Wuthering Heights Cupcakes

Ever since I saw these cupcakes on IHeartCuppycakes I've been wanting to make them. They are chocolate cake with condensed milk and caramel drizzled inside, heath bars crushed on top, and then iced. The original recipe called for a whipped cream icing, but I was afraid that would melt on my way to work, so I iced them with a buttercream icing. Unfortunately, I got my icing too thin...so they aren't as pretty as I had hoped.

Now for the name. In the blog where I read about them, they were called Hankie Pankie cupcakes, elsewhere they are called Better Than Sex cupcakes. When I mentioned making them the other day, I called them Better Than Whoopie cupcakes. Well, a coworker (I'm not naming names) was trying to figure out what Whoopie Goldberg had to do with cupcakes. You just can't make that stuff up! I really couldn't see calling them the first 2 names at work and I certainly didn't want to confuse anybody else...so a new name was needed. Maybe its a stretch...but Heath bars....Heathcliff....get it...this is why I'm not in marketing. :)

These are good...but I already know what I'll do different next time. They just weren't over the top. I'm thinking....pudding.

Like Mother, Like Daughter...maybe a little anyway

Jessi sent me this picture. This past weekend she made German Chocolate cupcakes for a friend's birthday in Athens. She made chocolate cupcakes and then frosted them with homemade German chocolate frosting. Don't they look delicious? She said everybody loved them. I'm so proud :).

Black Walnut Harvesting

We have lots of black walnut trees in our yard. This year, we decided to see how hard it is to get the nutmeat out. I now understand why black walnuts are so expensive, this is not like harvesting the pecans we have...much more work!

Frank raked up little mounds of walnuts all over the yard. To remove the husk we applied pressure with our foot to split it and then used our gloved hands to remove the shell. You have to wear gloves and shoes/clothes that you don't mind ruining because they stain something fierce!

Once the husk was removed we put them in a cart and hosed them down. This is to remove the husk residue before it contaminates the walnut meat.

See the stain that comes off. I have some of that on my fingers...yuck!

Now, we let them dry/cure. Once dry we will try shelling them. Black walnuts have very hard shells, so that won't be easy. We only did a few, to test this out before we do all of them.

Have you done this before? Do you have any tips for us? I'd love to hear them. I really want this to work...I love to use walnuts in my baking.

Just Realized I Was Tagged!

I just realized today that I was tagged by Amy back on the 20th. So, here's my 4th picture from my 4th folder. It's almost exactly a year old. Last year, in October, my 3 sisters and I went to the North Ga mountains for a weekend. We road the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway...did some shopping (antiques and apples)...got lost....went to the Apple Festival in Ellijay....and just generally cut up like only sisters can do. :) It was soooo much fun being together like that!

S'more Cupcakes with Homemade Marshmallows

Another great way to celebrate fall with cupcakes....S'more cupcakes! I do have to confess on these though....I took some shortcuts....but in my defense, it was a weeknight and fairly late when I started. ;)

Anyway, the first thing I did was make the homemade marshmallows since they need to set for a bit. I got the recipe from IHeartCuppycakes (don't you just love that name). I used vanilla extract instead of vanilla bean.

Once the marshmallows were set, I made graham cracker cake cupcakes. The recipe only makes about 18 cupcakes, so instead of doubling it I made the rest from a chocolate cake mix (shortcut # 1).

While the cupcakes were still hot, I cut a cone out of them and put one of the marshmallows in the hole, then replaced the cap.

After they were completely cooled, I frosted them with bought fudge chocolate frosting (shortcut # 2). I put sprinkled graham cracker crumbs on the cupcakes made with graham cracker cake. In the chocolate cake ones, I inserted a piece of graham cracker into the side.

Frank, Cupcake Tester Extraordinaire, gave it the big thumbs up! (At least the chocolate based ones....he hasn't tried the graham cake ones yet.)

The homemade marshmallows were really easy to make....much easier than I had expected....but they are really sticky!

