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April Fool’s Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes

Posted on April 1, 2016
April Fool's Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes sweetlemonmade.com

I’ve got an unconventional cupcake flavor I whipped together that I think you should try out–spaghetti and meatball. You’re probably thinking that I’ve gone insane but, trust me it tastes really good!

Just kidding!! APRIL FOOL’S! Gotcha ya!

I have a love/hate relationship with April Fool’s Day because I love to play tricks on people but, I hate getting tricks played on me! So for me, I bake treats that look like food to trick my family, friends, and coworkers but, lucky for them they never taste awful!

Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes sweetlemonmade.com

So, if you want to play an April Fool’s Day joke on your family, friends, or coworkers without being mean spirited these spaghetti meatball cupcakes will fool them but won’t make them want to gag! Some of them will think you are crazy for wanting them to try a spaghetti and meatball cupcake but, little do they know it actually tastes pretty good! The chocolate cupcake with “cream cheese frosting” spaghetti noodles, a “Ferrero Rocher” meatball, “strawberry jelly” marinara sauce, and “grated white chocolate” Parmesan cheese doesn’t taste all that bad! And I’m not just saying that to get you to eat it and for me to say “April Fool’s”! Or am I? I’m just messing with you, they taste good! 🙂

Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes
A delicious vanilla cupcake with cream cheese filling.
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Ingredients
  1. VANILLA CUPCAKES
  2. 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  3. 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  4. 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  5. 1/4 tsp salt
  6. 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  7. 2 cups granulated sugar
  8. 4 eggs, room temp
  9. 4 tsp vanilla extract
  10. 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk
  11. CREAM CHEESE FILLING
  12. 8 ounces cream cheese, room temp
  13. 5 tbsp. unsalted butter
  14. 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  15. 2 tsp. vanilla
  16. ADDITIONAL CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS
  17. Strawberry jelly
  18. Dozen Ferrero Rocher
  19. Almond bark
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
  3. Cream together butter and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Beat in vanilla extract.
  6. Gently fold in the dry ingredients in three equal portions, alternating with the milk (start with dry ingredients and end with dry ingredients).
  7. Pour batter evenly into paper lined muffin pan.
  8. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Watch cupcakes carefully, making sure to not over bake. As soon as the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cupcakes from the oven. Let cool for 2 minutes and remove from pan and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
  9. Next up is the cream cheese filling. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
  10. Mix in the vanilla extract.
  11. Gradually add in the powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached and smooth--should be thick but, not too thick.
  12. Transfer the cream cheese filing to a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip.
Notes
  1. Cupcake Assembly
  2. 1. Pipe cream cheese frosting onto the cupcakes in a figure-eight motion to make it look like spaghetti.
  3. 2. Unwrap a Ferrero Rocher and roll it in the jelly to coat it. Place in the middle of the cupcake and drizzle a little extra "sauce" jelly on top.
  4. 3. Grate almond bark on top to make it look like Parmesan cheese.
Sweet Lemon Made https://sweetlemonmade.com/

Eats

Birds Nest Cupcakes

Posted on March 24, 2016

Easter is just right around the corner! If you are in charge of making a dessert, these cupcakes are cute and delicious. Cadbury Mini Eggs are one of my favorite Easter candies so, when I saw these cupcakes on my Pinterest feed, I knew I had to make them because I couldn’t pass up the chance to add Cadbury Mini Eggs to a cupcake! I just can’t get over how cute these little chicks are! These fluffy vanilla cupcakes, with chocolate buttercream frosting, shredded coconut, and the cutest Cadbury Mini Egg chicks are the perfect addition to any Easter celebration. Warning: you may need to buy an extra bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs, you won’t be able to resist snacking on them while you make these delicious cupcakes! 🙂

