Iron Cupcake Challenge_Savory

I'm going to apologize in advance - this is going to be a long blog post...
As many of you know, I have decided to do the monthly "iron cupcake" challenges. This is my very first entry into the competition and I'm REALLY excited about it.

For those of you that don't know anything about "iron cupcake," here is a brief summary:
each month a theme or special ingredient is chosen (this month the theme is "savory cupcakes"), then each iron cupcake baker comes up with original ideas for a cupcake recipe based on the chosen theme, after the recipe is perfected, the baker blogs about the experience and outcome, the recipe is then submitted to the "iron cupcake" competition via email and flickr by the 24th of each month, voting begins approximately 1 week after that, and a winner is chosen about 1 week after that. Each month there are awesome prizes. In May, we are competing to win:

May ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

• A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5021935
• something sweet and dangly from CHERRYCREEKCHARMS at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6686445.
• a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
  
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

AND corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com.

Now, moving on to my savory cupcake entry: The Twice-Baked Potato "Cupcake".





These turned out better than I could have ever hoped. I wanted to do something savory that's individual elements translated well to cupcake form. Everything about the twice baked potato was perfect for what I wanted. The skin even makes a perfect edible cupcake liner. The hubby and I had these as a side dish with dinner tonight and they were delicious! I just have to share the recipe with you:

"Twice Baked Potato Cupcakes"
(makes 4 cupcakes)

Ingredients:
2 medium sized Russet potatoes
1/4 cup sour cream
1/8 cup homemade buttermilk Ranch dressing
1/4 cup milk
4 slices cooked bacon
4 Tbsp chives or green onions
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Wrap potatoes in aluminum foil and bake in 400 degree oven for appoximately 1 hour (until soft). Let cool until you can handle fairly easily. Slice potatoes in half. Take a small slice off the bottom of each half so that the halves sit flat in a muffin tin. Scoop out the potato, leaving about a 1/8" layer of potato and skin for the "cupcake liner." In a bowl, mash the scooped-out potato and add all other ingredients except for 1/8 cup of sour cream, 1 Tbsp of the chives, and 2 slices of bacon. Combine the potato mixture thoroughly and pipe back into the liners (I used a large "star" tip). Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the 400 degree oven until the tops are slightly browned. Let cool for 5 minutes. Pipe the remaining sour cream "icing" on each cupcake, sprinkle with remaining chives, and add 1/2 slice of bacon to the top. Enjoy!

I have to say that this whole experience has been a real joy. I loved the creative aspects of iron cupcake and the opportunity to do something different. So, if you get a chance - vote for my cupcake entry starting May 30 here: Nobody Puts Cupcake in a Corner.

If any of you are interested in joining the challenge, you can get more info at Iron Cupcake's cuphub.

Bridal Shower Cupcakes

My friend, Allison, asked me to help her with some mini cupcakes that she agreed to do for her stepsister's bridal shower. I tried a new vanilla cake recipe, which went really well, and we iced them with my basic buttercream. We colored the icing to match the colors of the shower and piped the icing on with a few different star tips. I added a sugar pearl to the top of the icing and it was a very cute extra level of detail. Overall, the cupcakes were simple - light and tasty - and very cute!

Mother's Day Cakes.

The chocolate/raspberry cake for my mother-in-law was made with the same raspberry buttercream and raspberry filling as the cupcakes. The chocolate cake is a recipe from the cupcake blog cupcake bakeshop by chokylit - it is a very dense chocolate cake, almost like a chocolate pound cake. I think this is my new favorite chocolate cake recipe. The cake was a small oval with 4 layers each separated by a buttercream dam and raspberry filling layer. It was really pretty when cut and, might I add, delicious!




The vanilla/raspberry cake for my mom was based on the cupcakes I made to try out the new filling and icing. It was a 6 inch cake made up of two layers that were separated by a layer of raspberry buttercream and a layer of the raspberry filling.

I decorated both of these cakes very simply - sorry there are no photos, my camera died - but they turned out great and both moms really loved them!

Raspberry/Vanilla Cupcakes.

I made these cupcakes to try out new raspberry filling and raspberry buttercream recipes for mother's day. I just used a french vanilla cake mix and infused it overnight with a vanilla sugar syrup. The cake was very moist and really delicious. Next, I took out cones from the top of the cupcake and added the raspberry filling. I made the buttercream by adding 3 tablespoons of seedless raspberry jelly to my basic buttercream recipe. Overall, everything was a huge success. The raspberry filling and icing was easy and really "fancied up" a basic vanilla cupcake.

Fantasy Flower.

Look how pretty! I had to give this flower its own post because it turned out so well and I went a little crazy taking pictures of it. Wilton calls it the fantasy flower because it's not based on a real flower. It is made in two parts which are allowed to dry and then put together with "gum glue". The stamens make it very lively but they are inedible so you have to remove this flower from a cake before serving it.

Gum Paste Flowers.

These are my first attempts at the gum paste flowers that we learned last night in course 4. I came home from class with everything in photo 1 - from top left to bottom right: 1 - carnation base, 2 - finished carnation with calyx, 3 - fondant daisy, 4 - fondant leaf, 5 - middle of fantasy flower, 6 - base of fantasy flower. Gum paste molding is really fun, fairly simple, and the outcome is gorgeous.

