I want these pretty little things....

Aren't these beautiful??? They would make any attempt at a cupcake look more complicated...

So glamorous. More on the expensive side ($11.99 for 12) but worth it if you wanna make a big impression.... So glamorous, so beautiful. Perfect for a wedding- can't you just imagine a tier of cupcakes wrapped in these??? Yep- I want them.

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

They sure do look delicious, don't they? They are fabulous. Unfortunately, I did not create this recipe.  I wish I could take credit, but I've got to give a hat's off to Martha Stewart for this one- I've got her cupcake cookbook and am in LOVE with many of her recipes, this being one of them.  So while I didn't actually dream up this little decadent dessert, I had to share them with you- after all, you can't perfect perfection...

A little note I'll tell you before I even give you the recipe- the recipe makes 30 cupcake-sized cheesecakes.  I don't know what kind of living situation YOU have, but I've just got a roommate and a boyfriend, so there was no way we could eat 30 cheesecakes (or rather, no way we SHOULD.) So I split the recipe in half when I made mine, and still had more than enough to share.  Also, the next time I make these, I might add a little more sugar to the cheesecake mixture, and maybe a little lemon juice as well- yall know how much I love lemon, and think it would do a fabulous number on the taste of the cheesecake.  Now not too much lemon, mind you- just the juice from a couple slices. Taste as you go, or else you'll end up with lemon oreo cheesecake, which doesn't sound appealing.

This recipe is similar to one of the recipes I posted early on- Cookies & Cream Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. However, these are straight cheesecake, no cake involved.  They are very easy and cheap to make, keep well in the fridge for several days, and taste like you spent a lot of time an money on them.  A very unique and simple dessert idea for a party!

There, now that we've got all THAT settled... here is the recipe!

Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

1. 42 Oreos (30 left whole, 12 coarsely chopped)
2. 2 pounds of cream cheese, room temperature (I use 4 boxes of Philadelphia cream cheese)
3. 1 cup of sugar
4. 1 tsp of vanilla
5. 4 large eggs, room temperature (lightly beaten)
6. 1 cup of sour cream
7. A pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Happy Cheesecake-ing!!

Cheers,

marie

Mint Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

ou poor, POOR little cupcake addicts. I have neglected you for so long! I apologize for the delay, I had anticipated being able to give you a constant stream of decadent cupcake recipes, but creating my debut album pulled me away from the kitchen and into the studio... for like a year and a HALF. But, great news!! It's done. The album is done, and ready for listening... and if you ask me, it's fantastic cupcake-baking music. :) You can find the album on iTunes at

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/worth-the-fight/id407577160?ign-mpt=uo%3D4 or purchase the physical copy on my merch site, at www.mariehines.bigcartel.com. Ok, enough of that. Onto the baking!!!

This is one of my favorite recipes... if you love GirlScout ThinMint cookies, you'll LOVE these little babies. And the best part about it is the simplicity... the cupcakes come from brownie mix, and the icing is quick and easy to make!

Mint Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

• a box of brownie mix (my favorite is Duncan Hines, dark chocolate brownies)
• anything the brownie mix requires (usually just eggs, vegetable oil, and water)
• 1.5 sticks of salted butter, softened
• 3 cups of powdered sugar
• about 2 tbs of Hershey's cocoa powder
• about 2 tbs of heavy whipping cream
• a few drops of peppermint extract

Preheat oven to temperature on brownie mix box (350* or 375*). Line a mini cupcake pan with mini cupcake liners (I prefer to make these cupcakes in mini cupcake size because the brownies are so rich and heavy, they're better in a smaller size!)

Follow directions on the back of the brownie mix box, pour into cupcake liners (about 3/4 full). (My trick for pouring the batter into the liners is using a plastic cup- some people use an ice cream scoop, but it's easier for me to pour from a flexible plastic cup- but be careful, the liners fill up fast!)

Bake. For timing, my mini brownie cupcakes usually take about 22-25 minutes to bake, but the timing differs on the type of mix. Dark chocolate brownie mix takes about 22 minutes, milk chocolate brownie mix takes about 25 minutes. Just watch them carefully, they will be done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While the brownie cupcakes are baking/cooling, assemble the frosting- using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the softened 1.5 sticks of butter in a medium mixing bowl until creamy. Then, slowly add the 3 cups of powdered sugar, beating well after each addition. If the frosting is getting too clumpy or sticky towards the end of the sugar additions, add the heavy whipping cream. Otherwise, wait until all sugar is added before you add the heavy whipping cream. After you have a good vanilla base for the frosting, start adding the cocoa powder. I usually put in a couple of spoonfuls, then taste- if you like a rich chocolate, add more cocoa. Once you get a good chocolate frosting base, start adding a few drops of peppermint extract, then taste. Be careful not to add too much peppermint extract, that stuff is STRONG!

Frost the brownie cupcakes once they have cooled, and for an extra oomph in presentation, chop Andes mints in half and stick one in the frosting on top of each cupcake.

Take THAT, GirlScout ThinMint cookies!!!

