Oreo Birthday Cupcakes

I’m not usually a big Oreo fan, but a friend’s birthday is coming up soon.  He personally requested these cupcakes.  I can’t say “no” to someone who wants me to bake for them.  😀

He gave me this website: Death By Oreo Cupcakes

I had also found this website: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

They are almost the exact same recipe, but with a few differences.  So I picked the parts of each that I personally liked and made some Oreo Birthday Cupcakes!

First, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.  Take one cookie part off the Oreo.  Add the rest of the Oreo to the cupcake liner.

Second, mix a chocolate cake mix according to package directions.  Crush at least 6 whole Oreos into medium to small pieces.  Add the Oreo pieces to the cake mix.

Third, add cake mix to the cupcake liner.  Only fill liner 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake for 15-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out crumb free (clean).

Fourth, crush the cookie tops into  super-small to tiny chunks. Take pre-made cream cheese frosting and put into a bowl.  Stir in the crushed cookies.

Finally, decorate the completely cooled cupcakes and garnish with a cookies and cream candy bar piece!

Oreo Birthday Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 Box of Devil’s Chocolate Food Cake Mix

• Plus ingredients that the box requires

1 Package of 30 Oreos

2 Cans of Cream Cheese Frosting

1 King Size Cookies and Cream Bar or 24 Mini Oreos (optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a cupcake pan with liners.  In each liner put in an Oreo with one cookie side taken off.  Put that missing cookie piece in a bag and set aside.

2. Make box cake according to package directions.  Crush up six whole Oreos into medium to small pieces.  Mix the crushed Oreos into the cake mix.

3. Scoop cake mix into cupcake liners.  Only fill 1/2 to 2/3 full.

4. Bake cupcakes for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out basically crumb free.

5. Put the pre-made cream cheese frosting into a bowl.  Crush the cookie pieces from earlier into super small to tiny pieces.  Mix into the frosting.

6. Decorate the cupcakes once they have completely cooled.  Add optional decorations if desired!

Expresso Cupcakes, Caramel Ganache, and Irish Cream Frosting!

Today is my good friend, Josh’s birthday.  He had taken some really great pictures of my creations for the blog.  To celebrate his birthday I made him some cupcakes!

The cake recipe came from: Confessions of A Faux Gourmet

• I used at chocolate fudge cake mix
• I used 3/4 cup espresso and then a little under 1/4 cup water

The filling recipe came from: The Secrets of Baking: Simple Techniques for Sophisticated Desserts on Pg. 23

The frosting recipe came from: Brown Eyed Baker

• I have made her Irish Car Bomb cupcakes before, and knew the frosting was exactly what I wanted for these cupcakes.

St. Patrick’s Day – Fun Foods

St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow!  I love this holiday for all the fun foods!  I have been browsing pinterest and food blogs for fun green food ideas as well as other festive ideas.  Here are some of my favorites; click the picture to go to the recipe!

1. Crab Stuffed Baked Avocado – Domestic Fits

2.Cucumber Cups Stuffed with Spicy Crab – Domestic Fits

3. Lucky Leprechaun Hats – Betty Crocker

4. Ligurian Pesto with Spaghetti – Bon Appétit

5. Cheddar Biscuits – Kraft Foods

6. Irish Cheesecake – Kraft Foods

7. Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes – Brown Eyed Baker

8. Grilled Corned Beef and Fontina Sandwiches – Bon Appétit

9.Green Eggs and Ham – Martha Stewart

10.Vegetarian Split Pea Soup – The Curvy Carrot

11. Monster Veggie Burger – Shape Magazine: Healthy Eating

12. No Bake Mini Grasshopper Pies – A Pretty Life In The Suburbs

13. Mrs. O’Callaghan’s Soda Bread – Bon Appétit

Hope these pictures and recipes gave you some ideas for your St. Patrick’s Day food festivities!

Pi Day – Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Pie

Happy Pi day! Or is it Pie day?  I remember in high school that on Pi day (cause it was math class), if you brought in a pie could get extra credit.  Too bad I don’t have any classes that I can get extra credit in now-a-days for bringing in a pie.

To honor pie day and St. Patrick’s Day which is just a few days away I made a Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Pie.  I believe this recipe came from the Bon Appetite Magazine or Family Circus Magazine many years ago.  I had clipped this recipe, and didn’t write where it came from.

Ingredients:

32 Mint creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies

1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons of Chocolate Ice Cream Syrup Topping

8 Cups (1/2 Gallon) Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Directions:

1. Spray a 9-Inch pie pan with the cooking spray.

2. For the crust pulse (in a food processor) or crush 16 cookie sandwiches until fine crumbs appear.  Add the 1/4 cup chocolate ice cream syrup topping to the crumbs and mix until moistened.

3. Press crumb mixture into  sides and bottom of the pie pan. Freeze for 30 minutes.

4. Cut 8 cookie sandwiches in half. Scoop half the ice cream into the pie pan. Place scoops close together so that no crust shows.

5. Scatter the cookie halves on top of the ice cream in the pie pan. Press them lightly into the ice cream.

6. Freeze for 1 hour.

7. Scoop the remaining ice cream on top.  Cut the remaining cookies into quarters and sprinkle on top of ice cream.

8. With the remaining chocolate syrup topping drizzle it over the pie.

9. Freeze for 3 hours or until firm.

10. Serve and Enjoy!

Wilton Cake Course 2: Completed

During the month of February I took the second Wilton cake decorating course.  Yesterday was the last day of class.  I am kind of bummed that it is over since it was a lot fun!  I just wanted to share with you all the creations that I made using what I learned in class:

Day 1: The Button Flower.  The flower is made from a half gum paste, half fondant mixture. Then it is pressed into the flower shaper, and bam you have awesome flowers!

Day 3: We learned how to make several royal icing flowers.  I really liked the daffodils and the roses.  I used them on this cake I made for my sister’s birthday!  I am so pleased with how great this cake looks!

Day 4: On the final day we learned how to do a reverse shell border and the basket weave.  I didn’t use the reverse shell on this cake.  I also used my royal icing lilies that I learned on day 3 on this cake.  This cake is a larger version of what I had originally planned.  I wanted to make two small cakes with three lilies on top of each with the basket weave around the sides.  My small cakes did not turn out and so I made the larger cake.  This cake still looks great, but it is always sad when your first idea has to be scratched.

I hope to take the third Wilton decorating course soon and share more wonderful creations.  For now I hope to keep using what I learned and make some more beautiful cakes and cupcakes!