A White Christmas

This year's Christmas was wonderful, but it flew by way too fast. I'm used to getting two full weeks off for Christmas, but this year I worked up until two days before. I guess I got a taste of reality like those working in non-education related fields. To top it off, there were no snow days before Christmas this year. I always depend on a snow day or two to finish my Christmas baking, gift wrapping, and decorating. So, this month's cupcakes came after the 25th, but before New Year's Eve. They commemorate our beautiful white Christmas here in Missouri. Although my fiance and I had a long drive on Christmas day, we were happy to be together, got to see both families, and we had an amazing view of the snow stretching across the state.

This will be the last post of 2010, and I'm proud to say that I managed to contribute at least one post a month to my blog. More importantly, I've stuck with my new hobby (cupcake making) for a full year! This past year couldn't have gone better, and I have so much to look forward to in 2011 (A WEDDING!!!). But, as far as cupcakes go, I have some new ideas and motivation to try the latest craze in cupcakes-cake pops! My sister gave me this book, and I can't wait to get started on this new project in 2011...

Thanksgiving Cupcake Feast

It's almost Thanksgiving, and I carved out some time this week to create a sweet version of the staple dish at every Thanksgiving dinner. Many variations on traditional turkeys have become popular over the years. Some families indulge in deep fried turkey and others go completely overboard by combining three meats to create turducken. I, on the other hand, prefer to have turkey for dessert. These cupcakes are made with caramels rolled out and cut to be molded around a mountain of icing. They are stuffed with crunchy granola and sugary sprinkles to represent parsley. The drumsticks are caramels shaped around wheat sticks and tipped with icing. The turkeys rest in a lettuce bed created from corn flakes coated in green icing. Making these cupcakes reminds me how thankful I am that I have such a wonderful fiance (one who will unwrap 72 caramels and shape some of them around wheat sticks to make 24 drumsticks). I have so much to be thankful for: a great place to live, a supportive family, dependable friends, a rewarding job, and great hobbies (like cupcakes!).

Cupcake Cones

Do you remember these delicious treats from your childhood? Our treat theme for work tomorrow is "flashback favorites," and these cupcake cones are a flashback to my elementary school days. I remember going to birthday parties and being amazed that cupcakes could be baked inside ice-cream cones. It turns out, all those kids' moms didn't have special baking skills; it's a simple treat to make. Just mix cake batter as usual and fill each cone about 1/2 full. Then, stand the cones up in cupcake tins and bake. I chose Funfetti cake mix with Funfetti icing since rainbow sprinkles are quite a novelty for kids. These treats are a delicious blast from the past!

Tailgating Treats

It's fall, and along with fall comes wonderful weather, colorful leaves, and football! At work we welcomed the fall season with a treat day. The theme was "Tailgating Treats," and I had to rack my brain for cupcake ideas. Some people take tailgating very seriously and set out quite a spread. The food possibilities for this theme were endless. In the end, I decided hamburgers were a must for tailgating. These little sliders were created by slicing a cupcake in half horizontally. Round cookie cutters were used to slice gooey brownies into meat patties. I used colored icing to create condiments, and the lettuce was a mix of coconut and green food coloring. The finishing touch was the sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Now if only I had fries to go with these burgers...

Chocolate Raspberry Deliciousness

It was a wonderful September weekend filled with good company, pleasant weather, and delicious food. I had a great reason to make cupcakes, because I got to see my parents and my future in-laws on Saturday. We met in Boonville to eat a nice dinner and celebrate the recent engagement. I brought my in-laws a batch of cupcakes, and I saved some back for my parents to eat for dessert when we returned to Columbia. I decided to try the same "from scratch" devil's food cupcakes I'd made earlier this summer. Then, I filled them with seedless raspberry jam. I topped them with real whipped cream, and I added a hint of raspberry jam to give the cream a subtle fruity flavor. They were a perfect combination of rich chocolate and sweet raspberry. A taste comparison occurred late on Sunday after my mother and I returned from a wedding show with several cake samples from local bakeries. The verdict: My chocolate raspberry cupcakes were better than all of the samples we tried. Of course, that came from my mother, father, and fiance who know the right thing to say if they want more cupcakes anytime soon. In fact, my finance and I discussed how we might have to make chocolate raspberry one of the choices for cake at our wedding. I'm assuming you know when I say "cake" at the wedding, I mean cupcakes. But, we'll have to find a superb bakery, because I, the bride, will not be baking on the day before our wedding.

An Apple for the Teacher

It's the start of a new school year for me and for my 27 new students. Tomorrow is the first day of the 2010-2011 school year, and I'm starting my 7th year with the largest class I've ever had. It wouldn't be the start of the year without excitement mixed with nerves. I can't help but wonder what challenges are ahead of me, and I'm excited to meet those challenges with energy and knowledge. It's always a little bit sad when I delete the names of last year's kids from my computerized class list to replace them with this year's list. But the chance for a fresh start and the hope of bonding with a new group makes it worth the new start each August. I made these "back to school" cupcakes for our teacher meetings at the beginning of the week. I promised a co-worker some cupcakes for doing a favor for me, and she was nice enough to share these "apples" with other teachers. The cupcakes are neatly displayed on my new cupcake stand from my future mother-in-law. What a nice way to show off my creations. Hopefully I can make some time to keep up the cupcake hobby throughout this school year!

S'more Cupcakes Please!

Over the past two weeks my fiancé and I traveled throughout the northwestern United States and through Canada by motorcycle. We began the journey in Missouri and drove north until we reached North Dakota. After two days of driving west across North Dakota and Montana, we arrived at Glacier National Park where crystal clear waters reflected towering mountains. It was beautiful! After traveling across the Canadian border, we spent our first night camping instead of continuing our formerly established pattern of crashing in small town motels. I have to admit, I was less than excited about camping. The last time I went camping was in early college, and it was only for one night. I knew this could be multiple nights, and we were limited on supplies we could bring due to the lack of motorcycle trunk space. (Well, we might have had a trailer, but I still had to bring fewer pairs of shoes than desired). Much to my surprise, I had a fantastic time camping. My fiancé and I enjoyed the challenges of putting up a tent together for the first time, and I especially enjoyed making S'mores over the campfire. I managed to survive camping for three nights in a row. These cupcakes are in honor of my new found joy for camping. I was able to find campfire cupcake “aprons” to put around the liners. Another great part of these treats is they are filled with marshmallow creme with the help of an amazing contraption that allows you to fill cupcakes with just about anything. Yes, below you will see pictures of a recent gift from my future mother-in-law. It’s easy to use and makes filling cupcakes a simple process. I received another great cupcake gift, and I have plans to use it in my next post. Thanks, mom-in-law! I am obviously joining the right family!