Freezer jam in frosting

I have been making lots of frostings with different kinds of freezer jam in them. I have found that strawberry freezer jam works the best, and makes the frosting easy to whip together and absolutely scrumpious...

My latest frosting....Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

I regret that I do not have a picture of the frosting I recently created.  It was so absolutely delicious and so simple.   If you don't have freezer jam...hurry and buy some strawberries and make some!  You can whip up a batch of jam in no time.  Freezer jam is super easy and you can put it in just about any container.  This frosting would just not taste the same with store-bought jam.  You have to try this frosting!

STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 8 oz package of cream cheese - room temperature
1 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup homemade strawberry freezer jam

 Whip the cream cheese and butter until fluffy -about 3 minutes.  Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time and mix well, about 2 more minutes.  Add jam and mix.  This tastes super fresh with a burst of strawberry flavor.

Pirate Ship Cupcakes!

I just whipped up these pirate ship cupcakes for my son. I cut chocolate wafer cookies into the shape of a boat, then used lollipop sticks to attach a sail that I printed from my computer. It was super easy and the kids will love them!

Baby Shower cupcakes

I absolutely LOVE how these cupcakes turned out for my sister-in-law's baby shower. My friend and I got creative and decorated each cupcake individually.

Best Ever Silky Chocolate frosting

I believe I have mastered quite a few frosting recipes. One of my favorite frostings is this silky smooth chocolate frosting, adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart. This frosting is so smooth and it is absolutely delicious. Plus you can make variations..for example, i recently made this frosting and mixed in 1 1/2 cups of ground up chocolate mint cookies. The result was heavenly...you need to try it!

Chocolate Silky Smooth frosting

2 11.5 oz bags chocolate chips (use can use milk chocolate or semi-sweet)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup hot water
4 1/2 sticks butter (room temp)
1 cup powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate chips and allow to cool completely. Add cocoa powder to hot water, and allow to cool. Meanwhile beat the butter with the paddle attachment until the butter is soft and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and mix for another minute. Add cooled cocoa mixture and chocolate. Mix until smooth and use immediately.

Here is a picture of my mint chocolate cupcakes I made using this frosting with the mint cookie crumbs.

The Sweet Tooth Fairy's Cupcake Recipe!?

Yesterday I saw an article on facebook about the Sweet Tooth Fairy and there was a link in the article to a recipe by the the sweet tooth fairy herself. Let me just tell you, that since I began my cupcake obsession a few months ago, I have been on a hunt for the best cupcake recipes. I went over to Megan Brown's store in Provo just to taste her cupcakes and see how my cupcakes compared. I enjoyed the texture of the chocolate cupcake at the Sweet Tooth Fairy. I had to admit, my chocolate cupcakes needed a more rich flavor and texture. I tried a dozen recipes...even a chocolate muffin recipe..to find a better texture. I settled on a recipe by Martha Stewart. It is yummy and chocolate, light and airy. Still, I kept thinking, what does Megan put in her cupcakes that give them that dense texture...almost like a muffin? So, when I saw the recipe on facebook, I got a little excited. Pudding in the recipe! Could that be the secret ingredient?

Here is the recipe from facebook:

BLACK AND WHITE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
http://www.thesweettoothfairy.com/

By Megan Faulkner Brown

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup and 2 tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup sour cream
3 eggs
¾ cup ready-to-eat chocolate pudding
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake pan cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds until well combined.

Add wet ingredients and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl and resume mixing on medium speed for an additional minute. Stop mixer and fold in chocolate chips.

Fill the prepared cupcake liners with batter 3/4 full. Bake about 15-18 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.


I was really surprised at how simple this recipe is! Nowhere in the directions does it say to boil water, cream butter, or alternate dry and wet ingredients while mixing. I am so used to recipes that require those steps, that I did not quite follow the directions exactly. I creamed the butter and sour cream. Then I added the eggs one at a time and mixed in the 3/4 cup of store bought Kozy Shack Chocolate Pudding. I had all the dry ingredients mixed ina bowl, and I just dumped them in all at once at mixed. The result looked thick and chocolatey. It looked like just the right kind of batter for the texture I have been looking for. I was so excited to get these in the oven, that I totally forgot to add the chocolate chips, but oh well. I filled my muffin tins, and ran out of batter after filling 20 cups. They baked, and they rose marvelously in the oven. They really do look like Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes! I decided to make my own frosting recipe, because I am not a huge fan of the frosting at the Sweet Tooth Fairy and I feel that my specialty is making absolutely amazing and delicious frostings. They look fabulous, don't they? I am happy that Megan posted this recipe...it's a great one!

Butterfly butterfly

i saw some really cute butterfly cupcakes on pinterest. It looked easy so I thought I would give it a try. It was easy... but I did learn a few tips to make the wings look nicer. First, make the chocolate wing outline pretty thick. Then after squirting the colored chocolate inside, do only a couple at a time, and blend the border color inside right away. I tried to do mine all at once and the chocolate set too fast so a bunch of my wings didn't look as nice. Look it up on pinterest...they are really cute and learn from my mistakes...they really are easy...especially if you have squirt bottles for the chocolate.