Sugar Cookie Pumpkins

I relapsed this weekend but before I got sick again, I made these cute Sugar Cookie Pumpkins for my youngest's classroom party:

And, in order to keep on track with my new lease on life, I am making sure that there is always one dessert in the house. That way, we aren't jonesing for sweets. We have our reward for doing good at the end of the day:-) I made a few extra of these and without the embellishments, it is actually not that bad for you: One cookie is 133 calories and 6 grams of fat. Everything in moderation.

As for my health, I am still being tackled by my hormones. They are making me very sick and I have to be on them for another month until they can implement a permanent solution to my problem. So, send me all your positive energy. I am going to need all the help that I can get!


Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

Tackling Bone Soup

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . Last week, I volunteered to bring treats to the costume party at school. Of course:-) This is what I came up with:

I was inspired by Cookies and Cups' skeleton cupcakes. Mine didn't come out nearly as good as hers but I was happy with my presentation:-)

Tailgate Cupcakes

Happy Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus! Monday, I competed in the Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Tailgate Challenge. We were given the task of coming up with a cupcake that represents tailgating to you. Here is my submission:

Grilled Strawberry Short Cupcake

Grilled Sponge Cake

Dipped in Strawberry Syrup

Topped with Whipped Cream

Garnished with Fresh Strawberries and Mint

Since I just took my older daughter back to the University of Wisconsin: Madison, my presentation was all about Badgers. I love that you can see the arch of the Hoan Bridge behind us! It's a Milwaukee landmark that leads you to the neighborhood I grew up in so, I thought it was really fitting:-)

I didn't win but with a view like this, I didn't mind at all:

Tackling Extreme Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom and Cupcake Tuesday with Hoosier Homemade:-) Last week, I competed in the Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Extreme Cupcake Challenge. Here was my entry:

They were:

If you can read the signs from my stellar photography, they read:

Rock You Like a Hurricane Cupcakes
Lime Cupcakes with
Passion-fruit Curd Filling
Topped with Rum Brown Sugar Meringue Frosting

Just like the hurricane cocktails they serve in New Orleans. I especially liked the frosting. The brown sugar really brought out the rum flavor; more than regular sugar:-)

The display included a boarded up window with a spinning turn-table (which was the eye of the storm), a fan under some fabric to look like waves and those battery votive candles under cotton to look like lighting. I didn't win but I sure loved creating this extreme weather and flavored cupcakes:-)

Next month...tailgating cupcakes...hmmmm....what to do....what to do?

Tackling Candy Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . I tackled another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge and this time, the theme/ingredient was Candy. Since I have a young daughter at home, I immediately thought of Candyland. Here is what it looked like:

They were Funfetti cupcakes with peppermint frosting and sugar cookie playing pieces. I did six of the characters in full size cupcakes:

Plumpy

Mr. Mint

Grandma Nut

Princess Lolly

Queen Frosting

King Candy

Tackling Cheese Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . This week, I tackled another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge and this time it was Cheese!! Well, I couldn't pass up a chance to showcase my famous Chocolate Cheesecake and here they are:

I made chocolate cheesecake cupcakes with a chocolate truffle snuggled in the center of chocolate candy clay to make Brown-Eyed Susan flowers. I added the flowers to a window box to make:


Can you believe that people actually thought that I was Suzy from Suzy's Cheesecake? Too funny!!! Here I am in all my presentation glory:

And I say glory because:

I don't know if you can make it out but, the score board says, I WON!! First for presentation and second for taste:-) Yeah Me!! What a fun event!

Tackling Baking

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . I am getting my butt kicked this week. I have several major baking projects due:

1. Cookies for Teacher Appreciation Day. (30)

2. Cookie Dough Balls for prizes. (60)

3. Cupcakes for Iron Cupcake. (120)


I am up to my knees in flour and sugar so...see you next Tuesday when I come up for air:-)

Tackling Bacon Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . This week, I tackled another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge and this month, the star was bacon. I made Mock Rumaki Cupakes:

Mock Rumaki Cupcakes
Cupcake Ball instead of Chicken Liver
Almond in Place of Water Chestnuts and
Bacon is Playing Itself

UPDATE: These little mock appetizers were the hit of room and I won the celebrity pick! Yeah me:-)

Tackling Extreme Chocolate Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . I had another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge. This month we competed for the best Extreme Chocolate cupcake. My entry was Not Your Mama's Sundae Cupcake. Here is what they looked like:

This ia an ode to Bi-Rite Creamery's Sam's Sundae in San Franscio. It hosts a white chocolate "bowl" with chocolate cake "ice cream scoops", chocolate mousse "topping", olive oil "sauce" and coarse salt " jimmies". Yummo!!

