Halloween Sparkle ♥

Who says ghosts only live in scary basements?

Maybe they like to eat Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Or go on wild shopping sprees for an eternity?

My Beautifully Scary Cupcakes.

I piped chocolate spiders onto parchment paper.

Then I covered them in Hologram Silver Disco Dust.

Now they are crawling all over the cupcakes, and looking quite pretty instead of creepy!

This one reminds me of a piece of jewelry!

In my world,  ghosts are always made out of fluffy sparkly cream cheese frosting.

In my world, ghosts feel guilty when they scare, so they wear pink bows and delicious sugar dots to make everything all better.

If you saw a ghost with a pink sparkly bow, would you be afraid?

For Maeve.

Maeve is a bright eyed, sweet baby girl.
The first time I met her she smiled at me, and the entire room lit up. I fell in love!

I was so honored that her mom (my friend Kelly-we go alllll the way back to the days of high school).. asked me to make cupcakes for Maeve's very 1st birthday celebration this past 4th of July weekend.

Kelly really wanted the cupcakes to be patriotic.  But she knew that Maeve had to have pink.
That was easy. I just switched out the red with pink.
I love that Kelly also asked me to create a "Chef's selection" for Maeve.

I really take advantage of the moment when people give me a few ideas, and then just let me go crazy with my own inspiration.  For me,  this freedom is when most of my cupcake magic takes place. I can let the Amanda love just pour out into whatever it is that I am baking..and swirling, sprinkling, or sparkling.

Maeve's cupcakes were truly magical.  Not because I created them. But because Maeve has this brand new sweet energy that I bottled up when I met her. (Don't we all try to bottle up some of that energy we used to have as babies?)   I knew I could feed that energy right back to her in cupcake form. And I am sure she played with the cake and frosting.  Just what these cupcakes were meant for! ♥ A 1st birthday.

These are the true "Amanda Cupcake" style cupcakes. Stacks and textures of yummy frosting.

Swirls & Twirls and Endless Dollops of Frosting.
Lots of Frosting to play with ♥

I striped some of the cupcakes pink, white & blue. They looked really pretty from the outside of the white cupcake liner.  To do this, it's really simple. You just color your cake batter in three different fave colors and stack each color on top of each other into your cupcake liner before baking.  (Use a pastry bag for each color-it is easier to pipe into the cupcake liner).

Part of enjoying life (which Maeve already learned on her first birthday!) is getting to eat the fancy frills. ♥

Amazing: Eating a cupcake with perfect little swirls on top for dinner. Double the amazing: Eating the chocolate #1 off a stick for dessert.

Baby, you're a firework. Come on let your colors burst.

I added a pink swirl to the peanut butter frosting.

I call this the cupcake that wants to be a birthday cake.



Stacks and stacks of love.
An Oreo cookie on the inside bottom of the cupcake.  The Cupcake itself. Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. Buttercream. Another Oreo. And a non-pareil dot.



This is what a firework would look like if it was made out of sugar.

Per Kelly's request, the "Chef's Selection."

Way better than what you can buy at the grocery store in the box.



I am all about using lollypop sticks to make my own cupcake toppers.  This time the cupcake toppers were Maeve ♥



Enchanted Valley B&B Cupcakes

Marcia and Ken own a Bed & Breakfast. 
"The Enchanted Valley" in Cross Plains, Wisconsin.
At times I honestly believed this husband & wife duo were angels and not real humans.
Every time I visited their B&B I felt like I was off in some other dimension.
A soothing and peaceful dimension where time didn't matter.
A place where it is ok to get lost in billowy down comforters, pour too much syrup on my french toast, and not be afraid of encountering the silence.

Marcia has this sweet, soft voice and makes me feel like I am a goddess. She always leaves handwritten notes for me upon my arrival to the B&B. (One of my most favorite touches and what I remember as my first "impression." I am all about handwritten notes). ♥

Ken lets out this unforgettable charming chuckle when we have enlightening conversations on the patio over breakfast in the morning.  He always has a sparkle in his eye and a soothing grin to show you that he is interested in what you have to say. 

