Happy Who-Year

I'm a Whovian.

Like...a hardcore Whovian.

As in I'm dressing up as the 10th Doctor and going the Gallifrey One convention in LA this February and my house is sprinkled with Doctor Who paraphernalia and I eagerly awaited the Christmas Special and rejoiced in its awesomeness (don't worry, no spoilers here)!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about you should probably just go away now because I don't think we can be friends.

Unless you haven't heard of it, but are intrigued and would like to learn more, in which case step right this way and discover why we are the fandom who is bigger on the inside...

The Doctor pretty much invaded my Holidays this year (and not just because Christmas was dedicated to the Doctor Who marathon and Christmas Special).

Given most of my birthday and Christmas gifts, I'm pretty sure my obsession is no secret to my friends and husband (I have the exploding TARDIS Van Gogh t-shirt, 10th Doctor teefury shirt, TARDIS beanie, and TARDIS clutch to prove it).

I may or may not have purchased Whovian items for my husband...and I swear my motivation in buying him a Dalek blueprint poster wasn't just so that I could have it too...

But I think the absolute highlight of my Who-filled-Holiday (or, WHOliday) would be these beauties...

No, I'm not referring to my lovely models (but lets give them a round of applause anyWHO - pun intended).  I refer instead to the wonderous aprons!  I've been waiting to share these for a while now being as they were Christmas gifts for my fellow Whovian friends.  These are in fact a preview of items you may find in my soon-to-be-created Etsy store (fullfilling many nerdy handmade needs).

TARDIS apron (featuring hand stitched police box signs)

10th Doctor apron

Forgive me, I don't have close-up of the Dalek apron so you will have to rely on the single photo above as proof of its awesomeness. 

And while we are on the subject, a Dalek is NOT a robot.  It is an alien species who uses a robotic armor or shell.  If you insist on calling a Dalek a robot, I will have to exterminate you.

Since I intend to sell these I will not be sharing a tutorial at this time...but stay tuned for an upcoming tutorial on how to make your very own adipose plushie!

Everyone wants an adorable adipose :)

Christmas Tradition: Gingerbread!!

I may or may not be a teensy bit competitive.

The truth is, if any prize is involved I want to win it.

So when there was a Gingerbread House Competition at the work holiday party I signed my department up immediately!

A Charlie Brown Christmas!

I don't have any tutorial or recipe, because the truth is I used the gingerbread kit provided to me by the holiday party committee.  I did create Peanuts characters out of rice crispy treats and fondant...but since they turned out looking more like South Park characters you may not want to do whatever I did.

Apparently some people make their own fondant?  I'm creative, not a fricken miracle worker.  I bought that sh*t at Micheal's like a normal person.

The overall creation was the group effort of myself, Cyndi, Brittany, Vanessa, and Kameron.  And it is magnificent if I do say so myself.  A winning piece of edible art!

Snoopy and his house - WINNING!!

Only we didn't win.  But I felt like a winner anyway!!

Gingerbread house making is a time honored Christmas tradition that I have continued since growing up in a small town in Eastern Washington.  Originally, we used graham crackers and hot glued them into houses and then covered them with frosting, gummy bears, and licorice.  Since moving to California I have carried on this tradition, only I have graduated to actual gingerbread now.

For the first time since 2003, I am spending Christmas in my hometown of Wenatchee (it's my husband's first white Christmas - pictures to come)! This meant making gingerbread houses with the original crew of girls (known as TUBFE - don't ask because you won't understand, sorry).

Cara, Kate, Ardith, Tanja, me and Ashley!

I of course spent a lot of time making a gorgeous gingerbread house with hand-piped icicles on the roof and house edges.

A lovely and tasteful house, if I do say so myself (which I do say so).

So, naturally, it needed to be destroyed immediately.

DESTROYED!

I tried to fix it...but there was no saving it from the Apocalypse of Frosting!

Also, rule is that if you abandon your house, it is left out in the snow.  So now the back porch looks like a snowy village for tiny little elves.

Someone needs to shovel their driveway...

So Happy Christmas to all and I hope you are enjoying your Holidays as much as I am!  I know I have provided no recipes or tutorials, but to honest the Doctor Who Christmas Special will be on shortly so I'm going to go watch that.  Stay tuned for my next post, Christmas with The Doctor!

