An Owl-Themed Birthday Party

A very special little girl turned 1 last week and her mom asked me to bake cupcakes and sugar cookie favors for her birthday party. The theme of the party was owls with a pink and brown color scheme. I immediately began googling images of owl cookies and decided to follow an adorable idea I found on The Adventures of Sweet Sugarbelle.  Her work is always beautiful and I feel so inspired every time I visit her site.

If any of you have decorated sugar cookies with royal icing, you know it is a lengthy process that requires decent time management skills.  The main reason I haven't started a side business for baking is that I am a procrastinator and this time was no different!  I baked the cookies Wednesday night and I should have started decorating on Thursday, but I was just lazy and didn't start until Friday afternoon.  I also decided to bake cookies in the shape of a number one just to make the favors extra special.  That meant twice as many cookies to decorate in one afternoon!  To say I was stressed would be an understatement, but I think I ended up managing my time nicely and I was pleased with the results.

Luckily, since I had to let the owls dry for a bit before I added the details, I was able to bake the cupcakes while the cookies dried.  I saved the frosting until the next morning so that they would be nice and fresh.  I decided to bake both chocolate and vanilla since I love both, but I have to say the chocolate cupcakes were the best I'd made!  I used my stand-by recipe, which is from my mom, but this time, the cupcakes baked up perfectly.  I think they were also the favorite at the party.  I had originally planned to make little icing owls to top the cupcakes, but my poor time management skills got the best of me!

As a surprise the the birthday girl's mom, I decided to make a special cookie for family and close friends.  I had Aubrey's face printed on wafer paper so that I could put her adorable little face on a cookie.  I've always said she was so cute I could eat her up, and now I can!  :)

Overall, I was happy with how the cookies and cupcakes looked.  Not to brag, but I got rave reviews from the party-goers!  I think the birthday girl really enjoyed her first cupcake!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, AUBREY!!!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

Hi there! I can't believe it is mid-October and I haven't posted any pumpkin recipes! I found the recipe for these cupcakes on Pinterest and have wanted to make them for weeks! I decided I'd make them this weekend because the weather was particularly cool and it just felt right to smell something pumpkin-y baking in the oven! The house smelled wonderful!

I ended up doubling the recipe so there would be enough for my coworkers (and for me to keep a few with enough to go around the office!). I made a couple changes such as replacing half of the flour with whole wheat pastry flour. I also used half butternut squash and half pumpkin. I didn't do this on purpose! I thought I had left over pumpkin in the fridge, but it ended up being squash. Whoops! They still tasted fantastic! The combination of the spicy pumpkin cake and the sweetness of the maple in the frosting was spot on. I also drizzled half with a gingerbread spread from Williams Sonoma (So. Good.) - It really added a nice, warm flavor.

I recommend you make these soon! If your office is anything like mine, they'll be gone within minutes! The recipe can be found here.

Post Run Snack: Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

A few of my friends and I started a running club this winter and to reward ourselves we usually grab a bite or a beer post run.  Lately I've started trying new baking recipes and have had the girls be the taste testers.  The first recipe I tried was sweet potato cupcakes with a brown butter cream cheese frosting.  I figure since the cupcake is made with sweet potatoes, it can't be all that bad for you...  Right?  :)  Also, our metabolism is roaring after the run, so what better time to have a cupcake?
Two out of the three tasters loved the cupcakes.  One of the girls didn't care too much for the frosting - She felt it was a bit too sweet, but she did enjoy the cupcake.  I found this recipe on one of my new favorite blogs.  I started making the cupcakes and realized I didn't have enough white sugar.  So I added 1/4 cup of light brown sugar in place of the 1/4 cup of white sugar I was missing.  I think this added a nice caramel flavor to the cupcakes and I will definitely use brown sugar next time I make these.  I may even bake the sweet potato instead of steaming.  I think this will add great flavor.
The recipe is fairly easy.  The only part that could be tricky is the brown butter.  The recipe doesn't explain how to brown butter so here's a link which shows how to brown butter (it's really not very difficult, even for a beginner cook).  How to brown butter

Sweet Potato Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Yield: 12

For the cupcakes:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
6 ounces (or one small) sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla

For the frosting:
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, browned and cooled
1 block (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 – 4 cups powdered sugar

Heat the oven to 350 F and line a 12 cup cupcake pan with paper liners

Steam the sweet potatoes until fork tender, about ten minutes.  Set aside to cool slightly then mash with a fork until smooth.  In a medium bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light in color, about three minutes.  Add the egg, sweet potato, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Mix until well combined.

In a large bowl sift the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry and whisk until no large lumps remain.  Do not over-mix.

Divide the batter evenly between the baking cups.  Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the cakes are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed in the enter.  Cool for three minutes in the pan then remove the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes cool prepare the frosting.  In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and browned butter until well combined.  The mixture may look slightly curdled.  Add the vanilla, cinnamon and powdered sugar and mix until smooth.  Decorate the cupcakes as desired and enjoy.

One of the testers enjoying her cupcake post run!

Adapted from Evil Shenanigans