White Wedding Cake Cupcakes + Chocolate Buttercream Frosting = Drool

Yesterday, I made these White Wedding Cake Cupcakes...

With this Chocolate Buttercream Icing...

Simply because I could. And they were delicious. I LOVE white cake with chocolate frosting. They go together perfectly.
And the recipe for the cupcakes is super easy! It starts out with a regular white box cake mix, but spruces it up to a heavenly, wedding-worthy cake.

The icing recipe came from Wilton's, so you already know it's amazing. But seriously... Holy. Nut. It's so chocolatey and smooth and... Just perfect. The way frosting should be. I didn't take pictures because my phone is the only camera I have, and I needed the games on my phone to keep the girls busy while I made (and hid) these.

But I'll post the recipes here for you, just so you don't have to go all over.

I wish I had more friends that were getting married. I love wedding cake way too much...

White Wedding Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) box white cake mix

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups water
2 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
4 large egg whites

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pans (you'll need approximately 36).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix, flour, sugar and salt. Add remaining ingredients and beat with hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until well blended.

3. Fill about 3/4 full-between 1/4 and 1/3 of a cup. Bake about 18 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream from Wilton's
Ingredients:
1/2 C solid vegetable shortening
1/2 C butter, softened
3/4 C cocoa OR 3-1oz unsweetened chocolate squares, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 C confectioners sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
3-4 T milk

Directions:
1. Cream shortening and butter together.
2. Add vanilla and cocoa. Mix well.
3. Beat in sugar, 1 cup at a time. Once sugar is completely incorporated, add milk and beat until light and fluffy.
Keep in an air-tight container, refrigerated until ready to use. Rewhip before using.

Try to leave some in the bowl for the cupcakes. But feel free to lick the beaters. {:

Cake, Cake, and Cake. Oh, and did I mention cake?

Today, I will be making cake. Two in fact. I have a Relief Society bbq tonight and I'm in charge of dessert, which makes me really happy. I LOVE making desserts. Almost any kind. And while I'm a little ashamed to say these won't be made from scratch, (big shoutout to Pillsbury) they still taste great. I've been told a couple times that I when I make a cake from a box, I do a great job of making it taste homemade. So, I'm hoping these turn out that way today.

The first cake I'll be making is called Better Than Sex cake, but since this is a church function, I've been calling it Procreating. G-rated for the sisters, of course.

Here's the gist:

• 2 boxes of chocolate cake mix (any chocolate will do)
• ingredients called for on boxes (usually eggs, oil, and water)
• Large mixing bowl, preferably with cup measurements
• spatula
• 11x17 (or 12x16) cookie sheet (with raised edges)
• hand mixer or wire whisk
• 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 bag of Heath pieces or 4 Skor bars crushed to pieces
• 1 tub of Cool Whip (I'm using the 16 oz for both cakes, so an 8 oz if you're only making one
• butter knife

Preheat the oven to 350degF. Spray your pan with Pam, or coat it with shortening and flour. Mix both boxes of cake mix and their ingredients together. You'll end up with about 10 cups of batter, but you won't be using all of it. Pour about 7 1/2 cups in. That's 1 1/2 cakes if you think about it.
Bake it for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
After it has cooled, cut jagged lines just on the top of the entire cake and drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the cuts so that it can soak through the cake. You don't need much, but this cake is not about what you need. It's about what you want. And because we're talking about chocolate cake, you might as well make it the way you want and pour it on, right?
Sprinkle the candy bar pieces over the entire cake. Serve immediately with Cool Whip or refrigerate until serving. 

I'm not entirely sure how this cake's name came about, but I think it has something to do with the sounds people emit while eating it. Just a guess though.


Now, onto the Sinful Strawberry cake.

• 2 boxes of white cake mix
• ingredients called for on box (eggs, oil, water, etc.)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can strawberry pie filling
• Cool Whip
• large bowl
• spatula
• hand mixer
• 11x17 (or 12x16) cookie sheet (raised edges, of course)
• butter knife

Preheat oven to 350degF.
Yet again, mix the boxes of cake mix with the oil, eggs, and water.
Add the pie filling, but don't use a whisk or hand mixer. I like to fold it in with a spatula so that there are still big chunks of strawberries in the cake. If you don't like chunks, use the hand mixer.
Pour onto your greased pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until you poke it with a toothpick, etc. This one is more moist so it needs extra time. After it has cooled, do the same thing, cutting lines and pouring on the sweetened condensed milk.
You can add fresh cut strawberries thrown with a bit of sugar on top if you want, but I don't have them. Nor do I have the time to go get them, so it's just sugary goodness for us. No pretties. {:
Like with the chocolate version, serve immediately or refrigerate until serving with a dollop of Cool Whip.

With this cake, it was too moist for me. I probably could have added a bit of flour to it and it would have turned out a little better. But at least I know for next time.

