Neapolitan Cupcake

our version of strawberry neapolitan cupcake! yummy!

Welcome Sweet Baby Girl







Strawberry Buttercream Frosting with Vanilla Cupcak for a very special little baby girl



The full package: "LUXOR" (oreo cupcake with oreo cookies buttercream frosting) & Strawberry Buttercream Frosting with Vanilla Cupcake



OREO Cookie Balls ...with a little twist

We tried the Oreo Cookie Balls recipe that we posted a little awhile ago this weekend.
Instead of using regular Oreo Cookies - we used Oreo Cookies with berry burst flavored!

Here's the recipe again:

Ingredients: 

1 package (8oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

36 OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 3 cups)  - we used Berry Burst flavor! Yum! 

2 package (8 squares each) BAKER'S semi-sweet chocolate, melted

wax paper

How to make it:

MIX the cream cheese and cookie crumbs until well blended.

SHAPE it into balls. Freeze for 10 minutes. Dip balls in melted chocolate, place on wax paper 

Then put refrigerate it for about an hour or until firm. 

INSPIRED RECIPE: Easter Egg Cupcakes with "Yolk" Centers

Easter is literally around the corner and we came across this recipe and would love to do it this weekend. 

Easter Egg Cupcakes with "Yolk" Centers (recipe inspired by cupcakeproject.com)

It seems overwhelming but totally worth it! 

Happy Easter to all! 

Yield: 18 extra-large egg cupcakes 

Dyed Eggs Ingredients:

• 18 extra large white eggs (Only three will get used in the cake.  The rest are just used for their shells.)
• 1/2 cup of water for every egg color you want
• 1 tablespoon vinegar for every egg color you want
• Food coloring (as many colors as you'd like)

Cupcake Ingredients: 

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 2 eggs (from above)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Cream Cheese "Yolk" Ingredients:

• 1 egg (from above)
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Gold and yellow food coloring

Dyed Eggs Directions:

1. Carefully poke a small hole in the top of each egg. 
2. Once you have poked tiny holes, peel back the edges of the holes to expand them a bit.  The holes need to be large enough to fit the tip of a piping bag inside.  You can always make the holes larger when you are ready to pipe so err on the smaller side during this step.
3. Turn each egg upside-down and dump out its contents.  Keep the contents of two eggs separate for the cake recipe and one egg separate for the cream cheese "yolks".  If you plan on using the other eggs for baking, it might be helpful to store them in small plastic containers in groups of two (otherwise it will be hard for you to later tell how much of your big bowl is two eggs).  You may wonder why there is a thermometer in the photo.  I used the tip of the thermometer to help get all of the egg out of the shell.
4. Rinse the insides of the eggs out thoroughly over the sink.  Then, immerse them in saltwater for thirty minutes.  
5. Rinse the egg shells in cold water to remove the salt.
6. For each color that you want, prepare cups with water, vinegar, and six drops of food coloring.  Stir and add more color until you like the way the color looks. 
7. Dunk eggs one at a time into the cups of color and leave them in for a minute. Have a look at the resulting shell color and dunk again if you want the color to be more intense. 
8. Remove from the dye and place eggs hole side down on a paper towel to dry.

Cupcake Directions:

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix eggs and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Add the butter and lemon extract and mix until fully integrated.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
5. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth.

Cream Cheese "Yolk" Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese, egg, and sugar until smooth.
2. Add food coloring until the mixture looks yolk-colored.  I found that this was best achieved by using mostly gold with just a touch of yellow for some brightness.

Egg Filling and Baking Directions:

1. Place the prepared egg shells into a cupcake tin.  Use aluminum foil to help them stand upright.
2. Load the cake batter and the "yolk" into piping bags fitted with small tips.  Make sure that the tips can fit all of the way inside of the egg holes.  If they can't, gradually egg-spand the holes until the tips fit.
3. Fill your eggs about 1/4 full with batter. 
4. Top the batter with "yolk" until the eggs are about 1/2 full.
5. Top the "yolk" with more batter until the eggs are about 3/4 full.  This is the tricky part.  If you underfill the eggs, you won't have complete cake eggs inside when you crack them after baking.  If you overfill the eggs, cake will flow out of the eggs during baking.  I found that it was best to let the cake overflow out of the top of the egg slightly and then to simply pick it off (eat it) and clean the shell with a damp towel before serving.  Unfortunately, this technique may remove some of the dye.
6. Bake the eggs at 350 F for 20 minutes. 
7. Let cool, crack, and eat!

Bridal Shower & Housewarming

This weekend was very busy for us. Two events - 48 cupcakes - ONE day!  We made vanilla with strawberry frosting, red velvet and by request we tried Death by Oreo Cookies (recipe inspired by instructables.com).


For the bridal shower:

Death by Oreo - see below for recipe

Some pics of the cupcakes for the housewarming:

Recipe for Death by Oreo cupcake

Estimated Cooking Time: About 25 to 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 package Oreo Cookies, regular size
1 package Mini Oreo Cookies, for decoration (optional)
1 package chocolate cake mix (mix according to directions on box)
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
cupcake liners

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix packaged cake mix according to directions (do not bake). Line cupcake tins with liner, place a regular size Oreo cookie in the bottom of each liner. Take 1/2 of remaining cookies and chop coarsely and add to cake mix. Fill the cupcake tins. Bake for 15 minutes (or according to box directions). While cupcakes are baking make the frosting.

Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla, then add powdered sugar slowly until blended well. Chop remaining regular-sized Oreos very fine (I put the cookies in the food processor instead of trying to chop them up super fine and it worked out really well). Add to frosting. After cupcakes have cooled frost and decorate with Mini Oreos.