Berry Lemonade Cupcakes

Alright, so here is the other cuppie that I created with that Jones Soda.



I used the same recipes for the cuppie, icing, and filling...but omited the glaze on top. The flavor of this one was so good, I didn't think it needed the glaze.



Wanna see what is inside? Here ya go:


Now, for the filling on this cuppie, I added a splash of the soda pop, so it isn't as thick and firm as the other filling, but I loved it!

Thanks again to Play at Home Mama, Gonna Go Walk the Dogs, and Put a Cupcake In It for the recipes I used to create these delights.

Check out IronCupcake for more cool cupcake stuff.
Our April ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
A creation by FRUITFLYPIE, a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES, a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS ; TASTE OF HOME books, a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

Enjoy!
-Erica

Blue Bubblegum Cupcakes

This is exciting. My daughters and I walked up to this little corner store today to get some fresh air. When we got there, my 4-year-old asked for some juice....and what was next to the juice? JONES SODA! I thought to myself, "Hmmmm. IronCupcake's challenge this month IS soda. Why not!?" So, I picked up two unusual flavors of soda and headed home.



Now, I was in search of a new recipe to use with my awesome soda finds. I came across this blogger through IronCupcake: Earth, and thought this recipe was perfect:

1/2 C sugar
1/4 C butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 C soda pop

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the sugar mixture and mix well. Stir in the soda. Pour or spoon batter into cups.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

How perfect is that? Minimal ingredients. Three steps. Perfection!


Un-iced. I baked them in the Prep Bowls from Pampered Chef - they make for GIANT cuppies! *smile*

Then, I filled them with yummy goodness:


Piled on the vanilla buttercream next:


Lastly, drizzled this dreamy blue bubblegum glaze over the top:


Here, you can see the filling inside:

*Yeah, I know, the cross-section picture is not great. I should have frozen the cupcake before even attempting this cut, but oh well. That just forced me to eat it right then*

Would you like to have a little nibble? Here ya go:


The icing recipe I used was from Gonna Go Walk the Dogs, thanks!

Vanilla Butter Cream
3/4 C margarine/butter
1 C powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients until fluffy - ice or pipe onto cuppies.

For the filling, I just winged it. This is basically what I did:

handful of white chocolate chips and a splash of buttermilk into a small saucepan, melt over medium heat. Let cool completely and beat in powdered sugar to desired consistency. Fill a ziplock bag and clip the corner. Pipe into (or onto) cuppies.

The glaze recipe I got from Put a Cupcake In It, thanks!

GLAZE
4 1/2 Tsp unsalted butter
1/4 C milk
2 C powdered sugar
food coloring
*I also added a splash of the Blue Bubblegum Soda*

Put sugar in medium-size bowl, melt butter over medium heat. Remoce from heat and whisk in milk. Add to sugar and whisk together. Add food coloring (and pop) at this point. The longer you let it sit, the more hardened it becomes, so you wanna dip (or drizzle) your cuppies right away.

Check out IronCupcake for more cool cupcake stuff.
Our April ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
A creation by FRUITFLYPIE, a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES, a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS ; TASTE OF HOME books, a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

Enjoy!
-Erica

Orange Dreamsicle Cupcakes

Creamy vanilla.......sweet and tangy orange......mixed together, what could be better?

Do you remember these delicious ice cream treats? They were my favorite when I was a kid. Now, I have recreated them....in cupcake fashion!



These little drops of bliss were created for the IronCupcake: Earth challenge for April, also. I actually have a little something else up my sleeve, too. So be on the lookout for another yummy cupcake post.

Okay, so I used the same recipe from Hello, Cupcake for these babies, too. You can find the recipe here. I substituted orange extract for the vanilla in this case.

Once I had the batter mixed together, I took some out and dyed it orange (with red and yellow food coloring) so that they would look pretty. And did they ever?



From the top:


For the icing, I kept it simple (again). I like yummy but simple. *smile*


I added some food coloring to the icing as well.


Can you just taste them now? Here, take a little nibble:


I topped them with a little scoop of the Orange & Vanilla Ice Cream from UDF and then drizzled the icing over top it all. Messy, but totally delicious!


Check out IronCupcake for more cool cupcake stuff.
Our April ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
A creation by FRUITFLYPIE, a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES, a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS ; TASTE OF HOME books, a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

Enjoy!
-Erica

Root Beer Float?

Ok - so I came across this site today

IronCupcake: Earth

What a GREAT site that is - you have to check it out!

Anyway, so I found myself intrigued by this month's challenge.

To make cupcakes with SODA POP - somehow, someway

The first thing that popped in my head......

ROOT BEER FLOAT CUPCAKES!

Voila!



Aren't they dreamy? *smile*

So, how I decided I was going to do this was take a regular vanilla cupcake recipe and alter it. I used the vanilla cupcake recipe from Hello, Cupcake!

The alteration I made to the recipe was to use root beer concentrate instead of vanilla (mixed with veggie oil and milk).


Creepy looking, huh?

Alright, so then I mixed everything together


The tip about spooning the batter into a ziplock baggie and clipping a corner is an awesome one! Next time you make cupcakes - do it! Absolutely no drips on the pan and it is much easier to get all the cups even. I was happy!



Since I was making mini cupcakes, I only baked them for 13 minutes. Here they are naked:


For the icing, I kept is simple....very simple


Just some cream cheese with root beer concentrate and some powdered sugar for sweetness. Beautiful.

I really enjoyed thinking outside the box on this challenge and will most likely make these again. They tasted wonderful, though, I would probably start with a different "basic" recipe, as I found this one a little too dry for my tastes. :)

In case you're interested, though:

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 c milk
1/2 c veggie oil
1 t vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 c sugar
3 large eggs

1 - Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

2 - Whisk together the flour, powder, soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Combine the milk, oil, and vanilla in a 2-cup measuring cup or a small bowl.

3 - In another medium bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

4 - Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating just until blended.

5 - Spoon half of the batter into a ziplock bag. Snip 1/4-inch corner from the bag and fill the liners two-thirds full. Repeat with the remaining batter. Bake until golden and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the baking pan, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool completely.


Check out IronCupcake for more cool cupcake stuff.
Our April ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
A creation by FRUITFLYPIE, a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES, a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS ; TASTE OF HOME books, a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

Enjoy!
-Erica