Cupcakepalooza and the Bing Wedding

The Newlyweds

 Last week the baby of our family, Brandyn, married the love of his life, the beautiful Miss Taylor. In celebration of this special day we had a big BBQ, and the bride requested some cupcakes for the event...roughly 100 of them.

 The request was for Chocolate Cake with Oreo Buttercream Frosting, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, and White Cake with a Strawberry Buttercream Frosting.  This time around I did not make the old family recipe for the carrot cake, it takes too long and I didn't have enough time to make it from scratch, I did however doctor a box cake and it tasted pretty amazing, I did use the frosting recipe that is on the link.

Additions to Duncan Hines Carrot Cake: roughly 1 cup of chopped nuts (I used pecans), 1 box of vanilla instant pudding, 1 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple (strained), used butter instead of oil, and milk instead of water.  It ended up being super moist and quite delicious.

It took roughly 3 hours to bake 125+ cupcakes at my aunt's house, thank goodness for double ovens, two kitchen aid mixers, and a talented chef of a boyfriend who volunteered to help.  We let them cool in the fridge over night and came back in the morning to decorate, where I enlisted the help of my guy and my cousin who had also gone to culinary school and was trained in the arts of decorating for the masses.

Real Men Frost Cupcakes

Devil's Food Cake with Oreo Buttercream

White Cake with Strawberry Buttercream 

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting 

Cupcake Display (created by Taylor)

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

I found a recipe online for raspberry buttercream frosting and used strawberries instead. The only problem was that the recipe was too runny to frost the cupcakes with so we had to double the butter and God only knows how much powdered sugar was added.  I'm going to post the recipe as I made it originally, but make sure you have extra sugar and butter so you can bring it to your desired stiffness.

Ingredients:

•  1 pound powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup pureed strawberries

Directions:

beat the ingredients together, adding sugar and butter until mixed well and you have your desired consistency.  The finished product tastes like a strawberry milkshake and is delicious whether its topping a cupcake or straight out of the batter bowl

Cream Cheese Cherry Pie Crumb Bar

so one night this week my friend had an excess of tasty dessert treats (I'm not sure how that happens, will power that I don't have perhaps) and I picked them up on the way home (because again, not going to turn down free treats)... Oh.My.God. so worth the calories... these were amazing little squares of awesome. Try them at your own risk (to your waistline).

She found the recipe at Brown Eyed Baker and you can see the link to the recipe here. But for your baking convenience, and mine, I thought it would be great to post it here.

this photo is from the
Brown Eyed Baker's Site

INGREDIENTS:

For the Crumb:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg

For the Filling:
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (21-ounce) cans cherry pie filling

For the Powdered Sugar Glaze (optional):
½ cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

2. Make the Crumb: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter, and then the egg (the dough will be crumbly). Press half of dough into the prepared pan and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until light golden brown. Set on a wire rack to cool.

3. Make the Filling: In a separate large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Using an offset spatula, spread the cream cheese mixture into an even layer over the crust. Spoon the cherry pie filling in an even layer over the cream cheese mixture. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the cherry layer.

4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown. Cool completely before adding the glaze.

5. Make the Powdered Sugar Glaze (if using): In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cream and vanilla extract. Add more cream if you want a thinner glaze, or more powdered sugar if you want a thicker glaze. Drizzle over the bars and allow to set.

6. The bars can be served at room temperature or chilled. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.