Vote for Iron Cupcake: Earth!

Hello and happy holidays!
As you may already know, we submitted our "Chocolate Fondue Cupcakes" for a contest, the 5th Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge, CHOCOLATE with a Twist!

VOTING is now open for December's Iron Cupcake: click HERE!

The voting poll is on the right-side column of this website.

Voting begins now and ends on January 2nd at 12 noon.

Each time you vote for us, we get an entry for the grand prize package draw.

To view our "Chocolate Fondue Cupcakes" entry again, click HERE.

Thank you! We look forward to the results of our first Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge! The winner will receive the following prize package:

• Artwork from Etsy artist BETTY TURBO
  
• Cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
• Artwork from Etsy artist CAKESPY by Jessie Oleson
• Cupcake pin cushions from SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY
• Head Chefs from FIESTA PRODUCTS
  
• HELLO, CUPCAKE, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
• Apron from JESSIE STEELE APRONS
• The CUPCAKE COURIER
• Cookbook from TASTE OF HOME

Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers.

You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.

Iron Cupcake: Earth - Chocolate with a Twist!

Happy holidays everyone! This season is all about sharing and giving, so we give you...

We recently joined Iron Cupcake: Earth (similar to Iron Chef, but with cupcakes) and this month's ingredient challenge is Chocolate with a Twist! So we did some thinking... so many possibilities with chocolate! So what is our chocolate twist? Instead of the usual application of chocolate ganache, we are doing chocolate fondue! So what are some of the most common item for chocolate fondue? Fruits, candies, strawberries, and pound cake! So for our Iron Cupcake entry, we made white chocolate pound cupcakes frosted with strawberry buttercream dipped in chocolate fondue.

Above image: Baking powder, butter & sour cream, cream cheese & vanilla extract, salt, white chocolate, and sugar & eggs. This collage was featured on foodgawker!

Above image: White chocolate pound cupcake, batter in cupcake liner, empty egg shell, and stack of white chocolate.

White Chocolate Pound Cake

Recipe adapted from The Whimsical Bakehouse

(Makes 8 cups of batter)

2 sticks of unsalted butter

8 ounces of cream cheese

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 tablespoons of sour cream

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

2 1/4 cupcakes of cake flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

8 ounces of melted white chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350F) and have all ingredients at room temperature.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and continue mixing at high speed. Add the sugar and mix until it is light and fluffy again.
3. Add the sour cream and the vanilla extract, mixing at medium speed.
4. Add the eggs one at a time ensuring that they are mixed well before the next addition.
5. In another bowl, mix the cake flour, baking powder, and salt togther. Then add the dry ingredients with the wet mixture. Mix on low until smooth.
6. Fold in the melted white chocolate. Pour into pan and bake the cupcakes for 25-30 minutes (I recommend baking them without the cupcake liners). Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes before removing them.

Above image: Strawberries ready to be made into buttercream. The strawberry photo was featured on Photograzing!

Strawberry Buttercream

(Makes about 2 cups)

1 stick of unsalted butter

2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

5-8 strawberries

1. Cream the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add the confectioner's sugar and vanilla extract and mix on low speed until well blended.
3. Dice up the strawberries and mix on high until the buttercream is smooth and light.

Above image: Heavy cream and chocolate, chocolate fondue, and fondue burner.

Chocolate Fondue

(Chocolate ganache)

1/2 cup of chopped milk chocolate

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1. Heat the cream over a double boiler until it bubbles.
2. Place chopped chocolate in fondue pot.
3. Pour heated cream over the chocolate.
4. Let the mixture sit for about a minute and then whisk until smooth.
5. Allow the mixture to cool and enjoy!
6. Light the fondue burner when the mixture becomes too thick for dipping.

You can vote for us HERE until January 2nd at 12 noon Central time.

The winner will receive these awesome prizes:

• Original artwork from Etsy artist BETTY TURBO
  
• A pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
• Original artwork from Etsy artist CAKESPY by Jessie Oleson
• Cupcake pin cushions by Moda Home from SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY
• Head Chefs from FIESTA PRODUCTS
  
• HELLO, CUPCAKE, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
• Apron from JESSIE STEELE APRONS
• The CUPCAKE COURIER
• Cookbook from TASTE OF HOME

Iron Cupcake: Earth is sponsored by 1-800-Flowers.

You can also join in on the fun yourself! Click here to learn more about Iron Cupcake: Earth.

Mango Chiffon Cake

I know, this is an odd time for mangoes. However, my dad bought a box of mangoes last week and they are about ripe now. Just in time for his birthday! This one project took a lot of thought: my parents do not have a sweet tooth (Gasp! I know... where did I get mine from?) and do not like buttercream, icing, or anything with too much sugar.