Birds Nest Cupcakes
Fluffy vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting.
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Ingredients
  1. VANILLA CUPCAKES
  2. 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  3. 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  4. 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  5. 1/4 tsp salt
  6. 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  7. 2 cups granulated sugar
  8. 4 eggs, room temp
  9. 4 tsp vanilla extract
  10. 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk
  11. CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
  12. 2 cups powdered sugar
  13. 1/3 cup salted butter, softened
  14. 2 Tbsp heavy cream
  15. 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  16. 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
  17. Yellow and red food coloring gel
  18. ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
  19. 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
  20. Cadbury Mini Eggs
  21. 1 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips
  22. Cupcake liners
Instructions
  1. To make the vanilla cupcakes, preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Sift together the flours, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
  3. Cream together butter and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Beat in vanilla extract.
  6. Gently fold in the dry ingredients in three equal portions, alternating with the milk (start with dry ingredients and end with dry ingredients).
  7. Pour batter evenly into paper lined muffin pan.
  8. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Watch cupcakes carefully, making sure to not over bake. As soon as the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cupcakes from the oven. Let cool for 2 minutes and remove from pan and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
  9. Next up is the chocolate buttercream frosting. In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer whip together powdered sugar, butter, heavy cream, and vanilla extract for 1 minute until smooth and fluffy.
  10. Scoop out 2 and 1/2 tablespoons of the frosting into a small bowl and tint it with yellow and red gel food coloring (you will only need a tiny bit) until you get the desired orangish-yellow color to your liking for the beaks.
  11. Add cocoa powder to the remaining frosting mixture and whip together with electric mixer until well combined.
Notes
  1. ASSEMBLING THE CUPCAKES
  2. 1. Toast coconut flakes by preheating oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown, rotating pan halfway through baking. Watch closely to prevent over toasting. Allow to cool.
  3. 2. Frost cooled cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting.
  4. 3. Gently press 3 Cadbury Mini Eggs into the center of each cupcake with the pointed end facing down into the frosting and the large rounded end facing up.
  5. 4. Sprinkle toasted coconut around the Cadbury Mini Eggs (work quickly before the frosting sets so the coconut sticks better).
  6. 5. Fill a ziploc bag with orange tinted frosting. Using scissors cut a very small tip off of the corner of the bag and pipe beaks onto the Cadbury Mini Eggs.
  7. 6. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring between each interval until melted and smooth. Using a toothpick, dip the end of the toothpick into the chocolate and dab the eyes onto the chicks.
  8. Chocolate butter cream frosting recipe adapted from cookingclassy.com
Sweet Lemon Made https://sweetlemonmade.com/
Birds Nest Cupcakes sweetlemonmade.com

Eats

Let March Madness Begin!

Posted on March 11, 2016
March Madness Rice Krispie Treats sweetlemonmade.com

As my family and friends will tell you, I love watching basketball! March has become one of my favorite months because it means MARCH MADNESS and lots and lots of basketball. Even though I don’t catch a lot of the regular season college basketball games, I still love filling out a bracket every year and cheering for my teams hoping to win family, friends or work pools. Selection Sunday is this Sunday, March 13th, so get your brackets printed and play along! Don’t think that you have to know team stats to play or even win (because like me, I don’t always know all the teams so I choose between the teams based on the team mascot, school colors or even the design of their jerseys). Have fun filling out your brackets and make some Rice Krispie treat basketballs to get into the spirit! The First Round (aka the Big Dance) March 15-16. To stay up to date on whose playing, schedules and scores, download the NCAA March Madness Live app. Good luck to everyone!

