Princess Cookies

Do you have a wee one at home who's itchin to get their baking groove on? My daughter, Ashley, enjoys watching us bake cupcakes and is always wanting to get in on the action. Here is our story about having a mommy/daughter baking afternoon!! Although we're not creating cupcakes, this is an easy baking solution for including the little bakers in our lives. Cookies, here we come!! 1st we have the simple Toll House cookie package...

As you can see, it's a great way to have your young baker help you put the cookies on the tray. Plus you can avoid worrying about making too big of blobs of cookie mix since it's little pull apart squares!

Follow the directions on the package for cooking temperature. The kitchen smells delicious which lets me know when they are done. Usually the directions are too long for baking. Always check on them a few minutes ahead of time. Even if they're all puffy, by the time it cools on the baking sheet, it will allow them to cook a little more and give you that gooey cookie texture!

Homemade frosting time! Honestly, use your taste buds as a guide. Powdered sugar, a little milk, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and some red dye (for the pink of course). You can add more powdered sugar to thicken your frosting or add more milk to thin out. Stir and then you're ready to frost!!

And for the next part...decorating

Messy or not, here comes fun!!

Let your kid goop up the cookies with the frosting they just created.

Throw on some sprinkles too :)

Add your favorite crown and show off your own cookies fit for a Princess!

Kid tested! Momma approved! LOL.

Hope you will enjoy baking with your kids as much as I do :)

Shortcut Berry Cheesecake and Whipped Frosting Cupcakes

Hello again from the Cupcake Militia!  It is time once again for a yummy cupcake creation!  This one is so easy that everyone will think that you spent all day working on it.  Don't worry, we won't tell anyone that you didn't.  :)  This recipe was inspired from a cake that I made for Jen last year for her birthday.  Kelly's husband, Andy, liked it so much, that he requested it for his birthday.  We decided to modify it into a cupcake.

When we all get together, we like to relax and catch up.  We don't like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen when we could be hanging out together.  This is where the quick and easy part of this cupcake comes into play.  We used a boxed cake mix, Philadelphia cheesecake filling and bakery bought whipped frosting.  I had the sprinkles left over from Valentine's Day!  We still had a lot of fun baking these cuppies!

As you can see as well, we added a fourth member to the Cupcake Militia.  Stephanie has become a close friend, and loves to bake as well, so it was a perfect fit!  Now back to the cupcakes.  

As I mentioned above, these cupcakes were made for Andy and I am pretty sure that he enjoyed them.

It seems as if the other guys liked them too!

Shortcut Berry Cheesecake and Whipped Frosting Cupcakes

1 box of white cake mix

1/2 pound of whipped frosting (we bought from the supermarket bakery)

1 bag of frozen mixed berries

1 container Philadelphia Prepared Cheesecake 

Prepare the cupcakes according to the box directions.  While they are baking, mix the thawed berries into the cheesecake.  

After baking, let the cupcakes cool on a wire rack.  After they are cooled off, slice them in the middle, fill with the cheesecake mixture and frost with a star frosting tip.  You can add sprinkles or fresh berries, it is up to you!

Now for the best part of this recipe!  Go and spend time with the ones you love, while enjoying scrumptiously gourmet cupcakes!

Stay tuned for our next blogathon!  We will be sharing the cupcakes from the Cupcake Militia's first Fall Bake-Off!  See you then!

Green Tea and Lavender Cupcakes

Greetings from the Cupcake Militia!  Here we are once again on another baking adventure.  We all really love tea and for some reason I have a crazy obsession for baking with flowers, so this cupcake turned out to be fun for all of us. Kelly invited us over for dinner and a movie so we decided that green cupcakes would be the perfect dessert for the movie selection.  Paul was the feature film and I do have to say, the movie was as enjoyable as the cupcakes!

 We started the process early by infusing the lavender into the milk.  We have never made flower frosting before so the process for infusing the milk was interesting.

While the lavender milk was cooling, we got on with making the batter and frosting.  Here are the ingredients that we used this time.

I would like to take a moment to discuss two of the ingredients in this recipe.  The first one is the lavender flowers.  Since lavender is used in aromatherapy as well, you have to be careful to buy the correct product.  Always look for culinary lavender.  Don't say I didn't warn you if you try this recipe with aroma therapy oils and come out smelling like flowers!  The other notable ingredient in this recipe is matcha green tea powder.  This ingredient had me on the phone calling several health food stores and tea shops.  I finally located some at a tea shop in down town.  It is a bit on the expensive side, but well worth it for the flavor.  Besides I plan on using it to make green tea ice cream as well.

We started the recipe off by making the frosting.  The lavender was intoxicating as we added it to the mix.  The purple food coloring added just the right hue as well.

This is me, slaving away over the frosting while Jen and Kelly enjoy a glass of wine.

And the finished frosting.  It looks so yummy!  

