I decided to make an Oreo cupcake and decorate it like a graveyard as well as an orange flavored candy corn cupcake! I know that candy corn typically isn’t orange in flavor, but my friend Sarah sent me a package of blood orange candy corns… so this works out perfectly!

For the Graveyard cupcakes I made this oreo cupcake… it’s a favorite recipe of mine that works out perfectly every time I make it!   Instead of a cream cheese frosting like the recipe calls for… I used a standard buttercream and added oreos.  I made 1.5x the amount I’d normally make for a dozen cupcakes, just to make sure I had enough frosting.  Here’s that recipe:

Oreo Buttercream
12 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
10 Oreos, chopped
1/4 tsp salt

1. Beat the butter until smooth.
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar, alternating with a small amount of cream at a time, and beat until smooth and creamy.
3. Mix in the vanilla.
4. Add the chopped Oreos and mix on high for 2 minutes or until all the big chunks of Oreo are gone.
5. Add more cream until you get your desired consistency.  You may not need all the cream.
6. Mix in the salt until well combined.

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Cupcakes w/ decorating tutorial

Cupcakes

• Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes
• Tree Hugger Apple Cupcakes
• Caramel Apple Cupcakes w/ decorating tutorial
• Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting
• Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Frosting
• Mini Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes
• Black Velvet Pumpkin Cupcakes
• Caramel Apple Cupcakes - #2
• Spiced Mocha Cupcakes
• How to make Fall trees to top your cupcakes
• Pumpkin Cake Balls/Pop
• Caramel Creme Latte Cupcakes
• Appledoodle Cupcakes

Black Velvet Pumpkin Cupcakes w/ Tutorial

• Pumpkin Donut Holes
• Apple Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread
• Emme’s Banana Bread
• Pumpkin Spice Bread
• Honey Cornbread Muffins

Apple Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Syrup

• Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Cookies/Bars

• Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Banana Bites! 
Sliced bananas
Peanut butter buttercream
Melted Chocolate

1. Squeeze a dollop of buttercream on a banana slice.
2. Add a dot of chocolate on top.
3. Pop in your mouth and enjoy!
4. 

Mini Cupcakes

Tools: 
Apple corer
Piping bag

3 Steps:

-Press the apple corer into the center of the mini cupcake.  Twist gently and pull out the center piece of cake.
-Fill a piping bag with your mixture, cut off the tip so you have about a 1cm opening.
-Pipe the mixture into the cupcake just until it reaches the top.

Tools: 
Sharp knife
Mini ice cream scoop

3 Steps:
-Using a sharp knife, cut a cone out of the center of each cupcake.  Make sure the knife goes almost to the bottom of the cupcake when cutting the cone.  Trim off the bottom of the cone so what you have left is a flat top.
-Using the mini ice cream scoop, scoop a dollop of filling into each cupcake until it’s full.
-Replace the flat top of cake back on top of the filling and press down until it’s flat.

Here’s the thing about mini cupcakes, they don’t really look like a ton of cupcakes when they’re on display, but 120 mini cupcakes goes a long way!

Instead a super long post with step-by-step directions for each cupcake, I figured I would link to the recipes that I used, just so you can get an idea of what worked for me

I made 2 dozen mini cupcakes in 5 different cupcake varieties:

• Cookie Dough with Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Brownie with Cream Cheese Buttercream
• Chocolate Chip Pancake
• Red Velvet
• Banana with Nutella Buttercream

I think the biggest hit of the party was cookie dough, but I’m guessing that’s because they had little chocolate chip cookies on them Cupcakes & cookies=win for the kids!  I went with a semi-homemade version of these cupcakes and instead of making chocolate chip cookies, I just bought a bag of bite sized chips ahoy cookies.

If you’re planning a party, consider mini cupcakes.  The birthday girl had about 3 banana & nutella cupcakes… she totally loved them!  I decided to display them on a large platter, just to keep set-up easy since we were at a park… but, I also have a mini cupcake stand that is super cute!

If you have any questions, as always, please let me know!

Mahalo! xo-Jenn

The recipe from Annie’s Eats was a pretty basic recipe, but I wanted to kick things up a bit and really bring out the lime flavor.  In the original recipe, they noted that most of the lime flavor came from the lime syrup that was drizzed on top, but I really wanted a punch of lime to come through in the cake itself.  I zested two limes and pressed that into the sugar, bringing out the natural oils and flavors creating a lime sugar.  I also added the juice of the two limes into the batter.   I also added a bit more lime juice concentrate than the original recipe called for too.  :)  And a few other tricks.

I’m really happy with the intense lime flavor of these cupcakes.  Paired with the sweet cherry frosting, it’s a perfect summer treat!

Enjoy!

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes
Makes 4 dozen cupcakes

Cake
5 1/4 cups flour*
3/4 cup corn starch*
1 tsp salt
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 limes, zested and juiced

10 oz can of limeade concentrate or lime margarita concentrate, thawed and at room temperature

6 eggs

1 cup milk
1/3 cup hot water

*NOTE: This combo of corn starch and flour is to make cake flour.  If you have cake flour on hand, use 6 cups of it.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Line cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a medium bowl, prepare the sugar by working the lime zest into sugar by pressing the back of a spatula down into sugar, thus releasing the oils from the zest into the sugar. This process should take about five minutes, and the sugar will become very fragrant. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, salt, baking powder and soda three times.  You really want to make sure the corn starch is very incorporated into the flour.  Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth.  Add the lime sugar and mix on high until light and fluffy.
5. Add the entire can of limeade concentrate and lime juice.  Mix until combined.  Don’t worry if it appears curdled… it’s normal at this point!
6. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated.
7. In three parts, add the flour mixture.  Between each addition of flour, add half the milk.  Mix only until the flour is just combined.
8. Add the hot water and mix by hand until incorporated.  DO NOT OVER MIX!
9. Fill liners 2/3 full, or use an ice cream scoop to distribute one full scoop into each liner.
10. Bake for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Cool in pans for 5-10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
12. Once cool, poke 7-10 holes in each cupcake with a toothpick.  Drizzle a tablespoon of syrup over each cupcake, allowing it to soak into the cake.

