When talking with Mr. G about what kind of birthday party he would like and particularly what kind of cake he said. “Not cake, cupcakes!” Ok, What kind of cupcakes then?  “Oh…Perry the Platypus ones!”

Which meant I had to figure out how to make them. After scouring the internet I found a simple idea on the Disney Family.com site for the Perry the Platypus Cupcakes.  I also found several other good ideas for Phineas & Ferb related items. Because God how we love that show. I mean THE KIDS. The kids love that show (and us, adults, we love it too…shhh don’t tell anyone).

So after an already busy morning rushing around for work, right before the party, I came home frosted cupcakes (old school style) with delicious homemade buttercream frosting & then began to construct the cupcakes. Why? Because I am crazy woman that’s why.

I used:

Blue Raspberry Airheads, 1/2 of one for his body

Vanilla wafers, 1/2 of one for his tail

Candy eyes, attached with frosting

Marzipan, for his mouth (food coloring added for color)

Overall I think it was a good first try. I haven’t really ever tried to work with candy to make characters. In fact, I haven’t really worked with much of anything to make characters out of food. Candy or otherwise.

I will say this I found the airheads bent over when the cupcakes were sitting out before serving and that made some of the cupcakes look wonky. I also did not quite get the coloring on the tail or the mouth to be what I wanted. I do think circus peanuts candy would have been better to achieve the right color but we couldn’t find any in time. The same goes for the eyes, mini chocolate chips I think would have stood out more for the eyes like Perry’s eyes do.  But Mr. G loves these eyes & since it was HIS birthday he got the eyes he loved.  And given our time crunch, which is never ending it seems, we decided (I decided) to go with what was easiest in all categories.

But I don’t think Mr. G minded one bit any of the flaws.  Instead he loved them!  He was so happy watching them be made & even happier to eat them. The only thing he said would have made them even cooler would have been a little hat so Perry could become Agent P.

I had a need for Chocolate Cake the other night.  I was cold and my week had been long, real long. I was feeling some of the winter blues that can settle in this time of year.

And what cures those wintry blues?  Cake.  Chocolate cake in fact. And not any chocolate cake but one with chocolate buttercream frosting.  A decadent combination that helped warm up the night with an amazing range of chocolate goodness.

Many years ago I would have balked at the thought that I, I of all people!, would ever make a cake and frosting from scratch but really it was so simple, rich and a perfect end note to the day.  I have no idea why for years packaged items made their way into my cupboards and my body, no need for that.  Because this cake took no time at all, maybe 15 minutes to whip the cake together and another 10 minutes for frosting and that may have been because the frosting needed testing.  I mean I had to stop to test the frosting just to make sure it was good. It was a quality control test (and that’s my story, I’m sticking to it!).

Chocolate Cake Recipe

Here’s What You Need:

1 Tablespoon Butter to grease baking pans

1 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour (plus a tablespoon more for pans)

2 Cups Sugar

3/4 Cups Cocoa Powder

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 Cup Milk

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

2 Extra-large Eggs (room temperature)

1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Water

Preheat oven for 350 degrees

Here’s How to Put it Together:

Sift all dry ingredients into the mixing bowl you will use. I used my stand mixer so the ingredients went right into the bowl on the mixing stand.

Then add your other wet ingredients one by one.  Mixing (if using the stand mixer the paddle attachment is best) each in fully before moving onto the next.

Once everything is together.  Divide into two 8 inch round baking pans that have been buttered & lightly floured.

Pop into the preheated oven at 350 degrees. I’d recommend checking at 25 minutes. If the cake goes too long it will be dry.

You can see if it is done by poking a toothpick or knife into the center of the cake *not all the way through the cake* then pulling it out. If it comes out clean, no cake residue on it, then your cake is done.

Place on cooling racks for 20–30 minutes until the cakes are cool. Then remove cakes from pans.  I do this by placing the cooling racks on top of the cake pans, then flipping them over together, allowing for the release of the cake on top of the racks.

Source: Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Cocolate Cake Recipe with adaptations

Buttercream Frosting Recipe

I used My Buttercream Frosting Recipe and added 1/3 cup of Cocoa Powder into the frosting to create a lighter Chocolate Buttercream Frosting that was really unbelievably lick-able.

To put the cake together frost one cake’s top, the place the second cake on top.  Then frost the whole bad boy & dig in.  Try not to fall face first into the whole cake though, it’s not a pretty sight.

While visiting Northern Michigan my daughter saw these adorable hamburger cupcakes in Hansen Foods of Suttons Bay.  Of course we had to buy them.   They were too cute to pass up.  Additionally, Mamacita was celebrating a birthday & as the birthday girl if she wanted hamburger cupcakes she was going to get them by golly! Hey, she’s in preschool “by golly!” is better than “damn it!” at this age, not that she has ever overheard an adult say that phrase & thought when she dropped playdoh at school that “damn it!” was a good response. No not at all (score for parent fail!!). Anyway, the cupcakes.  The adorable little cupcakes.

We bought them & couldn’t wait to enjoy them.  And being that I love food, I peeked at how they were made.  A very simple styling gave these sweet treats their perfect patty punch.

