Sending Peace and Love. In the form of a Cupcake.

I always wanted to make this huge difference in my time here on earth.
I wanted to travel to Thailand on a missions trip, or cuddle orphans in other countries.
Not saying that I won't do these things one day.

But it seems that I make a difference with cupcakes more than anything else.
Especially my cupcake kaleidoscopes.
Because I can ship them anywhere.

It is basically all this baked love & goodness...

inside of a jar.

I know people make cupcakes in a jar all the time.

But I call mine Cupcake Kaleidoscopes.

Because they are more special than just a cupcake inside of a jar.

(Like these smiling Oreo Cupcake Kaleidoscopes!)

They are pretty on the outside. I make sure of it.

By adding sprinkles, dots, color.

Glittery Heart Notes and Sparkly Ribbon.

By showing the delicious texture of food and frosting and sugar.

The spoon is an added bonus-it is your grant to dig in as quickly as you can.

Sometimes I add bacon.

and maple frosting.

Other times I just add the things that remind  me of being a kid.

I figure they'll remind you of that too, and that can only mean authentic happy-ness. If even for a moment.

♥

I've even added a tie instead of the ribbon for a Father's Day Gift

Complete with Jelly Beans..Because Dads love Jelly Beans.

I recently sent some cupcake kaleidoscopes to my friend Carolyn of Network Fitness in California. She used to be my amazing cross fit trainer in Cali until I moved back to Wisconsin. Now it seems I am tempting her with naughty delightful goodies.  She used to tempt me with the allure of having six pack abs! But it wasn't just tempting. She made me work at it. I still can't find anyone to replace our workouts.

So cheers to you Carolyn..

time to indulge in some sinfully great buttery sugary mmmmmmmmmm.

This is one of the kaleidoscopes I sent to her.

She and her husband Jeff (who are the cutest couple ever) made a video of Carolyn opening her birthday gift! She okayed me to put it here on my blog. I absolutely had to!

It just proves that in some small way (or maybe big..depending on how you look at it)

I am making a difference ♥ through deliciousness!

Not necessarily in the way that I predicted I would.

But somehow this "way" ends up being very true to me...and I couldn't be happier with it.

My Very First TV appearance!

My life has been an insane cupcake wonder the past few months, and I love it.
I really want it to keep up like this. I am having a blast.
Especially with all the people I've been meeting, and all the sweetness I've been sharing.
Most of all, I want it to keep going like this so that I can open a bakery soon, or even write an amazing book. Wouldn't that be a dream come true?

For the first time this last Saturday I was interviewed on television and I demonstrated how to make the little strawberries on a spoon..and how to bake a cupcake in a mason jar!

Normally I hate watching myself on video, but honestly - I think if I were a stranger to Amanda Cupcake, I'd like her after watching this video.

I have to give amazing props to the wonderful people in the studio that helped calm my nerves, and gave me advice on future television opportunities.  I couldn't have been the "real" Amanda Cupcake without their calming energy.

So..without further ado.. my TV debut.. Fox 11..Good Day Wisconsin! (there are two segments!)

Desserts by Amanda Cupcake: fox11online.com

Freedom Is Sweet.

It is almost the 4th of July.


Things I love about the 4th:

• The hot summer weather. This is the kind of weather I pray for when it is below zero and won't stop icing or snowing.
• Watching kids ride their bikes through town, eating pushups, the sherbet dribbling down.  It makes me really nostalgic of the days when summer vacation was my escape from any responsibility.
• Picnic tables with colorful displays of blueberries, strawberries, and cool whip.
• The sound of random crackling fireworks in the distance.
• Spelling words out with sparklers in the night sky.
• Laying down on the cool grass and watching colors light up the sky right when the sun goes down.  Hearing people say "oooh" and "aaaaah".
• Freedom. I can feel it in the air. And I am thankful that I have sweet freedom.

I created this cupcake kaleidoscope for the 4th of July.  I think it might just awaken that 4th of July nostalgia.  And reminds me just how sweet freedom can be.

I baked this one inside the mason jar.
You can do this at home too.
I used red velvet & white cake.

I colored half of the white cake batter blue.  Then put the red velvet, white, and blue cake batter in separate pastry bags. First I piped a layer of red velvet. Second, a layer of white. Third, a layer of blue. The lines don't have to be perfect. It's better if they aren't. Then set on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. The cake batter will overflow a bit, but you can wipe it off easily after you take it out of the oven and let it cool.