Many of you have asked me what tips we use to frost our cupcakes and how we get the swirls so perfect. I have thought a lot about doing a video tutorial for you… but, Bake it Pretty beat me to it! They have created THE BEST tutorial on how to create the classic looks for your cupcakes using their new and improved cupcake decorating kit!  This kit comes with every tip you’ll need plus a bag AND now there is a video to teach you how to use them!

Here’s what you need:

• Cupcakes
• Filling (anything that isn’t too chunky will work)
• Wilton tip #230
• Piping bag
• Butter knife or scraper

If you have any questions about this… please ask ask ask!

Just an FYI, I used these marble cupcakes (minus the pastry cream) and a basic vanilla buttercream (butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, powdered sugar and heavy cream-as needed) for my “spaghetti.”

If you have any questions, please let me know! Thanks!!

Inspiration: Hello, Cupcake!

Turns out they’re super easy to make, but they looked like you worked super hard on them… that works for me, everytime!

Enjoy!

• You’ll need: a pineapple, baking tray, parchment paper, cutting board, sharp knife & vegetable peeler or teaspoon.  Line your baking tray with parchment paper.

• Cut off the top/bottom of the pineapple.

• Cut off the rest of the rind.

• Using the tip of your vegetable peeler/teaspoon poke out all of the seeds on the pineapple.

• Slice the pineapple super thin and place on the baking tray (I had 2 sheets).
• Bake at 250F for 30 minutes.  Flip and repeat for another 30 minutes.
• Keep an eye on them, it might take a few more minutes, it might take less. You want them to dry out juuuuust enough
• After they come out of the oven, place them in a cupcake tin so that they can get their pretty shape!

aloha cupcakes with fancy schmancy pineapple flowers!

happy, pretty cupcakes!

Hope you like! Happy new week, Javacupcakers!

xo-Jenn

I think these are probably one of the fanciest looking cupcakes that I’ve ever made… they also tasted pretty great.  The graham cracker crust is super easy to make, the chocolate cake is moist and full of flavor (although, if you have a chocolate cake you already love, nothing says you can’t use that instead of this recipe) and well, the homemade marshmallow fluff-I could have eaten that stuff ALLLLLL the live long day.  I wanted to make it again and eat it by the spoon full just ’cause.  But then I realized that’s a little out of control.  I think next time I’ll make some whoppie pies and use the fluff in the middle *drrroooollll* … yum.

You can find this s’mores cupcake recipes in a few different places, but I think most posts say that they were originally inspired by Trophy Cupcakes, which is up in the Seattle area. I’ve never had their s’mores cupcakes, but I’m a big fan of their Hummingbird cupcakes so I’m sure those are delicious as well.  Just a heads up, the chocolate batter is really thin, maybe that doesn’t stress you out, but it always stresses me out.  Please don’t fret, it will be thin, but the cupcakes will turn out great.

You’ll need a cooking thermometer and a little butane torch on hand to make these cupcakes.  I highly recommend the cooking thermometer because you need to make sure that the egg whites mixture reaches a certain temperature to be safe and the butane torch is super helpful (especially if you love some creme brulee ) and much safer than the oven/broiler method, which I super don’t recommend, lol.   I picked up my little torch from Bed Bath & Beyond for about $30 and the butane was about $8.

*Indicates helpful Tips & Tricks

S’mores Cupcakes: (Recipe Source: Annie’s Eats)

Graham cracker crust:

• 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• ¼ cup sugar
• 5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Cake:

• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• 1½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Frosting:

• 8 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• ½ tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
2. Crush graham crackers until they are a fine crumb.  Melt butter in microwave for 10-15 seconds.  Add graham cracker crumbs and melted butter to a small mixing bowl with sugar.  Mix until combined with a fork.
3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of crust into each liner and press down (*I used a shot glass to get the crust even), bake for 5 mins.
4. Sprinkle a small amount of the chopped chocolate evenly in each cupcake tin.
5. To make the cake: sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
6. In a mixing bowl, combine: eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and whisk together.
7. Add the dry ingredients to a standing bowl mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed to combine.  Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on low for 30 seconds.
8. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on medium speed for 2 mins.  Add the boiling water and stir until combined (batter will be thin).
9. Divide batter evenly, filling each 3/4 way full (*if you use an ice-cream scooper to fill your liners, your cupcakes will consistently come out the same size & shape)
10. Return the cupcakes to the oven and bake for 18-20 mins rotating pans 1/2 way through.
11. Let cool 5-10 mins and then transfer to a cooling rack.
12. To make the frosting: Using a double broiler method combine the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar.  (*I used my clean mixing bowl over a small pan filled with simmering water).
13. Heat the mixture on medium heat until it reaches 160F, whisking frequently. (*this took me about 20 minutes, it was kind of a long process but totally worth it.)
14. Transfer the bowl to your standing bowl mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Whisk at a low speed and gradually increase to medium high speed until stiff glossy peaks form.
15. Mix in the vanilla until combined. Pipe frosting as desired. Brown with your kitchen torch to get the full s’mores effect (*keep your torch about 6 inches away from your cupcake and move it quickly over the frosting until you get the browning you desire).
16. Enjoy!

*Indicates helpful Tips & Tricks

Hope that you all have an amazing week and you enjoy these super fun cupcakes!

xoxo-Jenn

What really caught my attention on Icing Designs though was their Do-It-Yourself collection of toppers for cupcakes!  Check out all these fun things you can make to top your cupcakes, most of which are really simple!! Why didn’t I think of that! hehe

Homemade Sprinkles
With the original recipe from Brave Tart, Icing Designs made a super pretty light purple sprinkle to top their white cupcakes. These could be done is so many colors and it’s such a simple recipe!

