PhDCupcaker

I know, it has been a REALLY long time since my last post. It was over two months ago (Pi Day to be exact) and even when I posted my Pi Day pics I had others that I never posted… So, I figure it is about time to do that so I can finally be up to date….

Going way back to… wow – December – I really need to do a better job of updating my blog. I made these marshmallow pops for my friends Aaron and Megan who just got engaged. I was going to try cake pops, but I usually have much more success with marshmallows… These came out pretty good. I dipped them  in white Wilton candy melts and topped them off with a little heart.

Then in January I volunteered to make some treats for our office birthday party. I decided to make the Carrot Cake Cheesecake I made once before. This is pretty close to the Cheesecake Factory recipe. I found a copycat one here. This is Josh’s favorite, but he was at a conference when I made this. I decided to dress this up a little bit my piping some swirls. I think it came out pretty good.

Then, in February I made these Brownie Heart Cupcakes from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book for Valentine’s Day.

At first I thought I wasn’t going to be able to cut the hearts out of my brownies. They were a little hard, but I was able to make it work and I thought they  tasted pretty good!

In March I wanted to do something for St. Patrick’s Day and so I went back to Martha Stewart Cupcakes and found a recipe for

Brown Sugar Pound Cupcakes with this great Bailey’s Irish Cream Icing (see below). I have no idea why I can’t find a picture of the actual cupcake, but here is a picture of the shamrocks I created with some green Wilton Candy Melts. I placed one of these on each cupcake.

Bailey’ s Irish Cream  Frosting

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 lb. (4 cups) confectioner’s sugar

3 Tbl. Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur

1.2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1. Cream butter. Reduce to medium speed and add confectioner’s sugar 1/2 cup at a time. After each addition scrape down the sides of the bowl. After every two additions increase the speed to high and beat for about 10 seconds.

2. Add the Bailey’s and vanilla and beat until combined and smooth.

According to Martha, this can be kept for up to 5 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

I’ve got a few more treats to post, but I think I’ll put them in their own posts!