Knee Replacement Puts CQ Out of Commission for the Holidays!

Layla and Nigel are keeping me safe through my post op phase. We just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday...no baking for Layla or CQ this Christmas...had a knee replacement on Dec. 15, so we're off our feet for a while!

These are one of my favorite Christmas cupcakes: http://52cupcakes.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html

How About Some Easy Thanksgiving Cupcakes!

These are butternut squash cupcakes with sage frosting! They are very moist and taste awesome!

They are made using a Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice Premium Cake Mix!

Here is the recipe that makes 24 cupcakes:

Ingredients:

For cake:

--1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Spice Premium Cake Mix
--1 large butternut squash

For frosting:

--1 bunch of sage

--3 tablespoons of water

--3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

--12 ounces of cream cheese (room temperature)

--1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

--1 cup of eggnog (or milk, if you prefer)

3-4 cups of powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins with paper baking cups, and set aside. Peel, quarter and remove seeds from butternut squash. Place in a large sauce pan covered with water and bring to a boil until squash is tender. Put the pieces in a food processor or blender, then set aside for a while.


Make cake mix as directed on package. When cooled, fold the butternut squash into the cake mix. Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 12-15 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.


Frosting directions:

Chop up the sage so that it's in very fine pieces. Heat the sugar and water in a small sauce pan under medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the sage to the sugar water mixture and heat  over low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Set aside to let cool.

Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy...about 2 minutes.

Stir the sage syrup into the butter and cream cheese mixture. Add the eggnog or milk to the mixture.

Finally, add the powered sugar a little at a time to the mixture until you have the mixture you want.

Now, frost your cupcakes...you will receive very happy praises from your Thanksgiving guests!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

CQ and Layla

An Experiment: Magic Cookie Bar Cupcakes!

When  was in Marlboro, New York recently I had the awesomest Magic Cookie Bars made by Meghan Gaffney...I fell in love!

 So, I asked Meghan to send me the recipe...which she did!

 I made the bars as cupcakes...I divided the entire recipe ingredients into twelve parts and made them into cupcakes! When I took them out of the oven, it seemed as if they hadn't baked all the way through.

I was ready to throw them away, but let them sit overnight. The next morning, they had set up and had hardened over night! I was so surprised...and happy. Took them to work where they were devoured and everyone said they were the BEST!

Here's the recipe:

Melt 1 stick of butter with 1-1/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs; press mixture into cupcake tins lined with cupcake papers (sprayed with PAM) to form a crust. (Divide by weight into the 12 cupcake liners.)


Pour one ounce of condensed milk (from 12 ounce can) over crumbs in the cupcake liner.


Sprinkle 12oz bag of mini chocolates chips (1 ounce in each cupcake liner) on top of  the condensed milk.


Lastly, cover each "cupcake" with 1-1/3 cups of coconut flakes (divided by 12). 


Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.


Have a great week...working on Thanksgiving cupcakes next!!!


CQ

"Don't Make Me Release the Flying Monkeys" Halloween Cupcakes with Orange Frosting...and a little blood...

Roxanne: These are for you!

What can I say...I love Halloween and really look forward to these nutty set-ups I create...all meant in fun!

The cupcakes themselves are relatively unimportant in this case...it's all about the decorating...however, the folks I work with at UMD thought they tasted great...should I say the obvious? They were DEVIL'S FOOD cupcakes!

Enjoy the photos...let yourself go a little crazy this Halloween...take a walk on the wildside!

Eat, drink and be scary!

CQ and Layla

Trick or Treat...Smell my feet...Give Me Some Halloween Cupcakes to Eat!

Here are some really spooky Halloween cupcakes I've made:


Eat, Drink and Be Scary Pt. Deux

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The "It's Close to Midnight and Something Evil's Lurking in The Dark" Halloween Cupcakes

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Halloween Pumpkin Birthday Cupcakes

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Halloween Cupcakes!

It's a Rocky Road, Cupcake!

End of summer...vacations are over...what better way than to celebrate with Rocky Road Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor's Cupcakes! book?

