Banana Cupcakes

I wanted to do something new and original for Thanksgiving besides the traditional cupcakes, so I decided to make banana cupcakes.  I read in a book I was reading lately a very yummy recipe on banana cake.  Being very intrigued by the sound of banana cake, I decided to use the recipe to make cupcakes.

The batter for the recipe was a wonderful consistency for cupcakes and was not too runny like some recipes become.  According to the recipe I used, the batch used 6 bananas and yielded a little more than 2 dozen cupcakes which was also a nice size for a cupcake batch.

Once the cupcakes were baked, I let them sit overnight so the banana could work itself into the moist cake.  The consistency was very similar to banana bread once the cakes sat over night.  

Yesterday my sister and I frosted them with vanilla cream cheese icing.  Although we thought that chocolate could have also been interesting, we decided on traditional vanilla cream cheese icing.  

To top off the cupcake with a gourmet feel, we topped each cupcake with a banana chip.  I really liked the very simple design and I'm happy to report that these cupcakes are oh so yummy!  I think this may be one of my favorite new cupcake recipes of the moment.  Something different, very moist, easy to work with and very good tasting.

Jenni's Cake Challenge

My blogger friend from Seattle gave me an interesting challenge.  She wanted me to give her suggestions on a cake to make for her student's upcoming piano recital.  I love challenges, so this was a good one to research.  

After much research and some thinking about Jenni and what I know about her, this is what I wanted to say that I could make for her:

Since this obviously wasn't something I could do yet, and I don't live anywhere near Jenni, I had to give her a suggestion that I thought would be doable knowing she probably wouldn't have a lot of time to dedicate to this project as well.

I found this cute cake on the Betty Crocker website.  I think it will easily do the trick and still get her oooh's and aaah's from her students.  What do you think?

Wilton Cake Class

I had a fun adventure this weekend. I decided to make sugar cookies from scratch. I recently purchased a cake decorating book that had a sugar cookie recipe that recommended making cookies to get used to frosting items. Once I had the sugar cookies mixed up, I refrigerated the dough, and then made the cookies using parchment paper. I had never used parchment paper before, and let me tell you.. boy was it easy to use and the look of the cookies were flawless!

Once the cookies were baked, I made royal icing for the cookies with a pink tint and almond flavor. The icing turned out wonderful and took on that hard exterior I look for in a good frosting. I think I'm in love.

I froze my cookies to pull out for the perfect time in the future and was satisfied with the progress I made.

While I was at Michaels this weekend looking at cooking gear and using my 40% off coupon on a new rolling pin, I saw a flier for cake decorating classes. I asked around and discovered that there is a course starting in December. I signed up right away, and can't wait to begin the learning process. Great timing for December cookie making.

Cupcake Cake Mold

What's better than a small cupcake? How about a large cupcake. Or even better, how about a cake that is design to look like a cupcake?

I recently fold this cake mold online that allows you to use regular cake batter to create your own cupcake creation, but in a larger size of a cake instead of an individual cup.

I absolutely love this idea, and may have to see when my budget allows me to splurge in this item.  What would be better than having a larger creation of what I already love!

Favorites...

What would a cupcake blog be without links to other cupcake sites? I'm certainly not the first person to have a fascination with cupcakes. There are several sites that have beat me to the punch, and make a living from this hobby.

Here is a collection of some of my favorite sites for the tasty treat inspiration:

All Things Cupcake
I love the look and feel of this site as well as all the wonderful references to cupcake design, decor, and cupcake recipes.

Cupcake Recipe.net
For all of you that have asked me to post cupcake recipes, check out this site. They are jam packed with cupcake recipes, and even better.... cupcake videos!

I'm in Love

I'm in love..... with this apron. I was browsing the Internet for cupcake items and came across this apron. I love the vintage feel, and of course the cupcake pattern is to die for.

Cupcake Soap?

My husband and I make homemade soap products. Although we haven't been making any soap in the last few months we have made soap on-and-off for around 8 years. It first began as a hobby and then we also saw business possibilities, but realized quickly that the time we spent wasn't enough to return big enough profits.

Since we have a passion for soap products, it was even more amazing for me to find a cupcake soap product. You heard me right, a cupcake soap product.

Offered by Luxe soap, which is a highly specialized soap company that makes specialty soap, they recently introduced a Margarita Bloom soap product.

Here is there description:

"Margarita Bloom strawberry Angel food cupcake soap, specially formulated for cupcake lovers without the calories. Soap is the size of an actual cupcake and comes topped with swirled pink frosting and sprinkles. We just love the edible smell and pink and green packaging. Perfect for gift baskets, goodie bags or guest bathrooms."

What a fun idea. I wish they were in stock to try.

If you would like more details, click here to visit their website.