Sunflower cupcakes

Last week I got a call for an order for a birthday cake and some cupcakes. I was so excited as I have not had many "official" orders and even though I have not had many I just knew this was going to be great! I have so many recipes I want to try and decoration ideas to test out but I am sure that my butt would be as big as a house if I decided to try one recipe a week! I know what you are thinking "Heather, just give them away" yea ok! That is a great idea in theory but we all know how that would go. Taste of the batter here.... lick of the frosting there... and before you know it your stomach hurts there is frosting from your nose to your chin and you are surrounded by little paper cup holders that have now been torn to shreds all around you. Then you think well I was just going to have one.... Well I try to not even tempt myself by trying to not bake all the time unless I have a purpose or a place to send the goods! SOOO my point being, it was AWESOME to get this order as it gave me cause to try a cake recipe I had wanted to try for so long as well as decorate some cupcakes and try another cake recipe! The only problems was I got the call Wednesday night and they needed the goods by Saturday morning... So that meant I needed to get my ducks in a row Thursday so that Friday after work I could everything baked! I decided that since last Saturday was the first day of spring that I would do some cheerful sunflower decorated cupcakes! For the cake they had requested something with with fresh fruit and it made me think of a recipe I have been dying to try that Cassie from How To Eat A Cupcake made a while ago! The recipe is here!!! And let me tell you folks.... this cake got rave reviews. I ended up making a cupcake version of it Monday, but that's another blog! The most amazing part I have got to say is the Swiss Meringue Butter Cream frosting!! I made it the way that Cassie made it with her tweaks from the original. I have watched her make SMBC for years and always wanted to try it out but to be perfectly honest... I was scared!! Yes YES I have admitted it! I was afraid of frosting! NOT ANYMORE KIDS!! I have made this frosting now 3 times. I can't seem to make it without the white chocolate though! That is probably because once I realized how easy it was to quest and conquer the amazing silky smoothness that is the Swiss Meringue Butter Cream I have gone on a bit of a binge! It is like suddenly realizing you like something that you never knew existed. You can't get it out of your head, you think about it all the time, and often realize that anything that you are eating could most definitely be made better by putting this new found magical item on it! I swear I am currently having an affair with Swiss Meringue Butter Cream!! For the cupcakes I made SMBC (without the white chocolate amazingly enough) and tinted it! It was great! I used a cake recipe I found here. The cake complimented the frosting quite nicely! Of course the touch that made the cupcakes in my opinion is the ladybugs!!!!
SO now lets get to some pictures!
Here is the center of the cupcakes before they bloomed into beautiful yellow sunflowers!


Well I have to say I think they look quite good but it just seems like something is missing!!


Tada!!! Ok how cute are the ladybugs?


Here is the birthday cake! I decided to top it with a strawberry garnish and some freshly grated white chocolate. As we can see I cant seem to frost a cake to save my life so thank god I was saved by the wonderful flavor of the cake!




Here it is in the box ready to go!


I just have to show you these cupcakes again! I felt so proud and although my pipping skills are lacking you have to start some where and I was pretty happy with the end result!


I just don't know how I will ever made baked goods again that do not have Swiss Meringue Butter Cream frosting and ladybugs!

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Blueberry Muffins

This Friday I was off of work because my best friend was in town and staying with us for the weekend. Since I was the first to wake up I thought I would surprise everyone (everyone being my husband Jason and Ryan my best friend!) with some homemade muffins and a pot of coffee so we could start the day off with the most important meal of the day! I just happened to have all the ingredients in the house, which I love because when I get a wild hair or a crazy plan for something I just love being able to walk into the pantry and see that I am actually going to be able to make it happen without having to go to 3 different stores to get everything. The only thing I would have preferred would be to have used fresh blueberries instead of canned blueberries, however, my last few trips to the supermarket have lead me to believe that they are not quite in season because there have not been any available. Other then that I think this recipe is great. It is not too rich or over powering and the crumbly topping is the perfect sweet touch.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup of milk

1 cup of fresh blueberries (I used canned and they turned out great!)

