Super Mario Galaxy Cupcakes

This cupcake blog is dedicated to Super Mario Galaxy fans (including my husband) all over the globe. This game has so much material to work with when it comes to creating cupcake designs. At first I just thought I'd create something easy...a little rock candy here than there and that was it. But with the help and encouragement from my sister Sam, we ended up creating something I'd like to share with you today. When it comes to attempting something creative, my sister Sam had a knack for making it become tangible. This is just one of many of her works with gum paste (she made the Pink and Blue ones).

When it comes to finding something whimsical and colorful, just like the game, you can't beat Japanese confections. So I found a Japanese store nearby and thought I'd take a visit. While I was buying some milk candy (another cupcake recipe idea), I found two bags of this...pixie-like clear candy that resembles the tiny stars you collect in the game. My husband was the one to plant the idea and I took it and ran with it. Oh yeah and for more fizzle I added some Pop Rocks...I guess my husband and I have never really grown up. That's one reason why I do love him so.

So here's the little stars up close...

         

    

Make sure to look out for Super Mario Galaxy 2 this May 23rd!

Real Women of Philadelphia Competition

Feeling ambitious and ready for a challenge? Well it's not too late to enter as many times as you want with as many recipes you can concoct with Philadelphia Cream Cheese.  It's called the The Real Women of Philadelphia challenge(s) visit: realwomenofphiladelphia.com. Yep and guess who's hosting? Why it's one of my guilty pleasures Food Network host, Paula Deen.

I'm thinking about entering this coming week's challenge on Appetizers and the last week is coming up for Desserts. So think fast and don't delay if you want to be a part of this.

I think I was just cheering myself on...

Graduation Cupcake Ideas

Hooray for all our graduates of 2010! Congratulations to my youngest sister. I can't wait for the celebrations this week. I'm so proud of her and it's going to be a great time. And guess who's invited? Cupcakes! Yeah.

Anyway, since I will probably be making grad cupcakes real soon, I thought I'd look for some inspiration. Much to my delight and dread, I've found a couple great designs that I could only hope to achieve in about a year's worth of practice. But since they stood out to me, I thought I'd share my findings. Mind you one of them is totally unrelated to a "graduation" theme but it would be on my wish list if there was another diploma headed my way.

Ready? Check these delights out:

Ah yes, this is very fitting and these darlings are the creative genius of Karen Tack and Alan Richardson of Hello, Cupcake! Even if you're not making anything for graduation you can't miss out on their creations via their website and books. I'm a fan of them and will probably be learning some tips and tricks they have posted on their website.

Trust me on this, I've searched the web for unique graduation cupcakes and these stand out of the crowd.  Seriously, caps and diplomas are the usual ideas but to see tiny books and a happy teddy bear...now that's getting too cute to consume from Icip-Icip Di Dapur.

Hello future healthcare workers!  My aunt is a nurse and if I was older back when she graduated, I would have happily attempted to make these cupcakes for her party. But I would never come close to making them so professionally like Montreal's Clever Cupcakes. They in turn were inspired by Julie of Blue Cupcake. May the chain of inspiration never be broken.

Photo "Doctor Cupcakes" via clevercupcakes on Flickr

Simple and outstanding are Lisa Smiley's Graduation Cap Cupcakes on her blog, Smiley's Sweets and Creations. Sure they were made for her kindergartner but wouldn't you want to make these for your grown-up kindergartner?

Okay, I've see this talented young lady on Food Network's Cake Challenge. I thought she was amazing then and she continues to keep me wanting more of her creativity on cake. Meet Anne Heap's take on a graduation inspired cake/cupcakes. You can find more eye popping cake designs on her website Pink Cake Box.

Well, I know where I'm ordering cupcakes when I visit the UK...Crumbs And Doilies, of course. Not only does their website scream happiness and sprinkles, they also keep it organic when it comes to their ingredients. Oh and did I mention how wonderful they are when it comes to colors? Visually exciting my friends.

Last but not least, Clever Cupcakes will be getting a call from me when it comes to their "Not Your Rabbi's Cupcake..." Yep, this is a cashew cupcake frosted with a maple bacon cream cheese and a salty piece of bacon. Say hello to my little graduation!

Once again, CONGRATULATIONS to all you 2010 graduates!

You've earned it, now have a cupcake with me won't you?

Mario and Pac-Man Cupcake Designs

Yesterday I made Maraschino Cherry cupcakes and designed them all accordingly. Fortunately for me, the cake mix allowed for about 2 dozen cupcakes. Sooooo, there was enough cupcake surface area left for other designs I wanted to create. My husband suggested creating toads, stars and turtles from Mario video games. I ended up creating an inverted toad head, a Mario star, a 1-Up mushroom and totally unrelated, a blue Pacman ghost.

For all of my decorations, I used Cake Mate writing icing kit. The icing is for writing so if you're thinking about more cupcake designs, I suggest you get more than one box. The box comes in four colors: red, blue, green and yellow. You can get them at your local grocery store and it costs about $4-$5.

