What Miracles Taste Like ♥

Did you know that a herd of unicorns is called a *Miracle*?
This blog entry is dedicated to what I think *miracles* should taste like.

If you didn't already know this...
I've been this crazy unicorn loving tutu wearing woman for years now. 

(photo by Maison Meredith Photography)

♥

So, of course when I saw that Starbucks came out with a Unicorn Frappe this last week, I may have been the only person who was sad seeing articles about it! ...Because more than drinking the drink..I would have loved to be a part of that product development team! After all, I have years of expertise in the tasting of glitter & unicorn rainbows. 

Starbucks...why didn't you call me?

I am pretty sure that I would have suggested the unicorn frappe taste a little something like this though:

Cotton Candy ♥ (my cupcake recipe/tutorial for these here)

Fantasy vanilla rainbow with a hint of glitter almond ♥ (my cupcake recipe/tutorial for these here)

My Blue Moon Ice Cream Cupcakes ♥ 

My White Chocolate Unicorn Bark

....Swirled with Rainbows, bedazzled with Sprinkles & Sixlets!

See the video on how I made it on Fox 11 Living with Amy here!

Make your own little edible *miracles*:

White chocolate candy melts (12 oz bag)
Hot pink candy melts (12 oz bag)
Yellow candy melts (12 oz bag)
Purple candy melts (12 oz bag)
Sky blue candy melts (12 oz bag)
Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
5 medium sized microwaveable bowls

Have prepared in small bowls on the side:
-Confetti sprinkles
-Bugles (for unicorn horns)
-Silver dragees
-Edible glitter
-Edible sixlet pearls

Directions:
Bowl 1: Fill with white chocolate candy melts
Bowl 2: Fill with hot pink candy melts
Bowl 3: Fill with yellow candy melts
Bowl 4: Fill with purple candy melts
Bowl 5: Fill with sky blue candy melts

1. Microwave each bowl separately in 30 second increments until candy melts are smooth and melted.

2. Pour white chocolate candy melts onto the parchment paper lined pan, smoothing it out with a spatula until it is about 1/4-1/2” thick. 

3. Immediately start to pour each color of melted candy melts onto top of the white chocolate in little colored blobs.

4. Using a toothpick or a lollipop stick, create a swirling pattern of all the colors. Do not over mix or the colors will turn brown. I know it is fun to swirl, but the less you swirl the colors together, the better “swirly rainbow unicorn” look you will get.

5. Immediately sprinkle the confetti sprinkles, bugles, silver dragees, sixlets and edible glitter on top of your artistic creation. (Don’t wait too long or the unicorn bark will harden quickly and the sprinkles will not stick). 

6. Put your unicorn bark in the fridge & let it cool/harden for 15 minutes. After it hardens, break up into little pieces and enjoy filling your tummy with rainbows & joy!

What the unicorn bark looks like before you break it up!

Sweet with a little bit of crunch.
It's a miracle!


♥♥♥

I wonder what's next after Starbucks' Unicorn Frappe...

Chocolate Emoji Poo Frappes?! ♥

.....Recipe for this guy coming up on my next blog entry!

Shoes with real sprinkles on top! DIY!

I altered some pink and white faux "chucks" I bought at a local discount store by throwing magical glittery sprinkles on them. Yep, this time the shoes got the sprinkles on top instead of the cupcakes!  Unless you are a baker yourself, you may not realize that there are many times when my shoes look similar to this at the end of a really busy baking & decorating day.

You know what I think is really special?  There will always be something that you leave behind that makes people love you more. Little reminders, pieces of you. I'd have to say my special thing is sprinkles and glitter.  Since I am leaving a trail of glitter, it makes total sense that I'd put sequins on my shoes!

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What's your special thing? What makes people love and miss you when they see it?

I "iced" the sides of the shoes with white puffy paint to make it look like I spilled frosting on my shoes! (not far from the truth).  You really don't need this part to be perfect.  Spilling icing is far from perfect. It's messy.



You're probably asking, "What happens if your shoes get wet? Will the sprinkles fall off or dissolve?"

.

My answer is no! My not-so-secret ingredient in this recipe:  Clear Glitter Nail Polish.

First, I painted the white part of the shoe with clear glitter nail polish. 

