Caramel Apple Cupcakes

A couple weeks ago my mother-in-law to be gave me a big bag of apples straight from the apple capitol of the world (Wenatchee, WA). I was running out of things to do with them, so I decided to do what I do best and put them in a cupcake! I used a snickerdoodle cupcake recipe and added fresh shredded apples, filled them with homemade caramel, and topped them with vanilla cream cheese frosting. The end result was something out of this world. I might be a little bit bias, but I'm pretty sure one of these cupcakes could change your life. Don't believe me? Give me a call and order a batch for yourself!!!

caramel apple cupcakes w/ vanilla cream cheese frosting

 

 

World's Worst Blogger

SO...here's the deal. I am the world's worst blogger. I promise I did not fall off the face of the earth in June and therefore have not posted anything on my blog since then. I also didn't stop baking. I have had a very busy summer. From soccer, to swim lessons, work, then more work, Mariner's games, date nights, and a couple weekends away here and there...I haven't had much spare time for blogging. I have been trying out lots of new cupcake recipes though. Here are a couple of my favorites.

red, white, & blue cupcakes

i served these with a lit sparkler. tasty and festive!!!

banana pudding cupcakes

 

To make these yummy cupcakes yourself 

click here.

With fall right around the corner I plan to be spending much more time inside baking AND blogging. Stay tuned for fun new fall recipes and holiday treats that are sure to cupcake you away!!!

PB&J Cupcakes

I just whipped up a batch of cupcakes for my daughter's soccer team that I'm sure are going to be a big hit! What kid doesn't love a good PB&J sandwich? I took that concept and turned it into a cupcake! I'm sure I'm not the first to do so, but my creamy peanut butter frosting is tops. I can't wait to hand these out after the game tonight.

strawberry filling

peanut butter frosting

PB&J CUPCAKES!!!

Cupcakes for COTA

Last week was a very busy and exciting week. I got my engagement ring back after 2 loooong weeks of waiting for it to be sized,  my future brother-in-law graduated from UW with his MBA (GO JOSH!), my fiance (I never get tired of saying it!) graduated from Western Washington University (GO WILL!), and I donated 335 mini cupcakes to the first annual Brews, Brats, & Bases event in Ferndale, WA. 100% of the proceeds from the event benefited the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA). I was honored to be asked and to donate cupcakes to such an incredible charity. It was definitely a challenge baking over 300 cupcakes, but no where near as challenging as it would be to have a child in need of an organ transplant. I praise God every day for my healthy little girl, and am doing my best to give to those who are less fortunate. If  you are interested in supporting a local family through COTA please visit this website and learn how you can bless the Cook family.

chocolate w/ creamy chocolate frosting

lemon w/ lemon buttercream frosting

yellow cupcakes w/ pink vanilla buttercream frosting

red velvet w/ cream cheese frosting

Happy birthday & ENGAGEMENT to ME!!!

mississippi mud cupcakes

I'M ENGAAAAAGED!!!! After 3 long years of patient & silent waiting...ok maybe I wasn't always so patient or silent...but Will finally popped the question! It was the sweetest thing, and I was so surprised. Will got up with Claire and told me I could sleep in, and then a few minutes later Claire was standing by the side of my bed shoving the ring in my face saying, "mommy, will you marry daddy?" I was in shock (Will swears I looked scared) and I turned around to Will who was sitting on the bed next to me. He very sweetly took my hand & asked me to marry him, and then I very sweetly demanded that he get down on his knee and ask me again...and then I said yes!!!

He proposed 2 days before my birthday, so I've had an awesome couple of days celebrating my birthday and engagement. Yesterday my girlfriends and I got pedicures, went wedding dress shopping, and had a delicious dinner at Scotty Browns followed by some scrumptious cupcakes made my yours truly. I went with another Confessions of a Cookbook Queen recipe. I found this recipe a few weeks ago when a friend recommended I make Mississippi Mud cupcakes. I had never heard of Mississippi Mud cake, but apparently it's a pretty big deal on the East coast. I found a few different recipes, but this one was the best. I made half or them with pecans on top, and half w/ an oreo cookie at the bottom of each cupcake & oreo crumbles on top. Both variations were delish! I don't have any leftover to share, but I will definitely be making these again.

mississippi mud cupcakes w/ pecans

mississippi mud w/ oreos

Win a $100 Walmart Gift Card

Click on this link for a chance to win a $100 Walmart gift card and a Nestle Drumstick prize pack. After you enter, stay awhile and check out her blog. Caution: do not read if you are at work, or the library, or a quiet coffee shop...or anywhere else where it might be embarrassing to LOL :)

Cap'n Crunch Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter Marshmallow Frosting

I know I've been kind of a slacking with my blog posts lately, but I promise I've been busy baking cupcakes. Last week I baked a batch of chocolate mini cupcakes w/ pink cream cheese frosting for a baby shower. I made a few of them look like baby rattles by inserting a lollipop stick w/ a gumdrop attached to the bottom and adding a pink bow around the middle. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures, but you can only imagine how adorable they were!

