Oreo Owl Cupcakes

I Pinned it, and made it! Yes, I love Pinterest, and have thousands of Pins, but how many have I actually made? Maybe 20-ish. The teeniest drop in the bucket, when compared to how many Pins I’ve saved! I don’t think I’m alone in this either. So no judging, just do it!

My Mom actually emailed me this Pin, but of course I had seen it all over Pinterest… cutest cupcakes!! And because I am not so talented in the confectionary creation department, I go for the easy decorations. Frosted cupcakes, Oreos, and Reese’s Pieces? Easy.

Here is the Pin I saw…

Here is the original post from One Charming Party…

http://onecharmingparty.com/2010/10/21/halloween-school-party-food-station/

And here is my version… boxed cake mix, with homemade frosting… Yum!

Of course my kids had free license when it came to decorating, but I did strongly encourage they have normal owl eyes this first round. My son added yellow cheeks and a brown piece of hair, and my daughter went with two tufts of blonde hair for her sweet owl. Mine, of course is the boring one on top.

I used this recipe for the frosting, but made a couple of small changes. A whole stick of butter instead of the 6 Tbsp, and heavy cream instead of sweetened condensed milk. I recommend doubling the recipe if you want to cover a whole batch of cupcakes.

Here are a couple more pics, just for fun…

Make these with your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or just neighbors and friends! They are so easy, and just plain fun!

Happy Fall Y’All, as they say here in the South.

-Heather

Cupcake Carrier Remodel (How to get you cupcakes out of the carrier without ruining them)

I have a fabulous cupcake carrier.  I love it.  I can carry up to 36 cupcakes at a time!  This is perfect for a cupcake-a-holic like myself.  But here’s my dilemma: I can get all my little lovelies in to the carrier perfectly, but I almost always stick a finger in the frosting trying to get them out!

I’ve tried tilting the tray of cupcakes and going after the cupcakes with Operation-style precision, but nothing seems to work.  The same high sides that keep them perfectly in place prevent me from grabbing them out of the tray when we reach our destination.  Then I noticed that the fabulous cupcakes from Hey Cupcake come in boxes that have little finger dents on the side of each cupcake slot and I began to wonder if I could do a little carrier remodel on my own…..

It was my brother who came up with the break through solution (pun intended).  He suggested if I just drill a hole in the bottom of the cupcake tray, I could push the cake up with my finger thereby allowing me to grab the edges without messing up the icing.  Genius.

Off to the home improvement store to pick up the biggest drill bit I could find to make this happen. 

Here we are ready to go to work!  And before you ask, yes that is my kitchen table that I’m drilling over.  My wooden kitchen table.

Now’s a good time to think about doing this project on a workbench.  But let’s carry on anyway.

So with my 1/2″ drip bit, I began to drill holes into the center of each of the cupcake slots. 

After a bit of trial and error, I found that a slow to medium speed left me with the cleanest holes.  If you drill too fast, you’ll end up cracking the tray and usually leaving a big chuck of  funky plastic chips, like the hole in the bottom right hand corner.

But that’s OK, it’s still totally functional.  I just sanded it down a bit and it’s not a problem.

Now for the true test.  Let’s load her up with cupcakes!  Yup, as you can see, it’s not much of a lift, but it’s all you need to get your cupcakes out freely!  Perfect, I think I’ll go make some more cupcakes.

–Martta

PS – No kitchen tables were harmed in this remodel.  Whew!

Coconut Brownies

Do you have days (or weeks) when you just can’t seem to get a craving out of your mind? Me too! I have had coconut on the brain for a good 2 weeks. Even my hubby’s valentine gift included a candy bar with coconut filling. No, not Mounds… World Market has a great selection of gourmet chocolate bars, so check it out!

Back to my task…curb this craving! Enter Ghirardelli brownies & a bag of coconut.

It doesn’t get any easier than this unless you go out & buy it from a bakery! Last time I checked, they don’t have these!

Mix up the brownies according to the box, add 1-2 cups of coconut, and stir until all combined. I added an extra tablespoon of water because my batter seemed a little too thick.

I filled cupcake liners almost full with the batter, and baked at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. You should be able to get 12 full cups from this batter.

These coconut brownies were just what I needed! So rich & chocolatey…be sure to have a glass of milk or a cocktail nearby! Hey it’s Friday!

I will definitely be making these in my mini muffin pan for parties. If you prefer to make them mini, reduce your cooking time to about 12 minutes. Don’t let them over bake!

Enjoy your weekend! We are looking forward to some much needed rain in Austin this weekend. I foresee movie watching, and hopefully some sewing in my plans! What are you up to this President’s Day weekend?

- Heather

Side note: this is my first post from my phone…trying out the WordPress app. Hope it doesn’t look wonky!