 I threw the sprinkles on the wet nail polish and waited for the sprinkles to dry & "set" to the shoes. Last, I brushed the nail polish on top of the sprinkles as a sealant. Note: You can use regular clear nail polish as a sealant, I used glitter nail polish as my glue of choice because glitter is my favorite color.

♥

Nail polish dries pretty quickly, so this is a perfect project if you are feeling creative but impatient to see the end result. I finished both the "icing" and "sprinkling"part in about an hour and let everything set for less than a day (about 4-6 hours just to be safe).

I was wearing these by EOD and already received compliments and people asking me where they could get some shoes like this?! Can you tell I am smiling in this picture?! :)   

America's Birthday Cake!

Today I woke up at 2am, and drove (very carefully) under the stars, so that I could celebrate America's birthday early with all of Madison, Wisconsin at WKOW 27 with this American Flag cake and cupcakes!

An American flag inside of a cake! That in and of itself is a celebration that you can eat!

Typically, I decorate the outside of everything with crazy swirls, colors, and sprinkles.  It was challenging for me to keep the whipped cream frosting on the outside simple and plain. But this time, it was time for the cake that was hiding to shine (or sparkle like a firework?)!

This is how I constructed an American flag inside of a cake (and it is easier than you think, you just have to think inside out):

• I mixed enough of my favorite white cake batter to make seven 7 round 8" layers of cake.
• 3 of my layers were Americolor Gel Paste Super Red.
• 3 of my layers were White.
• 1 of my layers was Americolor Gel Paste Electric Blue.
• After the cakes baked and cooled, I cut the red and white layers in half. After I cut them in half, they were about 3/4" tall.  
• I did not cut the blue layer in half.  I trimmed any excess cake off of the top of the blue cake so that it was level, but still thicker than the rest of the cake layers.
• Using a 4" round template made out of card stock, I cut a hole out of the center of 1 white layer and 1 red layer. At this point, I was done with these layers-they didn't go anywhere else on my cake.   I may or may not have eaten some pieces of them! I did keep the red & white rounds and set them aside for later. These are important for creating the final masterpiece.
• Using my 4" round template, I cut another hole out of the center of the blue cake.  
• I stacked each layer on top of each other in this order (applying thin layers of frosting to the top of each layer as I built the flag cake): Red, White, Red, White, Blue.
• As soon as my cake was stacked, I lightly frosted the 4" red & white cake rounds I cut out earlier. I filled the hole in the blue cake with the circles.  First with the red layer. Second with the white layer.  
• I used a simple whipped frosting to decorate the outside of the cake, and topped the cake with sparkly stars and a glitzy Uncle Sam hat.

When I cut open the cake, my breath was taken away.It was beautiful.

But there was something missing. Glitter and sprinkles. So I added mini white stars by hand.

Then I got to thinking, next time I make this cake I may just add the mini white star sprinkles to the batter!

'Merica is the home of the free...and the delicious.

Leftover batter was used to make matching cupcakes!

Do you see the mason jars with cupcakes inside of them and firework cupcake toppers?

I used the leftover cake trimmings to make little mason jar parfaits!

Those would be a hit at a picnic for the 4th of July.

Happy Birthday, America!!!!!!

(I always find an Ellen cutout whenever I go to the TV studio and take a picture. It's tradition. She is one of the people that has inspired me to become Amanda Cupcake!)

Dirt cupcakes

Fact: I make colorful messes.

This is what my table looks like after I am done with a very busy night.

I think my messes look pretty. I'd love to paint a canvas like this.

♥

Beautiful disasters are what inspired my version of DIRT cake cupcakes.

I've never been one to play by the rules, call me a rebel..but honestly I believe that a mess or a mistake can turn into a masterpiece, if you let your imagination run wild.

My beautiful disaster starts with a chocolate cupcake.  I  swirl around the outside of the cupcake with chocolate frosting (using a 1M open star decorating tip) and leave a little empty hole in the center of the frosting swirl. I pour a chocolate ganache "mud" pool in the hole, and sprinkle the "dirt" on top: crushed Oreo cookies.  The bright side? Little "airhead candy" rainbows and glittery rainbow gummy worms on top.

