Tutorial Tuesday: Frosting Filled Cupcakes

Wow!  It seems like it's been forever since I've blogged, but I'm hoping to slowly start blogging again!  Thanks to all of my followers who have been patient with me over the past couple months!

Two weeks ago today was one of the most exciting days I've had during my pregnancy.........it was gender reveal day!  My hubby & I decided we wanted to find out what we were having, but instead of just calling our families, we wanted to tell them all at once during dinner.  But of course, we couldn't just tell them.....that would be too easy!  So we decided to make frosting filled cupcakes, pink frosting for a girl and blue for a boy!  So off to the internet I went to find out just how to fill the cupcake with this special frosting.  And I thought I'd share this very easy tutorial with you.

1) Using whatever recipe you desire, bake your cupcakes & let cool. 
(Okay, so I cheated & used a box mix.)

2)  Using a sharp knife, cut a cone shape out of the middle.

3) Fill the hole with frosting.

 3) Place the "cone" back on the cupcake, gently pressing down.

4) Add icing to the top to cover your cut.

It's that easy!!!

So back to the story......we had dinner with our families, making them wait the whole night to find out what we were having.  They loved the suspense & were constantly trying to get us to accidentally slip up & say "he" or "she."

Then came dessert.  Everyone picked their color of cupcake, and at our direction, they all took a bite at the same time......and this is what they saw!!!


So, in case you didn't catch the icing in the middle.....
It's a Girl!!!

Can't wait to meet our sweet baby girl in early February!

Tutorial Tuesday: Gumdrop Flower Petal Cupcake Garnish

A couple weeks ago, when I shared my Flowers~N~Flutters dessert table, I promised you a tutorial on the "flower petal" cupcakes.  So here it is.

What you'll need:
Gumdrops
Granulated Sugar
Mint Leaves
{and cupcakes, of course}

Directions {Adapted from Southern Living's 101 Essential Southern Recipes}:

1) Using your fingers, flatten gumdrops to about 1/8 inch thickness, gently lengthening & widening to form desired shape.


2) Dredge lightly in sugar. 
{Tip: I found that if I gently rubbed a dampened papertowel on both sides of the gumdrop, the sugar stuck much better!}

3) Place on wire rack & let stand for about 24 hours.

4) Gently press the lower center of the petal inward, cupping the petal & curl the outer edges backward if desired.

5) Place the "point" of the mint leaf  in the icing to hold it in place.
(I cut the leaves down to the desired size, making a sharp point on one end.)

6) Add petal to cupcake.



I'll be linking to the following parties:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace

Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade

Rednesday at It’s a Very Cherry World
Hoo’s Got Talent at Night Owl Crafting
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts

Food on Fridays at Ann Kroeker

Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

Sweet Tooth Friday at Alli-N-Son

Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

Sweets for a Saturday at Sweet as Sugar Cookies
Savory Sunday at The Sweet Details
Craftomaniac Monday at Craftomaniac

Cupcake Sunday @ My Cozy Corner

Tutorial Tuesday: Buttermilk Poundcake & Powdered Sugar Glaze

Last week, I shared my "Flowers~N~Flutters" Dessert Table {click for post}, which featured this buttermilk poundcake.

So here's what you'll need for this tasty treat:

~ 3 cups all-purpose flour

~1/4 teaspoon baking soda

~1/2 teaspoon salt

~ 1 cup butter

~ 3 cups white sugar

~ 6 eggs

~ 1 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)

~ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

~ 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1) Mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

 2) In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar.

 3) Mix in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

 4) Stir in lemon & vanilla extracts.

 5) Gently mix in flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. {I do about a third of each at a time}.

 You should end up with a nice, creamy mixture.

 6) Pour batter into greased, floured 9 or 10 inch tube pan.

7) Bake at 325* for approximately 90 minutes. 

{You might want to check it a few minutes earlier, but do not open the oven door until the cake has been in the oven for a least one hour.  When the cake begins to pull away from the side of the pan, it is a good sign it is done.}

 8) Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto a wired rack & cool completely.

The cake is delicious by itself, but if you want it a little sweeter, here's the glaze recipe:

What you'll need:

~ 1 lb. powdered sugar

~ 1/4  cup (or more) milk

~ 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Mix powdered sugar & milk together, then mix in vanilla.  Continue adding milk a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency. 

Pour over cake.

{Tip: If you don't want glaze all over your cake plate, sit cake on another plate to add glaze.  When glaze has hardened, carefully transfer to desired cake plate.}

I originally wanted to find edible, pesticide-free flowers for the cake, but didn't have much luck.  So I chose to place the flowers in a little water-filled cup, gently placed in the middle of the cake.

Enjoy!

I'll be joining with Foodie Friday at Designs my Gollum, Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage, Craftomaniac Monday at Craft-O-Maniac, Hoo's Got Talent at Night Owl Crafting, Sweets for Saturday at Sweets as Sugar Cookies, and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace.  Check 'em out for more delicious recipes.