I also baked a batch of chocolate raspberry cupcakes w/ raspberry buttercream frosting for one of my co-workers who needed them for a potluck. Again, no pictures, but I recently made chocolate raspberry cupcakes w/ a swiss meringue buttercream frosting and they looked very similar.



chocolate raspberry cupcakes
w/ swiss meringue buttercream frosting

My last post was about a new blog I stumbled upon called Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. Yesterday I decided to try out one of her cupcake recipes. I made Cap'n Crunch cupcakes w/ peanut butter marshmallow frosting. Words cannot express how delicious they were. The frosting is very similar to the frosting I use when I make peanut butter high hats, but those are dipped in melted chocolate. The peanut butter marshmallow frosting on its own is so light and fluffy it melts in your mouth. I surprisingly have a few left over and if I don't eat them all while I'm home today I will donate them to trivia night tonight at Boston's. If you don't have plans this evening get yourself over to Boston's at 8pm for happy hour, trivia, and a chance to win some of these yummy cap'n crunch cupcakes!



cap'n crunch cupcakes
w/ peanut butter marshmallow frosting

Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

I was browsing the web today for some fun Mother's Day cupcake ideas and I stumbled upon this blog called Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. Not only do the recipes look mouthwatering, her stories are hilarious! I spent just as much time LOLing as I did drooling on my keyboard. I can't wait to try out some of her cupcake recipes. I especially can't wait to make these! I don't care if Will thinks they taste like chocolate covered toothpaste, peppermint patties are the best!

Chocolate Salted-Caramel Cupcakes

Will's sister-in-law hired me to bake cupcakes for a CAbi party she's throwing tomorrow afternoon, and she gave me free reign so I decided to try out a chocolate salted-caramel cupcake recipe that caught my eye a while back. I had one extra so I cut it in half to share with Will, but if he doesn't get home from work soon it might accidentally disappear. I've never made caramel before so I was worried I was going to mess it up, but it turned out to be quite delicious. A little tip for first time caramel makers...no matter how tempting it looks, don't dip your finger into the pot of boiling hot caramel to do a taste test. It will burn your finger, and then your tongue. I won't have any of these cupcakes left over to share, so until I make them again here is a step by step guide for how to make your own chocolate salted-caramel cupcakes :-)

step 1: bake delicious chocolate cupcakes

step 2: fill cupcakes w/ caramel
& a pinch of sea salt

step 3: top w/ dark chocolate frosting
& a pinch of sea salt

step 4: enjoy



Berry Yummy Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

It's Tuesday so you know what that means...Trivia Night at Boston's! I've been donating cupcakes to give away to the 3rd place trivia winners the past few weeks and today I whipped up a batch of raspberry filled devil's food cupcakes that are sure to make the 3rd place team feel like they came in first! My obvious goal in donating cupcakes to trivia night is to spread the word about Cupcake Me Away and bring in some new customers. I haven't received any orders from trivia night cupcake winners yet, but I am still getting lots of practice with new cupcake & frosting recipes so I'd like to think I'm winning too. If you'd like to try a chocolate raspberry cupcake come to Boston's tonight. I'll be there from 8-10!

devil's food cupcakes w/ raspberry filling
& raspberry meringue buttercream frosting

Snickerdoodle Dandy

snickerdoodle cupcakes

I finally got enough of my kitchen unpacked to bake some cupcakes last night. It was so exciting to be able to set my cooling racks on the counter (as opposed to the kitchen table where I had to put them in my apt) and even more exciting to be able to spread the 3 cooling racks out on the counter to frost the cupcakes (instead of frosting them one rack at a time and stacking the next rack on top...which I had to do in my tiny apt). We still have a lot of work to do in the new house, but everyday it's feeling more and more like home. I can't wait to have all our boxes unpacked, pictures up on the wall, and every little knick-nack in place...but for now I'm happy with snickerdoodle cupcakes on my counter!

meringue frosting dusted w/cinnamon & sugar

nobody better lay a finger on my butterfinger...