I've also baked my dirt cupcakes inside of mini gardening pots by filling them 1/2 full and baking on a sheet pan in the oven. These can be as messy as you'd like.  Pour chocolate ganache on top and sprinkle with crushed Oreos.  These are totally fun to eat with a fork!

Recipe for your very own Bake-At-Home Beautiful Disaster (have fun!!):

Chocolate Cupcake "CANVAS":
(makes appx 24 cupcake canvases)
Ingredients:
3 ¾ Cups flour
2 ½ Cups fine baking sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
2 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ cup cocoa
1 ¼ cup oil
2 ½ cups hot water
2 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla
2 ½ tablespoons vinegar

Method:
♥Preheat oven to 325.
♥Line cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.♥Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa together in bowl & set aside.
♥In stand mixer, cream oil, sugar, and vanilla together.
♥Measure hot water in liquid measuring cup, set aside.
♥Add vinegar to oil, sugar, vanilla blend in stand mixer.
♥Gradually alternate the addition of dry & liquid ingredients to the mixture in stand mixer.
♥Scrape bowl down and make sure all ingredients are evenly distributed.
♥Fill cupcake wrappers 3/4 full and bake at 325 for appx 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Chocolate Ganache "MUD":

Ingredients:

1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Method:
♥In a saucepan on the stove, bring heavy whipping cream to an almost boil. As soon as it starts to boil, remove from heat and add 1 cup chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate chips are completely melted and you see a shiny glaze.

Chocolate Buttercream Fancy Swirl:
Ingredients:

1 Cup butter (room temperature)

¾ Cup Cocoa

¼ teaspoon Salt

1/3 Cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 Cups powdered sugar

Method:

♥Cream butter, heavy cream, and vanilla in a stand mixer.
♥Gradually add cocoa and a dab of salt, scrape bowl down.
♥Add powdered sugar little by little until frosting forms peaks, strong enough to pipe frosting swirls on your cupcake canvas.

Oreo "DIRT" crumbles:
Ingredients:
1 box of Oreo Cookies
Large plastic ziploc bag

Method:
♥Empty Oreo cookies into ziploc bag
♥Close ziploc bag
♥Using a large rolling pin, roll over the top of cookies until they are crumbled.  I like crumbling them until they are chunky and not finely ground. It adds texture.  If you want the oreos to be finely ground like dirt or sand, you can use a food processor for this technique.

Bonus cupcake idea:

Using the same ingredients, decorate with random candies and snacks that are in your cupboard to turn a mess into a beautiful cupcake creation!  Frost the top of your cupcake with chocolate buttercream, dip it in chocolate ganache, and sprinkle with leftover candies & snacks from your cupboard. I've made these on Halloween and called them Trick or Treat cupcakes, but they are yummy any time of the year ♥♥♥

Red Velvet Cross Cupcakes ♥

I know it may sound super silly to some, but I believe that my mission in life is to share love to you through my cupcakes.

I break off pieces of my glittery heart and bake them inside everything I create.

(This hand drawn art is by Andrea Bills of Wisconsin, we are creating illustrations like this one for a children's book I am writing, more info here)

Before I made cupcakes, I was looking into doing philanthropist/missions work and traveling the world to help others, but my little God whisper told me to wait. That there was something else planned for me. So I did. I stopped and was still.  A year later.. I changed my name to Amanda Cupcake. 

So even if it seems quiet, you may want to listen to that inner whisper of yours. You never know where it will lead. My cupcakes are little philanthropists, healing hearts and making people smile.

So I thought this Easter I'd share a piece of Heaven with you:

Red Velvet Cross Cupcakes for Easter ♥

I chose red velvet cupcakes for this blog because red is very symbolic to the true meaning of Easter.  To make your own red velvet cupcakes, see the recipe at the end of this blog. ♥

To make the chocolate crosses you will need:

♥1 cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper

♥1 bag of dark chocolate candy melts (I like Make N Mold)

♥1 disposable piping bag

♥1 pair of scissors

♥A microwave proof bowl

♥...and a microwave!

