A Cake Full of Thankful

Things I will celebrate and be thankful for... my wild Wednesday friends, why? you might ask!  Because last night when I was leaving there house my car was gone, walked out and thought they had played a joke on me and moved my car. Nope, some fool towed it and put it in the impound lot):  Thankfully, Nathan drove me to it waited in the hood with me and got my car out(:  So obviously I owe them many a cupcakes and thanks of course!! If it wasn't for them I'd be stuck without a car, so thank you K and N y'all are the best(:

I'm also super thankful for my roommates Meg, Ashley, and Jessica, they're pretty awesome!  So Ashley- she's my next door roommate, loves Pineapple upside down cake and she asked when I was making the cupcake version cause I told her I would make it soon like this week- so I did, I made them today(:  Now, let me tell you I took a different direction with it and made a cherry filling to go inside rather than a cherry itself.  Then I did a brown sugar glaze on top and last but not least I topped it off with a real cherry (well a maraschino cherry, that's real in my book :))!  It's pretty tasty if I do say so myself, and I do!! So this is what I did...

Preheat your oven to 350 F and line your cupcake tins with the liners(:

You'll Need:

1 box of yellow cake mix

(I used super moist betty crocker)

1/3 cup Oil

3 Eggs

2 Tbls Flour

Ok, whisk together the oil and eggs then SIFT in the yellow cake

Then add the pineapple (the entire can) and 1/4 cup Milk

Add 2 Tbls flour because you're going to need to thicken the cake a little(:

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with this scrumptious batter and pop in the oven for 17 min or until toothpick (or fork) comes out clean!

You've done it again, you just made another awesome tasting cupcake!  Gosh, I'm super proud of y'all(:

So instead of a cherry in the middle I did a cherry filling, which by the way is so easy to make.  Plus, you'll have left overs so you can use it as a dip for anything (pretzels, fruit, put it on some bread) whatever your little heart desires(:  Ok, so here it is... ready?

Just 3 ingredients: 

1 sleeve of graham crackers

1 can of Cherry Pie Filling

8 .oz of Cream Cheese (softened)

Now, lets see what you do.

Take your sleeve of graham crackers and break them up into the food processor (put the lid on) and turn that bad boy on until the graham crackers are fine as sand.

Mix the cream cheese, cherry filling and graham crackers in a mixer on medium speed until all is mixed together really well(:

There you have it, your cherry filling!  

Some of you might be thinking, how in the world do you get that in the center of the cupcake... well let me inform you(:

If you have an icing tip (if you don't just use a knife) core out the center of your cupcake.  Not all the way to the bottom, just to the center of the cupcake! You can do this right when they come out or you can wait to let them cool, it's up to you.

Alright, Next step(:

Pipe in the cherry filling in the cut out hole of your cupcake (you can pipe it in with an icing bag or a plastic baggie, or shoot you can even spoon it in.  It's just easier if you pipe it(:

Now, for the glaze:

2 egg whites

1/2 Cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp Salt

3-4 Tbls butter (softened)

In a double boiler (a pot of simmering water with another pot sitting on top) I put egg whites, brown sugar and salt and let the sugar dissolve, then I put the brown sugar solution in the mixer with the butter and let it mix for about 5 minutes.

After all was mixed I dipped the top of the cupcakes in the glaze and topped them off with a cherry(:  Now you have made not only tasty cupcakes, but beautiful ones as well!!

Before I go, I have a confession- the glaze was really supposed to be an icing but my ability to make icing that day was slim to none(:  It was actually supposed to be a really awesome brown sugar butter cream but mine stayed liquid so I made mine into a glaze...I still got to use it, so it made me fill better about myself(:

Sooo 6 eggs later and 2 sticks of melted butter running out of the microwave I decided to just go with the glaze(: 

The cupcakes were a big hit with my roommates, Kristen and Nathan so all in all I'd say job well done! I know your cupcakes are going to turn out wonderfully and can't wait to hear about them so let me know what you think and when in doubt, sugar it out(:

Oh! Good Morning(: French Toast anyone?!

Who wouldn't want a cupcake for breakfast?!  I know I would!!  Sooo, I give you a cupcake you can eat for breakfast without feeling guilty, well you might feel a little guilty because they’re so good(:  The French Toast Cupcake… I know, I know amazing right!  So Kristen, my Monday Funday or Wild Wednesday friend whichever one you want to call her… I prefer Kristen, kept saying “how great would it be to have a breakfast cupcake, you never see that.”  Then we proceeded to high five each other because she’s right, how stinkin’ great would that be?!  So I thought I would give it a try... Here it goes!!

Here is everything you will need for the cupcake(:

1 1/2 Cups Flour

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon 

(I was generous with my scoop of Cinnamon)

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup (1Stick) Butter, Softened 

2 eggs

1 3/4 tsp. Maple Extract

1/4 tsp. Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cups Milk
Yield: 12 cupcakes

So, do you want to know how to make 'em?!  Ok, I'll  tell you(:

First, preheat your oven to 350 F and line your cupcake tins with cupcake holders!

Then in a mixing bowl, sift together Flour, Baking powder, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Salt. Set aside!

Now with your mixer... I'm pretty sure this is the one my mom used to make my big bird cake with(:

In a separate bowl mix together Butter, Sugar and eggs.  Let it mix for 3 minutes, make sure it's combined really good. Add the Maple and the Vanilla extract and keep mixing on low to medium speed.

While the mixer is still on, alternate the milk and flour into the bowl with the sugar and eggs, ending with the milk and mix until it's incorporated all the way.

Spoon into the cupcake tin 3/4 full. Pop in the oven for 19-24 minutes or until you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. 

You're awesome, you just finished the cupcake part(:

Now, for the Icing... which is the best part in my opinion!  I only have one picture for you and it's the ingredients that you'll need(:  I want you to make the icing how you like, I'll give you the amount of butter, cream cheese, and extract but for the sugar and milk I want you to make it your own consistency! 

1/3 Cup Cream Cheese

1 stick butter

1 1/2 tsp Maple extract

Powdered Sugar

Milk

So, if your thinking you can't do it with out an exact recipe you're wrong(:  You can totally do this.

Mix together cream cheese, butter and extract in your mixer then pour in about 1 cup of powdered sugar and about a Tblsp. of milk, keep doing this until you get the consistency you like in an icing, I like mine creamy so I do a little more milk if it's to thick! (tip, you really can't mess up icing... if it's too thick add milk if it's to creamy, add more sugar) 

And you've done it(: You have just made your new favorite cupcake!!

Yummy!!  Every bit of that was delicious(:  The sweet maple syrup icing was probably my favorite.  Ok, I might feel guilty now because I’ve eaten like 3 of them and a glass of milk!!  Oops, ohh well… When in doubt, sugar it out(: