For that special person...

These are perfect for that one, special person - whoever that person is. Show someone how much you love them by baking for them!

I used my all-time favourite vanilla cupcake recipe from the Magnolia Bakery, and coloured the buttercream pink. The big sugar hearts are by Wilton, and the silvery sugar decorations are by Dr. Oetker. I can't remember where I bought the cupcake wrappers, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were by Wilton.

Now escape the heat outside and get baking!

Love,

Miss Diorista

Picnic, anyone?

Summer is finally here, and it is the perfect time to go for a picnic! So grab your sandwiches and a basket, and head outside! Wait... aren't we forgetting something?

Yup, we are! Cupcakes! What is a picnic without cupcakes? Believe me, there's nothing like a picnic in out in the nature with friends and cupcakes! And to make it even more fun, I baked mini cupcakes. You can get mini cupcake tins (as well as mini cupcake wrappers) at most baking supply stores, and they are fun to make. Besides, I still have that funny theory going on from when I was a child; the smaller the better!

Aren't they cute, as they wait for the oven to heat up? Adorable little cuppies :)

Life's a breeze with polka dots! I chose minty green and light pink icing and pink wrappers (from Wilton).

If you want to bake your own cupcakes (and go for a picnic :) then you can find the cupcake recipe (and icing recipe) that I used here. It is by far my favourite, and they are easy to make. Enjoy your summer!

Love,

Miss Diorista

Suitable for any princess...

You can't go wrong with cupcakes! Don't you just love that dish? I got two of those for my birthday last year (which reminds me, my birthday this year is approaching incredibly fast! Yay!) and they are the perfect size for cuppies - which makes me love them even more!

For the cupcakes and the icing, I used Magnolia's recipe (the same as for my Spring cupcakes, you can find the recipe by clicking that link), which has to be my favourite cupcake recipe. They are simple, delicious, everybody loves them, and they are so easy to decorate any way you want!

This time I decided to go for a princess theme, so I chose cupcake wrappers with pink crowns on them, coloured the icing pink, and sprinkled a few silver-y ornaments on top... and to take the theme all the way, we have that adorable pink dish :)

So what is better than eating a delicious cupcake? Well, eating a delicious and good-looking cupcake!

Love,
Miss Diorista

Your feelings can change - but your memories probably won't. - Anonymous

Spring is... almost here!

I'm feeling spring here!
I realized today that I hadn't baked cupcakes for ages - so of course, I had to set that straight :)
This is what I came up with - vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. I coloured the buttercream light green and decorated the cuppies with flower sprinkles. The cupcake cases are yellow. Believe me, those are summery to look at, but eating them just feels like summer! I'm ready for spring here...

I love that you can actually see the snow outside my kitchen window there... and here I am, talking about spring... I guess you can never be too positive :)

Since the recipe I used has been my go-to recipe for cupcakes the last few years, and it tastes amazing, I really want to share it with you. I originally found it online, and I believe it comes from the famous Magnolia bakery in New York (those are the cupcakes they eat on Sex and the City!)

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes

*1.5 cups self-rising flour

*1.25 cups regular flour

*1 cup (2 sticks or 250 g) unsalted butter, softened

*2 cups sugar

*4 large eggs, at room temperature

*1 cup milk

*1 tsp vanilla extract

(makes 24 cupcakes)

Heat your over to 350°F or 180°C.

Line your cupcake tins with cupcake cases.

Blend together the two flours in a bowl and set aside.

In a big bowl, cream the butter (medium speed). Add the sugar slowly, and beat until light and fluffy (usually about 3 minutes).

Now add the eggs, one by one, and beat well in between.

Add the flour mixture, the milk and the vanilla extract in three parts each, alternating flour and milk (so: flour, milk, flour, milk, flour, milk). Beat well in between, but don't overdo it.

Fill the cupcake cases about 3/4 full, and bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Magnolia's Vanilla Buttercream

*1 cup (2 sticks or 250 g) unsalted butter, softened

*8 cups powdered sugar (I only use 6, which is more than enough)

*0.5 cup milk

*2 tsp vanilla extract

*Food dye (if wanted)

(more than enough to ice 24 cupcakes)

In a big bowl, beat together the butter, 4 cups of powdered sugar, the milk and the vanilla extract for about 3-5 minutes, using medium speed.

