Megpops ♥

I know a pretty lady named Meg.

She makes the best cookies on the planet.

She is married to my photographer friend Dan Woolf.

Last week when I visited them for another cupcake photo shoot, Meg fed me the yummiest butterscotch chip & chocolate chunk cookies.

Ok. let's back track. Before she baked the cookies, she took out her *persimmon* kitchen aid mixer. I loved the color and even complimented her on it.

While she was mixing up the batter, she fed me big chunks of her fresh amazzzazing cookie dough on a spoon.

She sent me home with a beautifully wrapped bag of about 8 gigantic delicious cookies.

I devoured a few of them...but this is what I did with the rest.

I call them Meg Pops.

The "M" is for Megan.

The inside is Megan's butterscotch cookie combined with a little of my white cake and cream cheese frosting.

Instead of eating this off of a stick like a regular cake pop, I used a spoon. Inspired by the spoonfuls of chunky amazing heavenly cookie dough I ate straight from her persimmon colored Kitchen Aid Mixer.

I tried my best to make the "M" for Megan *persimmon* colored to match her Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Megpops are simple and fun to make.

Megpop Ingredients:

•  Cookies (If you are lucky they'll be Meg's cookies)
• Wooden Spoons (You can get them at craft stores in the kiddo aisle)
• Or..if you want to be really festive you can find some decorative vintage looking spoons!
• Frosting of your choice
• Candy Melts
• Butterscotch chips (or chips of your choice)
• Parchment Paper
• Cookie Sheet
• A bowl or a melting pot for your candy wafers
• Great Memories of Delicious Cookie Making for Inspiration.

Directions:
1.  Select a medium or large bowl for your cookie brew. (Hopefully it is colorful and fun, like Meg's persimmon Kitchen Aid Mixer).
2.  Crumble up your cookies.
3.  Throw in about a spoonful of your favorite frosting (don't worry if it feels too dry you can always add more).
4.  Mix all the cookie crumbs and frosting together with delight.
5.  Form into cake pop balls and set on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
6.  Now freeze. (not you..the cake pops)! For about 20-25 minutes.
7.  Use a melting pot if you have one and melt your candy wafers. If you don't have a melting pot, you can melt your candy wafers carefully in a pot on the stove while stirring continuously.  Or you can use a deep bowl and melt the wafers in the microwave in 30 second increments. (stirring in between until melted & smooth).
8.  Set up a clean sheet of parchment paper on your countertop (this is where you'll put your finished megpops).
9.  Take the cake pops out of the freezer. They are ready to be dipped. ♥
10.  Dip your cake pop in the melted chocolate using a lollypop stick or a spoon.
11.  Quickly set the cake pop down on your parchment paper and remove the lollypop stick while it is still soft.
12. Use the melted chocolate as your "glue" to attach your spoon to the cake pop as shown in the photos above ♥
13. Add excess-think cookie dough! Chocolate Chunks, Butterscotch chips, more melted chocolate, disco dust, anything your heart desires.
14.  Let dry.  Once they are dry, you can lift the little pops of wonderful off of your parchment paper with the spoon!

Somehow using a spoon just makes it all seem more sinful. ♥ And wonderful. 

The Megpops were so much fun that I kinda went crazy and made some more cake pops with a wooden spoon instead of a stick. So very indulgent.

A cake pop made with strawberry pie crust, strawberry chunks, and strawberry cake.

Cake pops with oreos inside.

See, they really are spoons!

Dan Woolf: Photographer Extraordinaire

I love photo shoots. Back in the day, when I was a teeny-bopper I used to dabble in modeling.  I even met with a few modeling agencies (that never ended up making me famous - oh well).

My cupcakes are now my supermodels, and I am happy with that!

I was introduced to this really "rad" photographer (as he would phrase it) Dan Woolf recently.

I brought about 40 cupcakes over to his house in trade for a fun cupcake photo shoot.

I loved his whole family.  His wife welcomed me with the most delicious chocolate chip cookies (I want the recipe!).  His kids were the sweetest.  His entire family has this magnetic persona that made me instantly comfortable. 

