you have only a few precious moments before that music arrives and then moves on. Yes I am talking about the one and only mobile frozen treat chariot…. The Ice Cream Man!!!

The Ice Cream Man would offer a great diversion from the heat, when jumping through the sprinkler has lost its charm, and your friends all had to go home for one reason or another and you had no one to ride bikes with, when mom said get back outside every time you tried to sneak in, there would be the rescue of the Ice Cream Man. Among those treats were bomb pops, orangecicles, drumsticks and my favorite the Neapolitan Ice Cream Bar. Wonderful yummy stripes of Chocolate, Vanilla, and the most irresistible flavor… STRAWBERRY!

As an adult I still enjoy the simple pleasures of a good little treat that can transport you to a simpler time. When I came across this recipe I was like a little girl all over again. I was like ” I have to make this! I have to make this!” The recipe called for melted ice cream and all sorts of odd and way too detailed of instructions so I made my own recipe that was much simpler and just as yummy!!!

Neapolitan Cupcakes

5.0 from 1 reviews

Recipe type: Dessert

Author: The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Ingredients

For the cupcakes
1 box of vanilla cake mix
1 tbs dutch cocoa
1 once melted chocolate chips (I used mini and then sprinkled some on top)
1/4 cup strawberry jam
for the frosting
4 oz cream cheese room temp
1/3 cup butter room temp
2 tsp vanilla
6 cups powdered sugar
4-6 tbs milk
red food coloring

Instructions

For the Cupcakes
make the cake mix according to directions on the box
in 3 separate bowls dived the batter equally
leave one bowl vanilla
in the second bowl mix the chocolates
in the third bowl mix the jam
in 24 cupcake liners layer the three batters evenly (approx 1 tbs of each flavor in each liner)
(I suggest doing the chocolate on the bottom layer)
bake at 350 for 15 min cool completely before you frost
For the Frosting
Beat the cream cheese and butter till creamy
add the vanilla mix
add the powdered sugar and 1 tbs of milk at a time till desired consistency is achieved
split the batch of frosting in half
leave the first half white
the second half tint pink with red food coloring (go easy you can always add but never take away, you want this light pink)
in a piping bag layer each frosting side by side and pipe on the cupcakes to get the striped effect
sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and top with a cherry

WordPress Recipe Plugin and Microformatting by EasyRecipe

You can find me at these Great Linky Parties! Please Check them out there is some great stuff here!

http://www.chef-in-training.com/tuesday-talent-show-35/

http://33shadesofgreen.blogspot.com/2012/05/tasty-tuesdays-spinach-tart.html

http://www.thegunnysack.com/2012/05/whats-in-gunny-sack-link-party-36.html#more

http://everything-underthemoon.blogspot.com/2012/05/bedazzle-me-monday-31.html

http://cookingwithkaryn.blogspot.com/2012/05/chocolate-chip-brownie-pie.html

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2012/05/makin-you-crave-monday.html

Mini Easter Whoopie Pies

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Like I said, I just LOVE LOVE LOVE Spring!!! I love all the colors, all the flowers, the green green grass and the longer days and warmer nights! I wanted to have a fun little dessert to serve with my Pot Roast with Spring Vegetables. I thought that this would do the trick! Whoopie Pies seem to be all the rage in the foodie world lately so I thought I would throw a little quick fun one out there. This uses a box cake…. I know I know….. I make 99% of my cakes and cupcakes from scratch, so throwing in a box mix from time to time won’t kill anyone. They have come a long way!!!

These are easy and really not that time consuming. They taste great and teenage boys gobble them right up, even though I used such “girly” colors…….

Mini Easter Whoopie Pies

Recipe type: Dessert

Author: The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Ingredients

1 box white cake mix
2 sticks butter room temp
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tbs vanilla
4-5 tbs milk
3-5 assorted food colorings

Instructions

Make box mix according to directions
in as many bowls as you are going to make colors divide batter evenly
mix in food coloring
pour 1 tbs of colored batter into mini muffin pans
bake at 350 for 11 min
for the frosting
beat the butter and sugar and slowly pour in the vanilla and milk til desired piping consistency
when cupcakes are COMPLETELY cooled
cut off the top of the cakes
pipe or spread the frosting on one top and cover with a second making little sandwiches

WordPress Recipe Plugin and Microformatting by EasyRecipe

Irish Cream Coffee Cupcakes

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

When two Food Bloggers get together for the weekend, one can only imagine how much cooking would be happening. In the case of Ashley at Kitchen Meets Girl and myself we cooked and baked quite a bit!! We even made a really yummy cocktail that took much less than stellar photos….. Just means I will have to make it a second time. We learn from our mistakes do we not? One item that was not a mistake were these super yummy cupcakes! We wanted to get a head start on our St. Patrick’s Day festivities! It is a big To Do here in Kansas City, starting with Snake Saturday and ending with a Pub Crawl on the Big Day! So with just a couple of weeks to get some great recipe’s in and get ready for the big party we spent a small part of our Saturday baking up these little goodies!