While my folks never had a trailer like this one, we did have this type of station wagon when I was a kid...and we did go on vacation in it...I remember one time we traveled all the way across the country!

Hope you are all having a great start to fall. Time to think about pumpkin cupcakes...maybe?

Have a great week...CQ and Layla!

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This: Cake Dreams is a Little Taste of Heaven!

Layla admires the Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting 

Cupcake from Cake Dreams!

Have you ever had people you know tell you that you should go someplace...that it's really great, the best, etc? Well, several people who know the Queen have asked her if she'd been to Cake Dreams in Rockville, MD. The answer was always not yet...they only opened last January...I'm just sayin'...The fact is CQ hardly ever buys cupcakes.

So, when CQ pulled into the parking lot last Friday night to pick up dinner from Bombay Bistro, she realized she was right there...right there at Cake Dream and they were open until 7:00! CQ was in luck and she was lookin' to purchase six cupcakes to try out...and share with her readers!

CQ opened the door and there was a guy behind the counter...who turned out to be Michelle's (the cake and cupcake creator) husband, Kevin. CQ mentioned to him that she baked cupcakes and had a blog. He asked CQ what the name of her blog was...when she said 52 Cupcakes, Kevin said "We were wondering when you'd come in!"

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake

Then CQ met Michelle. She was awesome!

Vanilla Lemon (CQ's fav!)

Okay...now on to the cupcakes CQ and her entourage of four divvied up: Chocolate with Peanut Butter Frosting, Sweet Chocolate with Sweet Vanilla Frosting, Carrot with Vanilla Frosting, Yellow with Lemon Frosting (CQ's Fav), Chocolate with Raspberry Frosting, and Yellow Caramel!

The over-the-top reviews are in...here are some of the comments: Each and every one of the cupcakes that were bought were eaten (what else??), there were sighs of contentment all around, the flavors were deep when they needed to be (see Chocolate Peanut Butter), and light where needed (see Vanilla Caramel)...one a scale of from 1 to 10, with 10 being the BEST!, CQ and her band of cupcake eaters concluded that the Cake Dreams cupcakes were some of the most excellent cupcakes they have ever bought! Hooray for Cake Dreams. The royal "We" will be visiting them again soon.

Now, get in your car and go visit them! Tell them that the Cupcake Queen sent you! This is the address: 90 W. Montgomery Ave, Rockville, MD.

You might want to follow them on Facebook...(sometimes they give FB fans one free cupcake).

Have a great week...remember to Rock On!

CQ and Layla

New CPCK CO Design: Wear Your Cupcake Love!!

Proudly proclaim your love of cupckes...Check out this t-shirt and my other "Cupcake Wearables" at here!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Double Trouble Chocolate Frosting!

Have a great week...CQ!

Cupcake Queen Launches CPCK CO :: Cupcake Wearables!

Show your cupcake love in a totally new way: Go to CPCK CO. These are just two samples of my store's products! Others include mugs, baby onesies, baseball caps, and a doggy CPCK t-shirt, and more!

Here's the web address for my new store: http://www.cafepress.com/CPCK

I'll be posting my latest cupcakes tomorrow!

OMG! The I Love Cupcake Shoes!

The shoes are made by KEDS! Here's where you can buy them online: Zappos. Aren't they adorable!
I must have them! CQ

Cupcake Queen Makes the Washington Post's Reliable Source!

From the Washington Post Reliable Source: ..."The shop has a devoted following, and its Chocolate Ganache cupcake won The Washington Post's Cupcake War in 2008. But not everyone is a fan. "I've been to their store three times and I think their cupcakes are good, but I didn't feel like they're fantastic," said Linda Martin, author of the local 52 Cupcakes blog. "But they definitely created some sort of mystique."

Martin's favorites come from Baked & Wired, a bakery just blocks away from Georgetown Cupcake. Co-owner Teresa Velazquez, who opened her place in 2001, said she's never met the sisters but doesn't consider them rivals. "Our product is different than their product," she said. "Everyone has a different idea of what a cupcake should taste like."

