Hello, Cupcake!

I know, I know, none of my posts have had anything whatsoever to do with each other.  This one won't either.  lol  I'm sure one day my categories will start to form some sort of pattern, but for now, we'll stick with sharing what comes to my mind in the order in which it is received. 

There is a FABULOUS book on the market called "Hello, Cupcake!"  It has a sister, "What's New, Cupcake?"  I proudly own both, and use them frequently.  If you read my blog from earlier this week (see "Chocolate Caramel Trifle") you know that I do not profess to being a baker.  However, I do make exceptions, especially when it comes to our girls' program at church.  One of the clubs works on badges that relate to animals, and so, on their badge night, I would make cupcakes that matched whatever animal they were working on.  They looked so wonderful (thanks to "Hello, Cupcake!") that they never even noticed the taste. (whew!)

Here are some of the cupcakes I made based on ideas in the book.  The professionals certainly did them much better, but they turned out pretty well, anyways.  :-)

1 - CHOCOLATE BUTTERFLIES

Aren't they fabulous??  They are fairly simple to make, too.  You draw the outline of a butterfly wing on paper, and then place it under a piece of wax paper.  Using melted chocolate in a pastry bag, you trace the outline of the wing.  Then, fill the inside of the wing with orange chocolate, and mix them a little using a toothpick.  Before they harden, sprinkle small, white non pareils.  After they harden, carefully press them into the top of the cupcake, and decorate the bodies using mini brown M & Ms. 

2 - LADYBUGS

Are you a Sesame Street kid?  Do you remember the song: "One two three, four five six, seven eight nine, ten eleven twelve, ladybugs came to the ladybug picnic?"  I sang it for a week after this!

The cupcakes are decorated with white icing and green sprinkles.  Then, place an oreo in the middle, and using a pastry bag, decorate the edges with yellow and orange petals.  The ladybugs are red M & M's that are decorated with chocolate icing and the world's tiniest pastry bag tip.

3 - LIONS

These were probably the hardest cupcakes.  They look simple, but they're not.  Those manes are made of the pull-apart Twizzlers, which I found to be very frustrating.  How did I manage it?  I handed it to my Superman, and he took over the project using a freezer.  I believe he separated, cut, and froze them, in that order, but whatever he did, it was time-consuming.  The faces are just light orange frosting.  The ears are cheerios, the eyes are M & M's, the noses are pink Runts.  The mouth and freckles are drawn with a small round tip and chocolate frosting. 

4 - GOBBLE, GOBBLE!

A little time consuming but worth it.  These are made in two parts - a small and large cupcake.  Once they cooled, I frosted both kinds using caramel frosting, then rolled the outside in a sprinkle mixture I made.  The book calls for caramel jimmies, which my stores haven't discovered yet, so I used a mixture of gold sprinkles and turtle crunch (Wilton).  The eyes are white and brown frosting.  The noses are candy corn (by the way, do you have any idea how hard it is to find candy corn the day before Thanksgiving??)  The red thing is a fruit roll-up that I sliced into long pieces.

The tails are made from ginger cookies, and I stuck the candy corn feathers on using icing.  I placed the heads on the bodies right before serving, so you can only see one finished turkey in the bunch.  But trust me, they were stinkin cute.

5 - OWLS

These were definitely the easiest.  I loved them, too.  They're oreo cookies.  Use the 'icing' side for the eyes and the boring side for the ears.  My husband was happy to take care of the rejects.  The center of the eye is a brown M & M, and the nose is a banana runt.  I had fun making them look at each other and all over the place. 

{When cutting the ears, use your finger tips to spread a few drops of water on the cookie.  Let it get a tad soft, then slice carefully.  This helps the cut remain clean and reduces the chance of the cookie breaking.  My husband politely asked me not to use this method.}

There you have it!! 

I suggest you visit the website because it's certainly worth a look.  They have so many other ideas that I just haven't gotten around to trying yet.  Enjoy!

Here is the website: Hello, Cupcake!

~ Sarah