Make sure you check out both Icing Designs and Brave Tart for their sprinkles!

Chocolate Butterfly Cupcake Toppers
I thought this idea was similar to my chocolate tree toppers last fall. Made from melted chocolate (I bet you could use melted candy coating too), you could really make any shape using this technique!!

Chocolate Covered Rice Krispy Treat Cupcake Toppers
So stinkin’ cute!! Really, you could make these in any shape based on what cookie cutters you had and then cover them in chocolate or candy coating and sprinkles! Colors, sizes, shapes…. the possibilities are endless!

DIY Cupcake Liner Flower Topper
With the bazillions of different cupcake liner prints and patterns, the possibilities are endless for these sweet cupcake toppers!! I think that even some Sutton Gourmet Paper Liners would work perfect for this!

These cupcakes could be made with any flavor combination, colors, sprinkles, liners!  The possibilities are enedless!

These are my “Love Cupcakes“.  I used a chocolate cupcake, filled it with a pink creme and dipped the top in chocolate ganache.  I then used the same pink filling to pipe words and decor on the cupcakes.  Of course, the pink, white, red non parrells to garnish. Any combination of words, symbols or colors could be used for these cupcakes.  ”Be Mine” “Valentine” Anything works!

I made these cupcakes the first year I started baking cupcakes seriously.  The one on the right is a White Butter Cupcake filled with Strawberry and topped with a strawberry buttercream.  The rest are chocolate topped with buttercream, but decorated super cute with sprinkles lined on the sides.  Love this look!

These white chocolate cupcakes are filled with strawberry and topped with a strawberry buttercream.  They are decorated in a pink Valentine’s Day liner and topped with white sugar balls, red sugar crystals and two heart candies.  All of these were found at the craft store and the grocery store.

I find the best time to get decorations for holidays or seasons is the months and weeks before.  I used a star tip in a piping bag to frost these.  You could really use any flavor for this kind of cupcake too and still decorate the same way.

These next cupcakes are a Pink Velvet Cupcake topped with a Vanilla bean Buttercream.  I love these because of how simple they are.  I sometimes like to go overboard with the decorations, but then I realize that sometimes, a simple design is so classy… and that’s just what this cupcake is.

It’s lined in transparent liner with pink and red hearts so you can really see the pink cupcake.

I used a large round tip and a piping back to pipe the frosting.  To get this look with the frosting, you place the tip in the center of the cupcake and squeeze until a large dollop comes big enough to cover the cupcake, only lifting the tip slightly.  As soon as it’s your desired size, life the tip and squeeze a small second dollop.  Stop squeezing and pull quickly straight up to create the cute little swirl on top.

I topped this cupcake with pink cake sparkles by Wilton and one pink heart.  The pink heart came from the craft store’s seasonal cupcake section.

Chocolate mint cupcake filled with mint and chocolate chips topped with mint buttercream, mint chocolate and an Andes mint.  The chocolate mint lovers dream.  Now, these aren’t your typical Valentine’s Day cupcakes… they aren’t covered in hearts and pink and are all mushy lovey dovey… which to be honest, are PERFECT for the man in your life!  He will appreciate the lack of mush in these cupcakes when he takes a bite into them.

These are made with a white liner so that you can see the chocolate cake.  I used a large round tip for piping the frosting and then drizzled melted chocolate across the top.

To drizzle the chocolate, I melted the chips in the microwave (30 seconds, then in 10 additional second increments until melted, stirring) then poured it into a sandwich ziploc bag.  I cut the corner of the bag and then squeezed the chocolate out over the cupcakes.

Topping these was an easy choice because everyone likes Andes mints!

I even made a mini version of these cupcakes, topping only with a sliver of an Andes mint.  Perfect for little fingers!

And for some extra fun… here are a few cupcakes I found browsing online that I thought were decorated so perfectly for Valentine’s Day! Enjoy!

1. Royal Icing hearts by Sweetopia.
2. Valentine’s LOVE cupcakes by Sweetopia.
3. Strawberry Cupcake w/ Vanilla Buttercream & Milk Chocolate Squiggle by nakedcupcakes.
4. Strawberry Cupcakes w/ swirled vanilla buttercream by nakedcupcakes.
5. Piped icing designs for Valentine’s Day by Marie’s Creative Cakes.
6. Vanilla cupcake with chocolate ganache by Love, Peace and Cupcakes.
7. Valentine’s Day Cupcakes by weennee.
8. Marshmallow and vanilla cupcake by Cooke’s Cakes.

]]> http://javacupcake.com/2011/02/tips-tricks-valentines-day-cupcake-decorating-ideas/feed/ 1 http://javacupcake.com/2011/01/cute-kitties-gone-bad-a-few-lessons-learned/ http://javacupcake.com/2011/01/cute-kitties-gone-bad-a-few-lessons-learned/#comments Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:48:09 +0000 JavaCupcake http://javacupcake.com/?p=3891 If my cats didn’t have their moments when they were so cute… if I didn’t feel guilty at the thought of getting rid of my cats… if one of them wasn’t a gift to my daughter for her birthday… I would so open my back door, kick them out and never let them back in!!! JERKS! I’m so mad at my cats right now.

So last night, I put together a trial run of a new flavor and recipe of cupcakes.  White chocolate strawberry. I figured the cupcake recipe itself would be just fine… it was a variation of a cupcake I had made before.  But, this time I tried baking a strawberry in the middle.  Not a good idea.  It affected the structre of the cupcake and they sunk in the middle.  Next time, I core the middle and fill after baking.

So the cupcakes were a little sunk in the middle, but HOLY COW they tasted DELICIOUS.  I whip up some extra strawberry filling and decide I’ll plug those holes with this strawberry goodness.  Yum.

On to the frosting.  White chocolate whipped cream.  Double yum.  I steep the milk with a vanilla bean, get it nice and warm then melt in the chocolate.  Just like the recipe said.  Ok… on to cooling.  Pop it in the freezer to speed up the process, it was late and I wasn’t in the mood for patience.  I think it’s sufficiently cold and start to whip it in my mixer with the whisk attachment.