Make a dozen yellow cupcakes, top them with sesame seeds & bake.  Make 1/2 a dozen chocolate cupcakes.  Make a batch of homemade buttercream frosting, you will divide this into thirds.  One third will be colored red (tomato), 1/3 yellow (mustard), & the last 1/3 will be green (lettuce). I would say you’d want a thin tip for the yellow/mustard & a wider flat tip for the red color with a tip that will give you a flat curtain affect for the green/lettuce. When the cupcakes are baked & cooled you will cut in 1/2 your yellow cupcake.  The sesame seeded top will be the top of your “bun”.  Then take and cut into a patty your chocolate cupcake, I’d think you’d be able to 1/2 these & shave off the more rounded tops to be flat giving you two “patties” from each chocolate cupcake.  Then frost & assemble.

They would make a great addition to any party or BBQ. I know we all enjoyed them.  Not only were they the cutest little cupcakes but they tasted divine.   Definitely not a cake wreck.

I have a slight cupcake problem.  It’s not the cupcakes so much as the frosting.  See this weekend we had family over to celebrate the eldest birth, we had already given him his gift of the baseball game. You know how birthdays are, they are time when the world as we all knew it changed.  When this new person officially entered the world.

He was the first grandchild for my husband’s parents & the second by mere months for my parents.  He was a miracle child for us as parents then & still is.  Even if acts a fool up in here on a regular basis.  He is a kid, he is supposed to be foolish.  It’s why he has parents to help him make it beyond the early years.  Parents who also think it’s a great idea to make a cake & cupcakes.

Why?  Love?  Yes, that’s part of it.  He is a pretty awesome kid, as are the other rabble-rousers (again I’m being totally unbiased here).  But the other part of motivation for making these treats is the frosting.  Oh, the delicious buttercream frosting.

Yea, I realized I *might* have a serious problem when I was ready to dive face first into the bowl to lick the rest of the frosting out of it.  Although I do think the kids did a great job helping decorate the cupcakes, we used a piping bag to frost them.  It also *may* have taken all my willpower to NOT eat them ALL before the guests arrived.

When we were married one of my absolute requirements for our wedding day, one of the things I was willing to give up a kidney or maybe firstborn for, was a beautiful cake that was light and fluffy with buttercream frosting.   Buttercream frosting makes me want to get a spoon and sneak some for myself.  Maybe even lick the bowl after frosting the cake.  It’s a sweet treat perfect for birthdays and other special times with family and friends.

Fresh, real, homemade buttercream frosting though can be addictive.  Since a frosted cake is not going to be everyday food, you can have it & know that the treat is well worth it.  It’s also very easy to make.

Buttercream Frosting Recipe

What You Need

1 Cup of Unsalted Butter

4 Cups of Confectioner’s Sugar (Powdered Sugar)

2 Teaspoons Vanilla

2 Tablespoons of Half & Half (Milk Creamer)

Makes 6 Cups of Frosting

How To Put It Together

Softened your unsalted butter.  Use either a stand mixer or hand mixer (we use a Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer).   You’ll whip it on a medium speed.  Whip the butter until fluffy, should look light & airy.

Then turn off your mixer and slowly add in your Confectioner’s Sugar.  Add in one cup at a time & whip each cup into the butter.    Once it’s all whipped together add in your 2 Teaspoons of Vanilla.  Then slowly add in your Half & Half Creamer. Do it one Tablespoon at a time.  After each Tablespoon of Creamer whip the frosting.  You may need to adjust the Creamer if you want it a little thinner, if you want it thicker you wouldn’t put the full second Tablespoon only add maybe half of it.  Incorporate these fully into your frosting, takes less than a minute.  We added the full 2 Tablespoons.

It’s light, fluffy and perfect for frosting your treats.

I have been really wanting to have sfoilletella. It’s an Italian pastry that in English you’d call a lobster tail. I adore these pastries & really I adore all pastries. I am a pastry-slut, I’m not proud of it but I am what I am.

Recently I was watching Cake Boss & saw them again. However, no Italian bakery that was open at that time. Damn them for having lives and not being open at night to fuel my cravings. MOMMY WANTS HER PASTRY!!

But given I’m chock full of ingenuity I realized that instead of having the original Hubby & I were going to have to put our college educations to work. That post secondary education has to be good for something, right?

We decided to go high-class with what I am going to call my “White Trash Pastry”. We had to make use of what was around the house. We had waffle cones but no ice cream. We had frosting but no cake mix & not enough of the right ingredients to attempt to make one on our own & besides let’s be real baking wasn’t going to happen then anyway.

Granted the final product was NO were near my craving but hey when there’s no bakery open, you (or Hubby) don’t want to get in the car (it was HOT & no amount AC was going to cut it), & you have little to work with you can be surprised what you will try. After falling into a sugar coma with Hubby by my side I still don’t regret eating it. Even if it was shameful that we made it & consumed every last bite.

Ingredients:

Here’s the final product:

And heck why not do as Hubby did to round out the classy treat:

*btw the link is to the actual bakery featured on Cake Boss, I’m now going to wipe the drool off my face after looking at their pastries online.