Super Easy "Funfetti" Cake

So it was the nigh before Thanksgiving and I had a craving for something sweet.. I knew I'd be making pie the next day but I couldn't wait!! So I decided to make this super easy funfetti cake! 

Ingredients: Box mix, eggs, heavy cream (instead of water), butter (instead of oil), and sprinkles! Easy! 

I like to actually butter my pan, not pam, I think butter works better! 

I add the heavy cream and turn on the mixer and then add the eggs one at a time mixing well in-between each egg. 

Next, I pour the melted and cooled butter down the side of the pan mixing it in slowly.

I poured in about 3 tablespoons of sprinkles and whipped them in.

Pre-baked cake with the sprinkles.

When the cake came out the hard sprinkle was gone and all that was left was the pretty colors in the cake!

 I ate mine frosting free, because thats how I tend to prefer cake, but you could top it with any frosting of your choice! 

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Super Easy Funfetti Cake

Ingredients:

-       Box Mix

-       3 eggs

-       ½ cup melted butter

-       1 cup heavy cream

-       3-4 tbsp. hard round sprinkles

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350º. Butter 9 x 13 pan.

2.     In the bowl of your stand mixer whip box mix and heavy cream.

3.     Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each egg.

4.     Pour melted and cooled butter down the side of the bowl mixing well.

5.     Add sprinkles and mix well.

6.     Pour into the pan, put into the oven and turn oven down to 325º.

7.     Bake 20-25 minutes.

Try it out and let me know what you think!! xoxo

Pineapple Cupcakes with Pineapple Whipped Cream

I love Hawaii. I love it. Everything about it. The people, the culture, the weather... and did I mention the beach?!? Amazing. All of it. One of the many things I love to do on Oahu is visit the Dole plantation. I love pineapple, especially fresh- Hawaiian fresh- pineapple! In my post vacation depression I am doing everything I can to hold on to the Aloha spirit. So here you have it... pineapple cupcakes with the most delicious pineapple whipped cream frosting! 

I had a box mix on hand and decided to use that as my starting point-- whenever I use a box mix I like to use butter instead of oil and milk or heavy creme instead of water. I find that it makes a fluffier moist cupcake. 

I started by using my emulsion blender to beat the eggs really good-- I didn't want any eggs showing through the white cupcake so I wanted to make sure they were beat really well. I then added the milk/heavy creme mixture and the melted butter to the eggs and gave it a quick stir before mixing it into the dry mix. 

I used canned crushed pineapple because I didn't have any of the fresh stuff available. I strained the juice from the pineapple and saved the juice for the whipped creme. 

I added about 1 cup of crushed pineapple and mixed it in at the end. You could add more or less depending on your preference. 

I used my ice cream scoop to fill the pans and then put them in the oven! 

I turned the oven down to 325º and baked them for about 22 minutes and they came out a delicious golden brown! They are so good! 

The whipped creme frosting was super easy! Heavy creme, sugar, and pineapple juice-- that's it! Just whip it still stiff peaks form, but not till it makes butter. I've done that before. Turned on the mixer and got busy cleaning up and doing something else and before I realized, I had homemade butter. It was good, but not exactly what I was going for. Now, I watch it whip very closely! This whipped creme frosting is probably one of the best frostings I've ever made. It is light, creamy and has a strong pineapple flavor. Reminds me of Dole Whip! Yumm! 

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 Pineapple Cupcakes with Pineapple Whipped Cream

Ingredients

Cupcakes:
1 box of cake mix
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter, cooled
1 cup pineapple chunks, drained

Frosting:
1 cup heavy creme
2 tbsp. white sugar
10 tbsp. pineapple juice

Directions

Cupcakes:

1. Beat eggs until smooth and no more yolk shows
2. Mix eggs, milk, and cooled butter. Stir.
3. Add to dry mix in the bowl of your stand mixer.
4. Mix on medium for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in pineapple chunks.
6. Divide between cupcake pans.
7. Put in oven and immediately turn down to 325º.
8. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Frosting:

1. Chill bowl and whisk attachment in freezer for 30 minutes, or at least 15 if you don't have 30 minutes.
2. Add sugar, whipped creme, and pineapple juice to the bowl of your stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment.
3. Whip until stiff peaks are formed. 
4. Icing cupcakes and top with leftover pineapple chunks. 

