My philosophy is that a nice party does not always equal a huge budget when it comes to entertaining. Recently I have been using a website called BzzAgent. I LOVE it! They actually send you stuff to try for free! Long story short, one of my campaigns was for Private Selection, which is a Kroger brand food. I am usually weary about store brands, but let me tell you, this stuff is remarkable. You can get gourmet food, without burning a huge hole in your wallet. I highly suggest you try out both BzzAgent.com and Private Selections from Kroger!

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

These cupcakes are a lime cake, with lime glaze and cherry icing. Searching the internet, I quite a few different recipes for cherry limeade cupcakes. This is pretty much all of them mixed into one based on ingredients I had on hand.. But let me tell you, they were DELICIOUS. And they were adorable too. :)

Makes 24 cupcakes.

 LIME CUPCAKES
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
zest of 3 limes
1 room temperature stick of unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of pure lemon extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure you have a center rack for even baking.
2. Line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium sized bowl.
3. Whisk the milk and egg whites into another medium sized bowl.
4. Place the sugar and lime zest into a large mixing bowl. Rub the zest and sugar between your fingers until moist and fragrant.
5. Add the butter to the sugar mixture and mix with a hand mixer on medium speed until the sugar and butter are very well blended and light. Continue beating with medium speed.
6. Mix the lemon extract into the sugar and butter mixture. Continue beating with medium speed.
7. Add one third of the flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Continue beating with medium speed.
8. Add half of the milk mixture into the sugar mixture. Continue beating with medium speed.
9. Add in half of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Continue beating with medium speed.
10. Add the remainder of the milk mixture into the sugar mixture. Continue beating with medium speed.
11. Add the remainder of the flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Continue beating with medium speed.
12. Continue beating at medium speed for 2 minutes to insure everything is completely mixed.
13. Divide the better between the 24 cupcakes.
14. Bake for 14 - 18 minutes or until cupcakes are well risen. When poked with a toothpick, it should come out clean.

LIME GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
Juice of 2 limes

1. Mix the powdered sugar and lime juice. You can add or subtract the amount of lime juice in order to get your desired taste.
2. Poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes using a toothpick. (I poked about 12 times in each cupcake.)
3. Spoon the glaze over the cupcakes while they are still warm.
4. Add another layer of glaze if desired after first layer has hardened.

CHERRY ICING
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick of softened unsalted butter
6 tablespoons of maraschino cherry juice

1. Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl on slow speed until everything in well incorporated.
2. Mix on medium speed until the icing becomes smooth.
3. Icing cupcakes on top of the glaze after the cupcakes have completely cooled.

GARNISH
1 lime
1 jar of maraschino cherries

Hello Kitty Cupcakes

Hello Kitty Cupcakes

These are some cupcakes I made for my little cousins birthday. The Hello Kitty heads are made out of fondant that I made myself. I made my own cookie cutter as well in order to achieve the uniform size. If needed, I'd be happy to make a complete tutorial. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

Welcome!

Hi, my name is Kristan, and I obviously love to cook! This blog will include recipes, decorating and more. The internet has an overload of recipes. Some of those recipes are delicious, but let's face it, some are borderline disgusting. On this blog I intend to post not only the successful recipes, but I also plan on posting the not so great ones. Why? Because you can learn from my mistakes. Allow me to take the culinary bullet! As I learn, I hope you learn with me!