Come on Barbie, Let's Go Party!

This is the first birthday party for Samantha, this one was at Chuck E. Cheese:

These are the cupcake toppers I made...and Whitney designed the cute logos...check her out if you need some, I'm sure she would gladly do them for you:)
These are the cute shirts and leggings Samantha wore for her big day...she looked darling!
Of course every girl needs to wear a tutu...
The goody bags...I needed something fun to put them in so I grabbed a bucket out of my pantry and spray painted it with chalk board paint and voila...
The cute tags Whitney designed for me...
The cupcakes: White cake with Strawberry Goodness injected in each of them with some amazing Buttercream Frosting and sparkly sprinkles on top.

Happy Birthday Samantha! Hope you had a fabulous day!

Lemon Buttons

I think by now you all know how I feel about "mini" things. I don't know why...but when desserts are mini I love them even more. So, here is another "mini' dessert. I love these! It was hard to not eat just one...I had to pass them on to Ben's work because I have a good 15 more pounds of baby weight to loose. I got the recipe from Mmm...Cafe. Enjoy!

Lemon Buttons

Muffins

1 yellow cake mix
Small box (3 1/2 ounces) instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
½ cup natural applesauce
¼ cup vegetable oil

Glaze
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Spray MINI muffin tins with cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, applesauce and oil and blend well. Fill each muffin tin half full with batter.
Bake for 9 minutes.
For the glaze, sift the confectioners' sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water.
Dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips.
Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour. These are to die for FROZEN! I know, it sounds crazy, but give it a shot, we actually prefer them that way!

Yeilds: About 60 mini buttons.

Oreo Cupcakes

I had to make some cupcakes for the RS Birthday and decided on these badboys. I got the recipe off of my new favorite blog...My Baking Addiction. This girl is creative!! The frosting is so amazing. Just know that if you pipe the frosting on the cupcakes, make sure the tip you use is fat...otherwise an Oreo chunk will clog it and you will have to keep starting over...trust me, I know. I had to keep taking frosting out of my bag TWICE before I finally took a hint:) The cake was soooo good. It has over 1000 5 stars on allrecipes.com. Yes, you read the recipe correctly...it is the large box of pudding. Also, I just used 1 c. of mini chocolate chips.

Too Much Chocolate Cake from allrecipes

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used miniature)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

*Note: I made cupcakes with this recipe. I ended up with 28 cupcakes that were baked at 350 degrees F for about 21 minutes.

Buttercream Dream Frosting

Ingredients

1 stick salted butter - room temperature

1 stick unsalted butter - room temperature

1 cup shortening

1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla extract

2 pounds confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)

4-6 tablespoons very cold milk (I used 5 TBS)

8 crushed Oreo cookies with the cream removed before crushing

Directions

Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk... one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency. Fold in the Oreo cookie crumbs. Top cooled cupcakes with the buttercream frosting and garnish with 1/2 an Oreo.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

We recently had New Beginnings and some of the leaders brought cupcakes.  My friend Christie brought these little beauties, and I had to make them myself...chocolate and Peanut Butter is anouther crave (and I'm wondering why  I have gained so much weight???).  Anyway, these are to die for!  Seriously amazing!  I could just take a spoon and eat the frosting;)  The recipe came from My Baking Addiction.  You can make the homemade cake, or take a shortcut and use a boxed Devils Food cake.  Either way, check out this girls blog, I was in heaven and want to make everything on it:)
Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake
Source: Hershey's Website

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost. 10 to 12 servings.
Cupcakes: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Icing
Source: Ina Garten (Food TV)

Ingredients:
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Place the confectioners sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.