There are two kinds of people in this world: those who love eggnog and those who don’t. If you don’t love eggnog, you might love this spiced chocolate cupcake with eggnog buttercream anyway. It’s chocolatey without being cloying and has just the right amount of spice to remind you it’s Christmas but you’re not being hit in the face with it. For me, there was no question. I love eggnog and so this recipe was a no-brainer. I have a confession to make, though. I made this for last year’s Christmas Eve get-together, which was a big fuzzy blur, because it was soon after the ice storm that had us camped out at my brother-in-law’s home and it’s a wonder I was able to make anything at all. But I knew I’d be really disappointed if I didn’t bake anything, and fortunately I was able to make it happen – […]
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Easy peasy Devil’s chocolate pumpkin puree cupcakes
Easy peasy Devil’s chocolate pumpkin puree cupcakes
This is going to be a short post because the ingredient list is short too: cake mix and pumpkin puree. Look, I know cake mix is not ideal. But sometimes, I need to make cupcakes quickly and I need a quick chocolate fix. So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I thought I’d try it. I have no recipe to link to, so pay attention ok? Dump the cake mix in a bowl, then dump 15 oz of pumpkin puree into the same bowl. Mix. Pour into the prepared cupcake tin and follow the baking instructions on the cake mix box. Now, if you want the tops to be smooth, these won’t smooth out by themselves in the oven as you would except. You’ll need to pat them down with a small spatula or spoon. As you can see in the pic, I didn’t do that, and the tops […]
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Welcome baby girl cupcakes
Welcome baby girl cupcakes
You might have noticed I have had a sudden flurry of blogs. There are a few reasons for this: my eldest is in kindergarten now so I have a few hours (okay 2) where I am only dealing with one kid; the holidays are fast approaching and baking is synonymous with the holiday season in my mind; I will be returning to work soon and I don’t want my blog posts to pile up even more than they have now. With my maternity leave coming to an end, I am reminded that a dear friend’s maternity leave is also coming to an end. We were pregnant together and I was thrilled to make some cupcakes for her welcome baby party several months ago. She is one of my nearest and dearest friends; I’ve known her since we were 6 and I hope our kids will grow up together too! I […]
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Sweetapolita’s Inside-Out (Mini) Neapolitan Cake
Sweetapolita’s Inside-Out (Mini) Neapolitan Cake
Isn’t this sweet? I made this mini cake with 4.5 inch springform fans for a dear friend of mine for her 30th birthday. I wanted to make something special so I thought I’d tackle a three-buttercream recipe. I was inspired from the cover of the latest cookbook from Miette (I just adore the bare edges) but mainly from Sweetapolita. It was harder to make than I thought because I didn’t level the layers of cake properly so one of them was at an angle, and it seemed to me like the cake would tip over. This cake ended up being a bit of an investment because of the springform pans, but I’m so glad I purchased them because I am always looking for a way to indulge my friends and I think a mini-tiered cake is the perfect way. I’ll be honest. This recipe has completely changed the way […]
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Owl Cupcakes
Owl Cupcakes
Whooooo loves owls? Apparently, the masses, because they’re everywhere lately: Anthropologie, Crate and Barrel, Winners. You name it. I’m slightly miffed because I loved owls even before they earned a cultish following. Still, I couldn’t resist making these owl cupcakes. At first I was going to make them for Halloween but when our plans got cancelled, I made them anyway.The recipe comes by way of Duncan Hines, but I never would have seen it if it weren’t for Pinterest. Substitutions: I wish I used the mini Oreos, because I think they would have looked a bit cuter. Or even the Double Stuf ones because it was a bit hard to separate the cookies without scratching the cream right off. I read somewhere that if you microwaved the cookies for about 10 seconds it was easier to take them apart. I tried it, but I can’t say for sure it […]
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Martha Stewart’s Honey-Cinnamon Frosting
Martha Stewart’s Honey-Cinnamon Frosting
