On Freezing Cupcakes and Blueberry Frosting

This weekend, I put on a few hats. One of them was my handy, dandy bakers cap. And the other, and they were hand in hand, was my 'scientist' cap. The scientist cap is not as sexy though. In fact, it kind of looked like this.



I decided to freeze three cupcakes.

The first cupcake is just a regular cupcake. Nothing exciting.


Then the second one I used a Wilton tip and filled the cupcake with peanut butter.



And the third one I used a cookie cutter and pulled a chunk out so that it could be filled while still frozen. When I wrapped this one (I wrapped them all in glad wrap and aluminum foil), I made sure to stick the glad wrap in the hole so that there wasn't any air in there. I don't know if that made a difference though...



All together now!




I froze these cupcakes on Saturday and then we tried them on Sunday and...they all tasted about the same! The filling actually thawed out all right. It tasted exactly like the peanut butter filling I hoped it would be. At the same time, it looked like this on the inside.



This is not enough filling, in my opinion. Maybe I needed to push the bag harder, but it just wasn't working.

At the same time, I only froze these cupcakes for a little less then 24 hours. They were rock solid, but we're going to freeze ours between two and two and a half days before the wedding. Looks like I'll be experimenting again next weekend/week! But I may try it with the vanilla cupcake instead of the chocolate.

I also experimented with a new blueberry frosting.

I cooked fresh blueberries on the stove and I then squeezed the blueberries through a sieve and got rid of (aka: ate) the cooked fruits. Well, I should have kept them. The first frosting was good, but had way too much sugar in it and didn't taste much like blueberries.



Nice color, right?

But it was too stiff. So I actually went out and bought blueberry juice. Actually pretty good! And mixed the blueberry juice with the rest of the buttercream.



Much better. Softer and it actually tasted like blueberries!!! Looking at the picture, it's a little TOO soft, so hopefully I can figure out some middle ground. :) You can tell the difference in this one:



Last, but not least! I also frosted a small chocolate cake. I'm not sure how I feel about the little frosting balls. I need to find a better way to decorate the cake.




Any suggestions?

I Feel Like A Scientist (And A Prayer Request)

If you couldn't tell, cupcakes are taking over my life.


I call it planning. My husband calls it my neurotic tendencies. My mother-in-law thinks I missed my calling. I can't help it. I want these cupcakes to look nice.

I've been searching online and I can't find anything about frozen, filled cupcakes. Can you freeze a cupcake with filling in it? Can you freeze a cupcake with a little piece taken out of it so that it can be filled while frozen? Do you want to fill it while frozen?

These are questions I am asking!! If you happen to know the answers to these questions, please let me know. If not, I will be freezing cupcakes this weekend and deciding the way to go for the wedding in March. Ooooo! Science experiments! Last time I did a science experiment with food, I threw some twinkies off of my roof.
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I've noticed that my blogging friends (and definitely The SITS ladies) are big-hearted people! I love it. And I wanted to ask you to read a post.



How beautiful is she?!

She has a really hard home life and could really use your prayers. You can visit Vashti to read the whole story.

What?! More Cupcakes?!

Chocolate Guinness cupcakes with peanut butter filling and chocolate buttercream frosting. One has a Reeses' Pieces on top and the other one a mini Reeses' cup. Steve thought the Reeses' Piece was better looking. I was wondering though if they should be plain.



Vanilla cupcakes with lemon curd filling and blueberry buttercream frosting. I LOVE the lemon curd.



How was your weekend? I love the weekends, but I always feel like there's never enough time!!

I Might Just Be A Crazy Person

But at least I got some baking done tonight. So here are my cupcakes and the recipes for them!



Banana Cupcakes With Honey-Cinnamon Frosting
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/desserts_E0308WELD_T?lnc=4bc9cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD

Makes 12
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas), plus 1 whole banana, for garnish (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Honey-Cinnamon Frosting
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Spread tops with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice banana into rounds, and place one on each cupcake, if desired.