Thanks for coming, stay awhile, and return often! xoxo

Super Easy Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes

There is nothing better than a fluffy, moist vanilla cupcake--especially when they are super easy to make! And let me tell you, yumm! These are just that! Starting with a box mix makes these so easy and yet they are delicious and don't have the taste or texture of a normal box mix cupcake!

These whipped up to be a nice thick batter so I once again used my cookie scoop to fill the cups. The cookie scoop I bought was like $8 or $9 dollars and it is by far one of the best "tools" I've ever bought! It is so convenient and so much cleaner than trying to spoon batter from the bowl to each cup and trying to make them even! 

I tend to bake my vanilla cupcakes a little longer than I would another flavor because I like when they get golden brown and slightly crisp on top... but definitely watch them closely, they can quickly go from deliciously golden brown to disgustingly burnt. 

Although chocolate, strawberry, or some other flavor buttercream or cream cheese frosting can be tasty, I LOVE vanilla buttercream on vanilla cupcakes. Call me plain jane if you must, but it is simply divine! 

Super Easy Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 box of vanilla cake mix

3 eggs

½ cup melted butter-cooled

¾ cup milk

¼ cup heavy cream

Frosting:

1 can of buttercream

1 tsp. vanilla

1-2 tbsp. heavy cream

3-4 cups powdered sugar-sifted

Directions

Cupcakes:

1.     Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

2.     Add cake mix, eggs, butter, milk and heavy cream to the bowl of your stand mixer.

3.     Beat on medium for 2-3 minutes, scraping bowl as needed.

4.     Divide between cups, about ⅔ full.

5.     Place pans in oven and immediately turn the oven down to 325º. Bake for 16-20 minutes, turning half way through if needed.

Frosting:

1.     Add buttercream, vanilla and heavy cream to stand mixer.

2.     Beat on medium until well mixed.

3.     Add powder sugar until desired consistency.

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes

I love red velvet cake, cupcakes and especially The Cheesecake Factory's Red Velvet Cheesecake! Yumm!! What I don't love, is what a pain red velvet cupcakes can be to make! Well, thats what I use to think until I found Lorann Professional Kitchen Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion! I love the color it gives the cake and the flavor is pretty good also, as long as you add some cocoa.

In order to make this process as easy as possible I like to start with a vanilla cake mix as my base. I add heavy cream, milk, and melted butter which gives the cake a super moist creamy red velvet flavor! I only add a couple tablespoons of cocoa because I don't like a real chocolately flavor and I add a little extra sugar to make sure the cocoa doesn't make the cake too bitter. 

Typically with a box mix you just throw it all in and mix it up but in this case I like to start with the dry ingredients and make sure the sugar and cocoa is well incorporated into the mix before I start adding the wet ingredients. Once everything is all mixed up I can already tell it's going to be great based on the batter color! Isn't it pretty?!?!

Like most cake mixes the cupcakes don't rise all that much so I tend to fill my cups pretty full, I find it easier to decorate cupcakes that are at the top or just below it when they're done. I have a great cookie scoop that I bought from Target that helps me to get almost even cupcakes, although no matter what, they are never even! 

There is nothing better on red velvet cupcakes then creamy cream cheese icing! I like my cream cheese icing to have a strong cream cheese flavor and therefore use a lot of cream cheese in it! This icing is definitely less sweet then buttercream because I tend to use a lot less powdered sugar. 

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Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Yield: a little more than2 dozen

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 box of vanilla cake mix

2 tbsp. Hershey’s Cocoa Powder

1 tbsp. sugar

½ cup melted butter, cooled

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 eggs

2 tbsp.  Lorann Professional Kitchen Red Velvet Emulsion

Frosting:

½ cup butter-softened

16 oz. cream cheese

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1½ cups of powder sugar

Directions

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. 
2. Add cake mix, cocoa, and sugar to bowl of your stand mixer, mix on low until well mixed. 
3. Add heavy cream, milk, butter, and vanilla. Mix on medium. 
4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 
5. Add emulsion and mix well. 
6. Divide batter evenly between paper lined cups. Place pans in the oven, immediately turn oven down to 325º. Bake 15-20 minutes, turning half way through if your oven doesn’t cook evenly.

Frosting:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer combine butter and cream cheese; beat on medium-high until smooth, scraping sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. 
2. Beat in the vanilla extract. Turn mixer down to low and begin adding sifted powdered sugar until desired consistency. 
3.  Frost cupcakes once cool.

Thanks for coming, stay for awhile, and return often! xoxo