Sugar Swings! Serve Some

Friday, October 26, 2012

witchy cupcakes for halloween....!



so are you sick of the little dude or in this case dudette cupcake toppers??? i mean i've made them so many times now i think i can do them in my sleep....(like gnomes, leprechauns, uncle sam's, the harry potter crew)....but hey it's halloween season and what's better than some green witches!


as with all the other ones, they are basically made with hershey kisses, tootsie rolls (in this case lime flavored!), and candy wafers/melts...


cut the very tip off the kiss then unwrap the tootsie roll and microwave it for no more than 10 seconds to get it pliable...roll tootsie roll into a ball (save a little bit from one of them to make some long witch noses) and just stick the nose onto the ball head (it will stick just fine without anything else to adhere it)


attach the head to the body with some candy melt/wafer....then once dry dip the body into some black candy melt (i use a small shallow dish to do this so i can control it better)...oh and if the candy melt is too warm it will melt the kiss, so make sure it's not way hot when you dip...don't worry if your dipping isn't perfect to the top of the green head...you can fill in with a color to cover up any imperfections...


for the witches hats, i originally used bugles dipped in black candy melt, but they seemed too large, so decided to go with candy corn dipped in candy melt instead...."pipe" a circle of black candy melt for the brim, then while still wet add a candy corn....once dry dip the rest of the candy corn into the black candy....


i wanted something a little fun for the cupcakes so went a yellow boxed cake mix and then tinted halloween colors....add to 3 zip lock bags and then pipe a little of each color at a time into the cupcake liners....


cool right? but i still can't decide if they look all "halloween-y" or maybe more "camo-y"!..either way i think it brightens up these cupcakes a lot!


pipe some yellow hair (or whatever color hair you prefer your witches to have) with yellow candy melt (add to a zip lock bag, melt in microwave, snip an end and pipe) and while the hair is still wet, attach a hat....add a white sprinkle to the hat as a "buckle", add some green "arms", and eyes with edible food writer.....the icing on the cupcakes is just tinted vanilla buttercream (grey icing-yum!) with some black sugar crystals on top....

and ta-da, you get some fun halloween cupcakes topped with some edible witches---which must mean halloween is right around the corner!


and holy cow if halloween is around the corner, that means turkey day and all the winter holidays will be here any minute as well....actually by the looks of popular pins over at pinterest, they are here! oh well what can you do, the time moves faster and faster every year and this note from my 8 year old proves i need to slow down a little and work on my "delivery" a bit more 'cause i surely don't want to be remembered as "mad mom"...i smell a new years resolution in there somewhere!


thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!

Tidy Mom's I'm Loving It
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Friday, October 19, 2012

chocolate and pumpkin spice acorns....!


...so the fall weather is finally here! ....and the leaves are falling and we've got a ton of acorns all over the yard (which also means a ton of squirrels running around too!)....


these edible acorns were requested for a party based on these....they are so simple and made with hershey's kisses---in chocolate and pumpkin spice (i think there is pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING now....who knew they even had pumpkin spice kisses???)



...instead of crackers on top (couldn't find a good flavor combo)...used mini nilla wafers which were just the right size for an acorn cap! Attach with a little melted chocolate....let chocolate harden and use a edible food writer to add some detail on top of the cap...then add another little bit of chocolate on top for the "stem"

                           

and you get a bunch of fun and all edible acorns to feed to your "squirrels"!....and like i said, they are super simple to put together....the part that takes the longest is unwrapping all the kisses!...and you can always add to some cupcakes or just eat them by the handful (not that i do that sort of thing!)


the chocolate and nilla wafer is a really great combo and if you like pumpkin spice (ala a pumkin spice latte) then you'll dig the pumpkin spice acorns too! 

Don't forget online blogcon is coming up next week....hope to see you there!


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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

chocolate beet and purple yam cupcakes {guest post}..!


...so today i'm guest posting over at Cupcakes Garden which is a new site all about cupcakes and features some really fun cupcake recipes! see more here on these unusual flavored cupcakes which were part of these fall flavored cupcake ghosts....

ghost cupcakes in fall flavors

i never really posted the how to's (except for the avocado cupcakes, that's posted here)....so pop over to Cupcakes Garden and find out all the details and see more!

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Sunday, October 14, 2012

halloween pumpkin and cream cheese brownies....!