2 minutes later… epic failure.  It looked as though the chocolate was separating from the cream.  I’m no expert, so I have no ideawhat was going wrong.  Maybe it really wasn’t cold enough.  Who knows.  Maybe I should have added the melted chocolate after I started whipping the cream?   I don’t know.  Ugh.

I put the filled, unfrosted cupcakes in my Martha Stewart cupcake case, lock closed the lid, clean up the kitchen a little bit and go to bed feeling defeated.

A few hours into sleep, I hear a crash out in the living room.  I figured the cats had knocked

something over but was too tired to care to get up and look.  This morning when I wake up, my husband informs me as I take my first steps into the living room that I’m not going to be happy because the cats knocked my case of cuppies on the floor, smushing them.

*sigh*

I knew it was my cupcakes last night when I heard that horrific crash.  I just knew it.   I was angry but really… what could I do?  They were cats, not people.  I could yell and scream all I wanted but I’m sure they’d do it again… in a heartbeat.

So now, my cupcakes sit in their case damaged beyond any repair I could possibly imagine.  Seriously, if I could, I’d probably still eat every last one of them though.  The white chocolate cake with the strawberry is OUT OF THIS WORLD.

I’ll try these again soon… I want them perfected by Valentine’s Day, just not today… or tomorrow… or the next day.

Lessons Learned:

• Don’t bake with the cats in the house.  Lock them up in the back room until I’m done… and when I say done I mean every last cupcake is gone and the kitchen is back to being spotless.
• Don’t try to skip steps when making filled cupcakes.  Baking a whole strawberry in the middle of a cupcake equals sunken cupcakes due to loss of structure.  Bake cupcakes, core centers and then fill.
• When a recipe says to cool something before mixing it.  Don’t try to cut corners.  Allow yourself enough time to actually cool it before moving on to the next step.

Brown Sugar – light & dark
Ryan from Ryan’s Baking Blog recently posted a recipe on how to make your own brown sugar.  Now, if I knew this was this easy… I would have been making this a long time ago!

Buttermilk
Joy the Baker has a few amazing homemade recipes for baking.  Buttermilk is one of those ingredients that sometimes you just don’t always have in your refrigerator.  Joy the Baker has several suggestions on how to make your own or what substitutions you can use for buttermilk.

Pumpkin Pie Spice
I know… Thanksgiving is over, but really… Pumpkin Pie Spice is used is so many recipes, that it’s just great to have on hand year round!  Why buy it when you can make it?  Joy the Baker is at it again with this great how-to on putting together your own Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Thanks Joy!

JavaCupcake’s Black Velvet Cupcakes
Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

Makes approx 12-14 cupcakes

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tablespoons black food coloring
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Turn mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate bowl mix together cocoa, vanilla and black food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

Turn mixer to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and white vinegar. Turn to high and beat a few more minutes.

Spoon batter into a paper lined cupcake baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center cupcake comes out clean.

Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then place them of a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

2 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, cold
scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract (not in the recipe, but I added it)

Beat the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-slow speed until it comes together and is well mixed.

Add the cream cheese all at once and beat on medium to medium-high until incorporated.

Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.

Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat for 5 minutes, or until the frosting becomes light and fluffy.

Do not over-beat as the frosting can quickly become runny.

How to make a pumpkin out of frosting

Supplies
Large round tip + piping bag
Pretzel sticks
Green decorating icing (small tube you can get in the baking isle at the grocery store)
Orange frosting (I used cream cheese frosting above and tinted it orange with food coloring)

Technique

1. Attach the large round tip to your pastry bag and fill with orange frosting.
2. Pipe a tall/wide mound of frosting onto your cupcake.
3. Break a pretzel stick in half and place in the top of the frosting until about 2/3 cm is showing.
4. With the green decorators icing, pipe on the vine in a curly q pattern.
5. Enjoy!

I arrive at Sanford & Sons Antiques, where the fair was being held, to find a stage with a table and lots of chair set up for my demo.  A stage! Holy cow! I was so excited!  I start setting up for my big demo… and my nerves start to go away.  All my prepping and planning was coming to fruition and I was in my element.

Before the event… all ready to go!

Here we go… time to teach how to frost and pipe cupcakes! I demonstrated how to make…

Chocolate trees & grass – called this one “Falling Leaves”

“Spooky Spiders”

“Harvest Pumpkins”

and a bunch of Halloween decorated cupcakes!

We took video at the demo too, but unfortunately the file somehow is “corrupt” and I can’t seem to watch the whole thing on my computer.  I’m going to keep trying to work with it and hopefully I’ll be able to edit it down into segments and you’ll be able to see my techniques for making all these cupcake creations.

Lots of people were there… even some of my blog readers!! Thanks for the support!!

And to 3 of these lucky people went a 4-pack of cupcakes and 1 person won a “Piping Starter Kit” I put together! Yay for free stuff!

When the demo was all over, I put it out there for anyone who wanted to try decorating their own cupcakes to come up and take a shot.  I was really surprised when people actually started lining up to try!  Their creations turned out really awesome!

I really had an amazing time putting together this cupcake demo and then sharing what I know with all of you!

A big THANK YOU goes to my husband and my daughter for all their help before, during and after the demo! I  could not have done it all as successfully as I did without you!! I love you both, thank you!

Thanks also goes to the Tacoma Harvest Fair and especially to Christy and her co-workers for welcoming me at their event.  I was honored to be involved and had such an amazing experience!  THANK YOU!

I almost forgot to mention… there was a Cupcake Decorating contest sponsored by Lucks Food Decorating Company at the fair.  I entered my “Falling Leaves” cupcake and a version of the “Spooky Spider” cupcake called the “Spooky Spider Web” (could only be edible parts, so I took the spider off and covered the sides in orange), and the “Harvest Pumpkin” cupcake into the contest.

