Root Beer Float Cupcakes | How to

Hello Friends,

One of my summer bucket list items was to have a root beer float. This may seem silly but it has been YEARS since I have had one, and thus needed to rectify the situation. Then I got to thinking, I need a cupcake version of root beer float! That train of thought led to the following recipe.

Recipe:

           Ingredients for cake:

          - 1 mix of Betty Crocker Chocolate Cake Mix

          - 1 1/4 cup water

          - 1/2 cup vegetable oil

          - 4 egg whites

          - 1/4 cup sour cream

          - 2 teaspoons of root beer concentrate

          - 1/4 cup root beer topping or actual root beer

           Ingredients for icing:

          - 1 package cream cheese (softened)

          - 1 stick of butter (softened)

          - 4 to 5 cups of powdered sugar

          - 1 teaspoon of root beer concentrate

          - cherries to garnish

         Directions

          - Mix together cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, water, sour cream, root beer topping, and root beer concentrate until well blended.

          - Pour batter into lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees F for 25-28 minutes. Mixture should produce 20 cupcakes if each one is filled 2/3 of the way full with batter.

          - To make the icing mix together the cream cheese, root beer extract, and butter. Once blended, start adding in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. I normally use between 4-5 cups, or half a bag. 

          - Once the cupcakes are cool you may begin icing them. I wanted the icing to look like a scoop of ice cream. To achieve this I used an ice cream scoop to scoop the icing on the cupcakes. I'm not sure if I like how it turned out, any thoughts? 

          - Finally, place a cherry on top to complete the root beer float look.

          Additional Comments

          - You may want to wait until serving to put the cherries on.

          - Since the icing has cream cheese in it, you should store in the fridge.

My brother and I also filmed a baking tutorial. This time he was a cowboy from the Wild Wild West, check it out:

Happy Baking,

Tilly

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes | How To

Hello Friends!

With all of these hot days we have been having, refreshments are a must! Since I had some pink lemonade left over from my birthday dinner, I decided to make some pink lemonade cupcakes. I mean.. Cupcakes are refreshments too, right??

Recipe:

           Ingredients for cake:

          - 1 mix of Betty Crocker White Cake Mix

          - 1 1/4 cup water

          - 1/3 cup vegetable oil

          - 1/4 cup sour cream

          - 4 egg whites

          - pink food coloring

          - 1 1/2 teaspoons of pure lemon extract

          - 3 tablespoons of pink lemonade drink mix

           Ingredients for icing:

          - 1 cup shortening

          - 1 stick of butter (softened)

          - 4 to 5 cups of powdered sugar

          - 1 tablespoon of milk

          - pink food coloring

          - 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (optional)

          - 1-2  teaspoons of pure lemon extract

          - 2 tablespoons of pink lemonade drink mix

          - 2-3 lemons to garnish

          - 4-5 straws to decorate

         Directions

          - Mix together cake mix, eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, water, pink lemonade, and lemon extract. When mixture is blended well, mix in food coloring until the desired color is achieved.

          - Pour batter into lined cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Mixture should produce 16-17 cupcakes if each one is filled 2/3 of the way full with batter.

          - While cupcakes are baking, slice the lemons and cut each slice in half. When finished, place lemon slices in to the fridge to keep cool until it is time to garnish the cupcakes.

          - To make the icing, mix shortening, vanilla extract, and butter together. Once blended, add in lemon extract (I started with one teaspoon and added the second later) and pink lemonade. Then start adding in powdered sugar a little at a time. I added in 1/2 cup at a time and used 4 or 4 1/2 cups (I lost count!). When I finished mixing in the powdered sugar, the mixture was too thick so I decided to add in the milk and it made the icing a lot smoother! Lastly, you'll want to add in the food coloring and mix well.

          - Once the cupcakes are cool, decorate with icing, lemon slices, and straws.

          Additional Comments

          - If you're not serving immediately, keep the cupcakes in the fridge so the lemon slices don't sour.