...so i love all the fall and halloween stuff all over the blogosphere!! there are some creative people out there all year round, but it's so neat to see everyone's take on the this time of year...


and pumpkin of course is top on the list of ingredients to use....i think most people either love it or hate it though....(my kids don't like it, but they are in that phase of if it's new, they don't like it...hopefully as they get older that will change...i was the same way until college)

...for brownies i usually use a box mix because it's just so simple and i'm usually in a rush...but these are a from scratch recipe i found at Confections of a Foodie Bride (great pics and recipes there!)..and instead of swirling the pumpkin cream cheese part with the brownie....i added the cream cheese swirl ingredients together before adding the pumpkin...then separate into 2 bowls, to one add the pumpkin and the other i left pumpkin out and added some purple food gel to make these brownies more halloween-y!


...then swirl (don't mix too much because you may end up with just some gray looking cream cheese!)


and you get some brownies dressed and spiced up for the season!....chocolate and pumpkin may not be for everyone...my kids ate them, but only after the pumpkin/cream cheese part had been scrapped off....oh well, maybe next time :) but making homemade brownies is super simple, and these were nice and moist like a brownie should be....


thanks for stopping by and have an omgawesome week!

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Friday, October 5, 2012

super simple halloween pretzels....!


yay it's october!!! so let the halloween season officially begin! and these may be one of the simplest treats yet!....pretzels, candy melt, candy for the "little monsters" and pretzels, frosting, and candy for the "pretzel sandwiches"....


somehow i accumulated a bunch of different candy corn flavors....they come in so many now like caramel, candy apple, caramel apple, cherry, chocolate covered, etc! just add some candy melt/wafers (i put in a zip lock bag, microwave until soft, and snip an end of the bag off to pipe) to pretzels (i used square and mini pretzels) along with some eyes (the yellow eyes i got awhile back pre made and others (the white eyes) are just made from candy melt--pipe a small circle, then pipe a smaller black circle, and let harden....add candy corn and eyes before candy hardens and add some fangs or teeth with more white candy melt, and that's it!...get creative!..you could use any number of candies for this...


the "sandwiches" are made from square pretzels and leftover butterscotch buttercream from these cupcakes...(it's so yummy i couldn't let it go to waste)...then dip the sides of the sandwiches in colored sugar or use up some of those sprinkles you keep collecting....i found some neat halloween skulls and spiders last year on sale....


and you get a perfect bite sized mouthful of sweet and salty pretzel snacks....ok maybe these are pretty much just candy, but they are so simple, fun, colorful and all halloween-y!


hope you enjoy these and have a boo-tiful and spooktacular week! (haha, i crack myself up!)

Tidy Mom's I'm Loving It
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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

harry potter butterbeer cupcakes....!


....so although i've always been a fan of HP, it wasn't until we took a trip to orlando and visited the WWoHP that i think i really kinda started being into it....if you are a fan you should definitely make the trip as it's pretty darn cool....and i'm not really a potterhead, but i am reading the books and every time one of the movies comes on, i just have to watch, no matter how many times i've seen it!....and i was this close to buying a robe at WWoHP, you know because at the time having a gryffindor robe seemed like a really great idea (but the 100+ bucks price tag deterred me--no wonder ron couldn't afford new robes every year!) and i'm hoping the kiddos get into the books as well....my oldest is 8 and started the books, but he hasn't really gotten into into yet....(there's still time though!)


and when we were there last feb, we got butterbeer of course!


so these cupcakes are my take on butterbeer (which in general is like drinking butterscotch soda with a nice creamy/foamy topping!)... the cupcakes are magnolia's vanilla cupcake recipe (i finally figured out how to make homemade cupcakes made with butter so the cupcakes bake up nicely!) and they are filled with sticky toffee sauce (i got as a gift, but you can make your own as well) and topped with butterscotch buttercream.....


...filled using the cone method where you cut out a cone shape from the top of the cupcake, spoon in some of the toffee sauce (which is thick so it works great as a filling---i used it for these cupcakes too)....then replace the cone--minus the tip of the cone...


the butterscotch buttercream is my go to buttercream recipe that i love, it uses butter and vegetable shortening so not overly buttery....to that add about 1/4 cup of the butterscotch chips (melt them in microwave for about 45 seconds with 1 tablespoon of milk), mix up well with buttercream....

for the toppers, i went with the same method as i've done before with the uncle sam and leprechaun cupcakes...vanilla tootsie roll head, hershey kiss body, dipped in candy melt, and detail also done with candy melt...they take some time, but for me i find it relaxing and so far they've always come out pretty cute!

ron's scarf is made with vanilla tootsie roll too--nuke it for only a couple seconds at a time in the microwave until you can roll it out....cut out a long scarf shape then add griffyndor colors with edible food marker....