While we were at the store getting our ~~booze~~ supplies for the weekend we saw this Iced Coffee Flavored Milk. Well we said we just had to have this and then it became a major ingredient in the frosting for the cupcakes!

I couldn’t believe how quick and easy it was to make these. It is always nice to have a second set of hands helping. Ashley is my partner in crime in food blogging world and she set me up with some great new features! Check out the side bar……

So Here are our Irish Cream Coffee Cupcakes! You can also see this post at Mrs. Fox Sweets

Irish Cream Coffee Cupcakes

5.0 from 2 reviews

Recipe type: Dessert

Author: The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen and Kitchen Meets Girl

Serves: 24

inspired by a recipe at Sweet Tooth

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups Cake Flour
3 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
12 tbs unsalted butter
2 whole eggs plus 2 egg whites
1 tbs vanilla
2 tsp instant coffee granules
1/2 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
For the Frosting
6 cups powdered Sugar
1 cup unsalted butter softened
5 tbs Iced Coffee Milk
3 tbs Bailey’s Irish Cream

Instructions

For the Cupcakes
In a mixer cream butter and sugar
add eggs one at a time until combined
add vanilla and salt and baking powder and coffee
add the flour and the Bailey’s Alternately
mix til batter is combined
Line 24 cupcake liners in muffin tins and fill 2/3 full of batter each
bake at 350 15-17 min
cook on a wire rack
For the Frosting
cream the butter and 4 cups of sugar
add 3 tbs coffee milk
add 2 more cups sugar
tbs coffee milk and 3 tbs Bailey’s
Mix till combined and piping consistency is achieved
Pipe or spread icing on cooled cupcakes
Start your Merry Ole St Paddy’s Party!!!

WordPress Recipe Plugin and Microformatting by EasyRecipe

http://mrsfoxssweets.blogspot.com/2012/03/luck-o-irish-link-party.html

Toffee Snickerdoodle Cookie Cupcakes!

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

For the past 11 years of our marriage I can count on 2 hands how many times we have gone to Mass. Not a very good Catholic am I? For whatever reason I always found some reason that I didn’t need to go. When Steven moved in with us and he started saying how he always wanted to go but no one ever took him. I knew it was time to head back to church. So with my crazy schedule we have been hitting Mass here and there. In an attempt to find a Church where he was comfortable and I didn’t feel too much a fish out of water…. We have been going to an Episcopalian Church and all three of us are really enjoying it. Kevin, just kinds goes because he wants to be with us as much as possible.

When I found out that the Church has a monthly dinner party group I was like sign me up for that! This past Friday was our first event with 3 other couples and we were asked to bring the dessert. Ok so now I need something fun, yummy, a little bit of a wow factor and portable….. Hmmmm let’s see…. Oh I know! CUPCAKES!!!! I am just about sure that everyone in the entire world loves cupcakes! So I found this recipe in a make your Christmas gifts thingy type magazine. It truly Delivered!

Dense, moist, oohey gooey, rich, and superbly easy to transport! They looked really cute and every one loved them! I even took some leftovers to work and my girls were like Yes Oh Yes please keep bringing the goodies!

Toffee Snickerdoodle Cookie Cupcakes!

