Cupakes with Cakepops

I love to bake.  You know that.  But guess who loves it even more than me?  My hubby.  He loves to eat the treats of my labor.  He's a chocoholic from way back. 

When his birthday came up this year, I really wanted to do something special for him.  He had supported me through yet another job change, and I had a good idea of what I wanted to do.

A cakepop, on top of a cupcake!  How perfect is that?

I searched and searched on the internet and couldn't really find any examples of this.  So I decided to wing it!  I used my intoxicated cupcakes recipe book to find a "chocolate stout" cupcake recipe.  Steve loves beer.  He probably loves beer more than he loves my baking!

I got really busy around the time I made these, and I never was able to blog them.  So, here are a few of the amazing picture of my cupcake/cakepop tower!!!!

Pink Rolled Flower Cupcakes

I absolutely fall in love quickly, and passionately.  When I love something, I can't get it out of my mind.  That is exactly what happened when I stumbled upon this amazing cake on Facebook. I saved the image to my desktop and thought & thought about how I could emulate this look with cupcakes.

I have a super supportive friend who I've mentioned on this blog before.  We work in the same building, and we ran into each other in the hallway about a month ago.  I mentioned that I was working with a mom on a first birthday party (the mom ended up making cupcakes on her own) and my friend piped up with her own need for first birthday celebration cupcakes.  I told her I had a great idea, sent her the picture, and it was a deal!

I knew that I wasn't going to modify a caulk gun to get super perfect tubes of fondant, but I did use some science, weighing, & measuring to make sure the flowers were as uniform as possible.  I think they turned out pretty cute, and I hope my friend & her family enjoyed them!

Bourbon Ball Cupcakes

My good friend was celebrating a birthday, and I've never made him cupcakes before.  I decided on Bourbon Ball Cupcakes!

My friend is a gin lover, but I really didn't think gin cupcakes would be good on any level, so I searched through my "Intoxicated Cupcakes" recipe book.  I used this same book last summer to make hubby's chocolate stout birthday cupcakes.  They were amazing:

When I saw "Bourbon Ball" cupcakes, and read through the recipe, I knew it was a must-try!!

Step one: make the bourbon balls!

Step two: sift the cake flour with the amazing spice combination of All Spice, Nutmeg & Cinnamon!

Step three: amazing butter, and dark brown sugar. 

Step four: one scoop of dough, drop one bourbon ball in each, another scoop of dough & bake.

Step five - try not to eat the cupcakes before you've frosted them.  The smells were amazing.

Step six: make amazing frosting with melted chocolate, butter, sugar & bourbon.  Yummmmmm.

Step seven: Now you can enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Mascarpone Cupcakes

My friends are awesome.  Every month we have a potluck.  We rotate houses, and the hosts cook the main course & choose the theme.  In February, the hostess wavered between Mardi Gras (ultimately the holiday fell too early this year) and Oscar Movies, but ended up going Italian.  Although I was dying to sign up for salad-in-a-bag or garlic bread (something easy since I was working on a huge conference for my day job and needed something easy), I got stuck with dessert.  Well, I wasn't going to make tiramisu!!!  So I started looking for an Italian Cupcake recipe.  I'm always willing to try something new, something different.  :)

I found this recipe from food network, and Giada*. I don't watch Food Network (except for Cupcake Wars of course) nor am I a huge fan of cooking shows (only Martha Bakes).  But I watched this little video and made these little cupcakes, and if I do say so myself, they turned out AMAZING.  Super delish!  A must-try!!!

Delicious Chocolate Chip Mascarpone Cupcakes!

Ran out of mini choc chips for the tops, so I used pretty, pretty sprinkles.

Amazingly delish!

*There is a great food podcast out there called "Dining with Doug & Karen."  One of those hosts, Doug Benson, is my favorite comic of all time.  But I am quickly falling in love with Karen Anderson, the other host.  On a recent episode, she asked a guest if they liked Giada.  Karen said that she didn't like Giada, and it was because she always tries to make words "all Italianey."  I laughed out loud because in the video for this cupcake recipe, she pronounces mascarpone "all Italianey."  It's hilarious.  I <3 you, Karen!  Thanks for making me laugh on my drive to and from work.  And you, too, Doug.