Unless I smash them up and bake them in a devil's food cupcake! My brother-in-law, Justin, gave me the idea for a butterfinger cupcake last month and I decided today was a good day to give 'em a try. I made a devil's food cupcake and added chopped up butterfingers to the batter, then filled the cupcakes with fudge frosting, dipped them in chocolate ganache, and topped them with more crushed butterfingers. They are absolutely delicious, but I think the fudge filling overpowers the butterfinger flavor. Next time I think I'll either add butterfingers to the fudge filling, or bake them with a mini butterfinger in each cupcake. I'll be giving 1/2 a dozen away tonight at Boston's for the 3rd place trivia winners, the rest are up for grabs. Let me know if you want one. Unlike Bart Simpson, I know how to share :-)

fudge filled butterfinger
devil's food cupcakes

Happy Easter

The Easter bunny has been hard at work this weekend in the Cupcake Me Away kitchen. She whipped up a delicious batch of chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes! I got the recipe from my dear friend, Tara, and have been dying for an excuse to make them for the past few weeks. I was browsing Pinterest for some cute Easter cupcake ideas, but everything I found seemed a little over the top. While a cupcake topped in green coconut and a marshmallow peep looks super cute, I'm all about things that taste good. I decided to keep it simple with these chocolate chip cupcakes, filled with cookie dough, and topped with cookie dough frosting and a couple Cadbury mini eggs. Have you ever had a Cadbury mini egg? They are a revelation! It was all I had in me not to eat the whole bag the night before I baked. The recipe said it would yield 24 cupcakes, but I had enough batter left over to make 21 mini cupcakes too! If you're like me, and you eat more cookie dough than you bake...then this is the cupcake for you! 

chocolate chip cupcake
w/ cookie dough filling & cookie dough frosting

mini chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes







when life gives you lemons...



Make lemon cupcakes! I asked you to vote a few weeks ago on my next cupcake and lemon was the winner, but when we got home from Texas Claire and I both got pretty sick so I wanted to wait until we were both healthy before baking anything in my germy house. Now that we're better and my kitchen is germ free I decided to whip up a batch of lemon mini cupcakes. After baking 72 minis I had enough batter left over to make 5 normal sized cupcakes. I posted a giveaway on my facebook page and gave away 4 cupcakes to the winners, and had one left over for me and Claire to share. The minis went so fast I didn't even have time to take pictures! I did think to take a picture of my last lemon cupcake though, right before enjoying its sweet lemony goodness :-)



lemon cupcake
w/ lemon buttercream frosting

Cupcakes for Sale!

I made 2 batches of cupcakes today for an order and have 24 left over. If you want one let me know!

peanut butter cream-filled devil's food cupcakes

chocolate cupcakes w/chocolate ganache
 & vanilla buttercream swirl

chocolate cupcakes w/ vanilla buttercream filling & swirl

Chocolate Cupcakes for 2

I have been wanting to bake cupcakes ever since I got home from Texas but I have been pretty sick and didn't want to spread my germs no matter how delicious they might be. While browsing cupcake blogs today I stumbled upon a recipe that only makes 2 cupcakes so I decided to try it out. They turned out to be so delicious and easy to make I just had to share!

i made 6 mini cupcakes instead of 2 big ones

the frosting slid off the cupcakes right after i took
this picture because i frosted them too soon:(

Here is a link to the recipe: http://www.brettbara.com/baking/recipe-two-exactly-two-chocolate-cupcakes/ (scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for recipe)

Enjoy your cupcakes, and try to be patient and let them cool completely before frosting them!

What's next?

Hey y'all. I  have been roasting this past week here in Tyler, Texas, but I've had so much fun catching up with my sisters and Sara's wedding was a blast. Still, there has been something very important missing from this trip...CUPCAKES. I was planning on making some while I was here, but it turns out my sister lacks the necessary ingredients and baking utensils that are essential for making cupcakes. I could have sucked it up and stocked her kitchen, but I felt my time and money were much better spent spoiling my 5 month old niece!

I'm heading home tomorrow and as much as I'll miss my family here I am ready to get back in my kitchen and bake. So what's next? I'm going to let you decide! Should I make:
a) lemon cupcakes with a lemon buttercream frosting
b) espresso cupcakes (coffee flavored cupcakes with an espresso buttercream)
c) butterfinger cupcakes (I'm not quite sure what I will do for this but my new brother-in-law requested them. I'm thinking chocolate cupcakes with chopped up butterfingers, a fudge filling, and vanilla buttercream with chopped butterfingers on top)

Ready. Set. Vote!