Cheers!!

Wintermint Cupcakes

Fact: I hate winter.

This is in direct conflict with many of my favorite things such as Christmas lights, snowflakes, hot cocoa with marshmallows, scarves, peppermint chocolate, and those funny hats with the flaps that go over your ears.

I moved to Southern California because I hate winter.  It is cold and there is snow...neither of which are fun things.

But, in an effort to embrace my upcoming trip to my hometown in Washington (which is currently under a blanket of snow) for my husband's first white Christmas, I made Wintermint Cupcakes!

Ok...first of all, couple disclaimers on what I mean by Washington.  Yes, Washington state.  If I meant Washington D.C. I would have said Washington D.C.   No, I'm not expecting a rainy Christmas.  Because it only rains on the West side of the state.  The (larger) Eastern side of the state receives very little rain - most the year's precipitation comes in the form of snow.



Please excuse these rantings of a Washingtonian...back to delicious cupcakes...

These Wintermint Cupcakes offer two variations: Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes with Cheesecake Filling and White Cupcakes with Peppermint Cheesecake Filling (both are topped with a Peppermint Swiss Buttercream).  Each are topped up with either white chocolate snowflakes or dark chocolate trees.

These were inspired by Layered Peppermint Cheesecake I found on Pinterest, from which I adapted the cake recipe.  I used the Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe from Sprinkle Bakes.

Wintermint Cupcakes
Makes 4 dozen cupcakes

Cake Ingredients

• 1 box white cake mix
• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 2 6-oz container non-fat Greek yogurt
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil (separated)
• 1/4 teaspoon Peppermint extract

Filling Ingredients

• 1 box instant Cheesecake Pudding
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon Peppermint extract

Frosting Ingredients

• 5 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon Peppermint extract (additional if needed)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. For white cupcakes: Mix together white cake mix, 6oz Greek yogurt, 2 eggs, and 1/3 cup vegetable oil with an electric mixer on medium speed until completely combined.  Fill cupcake pan 2/3 full.  Bake 15-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
3. For the chocolate cupcakes: Mix together chocolate cake mix, 6oz Greek Yogurt, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and peppermint extract with an electric mixer on medium speed  until completely combined.  Fill cupcake pan 2/3 full.  Bake 15-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.
4. Allow cupcakes to cool completely.  Using a small knife or cupcake corer - remove a center core from each cupcake.
5. For the filling: Using the whisk attachment on an electric mixer, beat the whipping cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.  In a small bowl, whisk together pudding and milk (will be thick).  Add to whipped cream and beat until just combined (about 30-45 seconds).  Take half of filling in a piping bag (or plastic baggy) and snip the tip.  Pipe into Chocolate Peppermint cupcakes.  With remaining filling, add peppermint extract (add additional if needed - do not add too much at once!).  Pipe into White Cupcakes.
6. For the frosting: you can follow the recipe found here, only substitute the vanilla extract with the Peppermint extract.
7. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes with a star tip.
8. Decorate cupcakes as desires (I melted Wilton white chocolate and dark cocoa candies and piped them onto parchment paper - allow to set in the fridge and then place on top of cupcakes).

Note:  First, know that with Peppermint extract a little goes a long way!  Add only a little at a time until you get the desired taste.  Second, when it comes to Swiss Meringue Buttercream there comes a point in the process when you will be convinced that you have ruined the frosting.  You will add all the butter and everything will fall apart and separate and look like a soupy mess.  Just keep going, trust me.  There is a magical moment when it suddenly becomes the most delicious frosting in the world.

My Birthday at Hogwarts

Same name, new blog!

I called it quits on my old blog and have moved over to Blogger...I thought a fresh start was exactly what I needed to jump start my creative juices! 

The feel of this blog will be very similar to sweetcuppicakes.wordpress.com, only this time expect more of my inner geek to come out and play :) 

I'm nearly hopping up and down for Christmas - mostly because I'm SO excited to share some of the gifts I've created for some of my close friends.  However, posting them here would sort of ruin the surprise....so instead, here is a Harry Potter Birthday party!