Graham Cracker Cake (from Back of the Box Recipes)
20 squares graham crackers, finely rolled (about 1 1/2 cups of crumbs)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened (I always use butter)
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk

1. Blend cracker crumbs, flour and baking powder in small bowl; set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
3. Alternately add flour mixture and milk, beating well after each addition. Divide batter into pans. (2 8-inch round cake pans or 18 cupcakes).
4. Bake at 350 for: 15-18 minutes for cupcakes; 25 minutes for cake layers.

Apple Pie Cupcakes

There's a nip in the air....feeling more like fall everyday. That just makes me want to bake (any excuse works for me). I've been thinking about apple pie cupcakes for some time and today just seemed like the perfect day. I was tossed between butter cake, spice cake, or apple cake for the cupcake part. I finally settled on butter cake. My reasoning was that apple pie doesn't have apples in the crust...so my cupcake shouldn't have apples in the cake ;)...but I'm pretty sure any of those options would have been good. I'm a fan of filled cupcakes...its like finding money in that coat you haven't worn in a year....a nice surprise. So, these have a hollowed out center filled with the apple filling and then iced with a cinnamon buttercream frosting.

These were a hit at my house. They turned out as good as I had imagined. If you are an apple pie fan and a cake fan....I suggest you try these out.

Butter cake - makes about 32 cupcakes

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

4 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp almond flavoring

1 cup of milk and half-and-half (1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup half-and-half)

1 large box vanilla instant pudding

Heat oven to 350 and line muffin tin with cupcake papers. Set aside.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla and almond flavoring.

Add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture (start and end with flour).

Add pudding.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes.

While cupcakes are baking...you can start the apple filling.

Apple Filling:

6 tbsp butter

6 Granny Smith apples - peeled and cut into small pieces

1/3 cup plus 2 1/2 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4-1/2 tsp nutmeg (to your preference)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 - 1 1/2 tbsp flour

Cook the first 7 ingredients in a skillet until the apples are soft, but not mushy. Add the flour to thicken. Let cool.

When the cupcakes are cool, cut a hole in the top. I used a knife and cut a cone shape out, then used a melon baller to make the hole larger. Fill the holes with the apple filling. You can save the part you cut out for another use...I'll make a trifle with mine.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

2 cups unsalted butter, softened

8 cups sifted powdered sugar

2 tbsp vanilla

half and half

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cream butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla and cinnamon. I piped the frosting on to look similar to a lattice topped pie. You can see the filling through the lattice...just like an apple pie!

Cookies in the Mail

Here they are Jessaroo!!! Your dad is mailing them to you today. I hope ya'll enjoy them. Happy Tailgating!!!!

Love, Mom

GO DAWGS!!!!!

Football Cookies

Today I made football sugar cookies. They are iced with royal icing made out of meringue powder. These are my husband's favorite cookies. My nephew David is a football coach and he loves them too....but being an Auburn fan he won't like how I've displayed them. :)

Go Dawgs!

My Grandmother's Rocking Chair

Have you ever had a project that seemed to take forever to finish? Well, let me tell you about mine. Twenty-one years ago, that's right - 21 years ago, my mother gave me a rocking chair that had belonged to my dad's mother. I know it was 21 years ago because my daughter was a baby and I needed a rocking chair. The chair was already old and not very stable. So, I got the bright idea that I would refinish it. I stripped it, I took it apart, and then I...STOPPED! I never refinished it or put it back together. We have moved this chair (in pieces) many times and to multiple states. Every time my husband saw it, he would say "Would you please just throw it away!". I certainly would not! I've held onto those pieces this long, why would I give up now?

This weekend we decided to do some much needed cleaning out. As part of this, we had some things to move that I couldn't help lift. We called Tyson and he said he'd come Saturday morning to help. Well, one thing led to another and Tyson said he'd help me get the chair finished. He is very good with wood and has some expertise in refinishing. I was overjoyed. Frank, darling hubby, was of course skeptical. Anyway, this project isn't finished but the chair is already in fewer pieces! I am so excited about doing this. The picture is Tyson working on it. It took some time for him to figure out exactly how it went together...especially since he was about one when I took it apart.

I have another chair.....my mother's mother's rocking chair. This one had broken rockers and my mom had gotten someone to make new ones. Tyson looked at it and said I'd be better off if he made me some, since those were not done very well. So, that will be our next project. (At least I haven't had this one as long as the other.)