Sparkling White Grape Juice Cupcakes

For Violet's shower I made Lollipop cupcakes with strawberry cake and these Sparkling White Grape Juice Cupcakes!  I originally saw the idea at Betty Crocker.  Betty Crocker's were actually Pink Champagne cupcakes which I thought sounded amazing but not really appropriate for a baby shower so I subbed in sparkling white grape juice for the champagne.  The result was not quite what I had hoped for.  According to the reviews for the Pink Champagne cupcakes the champagne flavor really came out in the cupcakes, but with the sparkling grape juice the flavor was very subtle.  The cupcakes still tasted great, they just seemed more like vanilla than sparkling grape juice which wasn't what I was going for!  Oh well, An 'A' For Effort right? :)  At least I really liked the way the frosting, decorating pearls and sprinkles looked!

Sparkling White Grape Juice Cupcakes  Adapted from: Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

Sparkling Grape Juice Cupcakes:

1 box vanilla cake mix, the 'supermoist' variety

3 egg whites

1/3 C canola oil

1 1/4 C sparkling white grape juice

Sparkling Grape Juice Frosting:

1/2 C butter, softened

4 C powdered sugar

1/4 C sparkling white grape juice

1 tsp vanilla

red or pink food gel

Decorations:

edible pearls

pink sugar crystals

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

2. In large bowl, combine dry cake mix and sparkling grape juice. Add oil, eggs and food color. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

3. Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
4. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
5. When the cupcakes are almost cool,  prepare the frosting: In medium bowl, beat frosting ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
6. Put frosting into an icing bag and pipe onto cupcakes. I used Wilton tip #18.
7. Sprinkle with pink sugar crystals and edible pearls.

This  post linked to: Sweets for a Saturday #2 at Sweet as a Sugar Cookie, Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade

Fruit Kabobs

I love having fresh fruit at parties.  Somehow I think that if I eat some of the fruit it cancels out the other party food I eat.  I have no idea why I think that but I do.  Same for veggies.  Fruits and veggies don't count and as a bonus they it cancel out the extra piece of cake :)  I know my theory is wrong, but let's just go with it :)

Fruit Kabobs are a great alternative to more expensive fruit at a party.  I used apples, oranges, grapes and canned chunk pineapple, all pretty low in price and they turned out super cute.  Sometimes the presentation can make all the difference!  These were a hit, in fact they were one of the most popular foods at the party!

Fruit Kabobs  Source: An 'A' For Effort

Ingredients:

apples (I used Gala)

oranges

grapes

canned chunk pineapple, reserve the juice

lemon juice (I used from concentrate)

wooden kabob skewers

Directions:

1. Wash all the fruit including the oranges with their peel intact.

2. Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice in a medium bowl.

3. Add a splash or two of lemon juice to the pineapple juice.

4. Cut the apple into chunks and soak in the pineapple/lemon juice mixture. I just left them in the bowl as I assembled the kabobs.

5. Leaving the peel on the oranges, slice into 1/2" rounds.  Cut each circle into quarters like a pie piece.

6. Carefully (yes, I did poke myself more than once!) stick the fruit onto the skewers.  If you are having trouble you may want to try and moisten the wooden skewer. 

*I found that if you arrange the apples so the stick is going through the fruit part with the peel facing out it looks the prettiest so the red color of the peel shows up well.  When adding the orange insert the part with the peel first.

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with White Chocolate

My friend Valerie gave me a bag of this Cinnamon Caramel Corn with White Chocolate for Christmas.  My two boys and Matt attacked said bag of delicious caramel corn and gobbled up the ENTIRE bag before Valerie even left our house!  Thank goodness I hollered at the boys that I wanted a bite and grabbed a handful while there was still some because they sure weren't planning to leave any kernels behind!

I loved this so much and Valerie promised it was an easy recipe to make, so I decided to include it in the party fare for Violet's shower.  Valerie didn't lie!  It is easy!!  And trust me, if you like caramel corn you will love this!  All the yummy caramely awesomeness of homemade caramel corn blasted into beyond awesomeness by cinnamon and everyone's favorite- chocolate!!