Crumb Topping Ingredients:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup of butter cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon



Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and then enough milk to fill the cup. Pour this mixture from the measuring up in with the flour mixture.

3. Fold in the blueberries





4. Fill the muffin cups right to the top.



I only had a cupcake pan and not a muffin pan so I decided to fill some to the top to get huge muffins and some smaller so that there would be a variety of sizes.



5. Sprinkle on crumb topping mixture. To make crumb topping: mix together ingredients and sprinkle over the muffins before baking.





Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Mine were done at 20 minutes but I also used a cupcake pan versus a muffin pan.






Look at that crumb topping.... Ryan came in the kitchen just moments before the muffins came out of the oven and we ate them warm. It was great!

UPDATE: I was cruising around on Piece of Cake and saw that she too has made these muffins!! She agreed they are wonderful! And really... lets face it she is like a goddess when it comes to writing or baking! So if she says something then consider it BIBLE! Live it, learn it... LOVE IT!

UPDATE: These are photos of them made with fresh blue berries... They were fantastic!

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Salisbury Steak

For me when I think of comfort food I think of something yummy that fills you up and makes you think of home, or Grandma's kitchen! This is definitely one of those dinners that goes on this list! This is my second time making this dish and it is so easy and delicious so I thought I should blog this and share with all of you!



Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy
By Sandra Lee

Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 (10 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup (I used 98% fat free healthy request by Campbell's)
- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup frozen chopped onions (I used fresh onions)
- 1 Teaspoon steak seasoning (recommended Montreal)
- 1 Tablespoon canola oil
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cognac (I omitted this as I did not have any)
- 1 (8 ounce) package of sliced fresh mushrooms
- 2 cups low sodium beef broth ( used one cup beef broth and 1 cup water to cut down on the salt)
- 1 (1.2 ounce) packet brown gravy mix

Directions

In a large bowl combine beef, 1/4 of the can of cream of mushroom soup (save the rest for later), bread crumbs, egg, onions, an steak seasoning. Mix it thoroughly and shape into oval patties.

Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the patties on both sides and then transfer to a plate for later.

Add the remaining butter and the cognac (remove from the heat when adding cognac if you choose to use it) saute the mushrooms for 7 to 8 minutes. Add the beef stock and whisk in gravy mix until smooth. Stir in the remaining mushroom soup.

Return patties to skillet and spoon gravy over top. Cover the pan and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.

I choose to serve my steaks with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes with fresh green beans and shallots! I put the gravy on the potatoes too!! It was so delicious!!

Here is the meat all mixed up.

Here are the patties ready to be browned!

Here are my mushrooms sauteing away!!

Here is the gravy mixture ready to pour over the steaks

Here are the green beans... Yum! so good!

And here are my famous mashed potatoes...

And here are my attempts at photography...


So I had dinner served on a plate and ready to eat when Jason got home from work ( I know barf! I am such the little 50's wife at times!) And to my surprise when he walked in the door he had these...

Aww shucks! How sweet is that!! LOL ok you can all barf now...

Well I hope you all have a wonderful night!

Sinfully yours,

Heather

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Valentine's Day Cookies!

I woke up this morning to these beautiful flowers from Jason! They are beautiful and almost tiger stripped.




After I got these it really put in me in the mood to make some Valentine's sugar cookies...
So that is what I did... And I made some racy ones that were panties!! For the man in my life who loves him some booty! I made the booty cookie!!



So Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I plan to make some Valentine's cupcakes as well!!

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The Christmas Baking Has Begun

Well every year I say that I am going to do a wonderful baked good tin to go along with Christmas cards for my co-workers and friends, and can you believe it that every year I never follow through! I will do one batch here and there but nothing like the vision that I create in my head! I told myself I would actually do it this year and I intend to!! My plan is to do a couple different cookie for the next few days and then I can put together tins and freeze any left overs for Santa and Christmas day!

I started out with a recipe I found in Taste of Home Cookies & Bars magazine I picked up on our last Lowes trip.