“Falling Leaves” won FIRST PLACE and “Spooky Spider Web” won THIRD PLACE!!  How awesome is that?  I believe I won a cupcake pedestal and a goodie bag full of Lucks products!  Sweet!

I uploaded ALL of the pictures to Flickr from the demo… check them out the in slideshow below!

I ran out of leaves, otherwise there’d be more on the green frosting like they were fallen leaves!

To learn how to make these trees… check out this tutorial by Crazy Delicious Food!

This event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! What better reasons do you need than that to come?

RSVP @ the Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156237441072811&ref=mf

I’ll be teaching:

• the basics of pastry bags and decorating tips
• how to fill a pastry bag
• how different tips pipe different designs
• how to pipe frosting onto a cupcake
• how to frost a cupcake by hand
• how to decorate and embellish a cupcake
• and more…

WHEN: Sunday, October 17 – 12:00pm (noon)
WHERE: Sanford & Son Antiques and the Tacoma Harvest Fair - 743 Broadway – Tacoma, WA

]]> http://javacupcake.com/2010/09/javacupcake-at-the-tacoma-harvest-fair/feed/ 0 http://javacupcake.com/2010/04/guest-blogger-katherine-shares-her-secrets-to-taking-amazing-cupcake-photos/ http://javacupcake.com/2010/04/guest-blogger-katherine-shares-her-secrets-to-taking-amazing-cupcake-photos/#comments Fri, 16 Apr 2010 02:19:24 +0000 JavaCupcake http://javacupcake.com/?p=1988 Katherine Moore is a friend I met through the power of Twitter and social media. We realized quickly that we lived only a few miles from each other and had a lot in common… our husbands are both deployed and we both have a love for cupcakes! I met Katherine in person by complete chance at the Cold Stone Creamery in our neighborhood and then got to spend time with her again at Cupcake Camp Seattle. I feel truly blessed to have become friends with such a talented baker and photographer. You can find Katherine on Twitter and her photography on Flickr.  All the photos in this article were taken by Katherine using her Canon 30D.

First of all, I must say I am completely overjoyed by the oh-so-wonderful Betsy, or Java Cupcake, as she recently asked me to be a guest blogger and write a brief photography piece for her fantastically delicious blog! Cupcakes and photography? Both are individually delightful and together they are enough to provoke an over the top happy dance. I‘m not even kidding. Seriously, baking yummy cupcake treats, photographing those little lovelies and then of course the taste testing, can it get any better?

I think not!

Although I must admit, I’m quite new to the world of photography. So new that I just recently celebrated the first anniversary with my lovely little Canon 30D. I genuinely do not consider myself a real photographer and I’m primarily blaming this on my unwillingness to read instruction manuals or directions. I’ve always been the type to figure things out on my own and in my own way. My creativity is continuously improving and I’m finding myself more inspired each and everyday with the incredible people who do photography professionally. I’d like to think every picture I take is a new adventure – So, let me share my top three favorite pieces of advice with you.

First, the two most common techniques I absolutely believe in, is to utilize natural lighting and to style your subject attractively. Yep. That’s it. Very simple and extremely effective.

Although, in this wonderful State of Washington, utilizing natural light can be quite tricky. At least that’s my primary complaint during those forever long, dark and rainy winter months. I often found myself rushing to finish decorating the cupcakes to simply run outside and take a picture before the sun disappeared. In most cases, I would end up saving my cupcake creations until the next afternoon simply to take a better picture. So, if possible, take advantage of any natural lighting when it is actually available.

Second, most of my food and cupcake pictures are taken right in my own dining room – Hurrah for a sturdy window sill! Not only do I have ample amounts natural light but the presentation is also clean in appearance. I’m personally drawn to the simplicity and minimalism as it directs your focus to what really matters, your subject. Props and backgrounds are fun and can certainly add nostalgia to your photograph; however, using items or backgrounds that are too busy can often distract from the fabulousness of your subject. I like to think a bit of simplicity is often enough to make a photograph ‘pop’ on its own.

Finally, my absolute favorite piece of advice is to photograph absolutely everything you see. Yes, continue to photograph everything even if your significant other looks over to find you attempting to balance a cupcake on top of your pet Chihuahua’s head. Just ignore those judgmental stares and continue on with the silliness! You can read an instruction manual all day but the real lessons will come once you pick up the camera and begin shooting.

Enjoy the endless creativity!

Guidelines for Shipping Baked Goods to Deployed Service Members

Tips for Choosing what to Send

In the warmer months (Late Spring, Summer and Early Fall):

1. Try to avoid butter, margarine, peanut butter, & nuts. These fats tend to go rancid quicker in high heat and should be avoided when sending in hot summer months.
2. Also avoid brown sugar, corn sugar honey, & molasses. *These sugars can speed up the molding process in hot summer months.
3. Bar cookies and brownies are the best bets to retain their shape during shipping.  *You aren’t limited to these, but special care must be taken when packaging.
4. Don’t send chocolate! *Chocolate WILL MELT in the hot summer months and your care package will go to waste.

Tips for Packaging

1. Wrap items individually if possible using foil or saran wrap.  If possible, vacuum seal your items… this will help hold the freshness longer.  Wrapping individually helps to cushion the item and helps prevent breakage in transit.
2. Once they are individually wrapped you can do one of several things.  You can either:
   1. Place the items in a zip-loc type container with lid.
   2. Place the items in large zip-loc type bags.
   3. DO NOT SHOVE TOO MANY ITEMS INTO THE BAG/CONTAINER.  Over-crowding creates an environment where your goodies will break easier!

*You want to make sure they are in this second layer of wrapping in case some of them break or start to go bad, they won’t ruin the entire package.