Cinnamon Caramel Corn with White Chocolate  Source: The Best Is Yet To Be

Ingredients:

12 C popped popcorn (I used my air popper, Valerie used light microwave popcorn)

1 C brown sugar

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 C corn syrup

1/2 C butter, cut into small chunks

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 squares of almond bark

1 C chopped pecans or other nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250 F.  Line a large baking sheet with tin foil.

2. Place 12 C of popcorn and nuts (if using) in a very large bowl.  Set aside.

3. In a microwave safe bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Add chunks of butter and corn syrup. 

4. Microwave mixture on high for 30 seconds. Stir to combine then microwave for 2 minutes. Remove and stir again before microwaving for an additional 2 minutes. Mixture should be hot and bubbly.

5. Add vanilla and baking soda, stir to combine. The mixture will foam and rise.

6. Pour the mixture over the popcorn and stir VERY well until everything is evenly coated.

7. Spread popcorn mixture onto lined baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

8. At the end of the 30 minutes sample a piece of the popcorn.  If it is not crunchy return the pan to the oven for 5 additional minutes.  Repeat this step if necessary.

9. Melt almond bark slowly in microwave and drizzle over popcorn.

10. Once the chocolate has hardened, break the caramel corn into pieces.


This post linked to: Sweets for a Saturday #2 at Sweet as a Sugar Cookie



Lollipop Cupcakes

As I mentioned yesterday I hosted a baby shower last weekend.  My friend is naming her daughter Violet so naturally we had a lot of purple included in the shower!  I saw the idea for lollipop cupcakes at Munkin Munchies and fell in love!  Seriously adorable!! 
C'mon how cute are these!?!  LOVE LOVE them!  I love how the cake is pink and that the lollipop swirl is purple.  Terrific for baby Violet!

Lollipop Cupcakes  Source: Munkin Munchies

Ingredients:

1 box strawberry cake mix
eggs, oil and water as called for on cake mix box
Butter cream or your favorite frosting
food gel in the color you would like for the swirl
clear sugar crystals

Popsicle sticks

curling ribbon

Directions:

1. Bake cupcakes and allow to completely cool.

2. Make your frosting.

3. Using an icing spatula frost the cupcakes using uncolored frosting so that the top is relatively smooth.

4. In a separate bowl, combine a little food gel with some of the frosting until you reach the desire color for your swirls.
5. Place colored frosting in a decorating bag fitted with a small circle tip.  I used Wilton's #4. 
6. Starting in the center of the cupcake draw a swirl pattern moving to the outside of the cupcake.  I don't have a very steady hand, so don't worry if they are not perfect.  They'll  still be cute :)
7. Add clear sugar crystals.
8. Using the tip of a knife make a small slit for the Popsicle stick in the cupcake liner.
9. Insert the Popsicle stick and add the curling ribbon.

This post linked to: Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Sweets for a Saturday #2 at Sweet as a Sugar Cookie, Cupcake Tuesday at Hoosier Homemade 
                         

Baby Shower Oreo Rattle Party Favors

Saturday a good friend & I hosted a baby shower for one of our best friends.  I had a blast deciding what food to serve and planning the party.  Lincoln and I made these rattles out of Oreo cookies, white chocolate and small suckers as the party favors.  I think they turned out super cute and giving Lincoln the job of adding the sprinkles was great for keeping his hands off the Oreos!

Oreo Rattles  Source: An 'A' For Effort

Ingredients:

Oreos

white chocolate or almond bark

sprinkles

small suckers

curling ribbon

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate in a double boiler.

2. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper.

3. Insert the stick end of a sucker into the cream filling part of an Oreo.

4. Carefully dip the top half and sides of each Oreo in chocolate.

5. Place the Oreo on the wax paper and decorate with sprinkles.

6. Once the white chocolate hardens, check the chocolate 'seal' around the stick on each Oreo. I found it helpful to go back and drizzle a little more chocolate around the base of the stick to ensure a strong hold.

7. Once all chocolate is completely set, add a little curling ribbon to the sucker stick for a decorative touch.

 

This post linked to: Sweets for a Saturday #2 at Sweet as a Sugar Cookie