Baby Shower & Delicious Cupcakes!

 was all set to post about homemade fries and chicken nuggets when it occurred to me that I never posted about my best friend/sister-in-law's "surprise" baby shower. It was a ton of fun and, given my new love of diaper cakes, of course I made her one.

She and her husband have decided not to find out the baby's gender beforehand, so we had a cute, colorful, gender-neutral party!

I saw these cuties in a Paula Dean magazine. Jelly beans, life savers, and ribbon.

What's that? You're wondering what we had for dessert? Well, strap on your seat belt, because this dessert is delicious and adorable! I saw this idea on a website somewhere, except that used it for mother's day. I modified it slightly and.... 

 

Baby shower hostess inspired cupcakes!

Hostess Cupcakes:

Cupcakes:

• 
  
  1 1/4 cups flour
• 
  
  2 tsp baking soda
• 
  
  2 tsp baking powder
• 
  
  1/4 tsp salt
• 
  
  1 1/4 cups sugar
• 
  
  4oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 
  
  1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 
  
  2 tsp vanilla
• 
  
  2 eggs

Filling:

• 
  
  4 Tbsp butter, room temp
• 
  
  1 cup powdered sugar
• 
  
  2 tsp vanilla
• 
  
  3 Tbsp heavy cream
• 
  
  1 cup marshmallow fluff

Ganache:

• 
  
  6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 
  
  1/2 cup heavy cream
• 
  
  1 Tbsp butter
• 
  
  2 tsp vanilla

Icing (to write with):

• 
  
  1/2 cup butter
• 
  
  2 Tbsp milk
• 
  
  2 cups powdered sugar
• 
  
  1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place liners in cupcake pan (this makes about 18 - 20 cupcakes).

To make the cupcakes, mix together your flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium size bowl. Set aside.

Next, pour your sugar into a small saucepan and add 1 cup of water. Bring this to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Then, pour into a large bowl and add your chocolate and butter. The heat from the sugar mixture will cause your chocolate and butter to melt. Stir occasionally until smooth and let cool slightly (it can be warm, just not hot).

Once cool, stir in the vanilla. Using an electric mixer, beat your eggs into the cooled chocolate mixture 1 at a time. Then, mix in your flour mixture in 3 batches.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners (about 2/3 full) and bake for 20-25 minutes. They will sink down a little in the middle, but when you add the filling, it will correct this.

For the filling, use an electric mixer to cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and then the vanilla and 1 Tbsp heavy cream. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp heavy cream in alternating batches. Beat in marshmallow fluff and set aside.

To fill the cupcakes (once completely cool), place your filling in a pastry bag (I used my pampered chef easy accent decorator for this one) with a good size star tip on it. Poke the tip into the center of each cupcake and fill. I filled until the cupcake puffed back up and I met resistance.

For the ganache, on low (the lowest of low settings) heat in a small saucepan, combine you butter, chocolate, and heavy cream and stir until melted. Let cool for a few minutes and then add your vanilla, stirring until it is smooth and glossy.

Spread ganache on each cupcake and refrigerate at least 15 minutes (I did 2 batches of ganache, chilling in between because I wanted a nice, thick frosting).

Meanwhile, make your icing! Beat all the ingredients together, adding more milk if necessary to thin out. Put into a pastry bag (I did NOT use my PC decorator for this) with whatever tip you desire to write with (I used a #2, plain) and decorate!

YUM!

Also, because she is my best friend, I "custom made" some onesies for her sweet baby (the whale one is an inside joke - Sea World, anyone?):

Happy Summer!

Berry Sweet Cake and Buttercream Icing

For her birthday, my mother in law requested a white cake with fruit frosting. And okay, so I didn't follow directions exatcly (it's hard for me to follow directions in general...), but it is a white cake with delicious buttercream icing and fruit filling in each layer. And it was very well received.

I made a 3 layer white cake mix. You can use a box or make one from scratch.

While the cake baked, I mixed up a batch of

Magnolia's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

*This is enough for a 3 layer cake. For 2 layer ratios, see end of recipe.

• 3 sticks of butter, softened
• 8 cups of powdered sugar (the recipe says 8-10, but more than 8 is too sweet for me!)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 Tbsp (I usually add a shot more) vanilla

Start by creaming together your butter and 4 cups of powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add the remaining sugar 1 cup at a time to desired taste and consistency. This can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature (cold - such as the fridge - will cause it to harden).

*For a 2 layer cake, use 2 sticks of butter, 6 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 2 tsp. vanilla.

While the cake cooled, I sliced up about 1 1/2 cups of strawberries (yum!) into a bowl and added a Tbsp of sugar to the bowl and mixed. I let that sit in the fridge while I made the blueberry filling layer.

Blueberry Filling

*I only used blueberry in 1 layer. If you want blueberry in both, you will need to double the recipe.

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp corn starch
• water (about 1/8 cup - maybe less)

In a small saucepan on medium heat, place the blueberries and enough water to form a very shallow layer of water in the bottom of the pan. Bring the water to a boil and stir until the blueberries begin to burst.

Stirring constantly, add the sugar. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Using a strainer, strain your blueberry mixture into a bowl to remove blueberry skins (you may want to do just a little at a time). I always use the back of a spoon to push the mixture through. Once finished, you can use as is. If you desire a thicker consistency (I did), add your blueberry mixture back to the saucepan with 1 Tbsp more water. Bring to almost a simmer and quickly add your cornstarch 1 tsp at a time until sauce thickens. Make sure you break up and clumps before adding.

Cool to room temp. and you're good to go.

By this time, the cakes have cooled. Remove your first layer from the pan and use a serrated knife to level the top. I also chose to cut the middle of the top a little deeper, forming a shallow bowl on the top of the cake in which to place my fruit.

Using your buttercream frosting, ice the first layer of your cake. Spread a generous amount on the top of the cake, but use a small amount on the side (a crumb coat, if you will). Place your strawberry or blueberry (or a little bit of both if you want to get crazy) filling on the top of this layer.

Now, remove your second layer from its pan. Give it a very light coating of frosting on the bottom before placing the bottom of the cake on top of your fruit filling (this is so the cake does not get soggy from fruit juices). Level the top of the cake the same way as before and frost as before. Add your remaining filling to the top of this layer. It should look similar to this:

Get your last layer and again coat the bottom with a thin layer of frosting. Place the final layer on the top of the cake (level if you'd like), and coat the entire cake with a thin layer of frosting (known as a crumb coat). Place the cake in the fridge for 1 hour to let the icing harden.

After 1 hour, remove the cake and frost the cake with the remaining frosting. Now that your first layer of frosting has hardened, it should be easy for your top coat to go on.

Voila! Refrigerate until serving. Oh, and don't be surprised if this happens overnight:

I think it looks pretty cool myself.

Enjoy this sweet treat!