Thanksgiving Cupcakes

Festive cupcakes for Thanksgiving!

I use these designs for Thanksgiving on several different types of cakes, including heart shaped cakes, egg shaped cakes, and CupCakes.

For the pilgrims, I started out using a #10 round tip to create the face. For the males I piped the hat using a #8 and black frosting. A hat band is added using a #4 tip with white frosting, and then a buckle with a #2 tip in golden yellow frosting. For the female, a #8 tip is used to make the bonnet. Once the hats are done the hair comes next. Hair is piped using a #18 star tip(a #3 tip to make individual strands or a grass tip could also be used depending on the size pilgrim you are making). Next, each pilgrim gets a nose, mouth, eyes, and rosy cheeks. Male pilgrims then get a neck tie and females get a bow for their bonnet.

The turkeys start out using a #10 tip to make the body. Next, red, orange, and yellow frosting is piped on for feathers using #3 tips. The neck, head, and wings are made with a #4 tip. To make the turkey's beak a small orange triangle is piped onto the turkey's head with a #4 tip. Next, a red tongue, and then another orange triangle on top. Eyes are made using a #3 tip. Then, using the red again, a waddle is piped. Legs and wing feathers are made with a #3 tip.

Everyone seems to really enjoy receiving these for Thanksgiving! Read more!

Hamburger Cupcakes Tutorial

I wanted to do something special for Independence Day. Everyone will be having picnics, so I thought hamburger cupcakes would be great to make! So here is a tutorial so you can make your own.




Items Needed:

1 yellow cake mix
1 chocolate cake mix
2 cups frosting of your choice; one part red, one part golden yellow, one part green
2 #3 tips, 1 #102 tip(small rose tip)
toothpicks with frills
sharp knife


Step 1:

Bake your cupcakes. You can use cupcake papers, which is easier than putting the batter right into a greased/floured pan, but you will have markings on the cupcake from the papers. I made them both ways, and it isn't a huge difference, but if you're looking for a true authentic similarity to a hamburger I recommend going without the papers.

Let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes before gently prying them out of the papers or pan, then let them cool completely.


Step 2:

If you want to make french fries later you're going to need to set aside about a quarter of your yellow cupcakes(If you're making a lot of hamburgers you might want to make twice as many yellow cupcakes as chocolate). Slice all your remaining yellow cupcakes in half and set aside. You can get two burgers out of each chocolate cupcake. Slice off the rounded top and discard(or eat it) and then slice the remaining portion in two.

Line up all the bottoms of the yellow cupcakes. Fill the bag with the #102 tip with green frosting and then pipe ruffles around the outside of the cupcake. You need to keep the larger end of the tip towards the middle of the cupcake, and the narrow part of the tip pointing out.



Gently lay your burger portion on top, making sure you keep it centered.



Step 3:

Fill both your remaining bags that have #3 tips; one yellow, one red. It's up to you if you want to start with the 'mustard' or 'ketchup' first. Pipe the condiment of your choice over the very outside edge of the cupcake, making sure it overlaps the side as well. Repeat with other color trying to alternate loops so both colors don't overlap each other.



Step 4:

Take a yellow cupcake top and carefully place it on top of your burger, making sure to keep it centered. Take one of your frilled toothpicks and slide it into the top of the cupcake.



Step 5:

Take one of your extra yellow cupcakes and slice out portions of cake to make your french fries. I recommend using only the top part of the cupcake for structural reasons, but you can test out using the bottom part as some cupcakes may be denser than others.



Step 6:

Plate your hamburger cupcake and arrange the french fries around it. Add a dollop of red frosting for ketchup. If you like you can also pipe red frosting over the french fries to make them look like they were dosed in ketchup.



Step 7:

Enjoy your cupcakes!

These cupcakes are really quite easy to make, although they are a little time consuming. I would recommend having your kids or a friend help. Not only is it more fun to share the creative process, you'll get done a lot faster!

If anyone decides to make these, please leave me a comment on how they turned out! Also, please feel free to let me know if I should add something to the tutorial.


Read more!

Karate Cupcakes

Here are some cupcakes I made for a karate theme birthday party. The party was to take place at the dojo, and cupcakes were a less messy option than a cake. The only request given was that the karate uniforms on the cupcakes match the birthday boy's uniform, which was black with red.

I started out dipping the cupcakes in peach tinted glaze to create a smooth surface for the faces. Next, I piped the black for the uniform on each one and smoothed it out. After the black came the red. I piped the white on to define the lines of the uniform. The belt came next, and then the faces. I wanted to give them a variety of faces to give the cupcakes more character.

I had a couple of ideas of what I wanted to do for these at first, but after doing a search I came across these cupcakes by lovecake and decided to go with this basic design while adding my own different ideas. Read more!

Shark Bite

Sharks!

Theses were a request from someone who was looking for something different for her son's birthday. I wasn't quiet sure how this idea would work out, but I'm very happy with the results.

I started out by frosting the cupcakes with light blue frosting and adding white details for sea foam. I then piped the sharks body, tail, and fins using a #10 round tip. The eyes and teeth were made with a #2 tip.

Sweet Change: You could also frost the cupcakes in white, or other colors, and make the sharks a light blue. Read more!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cake with Cupcakes

This cake was quick and easy to make, and I am very pleased with how tasty it looks too!

While mixing the batter I added in some chocolate chips. After putting the batter into the cake pan, and cupcake papers, I added a few more chocolate chips on top. While everything was baking I mixed up some mint frosting by adding some mint extract and green food coloring.

After the cake and cupcakes were cooled I frosted the cake with the mint frosting. Before the frosting could set I added chocolate chips to the side of the cake. If you perfer you can use mini chocolate chips. I used regular size since that is all I had on hand at the time.

To decorate the cake and cupcakes I used a #22 star tip and added more chocolate chips to garnish. You can never have enough chocolate right?

The chocolate chips I added to the batter really paid off in the end because it added a nice chewy chocolaty texture to the cake. Yum! Read more!