1.  Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. If you are not a freehand drawer with melted chocolate-sketch as many little crosses as you want to make on a sheet of parchment paper in advance.  These will be your cross templates!
3..  Open the bag of candy melts and dump into microwave proof bowl.
4.  Melt the candy melt wafers in your microwave, in 30 second increments. Stir in between increments. Do not over microwave or the candy melts will burn and get lumpy/impossible to work with.
5.  Once candy melts are smooth and warm, pour into your disposable piping bag. Cut a tiny hole at the end of your disposable piping bags. Using even pressure, pipe the melted chocolate onto your parchment paper in the shape of crosses.
6.  Once you have sketched all your crosses, place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to make sure they harden. ♥ Place on top of your cupcakes like pictured above.

You can do the same thing, but draw hearts to symbolize "LOVE" out of red candy melts instead like my red velvet heart cupcakes! They look extra pretty with fudge frosting.  (see recipe below)

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe,  for perfect cream cheese frosting swirls like these:

1 Cup softened butter

1 Cup softened cream cheese

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 Cup whole milk or heavy whipping cream

Appx 10 Cups of powdered sugar

Cream Butter, Cream Cheese, Milk, Vanilla and Heavy Whipping Cream using flat beater attachment in a stand mixer.  Gradually add powdered sugar until frosting peaks when touched.  To achieve heavenly frosting swirls like these, I used a 1A decorating tip (it has a large round hole at the end of it for the dreamiest of cupcake swirls).

Red Velvet Fudge Frosting, for perfect frosting swirls on top of red velvet cupcakes like these:

1 Cup softened butter

3/4 Cup of Hershey's Cocoa
1/4 Cup Buttermilk (just like what's in your red velvet cupcake)!
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4-6 cups powdered sugar

Cream Butter, Buttermilk, Cocoa, Vanilla Extract together using flat beater attachment in stand mixer.  Gradually add powdered sugar until you reach desired texture for piping fluffy swirls on top of red velvet cupcakes.  To achieve these flufy frosting swirls, I used a 1M decorating tip!

Bake-At-Home Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe, makes about 18 cupcakes.

My favorite red velvet cupcake recipe is from scratch, and I use one from scratch to sell my cupcakes at grocery stores.  However.. I came up with this easy bake at home version that you can try too that is pretty close to the authentic red velvet flavor you'll get in a from-scratch cupcake! You can even use the cream cheese frosting recipe above to make "Double Red Velvet" Cupcakes. Just replace the milk in the recipe with buttermilk and add Americolor Red Gel Paste to achieve the bright red color in the frosting! I used silver sugar crystalz as the glitter on the cupcake ♥  You can top any of the frosting swirls with the chocolate crosses or red hearts that you made.

Start with:  

1 box white cake mix

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 box of dry white chocolate instant pudding (3.9/4 oz)

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
4-6 tablespoons of Americolor Super Red Gel Color Paste

..and Bake!:
1.  Preheat oven to 325 and line cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.

2.  Sift  white cake mix, cocoa, pudding in big bowl, set aside. (I like Betty Crocker the best)!

3.  Measure 1 1/2 cups buttermilk in liquid measuring cup, set aside.
4.  In stand mixer using flat beater attachment, whip eggs, extracts, and oil together until combined.
5.  Gradually alternate the addition of dry ingredients and buttermilk to creamed ingredients in stand mixer, scraping bowl down to the bottom to make sure all ingredients are included.
6.  Add Americolor Super Red Gel Color Paste to batter until you reach your desired level of redness.  If you don't want to use food coloring and you want to use an alternative, you can puree 3 medium sized beets and the buttermilk together in advance for a natural red color!

7.  Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake wrappers a little over 1/2 full.  Bake for appx 22-24 minutes or until cupcakes spring back up when you touch them.  Let them cool before frosting. ♥

Eggless Sugar Cookie Dough, one of my BFFS.♥

Definition of a BFF in my world:  A cupcake's best friend.
Every cupcake needs a BFF in a world full of fluff.
Yesterday was one of those days for me.

