Cupcake objects

It's been a busy busy week, and I've had a sick fiance on my hands. So baking at home came to a momentary standstill. I was really hoping to participate in Cupcake Hero for the first time this month, but alas... It'll just have to wait. But with any luck tomorrow I'll get a chance to make the ginger lime cupcakes I've been fantasizing about...
In the mean time, here are two adorable gifts from my man. He teases about my cupcake love, but he feeds the obsession too!

Rainbow Cakes

A friend did a favor for me the other night, so to repay her she got cupcakes! She just wanted vanilla, so to spice things up I made them rainbow-y so I could show off all my fun new sprinkles. I bought a little combo container at Michaels that had stars, moons, dolphins (which don't really look like much), teddy bears, dinosaurs, and cows! I also bought some giant non-pareils.

Tequila Sunrise

The other day it dawned on me tequila sunrise would make a great cupcake flavor, and since I had all the ingredients to create the drink I thought I'd try to turn it into a cute little frosted treat. While they weren't perfect, things you make up on the fly rarely are on the first go round. Still, they were well received by all who tasted them. Nice and light with rich creamy frosting. My only real complaint was that the orange flavor was too subtle, so I've written the recipe to include some orange zest. I also wish I'd soaked the tops a little more thoroughly with tequila, but then I do like my Jose ;) The cake recipe was for a loaf cake and came from Taste of Home August/September 2000

Grenadine layer

3/4c cake flour plus 2Tbs
1/2c sugar
1tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/4c vegetable oil
2Tbs homemade grenadine
2Tbs tequila (or just use more grenadine)
2 egg whites
a drop or two of red food colouring

Sift dry ingredients together. Add oil, grenadine, and tequila. Beat until smooth. In a separate bowl beat whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold into juice mixture. Fill cupcake liners a little less than half full with batter.

Orange layer
3/4c cake flour plus 2Tbs
1/2c sugar
1tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/4c vegetable oil
1/4c orange juice
2 egg whites
zest of 1 orange

Sift dry ingredients together. Add oil, juice, Beat until smooth. In a separate bowl beat whites until stiff, but not dry. Fold into juice mixture.
Fill to 3/4 full with orange batter. I got 17 perfectly sized cupcakes. Bake at 350 until they spring back when gently pressed. (I'm not very careful about timing things, I just check them every now and then until they're done)
Brush tops with tequila while still warm

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2c (1 stick) softened butter
1c sifted powdered sugar
8 oz softened cream cheese
zest of one orange or 1tsp orange extract
tequila to taste

Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add other ingredients and beat on medium until combined. Over beating will cause the frosting to become runny

Happy Independance Day!

While in many ways working in a bakery has made me loath holidays, I still enjoy getting to bust out fun new decorations for special days such as this. I was hoping to take some super snazzy pictures with my fiance's good digital slr, but I got a little lazy and never took it to work with me. So here are some shots quickly taken with my mediocre point and shoot after work the other day. All in all I was pretty proud of my red white and blue babies.