For the character eyes I used Betty Crocker black decorating gel. Sometimes icing from decorating tubes can be a bit challenging to create tiny dots, like eyes, on cupcakes. At least for me, I have a hard time cutting off tube icing when I have the desired teeny tiny amount. So using decorating gel and a toothpick, for tiny objects like eyes, usually helps me get the desired peepers on my characters.

Here's how they turned out:

Still the game of choice for this family, especially on our Wii.

Here's Inky (Aosuke), the blue Pacman ghost, at a disco. Or I'd like to think so. 

 

My husband's favorite kind of cherry cupcake...chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. 

Mmmmm Trio Los Panquecitos! 

Maraschino Cherry Cupcakes...Simple Bliss

Yum, yum, yum. I am so happy today because I finally made cupcakes. On today's menu: Maraschino Cherry Cupcakes.

Here's what I did:

A box of White Cake Mix (3 Egg Whites, Water & Oil)
A handful of Maraschino Cherries
A container of Fluffy White Frosting
A box of assorted food coloring, red for this one.

Pots, Pans and Misc:

Cupcake pan
Cupcake cups/liners
Food processor (if you don't have one, no worries)
Cooling racks (if you don't have one, no worries)

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

• First, take the handful of Maraschino Cherries and mince or put in food processor. Make sure the cherries are fine and not chunky.

• Follow instructions on the box for batter.

• Fold minced cherries into the batter.

• Line cupcake liners in pan. Add 2/3 of batter into each cupcake cup.

• Bake for about 20-22 minutes.

• Once baked let cupcakes cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cupcakes and in a cooled cupcake pan repeat steps 5 & 6. 

For the frosting I took out however much frosting I needed and just added one drop of food coloring.  If you want a lighter color, then add more the white frosting. And for the cherry on top, pat cherries dry before you place that finishing touch on your cupcake.

Pleeeeeaaaseee, with a cherry on top? Okay...

It's Time...

...to unleash my cupcake obsession!

This week I will attempt to bake at least a dozen or so cupcakes. Next week I'll be celebrating my sister's graduation, maybe I'll bake cupcakes there too.

Either way, it's time I do something about my craving. It's torture, let me tell you. I love cupcakes for as long as I can remember. I could eat a dozen and more in a few hours. So could my husband. And everywhere I window shop, explore and even grocery shop, I find a delicious and inviting cupcake. Oh my goodness.

Anyway, I have concocted a couple recipes and designs for the cupcakes I want to make. I'm still in the process of figuring out what, where and how this will all come together tastefully. This has been something I very much look forward to sharing with you and thanks for reading.

Wish me luck, dear blog-readers.

Photo: "Vanilla Cup Cakes with Sprinkles" by StuartWebster of Flickr's Creative Commons 

Sour Mustard Greens and Eggs

Yes, I promised you I'd blog more and making it on a Wednesday night for me is quite the feat. But enough of me. How about more fooooooood?

Today's dish is a simple yet underrated delight from Southeast Asia and from my mother's kitchen to yours. Mind you most of the dishes that I have posted, have all come from her dinner table. I intend to pass her legacy into your homes and bellies in honor of her.

The star of this dish is sour mustard or I'd like to call it, Asian Sauerkraut (I'm sure my German-descended friends would appreciate this one, you know who you are). You can find this in a single packet or more but I buy the single packs for about 79 cents to a $1. In my words: Cheap eat, full tummy.

Here's what you will need:

2 Packets of Sour Mustard
5 Cloves of Garlic
3-4 Large Eggs (depending on how much you like protein)
3 Tablespoons of Oil (Olive, Canola or Vegetable)
1 Tablespoon of Light Soy Sauce (I use Healthy Boy Mushroom flavored)
Salt and Pepper
Cilantro sprigs for garnish
Fish sauce as condiment

Pots, Pan and Misc:

A Wok, large pan or a large pot
A bowl to whisk the eggs

• First prep your ingredients. Whisk the eggs together, adding a little salt and pepper. Set that aside. Mince or pound garlic. Finally, cut Sour Mustard into thin strips.

• Add 2 Tablespoons of oil to the wok and turn on the stove to medium heat.

• Once the oil is heated but not hot, add garlic and stir until fragrant for about 30 seconds. We don't want it to turn golden, just sweated.

• Add the Sour Mustard. Stir fry Sour Mustard until it is coated and tender. The mustard should go from it's original color of greenish yellow to a yellow green. Meaning, more yellow than green. So that should be about 4-7 minutes.

• Move the stir fried Sour Mustard to the side of the pan. Add 1 Tablespoon of oil and let it heat for about 20 seconds or less. Add the eggs.

Scramble your eggs until they are more solid than wet. Once they are scrambled, mix in the mustard that was set to the side of the pan and add the tablespoon of Soy Sauce. Stir well until it is all uniformly mixed. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with warm rice, garnish with cilantro and fish sauce on the side. Oh yeah for more heat you can also add red pepper flakes.

For a slight variation, I've added a little sugar before. I've actually had sweet and sour fried mustard greens before. Not my favorite but I know it wouldn't have been sold if it wasn't somebody's favorite.