Dreamsicle Cupcakes

Wow, it's been hot lately. When you step out the door and feel the humidity hit you like a brick wall, you know it's July in Missouri. On a run yesterday morning at 6:45, even my hands were sweating-that's gross. So, in an attempt to cool down and give everyone a refreshing treat, I made dreamsicle cupcakes. The idea came from a cake recipe my coworker shared. It reminded me of the delicious treats that mom sometimes stocked in our freezer on the hot summer days of my childhood. The cupcakes are made from orange cake mix. Then, a combination of orange Jello and Orange Crush soda is poured over the cupcakes to soak in and give a sweet, intense, orange flavor throughout. They are topped with a dollop of real whipped cream and garnished with a sugary orange slice.

Death by Chocolate

Tonight is the eve of the last day of summer school; a day for celebrating! I'll have a full month off to to rejuvenate, travel, and to shorten my list of things to do. Our theme for teacher treats tomorrow is "chocolate," and we'll need plenty of it to survive the last day. I decided to take it to the extreme by making devil's food cupcakes with a chocolate ganache glaze topped with chocolate shavings. I'm taking my cupcake making to a new level by making "from scratch" cupcakes and glaze. Yep, no boxed mix for me this time. I received two cupcake baking books for Christmas-one from my sister and one from my fiance. My sister gave me a bonus gift with the book by mixing up the dry ingredients for a few of the cupcakes. She sealed the mixes in Ziploc bags and labeled each bag with the page number for the recipe. What a great gift idea! This made the baking and the clean up much quicker. I got the recipes for the batter and glaze from these two books, and after a taste test, rave reviews were given. (Not just by me-from a friend who was over and the future huz too). In fact, the cupcakes had a brownie-like taste to them. They reminded me of one of my favorite Columbia desserts at Flat Branch, the "stout brownie." With the success of these cupcakes, I have certainly outdone Duncan Hines.

Fire and Ice

I'm teaching the second half of summer school this summer (12 days), and although I'd rather be out at the pool, it's been mostly painless. It's a long day to be inside with people who'd rather be on vacation, so we do a lot to keep the kids and teachers happy. For the kids we have drawings for prizes and frozen popsicles, and for the adults we have weekly scheduled happy hours and themed snack days. Today's snack theme was "Fire and Ice." My coworker and I split the work, so she created the "ice" cupcakes and I created the "fire" cupcakes. The ice cupcakes were topped off with white chocolate shimmery snowflakes and the fire cupcakes were flames of red, yellow, and orange icing/sprinkles. We displayed them side by side near the teachers lounge. They were a great treat, but they especially made me wish I was in Hawaii (viewing volcanoes flows), in Alaska (hiking through the mountains), or, well, anywhere else.

Happy Birthday America (and Grandpa)!

It was an exciting weekend with the celebration of the 4th of July, Grandpa Green's 94th birthday, and our engagement. It couldn't have been more perfect, since we got to visit both families. First to St. Louis to see my family for fried zucchini and wiffle ball, then to Slater to see his family for barbecue and fireworks. I made two pans of "kupcake kabobs" as my contribution to the delicious food we ate. The red cupcakes are made with red velvet cake, and the blue cupcakes are tinted with food coloring. The fruit was a nice touch-you know, keeps them somewhat healthy. It turns, out all ages enjoyed them. I watched as my 2 year old nephew, 11 year old niece, and 83 year old grandma all scrambled to get their hands on one. It was a memorable day!

Engagement Surprise

Wednesday, June 30 was an exciting and surprising evening. My boyfriend and I came home from the gym, and we cooked dinner together. As we finished eating he began to tell me what a wonderful part of his life I am, and the next thing I knew he was down on his knee next to me. Of course, I said "yes," and he slipped a diamond ring on my finger. It took me a few minutes to stop jumping up and down, and he played some guitar for me before we made phone calls to announce the news. I was eager to show off my new piece of jewelry, and we wanted to share the news with some friends in town. I didn't have the time or the focus to make engagement cupcakes, but I was able to come up with a plan. I made cupcakes for the 4th of July, and I was saving them back. So, I grabbed a few of them and headed to the store. I didn't have time to ice them, but I did manage to find some Ring Pop candy to put on top. When we got to our friend's house it was almost 11:00pm. But, they weren't all that surprised to see me outside the door with a container of cupcakes. I opened the container and looked at a confused face. While I hid my ring finger under the container, I asked my friend what type of candy she saw on top. She screamed, grabbed my hand, and congratulated us both. These might not be my most detailed or creative cupcakes, but they have to be the most special, by far.