Adorable Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween will be here before you know it! And what is a party without a great cupcake? Here is a fun one – and you can visit All You for a full page of additional fun ideas!

Little Monster Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
1 stick ( 1/4 lb.) unsalted butter
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of salt
assorted food coloring
assorted tubes icing in various colors
assorted candy, such as licorice string, mini and regular M&M’s, mini marshmallows, jellybeans and gummy candies

Preparation

Make cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin (or mini-cupcake tin) with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk, scraping down sides of bowl after each addition.

Fill each muffin cup about twothirds full. Bake until tops are springy to touch, 20 to 25 minutes (about 10 minutes for mini cupcakes). Cool in tin on wire rack. (Cupcakes can be made to this point and kept, in an airtight container, for 1 day.)

Make frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and shortening for about 2 minutes. Slowly beat in confectioners’ sugar a little bit at a time. Beat in vanilla and salt, and continue beating for another minute until wellcombined. (Frosting can be made up to 1 week ahead; refrigerate in an airtight container and beat again before using.)

Divide frosting among separate containers for each color you wish to use, and add food coloring; leave some uncolored if desired. Frost cupcakes with an icing spatula.

Use assorted icing tubes to make hair, and use assorted candies to make faces.

Makes 1 dozen cupcakes

For a full list of great Halloween Cupcake inspiration visit All You

Filed Under: Baking, Mom's Cafe Tagged With: cupcake, halloween

Fun Fondant – An Edible Craft For Kids

Edible Fondant Craft For Kids “I’m borrrrrred! There’s nothing to dooooooo!” If you have heard that plenty this summer and are looking for a few last things to do before the kids head back to school then this will be sure to please!

But one of the most kid and mom-friendly activities ever is to whip up a batch of this incredibly easy marshmallow fondant, and spend a summer afternoon making cakes and molding custom decorations with your kids. It’s easy enough for even toddlers to help color and cut the fondant, requiring the very skills they’ve learned while mooshing together mounds of play-doh, and is equally enjoyable for tots and tweens. Better yet, you’re just minutes away from having a kitchen table full of happy summer kids.

Marshmallow Fondant
1 8 oz. bag of marshmallows
2 Tbsp. water
1-2 lbs powdered sugar

Pour the marshmallows in a large, microwave-safe bowl and pour the water over the top of the marshmallows. Microwave for 1-2 minutes, until the marshmallows become very puffy (but not burnt and sizzling). Stir the marshmallows until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time (use a little bit of Crisco to keep your spoon from sticking to the dough). Add just enough powdered sugar to make the dough non-sticky and pliable. *One batch of this fondant will ice approximately one 9-inch cake.

Separate the fondant dough into several pieces. Invite your kiddos to color the fondant by kneading in gel food coloring until desired consistencies have been reached.

To ice cakes with your prepared fondant: Prepare several small cakes or cupcakes, allowing them to cool before icing. Roll fondant out, using a rolling pin, until approximately 1/8?-1/4? thick. Frost each cake with a small amount of buttercream frosting. Immediately drape rolled marshmallow fondant over buttercream layer on cake. Use scissors or a sharp knife to trim any mangy edges.

Decorate cakes by rolling out additional marshmallow fondant, and using cookie cutters to cut shapes (or encourage your kids to mold free-hand–playdoh style), using buttercream to “glue” small pieces of marshmallow onto your cake.

Be sure to take photos of your kids creations before eating them! They are certain to be proud of their incredible, adorable masterpieces!

Article courtesy of Babble.com posted by Brooke McLay

Filed Under: Baking, Cooking With Kids, Mom's Cafe

Having A World Cup Party?

In case you have not heard – the World Cup is going on! If you have kids, dads or even friends that love the sport then you will probably be watching the game, so why not make it a get together with friends?

This is the perfect cake for your World Cup Celebration that will bring cheers from your fans! A combination of cupcakes, buttercream frosting and a steady hand for decorating the cake is all you need to create this creative display!