To read the full article, go here: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2010/07/rs-_cupcakes.html

Cupcake Queen Makes the Washington Post's Reliable Source!

The shop has a devoted following, and its Chocolate Ganache cupcake won The Washington Post's Cupcake War in 2008. But not everyone is a fan. "I've been to their store three times and I think their cupcakes are good, but I didn't feel like they're fantastic," said Linda Martin, author of the local 52 Cupcakes blog. "But they definitely created some sort of mystique."

Martin's favorites come from Baked & Wired, a bakery just blocks away from Georgetown Cupcake. Co-owner Teresa Velazquez, who opened her place in 2001, said she's never met the sisters but doesn't consider them rivals. "Our product is different than their product," she said. "Everyone has a different idea of what a cupcake should taste like."

Check this out: University of Maryland is giving away two UMD Commemorative iPod Nanos!

Many of you know that I work at the University of Maryland....well UMD is giving away two UMD Commemorative iPod Nanos to celebrate their 25,000 plus Facebook fans!

To enter you must be a member of the UMD Facebook fan page. If you're not a member, join us now by going to the University of Maryland Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/UnivofMaryland)! Then, click on this link to fill out the contest entry form.

Marie's "Fancy Pants" Vanilla Cupcakes with White Chocolate Chips

Late last week...in our mailbox I found some very nice  presents from our lovely neighbor, Marie, who lives down the street. Twenty-four cupcakes liners...what I'm calling "fancy pants" cupcake liners (by Wilton)...pink, they are! And, very cute cupcake ribbons!

These cupcakes are vanilla with white chocolate chips topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting and/or dark chocolate frosting.

Layla was wishing that a few crumbs would fall on the floor!

The chocolate ones were especially good!

I will definitely use the "fancy pants" cupcake liners again...they are so much fun!

Layla and I hope that you all have a great week!

Next week, a review of a new baking food scale!

CQ and Layla

Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Jelly Doughnut Cupcakes Accompanied by Duff Goldman's--the Ace of Cakes--Cupcake Tattoos!

Another cool edible cupcake tattoo design from Duff Goldman, the Ace of Cakes! This one's called Animal Skins...I bought them at Michaels

The cupcakes are from Cupcakes from the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn.

Layla takes a walk on the wild side...settle down, lil doggie!!

Wonder what she's really thinking....

Layla and I are looking forward to the third in a series of four Duff cupcake tattoo cupcakes...tune in next week for #3!

Have a great week, CQ and Layla

Skull and Crossbone Cupcake Tattoos Win CQ Over!

I found a fantastic new product at Michael's last week: The Duff (Ace of Cakes) Goldman Collection that features more than 70 products, including fun decorating supplies like fondant, frosting, baking pans...and wait for it...cake tattoos!!!

That's what the skull and crossbones is from...edible tattoos...you can see that Layla was intrigued!


You can find all of the great "Duff" products at your local Michaels store. Go there. The online version doesn't do it justice!



The tattoos were very easy to work with...you can use them on cakes and cupcakes and templates are provided.

Layla says go there now!!

See you soon!

CQ and Layla
p.s. CQ Meets Ace of Cakes...when he visited the University of Maryland.

Champagne Cupcakes with Kir Royale Frosting

Layla is watching this cupcake very closely! The recipe for this cupcake is from Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella.

When I made the frosting I added some Creme de Cassis to the champagne to make it more like a Kir Royale...my fav drink!

Here's the recipe:

Champagne Cupcakes (I got 20 cupcakes out of this recipe)

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup champagne (the sweeter the better – even strawberry would be great!!)
6 egg whites

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a cupcake pan with liners.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, and then blend into creamed mixture alternately with champagne.

In another large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining egg whites. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Champagne Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1-1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons champagne (I did two tablespoons champagne and 1 tablespoon Creme de Cassis)
4-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directors:
In a large bowl beat the shortening and butter until combined. Add the champagne. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth. If necessary, add additional champagne to achieve desired consistency.

Hope you have a great week...and so does Layla!

CQ