1. Once they are in their container/bag, they are ready to be boxed.  When boxing, remember these tips:
   1. Put a layer of cushion between the bottom of the box and the first layer of goodies.  You can use:
      1. Packaging peanuts
      2. Crumpled up newspaper
      3. Bubble wrap
      4. Any other packaging cushion you have on hand
2. Add your goodies to the box. Fill in any gaps between goodies with more of what you used on the bottom.
3. Leave some room at the top of the box to fill with crumpled up newspaper or other packaging paper.  This will help keep the items in place during shipping.

Shipping

1. USE FLAT RATE BOXES! When shipping to an APO address, flat rate boxes offer a discount and are really a great value when shipping overseas.
2. Use clear tape to seal box.  Make sure to seal all edges with at least one layer of tape.
3. When addressing the box, make sure you have the soldiers correct address.  It should look something like this:

Rank Last Name, First Name

Unit Name or FOB Name

APO AE #####

1. DO NOT PUT IRAQ or AFGHANISTAN or the COUNTRY NAME on the box.  If you do that, it will be put in that countries mail system and the soldier may never receive the package.  Stick to the address the soldier has given you.  Nothing more, nothing less.
2. Before you go to the desk at the post office:
   1. You will need to get a CUSTOMS FORM.  They can be found at the post office.
   2. Fill out the following:
      1. To including address
      2. From including address
      3. Contents of box
         1. Be specific, but don’t be too specific.  You want to declare that there are snacks, letters, books, etc, but you don’t want to say that there are super valuable items in the box.  You can be vague and say, electronics or movies… but don’t write laptop or portable DVD player.  It’s more likely that it will get stolen in route to your soldier.
      4. Value
      5. Check the box: If undeliverable, return to sender
      6. Check the box: Gift
      7. Sign and Date
      8. At the post office:
         1. Take your package and customs form to the counter to be mailed.
         2. They will attach your customs form to the box and take your payment.
         3. Answer NO to all their questions about the contents of the box.
         4. You won’t need confirmation of delivery for your package.
         5. Only get insurance if you are sending something of great value that would be hard to replace.

Source: HowdiniGuru

1. Substitute an equal part of whole wheat flour for white flour as long as it’s the same type of flour. In other words, 1 cup of whole wheat bread flour can replace 1 cup of white bread flour, and 1/2 cup of whole wheat all-purpose flour is an acceptable substitute for 1/2 cup of white all-purpose flour.
2. Sift whole wheat flour more than white. The problem cooks tend to run into is that because whole wheat flour is more dense, the end product can often seem heavy or solid. No one wants to eat bread that has no air in it, so if you’re using whole wheat flour, lessen the density by sifting the flour a couple of times. This helps incorporate more air into the dough.
3. Adjust your recipe to keep your baked goods from drying out. If you do a complete substitution and there is no white flour in your recipe, you’ll end up with a baked item that is a bit drier than normal. There are two ways to avoid this: you can adjust your baking time and take the bread or muffins out of the oven sooner, or you can increase your wet ingredients ever so slightly. For example, if you’re making an applesauce muffin with whole wheat flour, add just a bit more applesauce to compensate for the dryness of the whole wheat.
4. Avoid over-mixing when you use whole-wheat all-purpose flour in baked goods such as cookies or muffins. Too much mixing will cause the flour to form glutens, which gives you a tougher, chewier end product. Some cooks choose to use a combination of whole wheat and white flour for a slightly fluffier end result. Depending on what you’re cooking, you may want to substitute anywhere from half to all of your white flour with whole wheat.

Source:  http://www.ehow.com/how_2299938_substitute-wholewheat-flour-white.html

Have your cupcakes ever separated from their liners? If so, do you know why that happened? (via Twitter)

Hi [wishes to remain anonymous]!

I get this question ALOT from my cupcake minions… ahem… readers. Here are a few things that I’ve noticed when I bake that may play a role in cupcake separation from liners.

(1) Humidity and excessive rain (weather) is a big factor. If there is more moisture in the air than usual or you live in a high humidity environment combined with the heat from the pan, steam will occur between the liners and the pan if you leave the cupcakes in the pan to cool. Regardless of increased moisture, I usually take my cupcakes out of the pan after they come out of the oven and let them cool on a rack or baking sheet to avoid the build up of steam. Also make sure that before you start baking that your cupcake pan is dry too!

(2) I have found that there is variation in cupcake liners too. I usually like the party nut cups for their simple structure and it allows me to get away with not using a cupcake pan but when I’m baking for clients many request the normal cupcake liners since they are easier to unpleat and eat. I suppose the customer is always right. HA! In my experience the plain white liners seem to work better than the more decorated ones. To be honest I’m not sure if there’s something different about some of the decorated ones vs the plain white ones. That’s just an observation I’ve noticed. Decorated liners have a little wax maybe? *shrugs

(3) Make sure to fill your cupcake liner to the correct height so that the cupcake rises enough towards the top of the liner. I’ve noticed that the cupcakes that aren’t filled enough seem to separate more if they don’t rise above the top of the liner. Maybe there’s less moisture build up at the top of the liner so they are able to stick better? Unfortunately all recipes are different so you’ll have to experiment with each recipe for the amount to fill the liner before the breaking point of overfilling. I aint gonna lie. It’s a fine line. I usually fill mine about 1/2-2/3 full depending on the baking soda/baking powder measurement in the recipe.

(4) There’s also a fine line for overbaking. I try really hard to pay attention to my kitchen timer when I bake but life gets in the way sometimes and when the timer goes off at 17-20 minutes (although most of the time I rely on the toothpick test more than time) but the dog is running up and down the stairs b/c the UPS man is at the door, it’s really hard to remember you’ve got cupcakes baking. (I think I need a clone.) Overbaking cupcakes could result in dry cupcakes that tend to pull away from the liners. And who wants a dry cupcake? Let the UPS man wait.

(5) In contrast, underbaking could be an issue too. If the cupcake is too moist especially from excessive butter, buttermilk, sour cream, oil, water etc that could result in the cupcakes not adhering to the liner.

