Amish Friendship Bread Cupcakes

This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you’ll need to make the Amish Friendship Bread. It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when making this. Do not use metal at all!

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (110°F)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup warm milk (110°F)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.
2. In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.
3. Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions for Amish Friendship Bread.

Amish Friendship Bread

• Do not use any type of metal spoon or bowl for mixing.
• Do not refrigerate!
• If air fills up the bag, let it out!!!
• It is normal for the batter to rise, bubble, and ferment.

Day 1

• Do nothing. This is the day you received the batter.

Day 2-5

• Mush (massage) the bag.

Day 6

• Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk to the bag and then mush.

Day 7-9

• Mush the bag

Day 10

1. Pour the entire contents of the bag into a large non-metallic bowl.
2. Add 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ cups sugar, and 1 ½ cups milk.
3. Measure out four separate batters of 1 cup each into 1 gallon Ziploc bags. Keep a starter for yourself and give the other three to friends along with a copy of this recipe.
4. Preheat oven to 325°.
5. To the remaining batter in the bowl (about 2 cups batter) add

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil (or ½ cup oil & ½ cup applesauce)
• ½ cup milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1 large box instant vanilla pudding

6. Grease two large loaf pans.
7. Pour the batter evenly into loaf pans. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar.
8. Bake for 60-70 minutes. Cool until bread loosens from the pan.

Variations

• I used a small box of French vanilla pudding, and it worked fine. You can also use different flavors of pudding.
• The internet is a great source for different recipes to use the starter.
• To bake as muffins/cupcakes, fill 24 muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes at 325°.

Mmmm...S'Mores

I was completely inspired by Eating Suburbia's S'More Cupcakes. It really got me to thinking about the flavors of chocolate and marshmallow together, which is really a great flavor combination (remember the chocolate marshmallow cupcakes?). The basics of a S'more are graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows.

Ingredients
Graham Base:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (or about 15 crushed crackers)
1/2 cup butter, melted

Cake:
Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cupcake batter

Marshmallows:
Marshmallow Fluff

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line muffin pan with paper baking cups.
   
2. Mix together graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Place about 1 tablespoon crust mix in bottom of baking cups. Smoosh to a crust-like consistency.
3. Mix up Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cupcake batter. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. Top with another tablespoon of graham cracker crust mix.
4. Place in oven and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from muffin pan and cool completely.
   
5. Place Marshmallow Fluff in a piping bag. Pipe onto the top of cupcakes. Using a brulee torch, toast the tops of the marshmallow for that awesome campfire look. If you don't have a brulee torch, place under a broiler until golden and toasty looking. Yum!
   

Sour Peach Cupcakes

My daughter loves the sour peach gummy rings from the grocery store. From the bulk section. She is kind of addicted to them. Mmmmm...

These cupcakes kind of emulate that flavor. Sour peach, in the form of a cupcake.

Ingredients

• 1 box (18.25 oz) white cake mix
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 (3 oz) peach flavored gelatin
• 24 sour peach gummy candy rings

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place paper baking cups in 24 muffin cups. Place sour peach gummy candy in the bottom of each paper baking cup.
2. In a large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, eggs and peach gelatin with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. Divide batter between muffin cups.
   
4. Bake 18-22 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from pan and cool completely.
5. Frost with Sour Peach Frosting.
   

Hello Cupcake!

This is the cutest book ever. There are a ton of ideas on decorating cupcakes in it! Here is a video from the author sharing some of her ideas as well:

Cupcake Bouquet

This is an easy, fun way to display your cupcakes or give them as gifts:

Wilton has a lot of cute products available to the general public, and they are designed for some fun decorating. Here is a fun video showing some of their waaaayyyy cool products, and some links to check them out on Amazon below that.

Cupcake Stuff!!

Summer Fun Cupcake Idea

Hi all! Now that school is almost out, I am trying to come up with fun ideas for keeping the kids occupied. I came across this video for cupcakes in an ice cream cone, and it's a bit different from what I've seen before. In the past I have seen the cake batter baked right into the ice cream cone, but this way allows you to keep your kitchen cool and still have fun:



Don't forget that you can buy undecorated cupcakes from your local bakery. This is a great idea if you don't have time to bake.

Key Lime Cupcakes

I meant to post these for Mother's Day, but its been a kinda crazy week. I love key lime, but I am allergic to it, so these will have to be regular lime for me--but I am posting the key lime version for you.