After it cooled, I swirled some frosting on top and added sprinkles. For an "Amanda Cupcake" touch I added some edible glitter to the top rim of the jar!

Then I added some sparkly ribbon and a wooden spoon.  (And Yes you can actually eat this out of the jar with the wooden spoon! I did!)  I cut a glittered cardstock heart out and labeled it with the flavor.

This cupcake kaleidoscope is made after the cupcakes were already baked.  This is about creating my own magic in a jar. I just stacked layers of frosting & cupcakes and sprinkles together. 

This was the very pretty and patriotic result.

The grand finale..........................

Oooh! Aaaah!

S'more Sparklette Cupcake Recipe Unveiled

Since my S'mores cupcakes were shared with the world last week, I have received many requests.
One was for the recipe. Another was a fun fun Amanda Cupcake Kaleidoscope order (15 S'more cupcakes in jars!) that I shipped out to my new cupcake friend Renee in Texas.

I promised last week that I would share the recipe love so you can try to create this magic in your oven. ♥
So here is my promise coming true! Please let me know how the baking goes and feel free to share your S'more sparklettes experience with me!

Blend Graham Crackers in a food processor or blender

ahead of time to make the graham cracker mixture.

This part is kind of fun!

When you add the butter and the brown sugar this is what the graham cracker crumb blend will look like.

You can use this for topping and also to bake inside of your cupcake liner!

 Probably the most delicious chocolate cake batter I have ever made.

The spoonful of graham cracker marshmallow cake batter I couldn't resist!



Line your cupcake pans with 12-15 cupcake liners.

I add edible disco dust to start out with, and later, graham cracker mixture for a yummy magical surprise at the bottom of the cupcake!

Stack the two cake batters on top of each
other and put a mini marshmallow in the center.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

 Cover the marshmallow with cake batter and graham cracker crumb blend.

You have a S'more.

Ready for the oven.

This S'more cupcake is very warm & bubbly. Aww.

Naked S'more.  You could eat it like this...

Or add all of this goodness!

 You can tell your ganache is wonderful if you can wave at it and see your reflection.  Like I am here!

 You can even stuff all of this goodness into a jar.

And eat it.

I call them cupcake kaleidoscopes because there are neverending surprises of goodness as you turn the jar!

S'more Sparklette Cupcake Kaleidoscopes tied with a ribbon, and ready to eat with a spoon!

I even turned these into fun cake pop ice cream cones with a marshmallow on top! 

The Recipe, Unveiled:


S'more Sparklette Cupcakes
adapted from Bakerella's recipe here and re-mixed into an Amanda Cupcake Original!

Dry Ingredients:
There will be 2 mixtures in one cupcake liner!
A Buttery Yellowy Graham Cracker Cake & A Chocolate Fudge Cake. Yummy.


Buttery Yellowy Graham Cracker Cake Batter:

Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
3/4 cup extra fine baking sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

Liquid Ingredients:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter

Graham Cracker Crumb/Butter Blend:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted



Chocolate Fudge Cake:
Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
3/4 cup extra fine baking sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened high fat cocoa (come on, we are cheating anyway! and high fat cocoa is less bitter than the typical cocoa you can buy in the grocery store)

Liquid Ingredients:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter

Directions for each cake recipe:

1.  Sift flour in a bowl and set aside.
2.  In a separate bowl, mix other dry ingredients together (baking powder, baking soda, either the graham cracker crumbs or cocoa depending on the cake recipe you are making-see above). Then add the ingredients to the sifted flour, and whisk together for 30 seconds.
3.  In your kitchen aid mixer, blend sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. (about 2 minutes).
4.  Add egg until just blended.
5.  Start by adding 1/3 of the dry ingredient mixture, then add 1/3 of the remaining vanilla/buttermilk mixture.  End with dry ingredient mixture.  Make sure this process only takes about 1 minute maximum so that you don't overbeat (cupcakes won't be as fluffy if you overbeat)!
6.  Scrape the entire bowl and mix with your spatula to make sure all ingredients are incorporated.

Cave into temptation and try the batter to make sure it tastes just as wonderful as you envisioned!

Magical Sinful Delicious Graham Cracker Crumb/Brown Sugar/Butter Blend:
1.  Blend the Graham Cracker Crumbs & Brown Sugar Together.
2.  Pour melted butter onto the Crumbs. Stir until combined.