(6) I don’t use cooking spray on my liners. It seems to defeat the purpose of wanting them to stick to the cupcake liners IMO.

Hope that helps!

-CB

PS- You all have no idea how much it irks me that I could not come up with 4 more reasons to make it an even 10. I’m a list and numbers girl. It’s either 5 or 10. Anything in between is just weird on the eyes. Is it just me??

PPS- Please remember that I have no scientific proof. (It pains the scientist in me to say that.) I’m just going off what I’ve seen in my own kitchen. If any readers have something to add to my list, feel free in comments! Preferably 4 more things… Please and thanks.

Mint Buttercream

• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
• 2lb or 8 cups sifted/whisked powdered sugar
• 1/2 heavy cream or milk
• 1/8-1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1. Cream butter.
2. Slowly add sugar, 1 cup or so at a time.
3. Scrape sides.
4. When mixture becomes too hard on the mixer, slowly add milk.
5. Continue adding sugar and milk until completely creamy and combined.
6. Scrape sides.
7. Add peppermint.
8. Mix on high 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.

(Rose cupcake photo: A Baked Creation)

Get the recipe: http://www.ciaculinaryintelligence.com

The Culinary Institute of America is the world’s premier culinary college. Culinary school chef instructor Kate Cavotti demonstrates how to make fondant cupcake decorations and fondant ornaments. For more information about our cooking school, please visit www.ciachef.edu.

After reading through the list of blogs that Cupcakes Take the Cake had posted on their blog, I came across the Cupcake Bakeshop.  I have no idea why I had never read this blog before, but it’s simply amazing.  Their most recent post discusses the importance of taking your time and really paying attention to the care you take when baking butter based cupcakes.  Over the course of the last year I figured out all of these steps, but after many many many trials and errors and not so great cupcakes.  I wish I would have seen this post sooner!  These tips are really worth reading and following… they really do make the best cupcakes!

——————————–

There is nothing terribly exciting or novel about this recipe. It’s my standard chocolate cupcake recipe with strawberry frosting. Boring, no? Well, what I intend to do with this post is to articulate all those little tips & tricks that I know from experience/reading, but never include in a condensed recipe. Some of this is covered in my “basics & troubleshooting” section, but I thought it would be of use to describe these tips & tricks in the narrative of a recipe.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I wrote out the recipe for my chocolate cupcakes. This is what I want to do if I plan to be very careful and not miss anything. I find its easier to follow and I can check off things as I add them.

Then I had the idea to write down the little things I was doing that normally don’t end up in a recipe and explanations for certain aspects of the recipe. Hence the idea was born. So, no formal looking recipe in this post. Just a story…
Beat 2 sticks of butter until soft.

First off – the butter. Every recipe says it, but do we always pay attention? ROOM TEMPERATURE. I really can’t stress enough just how important this step is. I have been disappointed before… About to start baking only to remember that I forgot to take out the butter hours earlier. But really – the best thing to do? Wait it out. An alternative? Beat the hell out of the butter all by itself, scraping down a few times in between beatings. Why? If the butter isn’t soft it won’t get all nicely cut up by the sugar and distributed evenly in the batter. You might just end up with little pools of it melting in your end result. I have had it happen. But whatever you do, don’t microwave the butter. It will just melt and melted butter is useless to you.
Add 2-1/2 cups of sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Most butter-based recipes say this as well. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat for 3 minutes. Etc. But do you always? Why 3 minutes? Why not 2 or 4? What is light and fluffy? Bottom line? You want to beat that butter well. You want it cut up into tiny, tiny pieces by the grainy sugar so it doesn’t end up into little pools compromising the structure of your wonderful cupcakes. So, beat away! Turn on your mixer and have a glass of wine! Scrape down the bowl and beat some more. (Sometimes mixers leave a thin layer of butter untouched… once that gets folder into your batter you could be in trouble!)
Add 4 large eggs, one at a time, beating well between each.

Similarly, you want the eggs incorporated very well. Basically when you are baking things like cupcakes, you DON’T want to beat the batter once the flour is in (it will toughen them up) but you DO want to beat the ingredients so they are well incorporated. So, beat the butter, sugar, and eggs as much as you can (without going overboard). Now is the time for beating.
Whisk together 1-3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

This part is easy! Many recipes mention sifting, but sifting is a pain. I have never noticed a difference with whisking and whisking is easier to do. So, I whisk. The goal is to just get everything mixed together and any lumps removed. As an aside, I use these restaurant style containers to store dry goods and its very convenient for scooping stuff out without making a mess. And I know I should weigh the dry ingredients, but there is something inherent in me that requires I go only SO far when it comes to baking.

Measure out 1 cup of whole milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and wet ingredients mixing to incorporate between batches.

So what is with this step? It’s always a little complicated to write down. Some recipes are very specific about adding 1/3 dry ingredients, mixing, adding 1/2 wet ingredients, mixing, 1/3 dry ingredients, and so on. Is there something magical about these proportions? Doubtful. What you want to avoid is dumping everything in and having to beat and beat to get it mixed up, because word on the street (ok, I never tried this…) is that doing so will make your cupcakes tough. The idea being the glutens get over beaten. Whether this is exaggerated, I do not know, but with many of the other steps described above, I have screwed up and have seen the unfortunate results. So I am leaning towards this being a good thing to follow. One day I should over-beat some and see what happens.
Scoop batter into cupcake papers 1/2 full.