Whenever you put yourself out there like I do, you will be paid in return with LOVE. But when you pour your heart and soul out to the public, sometimes you'll receive the opposite.  It is a risk you take, especially when you blog,  become a business owner, or voice your dreams, wishes, and opinions to the public.  This week I received a statement on my public blog saying that I don't care about my fans because I haven't been on my blog lately.   I won't go into details as to why I've been a bit behind, but I plan on doing some really wonderful things going forward.  ♥   I think their statement stuck out to me more than any other critique could have because I do everything one girl can to share my love of baking with you, I've dedicated the past 4 years of my entire life to do that and want to dedicate the rest of my life to doing amazing things to share the love of what I do with others. I recently told someone I wanted my cupcakes to change lives and I want to prove that it can be done!   I have a whole plan and I want you all here with me ♥ I've already shown that it can be done, little by little.  I've made cupcakes with Girl Scouts of America, the Make A Wish Foundation, the Sibling Network of Wisconsin, and delivered cupcakes to people with leukemia to cheer them up.

So I made a little sign dedicated to moving forward:
(Thanks to T-Swift for the inspiration)

And here's a long awaited recipe for you...

One of my favorites that I created out of an Amanda Cupcake BFF
(Sugar Cookie Dough):

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 ♥

Eggless Sugar Cookie Dough, Recipe:
(You can roll this into balls, poke with sticks, and dip into chocolate and sprinkle with LOVE like I did above, scoop on top of cupcakes with an ice cream scoop like a big ball of frosting, or eat right out of a jar...or a bowl.. or off of a spoon. I could go on and on and on. It's amazing, really):

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter (softened)
1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Flour
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Malt Powder
1/2 tsp salt

2 Tablespoons Milk or Almond Milk
4-6 Cups Powdered Sugar

Cream the butter and milk together in a stand mixer, using flat beater attachment.  Gradually add remaining ingredients (except for the powdered sugar).  When ingredients are creamed together, gradually add powdered sugar until you reach desired sweetness or desired texture.  If you are rolling into balls to dip into chocolate or candy melts, you will want the texture to be sticky like play-dough.  If you are going to scoop on top of cupcakes, you want the texture to be just like sugar cookie dough (as pictured above).  If you are just going to eat it out of the bowl, add just enough powdered sugar so that the dough tastes sweet enough for you!

To make the cookie dough balls:
Roll the sugar cookie dough balls by hand:  Using your hands, roll into 1 – 1 1/2”  balls and set on parchment paper lined baking pan.  Refrigerate for appx 1 hour.  Refrigeration helps harden the cookie dough balls so that they are solid enough to coat with candy melts.

Melt candy melts.  In microwave proof bowl deep enough for dipping, melt candy melts, in 15-30 second increments in the microwave, stirring in between until melted and smooth.  Do not over microwave or candy melts will burn and harden.

"Glue" sticks into truffles using melted candy melts. (I enjoy using mini wooden popsicle sticks for the cookie dough pops).  Dip the tip of each stick  into melted candy melts, and insert this end of the stick all the way to the bottom of each cookie dough ball. Repeat for all cookie dough pops and let the edible candy melt “glue” set for appx 5 minutes.

Dip sugar cookie dough balls into melted candy melts:  Holding onto the stick, cookie dough ball upside down,  dip each pop into bowl of melted candy melts and lightly spin, to coat the entire ball with candy melts.  Hold cookie dough pop upside down and let excess candy melt drip off. Stick the bottom of the cookie dough pop onto parchment paper so it can sit flat on a pretty platter.  While the candy melts are still wet, sprinkle with rainbow heart sprinkles or your desired sprinkle of choice. 

♥ 

I Was 32 When I started Cooking, Up Until Then..I Just Ate.....

Up until this past year, I have always said it doesn't really matter if I am on my own, as long as I am doing something with my life that makes me happy.

Owning my own cupcake business is wonderful. I love what I do.
And I want so many more doors to open here.
I believe they will too.

I love the people I meet. They fill me with endless bubbles of joy.
I call my cupcakes my children.
I am like a soccer mom of cupcakes whenever I go out on a delivery in my little Toyota. That makes me happy. ♥

But I have to be honest..
It would be nice to see a glowing shiny happy face greeting me when I am done baking.
I want to cuddle when I come home at night, even though I might be covered in frosting and glitter.
I want that sneak attack of cuddly-loving-ness in the kitchen that comes up from behind and I feel all warm and tingly inside.

I wonder if Martha Stewart ever wants this. Or how did a historical kitchen maven like Julia Child find that balance between her love for food & her love for...company?

The "recipe" I found when I asked myself this question...

I am 32 ♥

Dancing in the kitchen ♥