To get the full recipe visit Kitchen Daily.

Image Courtesy of Kitchen Daily

Filed Under: Baking

A Cupcake Is A Cupcake Unless…

…it tastes like meatloaf! If Dad is the kind of guy who love meat and potatoes then this is a great Father’s Day Dinner idea for you and the kids to enjoy cooking together!

Let the kids mix the meat and form the cupcake shapes and place them in the muffin tins. They can swirl the tops with a mashed potato swirl and add fun garnishes for the top! These adorable little pieces look just like a real cupcake and will have Dad scratching his head as to why there is a tomato on his chocolate cupcake!

It’s also a great April Fool’s Day treat! Bring them to work and let the laughter begin!

Recipe below makes 12 servings.

Piquant sauce:

3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Meatloaf cupcakes:

2/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup milk
1 1/2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup grated onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/3 teaspoon sage

Frosting:

Mashed potatoes

To make piquant sauce: In small bowl, combine brown sugar, ketchup, nutmeg and dry mustard. Set aside.

To make meatloaf cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixing bowl, soak breadcrumbs in milk. Add ground beef, eggs, onion, salt, pepper and sage. Mix well. Form individual portions. Place in 12 greased muffin pans or sturdy foil baking-cup liners. Cover each with piquant sauce. Bake for 45 minutes.

To make mashed-potato frosting: Meanwhile, prepare 3 cups mashed potatoes.

To decorate meatloaf cupcakes: When meat is done, carefully remove from muffin pan. Spoon dollops of mashed potatoes onto each meatloaf cupcake and swirl to mimic frosting. Or put potatoes in zip-top plastic bag, snip corner of bag and pipe potatoes in place.

The recipe above is from Donna Erickson’s who has an award-winning television series, “Donna’s Day,” which airs on public television nationwide. Watch it in the Twin Cities at 7:30 a.m. Fridays on tptLife on channels 13 and 17. Sign up for Donna’s e-newsletter at donnasday.com. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.” Become a fan of Donna’s Day on Facebook at facebook.com/pages/Donnas-Day.

Filed Under: Dinners, Mom's Cafe

Homemade Soft Pretzels

I never realized how easy these are to make! I have seen several posts on several different blogs about Mom’s who have made them at home with the kids – and it sounds like and easy and fun thing to do with even the littlest cooking fans! I found a great story on The Artful Parent about her experience with a recipe from The Food Network! Ah, the wonderful weave of the world wide web!

Image courtesy of The Artful Parent

Here are the Ingredients you will need:

1.5 cups warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 package active dry yeast
22 ounces all purpose flour (estimated 4.5 cups)
2 ounces unsalted butter – melted
Vegetable oil
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Pretzel salt

So what can the kids do? This will be enough to keep any kid happy!!!!

Knead the dough
Roll the dough and make fun pretzel shapes

Image Courtesy of The Artful Parent

And here is what you will do with those ingredients!

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe courtesy of The Food Network.

Filed Under: Cooking With Kids, Snacks

Yummy Cupcake Pops For Dad!

If you have a Daddy as great as mine you will want to do something great for him for Father’s Day!

My mom showed me these Cupcake Pops on one of my new favorite sites called Bakerella (that is who I want to be when I grow up!). They are SuperDad Cupcake Pops!

Image courtesy of Bakerella

Image Courtesy of Bakerella

I know these are way too hard for me to make – but i hope when I am older I can do it!

Bakerella used Red Velvet Cake, I haven’t tried that yet and mixed it with blue food coloring! I LOVE the color! Check out the batter in this picture – neat isn’t it?

I wish my mom could make these with me – but she is not that good in the kitchen. (Don’t tell her I said that though!!!!)

If you have an adult who can bake – I bet your Daddy would LOVE these for Father’s Day!!!!

Here is a link to the whole recipe Bakerella Superhero Cupcake Pops!

PLEASE share a picture or even better a video with us if you make these – we would love to see what you can do!