Now, for the leftover batter, I'd been dying to try out my new giant cupcake pan (that I got with my free $25 gift card from Steamy Kitchen, remember that?) So, I put the chocolate in the bottom and the strawberry batter in the top. No bueno. I should have switched because even though I sprayed the pan the strawberries still got stuck in the top and it did not come out well. But the girls ate it while I finished getting ready, so no pictures of my screw up. I have one picture of the Procreating cake, but it's not loading very fast so I may upload it later.

After the bbq:

The chocolate cake was a hit. I came home with just 4 pieces left. The ones that tried the strawberry said it was great, but I have tons leftover. However, many of the ladies are chocoholics like unto myself, so that's understandable.
Let me know if you make either of these cakes! You can e-mail me pictures at:
NSisifo (at) yahoo dot com

Homemade Biscuits

Today I made homemade biscuits FROM SCRATCH. This may not be a big deal to some people, but for me this was pretty big. I've never made them like this before. I usually use Bisquick or those cans that you pull the paper off and they pop open. (Does the suspense from opening those scare anybody else?) I was surprised at how quick and easy they were to make. I should have doubled the batch because we ate all 12 for lunch with some beef stew. But at least I know for next time. I go the recipe here from the Hillbilly Housewife, but I'm posting it below so you don't have to go find it if you don't want to.

2 C flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1/3 C shortening
2/3 C milk, buttermilk, OR yogurt
(I added 2 tablespoons of soft spread margarine the second time I made them. They weren't so dry, and the flavor went up a notch.)

• In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients together. Cut the shortening in with a fork, but leave pea-sized crumbs. (I tried using my hand and it just sucked.)
• Add the milk and stir it into a soft dough. I put down a piece of freezer paper and sprinkled it with flour. (It makes cleanup much faster.) Then I dropped the dough on it and kneaded 10 times. You don't have to do it much. Just make sure you fold over, push together. Fold over, push together. (That's how you get the flaky layers.)
• Roll out the dough until it's about 3/4" inch thick. (You can use your hands, but I LOVE my rolling pin. Have I mentioned that before?) If you don't have a biscuit cutter, you can use a can (think soup or tuna.) I used a 1/3 measuring cup for mine. I was able to make 14 biscuits. (When there wasn't enough dough to roll out and cut anymore, I just shaped it into two little biscuit balls.) 
• Throw them in a 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. If you want them to look pretty, melt some butter and brush it on the tops of them.

It sounds like a lot of steps, but I promise it goes by quickly.

See?

Crumbly flour.

 Floured surface. (freezer or waxed paper)

 Dough ball.

 Kneady.

Roll out.

Like my biscuit cutter?

1 batch = 14ish...

With the stew.

I know there isn't much on my plate, but it covers the needed food groups.

(Plus, I'd already eaten a few biscuits.) {:

Delicious Accidental Brilliance

I hope you're not on a diet. Even if you are, don't worry. I used "lite" sour cream. {:
I may have discovered something amazing here. Last night I decided to make cupcakes because my biological mother, her boyfriend, my little sister, and her friend came up for dinner today. (Yes, my family is large and extended. Someday, I will draw a diagram.) So, I looked at Whipperberry's Amazing Chocolate Cake recipe, and this recipe for Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes, and subconsciously mixed them up. I had both recipes swimming around in my head, and ended up using ingredients from both. I should have written it down, but they still turned out great and it isn't too far from the originals. This is what I ended up with:

• 1 box *chocolate cake mix (any chocolate will do) + ingredients called for to make this (oil, water, eggs, etc.)
• 4 oz chocolate pudding mix (not cook and serve)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 bottle Hershey's Caramel Sauce
• 1 8oz tub Cool Whip

Preheat oven to 350 degF. Put cake mix, ingredients called for on box, pudding mix, egg, and sour cream in a large bowl and mix well, 2-3 minutes.

Pour just under 1/4 C for each cupcake into cupcake pan. (Use papers! They save time and messes and they come in cute patterns.) Bake for 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Allow cupcakes to cool completely. Using a cookie cutter or a sharp knife, cut 1 inch circles in the tops of each cupcake. Remove circles and pour in two or three teaspoons of caramel syrup. Replace tops. If you aren't going to eat them right away, keep in fridge until ready to serve. The longer they sit, the more gooey the cupcakes get.

Top cupcakes with a dollop of Cool Whip just before serving and enjoy!
(Store leftovers in tightly sealed container in fridge.)

*You can replace the:

• chocolate cake mix with a white or yellow.
• chocolate pudding mix with vanilla.
• caramel syrup with strawberry or chocolate, or even sweetened condensed milk. 

Very versatile by switching around a few ingredients.
I've had three of these today. And there are some left in my fridge that are calling my name. Darnit...
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