Sweet Like Candy

I'm not sure how you feel about Starburst candies - but if you like them then you will probably LOVE these:

Pictured above are: cherry, lemon, and orange Starburst cupcakes.

In preparation for a coworker's upcoming birthday I tested cupcake and frosting recipes that taste like the colors of the candy rainbow. Starburst happen to be her favorite candy and I have made it my goal to turn everyone's favorite sweet into a delicious little cupcake!

They are pretty good but oh-my-goodness are they sweet. Maybe just a little too sweet with a little tang of sour - just like their candy counterpart!

Anywho - here's the recipe:

Cupcakes:
1 box Super Moist White Cake Mix
3 egg whites
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Gel food coloring

Follow the directions on the box to make the cupcakes. My little twist is that I whip the egg whites to a meringue first. Once the ingredients are incorporated divide the batter into thirds and add food coloring to the desired color.

I also think we could flavor the cake as Starburst but I didn't have the time or the patience this time round.

Frosting:
1 stick butter (room temperature)
4 - 5 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 package each of cherry, orange and lemon UNSWEETENED Kool-Aid

Whip butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and milk to the desired consistency. Divide the frosting into thirds. Slowly add the Kool-Aid mix into the frsoting, tasting as you go. I used about 1/4 tsp of each. I think using the full packet would be overwhelming - so be cautious when adding the flavor.

Top the cooled cupcakes with the frosting, matching the cherry frsoting to the red cupcakes, lemon to the yellow cupcakes and orange to the - well - orange cupcakes. These monochromatic little packages are beautiful.

Happy Birthday!

My coworker Jenn is celebrating her birthday tomorrow and of course this gives me an excuse to bake something. I have really been wanting to make cupcakes lately and with the celebration on hand tomorrow I couldn't resist the opportunity.

It was a beautiful spring day today which really put me in the mood to make something fresh and light. I had the idea to make orange flavored cupcakes - which I guess is not a new idea, but I have never attempted the recipe.

Here is what I tried:

Orange Cupcakes
1 package white cake mix
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 + 1/4 cups orange juice with pulp
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
1 Tbs orange zest

Orange Frosting
1/2 cup solid shortening
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp Grand Marnier liquor
1 Tbs milk

Here is what I got:


I think they look fantastic!! The sugared flowers on top really make them "springy" which I love. They taste OK ... I think for me they are a little bit too orange flavored - so if I make them again I will try cutting the orange ingredients in half.

Hopefully they will be a hit for the birthday tomorrow!

Easter Sunday

Unlike most Easters previous, I spent the majority of the day with Jonathan in the basement. We finally moved some of the plumbing that was inconveniently located along the center of the ceiling and because the pipes were old one of the connections was leaking and leaving an unpleasant rust colored stain on our new tile.

So instead of my usual hunting for plastic eggs in Pecatonica, I was hunting for PVC connectors in the basement.

Bummer.


I did, however, manage to squeeze two Easter traditions out of the day:

1. I ate cheesy potatoes. Mmm... my aunt's recipe that was an Easter brunch staple. I was excited to make it because the recipe is a favorite, but also because the recipe is in my mom handwriting, which I don't get to see much of anymore. Creating the meal was a nice walk down memory lane.

2. Jonathan and I dyed Easter eggs. It was quite an ordeal to get this done today by the way. First of all, we didn't have eggs... so I went out to buy some. Then we didn't have vinegar... so we went out to buy some. Then we didn't have water (the water was turned off so that we could replace the pipes) ... so we went out to buy some. We hardboiled the eggs and then set up the de station... when i realized I didn't have any food coloring!... I did howeer have some Wilton frosting dyes, so we tried that. Umm... my suggestion is not to do that in the future. The resulting masterpieces looked like this:

Happy Easter!

Breakfast?!

Jonathan is making me breakfast right now! Let me say that again... Jonathan. Is. Making. Me. Breakfast!! Specifically he is flipping pancakes, making sausage and creating a strawberry sauce to pour over the flapjacks! I am so excited. This is far past his usual scrambled egg and cheese omelet. I am very impressed.