Tackling Literary Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . This week I tackled the Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Literary Challenge. We were suppose to interprete a book, or a character or a plot in cupcake form. I chose Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. May I present: Raven Cupcakes:

They are chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting decorated to with The Raven.

Tackling Fashion Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom and Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade. This weekend, I competed in Project Cupcake: The Ultimate Fashion Themed Cupcake Challenge. The competition was presented by Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee and Goldi's Shoe Parlor and it was much girlie fun! It was just the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon with me hanging with my cupcake girls:-) Awesome time!

Anyway, my cupcake was Leather and Lace Cupcake:

It's kind of hard to see it in this picture but these are chocolate cupcakes with white buttercream enrobed (pardon the pun) in candy clay which is embossed to look like leather and lace...hence the name:-)

Update: James Conway took this shot from the event:

© James Conway Photography, 2009.

Tackling Summer Fruit Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom and another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge. This month, the theme is summer fruit. What says summer to me more anything? Lemonade, of course. And that is what I made: Lemonade Cupcakes:

These are yellow cupcakes with lemon curd filling and lemon poured fondant in the shape of lemons inside jello to look like lemonade.

Wait...what? A cupcake in jello?

That's right! A cupcake in jello to look like a lemon in a glass of lemonade. I think it was pretty cool! Who puts cupcakes in jello? Uh...me:-)


And, I am totally a media-whore! Wisconsin Foodie was here this weekend filming me for an upcoming fall episode about this very challenge. They were they filming at the challenge too!! Totally, fun (which by the way, if you find yourself in a similar situation...don't say fun like 50 thousand times...you will just sound dumb.)

Tackling Vegan Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . I tackled cupcakes for the Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Vegan/Glutten-Free Challenge.

I chose to go vegan and my entry was a Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Cupcake with Vegan Chocolate frosting. I presented it as a bushel basket full of zucchinis coming straight from the farm to the farmers market.

And....I won the grand prize from the sponsor, Beans and Barley. I got a HUGE reusable shopping bag and a mug. Yeah me! I also got one a Taste of Home Cupcake Cookbook in the raffle. Double Yeah! Good night for me:-)

Tackling Booze Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

This week, I tackled cupcakes for Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Booze Challenge . Dear Ruthie was our special guest hostess for the challenge and my cupcakes were an ode to her.

Check out the poster:

And now check out my entry:

I called them :
"I Go Bananas for Ruthie" Cupcakes
Bananas Foster Cupcakes
with Rum Frosting

Pretty close, right?

Ruthie loved it and I won second place in the Partner's Pick:-) I got a T-Shirt and a frig magnet!It was awesome:-)

Tackling Upside Down Cake

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . This weekend, I made my first pineapple upside-down cake. It is a recipe from my husband's Aunt Kathy and it is what my BiL wanted for his birthday. So, I obliged and now, I am sharing it with you. Enjoy:-)


Kathy's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 20 oz can pineapple rings
1 cup brown sugar
1 sticks butter
12 maraschino cherries

1. Grease sides only of a 9X13 baking dish. Set aside.

2. Drain pineapple but save the juice.

3. Combine butter and brown sugar in a sauce pan. Cook until thoroughly combined but not burnt. Pour into the bottom of the baking pan. Place pineapple over the brown sugar mixture and top each ring with a maraschino cherry.

4. Prepare the cake mix according to the box but use the saved pineapple juice for part of the water that is required. Pour mix carefully over the pineapple. Bake according to the box instructions.