My brother and I also filmed a baking tutorial. He was back at it with his shenanigans as a ninja, check it out:

Happy Baking,

Tilly

Easy Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies | How to

Hello Friends!

Lately I have been craving mint chocolate chip flavored things. I most likely owe my craving to the coming holiday, St. Patrick's Day. While Steak N' Shake's Mint Oreo Milkshake and Dairy Queen's Shamrock Blizzard have been supplying my need, I decided to try an at home recipe. I wanted to do something that was super kid friendly and simple. The result was 6 ingredients and only 3 steps - hope that is easy enough!

Recipe:

           Ingredients

          - 1 mix of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies

          - 1 stick of softened butter

          - 1 cup of dark chocolate morsels (or more if you're a chocolate lover;)

          - 1 egg

          - food coloring

          - 1 teaspoon of pure peppermint extract

 

         Directions

          - Mix together all ingredients. We added a lot of green gel food coloring and a little bit of yellow gel food coloring to make the cookies a lime green rather than a forest green.

          - Form dough into spoon-sized balls spaced evenly apart (our recipe made 18 cookies).

          - Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

 

          Additional Comments

          - If you're unsure on the peppermint flavoring, start with 1/2 teaspoon.

 

My brother and I also filmed a baking tutorial. He was HILARIOUS as a French chef, check it out!

 

 

Happy Baking,

Tillly

Cherry Pie Valentines | How To

Hello Friends!

Today I am sharing a recipe for Cherry Pies. Since Valentine's Day is tomorrow, I made them heart shaped so they would look like Valentines. As far as pies go, this was pretty simple as everything was premade. However, if you like to make your own pie crust or pie filling, please feel free to change up the recipe!

 

Recipe:

           Ingredients

          - 1 can of cherry pie filling (or flavor that suits you)

          - 1 box of premade pie crusts, I picked up a 9" 2 pack

          - sugar

          - 1 egg

          - 2 tablespoons milk

          - a heart shaped cookie cutter

 

         Directions

          - Mix together milk and egg. Set aside.

          - Unroll pie crust (make sure you set the pie crust out 20 minutes prior to baking) and cut out heart shapes. Place bottom pieces on a greased baking sheet. Go around their edges with the egg-milk mixture.

          - Depending on the size of your hearts, place 1-2 spoonful sized portions of cheery pie filling in the middle of the hearts. Sprinkle a spoonful of sugar over the pie filling.

          - Take the top heart shaped crust pieces and cut out a design in the middle of them. I cut out a heart shape to go with the Valentine's Day theme. Then place the crusts on the tops of the bottom crust that has the pie filling. Take a fork and smash the outer edges together to seal the top crust to the bottom crust. Then go around the edges with the egg-milk mixture. Optional: sprinkle sugar on the top of the pie.

         - Finally, place the pie in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-25 minutes depending on the size of your pies. Mine were kind of bigger, so they were in the oven for 24 minutes.

         - Allow to cool and serve with ice cream.

 

          Additional Comments

          - I couldn't find a heart cookie cutter, so I actually used a small Valentine's Day chocolate tin. This made the pie larger than I wanted, but worked exceptionally well!

          - Because the pies were larger than expected, the recipe only made 5 pies and I had to piece together the bottom crusts with scrap pieces.

 

Here is a video tutorial as well. Check it out:)

 

 

Let me know if you recreated these!

Tilly

Red Velvet Cake Cheeseball | How To

Hello Friends!

Hope everyone has been doing well! With Valentine's Day approaching I thought I would share some cute Valentine's Day treats. Today's treat is a Red Velvet Cake Cheeseball. This recipe is super simple to throw together, I hope you enjoy!

 

Recipe:

           Ingredients

          - 2 tablespoons brown sugar

          - 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature)

          - 1/2 stick of butter (room temperature)

          - 3/4 cup of red velvet box cake

          - 1 package of vanilla wafers, graham crackers, etc. for dipping

          - 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

         Directions

          - Mix together butter and cream cheese until blended. Add in brown sugar until it is mixed in well. Finally add the red velvet cake mixture in. Beat until the mixture is blended into a nice red color.