I gotta pocket gotta pocketful of cupcakes!

My chocolate peanut butter high hats were a huge hit today. Thanks to everyone who invested in my business by purchasing a cupcakes or two. I have had a lot of support these past couple weeks, but I would like to make a special shout out to my co-worker Wayne. He has come up with a very clever jingle for my cupcakes using Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" that goes: I gotta pocket gotta pocketful of cupcakes...CUPCAKE ME AWAAAAY! It makes  me laugh every time he sings it. If I ever open up a store he is the first person I would ask to work with me:-)

chocolate peanut butter high hats



photos courtesy of Kaitlyn Holman


Stay posted for my next cupcake adventure, and don't forget to follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/rtillsoncupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter High Hats

peanut butter high hat

I know I just did a chocolate peanut butter cupcake, but a friend of mine ordered a batch of peanut butter high hats for a Mary Kay shindig she's going to this Tuesday so I'm doing it again. Can you ever really have too much chocolate and peanut butter? A peanut butter high hat, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is a yellow cupcake topped with peanut butter frosting dipped in melted chocolate (try not to drool on your keyboard!) The batch will yield about 60 cupcakes. 24 will be reserved for my friend, but the rest are on sale for $1 each and I will have them ready tomorrow (Monday) afternoon. If you didn't get to try one of my peanut butter cream-filled devil's food cupcakes, or you did and you want another cupcake, or you've NEVER tried one of my cupcakes (shame on you) and you're thinking now is the time...let me know!

Officially in Business!

I sold my first cupcakes today! Thank you so much to everyone at Olive Garden who invested in my new business, and congratulations to Heather, David, Tara, Brooklyn, and Kaitlyn for winning my contest. Sorry I didn't clarify in my post that you needed to be in Bellingham to collect your prize, Kim & Chris. I'll work on finding a way to ship my cupcakes for future blog contests. I was a little nervous posting the picture of Bobby Flay's peanut butter cream-filled devil's food cupcakes. What if mine didn't look as mouthwatering? I'm happy to report they turned out great. I even received a "this is the best cupcake I've ever had!" compliment, and booked a party (but shhhhh....it's a surprise!) I think it's safe to say that today was a huge success. I can't wait to see where this new business "cupcakes me away!"



photos courtesy of Kaitlyn Holman



Peanut Butter Cream-Filled Devil's Food Cupcakes

If the title of this post didn't make your mouth water this picture surely will! Ever since I got this month's chocolate issue of The Food Network Magazine I've been dying to try this recipe (courtesy of Bobby Flay). I'm planning on whipping up a batch of these babies on Wednesday. The recipe says it will make 18 cupcakes. If you want one, leave a comment on this post. The first 5 comments get one for free! I will sell the remaining cupcakes for $1 each. If they're in high demand I am willing to make a second batch. Let me know!

Let's Get it Started!

In the past few months I have developed an undeniable love for baking cupcakes! It all started when my friends Randy & Heather bought me a cupcake book and frosting kit for Christmas. Since then I have been baking cupcakes for any and every occasion.

Anniversary Cupcakes

chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting

Superbowl Cupcakes

boston cream cupcakes & lime margarita cupcakes



Valentine's Day Cupcakes

chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream(left)
creamy chocolate frosting w/fresh raspberries(right)

Just For Fun Cupcakes

peanut butter high hats

vanilla cupcakes for 2 with oreo buttercream

And, of course, birthday cupcakes!

orange soda cupcakes with orange vanilla buttercream

I'm sure my friends love all of my cupcake posts on facebook, and I know my co-workers love all the extra cupcakes I bring into work, but it is time for my cupcakes to have their very own blog. I know it's not polite to toot your own horn, but darn it my cupcakes are just that good!

My short term goal is to experiment with new flavors and designs, take a decorating class so I can learn how to make frosting flowers and possibly learn to work with fondant and gum paste, and, most of all, have fun! Long term I would love for this to turn into more than just a hobby. So, if you want some tasty cupcakes made from scratch for a birthday party, baby shower, bridal shower, or just because you're craving some cupcakes...let me know! I would love the opportunity to develop my skills and build my business.

Thanks for stopping by,

RyAnn