Like any self-respecting human being, I'm a HUGE fan of Harry Potter.  Seeing the last movie felt a bit like graduating from my own childhood....which sometimes you have to revisit by re-reading all 7 books, re-watching all 8 movies, and then throwing a party.

You'll find recipes for a few of the yummy treats at the bottom of this post :)

House banners (just pretend the brown on the Ravenclaw banner is bronze, ok?)

You'll need a few textbooks as a Hogwarts student...

Flying Keys...pretty sure this is going to become a mobile for my future baby

Food!  We had pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, licorice wands, golden snitch truffles, and chocolate frogs!  All the favorites from the sweets trolley!

Champagne Golden Snitch Truffles (ok, they aren't really truffles, they're cake balls...but truffle sounds way fancier)

Chocolate Frogs (with peanut butter filling and served in individual boxes)

Chocolate Frog Cards...featuring all my favorite people :)

Photo booth props

Harry Potter Party Recipes

Pumpkin Pasties
Cauldron Cakes

Peanut Butter Chocolate Frogs

Pumpkin Pasties

makes about 2 dozen pasties

Ingredients:

Filling:

(adapted from Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie)

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk

 Crust:

•  1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp cold water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  In a large bowl, mix the pumpkin puree with the egg.  Add sugar and spices.  Slowly add the evaporated milk, stirring until combined.
2. Pour mixture into a small baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking approximately 30 minutes (until knife inserted come out clean).  Cool completely.
3. In a large bowl, mix together flour and sugar.  Cut in butter and shortening until the mixture resembles course crumbs.  Add cold water and mix until just combined.
4. Divide dough in half and put each into a plastic sandwich bag.  Press the bag so that the dough forms a flat ball inside the bag.  Refrigerate at least one hour.
5. Roll out refrigerated dough on a floured surface until about 1/8 inch thick.  Use a round cookie cutter and cut out circles of dough.  Add about a tablespoon of cooled pumpkin filling to each circle.  Fold circle over filling, pressing the edges closed with a fork (creating a half-circle mini pie).
6.  Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Note: You can use a pre-made roll-out dough if desired.

Cauldron Cakes

 Ingredients:

• Any recipe for chocolate cupcakes (boxed or from scratch)
• Instant pudding mix (vanilla or cheesecake flavored)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 bag chocolate melting candies (I use Wilton dark cocoa)

Directions:

1. Bake about 24 cupcakes using desired recipe - do not use cupcake liners!
2. While cupcakes cool, melt 1/4 of the chocolate candy and place in a piping bag (or plastic baggy) cutting a small opening at the tip.  Pipe candy onto waxed or parchment paper into cauldron handles.  Refrigerate 10 minutes to set completely.
3. Melt remaining chocolate candy.  Dip the top of each cupcake in the melted chocolate and place upside down (so that the flat bottom faces up) onto waxed or parchment paper.  Place in refrigerator 10-15 minutes to set. 
4. Prepare filling by whisking half the pudding mix (about 1.5-2 oz) with 1/2 cup milk.  Set aside.  Using an hand or stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip cream on med-high speed until stiff peaks form.  Add pudding mix to whipped cream and whip until just combined.  Place filling in a piping bag or plastic baggy and cut a med-sized opening at the tip.
5. Remove a small center from each cupcake.  Pipe filling into each cavity.
6. Use leftover melted chocolate to attach chocolate handles to the top of each cauldron.

Chocolate Frogs 
makes about 1.5 dozen frogs

Ingredients:

• 1 bag chocolate melting candies (I use Wilton dark cocoa)
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• Frog mold (I got mine here)

Directions:

1.   Mix peanut butter and powdered sugar (you can add additional sugar for a sweeter taste if desired)
2. Melt the chocolate candies.  Spoon in about 1 tablespoon of chocolate and spread it around to  just coat the frog cavity (without filling it completely).  Place in fridge for about 5-10 minutes to partially set.
3. Spoon in about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter into the cavity of the frog.
4. Fill the frog cavity completely, being sure to cover all of the peanut butter.  Place in fridge about 15-20, or until completely set.  Frogs should easily pop out of the mold once set.

Note: I do not suggest using regular chocolate chips for this - it will not set as hard as melting candies and will not work easily in a mold.