I’m always on the lookout for great-tasting frosting, which pipes well, and isn’t necessarily buttercream. I was in a bind one afternoon when I realized I had to make a quick frosting. I needed to take photos of our Famous ‘Stache Movember cupcake toppers and wrappers for our Etsy shop Frost and Fete (see the entire set here) but I didn’t want to waste all my butter on making buttercream I didn’t even like. I quickly rifled through my well-loved edition of Martha Stewart’s “Cupcakes” and found something I hoped, and prayed would work out. The photo in the book didn’t reveal whether it would pipe beautifully or if it was just one of those slather and smear frostings. Fortunately for me this honey-cinnamon frosting came together just beautifully, piped easily, and to top it all off — it’s delicious. Normally I don’t dedicate an entire post to frosting, […]
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Paula Deen’s red velvet cupcakes
Paula Deen’s red velvet cupcakes
Now this, THIS is a red velvet cupcake. I’ve blogged about #redvelvetfails in the past. (Ahem, Martha). But then, came Paula Deen, and her full-fat, high in sugar, full of love recipes, y’all. High in calories but delish. And lo and behold, I became a red velvet baking queen. I made her recipe for a baby shower (you can see how they looked here, awfully cute with pink roses) but I didn’t stop there. The problem with the Martha Stewart recipe was that it fell flat in flavour and colour. If you’re anti-food colouring, you’re not going to like this recipe. But that’s what it comes down to. Good food colouring. Not the Wilton brand or the stuff you find at the grocery store.You’ll need to order some from the professional baking stores or from Williams-Sonoma. The better the quality the less you need to use. If you’re still […]
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Lemon-kissed buttercream cupcakes
Lemon-kissed buttercream cupcakes
While I tend to fall back on tried-and-true cupcake recipes such as vanilla bean or Devil’s Food, sometimes I yearn for a little lemon. I made these for a springtime party but I’ve also made them since then for a baby shower. I found this recipe online when I wanted something a bit more sophisticated at the last minute and I knew I had lemons in the fridge. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned before but I’m not the biggest fan of buttercream. I love how it looks when you pipe it, but there are certain recipes that just taste much too buttery for my taste. This recipe changed my mind. This has become my favourite buttercream recipe ever. If you don’t like lemon, suck it up and try it out anyway. You will be pleasantly surprised I think. A testament to how much I like this recipe is […]
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Trick or Treat Halloween cupcake toppers and wrappers
Trick or Treat Halloween cupcake toppers and wrappers
Forgive me for bragging a bit, but if you love cupcakes as much as I do (and I’m pretty sure you do) then you’ll see why this is a big deal. As you might know if you’ve been reading my blog, my sister and I have an Etsy shop in which we sell custom-made cupcake toppers and wrappers. The scrumptiously amazing blog, Cupcakes Take The Cake, featured our Halloween cupcake toppers and wrappers in one of their posts this week! They are absolute authorities on cupcakes, and have even been on the Martha Stewart Show. This is what they had to say about us: “These creepy cobweb, grinning jack o’lantern, spooky black cat and bat cupcake toppers are for sale on Etsy by Frost and Fete, 6 wrappers for $10. Fun!” If you want to see what else we’ve been up to, check out our Etsy page.
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My son’s airplane-themed second birthday
My son’s airplane-themed second birthday
I get nervous whenever I am hosting more than two people at my house. It’s not that I don’t like to entertain. I just want it to be perfect, and expectations are always high – especially when it comes to the dessert. People always ask me, where do you find the time? I start planning months in advance (for something like this), and create a schedule for myself that sets out my tasks for up to two weeks beforehand. I don’t have the time to procrastinate. This time, I decided not to get so hung up on the sweet table that I’d be stressed the entire time, especially for an important occasion like my son’s second birthday. Last year, the theme was Elmo, this year I decided to make it an aviation theme for my airplane-obsessed toddler. We kept the party small, close family only, I think he’s still at […]
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