Add 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, beating 2 minutes in between cups.

Add food dye (if wanted).

Now you can decorate your cupcakes, and believe me, the possibilities really are endless!

Hurry into your kitchens and start baking, folks ;)

Love,

Miss Diorista

  

I never say "Good Bye" because they seem like forever. I rather say "See you later". - Anonymous

Cute baking supplies!

This is the "kitchen" part of the "What I got for Christmas". Yes, those were Christmas gifts that I got. People are picking up on the fact that I like to bake :)
So let's start with the Wilton products, shall we?

The big red and green thing that you can see in the background is actually a bite size gingerbread boy mold! How fun! The pan holds 24 gingerbread boys, and you can use it for anything from cake to ice cream. It is made of silicone, so getting your baked (or frozen!) goodies out is easy peasy. Also, the "boys" can be decorated in any way, so the use of this pan is not limited to the holidays. They can for example be served at children's parties, or as a fun snack!
And of course, the cupcake/muffin cases kind of explain themselves. I love them, so cute! I also really love the mini one, I love baking minis!
(You can get all of those items from www.wilton.com, I do not profit from the sales in any way.)

Now, I believe those two items come from www.rexinter.com (or at least, that is what their tags said. I do not profit from sales in any way). How happy can one baker feel, measuring her sugar in those heart-shaped baking spoons?! And the mushroom cupcake cases are beyond beautiful.

I can't wait to bake something with those pretty things, I'll probably post something soon, so stay tuned :)

Love, Miss Diorista

Chocolate Sunflower Cupcakes

Even though it is July, here it is not really sunny... the wind has been blowing like crazy and I decided to simply spend the evening baking. So this is what came out of it: Chocolate Sunflower Cupcakes! They were easy and simple to make, and so was the icing. The only time-consuming part is the sunflower. I had them on hand (made them about a week ago when baking for my aunt's "party"), you could skip them if you're in a hurry. Or use sprinkles... or make them! They are simple too, just take a bit of time.
Line a sheet of parchment paper to pipe on. Simply melt some good quality white chocolate, colour it with food colouring, and fill a piping bag with it, using a small round nozzle (I believe I used Wilton's nr. 2... don't quote me on that, though!). Pipe the outlines of a sunflower. This takes a bit of practice, but it is not that hard. You can do it ;) Let the outlines set and harden. Then, take a bit bigger piping nozzle (I believe Wilton's nr. 3... but again, no quoting!), and gently flood the leaves of the sunflower. Be careful not to overflood. When set, you use a small piping nozzle (Wilton's nr.2... no quoting, lol!) to pipe a little dot of melted brown chocolate in the middle of each sunflower. Let set and then gently, very gently, remove from the parchment paper. There you go!


Chocolate Sunflower Cupcakes
Adapted from Baking Bites. Some slight changes were made.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup wholewheat flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sour cream (I used 5% fat)
1 cup coffee (room temperature)
1/2 cup finely chopped chocolate (or small chocolate chips)

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).
Mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl. Mix the chopped chocolate in.
Mix the wet ingredients together in another bowl, and beat a bit. Gently, mix the wet and dry together. Make sure everything is well blended, no lumps! Don't overblend, though.
Line about 18 muffin cups with muffin liners, and fill them ca. 3/4 full.
Bake for about 15 to 18 min. (I had to bake them a little longer, just watch them carefully.)

Chocolate Icing
My own recipe

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup chopped 70% chocolate, melted
3 tbls. coffee (room temperature)
3 tbls. cream, if needed to thin the icing.
About 3 cups powdered sugar (just as much as you need, I didn't really measure...)

Cream the butter, then mix in the melted chocolate. Mix in the coffee, than the powdered sugar. If you need to thin it, use the cream, otherwise, skip it.
Ice the cupcakes when they have cooled, garnish if you want, and enjoy! (My family and I sure enjoyed!)

If you make these, let me know what you think! And if you need further information on the flower-making, just comment and I'll get right back to you!

My... chocolatey regards,

Miss Diorista