The angelic duo harvest everything from their land.  My favorite "Ken & Marcia" edible delight is fresh jelly from the jar. And yes, again, the french toast.

When I was visiting a few weeks ago, I helped Marcia squeeze grapefruit with her juicer.
The best juice ever.  I am adding juicer to my wish list of many things!
So simple I know.. but will add much joy to my life. ♥

Ken was diagnosed with cancer about a year ago.  It hasn't changed his passion for life, or his drive to do many more things outside in his garden of "enchantment." 
I wanted to go visit Marcia & Ken, to kind of be their angel in return.
And I brought my "healing" cupcakes of love with me of course.

I can't think of any other better name than the "Enchanted Valley" cupcakes.

I found the recipe in my new favorite book-Cake Love.
I thought banana cupcakes are perfect for a B&B.
If you want to have cupcakes for breakfast, I think these just might be perfect.

Marcia was eating the frosting off of the cupcake and said that "the frosting was so good, it tastes like it is part of the cake." ♥

I played with the CakeLove Mr. Banana Legs cake recipe and it beats all the other banana cupcake recipes I have ever experimented with.  I've played around a lot with banana bread recipes, trying to make them into cupcakes. They were kind of unpredictable though, and turned out more bread-esque, too heavy, or soggier than a cupcake.

But this CakeLove recipe by far topped them all.  Banana bread is in an amazing class by itself of course. But this became my banana cupcake staple of course! 

The Amanda Cupcake flair, I used a big round tip on my pastry big to create "angelic cream cheese frosting swirls."

I love how heavenly the pale yellow disco dust looks as a garnish.

♥ cupcake liners with inspirational messages.

Very dreamy, reminds me of the very cozy bed I sink into at The Enchanted Valley.

I added a layer of chocolate ganache in between the cake and the frosting swirl.

♥I truly believe that these cupcakes had slight healing powers♥

Dried bananas are always fancy and fun to add to cupcakes.
They don't turn funky colors or go soft and they are fun to eat.
Or you can use them to scoop every ounce of frosting off of your cupcake!

Found in my B&B bedroom, a few quotes to live by. ♥

"Faux"stess Cupcakes

I made these pretty shiny little glorious cupcakes in honor of a classic favorite: "Hostess" Cupcakes.

But since they aren't what you buy in a little box in the grocery aisle..
let's call them "Fauxtess" (pronounced Foe-stess, as in hmm umm.. my Amanda Cupcake version of hostess cupcakes?)

I am always such a fan of shiny beautiful chocolate ganache glaze.
And the pretty loopy frosting curls. ♥ it.

I added my classic Amanda Cupcake edible sparkles to some of them ♥
You can't buy these in the grocery store!

Sparkly dreamy filling.

Shared the flavor with my hair stylist and his friends at the Jacques Dessange salon.
A few of them said this was the best cupcake they have ever eaten. Yay!

♥

A Love Affair with Cake Pops

I adore cake pops.
If you haven't heard of them, you mix your favorite cake crumbs in with your favorite frosting and make balls out of them.  You let them freeze overnight on parchment paper.  In the morning, you dip the cake pops on lollypop sticks into melted chocolate or melted candy wafers.. and decorate them to your heart's content.
They even look pretty when they are bitten into. ♥

I created some for Cronie's Cafe in Waupaca, Wisconsin the other day.
They are renting me their kitchen for commercial use.  I might just be selling an array of cupcake pops there in May! Hooray, one step forward for Amanda Cupcake..and mankind!!

Edible Glittery Heart Shaped Cake Pops that resemble balloons!

Pretty when eaten.

Cake Pops disguised as Ice Cream Cones! They taste like red velvet/cherry♥

I call these the "Tainted Luv" Cake Pops.
Named after a boutique I stumbled upon in Whitewater, WI.
I told the owner Barbara that I would make her Tainted Luv themed cupcakes.
She requested purple.  This is what I came up with!

Oh, Tainted Luv.