5. When the cake is done, turn out onto a platter and enjoy:-)

Servings: 12

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Oven Temperature: 350°F

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/12 of a recipe (4.8 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 416.9
Calories From Fat (38%) 156.49
% Daily Value
Total Fat 17.8g 27%
Saturated Fat 10.32g 52%
Cholesterol 40.67mg 14%
Sodium 277.29mg 12%
Potassium 169.75mg 5%
Total Carbohydrates 63.44g 21%
Fiber 0.73g 3%
Sugar 24.07g
Protein 2.38g 5%

Recipe Type: Cake, Dessert, Other Desserts

Source
Author: Kathy Ewing
Source: Mommies Tried and True

Recipe: $6.63
Serving: $0.55

Spice Rack Cupcakes

Check out more stuff at Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-) And, I have added Mostly Wordless Wednesday over at Ordinary and Awesome to my list too!! Go check them all out:-)

Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Spice Challenge was yesterday. Here is my entry:

Spice Rack Cupcakes

These are spice cupcakes with pecans and filled with cream cheese and presented in sugar spice bottles. The "caps" are white chocolate and the spice bottles are made from molded sugar. I thought it was a pretty cool idea:-)

Tackling Wine Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

I tackled another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge . This time, the ingredient was wine. Remember these from Wednesday? I used those to garnish these:

" Wine on the Vine Cupcake Pops"

I took a page from Bakerella and made my submission into cupcake pops. These are Pinot Noir chocolate cupcakes mixed with Pinot Noir buttercream dipped in white chocolate. I built the pops around a styrofoam form to make them into a bunch of grapes. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. What do you think?

Friday's Foto Fun with Eclair Cheesecake

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-) And I am up to my old tricks again.

This little beauty that I made for a dinner party last week may not be pretty but it was really good!! It was inspired by a dessert that I always order at a local restaurant called Maxims. It is a brilliant creation of a layer of cheesecake, topped with a layer of chocolate cake, filled and frosted with chocolate buttercream, glazed with chocolate ganache and garnished with a mini eclair. What's not to like right? Would you like the recipe? Ok:-)



Eclair Cheesecake

Ingredients:
For Cheesecake Layer:
1-1/4 cups vanilla wafers, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted
3-8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbls vanilla
1-1/2 cups sour cream

For Chocolate Cake Layer:
1 Devil's Food Cake box mix and all ingredients it requires

For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
3-4 tablespoons milk

For Ganache:
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbls unsalted butter

For Whipping Cream for Assembly of the Cake:
1/4 cup whipping cream
2 tbls powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. In a small mixing bowl, combine wafer crumbs and butter and stir well. Press crumb mixture into bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, melted chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Fold in sour cream. Pour mixture into crumb crust.

3. Wrap bottom and sides of the springform pan in foil and put it in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it is half-way up the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 325. Turn off the oven and let cheesecake stand in the oven for 30 minutes with the oven door ajar. Remove and cool on wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.

4. Bake Cake per the directions on the box.

5. In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use.

6. For the ganache, place chocolate in a medium heat-safe mixing bowl. Heat cream and butter over medium heat then, bring to boil. Immediately pour cream over chocolate and mix until the chocolate is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes.

7. To assemble, frost cheesecake with the chocolate buttercream icing. Top with the chocolate cake. Frost the cake with the buttercream. Chill for 30 minutes.

8. For the glaze, place the fully chilled cake on a wire rack over a baking sheet. To cover cake, pour the ganache into the center of the cake. Working quickly, spread with a spatula over the sides of the cake to create an even coating of ganache.

9. To garnish, make the whipping cream. Chill a small bowl and your beaters. Put the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in the bowl and whip until stiff. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe 14 stars on top of the ganache frosted cake. Chill for 5 minutes to set. Serve and enjoy:-)

Serves 14

Tackling Latin Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

I tackled another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge . This time, the theme was Latin Flavor and my submission was "Taste the Passion Cupcakes".

These are white cupcakes drenched in passion fruit syrup filled with passion fruit curd topped with dark chocolate ganach. The passion fruit really pairs nicely with good quality dark chocolate.

Tackling Coffee Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

I tackled another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge . This time, the ingredient was coffee and my submission was Mocha Ganache Cupcakes.

These are chocolate cupcakes with a mocha ganache glaze. I made the mocha ganache by steeping the coffee right in heavy cream. Then, I took the hot cream to make the ganache. Oh my...they had a really, really strong coffee flavor!! But, that was the jist:-)