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Key Lime Summer Cake Pops

Nothing says summer like Key Lime Pie.  Growing up my favorite summertime memories always include fresh seafood (yay for growing up on the Gulf Coast) followed by a cool slice of Key Lime Pie.

When I was perusing Pinterest and saw a Pin for Key Lime Cupcakes from My Madison Bistro, I knew I had to give it a try.

Key Lime Cupcakes and Cake Pops

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cups cake flour (for cake pops, use regular flour)
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) cool unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 ½ tablespoons key lime juice
1 tablespoon key lime zest
1 drop green food coloring paste
¾ cup buttermilk

Icing:
1 stick cool unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 ¼ cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon key lime zest

First of all, I had no idea there was such a thing as “cake flour” and it took us forever to even FIND the stuff.  It is not by the flour – but over by the cake mixes.  Go figure.

Also, cake flour works great for the cupcakes, but makes the cake pops a bit too fluffy to really stay on the sticks – which is why we used a piping bag with a huge round tip to put the icing on the top like we did the cupcakes, instead of dipping them like regular cake pops.  Regardless, they taste AMAZING.

Oh, and My Madison Bistro said to sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt three times… I dont OWN a sifter, so I didnt do this part.   I also dont own a mixer (hey, I am no chef – I am learning to cook here) so I just mixed everything by hand.  I KNOW.  My shoulder may never be the same.

MoscatoMom’s Directions:

Batter

Mix all dry ingredients first while your Tween daughter slaves over zesting the itsy bitsy key limes… do you know how much a tablespoon is of zest?!!  (What?  You are surprised we dont have a zester? Come on people) She did one, and then when she read on that she would need another whole tablespoon for the icing… well, thankfully she is a good sport.

Slowly mix in wet ingredients and mix well.  In the original directions it says the batter will look curdled, however mine didnt… that could be because I was sans mixer….

Cake pops: Spoon batter into your Babycakes Cake Pop Maker and cook for about three and a half minutes – until batter is done but outside is not too brown.  Fork onto a cookie sheet and run into the refrigerator for about an hour.

Cupcakes: Spoon batter into your Babycakes Cupcake Maker and cook about 6 minutes – also until center is cooked but outside is not too brown.  It may take breaking into one for a taste test (bummer, right?) to make sure they are done all the way through.  Fork onto a cookie sheet and run into the refrigerator for about an hour.

Icing

Again, this is probably much easier with a mixer-because mine was not “fluffy” at all, but like real icing, which we love.  I also added WAY more powdered sugar to thicken it  up.  You cant have too much powdered sugar, right?…..RIGHT!   Mix all of the ingredients until well blended and put into a large icing bag with a large round tip, and ice each cupcake or cake pop.  Top with green sugar sprinkles or key lime zest (notice I used sprinkles… I think the Tween was icing her shoulder…) Put finished cakes and pops into the refrigerator to set (and because well… key lime is always better cold.)

ENJOY!


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Taco Cupcakes – Another Pinterest Success

I absolutely love Pinterest for finding amazing dishes that real people are cooking and sharing the recipes for.   I have found some new family favorites (like the Cowboy Casserole) and enjoyed experimenting with new ideas and making up new concoctions.

Months ago when I saw the Taco Cupcakes I knew I wanted to try it out.  But, like most things on Pinterest, I repinned… and never looked at again.  This week while shopping I noticed a package of won tons and remembered the Taco Cupcakes.  I grabbed my iPhone – with the Pinterest app – and next thing I knew I was grabbing the ingredients.  There were about 5 different pins for Taco Cupcakes – all with a little bit different ingredients.  So in true Diva fashion I just basically threw them all together in one.  It was perfect.

Why Taco Cupcakes?  Besides the fact that they are absolutely ridiculously delicious, they are CUTE.  And remember my Lasagna Muffins?  It’s PORTION CONTROL PEOPLE.   Eat one… two at the max… and voila!

Taco Cupcakes

Ingredients:

  • 1lb ground chuck
  • taco seasoning
  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 jar chili con queso
  • 1 jar mild salsa
  • 1 package won top wrappers
  • shredded cheese
  • sour cream or guacamole (optional)

Brown your meat and drain well.  Add water, taco seasoning, and black beans.  Let cook down until all water is dissolved.  (this part is important – too watery and your wontons wont hold up right.  TRUST ME)  Set aside.

Grease your muffin tin and gently press a wonton wrapper into each muffin.  Try not to poke holes in them with your nails like yours truly did.  Then begin by putting in a layer of chili con queso, then meat mixture then salsa.  Add another wonton wrapper and repeat, topping “cupcake” with shredded cheese.  Cook for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and wonton wrappers are brown and crispy.

Let cool for a few minutes before adding the “icing” of sour cream or guacamole.  (or both!) Serve with homemade Spanish Rice.

