"Talking is Hard" Cupcakes

I had the urge to bake at around 8 in the evening and as an adult, I decided to embrace this completely. I ran out to the store to grab a few things I didn't have on hand and got started.

I wasn't exactly sure that theme I wanted for decorating. Finally I decided to mimic the colors of Walk the Moon's most recent album, Talking is Hard. Why? Because I saw them this Thursday (for the fourth time) and already miss them! PLUS I love the colors a lot (it matches my car!)

The whole band is sweet as cupcakes, so I thought: might as well make it literal!

All I really did here (I used the same recipe as I have in previous blog posts) was put the batter in black, black with white polka dot and some really cool silver cupcake holders and dyed some of my white frosting yellow - and there you go! Baking is isn't hard!

The finished product:

    

If you haven't already listened to this band, I highly recommend checking them out! All of their music is killer and they put on a damn good show. I've gone to see them live four times now and they make it feel like the first time every time. Not only are their vocals and musicality completely on point (something you sometimes don't find when recording artists preform live) but so is their energy level.

Here are a few shots from the concert I went to on Thursday at the Rilato Theater (plus after the show my roommate and I finally met Nick!) Since we met Eli last time, we have finally met half the band. Maybe another four shows and we'll meet everyone else!

What album cover do you think would also make good cupcakes, theme wise? I wish I had some black icing to write the words "Talking is Hard" on this - something I'll have to do another time, maybe!

Until next time, 

Rose

"Klaine" Cupcakes

Oh yes, I'm going there.

If you are a fan of the TV show "Glee," you know there were two very beautiful weddings on Friday. Since I've loved Kurt and Blaine since they were introduced, I wanted to make a little treat for the occasion. I would have made these for Friday if I hadn't been at a hotel, so they came a bit late for the big "Klaine" wedding on Friday.

For the cupcakes, I decided to go with the red and yellow roses theme that spans throughout the Kurt and Blaine relationship.

First thing is first: I used my chocolate coffee cupcake recipe for these, because if anything says "Klaine," it's a cup of coffee.

New York + Klaine please.

What I thought would really make this cupcake special where the flowers, so my roommate Marissa and I bought chocolate molds from Michael's in the shape of roses, along with yellow and red chocolate melts. This was all very simple - you just melt the candies in the microwave, put in a pipping bag and then put the molds in the fridge for around 15 minutes - and are they delicious! Some roses never made it to the cupcakes. (Our first attempt was very messy, so it does take a bit of practice).

Along with the red and yellow roses theme, we already had yellow, purple and teal cupcake liners in the kitchen - which fits perfectly with the color coordination that the pair favor in very significant scenes.

Next up, the obvious: make the cupcake batter (with the recipe linked above) and fill the cupcake pan with appropriately colored liners.

                                       

After the cupcakes cooled, it was time for the fun part - decorating! I just used a plain white frosting (cream cheese - yum!) and then placed the roses on the cupcakes. We sort of experimented here: some only had one, others two.

The result: beautiful and colorful cupcakes! The chocolate roses are an extra - delicious - treat!

I feel you could adapt this recipe for your own use in many ways. It be perfect for a Spring themed party or treat. There are so many different color candy melts: pink, blue, green, yellow - all of which would bring some color into the next few months. And I know, florals? For spring? Groundbreaking. But it works. 

If you decide to do any spin off of this - or explore other chocolate molds - do feel free to share them with me! Enjoy!

Until next time, 

Rose

Recipe: Coffee Cupcakes

I've been wanting to make these cupcakes for weeks now and I finally had a few days off work that I could really work on them! I hope you enjoy this post and the recipe (also spoiler alert: they are delicious!)

First off, your ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar ½ cup butter, softened to room temperature 
• 2 eggs 
• 1¾ cups all purpose flour, sifted 
• 2 tsp baking powder 
• ¼ teaspoon salt 
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted 
• 1 cup brewed coffee, chilled (use any kind you like, I used decaf since I can't have caffeine)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 
• ¼ cup semi sweet chocolate chips 

My first step was to brew my coffee so I could throw it in the refrigerator (and later in the freezer) to chill while I got all my other ingredients ready. 

After that I pre-measured a lot of the ingredients so I didn't have to worry about them too much (yes, I'm that person that reads a recipe like twelve times). You should pre-heat the oven right now to 350 degrees.

The very first step is to cream your butter and sugar together. I had no idea how to do this and wasn't sure if I would be able to do it by hand, but good old YouTube didn't let me down. Here is the video I watched to teach myself how to cream the butter - it worked out great! (I used a rubber spoon/spatula). A great thing to remember is that you can't over cream the mixture and the longer you do it, the smoother it becomes, which helps your cupcake's consistency! 

Mix together your flour, baking powder and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Add the vanilla to your coffee (which should be chilled by now) and set them both aside. 

Next add your eggs, one at a time, to the butter mixture and blend them well. 

Finally you're going to start adding your dry ingredients and your coffee mixture to the butter/egg mixture. Add them gradually, one at a time. I did dry, mix, coffee, mix and over again. Then fold in your chocolate chips.

(Around this time, Elphie decided she wanted to help and parked herself in the middle of the kitchen and I almost tripped over her. Adorable.) 

I might have spilled a bit of flour on her.
Flour + black cat = pretty hilarious.

When everything is all mixed together, it's time to fill your cupcake pan. About 1/4 a cup per liner. Then throw it in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes, or until you can put a toothpick inside and it comes out clean. (You are now required to lick your batter bowl while you wait, unless you're too scared of salmonella.) 

Yuuuuuum!

Next up: let your cupcakes cool completely. I basically cleaned up my mess (or your roommates/parents will be mad with you!) and then showered so I wasn't constantly checking them. When I came back from my shower they were ready to decorate - and here is the really fun part. I made them look like mini fraps from Starbucks. 

I got these Cupcake Gems, which worked out great, because they made them look like a Carmel Ribbon Crunch!

I bought icing bags and attachments to decorate, because I wanted the frosting to look like whipped cream on top of the cupcakes. I was nervous at first, because filling the bag can be a little tricky, but most will come with instructions and once again - YouTube is your friend if you want to see someone do it practically! The actually icing worked out amazingly. I felt like I was on Cupcake Wars or something! (Once again, you are now required to lick the spoon/spatula that you were using to get the icing into the bag.)

Next up: the Cupcake Gems!

Finally, I "borrowed" a few extra straws from the cafe where I work (Barnes and Noble) which brews Starbucks drinks. Obviously you can get them at an actual Starbucks, or buy a pack of green straws at the store. I cut them up, about an inch or so (though I should have gotten an extra straw because I had to cut a few in half because I didn't have enough). Then you stick them in the cupcake and frosting, making it look like a straw! 

And done! The next test is obviously the taste test. I took one where the frosting wasn't the prettiest and it was so good. You can taste the coffee - though I imagine that regular coffee might be stronger than decaf. There are also a lot of possibilities with flavored coffee: hazelnut, glazed chocolate donut (which my roommate loves!), or whatever else you like to have in the mornings. That is definitely a good personal touch. And if you don't want them to be chocolate cupcakes, leave out the cocoa powder and maybe add something else. Experiment a little!

I hope you enjoyed this and I wish I could let you try some. I was going to take this to work, but I think this batch will be for roommate consumption only and I'll make another for my co-workers later. 

Until next time, Rose