          - Place the mixture on a serving platter and shape into a ball, heart, or whatever you want the cheeseball to look like. Then cover the cheeseball with the chocolate chips.

          - Finally, allow the cheeseball to cool for an hour or two in the fridge.

          - To serve, set out the cheeseball, extra chocolate chips, and something to dip into the cheeseball (vanilla wafers, chocolate graham crackers, etc.).

 

          Additional Comments

          - Should be refrigerated before and after serving.

 

I made a video tutorial as well. Check it out:)

 

 

Make sure to let me know if you create this!



Tilly

Gingerbread | A History and Recipe

Hello Friends!

Run, run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man! - Nursery rhyme

As I was researching different spices to put in my gingerbread cupcake recipe, I stumbled upon some really cool facts about gingerbread! Ginger root was first used in China, from there it spread and was used medicinally to help prevent the plague in the Black Death. It can still be used medicinally today for nausea and stomach aches. Gingerbread is also a good preservative for other foods such as meats. Gingerbread was said to be first baked in the 11th century in England. However, in the 1600s Nuremberg, Germany was named the Gingerbread Capital of the World. Bakers have been recorded baking gingerbread as early as 1296 in Germany. In fact, only master bakers and skilled workers were allowed to create their versions of gingerbread in the 17th century there.

Elizabeth I of England is credited with the idea of gingerbread men. She asked for the gingerbread to be shaped in likeness of some of her important visitors. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s largest gingerbread man was created in Oslo, Norway, on November 9, 2009. The gingerbread man weighed a little over 1,435 pounds.

The history of gingerbread houses are a little more sketchy. The Brothers Grimm are thought to be the originator of the gingerbread house because of their story, Hansel and Gretel. However, others disagree, stating that the gingerbread house was the inspiration for their story. Both Hansel and Gretel and gingerbread houses became popular during the same time period, so it is hard to determine which came first. The Guinness World Record was broken for the largest gingerbread house in 2013, in Texas. The gingerbread house was a 2,520-square-foot edible-walled house and it was estimated to have over a 35.8 million calorie value. They needed 2,925 pounds of brown sugar, 1,800 pounds of butter, 7,200 eggs and 7,200 pounds of general purpose flour. Now that's a lot of ingredients!

 

Hope you enjoyed reading! And don't forget, next time you are feeling a little sick to your stomach, eat a gingerbread man! ;)

Recipe:

           Ingredients

          - 1 cup sugar

          - 4 eggs

          - 1 and 1/2 cup flour

          - 3/4 cup brown sugar

          - 3 cups of powdered sugar 

          - 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature)

          - 1 stick of butter (room temperature for icing)

          - 1 1/2 cups of butter (room temperature for cake)

          - 1 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (cake)

          - 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (icing)

          - 1/4 teaspoon of ground clove

          - 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

          - 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (cake)

          - 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon (icing)

          - 2 tablespoons of ground ginger

          - 1/4 cup of sour cream

          - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

          - 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

          - 3 tablespoons molasses

          - gingerbread cookie mix with packaged icing and ingredients to make them

 

         Directions

          - Mix and roll out cookie dough. Cut out shapes and bake as directed on the package. When finished baking, trace icing around their edges and set aside.

          - While the cookies are baking, mix flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl. Set aside.

          - In another bowl, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter to a cream. Add in molasses and stir until it in blended into the mixture. Next mix in the eggs one at a time. Then add in the sour cream and vanilla extract until blended. Finally, take the flour-spice mixture and stir in a little at a time until everything is in one bowl.

          - Fill the cupcake tin a little under halfway full because the batter expands a lot! Bake the cupcakes at 350*F for 20-25 minutes.

         - While the cupcakes are baking, mix cream cheese, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together to start the icing. Then add in the powdered sugar a little at a time.

        - To finish the cupcakes, place the cinnamon icing on top and plunge a cookie into the center.