Add some graham cracker crumbs to the bottom of your cupcake liner for a magical surprise. you can even add some edible sparkles to the bottom of the liner like I did in my pictures above ♥

Pour a little bit of graham cracker cake batter into the bottom of your baking cup. Then sprinkle the magical sinful delicious graham cracker/brown sugar/butter mixture very lightly over the first layer of cake batter.

Place a mini marshmallow on top and then cover the marshmallow with the chocolate cake batter until it is about 3/4 full. It was very hard restraining myself from just eating everything out of the liners before it was baked at this point!

Sprinkle with more graham cracker/butter/brown sugar sinful-ness.

Warning: These cupcakes will ooze out marshmallow goodness while baking! Don't be afraid of the bubbly hot delicousness.
Right after the cupcakes are done baking, poke a hole in the center of your cupcake & insert a marshmallow half (or a whole marshmallow if you want it to be really ooey gooey!) The warmth of the cupcake will melt the marshmallow. Soon the marshmallow will falter & become cupcake goo.

Let cool. Then have fun dipping in chocolate ganache or adding swirls of marshmallow fluff frosting, adding sparklettes & Hershey barlettes! You can also stuff into jars or turn into cake pops ♥


Amanda Cupcake Topping Recipes:

Recipe for Marshmallow Fluff Frosting (Marshmallow fluff as the base--customized just for this marshmallowy s'mores recipe)

7 oz Marsmallow Fluff
4 Sticks of Unsalted Butter-softened and cut into little 1" pieces.
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Box (16 oz) Powdered Sugar

1.  Spoon the Marshmallow Fluff into your large mixing bowl and beat on low until somewhat fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
2.Gradually add the little butter squares.
3. Add the teaspoon of vanilla extract.
4. Add the 1/2 tsp salt (this helps take away the sweetness so that the frosting is more dreamy instead of tooth achingly sweet).
5.  Gradually add the powdered sugar. You can add more or less depending on how thick you want your frosting to be.



Shiny Chocolate Disco Ganache
9 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream

1.  Heat the heavy cream in a small pan on the stove. Heat up to the boiling point..
2.  Remove immediately and pour over chocolate.
3.  Continue stirring until completely melted, shiny and smooth.
Let this sit for about 1/2 hr before dipping and dripping!
You can also poke a hole in your cupcakes and fill with this delicious-ness to make it even more ooey and gooey!

Kaleidoscope Cupcakes ♥

Remember when you were a kid, and you looked inside of a kaleidoscope and wondered how in the world you could see something so amazing just by looking inside of a tunnel?

The thing I most hear from my cupcake friends is how something I created brings them back to their childhood.  This is good.  One of my biggest goals in my life is to stay in touch with my youth, and never lose it. I think that the authentic "me" is the curious, fearless little girl.



And the little *Amanda* comes alive in my latest creation, the cupcake kaleidoscope.



A Cupcake in a Jar.
Actually two cupcakes stacked on top of eachother.
Layered with Frosting.
And Sprinkles Galore.
You can see all the delicious fun from the *outside* and wonder... how does all that goodness get inside the jar so beautifully?

Remember the wooden spoons you used to eat ice cream with when you were a child?

This is the salted caramel cupcake kaleidoscope.

A gooey layer of delish caramel as you scoop your way to the bottom.

 It is really pretty .. and yummy.. on the way. ♥

Kaleidoscopes are all about colorful surprises.

The Pomegranate Margarita Cupcake Kaleidoscope.

Surprise♥

The best thing about the cupcake kaleidoscopes..is that I can mail them. ♥

And like anything else I create, they are tailored to the person I am sending them to.

I don't think there has ever been a kaleidoscope you could eat before.

That's how you know life is good, when the day comes that you can gaze at the beauty of a kaleidoscope..

and then eat it.

I have to say a little something something about the photographer who helped me with the cupcake kaleidoscope photos. Dan Woolf Photography (click on his name to check him out).

I traded him around 40 cupcakes for cupcake photography and we had an evening of fun cupcake photography. Bartering is the best. I am a believer. He got to eat a piece of heaven, and I ended up with amazing photos.

One of my favorite quotes from his daughter that evening: (about my salted caramel cupcake)

"You can tell I like it, because look how much I ate!" (The cupcake was pretty much crumbs on the counter at that point!)