Cheers, loves...

marie

Sweet Sunday is BACK!

s I'm sure you've noticed, I've taken a brief hiatus from cupcake blogging. Not really for any brilliant reason other than I just got kinda burned out on cupcakes... for awhile there, I was making about a batch a week, & while to some cupcake enthusiasts, that doesn't seem like much, I got really burned out. (Cupcakes are more of a hobby for me, a downtime type thing.) Buuuuut, it's back!!! Welcome to the new & revised "Sweet Sundays", where there is consistency in my blogging! :)

When my boyfriend's sister Emilee was in town with their family a few weekends ago, we had a glorious morning of baking. She's a cupcake enthusiast herself, & wanted me to teach her how to make a homemade buttercream. We had a blast, ended up doing more talking than baking (so the entire process took us a lot longer than it should have) but we turned out an INCREDIBLE batch of cupcakes. White Chocolate Cupcakes with my homemade buttercream- really rich, but SO good. I figured if I was going to catch your attention with a blogging comeback, it had to be with an exceptional recipe... so here it is, one of my favorite recipes so far: White Chocolate Cupcakes!

White Chocolate Cupcakes:

• 1 & 1/4 cups cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 6 oz white chocolate

Preheat oven to 350*. Line a standard 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light & fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg & beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Chop 5 oz of the white chocolate into chunks (do not chop too finely- leaving larger chunks allows for pockets of warm white chocolate in the baked cupcake). Add the chopped white chocolate & beat on low speed until just combined (do not overbeat!)

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until lightly golden & a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool about 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack, then move to wire rack to continue cooling.

Once cooled, frost lightly with Marie's White Buttercream Frosting (found below this post). Use the remaining 1 oz of white chocolate as garnish- simply use a vegetable peeler to peel shavings of white chocolate, & place on top of each cupcake.

Sweet Sunday, Easter Edition!

am currently trying my first cupcake/wine pairing (which, I just realized, could prove to be a problem as I need to take Benadryl tonight for some killer allergies I've been having...oops!) but regardless, I am thoroughly enjoying it. To make things even BETTER, it's the Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay, and the glorious little Easter cupcake I'm about to show you... It's gorgeous outside, it's been a fantastic Easter Sunday (I hope yours was as well), and this seems like the perfect way to end the night. So here it is... the ultimate Easter cupcake. This recipe series will be a long one, I've added my sugar cookie recipe (which is an old Southern recipe that's been handed down through my family for years...) Here we go!

Easter Egg Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcake

1. 1 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
3. 1/4 tsp salt
4. 3/4 cup sugar
5. 6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
6. 1 large egg plus 1 large egg white, both at room temperature
7. 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8. 1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350*. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and egg white one at a time, beating well on low speed after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium-high speed just until no traces of flour remain, about 30 seconds, do not over beat.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 the way full. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean (about 18-21 minutes). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Marie's White Buttercream Frosting:

1. 1 & 1/2 sticks salted butter, room temperature
2. 1 box of 10x Confectioner's Sugar (powdered sugar)
3. 2 tsp vanilla extract
4. 2 tbs heavy whipping cream

Beat butter well until smooth & creamy, gradually add powdered sugar, blending well after each addition. Gradually add milk (you can use less or more milk than 2 tbs, depending on the consistency you want the frosting to have. Adding more milk will make the frosting thinner, using less will make it thicker). After well blended, add vanilla extract.

*Note: I love vanilla flavor, so I have a tendency to put more vanilla extract than most people. Just add the ingredients to taste, & get creative- I have a few ingredients I always add that make the frosting interesting, this is just the basic buttercream recipe. Also, If you want colored frosting, just add a few drops of food coloring until you reach the desired shade.

Southern Sugar Cookies:

1. 1 cup butter (2 sticks) room temperature
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 2 eggs, room temperature
4. 2 tsp vanilla extract
5. 1/2 tsp baking soda
6. 1/2 tsp salt
7. 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350*.

Cream butter until light and fluffy, add sugar and blend well until mixed thoroughly. Add eggs one at a time and blend. Add vanilla, then add sifted dry ingredients gradually, blending well with each addition. Dough will be loose and sticky. Refrigerate overnight, if possible (if pressed for time, stick the dough in the freezer for about 30 minutes). Roll dough thin on a lightly floured board (keep adding flour to the dough if the rolling pin keeps sticking). Cut with cookie cutters and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350* for 8-10 minutes.

To assemble the "Easter Egg Cupcakes", I piped the buttercream frosting onto the cupcake, and iced each cookie individually with Easter colored pastel buttercream (I had cut some of them into small easter egg shapes). I set the cookies in the mound of buttercream frosting on the cupcake, and Tada! Easter Egg Cupcakes. This process takes AWHILE, and I'll admit, I got too tired towards the end... so I ended up only assembling a few of the cupcakes! Both the cookies and the cupcakes are very buttery & rich, so don't eat more than one at a time- you WILL make yourself sick. :)

Happy Cupcake-ing!