This recipe is a Betty Crocker special...

Cupcakes:

• 1 box (18.25 oz) lemon cake mix
• 1 box (3 oz) lime gelatin
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup Key Lime juice (or just lime juice)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• optional--2-3 drops green food coloring

Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2-2 1/2 tbsp Key Lime juice (or just lime juice)

Frosting

• 1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• Grated lime peel

1. Heat oven to 350°. Place paper baking cups in 24 muffin cups. In a large bowl, beat cake mix and gelatin with a stand or electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Add remaining cupcake ingredients. Beat with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes, scraping bowl as necessary. Divide evenly between muffin cups.
2. Bake 17-22 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from pan. With toothpick, pierce tops of cupcakes in several places.
3. In small bowl, mix 1 cup powdered sugar and enough lime juice that glaze is smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle and spread glaze over cupcakes. Cool completely.
4. In large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in vanilla and 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar until mixed; beat on medium speed until fluffy. Frost cupcakes. Garnish with lime peel.
   

Car Bomb Cupcakes?

I am sorry to say that I am still sick, but in the interest of cupcakes, I am looking out for you. While 'researching' on the internet, I came across these Car Bomb Cupcakes, that sound absolutely wonderful. I am too sick to have actually baked, so we're just going to have to trust my instincts and say YUM!!!

Excerpt from the blog:

Folklore says that if you order an Irish Car Bomb in an Irish bar, you’ll either be greeted with a smile and a drink or a black eye, so proceed at your own risk. The way the drink is made (I figure the black eye is self-explanatory) is that a shot glass with a mix of Baileys Irish Cream and Jameson’s Irish whiskey is dropped into a three-quarters full pint of Guinness and the insane person who brought this upon themselves it must chug this whole foaming mess down quickly. Before it curdles. Hey, don’t look at me — I don’t think I have ever been wasted enough to invent something so utterly brilliant.

Head on over and try them out. And make sure you leave a comment with your results!

Twinkie Cupcakes

I have been giving the deep-fried twinkies at the fair a lot of thought the past couple of days. There just seems to be something inherently wrong with deep-frying cake. I know they get all kinds of raves, but I think mine must be a bit of a rant. I suppose if you are into healthy eating, cupcakes aren't really the way to go either, but I just can't see making it worse by the addition of deep frying. So I won't. :)

Bear with me, though. Twinkies are not yummy for me. :) They kinda have a 'shelf life of 100 years' taste to me, but the idea of a cream filled sponge cake--well, really, THAT sounds good. So, why don't you try this version instead? No preservatives, I promise...

Cupcake Ingredients

• 12 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 to 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat ovento 350 . Place paper baking cups in 24 muffin cups.
   
2. Beat egg yolks and water with electric beater until lemon colored. Add 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating until light yellow.
3. Sift together the remaining sugar, flour, salt and baking powder.Fold dry ingredients and vanilla extract into egg yolk mixture.
4. Divide evenly between muffin cups. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from pans, cool completely.

Filling Ingredients

• 1 cup half 'n half
  
• 5 tbsp flour
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Mix half 'n half and flour in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and mix in butter until combined. Cool completely. Add remaining ingredients and with a stand or electric mixer beat until light and fluffy. Using pastry bag, fill cupcakes with filling. Enjoy!
2. Alternatively, you could use fresh whipped cream to fill sponge cupcakes, but this filling is quite yummy--and holds up a bit better than the whipped cream.
   

Cotton Candy Cupcakes

The flavor of cotton candy got me thinking about cupcakes and how I could translate that flavor into a cupcake. I searched the internet to see how other cupcake divas may have handled the problem. Most of them haven't really attempted this idea though--although CakeSpy has come up with a great recipe...I am still working on it, and I think I may have to adapt CakeSpy's version--stay tuned.

In the meantime, I did come up with this version, which is quite tasty and absolutely tastes like cotton candy.

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 oz) white cake mix
• 2 cups (1 pint) melted cotton candy ice cream*
• 3 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place paper baking cups in 24 muffin cups.


2. With a stand or electric mixer, beat together all ingredients on low speed until incorporated, and then another 2 minutes on medium speed. Divide evenly between muffin cups.


3. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched.
   


