For Cupcake Lovers: Peel + Press Icing Sheets

My fellow food blogger, PleasurePalate, turned me on to these incredible peel & apply cupcake designs today. Immediately I knew I needed to share them with other cupcake lovers, bakers and admirers out there. They're called Ticings and are ready-made, peel and press appliques for cakes and cupcakes. You can choose from a gallery of designs or upload your own custom art that Ticings will then transform into edible icing sheets. So if you're piping-challenged or just decorations according to a specific theme -- like the artist-designed Halloween icing sheets below -- browse through Ticings design page and start ordering!

Spook-tacular icing sheets, just in time for Halloween!

More Ticings designs...

"Eat My Blog" Charity Bakesale! Saturday, June 19 @ Tender Greens, WeHo

It's time to blow your no-carb diet for a good cause. The Eat My Blog food blogger bake sale is tomorrow – Saturday, June 19 – at Tender Greens in West Hollywood. I spent most of today baking for the event, making coconut cupcakes with cream cheese & coconut icing, vanilla & almond cupcakes, and finally, triple fudge walnut brownies. To say that my house smelled like chocolate and vanilla and coconut heaven is an understatement.

While *I* won't be at the bake sale tomorrow because I'll be celebrating my friend's bridal shower – no worries, I dropped off the goods earlier tonight – my cupcakes and brownies WILL be there. Here's my experience during my own personal Friday bake-off. If you do hit Tender Greens, check out my treats. They're made from scratch and all go to a good cause! Recipes can be found below.

Little Charlie was on cupcake and brownie duty all day :)

My vanilla & almond cupcakes, hot out of the oven.

I piped homemade cream cheese icing in circular patterns. Wanted to keep it simple.

But then I added some edible gold sugar. Bling!

Here are absolutely delicious coconut cupcakes...one of my favorite recipes (see below).

I couldn't resist adding some gold sparkles to the coconut either! What can I say...sparkles make everything better.

I crafted "Pardon My Crumbs" signs

Not to mention display signs for each of my sweet treats...

Here are the cupcakes...all ready to go!

Now for the coconut cupcake recipe (don't forget the brownies; recipe is below). To modify the coconut cupcakes and make them vanilla & almond cupcakes, simply omit the coconut from both the cupcakes and the frosting. Done and done!

Coconut Cupcakes

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth. Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Triple Fudge & Walnut Brownies

Now...I simply can't forget the brownies...this is one of THE best brownie recipes ever. Hands down.

Close up of the brownies...

All packed and ready to go!

Here is the brownie recipe. Courtesy of Ina Garten with my own touches added to it. These will knock your friend's and family's socks off.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound unsalted butter
• 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chipse
• 6 extra-large eggs
• 1/3 cup espresso coffee
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet. Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.

BakeLab Desserts = Sweet Birthday Success

After heading to the National Chocolate Chip Day at Laurel Avenue Bakery (aka Bakelab), I knew right away that I wanted Kristin to make some treats for my 31st birthday BBQ. She was awesome to work and brainstorm with, and we came up with three fantastic custom-meets-retro-meets-delicious dessert options: s'mores cupcakes with devil's food cake, Shark Attack (!) cupcakes with a "stormy" frosting sea, fondant shark fins and red velvet cake, and finally Kristin's custom coconut-covered snowballs with pink frosting and coconut cake filling. The cakes in each dessert were so moist and flavorful, and the frosting was heavenly. Not too sweet, not too shipped, and something I was honestly tempted to eat completely separately from the cake. It's like the cake and frosting are both frontmen competing for attention (in the best possible way)...I didn't know where to go first!

S'MORES CUPCAKES

Devil's food cupcake with torched marshmallow and graham cracker crumb topping.

SHARK ATTACK CUPCAKES

Red velvet (OMG!) cupcakes with stormy "sea" frosting and fondant shark fins. The perfect BBQ dessert!

SNOWBALLS

Cake balls covered with buttercream frosting and coconut. Available in white (filled with coconut cake) or pink (filled with chocolate cake).

