Chocolate Cupcakes - Two Ways

After last week's hectic schedule, making cupcakes two different ways came together a lot faster than I anticipated.  I was planning to take two days to bake and then frost but finished them while watching Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Using a devil's food cake (from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes) as the main base, I made s'mores cupcakes and cream-filled chocolate cupcakes.

The s'mores cupcakes had a graham cracker crust (adapted from Annie's Eats) baked underneath the devil's food cupcake which was then topped with chocolate ganache and seven-minute frosting.

The cream-filled cupcakes were filled with a marshmallow cream (from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes) using the cone method and then covered with chocolate ganache.  I used the left over cream to pipe on the swirls.

This picture was too cute to leave out.  Patches wanted to see what I was doing.

A Baby Shower Cake and A Birthday Cake

I was crazy enough to agree to making two cakes this week.. especially when both were due on the same day! A bit stressful at times as I had to make 4 batches of cake batter, 3 batches of frosting, and 2 batches of marshmallow fondant but I'm so proud of my accomplishment.  The cakes came out moist and the frostings were yum; however, I was frustrated with my marshmallow fondant.  It was so sticky and thin at times which made it hard with the banners.  Looking into working with gumpaste soon, stay tuned.

Cake 1 of 2 was a baby shower cake for my brother's coworker to match their King of the Jungle party supplies.  The cake flavors were oreo and chocolate with a dark chocolate frosting (adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes).  It was covered in marshmallow fondant and store bought chocolate fondant.

Cake 2 of 2 was a birthday cake for my boyfriend's niece who requested a princess theme.  The cake was white cake (adapted from Cake Central) with strawberry frosting.  It was also covered in marshmallow fondant.  Many thanks to my sister and her boyfriend who helped with decorating.

National Donut Day

Funny that The Perfect Mini Donut Maker my brother ordered arrived at our front door yesterday evening.  Just in time for National Donut Day.  The mini cake donuts (adapted from Williams-Sonoma) weren't bad but they weren't what I was expecting.  They tasted like mini yellow cakes more than mini cake donuts.

 The Perfect Mini Donut Maker

Mmm...Donuts!

Powdered Sugar Glaze (adapted from BH&G New Cook Book) and Sprinkles

Homemade Pralines and Cream Ice Cream

Okay, technically, I didn't "bake" this one but it was so good that I had to share.  I recently received the two best gifts ever - a Cuisinart ice cream maker and The Perfect Scoop book for my birthday.  These are the first three recipes I've tried out of the book and they were amazing!!!

Vanilla Ice Cream, Philadelphia Style

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Salted Butter Caramel

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Pralined Almonds

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homemade Pralines and Cream ice cream

Spongebob Squarepants Cake

My nephew loves Spongebob; so, I had to try and make him a cake for his 9th birthday.  Because it was for family, I experimented with new cake flavors.  It has a layer of vanilla cake (from Annie's Eats), strawberry cake (adapted from Cake Central), and Sylvia Weinstock's yellow cake (from About.com: Home Cooking).  It was frosted with swiss meringue butter cream (adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes) and then covered in marshmallow fondant.

I must've done something wrong as the yellow cake recipe did not win myself nor my sister over.  However, we loved the vanilla cake recipe!  If I can't get my yellow cake recipe right, I might make this my go to.  I almost got my strawberry cake recipe down, too.  I just need to go and buy some strawberry extract to boost the flavor a bit.  I didn't like the italian meringue butter cream I made last time but this swiss meringue butter cream is a bit tastier.  It's still an acquired taste as I'm so used to the sweetness from an american butter cream.

Can't wait to see my nephew's face when I show up with his birthday cake, later today.

UPDATE: My nephew pointed out that I forgot to put the red and blue stripes on Songebob's socks!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I would eliminate the refrigeration after the crumb coat to see if my cakes remain moist.  Well, I needed the frosting to firm up a bit before applying the fondant so I did end up putting it in the fridge.  However, I made sure to saran wrap the cake first and I didn't leave the cake in the fridge that long.  The cake was just as tender/moist as the day I made them.  Success!