 

          Additional Comments

          - Since they have cream cheese icing, they should be stored in a refrigerated area. This will allow the icing to become firm and cool.

          - If needed, place the cupcakes in the fridge to allow the icing to firm before placing the cookies on top.

 

I made a video tutorial with my brother on these cupcakes as well. Check it out:)

 

 

Happy Holidays,

Tilly

Pumpkin Roll Cupcakes | How To

Hello Friends,

Hope everyone is enjoying the autumnal weather we are having! As you know I love to bake cupcakes, and seeing as how it is the fall time, I have been baking these Pumpkin Roll Cupcakes like crazy! They taste JUST LIKE a pumpkin roll and were a instant hit in my house (I'm already on my second batch!).

 

 

Recipe:

           Ingredients

          - 1 box of Pumpkin Cake mix

          - 4 egg whites

          - 1 and 1/4 cup water

          - 1/2 cup vegetable oil

          - 3 cups of powdered sugar 

          - 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature)

          - 1 stick of butter (room temperature)

          - 1 teaspoon of vanilla 

          - 1 teaspoon of imitation butter

          - 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

          - 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

          - extra cinnamon for garnish (optional)

          - 1/4 cup of sour cream

 

         Directions

          - Mix the cake mix, egg whites, sour cream, vegetable oil, and water together. Add in nutmeg and cinnamon and mix well. Place batter into a cupcake tin and bake for 20-22 minutes.

          - While cupcakes are in the oven, mix cream cheese, butter, imitation butter, and vanilla until blended.

          - Start mixing in the powdered sugar about a 1/2 a cup at a time.

          - When the cupcakes are done, let them cool for about 20 minutes. Then put your icing on them. To finish, sprinkle cinnamon on top to garnish the cupcakes.

 

          Additional Comments

          - This recipe makes about 16 cupcakes depending on how much batter you use per cupcake (I filled the cupcake pan almost to the top).

          - Since they have cream cheese icing, they should be stored in a refrigerated area. This will allow the icing to become firm and cool.

          - If you would like to create a cinnamon cream cheese icing, add in a teaspoon of cinnamon to the icing mixture before adding in the powdered sugar.

 

I made a video tutorial on these cupcakes as well. My brother made a cameo in it, check it out:

 

 



Happy Baking,

Tilly

How To | Cherry Cheesecake Cookie Cupcakes

Hello friends!

Today I am sharing with you a very simple cheesecake cupcake. The base of the cupcake is created with cookie dough! I though that was such a fun idea and incorporated chocolate chip cookie dough into our recipe. However, next time I am determined to use sugar cookie dough as my base. The cheesecake part is made up of cream cheese, eggs, vanilla extract, and sweetened condensed milk. As topping, we used cherry pie filling, but you could substitute this out for any flavor that suits you. Here is how the product turned out:

My brother and I also filmed a video walk through on how to make these. Let us know if you would like to see more of these cupcake video tutorials!

Recipe: 

          Ingredients

          - 2 16oz packages of cream cheese

          - 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

          - 2 eggs

          - 1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

          - 1 can of cherry pie filling

          - 1 package of precut chocolate chip cookie dough

         Directions

          - Place one piece of cookie dough into each cupcake. Bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees F, or until the cookie dough has spread out evenly in the bottom of the cupcake tin. 

          - Combine cream cheese, vanilla, eggs, and sweetened condensed milk and beat until smooth. 

          - After the cookie dough is done, place an even amount of the cheesecake mixture into each cupcake. Bake for 15 minutes to allow the cheesecake to set.

          - When the cheesecake has finished baking, allow them to cool. Then place a spoonful of cherry pie filling onto each cupcake.

          - Finally, place the cupcakes in the fridge to chill for an hour.

          Additional Comments

          - These were SUPER easy to make and were very tasty to boot.

          - Baking time: 25 minutes.

         - Prep time: 15 minutes.

         - Chill time: 1 hour.

 

 

Happy baking!

Tilly