4. Frost.

*Blue Bunny's website states that they sell a Cotton Candy ice cream, however, it wasn't available in my store. I went to my local ice cream shop and bought a quart of Cotton Candy ice cream there--1 pint for the cupcakes, and 1 pint for eating--cake and ice cream go great together ya know. ;)

Cotton Candy Frosting
This is an adaptation of Magnolia Bakery's old fashioned frosting...

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons cotton candy extract
  

1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and cotton candy extract. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.


2. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar.
   


3. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Frosting can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Campfire Cupcakes in an Orange

I seem to have oranges on the brain this week. ;)

This is a tried and true scouting method for cooking cupcakes at camp--my scouts love it! Cook 'em in an orange! And with the addition of chocolate cake mix--well, you get that wonderful chocolate orange taste...

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 oz) devil's food cake mix
• 1 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• 10-12 oranges

1. If you are making this at home, heat your oven to 350°. If you are making this at camp--you need a bed of hot coals.


2. Slice the top 1/3 of the orange off. Scoop out the fruit, leaving an empty shell.
   


3. Place the cake mix, orange juice, oil, eggs, and orange zest in a large bowl. Mix until well combined.


4. Fill the hollow shell 1/2 full with cake batter. At home, place oranges on a baking sheet and bake 18-22 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched. At camp, place lid back on the orange. Wrap orange in a 6x6 piece of foil. Place in heat of coals--cook for 10-15 minutes.
   

Honey-Do Cupcakes

First off, let me just say "Yum!" My honey isn't a huge fan of sweets--but he does like a nice sweet occasionally with his coffee. This one hits the spot for him because it is more like a coffee cake than a cupcake. But a cupcake it is. Ü And this is what I make for him when I really need stuff done on my honey-do list!

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups peeled and chopped Granny Smith apples (2 medium)
• 1 orange
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup brewed coffee, cooled
• Orange Marmalade Frosting

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Place paper baking cups in 24-30 muffin cups.


2. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.


3. Peel, core, slice, and chop apples. Zest orange to measure 2 tsp zest. In a medium bowl, beat eggs with an electric or stand mixer on medium speed to blend. Add sugar, honey, oil, and coffee; beat until smooth. Add flour mixture, beat until just combined. Fold in apples and zest. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 18-22 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Frost.
   

*This would be yummy with a variety of different frostings, including Magnolia's Buttercream Frosting, Cream Cheese Frosting, Black Walnut Frosting, Brown Butter Frosting, or even Caramel Frosting.

Pear and Maple Cupcakes

Cupcake Horoscope - Aries (March 21 - April 20)
Energetic, mentally quick Aries needs a cupcake to match a competitive attitude. No plain yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting for them. Go exotic and rich with exciting flavor combinations they've never had before.

courtesy of the Cake Doctor

To that end, try these Pear and Maple Cupcakes, adapted from an adaption from Australian Women's Weekly.

Ingredients

• 2 medium pears, grated
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 eggs
  
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup walnut or pecan gems
  

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place paper baking cups in 12 muffin cup pan.


2. Strain the juice from the grated pear, and squeeze out as much juice from the pears as you can.


3. Cream together butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon with an electric or stand mixer for 2 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Add flour and mix until just combined. Fold in nuts and pears.


4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from pan; cool completely.


5. Frost with Black Walnut Frosting or Cream Cheese Frosting.
   

Vanilla Wafer Cupcakes

Vanilla wafers are one of my very favorite cookies. I literally could eat a whole package by myself (but I won't...maybe). When I came across this recipe, I just had to try it. Oh, so good...

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 (12 oz) box vanilla wafer cookies, finely crushed
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place paper baking cups in 24 muffin cups.


2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Add cookie crumbs and milk alternately to creamed mixture. Fold in pecans and coconut. Divide evenly among muffin cups.


3. Bake 18-22 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Remove from pans; cool completely. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.
   

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Now that the weather is warming up, I am reminded of the long summer days of my youth. And one of my favorite treats as a child (well, actually now, too!) was a cool root beer float. It's actually one of my fondest memories of my grandfather--the two of us sipping homemade root beer floats together on a warm summer evening. And now my love of root beer floats has translated into an awesome cupcake for you!

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 oz) white cake mix
• 1 1/4 cups root beer
• 1/4 vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• Whipped Cream

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place paper baking cups in 24 muffin cups.
   


2. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix, root beer, oil, and eggs. Beat with an electric or stand mixer on low speed for 2 minutes. Divide evenly between muffin cups.


3. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from pan; cool completely.


4. Frost with Whipped Cream.
   

Buy Me Some Peanut and Cracker Jack® Cupcakes

Sorry I didn't post yesterday! My husband and I are on our local Little League Board and yesterday was the opening day festivities. It was a lot of fun--6 exhibition games, loads of games, pictures, and more.

Anyway, I wanted to share a fun baseball themed cupcake recipe with you, using the old baseball standbys--Peanuts and Cracker Jacks®.

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1 (18.25 oz) pkg chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
  
• 1 (1.4 oz) package Cracker Jacks®, coarsely chopped

Caramel Glaze

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 3/4 cup sifted confectioners sugar
• 3 tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place paper baking cups in 24 muffin cups.
   


2. Place cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with an electric or stand mixer for 1 minute on low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat on medium speed for an additional 2 minutes. Divide the batter equally between the muffin cups.


3. Sprinkle 2 tbsp Cracker Jacks® and 1 tbsp chopped peanuts on top of batter. Bake 18-22 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched.
   


4. While cupcakes are baking, prepare caramel glaze. Melt butter in saucepan and stir in brown sugar. Stir and boil over medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir in milk and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cool till lukewarm; add milk. Gradually add in confectioners sugar, stirring until desired consistency is obtained. Add more milk if needed.


5. Remove cupcakes from oven. While the cupcakes are still hot, pour the caramel glaze over the top of them--it will fill in the nooks and crannies between the Cracker Jacks® and peanuts quite nicely. Cool completely.
   

Pina Colada Cupcakes

Don't you just love the tropics? I do! And I really enjoy just sitting on the beach enjoying a cool pina colada. Yum! Well, we can bring the tropics home with these great cupcakes! Filled with all the great flavors of the drink, this is one cupcake you won't want to miss!

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp rum extract
• 1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
• 3 eggs
• Whipped Cream
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 1 tsp rum extract
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut

1. Heat oven to 375°. Place paper baking cup in 24 muffin cups.
   


2. In a large bowl, beat cake mix, oil, water, 1 tsp rum extract, pineapple, and eggs with an electric or stand mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat an medium speed for 2 minutes, Divide batter equally between muffin cups.


3. Bake 15-22 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from pan; cool completely.


4. Stir coconut extract and 1 tsp run extract into whipped cream. Spread onto cupcakes. Dip tops of frosted cupcakes into coconut.
   

Banana Split Cupcakes

Here in the desert of Southern Nevada, it's starting to warm up. The days have reached a balmy 85°, and my family is starting to crave ice cream. And I am obliging them. You, too, can oblige a craving for ice cream with these darling little cupcakes, although there isn't a lick of ice cream in them.

Ingredients

• 1 package (18.25 oz) yellow cake mix
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup drained and chopped maraschino cherries
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Marshmallow Frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 30 muffin pan cups with paper baking liners.
2. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the dry cake mix; set aside. Combine remaining cake mix, water, bananas, and eggs in a large bowl. Beat with an electric or stand mixer for 30 seconds on low speed. Scrape sides of bowl. Continue beating at medium speed for 2 minutes. Combine chopped cherries and reserved cake mix in a small bowl. Stir cherry mixture and 1 cup of the chocolate chips into cake batter.
3. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from pans and cool completely. Frost with Marshmallow Frosting.
4. Melt remaining chocolate chips one minute in microwave, stirring every 10 seconds. When melted, drizzle across the top of your frosted cupcakes.
   

Chai Latte Cupcakes

There is nothing as sweet and spicy as a nice cup of chai. I have to admit, every time I go to Starbuck's my drink of choice is an Iced Chai Latte. Now you can have this sweet sensation in the form of a sweet little cupcake...

Ingredients

• 1 box vanilla cake mix (18.25 oz)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp instant chai tea latte mix
• White Chocolate Frosting
  

1. Heat oven to 350°. Place a paper baking cup in 24 muffin cups.


2. In a large bowl, beat cake ingredients with an electric or stand mixer for 30 seconds on low speed. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed, occasionally scraping sides of bowl. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.


3. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched. Remove from pan and cool completely. Frost with White Chocolate Frosting.