The cupcake batter proved to be just as interesting to make.  The green tea powder had to be added to milk before being added to the batter.  It did not look appealing at all!

We carried on with mixing the batter.  Kelly actually got on with tasting the batter, but since she was working at the same time, Jen and I let her have her fun.

While the cupcakes baked we took a few group shots with our significant others.  These men put up with our baking, talking through movies and other womanly wiles.  Besides, they give us great feedback on our creations.  So to Andy, Brian and Paul, you guys are awesome, we love you, and thanks for eating what we bake!

So back to the cupcakes.  Can I just say that when we pulled them out of the oven, they looked amazing!  They smelled good too, but the color, much like the main character in the movie we were watching, was out of this world!

The three of us were very excited to begin decorating.  There was no rhyme or reason to our designs.  We are all really just trying to get the hang of the piping bag and the designs that are possible.  The three of us are fairly creative so our frosting reflected that perfectly.

All in all this cupcake turned out well.  It was unique and tasted good.  We even had fun eating them out of tea cups!

So until next time, which by my calculations say next week, the cupcake militia bids you a fond farewell.  

Recipe for Green Tea Lavender Cupcakes

Lavender infused milk:

You will need to make this your first step.  It is very simple.  Add 1/2 cup of half and half to a small saucepan with 3 tsp of culinary grade lavender flowers.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat immediately, cover and let stand for 20 minutes.  After cooled, strain through a coffee filter into a small bowl of coffee cup.  

Green Tea Cupcakes:

You will need:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

dash of salt

2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons matcha green tea powder

3 table spoons of milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the milk and match powder until well blended.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the sugar with the butter until it is well blended and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition.  Add vanilla and mix well.  

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt.  

Alternate adding the flour mixture and the tea mixture to the sugar mixture.  Beat well after each addition.  Once all of the mixtures are incorporated, fill prepared muffin cups to 3/4 full and bake in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes.

Lavender Buttercream Frosting:

You will need:

lavender infused milk

4-6 cups powdered sugar

1 stick of unsalted butter

In a large bowl, mix the butter and 3 cups of sugar until well blended.  Alternately add the lavender milk and the rest of the sugar until you reach the desired consistency.  It should be firm but not so firm that it won't come out of a piping bag.  You can also add purple food gel at this point.

After the cupcakes cool, frost as desired and enjoy.

Strawberry Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

So, I'm going to come right out and say it. We kinda suck at keeping up with this blog. It was started with good intentions, but as cupcakes are sinfully delicious and equally as bad for the waist line, something had to give...at least for a little bit. However, we are now back with a vengeance.

Summer is winding down. You wouldn't know it since it's still hot as hell in Florida, but with kids going back to school there is definitely a shift in the Summer mentality. However, in an effort to stretch out Summer a little longer we baked Strawberry Pink Lemonade Cupcakes - so refreshing!

We used our first book club meeting as an opportunity to make cupcakes. Out of thirteen book club members only four came. Out of the four that came three were from the Cupcake Militia. So, we decided that Stephanie could bake with us. She is a friend that Michelle works with and is a lot of fun to be around.

The raw materials we needed.



Since we were under a time contraint, Michelle, Jen and Stephanie started baking cupcakes while I was tending to Logan. I would like to think it wasn't a reflection of my baking skills.



However, as I was getting lots of grief over not helping, I did what any girl would do - I threatened them with my knife.



As usual, we divied out the tasks. I tried cutting strawberries, but as Logan was nursing and I didn't want to cut him, I turned the job over to Michelle's boyfriend, Paul. He wasn't pleased, but seldom is, so we made him do it anyways.



Anyway, here are some pics of us making the cupcakes.







Look! Here is actual photo of me helping!



Michelle and Jen don't look very amused or helpful.




They sure turned out pretty. Have I ever mentioned that pink is my favorite color?



Even Jen's kids, Brendan and Ashley, approve.





Also, Logan, who just started solids two weeks ago, can't wait to get his hands on these.



Strawberry Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Strawberry Cupcake:

2 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Cake Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Unsalted Butter
2 1/4 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
3 Large Eggs
1 Large Egg White
1 Cup Milk
2 1/2 Cups Finely Chopped Fresh Strawberries
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pans with liners.
2. Combine flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In another bowl combine butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and egg white one at a time.
4. Add the flour mixture in two addition alternating with the milk.
5. Fold in the chopped strawberries with a spatula.
6. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full. Bake until light golden and a toothpick comes out clean after being inserted. Approximately 25-28 minutes.

Pink Lemonade Frosting:

2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
4 Ounces Pink Lemonade Frozen Concentrate, Thawed
2 Tablespoons White Sugar
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
Lemonheads

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients and beat until fluffy.
2. Garnish cupcakes with Lemonheads.

Note:

This recipe has been adapted from www.annie-eats.net.