Double Drizzle Pecan Cookies
1/2 cup butter softened
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups chopped toasted pecans
Carmel Drizzle
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Chocolate Drizzle
1 ounce semi sweet chocolate
1 tablespoon butter

1. In a large bowl cream the butter and brown sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in pecans. Place on ungreased sheet for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

3. in a small saucepan bring brown sugar and cream to a boil. Remove from heat and whisk in confectioners sugar. Immediately drizzle over cooled cookies

4. In a mall microwave-safe bowl melt the chocolate and butter, stir until smooth. Drizzle over cookies and let stand until set. Store in air tight container.

Here is the dough balls... rolled in pecans then pressed down slightly


Here are the naked cookies after baking and cooling...


Heating the carmel topping on the stove


The cookies with the carmel topping drizzled over them...


And the finished product... cookies with chocolate and carmel topping!




Tada... the first cookies for the tins are complete! Stay tuned, more to come!

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Jack-O-Lantern Cuppies!

As I was driving home the other day I got this great idea for a Halloween cupcake that I had never seen before. I got the idea of carving a cupcake just like you would a pumpkin! Fill the pumpkin with yellow frosting a.k.a the candle light! and then draw the face on the front. So I decided to try it out. I grabbed a box yellow cake mix and added some food coloring to get an orange color. I then cut into the top to carve out the center. I filled it with yellow icing and then put the top on. I placed a piece of pretzel in for the stem and then proceeded to draw on the jack-o-lantern face!


Now not every single one turned out like my vision I must say! So I experimented with the decorating just for fun! I also added some orange sparkles to the tops of some of the jack-o-lanterns and that gave them that extra something that they seemed to be missing!

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Hamburger Cupcakes... Yes I too made them!

Well when I came across the hamburger cupcakes on Bakerella and Flicker I just knew that I had to try them out. They are so cute and fun! So I decided to do just that! I just used cake mix and a brownie mix as it was quick and easy!

I started by making the brownies and letting them cool. While the brownies were cooling I made the cupcakes. Once the cupcakes had cooled I cut them open and started to make the hamburgers! I used green frosting for the lettuce and then red and yellow for the ketchup and mustard.




After I had the burgers made I did slightly tap a cloth with water on it on the top of the cupcake and shake on some sesame seeds



I then took Bakerella's idea and made sugar cookie french french fries to complete the dessert!!



I took the extra brownie bits and cut them into bite size pieces and served them on a plate. The extra cup cakes I frosted and put out on a plate. I planned to just use the extra frosting and make them Halloween-ish however I feel they look more like Marti graw! haha OH WELL!


Maximus begged me to let him help but he had to sit this one out! He was not thrilled about it either! LOL


Here they are just one more time!! Soooo Cute!! Thanks for the idea Bakerella!!

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OMG

OMG... I just had to change my about me from "Hi I'm 25 years old to... Hi I'm 27 years old" EEEKKKKK OK OK so I do not turn the big 2 7 till tomorrow but I thought I would just prep ahead of time.

This is just insane. I know I had taken a break from the blogging for about a year but it seriously felt as if it was 6 months! How does the time fly so fast the older we get? My Mom always said that when I was growing up but I just figured she was old and didn't know what she was talking about! (sorry mom!) But the older I get I realize that my Mom was right about... like EVERYTHING she used to preach to me that went in one ear and out the other!

Oh the things we learn as we grow! I love you Mom! Thank you for being my mom and having me! I know I have been freaking out about this birthday but I am just glad that I have you and glad that I have a birthday at all. YOU ARE THE BEST!

(Ok... sorry for the mom love shout out... but it's my birthday... so be nice :))

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I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts!

hahahaha... so we cracked open a coconut this morning and all I could think about was that song... there they are a standing in a row. Big ones small ones... some as big as your HEAD!

Ohhh it made us laugh so I thought it might make you laugh...

I got a fun idea of something to bake this weekend from Bakerella and from some Tastespotting images I saw... So be excited!!

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