...the sorting hat is a bugle corn chip!...just coated with chocolate until i got the look i was going for....and add to a disk of chocolate for the brim...


....dumbledore and "he-who-must-not-be-named" aka the dark lord aka "you-know-who" aka tom riddle aka VOLDEMORT (ha, you said it!)


...ron and hermione....


...severus snape and draco malfoy...


...the sorting hat and hagrid (since hagrid is bigger than the rest, his body is 2 hershey's kisses one on top of the other!)....


...and harry potter...


...a couple pics of my crew at WWoHP....walking around hogsmeade (see honeydukes on the left??)


...and you know how most kids want to be a gryffindor?...not mine he'd choose slytherin....(not sure if i should be worried about that or not!)


....and you get a bunch of homemade butterbeer cupcakes topped with a bunch of little harry potter dudes...and since most of them are witches, i think it fits right in with the coming halloween season! ps if you like butterscotch, you have to make these, as this flavor combo with the toffee filling was really really really good! (i have some butterscotch buttercream left over so i NEED to make something else with it, it's that yum)


..i really had a lot of fun with these, so hope you enjoy them whether or not you're a harry potter fan ...have a super awesome week!

oh and don't forget about Online BlogCon this month...it's taking place October 22-24, 2012.  No airfare needed and registration is only $15.  Since i still feel i'm a relative newbie at this blogging thing, this is a great chance to "meet" a lot of great speakers, network and maybe win some prizes and giveaways too....pop on over to learn more!

Tidy Mom's I'm Loving It
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Sunday, September 23, 2012

"healthy" carrot and zucchini cake bites...!


...so i'm calling these healthy because they have veggies in them!....and they are made from this carrot and zucchini bar recipe from six sister's stuff, which is a healthier recipe when you compare it to others (everything is all relative right??)....AND it's a cake bite (i refuse to call them balls) in the sense it's a bite of cake but without the frosting added to the cake mix or the shape dipped in chocolate/candy wafers as a coating....and yeah i know some would say this is not really a cake bite then a la bakeralla...which is why i'm saying it's a "healthier" version....that's all!


...bake up the bars as per the recipe...and let cool.....because of all the zucchini and carrots....it's also a very moist cake (which is key here)....so no need to even add any frosting to the mix....just squish it up and shape...i added some cake to an ice cube mold....i get mine from dollar stores during the different holiday seasons for super cheap....just make sure you get it filled well and then push down so you fill in any air pockets and to get the design on the cake bite (you could also just roll into bites or form these into shapes as well) and if you really wanted you could add the icing and frosting too...i'm sure it would be tasty with some cream cheese icing added in but i was going for kinda healthy--at least healthier!


...the trick with these.....FREEZE them for a bit so you can pop them out of the mold and keep the shape...also did some flower shapes with another metal pan i have....definitely freeze the pan once you add the cake since you have to pop these out using a knife which can nick some of the shape....


...they popped out of the silicone mold very easily....add some pretzel stick pieces as stems for the pumpkins....and i melted some green and chocolate candy wafers to add the rest of the pumpkin detail....(thought some needed a jack o'lantern face!)

...and see they do have some candy melt topping...so in essence it kinda fits the criteria for cake bite!


....and you get some really yummy and "healthier"cake bites to welcome in the fall weather!..they were really moist and kinda like a mini carrot cake

....i'm not totally sure if they would hold up to making cake pops---they might but i didn't try them... would definitely make sure they were frozen over nite if i was going to dip them in chocolate or wafers like regular cake pops....


anyhoo, hope you like them and are getting ready for the fall weather in the US that's coming! it really is one of my favorite times of the year....

thanks for stopping by and hope to see you at  Online BlogCon this month...what is that you ask? Online BlogCon is a 3-day online blog conference taking place October 22-24, 2012.  No airfare needed and registration is only $15.  Since i still feel i'm a relative newbie at this blogging thing, this is a great chance to "meet" a lot of great speakers, network and maybe win some prizes and giveaways too....pop on over to learn more!

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