Marie

A few goodies that came my way...

o show how truly incredible my family really is, I just wanted to post a couple pictures of some lovely things I've recently acquired. :)

I'm at home in Spartanburg, SC for Easter, and was out doing some grocery shopping with my dad for tonight's chips/guac/margarita night. I spotted this wine at our local Food Lion, and about flipped my lid when I saw the name of the vineyard! AAAAAND it was on closeout- way cheap. (Which probably is not good news for either the vineyard or the wine itself, but I didn't care, the name sold me.) My sweet dad promptly picked up the bottles and bought them for me. ("You just have to have them, Marie...") I'm so pumped to try them! I love wine anyways, but Cupcake Vineyard wine just HAS to be incredible...

In addition to this...
A few weeks ago, I was talking to my Mimi on the phone, and mentioned to her that my hand mixer was getting quite a workout, even to the point of giving off this horrible burnt smell as the motor struggled against my cupcake batter (almost every time I bake.) My Mimi is the most giving and kind woman in the world (it's her love language), aaaaaand she really loves garage sales and QVC so she always has like, literally 3 of everything, so she IMMEDIATELY said, "Oh, I can give you my standing mixer, dear! I don't ever use that thing, your Aunt Doreen has had it for a month or so, and she doesn't use it either. Plus, I got it on a closeout special on QVC, it's really top of the line and a great mixer and I got such a great deal on it (etc, etc, morphs into "deal mode" to tell me all about all the things she's gotten on sale lately- a trait that I see myself reflecting often...)" So, because I have such a wonderful, kind, giving Mimi, I have a new stand up mixer!!!! I am SO pumped, and am ready to try it out! :)

I'm actually trying it out TOMORROW!!! Since this "Sweet Sunday" is Easter, I'm making a special batch of cupcakes tomorrow! You are NOT going to want to miss this recipe- I've been planning this one for awhile. :) Let's just say, you're going to get more bang for your buck with this recipe. Check back on April 4th, Sweet EASTER Sunday, for the recipe & pictures!

Marie

Sweet Sundays, Bald Cupcakes Edition

es. I am an amateur cupcake baker, which entitles me to the once-in-a-while screw up... And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't share my screw ups along with my success stories?!? A few days ago, I made bald cupcakes. Not because I intended them to be bald, but because the frosting sucked so bad, I just couldn't bear to ruin the cupcakes with it! To be honest, I was having a pretty bad day & almost had a little breakdown over the fact that I made the worst frosting in the world. I'm just sayin': I'll admit it, sometimes I'm just a hormonal woman. (This was also the same night I sat on my couch & bawled, alone, over the movie "Bright Star". What a beautiful romance...) ANYWAYS. The cupcakes themselves were a huge success... homemade strawberry cupcakes, light and fluffy, and I made them with both fresh strawberries (for a slightly tangy taste) and homemade strawberry jam (to increase the sweetness of the cake). Sounds delicious, right? They were perfect, and that recipe will follow, but I completely screwed up the frosting. I thought it might be a good idea to make my standard buttercream and add freshly pureed strawberries. Theoretically, the sweet buttercream should only be enhanced by the addition of a semi-sweet strawberry puree, right?? WRONG. The puree made the buttercream almost slimy, caused the butter and milk look curdled, and it took beating the frosting for about 10 minutes to gain a consistency that could stand, and wouldn't slide off the spoon like soup. There go my good intentions and creative endeavors! So, I pouted a little bit, was too exhausted to make another batch of frosting, put the cupcakes (looking quite naked) on my cake display, and called it a night.

As you can see from the picture, the next morning I made my standard cream cheese frosting (which became a great pairing for the sweetness of the cupcake), and actually frosted some of the cupcakes with the bad frosting (which I had refrigerated overnight, and had actually kind of turned out alright). In the end, the batch turned out quite well, and everyone who tasted them loved them (although the strawberry frosting almost knocked me off my feet, it was so sweet!)

If you like strawberries, (I had bought a HUGE tray of fresh strawberries from Trader Joe's, so this recipe originated from my realization that I had an over abundance of strawberries and nothing to do with them...) try this recipe out. Hopefully you'll have more success with the whole process than I did.

Strawberry Cupcakes

1. 2 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2. 1/2 cup cake flour (not self rising)
3. 1 tbs baking powder
4. 1 tsp salt
5. 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
6. 2 1/4 cups sugar
7. 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
8. 3 large whole eggs, plus 1 egg white
9. 1 cup milk
10. 1/2 cup strawberry jam, room temperature (I used my Mom's homemade, but store bought will work!)
11. 2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries (about 20) plus about 10 more for garnish

Preheat oven to 350*. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift together both flours, baking powder, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add whole eggs and the white, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add strawberry jam and blend well. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the milk, and beating until well combined. Fold in chopped strawberries with a wooden spoon.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golded and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean (about 19 minutes for mini cupcakes, about 26 minutes for regular sized cupcakes). Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes, turn out cupcakes onto rack and let cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
2. 1 and 1/2 sticks of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, room temperature
3. 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4. 3/4 box of 10x Confectioner's Sugar (powdered sugar)

With an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually add confectioner's sugar, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, mixing on medium speed until the frosting is light and creamy. Pipe with a pastry bag onto cupcakes, and before serving, thinly slice remaining strawberries, and tuck a few pieces into the frosting.

So there you have it, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

Happy cupcake-ing!

Marie