What was supposed to be an Easter post turned into an early April post. :)

So I've been pretty upfront about being a master procrastinator. I successfully procrastinated, and baked cupcakes last week  two weeks ago, like I always do. But, I completely forgot to post them.... Whoops...

To be honest, my professional procrastination has caught up to me, and school has taken precedence. :/

BUT! I will bake cupcakes this weekend, if it means using a textbook as a place to rest my batter-covered spatula.

Anyway....

My family had a get together for Easter, and I got put in charge of baking cupcakes.
I wanted to do something fresh, fun, and not 'Easter-y.'


My (awesome) roommate got me this Wilton cupcake book to further expand my knowledge, so I decided it was only fitting to choose my recipe from there. :)

As per usual, I couldn't just follow the recipe. I made my own little tweaks to make what I thought would be a great cupcake.

Fruit Tart Cupcakes 

Oven Temp: 350°
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake Time: 18-20 minutes
Total Time: ~ 1.5 Hours

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 Box Betty Crocker French Vanilla Cake Mix
• Eggs, Water & Oil to prepare mix
• Cupcake Liners
• Cupcake Pan

Pastry Cream Ingredients:

• 6 T granulated sugar
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c. milk
• 4 Egg Yolks
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 2 T. unsalted butter.
• Pastry Bag

Topping Ingredients:

• Strawberries, sliced
• Blueberries
• Kiwi, sliced & peeled
• Whip Cream
• Pastry bag

Additional Items Needed:

Cupcake Corer: 

This was an impulse buy at Walmart. I don't think it was more than a couple bucks.

It is perfect for a filled cupcake like this. Otherwise, you can just cut a hole with a knife.

Anyway... on to the baking...

Cupcakes:

Prepare the cake mix according to the box. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, and let cool completely.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, you can cut your holes out for your filling.

Pastry Cream:

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, flour, and salt. Whisk in egg yolks and milk until combined. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a spoon until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter.

Pour mixture into a bowl, and press plastic wrap down onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent it from forming a skin.

Place in fridge until chilled, or ready to use.

Toppings: 

Slice strawberries & kiwis. Keep refrigerated until used.

Assembly:

Using a pastry bag, fill the 'holes' in your cupcakes, plus a little extra. Spread the 'extra' around on the top of the cupcake, making sure it is even.

Place a kiwi slice on each cupcake. Then, with a pastry bag, put a little bit of whip cream on top of the kiwi. Then arrange the strawberries and blueberries as you like.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

There you have it!

Again, I apologize for the very late post, and will be back at the baking this weekend!

Neapolitan Cupcakes inside Ice Cream Cones

This week I have a lot of homework to do. Therefore I have a lot to procrastinate on. I was also indecisive on what kind of cupcake I wanted to make, so I ended up with neapolitan. I had a special helper this week, who was my official taste tester (and graciously let me destroy her kitchen and let me use all of her dishes.)

This week I decided to focus on more of the visual aspect of my creation, since I was 98% sure that my cupcakes were going to taste delicious.

Anyway, here's the recipe for this week. :)

Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Total Time: ~ 1 hour
Oven Temp: 350°


Now, I made this with 3 cake mixes. I'm sure you could split up one vanilla cake mix, (or do any flavor you want) but I was feeling like an ambitious procrastinator.

Ingredients:

• 1 box Betty Crocker Vanilla Cake Mix
• 1 box Betty Crocker Devil's Food Cake Mix
• 1 Box Betty Crocker Strawberry Cake Mix
• 2 boxes (24/box) ice cream cones
• 2 cans cream cheese frosting (not the whipped kind) 
• McCormick Neon food coloring
• Sprinkles
• 9 Eggs
• 1.5 c oil
• 3 c water
• Pastry Bag (If Desired)

My official taste tester, Katie

Prepare all of the mixes in separate bowls, per the directions on the box. (like I said, this one isn't too hard) I wanted to add a little more pink color to my strawberry batter, so I put 7 drops of food coloring in, and mixed it up really well.

The inside... I thought it
looked kinda cool. :)

Put your ice cream cones in a cupcake pan. Put the vanilla batter in the cones first. (Make sure you leave enough room for the other 2 batters, so that the cones are only 2/3 full.) Then add the strawberry batter, and finally the chocolate.

Put them in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Let them cool completely before frosting. 

Now, when I frosted these guys, I used an 'organized chaos' method. I just swirled it around all over to give it a little resemblance to ice cream, and added some sprinkles for fun.

That's it! A fun and simple way to make cupcakes that look way more complicated than they actually are. :) Come back next week for a cupcake with a little springtime inside.