After an evening of noshing on appetizers like mini pigs 'n blankets, deviled eggs, pulled pork/cole slaw sliders and main course of burgers, sausages, baked beans and Nate 'n Al's

potato salad, it was time for the sweet stuff. And Oh.My.God. did people go nuts for Kristin's desserts. Granted, one of the things about coming to a party for a food blogger is that you're fed well. Shoot, you're overfed with some great food. There's just no two ways around it. Add to that the fact that Kristin's the cupcakes are BIG and it was beautiful foodie overload. People were gathered around plates with their forks, attacking into the cupcakes like, well, sharks (pun intended). There were requests for "to go" orders, so guests could make sure they got to taste all of the awesome Bakelab creations. Bryan even took the few leftovers to the Adam Carolla podcast the next night, where the two-day-old desserts got rave reviews.

While my cupcake burgers were also a hit, the bottom line is that Kristin/Bakelab is my go-to dessert gal. You should make her yours, too. Just don't be surprised if your guests want dessert first.

The Perfect BBQ Dessert: Cupcake Burgers!

Today's my birthday and we're having a bunch of friends and family over to celebrate tonight. In addition to a fantastic menu – details to come post-party – I made a really fun BBQ-themed dessert to share: mini dessert "burgers!" They're adorable and while I didn't have the time to make them from scratch, boxed ingredients worked in a pinch.

These "burgers" couldn't be more adorable (and delicious)!

Here's what you need to make ~24 burgers:

• One box brownie mix (I used a Super Deluxe Fudge Mix)
• One box yellow cupcake mix
• Two cans white frosting (I used Betty Crocker buttercream frosting)
• Red, yellow and green food coloring
• Sesame seeds

The instructions really couldn't be more easy. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Make the brownie mix and spread the batter on a 13x9" sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Parchment paper helps to keep the brownies from sticking when you cut them out. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, testing along the way for doneness. You want to take the brownies out before they get too dry, so there should be a nice "spring" back when you touch it. Set aside and let cool. Note: If you want thicker "burgers," use a smaller pan and a longer baking time (up to 40 minutes).

Brownie batter spread on 13x9" sheet pan

Mix the cupcake mix and distribute it evenly among 24 cupcake liners. It's a smart move to use liners otherwise the cupcakes will brown too much and not resemble "burger buns." I only filled the cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way full, otherwise the "buns" will be too big (for my burgers; if you want bigger burgers, by all means go for it!). Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Set aside and let cool.

Cupcake mix distributed among 24 liners (12 shown here)

Set aside and let cupcakes cool.

While the brownies and cupcakes are cooling, work on making the "condiments." Distribute the two cans of frosting into three bowls, one for "lettuce," one for "ketchup" and one for "mustard." Squeeze a few drops of green, yellow and red food colorings into the bowls and mix. You may have to continue to add food coloring until you achieve the right shade of color. When they are done, scoop the frostings into three separate piping bags and cut off the tips. don't have piping bags? A Ziploc baggie works just as well. Just spoon the frosting into a bag, cut off a tony bit of the corner tip and you've got a makeshift piping bag!

"Condiments": Ketchup, mustard and lettuce!

Time to make the burgers! Once the brownies are cool, use a 2 1/2" cookie cutter and cut discs from the brownie pan. Set aside.

Cut out the "burgers"

Remove the cupcakes from their liners and cut each one in half. Line the bottoms of the cupcakes on a sheet pan covered in parchment paper (preventing them from sticking) and top each one with a "burger."

Starting to make the burgers!

You can put the "condiments" on it whatever order you'd like, but I started with the "ketchup" and piped in a ribbon pattern along the edge of the "burger." Then I piped on the mustard, filling the "gaps" left by the ketchup. You can see what I mean in the photo below. Then I added the "lettuce," but piped it in a much more squiggly pattern. Then gently add the top of each cupcake.

Add the condiments

Add the top to each burger

To finish the burgers, brush each top bun with a tiny bit of water. Sprinkle with sesame seeds to get the full look of a burger and you've got yourself dessert! Could they be any cuter? If you want to get crazy, you can also make sugar cookie "fries" but rolling out sugar cookie dough, cutting it into very thin strips, baking it and rolling them in granulated sugar for a "salty" effect. Put them in little fry bags/cones and you've got the perfect dessert for a summer BBQ. Can't wait for everyone to have these tonight! I know they won't taste as great as homemade, but they'll look the part.

Dessert burgers!