Tutorial Tuesday: Vanilla Sugar Cookies & Best White Icing Ever

Last Friday, I shared about the fun sugar cookies that Mr. Dishaholic & I often make together.

 So here's the recipes I promised.........

~VANILLA SUGAR COOKIES~

What you'll need:

1 cup butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

3 cups flour

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400*.

2) Cream softened butter & sugar with an electric mixer.

3) Beat in egg & vanilla.

4) Add baking powder.

5) Mix in flour - one cup at a time (mixing after each cup).

Blend last of flour by hand.

(If dough becomes too stiff, add water - a teaspoon at a time).

6) If desired, roll out dough on floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick & use desired cookie cutters. 

(It's helpful to chill the dough for a few minutes before).

7) Bake on greased cookie sheet (or on a foil lined cookie sheet) for 8-10 minutes or until slightly brown.

8) Allow to cool before icing.

Other options:

 1) For chocolate sugar cookies, mix in 3 ounces melted, unsweetened chocolate.

2) For colored cookies, tint dough with Wilton Icing coloring.  Knead in small amounts until desired color is reached.

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 To decorate the cookies, you can either use store bought icing (in cans or tubes), or you can try out this recipe:

~Best White Icing Ever~

What you'll need:

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 cup shortening

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon clear imitation vanilla extract

3 tablespoons corn syrup (optional)

food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1) In a large bowl combine sugar, shortening, water, & vanilla.

2) Beat on low speed until combined, then beat on medium for 5 minutes.

3) If not used for decorating (just icing), add 3 tablespoons corn syrup or water to icing.

4) Add food coloring as desired.

(If it will be sitting out a while, cover bowl with wet cloth to keep mixture from drying out).

I'm linking to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.

Friday Favorites: Creating Custom Cookies

This past weekend I was asked to make some cookies for a friend's baby shower.  Ordinarily, this might not seem like any big deal......but as I was preparing the cookies, I begin to reminisce a little......to be reminded of all the times in the past I've made these cookies.  You see, these cookies have become part of mine & my husband's story..... 

{cookies for baby shower}

{notice the cookies mimic the circles on the shower invitation}

It's been almost 10 years since my husband & I started dating.  At the time, I was still living at home, and to be perfectly honest, didn't really know a thing about cooking or baking (spoiled, I know). 

But one day, I decided I wanted to try my hand at some decorated sugar cookies. 

The cookies were delicious......my decorating skills, not so much!  

Despite my lack of artistic ability, I continued to make & decorate the cookies......they became somewhat of a creative outlet for me.......making different shapes for different occasions.......mostly for my soon-to-be-husband......but sometimes for family & friends.

There were Christmas ones & Easter ones........

.......patriotic ones & Halloween ones......

...... cookies on a stick......

......why, I even made some golf & airplane cookies for the guys in my life.....

(Sorry the quality of these pre-digital photos are so bad!!  But you get the idea!)

Despite all of my best efforts, the decorating never quite turned out like I hoped.

Then one day, my husband (well, boyfriend at the time) offered to help me decorate some cookies for a very important upcoming event......
the OU/Texas game!

(Hey, that's like a holiday around these parts!)

He even made his own cookie cutters, bending the metal from a couple other cookie cutters, until he achieved the shapes he wanted.

So we worked together on the cookies.......

Little did we know that it was the beginning of a tradition.....one that we would enjoy doing together many times.......one that would become one of my FAVORITES!

But anyway, back to my story.....as we continued on our dating journey, we continued making cookies together for special occasions......typically I'd bake & he'd decorate.

Not only did we make these fun cookies for our engagement party.......

{these may be my all-time favorite!}

......but we even went so far as to give our wedding guests cookie cutters!

As time went on, we  began to get a few requests from family & friends.....

{ducks, butterflies, bunnies, flowers, and hummingbirds for a baby shower - I absolutely love the green hummingbirds!}

.......a baby shower here, a birthday party there......

{turtles, fish, seashells, starfish, lobsters, & seahorses for an "Under the Sea" birthday party}

.......not to mention the holidays.......



{flowers, bunnies, & eggs for Easter}



{Valentine's Day hearts}

{toy soldiers}





{snowmen}



{snowflakes}

{peacocks for a Christmas open house to go with our "peacock" Christmas tree}



I even talked him into helping with some high heel cookies for my "girl's night" last December. 

{Aren't these the cutest?}


So while these are just a "taste" of the many designs we've done together (unfortunately, we don't have pictures of some of them), it's easy to see that these cookies have become more than just cookies to us......
they've become a FAVORITE tradition!

(Check back Tuesday for the recipe to these sweet cookies, as well as a wonderful icing recipe!)

I'm linking up with Between Naps on the Porch for Met. Monday.