So, I decided to try a delicately light chiffon cake. The Chinese bakeries around here sell them wrapped in paper (also known as paper wrapped cakes - essentially Chinese cupcakes in my books). Despite it being my first attempt at chiffon cakes, that wasn't enough for me, I wanted to incorporate mangoes as well. So I looked through my collection of cookbooks and stumbled upon one (and I had all the ingredients on hand) in The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics. Except this one was for lemon chiffon cake. No problem! I'll just substitute mangoes for lemons!

My parents really enjoyed the cake. They liked the texture, the taste, and even had two slices! There is about 1/4 of the cake left. But - yes there is a but - they said it was still too sweet. So instead of 3/4 cups of sugar, mom suggested I use 1/2 a cup next time. Also, feel free to add more mango puree or extract if you want a more distinct taste, this was more on the chiffon side.

Happy Birthday Dad! I'm also using my new cake stand, I just bought it from the William Ashley warehouse sale! Well, I can handle the sugar, so I dusted mine with powdered sugar and drizzled some caramel along the edges.

Mango Chiffon Cake

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living's lemon chiffon cake

(mine made one round 8-inch cake about 2-inches high)

3/4 cups of cake flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of salt

3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar

3 large eggs, separated

1/4 cup of canola oil

2 tablespoons of pureed mangoes

1 tablespoon of fresh mango juice

1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar

1/3 cup of water

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking soda, salt, and 3/4 cup of granulated sugar.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, oil, water, mango puree and juice, and vanilla extract.
3. Stir in the medium bowl's dry content into the large bowl's wet content. Mix until smooth.
4. With a mixer, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and then beat on high until soft peaks form (about 1 minute). Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and beat on high until stiff peaks form (about 2 minutes).
5. Gradually mix the egg-white mixture into the batter. Then pour the batter into a pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean from the center. Remove the cake from the oven and set to cool. (In the book, they say that the cake must be cooled upside down, but I kept it right side up and it turned out fine. I didn't want to ruin the nice light brown top.)
6. Serve with fresh slices of mango. Or in my case, drizzle caramel!

This photo was featured on Photograzing!

Scorpio Birthday Cupcakes

Keeping with this month's Scorpio horoscopes, we created the Scorpio symbol, among stars on royal blue frosting. We hope there are many good things in store for you!

1. Blue Scorpio symbols and yellow stars made from fondant - drying on icing sugar.

2. Blue birthday message plaques made from gum paste.

3. Fresh Devil's Food cupcakes from the oven.

4. Royal blue vanilla buttercream frosting with yellow fondant stars. I even have a matching glass cup!

5. Fondant Scorpio symbols on the cupcakes.

6. A dozen Scorpio birthday cupcakes ready to go! We hope you have a great birthday!

Autumn Leaves Cupcakes

The leaves are changing colours. Yet, the weather is surprisingly gorgeous this long Thanksgiving weekend. We're going to look at the wonders of autumn in Algonquin Park. Also, lots of family friends are coming over to feast on turkey and treats! Naturally, desserts includes mini chocolate cupcakes with just a hint of maple syrup in the frosting. Topped with a leaf cookie of course! My cousin gobbled them up! As always, there are photos posted on our facebook page and flickr account!

1. Three frosting colours on the mini chocolate cupcakes.

2. Add the home-made cookie cutout of a leaf on the cupcakes.

Cute Birthday Cupcakes

For a sister-in-law's birthday, who can resist chocolate and more chocolate cupcakes? We made chocolate frosting on chocolate cake with cute gum paste flowers

1. Cute tiny pink flowers made from gum paste.

2. Adorable medium pink blossoms made from gum paste.

3. Cute large white daisies made from gum paste.

4. Finishing touches of the centre (royal icing) on the gum paste flower decorations.

5. Happy Birthday plaque made from gum paste.

6. Chocolate buttercream on chocolate cake - yum!

7. Decorating the cupcakes (the fun part).

8. A garden of cute flowers for the birthday girl!

Golf Green Cake

A family friend - who is an avid golfer and greens keeper at a golf course - turned a year older yesterday. To commemorate, we made a banana cake decorated with a golf's green. The birthday boy was genuinely surprised and only made a tiny "professional" comment: "in our circles, that would be called fertilizer burn, not a sand pit." At least we know better now, for improvements in the future!

Overview of the cake!

Hole #19 is the club house! Dig in and eat!

Check out the sand pit or "fertilizer burn."

Happy Golf-Cake Birthday!