This step gets me thinking about a few things. First, every recipe is different. So if something goes wrong with a recipe or a cupcake comes out with a dome or without a dome, it all really depends. The more flour there is proportionally, the more structure the cupcake will have, the less likely it will be to sink, the more likely it will have a dome, and the more batter you can put in the cupcake paper (like 2/3s to 3/4s full). But these cupcakes, while more fool proof, are also denser and not as soft. The less flour, the less structure, the more likely it will overflow or sink, the less likely it will have a dome, and the less batter you can put in the cupcake paper (1/2 full at most). BUT these cupcakes will be soft, fluffy, and in my opinion superior… By the way, ice cream scoops are really absolutely necessary. They make filling the papers a breeze…

This chocolate cupcake recipe is a result of my experimentation in trying to get the cupcake to be as delicate as possible and as chocolately as possible without being a complete disaster. That said, you need to be careful. Don’t, I repeat, DON’T overfill the papers. And DO make sure your oven is at the temperature it says it is. If you are super concerned, add another 1/4 cup of flour to the recipe. That will help reduce some of the risk. That said, I love the way the cupcakes come out and while I do sometimes overfill and get some overflow, it doesn’t stop me from eating them and sharing them.
Bake for approximately 22-25 minutes at 350F or until a cake tester comes out clean.

This step sounds easy. It isn’t. It’s where I tend to screw up when I do. For example, I have a working theory that cool spots in the oven cause some of my cupcakes to overflow. This is because the overflowing cupcakes tend to be in one area. I especially see that if I am baking a lot of cupcakes. The ones on the lower rack tend to overflow. So often I will do one of two things, preheat the oven to 375F and drop it to down to 350 once I get them in there. Or I will preheat to 350F but run the convection fan during preheat and for the first 10 minutes of baking. The problem with this (I did it a couple of weeks ago) is if you leave the convection fan on the whole time, the cupcakes will over bake and be crumbly and dry. Normally when you use convection you should drop the temperature down 25 degrees. I also think convection is better for things like cookies or chicken where you want it to get crispy, but doesn’t work so well with cupcakes. It seems like a good way to get rid of unevenness in the oven…. Jury is still out.

I recommend not disturbing the cupcakes for the first 10-12 minutes. Then I will often rotate the pans also because of the unevenness mentioned above. I start testing at around 22 minutes for this recipe. I think post people use toothpicks as opposed to official “cake testers” but I use an ice pick as that’s what I have on hand. Anything pointy you can stick in there. If you under-bake these cupcakes they will be gummy. If you over-bake them they will be dry and crumbly. So start testing around 22, test every couple of minutes, and try your best to get it right.

Whew, with any luck you have some gorgeous cupcakes cooling on a wire rack. Now let’s get cracking on the frosting.
Beat 2 sticks of butter until soft.

Pretty much the same thing goes with frosting. It’s way better if your butter comes naturally to room temperature before making frosting. I have tried many shortcuts and they work ok enough, but in my opinion you won’t get as smooth as a frosting otherwise.
Sift in 3-4 cups of powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Again, I don’t like sifting, but if I must (and with frosting, you must or it will be lumpy) I will use one of these metal sieves and a spoon. By far the easiest method I have come across. I always start with a good amount of powdered sugar with room for adding more later.
Add 1/4 cup of strawberry puree and beat until combined.

Not much to this except your yellowish frosting turns a pretty pink. Feel free to add a teaspoon of vanilla at this step if you want.

Add more powdered sugar until you get the consistency you like.

When you add a liquid to buttercream it’s hard to get it to a nice thick consistency that is good for photo shoots. You can keep adding powdered sugar, but it won’t help. So minimize the amount of liquid. I went beyond 1/4 cup in one try of this recipe and it was way too much. I never recovered the frosting. It was usable, but runny. If you are anxious about this, omit the puree and just add chopped strawberries. It won’t be as strong a strawberry flavor, but less risk is involved.

I also made a cream cheese version of the strawberry frosting. If you want to try that substitute 1 8-ounce package of philly cream cheese with 1 of the sticks of butter and don’t add much puree. Stick more to using chopped strawberries as the cream cheese will already make the frosting softer than buttercream.

Decorate as usual by either piping the frosting on, scooping it on, whatever works for you. If you pipe, use a tip with a big opening, like 1/2 inch or so.

Would you ask…

…for their secret buttercream recipe?

…how they get their cake so moist?

…what is their inspiration for new cupcake flavors?

…how they decided to start their own business?

…what is their favorite flavor?

What questions would you ask?

4 Easy Steps to Filling a Pastry Bag

1. Place your pastry bag, tip down, in a tall cup. Fold edges of the bag over the side of the cup. Using a spatula, scoop frosting into bag.
2. Using the spatula, push the frosting down into the bag, holding the cup for support.  Use the spatula to wipe off extra frosting, creating a smooth top.
3. Fold up the sides of the pastry bag.
4. Take the bag out of the cup and with your hands push the frosting down to the tip of the bag, trying to not let any air in the bag.  Twist the bag at the top of the frosting.

JavaCupcake Note: This is a re-post of a blog from Nicole at Baking Bites! I used this technique to make the White Velvet Raspberry filled cupcakes. Be sure to check out all the other delicious creations Baking Bites is Nicole is making on her blog!

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My favorite way – and, in my opinion, the best way – is the method I used for the Devil’s Food Cupcakes. It gives you the maximum amount of filling and the best overall look for the cupcake. All you need is a paring knife, or other small, sharp knife with a narrow blade, to begin. Insert the knife into a cooled cupcake at an angle, halfway between the center and the outside edge.

The exact angle isn’t crucial, but it should be around 45 deg., and the knife should go into the cake about 1″. The idea here is to cut out a circular cone of cake.

Once you have your cone of cake, remove it and slice off the pointy end of the cone, leaving just the circular base (which was the very top of the cupcake). The filling will be put in the hole once filled by the cake cone, and the circular piece will be used as a plug to seal the filling in.

Filling should be added using a pastry bag or (my favorite) a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. There is no need to use a pastry tip to fill the cupcakes; a medium-sized opening in either type of bag will make filling the cakes a breeze.

Once the filling is in place, just pop the flat circle of cake back into place and continue to frost as you would with any other cupcake. You can see what the finished cake, sliced in half to reveal the cream filling, looks like here.

From the Culinary Institute of America.

Thanks to Cupcakes Take the Cake for sharing this video on their blog!