For those of you who learn better with pictures:

The girls absolutely LOVED these little “cupcakes” and even my Dad came over to say hi and enjoyed one himself.   And I always share my concoctions with my neighbor, whose boys attacked the plate upon my arrival.  (funny, it was “taco night” at her house too)

I loved how they easily fit right into a large Tupperware container to save for lunch tomorrow, and I was able to really monitor the amount that I ate, because it was really only the size of a cupcake.

Next time I am going to add in some corn and maybe some Rotel – kinda like my Taco Soup …. but in a cupcake!


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Easter Cupcakes – Springtime Sweets with #EqualSucralose

Photo Credit : http://www.bakerella.com/easter-basket-cupcakes/

This week I decided to make some Easter Basket Cupcakes to take to my Mom’s for an early Easter lunch.  Inspired by the amazing Bakerella I found just the right ones I wanted to make!  I decided to use the same recipe that I used for my St Patrick’s Day Cupcake Pops so they would be “healthier” and so I could show my Mom the #EqualSucralose that I have been using the last few weeks during my big weightloss.

Equal Sucralose is a non calorie sweetner that you can use instead of sugar!  Cheaper than Splenda and much easier to use - I love the canister that it comes in – it measures cup for cup like sugar, but without the calories! You can find Equal Sucralose at participating Super Walmarts – check here to find one near you!

Though my cupcakes did not turn out NEAR as professional looking as Bakerella’s (I’ll blame not being able to find the right candies lol) I was still very happy with them, as was everyone else at lunch!  Plus they tasted fantastic – and no one even knew I had not used real sugar in the batter – until I told them of course!  You can see my entire Shopping Trip in this Google Plus Album.

Like I said, mine did not turn out near as nice as hers, but the girls thoroughly enjoyed making - and eating!! – them, and I loved knowing that even though they were nice and sweet and tasted just like normal cupcakes, they were not loaded with sugar like most cupcakes are since I used Equal Sucralose instead.  Even Mom liked them!

Easter Basket Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1/3 c butter softened
  • 3/4 c sugar (or Equal Sucralose)
  • 1/4 c sour cream
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/3 c milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • candy sprinkles (optional)

Cupcake Toppings

  • 1 can vanilla icing of choice
  • green food coloring
  • assorted candies – bunnies, jellybeans, “rope” like candy, etc

Mix cupcake ingredients – except for the sprinkles – together in a large bowl and stir until smooth.   When well blended, gently pour desired amount of candy sprinkles into mix and fold gently. (We used a LOT of sprinkles… I recommend NOT giving the 5 year old the tub of sprinkles to pour in.)

Spoon swirled mixture into your Babycakes Mini Cupcake Maker and let cook six to seven minutes or until cooked all the way through.  Make sure to test the first one – you do not want a raw middle!

Place cupcakes onto a cookie sheet.  Let cupcakes cool completely – overnight if possible.   Tint vanilla icing to desired “green-ness”  and apply generously to the top of the cupcake.  Remember all of your candies have to stick into this stuff, so don’t hold back.

Next insert your “basket handles” and hold for a few seconds until icing begins to set around it.  This was the hardest part for me – getting the handles to actually stay standing up.  I was considering Super Glue when they finally began to stand up on their own.  We quickly added the rest of the candies – the gummy ones worked best – and shoved the entire cookie sheet into the freezer to let everything set up.

We had an absolute BLAST with these and will make them again next year I am sure!  I will however shop a couple different places to find the right candies, as all joking aside – I do think they would have turned out better with bigger bunnies and “real” rope candy - but the Twizzlers sure were yummy!!

Disclaimer – This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias  All opinions are 100% my own.

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St Patrick’s Day Swirled Cupcake Pops

Last week I did a review on the new Equal Sucralose – an alternative to sugar that measures like sugar and is comparable to Splenda. (but with much better packaging)   I wanted to really give it a thorough “sweetness” test so I decided to replace the sugar in some vanilla cupcakes as well.  Since I had the Babycakes Cake Pop Maker already heated up I decided to use it to make St Patrick’s Day Swirled Cupcake Pops!  They were great!

St Patrick’s Day Vanilla Swirl Cupcake Pops

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1/3 c butter softened
  • 3/4 c sugar (or Equal Sucralose)
  • 1/4 c sour cream
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/3 c milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • green food coloring

Mix all ingredients together except for the food coloring.  After batter is mixed well with no lumps, add food coloring and gently mix in letting the color “swirl” – do not over mix.

Spoon swirled mix into your Babycakes Cake Pop Maker and let cook three and a half to four minutes or until cooked all the way through. The batter will be “swirled” both inside and out making for a pretty little pop!

The great part about these is that they taste fantastic without any icing or anything!   They are sweet like cupcakes and are the perfect “poppable” size for snacking!   These did not last long before they were gobbled up.  The flavor was great – I was impressed.  I have never made cupcakes “from scratch” but we really enjoyed these!

I will be making more of these for the girls to take to school, and also going to make the Pancake Pops on St Patrick’s Day morning – just adding some green food coloring to the mix.

Do you make a “green” breakfast on St Patrick’s Day?