Fondant Roses

The fondant rose is gorgeous! We actually learned to make this last week in course 3, but I just got the chance to practice this week and get really good at it. The rose is actually made of a fondant and gum paste blend, which allows it to set up a little faster. The centers of the roses are made in advance and allowed to dry on toothpicks for 2 days (photo 1). Next, the rose is made in 3 layers - you can stop after the 1st layer for a rose bud (photo 2), after the 2nd layer for a medium sized rose (photo 3), or finish the 3rd layer for a large rose (photo 4). The rose is put together with either a vanilla extract used as an adhesive or some home-made "gum glue". These are beautiful but they definitely are time-consuming - I'm sure I'm a little slow because I'm just learning, but it took me about 15 minutes per rose.

Royal Icing Flowers

We learned a new batch of royal icing flowers on Monday night in course 3. These turned out pretty good, although not nearly as lively and dainty as the fondant and gum paste flowers that I learned to make this week in course 4. Royal icing does have its advantages though - it's definitely easier and less time-consuming than fondant/gum paste, which is a huge concern when you're covering a cake in flowers. I think the morning glory (far right) is my favorite.

Flowers from left to right: white - easter lilies, red - poinsettias, yellow - petunias, blue - morning glories

Another Great Birthday Present.

I have the best friends! This week Allison and Steve surprised me with an adorable 'sleepy cupcake' framed watercolor by Jessie Oleson at cakespy. Cakespy has an etsy shop with lots more adorable, one-of-a-kind pieces if you're interested.

Wilton Cake Course 3_Cake 1

Fondant Fun! I'm taking Wilton courses 3 and 4 this month. This was my first fondant cake from course 3 and my first time ever working with fondant. It is a chocolate cake covered in white fondant and the pink ribbon and bow are made of fondant with a gum tex additive to make it stiffer. The process is a lot of fun, although all the kneading gets tiresome after a while. The fondant is ready-made by Wilton and it tastes HORRIBLE!...as soon as I discover a good recipe for home-made fondant I'll post it.

Easter Cupcakes

For Easter, I decided to make carrot and coconut cupcakes for my family and friends. The carrot cupcakes were made with a delicious Alton Brown recipe from my new baking book: I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking. The cream cheese icing on these was particularly amazing.

The coconut cupcakes were made with a combination of 2 family recipes. I used my grandmother's recipe for 7-minute frosting and freshly grated coconut. For those of you that have never done the whole 'breaking into a coconut' thing...it isn't for the faint-hearted. It is a much more difficult and time-consuming process than the Food Network chefs would lead us to believe. But, I have to say, as someone who doesn't particularly care for the taste of coconut, these were quite good. So I have to think that the fresh coconut made all the difference.

So after all the baking and icing was finished, I packed my cupcakes up in my new carrier. This is by far the best purchase I have made in a while. It holds 36 cupcakes and each one has it's own shallow ring to hold the cupcake in place but also allow you to easily take it out (without getting icing all over your fingers). You can find it here at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I bought the clear one, but it also comes in pink, green, yellow, and blue.

Early Birthday Present

Ryan and Paul got me the cutest cupcake necklace, made by a local artist here in Raleigh, for my birthday. Do they know me or what?

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Last weekend Heath decided to have a few friends over. Since I didn't have a lot of time, I made something fast and simple - cupcakes! I just used Duncan Hines dark chocolate cake mix, but I made the buttercream and added mini chocolate chips. They were delicious!

Wilton Cake Course 2_Final Cake

Course 2 was all about flowers. For the past 3 weeks we have been making royal icing flowers and drying them in flower formers to save for our final cake. In the first class we learned a few more buttercream flowers - rosettes, chrysanthemums, and rosebuds - but we didn't save any of those for the final cake. In the second class we started the royal icing flowers - apple blossoms and violets - and we also made those cute color flow icing birds. The color flow objects are very simiple to create but they are very fragile to store and transport. In the third class we learned the last batch of royal icing flowers - a variation on the Wilton rose (the Victorian rose), daisies, daffodils, pansies, and primroses. I have to say the flowers were intimidating at first, but after a little practice (each flower uses the same basic petal technique with slight variations) they became a lot easier. Finally, in the last class we brought all of our dried flowers together and after learning the do the basketweave and a new rope border for the cake, put everything together. It came out pretty nice I think.

Cupcake Sundaes

These were Heath's birthday cupcakes. I found the recipe on one of my favorite cupcake blogs, Cupcake Bakeshop by Chocylit. They were DELICIOUS! The melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake was exactly how it sounds - very rich and dense - more like a brownie than cake. The whipped cream complimented the cake nicely because it was so light and subtle. And the cherry on top, well that's just adorable!

Cake #3_The XBOX cake

Heath's 24th birthday cake. The XBOX is yellow cake and the controller is chocolate - both covered in buttercream. For the XBOX, I started by stacking 2 13x9 cakes and carved down from there. For the controller, I used an 8" round cake, cut into 2 semicircles and stacked. I wasted quite a bit of cake carving down to the shapes I needed, but I think the end result was worth it. Heath seemed to like it...although, he did complain that there was no HDMI port on the back.