For my sons birthday I asked him what kind of cupcakes he wanted for his party and to take to school.  I was really surprised when he said that he wanted me to make the Fun da-middles by Betty Crocker! 

We went to Wal Mart and grabbed two boxes of the yellow cake/vanilla middle Fun da-middles http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/fundamiddles/ (using great coupons to save $ while I was at it!)  and baked them once we got home.  The box states that it makes 12 cupcakes and it was pretty true to that statement.  Another good thing is that if you are collecting Box Tops 4 Education http://www.boxtops4education.com/ for your child’s school this is where you can get up to 4 box tops in one shot!The trick is getting everything even and not letting the filling touch the sides!

You want to fill the cupcake liners about 1/3 full with the cake mix then after massaging the filling pouch and snipping a corner of the bag, squeeze a dollop of the filling in the middle.  Top this with cupcakes with the rest of the batter making sure that the filling is covered or it will spill out during baking.

After baking for 24-29 minutes the last picture above shows what mine looked like.  After allowing the cupcakes to cool for 20 minutes it was time to frost and decorate.  My son absolutely loves giraffes do that was his request for decoration.

Since he is allergic to milk and dark chocolate I used white chocolate to mold the top of giraffes in a mold that I have (that will be another post!).  I then mixed up a white chocolate frosting and tinted it green so that it would be the color of grass.  The end results looked nice and they tasted great!

Until next time my friends, keep baking!

Sadie, who this blog is named for, is having a great giveaway. The reason behind it is 1) to share the love between bloggers and 2) because she will be meeting her goal of riding a stationary bike 100 miles by her birthday April 9th! Please help us celebrate her accomplishment and her birthday and enter today! a Rafflecopter giveaway

You know the colored sugar that can cost a bundle in the baking aisle, the ones that are big during any holiday right? Well I am going to show you how to make your very own, it is very easy and quite economical too!

In a small/medium zip lock bag I place 1 cup of sugar (the sugar will last a LONG time.) and several drops of food coloring.  I then press as much air out of the bag as possible and zip it closed.

  Now is where the fun begins~

• Shake and roll the bag between your hands to insure that the food coloring is mixed with the sugar well.
• Too dark? Add a teaspoon of sugar then shake and roll again.  Do this until it is the color you want.  
• Too light?  Add a drop of food coloring, shake and mix again until it is the color you want.
• Remember that the sugar will dry and become darker in color!
• After drying for at least 8 hours place in air tight containers and place with your baking goods!

Here are some pictures that I took so that we would have plenty for the upcoming holidays!

• 1 cup coconut oil, soft
• 1 ½ cups organic whole cane sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup coconut flour
• ¾ cup unbleached flour
• 2 ½ cups quick or regular oats
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• ¾ cup raisins

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I have really done it this time! These cinnamon roll cupcakes with the icing are reminiscent of a big companies cinnamon roll. I had to make cream cheese frosting because I find their frosting is way to sweet, I was not disappointed…

Preheat oven to 350
Line cupcake pans with liners makes 24

Wait, I have to admit something…. I cheated with the cake by using a box cake mix. I used the Cinnamon Swirl cake mix but there were changes. I only used the dry goods in the box (the cake part only), I added 4 eggs, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1/3 cup of oil to make it taste home made. The rest is all my doing.

For the cinnamon swirl I used:

• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon chips ground to small pieces
• Mix these together and set it aside

For the streusel I used:

• 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar (light can be used)
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup of butter that was melted
• Combine the dry ingredients, then add the melted butter a little at a time stirring after each addition of butter until the mixture was crumbly but neither really dry or too wet.
• Mixed these together and set it aside

Filling the goods:
I used a tablespoon size measuring spoon to deposit the mixtures into the cupcake liners. To start place 1 tablespoon of cake batter in the the bottom of the cupcake liner. Then I place 1 tablespoon of cinnamon/sugar mix, 1 more of the cake batter and topped each off with a tablespoon of the streusel.

Bake these beauties for 10-15 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean, the cupcake top spring back, either method works!

Frosting:

• 8 oz package of cream cheese cold (take out 10 minutes before making the frosting)
• 5 tablespoons of softened butter (not melted)
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 4-5 cups of powdered sugar (but in a large bowl and stir well with a fork, this helps to keep lumps out of the frosting!)
• Beat the cold cream cheese in the mixer
• Mix in softened butter and blend until smooth and creamy
• Add in vanilla
• Gradually add in 1 cup of powdered sugar, blending well after each addition
• Continue to add the powdered sugar until thick enough to frost the cupcakes

The Cupcake Princess

                *Chicken should be close to room temperature. Coconut oil stays liquid above 77 degrees. If your chicken is cold, the oil will solidify and break away from the chicken if not handled carefully.

The chicken tasted great. It didn’t have an overwhelming coconut taste, but just enough were you can taste it. The only thing I would do different is actually fry the chicken. I really like the crunch taste of fried chicken, and this way didn’t really have that for me. So what I would do is melt some coconut oil in a pan and use that to fry the chicken. MMMM…

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Wanted to stop to say that we have been busy changing the blog a bit and coming up with more fantastic recipes for you to view and try. We also have added a page called The Bakers Share where we would love you to share with us tips, hints, recipes with all the details and pictures of your creations.

Continue to follow us there is so much in store!

With Valentine’s Day less than a month away I decided to try my hand at Red Velvet cupcakes and to experiment with frosting. I decided that the typical cream cheese frosting would be too boring for these beauties and decided to make white chocolate buttercream frosting. The results from taste testers were that it was one of the best frosting’s they had ever tried, the cupcake moist and delicious. The cocoa powder and the vinegar have a chemical reaction which turns the batter a brownish red, the food coloring makes it a brighter red.

• 1 cup butter (at room temp)
• 1 ¾ cups white sugar
• 3 large eggs (at room temp)
• 1 cup of buttermilk (can also use regular milk with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice)
• 3 tablespoons of red food coloring
• 1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 ½ tablespoons of cider vinegar
• 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and line two 12 count cupcake pans.
• In a large bowl,beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Mix in the eggs,buttermilk, red food coloring and vanilla. Stir in the baking soda and vinegar.
• In a large bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt blend together until well combined with a whisk then stir into the batter just until blended.
• With either a spoon or an ice cream scoop fill liners to 2/3 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25minutes.
• Cool in the pan set over a wire rack.

• 6 ounces of white chocolate or baking bar
• 5 tablespoons of whipping cream
• 1 cup butter (no substituting!)
• 4-5 cups of powdered sugar

• In a microwave safe bowl place the white chocolate and the whipping cream in the microwave. It will take several 20 second intervals for the chocolate to melt,mix after each interval. Then allow cooling for a minute.
• In a large bowl mix the butter and chocolate mixture then add confectioners’ sugar until desired consistency.

The Cupcake Princess