Basketball Rice Krispie Treat Recipe
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Ingredients
  1. 5 tablespoons butter
  2. 8 cups mini marshmallows
  3. 6 cups Rice Krispie cereal
  4. Orange food coloring
  5. Black frosting, black candy melts, or chocolate chips
  6. Circular cookie cutter
  7. Piping bag
Instructions
  1. Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil and spray with non-stick spray, set aside.
  2. In a large pan, over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Once butter is melted add 6 cups of mini marshmallows. Stir together and just before the marshmallows are melted add in the food coloring until desired color is reached.
  3. Remove from heat and stir in Rice Krispie cereal. Stir together until cereal is barley coated with marshmallow mixture. Now stir in remaining 2 cups of marshmallows.
  4. Pour into prepared pan and press evenly into pan.
  5. Allow to completely cool before using the cookie cutter to cut out the basketballs.
  6. If using candy melts or chocolate chips to decorate, place 1-1 & 1/2 cups of chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second increments until melted.
  7. Place the frosting or melted chocolate into a piping bag.
Sweet Lemon Made https://sweetlemonmade.com/

Eats

Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Posted on March 1, 2016
Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies sweetlemonmade.com

Hey all you peanut butter lovers out there–today is your day! March 1st is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day and we’re celebrating with these Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies! During one of my pinning sessions a while back, I came across these delicious looking cookies on Pinterest and I knew I had to make some right away. I made them for a friend who loves peanut butter and he loved them! With 3 types of peanut butter–creamy PB in the cookie, PB chips, and Reese’s Pieces there’s definitely no shortage of peanut butter! Your PB loving friends will LOVE YOU if you make these for them! And any excuse to make treats especially for a food holiday is fine in my book!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies sweetlemonmade.com 

Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
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Ingredients
  1. 3 cups flour
  2. 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  3. 3/4 teaspoons salt
  4. 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  5. 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  6. 1 cup packed brown sugar
  7. 3/4 cup sugar
  8. 2 large eggs
  9. 1 tablespoon milk
  10. 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  11. 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
  12. 1 cup peanut butter chips
  13. 1 cup Reese's Pieces
  14. turbinado sugar (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and beat until combined. On low speed gradually add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.
  5. Add the chocolate chunks, peanut butter chips and Reese's Pieces and beat until combined or hand mix with spatula.
  6. Using a mini ice cream scooper, scoop dough balls and roll. Place on baking sheet and using a flat bottom cup, flatten the cookies to be 1/2 inch thick. Press a few extra chips on top and sprinkle with a little turbinado sugar (optional).
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are light golden brown around the edges. Be careful to not overbake. Let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to completely cool. Store in airtight container at room temperature.
Sweet Lemon Made https://sweetlemonmade.com/
Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites

Eats

Cookie Butter Chocolate Hearts

Posted on February 8, 2016

If you know what cookie butter is, you will love these! And for those of you saying cookie butter?!? What is cookie butter?!? Let me just tell you, it is one of the most delicious spreads ever! It’s so good that I have eaten it by the spoonful (shh…don’t tell anyone)! Anyone else done that? The last time I went to Trader Joe’s, I bought a few extra jars just in case I wasn’t able to go back down before I ran out. They sell out of this stuff often so I usually stock up.

I wanted to make something a little bit different for my Valentine’s Day treats this year so I thought I would try making cookie butter chocolate hearts.

Cookie Butter Chocolate Hearts
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Ingredients
  1. 6 oz of Cookie Butter
  2. 12 oz chocolate chips (you can use white, milk, or dark)
Instructions
  1. Melt your chocolate in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals and stirring after each 30 seconds.
  2. In your heart silicone mold, place enough chocolate in the heart to cover the bottom and I like to bring a little bit up the sides as well.
  3. Place in fridge for about 10 minutes or until chocolate has hardened.
  4. Then place 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons of cookie butter on top of the chocolate. Tip: try to keep the cookie butter in the middle of the heart.
  5. Cover the cookie butter with more melted chocolate until heart is full.
  6. Place them in the fridge or freezer until hardened.
  7. Store in airtight container in fridge until ready to eat.
Sweet Lemon Made https://sweetlemonmade.com/
 Cookie butter – Trader Joe’s or Biscoff spread (Grocery Stores)
Heart silicone mold – JoAnn’s
Printable tag from Eighteen25