Honey Cinnamon Frosting
Ingredients

1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners' sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes



Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients

3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Chocolate Curls, for decorating (optional)
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three- quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature and garnish with chocolate curls just before serving.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting
Ingredients

Makes 4 cups
1 pound good-quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 1/3 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup corn syrup
Directions

Place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring cream and corn syrup just to a simmer over medium-high heat; pour mixture over chocolate. Let stand, without stirring, until chocolate begins to melt.
Beginning near the center and working outward, stir melted chocolate into cream until mixture is combined and smooth (do not overstir).
Refrigerate, stirring every 5 minutes, until frosting just barely begins to hold its shape and is slightly lighter in color. Use immediately (ganache will continue to thicken after you stop stirring).

Lots To Bake! And Cook

How are you guys doing? Man, I love Fridays. And I also love THREE DAY WEEKENDS!!! Sadly, my husband doesn't get time off on Monday, so I'm going to be home with my crazy cat...who decided to stand on my back this morning and whine? No reason. Just decided that's what she wanted at 6:30am. I think that's why, when we first got her, everyone asked if we were going to have kids soon. Having our cat is like having another small child!!

My plans this weekend and Monday while my husband is at work? BAKE!

Everyone said very nice things about the cupcakes. The groom said he wanted chocolate and vanilla. Which is fine. I still want to bake the banana ones, so I'm going to :-D

So I'm going to see how tasty my Devil's Food cupcakes turn out.


and then I'll try the banana.


THEN! I'm going to be hosting another luncheon for Project O at my church on Valentine's Day! I'm excited, but because of everything else, I've been lacking on the planning. I was thinking about doing a buffet of different types of macaroni and cheese.



Like macaroni and cheese with tomatoes and maybe some with ham (I have a TON of ham in my fridge right now). Then I could have salad and soup and cupcakes!!

What do you think? Would you give me money to eat my mac and cheese?! ;) Money that would go to help build a school for South Africa's AIDs orphans? Or would you prefer something more hearty?

Cupcakes, Cupcakes, Cupcakes (And I'm Feeling Thankful)

It's official!

My sister-in-law and I are making a cupcake cake of around 100 cupcakes for my brother-in-law's wedding. Leaving on a Wednesday night and hoping for the best. :) Trying to figure out that, if we start baking the cupcakes on Thursday, when should we frost them for the wedding?! All the logistics, but I'm excited because I'm a planner.

I was thinking about banana cupcakes with honey-cinnamon frosting because my brother-in-law loves to dress like a banana.



But I might get the kabosh on that one. :) If you were making wedding cupcakes, what cupcakes would you make?

And I haven't done Thankful Thursday in awhile so...



If you'd like to post what you're thankful about, I know that Sonya

1) I am thankful that each day is a new day. Sometimes, I struggle and sometimes I don't. Some days I glory in God and some days I feel that I'm not doing so hot in the Lord's book. But I'm thankful that He lifts me up each day and that He loves me.

2) That I have a very supportive and funny family. My mom called me last night because she was looking at purses and thinking of me. I'm not very girly and don't have a lot of purses (especially for occasions like weddings) but she was thinking of me because of the upcoming wedding.

3) That we have lots of airline miles!! Silly, maybe. But with this wedding, we could have either spent over $400 on airfare OR what we are actually spending...which is $10!!! We've purchased two airline tickets to Ohio for $10. Heck. Yes. It's really helpful because now we can spend that money on flour, butter, eggs, and cupcake liners. :-D

4) I am thankful for my husband. He really took care of me when I was feeling sick. I actually couldn't get out of bed and he helped me through it all with everything. I really appreciated that.

5) For my church. Though we haven't been there in a month due to holidays and illnesses, people at church have been asking how we are and saying that they miss us. It really means a lot to me and shows me how the hands and feet of Christ really work.

So what are you thankful for?!

Your Favorite Cupcake

FOOD POISONING.

It was food poisoning. Boo. My brother had that on Christmas Eve morning too. But now my hubby is feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers and well-wishes. :)

OKAY! (I'm loving the caps today) So the wedding cake is still up in the air...but there is a distinct possibility that I COULD be making a cupcake wedding cake with my sister-in-law.


Look how cute that is!

So I have a question for you. Obviously the bride and groom (and the bride's mother) get the final say, but I want to know...

What's your favorite cupcake and/or cupcake filling?

Mmmm...cupcakes. :)

I also just want to thank God for today. I hope that you can have a great day too!