Recipe type: Dessert

Author: The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Serves: 24

The cookie that became a cupcake Adapted from Food Gifts Magazine

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup butter room temp
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups ap flour
1 cup heath bars all chopped up (I used 2 large candy bars)
1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar for rolling dough in
for the frosting:
2/3 cup softened butter
8 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

For the cupcakes
Beat the sugar, butter, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt till light and fluffy
add eggs in one at a time
slowly add the flour and cinnamon and nutmeg
beat till dough is formed
stir in candy pieces
chill dough for 30 min
line cupcake tin with papers. (Go ahead and use the cutest one you can find)
using a cookie dough scoop take bits of dough out and form into a ball and roll in the 1/4 cup sugar
place in the muffin tins and push down to make a uniform look
bake at 375 for 15-18 min
cool completely before frosting
For the Frosting:
Beat the 2/3 cup butter and milk and vanilla till combined
add 2 cups of the powdered sugar
add the cinnamon
add the remaining 6 cups powdered sugar
thin with 1 tbs of milk at a time until you reach your desired consistency

WordPress Recipe Plugin and Microformatting by EasyRecipe

Champagne Cupcakes

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

Oohh did someone say Champagne and Cupcakes?! Oh My Goodness! Two of my favorite things combined in one little package of happiness!!! When entertaining family that have not been over in 11 years it is time to celebrate and have a little fun! Michelle celebrated her “29 again” birthday with us and this was the delicious little treat that I served for her Celebration!
I wish I could say that this was my original recipe but I have to give proper credit to Kystina Castella and her Crazy About Cupcakes cookbook.

For the Cupcakes:
2/3 cup butter at room temp
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 3/4 cups AP flour ( I wish I had used Cake Flour as the cupcakes were very dense and I think they would have been lighter if I had used Cake Flour. So use Cake Flour not AP)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup champagne
6 large egg whites at room temp
For the Frosting:
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/2 sticks butter at room temp
3-6 tbs champagne
4 1/2 cups powderd sugar
3 tbs merguine powder

Pre heat oven to 350 and place liners in cupcake pan. In a large bowl cream together the sugar and the butter till fluffy.

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the champagne on low spead to med low spead til combined.

Oh and by the way you know my saying as long as you are cooking with wine, go ahead and have a glass!

In a large bowl beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter and then fold in the remaing egg whites. This will be hard to do as the batter is very dense. I really think the Cake Flour would have made a big difference. Fill the cupcake lines 2/3 full and bake at 350 for 20 min.

Cool on a rack to keep bottoms from getting soggy.
To make the Frosting:
Combine all ingredients in a mixer with the paddle attachment

Frost with a palate knife and tap the frosting while pulling up to form the peaks. If you don’t want this look you can still frost smoothly. These were very very good and will make a great showy centerpiece to any event!

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Chandra@The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen

So Summer is winding down and we are all getting ready to have the kids head back to school!!! Yippee! All the stores have their fall decorations up and the sweaters are on the shelves. It is easy to wish the days away when Corporate America has us all brain washed to start thinking Christmas Shopping Season is a mere few weeks away. Then we step outside and the blast of the heat is upon us! Step back Retail Guru’s, I am not ready to head into fall just yet. It is August for crying out loud! It is HOT HOT HOT out there! So here is my toast to a Summer that I am not ready to give up on just yet!

This is super easy to boot!

1 package white cake mix

3 egg whites

1 cup water plus 2 tbs

1/3 plus 1/4 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate thawed

2 tbs canola oil

pink gel paste food coloring

4 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter softened

1/4 tsp lemon extract

2 1/2 tbs meringue powder

in a mixing bowl combing cake mix, egg whites, water, oil and 1/3 cup pink lemonade and a tiny amount of gel paste. This stuff is strong so go light on it unless you want a pepto pink cake mix.

Line 24 cupcake liners in 2 muffin tins and divide the batter evenly filling each well about 2/3 full. When done give the pans a little jiggle to settle the batter and a quick tap on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Cake mixes of today are nothing like the dry air filled mess that they used to be. You can really jazz up a good mix and they are moist and tasty!

Bake for 20 min at 350 or till the batter is baked through and the cake springs back when you touch it.

Cool cupcakes on a rack. The air circulation will cool them faster and keep the bottoms from getting soggy. We have all had that cupcake at pot luck from the poor individual who just doesn’t quite get it. If you are that individual this is the tip that fixes that!
While cupcakes are cooling make your frosting. If you plan on piping make a double batch of frosting as piping uses more product than just frosting with a palate knife.
Take the powdered sugar, 1/4 cup lemonade, 1/4 tsp lemon extract, 2tbs of water, and 2 1/2 tbs meringue powder in a standing mixer and combine till smooth and creamy.
If you pipe you can use room temperature cupcakes. If you are going to frost with a palate knife the cooler the cupcake the better. I would chill them for 30 min first.
Pipe or frost the cupcakes and enjoy your summery delight!!