Mario Cupcakes

My son turned 7 earlier this month and he requested Mario cupcakes so I tried my best to deliver.  I used marshmallow fondant because it is so easy to work with.  One word of caution, wear rubber gloves when kneading the red food gel into the frosting otherwise you will be walking around with red hands for three days.  I am speaking from experience.

Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes
(best served room temperature)

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 (4 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 3/4 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cake mix, pudding mix and chocolate chips.  Mix wet ingredients in another bowl.  Add egg mixture to dry mixture and mix on medium until blended.  Pour into cupcake liners and bake 20-24 minutes.  Cool completely before frosting.

I frosted cupcakes with canned frosting before adding the fondant decorations.


Marshmallow Fondant
adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

16 oz. bag small plain marshmallows
2 Tbsp water
vegetable shortening
1 tsp vanilla
2 lb. confectioner's sugar, reserve 1 cup
pinch of salt

Grease a microwave safe bowl, a spoon, the dough hook, and the bowl of your stand mixer with vegetable shortening or spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Dump the marshmallows into the bowl and microwave for 60 seconds.  Stir marshmallows with the greased soon.  If all of the marshmallows have not melted, microwave for 30 more seconds.  Stir in the flavoring.  Places confectioner's sugar and salt in the stand mixer, reserving 1 cup, and make a well in the center.  Pour marshmallow mix in and turn the mixer on the lowest setting.  When it sounds strained, increase the speed up one setting.  Turn off the mixer once the sugar has been incorporated.  If the fondant is sticky, add the reserved confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup at a time.  Transfer the fondant onto plastic wrap.  Rub a bit of shortening onto the outside of the ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
Roll out on a greased surface or parchment paper to the desired thickness.  If fondant is sticky then sprinkle powdered sugar on the counter, fondant, and rolling pin.
To color the fondant break off desired amount and add gel food coloring and knead ball with your hands until color is disbursed.

Flower Cupcakes - Fun in the Kitchen

There is nothing my kids love more than doing something funky with a cupcake! So when we got this new cookbook they went nuts over it. Everyday they would pull it off the shelf and drool over all of the wonderful pictures and creations. We were just waiting for the right occasion to attempt a batch of these yummy cupcakes.
So, we finally made these fun cupcakes for my mother-in-law's birthday. The kids thought that placing 44 pieces of colored marshmallow on one cupcake was too much fun. I won't lie, this one is a bit time consuming, but easy...really!
This recipe is simple enough...we doctored up a cake mix and used canned frosting. This time it was all about the decorations!

1 box cake mix
1 cup buttermilk - use in place of the water
Vegetable oil - same as listed on box
4 eggs

Mix and bake according to box instructions.

1 cup canned white frosting
1 bag mini-marshmallows
decorating sugar

Frost cooled cupcakes with vanilla frosting. Use kitchen shears to cut 22 mini-marshmallows on a diagonal. Dip the cut side of each marshmallow into the colored decorating sugar. Start on the outer edge of the cupcake and place the marshmallows sugar side up, close enough together to touch. Repeat for 2 more rows with the same color petals. Repeat for all of the remaining cupcakes.

Grilled Herb Shrimp

Tonight we're having company...yay. I love to entertain. Plus I haven't seen my brother and his family in months, so it should be fun catching up and seeing how much my neice has grown. Tonight I'm making grilled shrimp, mushroom pasta, salad, bread, and lots of Prosecco (yummy sparkling wine) with dinner. Dessert is simple, but lovely - Vanilla Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream.

Grilled Herb Shrimp
Adapted from Food Network's Ina Garten - Barefoot Contessa
2 pounds large shrimp (16 to 20 per pound), peeled and deveined (see note)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, small-diced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
Combine all the ingredients and allow them to marinate for 1 hour at room temperature or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Skewer the shrimp. I use 3 or 4 shrimp on a 12-inch skewer for dinner. Heat a grill with coals and brush the grill with oil to prevent the shrimp from sticking. Grill the shrimp for only 1 1/2 minutes on each side.
Note: Ina leaves the tails on when peeling the shrimp.

Raspberry Cream Cupcakes
adapted from Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis
1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)
1 1/3 cups water
3 large eggs whites
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (6-ounce) containers fresh raspberries, cut in half or 1 (16-ounce) container fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting
Line 18 muffin cups with muffin papers. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, water, egg whites, melted butter, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 2 minutes, or until the batter is well blended. Using about 1/3 cup of batter for each cupcake, spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake the cupcakes until they are very pale golden on top, about 15 minutes. Cool the cupcakes completely on a cooling rack.
Using a fork, coarsely mash 1 1/2 containers of raspberries in a medium bowl. Beat the cream and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar in a large bowl until firm peaks form. Fold the mashed raspberries into the whipped cream.
Remove the muffin papers from the cupcakes and cut the tops off of each cupcake. Spoon the raspberry whipped cream atop the cupcake bottoms. Place the cupcake tops on the cupcakes. Dust with more powdered sugar and serve with the remaining berries.

Super Cupcakes

A few months ago when my young son developed his own sign for wanting things my husband and I were thrilled. Gabe took one hand and pointed out something that he wanted and then he took his little hand and pointed into his opposing palm repeatedly. He would look up with his big beautiful brown eyes as if saying "Please, Mommy." This method has been a wonderful tool to both Gabriel and us and I believe it actually saves us all from a lot of whining and crying.
Today I made each of us our own little cupcake treat but I allowed Gabe to start eating before either of us started. I figured that putting the filling on the side would slow him down as he dipped before each bite. Just as I sat down to enjoy my dessert I looked over to see those little hands working hard to sign and point at my cupcake. I just had to laugh as I relinquished nearly half of my sweet treat over. Needless to say, this was a winner with the little one.

Strawberry Cream Cupcakes
adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis

1 box white cake mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)
1 1/3 cups water
3 large eggs whites
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 ounces fresh strawberries, crushed
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting
Line 18 muffin cups with muffin papers. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, water, egg whites, melted butter, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 2 minutes, or until the batter is well blended. Using about 1/3 cup of batter for each cupcake, spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake the cupcakes until they are very pale golden on top, about 15 minutes. Cool the cupcakes completely on a cooling rack.
Using a fork, coarsely mash strawberries in a medium bowl. Beat the cream and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar in a large bowl until firm peaks form. Fold the mashed berries into the whipped cream.
Remove the muffin papers from the cupcakes and cut the tops off of each cupcake. Spoon the strawberry whipped cream atop the cupcake bottoms. Place the cupcake tops on the cupcakes. Dust with more powdered sugar and serve with the remaining berries.

These are delicious with either strawberries or raspberries...I did find that the strawberries are much juicier which makes the cream a little droopy. I suppose leaving them a bit chunkier would help but I actually preferred the berries crushed.