We had a great time taking photos of my cupcakes, and even I had a chance to be a supermodel for the night with my recently dyed *bright red* hair. 

I've always thought of my cupcakes as the "Lady Gaga" of the cupcake world.
(You know, kind of fearless, vibrant, energetic, unusual).

But Dan told me that I am kind of like the "Imogen Heap" of cupcakes.  I love that singer and her heavenly voice much more than Gaga.  (To me Imogen Heap is alluring, creative, addicting, a bright color in the midst of many greys).

One of my friends complimented me on one of Dan's photos, and she described it best: 
"Love the soul and the passion shown through your eyes.  The photographer did a great job!"

He brings *life* to the people...or the cupcakes...behind the lens. Even more life than what was already there.

This is my typical Amanda smile/persona.

I twirl my hair when I am nervous.

I really enjoy the nerd glasses once in awhile.

And the REAL SUPERMODELS...
The cupcakes:

My Fauxstess Cupcakes. ♥ Filled with Love.

Tattoo Cupcakes Inspired by Dan's tattoo.

(this is his tattoo, dedicated to his mom). ♥

My Dr. Seuss-esque Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

Salted Caramel Beauties.

Chocolate Cherry Red Velvet  Divines.

Adorable and Beautiful Cupcake Kaleidoscopes.

Just a taste of Dan's adorable household & a specialty he has-taking captivating pictures of kids & people. ♥

 

Click here to join Dan in his fun photography adventures:  Dan Woolf Photography Blog 

Special Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

I made Margarita Cupcakes around this time last year. They were lime green, rimmed with sugar, garnished with a lime, and loved by all.  A very special food taster of mine ate a ton of the frosting while I was experimenting with the flavors.  He still claims to this day that he got a "buzz" from eating too much of the frosting in one sitting.

Within a year I have taken more risks with baking, making frosting, decorating in general.  I do things that I am afraid of, and that I am not sure will turn out.  But to me, that's what baking and being in the kitchen is all about.  I take risks, and in the end the cupcakes reflect the heart that I have put into them.  Because of this, they are Amanda originals. Inside and Out. ☻

And that is what happened yesterday.
I made my new version of margarita cupcakes.
Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes.

Not your typical strawberry margarita cupcake.
But drinking a strawberry margarita is a very enlightening and fun experience.
So a cupcake shouldn't be any different.
(This photo captured by the very talented photographer Dan Woolf).

The non-pareils just add some "bubbly" to make it feel more like a strawberry margarita!

Instead of using salt or sugar for the rim, I used edible gold sparkles. ♥

My friend said that these cupcakes look like they could come out of a Dr. Seuss book.
♥Funny because one of my most favorite books in the whole world is Oh The Places You'll Go.
I always pass this book on to friends as a gift when they are going through a life change.

The flamenco dancers of course.

Imagine if the sand on the beach looked like this.

A pretty little lime must always co-star with a margarita.

Drinking a few margaritas can make everything a little bit blurry, in a happy sort of way. ♥

Jada, one of my cupcake friends ate one today and said, "Today happiness was only a cupcake away."

Tips on making the perfect Strawberry Margarita Cupcake:

1.  For inspiration, imagine anything you'd like to see or feel on a Tropical Vacation. The colors, ruffles of skirts blowing in the warm breeze, the sand between your toes, the bubbles in your drink, miniature umbrellas.  Warning: This might make you really thirsty, hungry, or realize just how much you need a real tropical vacation.

2.  The ingredients that take it from typical strawberry cupcake to Strawberry Margarita:  Strawberry Margarita Mix,  a hint of Tequila, high quality Strawberry Preserves, Lime Zest, Lime Juice, or even..Orange Zest!

3.  Don't be afraid to layer frosting swirls on top of each other.  Or mix swirls of color together. Don't let the frosting make the rules, you make the rules for the frosting. That goes for color too. Think bright! Lime Green, Electric Purple, Hot Pink, Electric Orange. ♥ That's what vacation is all about.

4.  Things to use instead of salt around the rim:  Non pareils of many colors, edible gold glitter, white sugar crystals, swirly frosting borders.

My inspiration for the actual recipe:

The Picky Apple



♥xoxo Amanda Cupcake

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!)