Friday, January 28, 2011

Strawberry Cupcakes!


Here's an awesome, gourmet recipe that would be great for Valentine's day!


Makes 2 dozen
  • 3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup milk
  • 8 large egg whites
  • Strawberry Meringue Buttercream
  • 24 small fresh strawberries, washed (hulls intact), for garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners; set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
  4. In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture.
Here is another great way to decorate the top of these yummy treats!
  1. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each with a heaping 1/4 cup batter. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack. Invert cupcakes onto rack; then reinvert and let cool completely, top sides up. Frost cupcakes with strawberry meringue buttercream, swirling to cover. Cupcakes may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Garnish with strawberries just before serving.

Organization!

Think cupcake pans are only for baking cupcakes? Think again! Cupcake pans are great for organizational needs!

So, you're having a birthday party, and part of the fun is to decorate their own cupcakes or top their own sundaes...pull out that cupcake pan, and fill the different holes with toppings! Simple, cheap and great!

Using this same method, cupcake pans make great dividers for craft supplies such as beads and sequins!

Pretty cool, huh?

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Cupcake Funnies!

Today, I've got some great jokes for you...yes, all about cupcakes!

Q: How many cupcakes does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None, they just wait for the little girl to notice her Easy Bake Oven isn't working.







A cupcake goes in for a checkup and the doctor tells him, "you're totally unhealthy. You need to cut back on your intakes of eggs, butter, and sugar." To which the cupcake says, "doc, how am I supposed to do that? I'm a cupcake!" So the doctor ate him.

Q: Why did the cupcake major in hotel and restaurant management?
A: It wanted to be a Hostess.





Q: Why did the cupcake buy Rogaine?
A: He thought he was losing his sprinkles.








Yep, pretty funny, huh? Well, I thought so!





Have a great day!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Winter Party!

Do you have a child born in January or February? Looking for ideas for their party? Got snow on the ground? Have a winter sledding party!

Activities can be as simple as a sledding race, dividing the kids up in two groups and seeing who can build a snowman the fastest and a snowball fight!

Warm them up with a bonfire, and let everyone roast hot dogs! Serve hot chocolate to warm the insides! Then go inside for some cake and opening presents!

Now for the cake, I have these great ideas for you!




Thursday, January 20, 2011

Having A Sensuously Sweet Valentine's Day



Having A Sensuously Sweet Valentine's Day


What do you have in mind for this coming Valentine's Day? Made any plans yet? Are you wanting to have a sexy, sensuous night alone with your special someone? I have found so many food ideas for just that!





Chocolate Crepes With Fresh Strawberries


Talk about the perfectly seductive dessert!
You can find the recipe here:


Godiva Chocolate Fondue

Here's a tried and true sexy dessert for Valentine's night!


Or, you can come in and see us at Clyde's Cupcakes for some delicious cupcakes to finish the meal!




Whatever you choose, we hope you will have a wonderful Valentine's Day!



Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Have A Valentine's Day Office Party!



Valentine's Day doesn't have to be all about romance and mushy love (though a little bit is totally fine!) It can also be a time for close friends and co-workers can have some good-natured fun with Cupid's arrows.
So, this year, why not invite Cupid to your office for some fun Valentine's Day events?


There are many different ways you can go with a party like this, so I'll just mention some ideas and leave the rest to you!


Some enjoy the Valentine's Day Chocolate Tasting Party, where it's all things chocolate, all day long! Have each guest bring a different chocolate item to share with everyone. If you want to get really fancy, you can have a chocolate fountain and fruit!

If you want something a little more crazy, plan a Truth or Dare party! This will definitely have your co-workers on their toes! Is Sally in accounting going to have to admit that she is totally "into" Randy in Public affairs? Is Steve going to have to streak around the office in his birthday suit? Only coming to the party will tell....







Here are some cute ideas for treats for the day!

And let's not forget how delicious they are!

Gotta love a good cupcake, huh?

Have fun!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Just Going Bananas for a Monkey Party


Looking for a birthday party them you don't see everyday? Does your child like monkeys? Have a monkey party! It will be jungle-riffic!

For decorations, you can decorate with palm trees, bananas and monkeys! You can find things around this theme at most party supply stores. Be sure and visit our other blog post for more monkey party decorations and ideas!

For games and activities, you can have a face painter transform faces into little monkeys! You can place poster paper on the wall and let them get creative by coloring a mural of monkeys and trees. Place "Money See Monkey Do" (which is basically follow the leader!) Oh, and "Monkey In The Middle!"

Eating is always fun, and your kids will love "monkey pops" Purchase Popsicle sticks, insert into a peeled banana (halved probably) and dipped in chocolate!

I love the cake idea! He is so cute, isn't he? Almost too cute to eat!











Or you could come on over and see us and find out what kind of cute monkey cupcake creations we can come up with for you!

Building Blocks Party

Ideas, ideas, ideas! What to do for little Jr's 2nd or 3rd birthday party? Boys love building blocks, so why not have a building blocks themed party! (This also goes well with a Bob the Builder party) If he doesn't already have some, you could buy him some Mega Blocks and use them to decorate, and get greative with games for them (if you really need games - kids this young would just be happy playing with the blocks) and here are some really cool ideas!

For party favors, fill toy trucks with candy and stuff for them to take home. For a door prize, get a small tool set. Decorate with tools, dump trucks and blocks! How easy is that?

For games and activities, you could simply let the kids race to see who can build the tallest tower the quickest, or who can fill the block box up first. With small kids, it really isn't that difficult to entertain them. You can have Bob the Builder playing on the T.V. for an added touch!
For cake, try this cute idea!
Building Blocks cake! It's so easy to make! It's just marshmallows on top of squares of cake covered in colored icing! Check it out!

Your kids will love this idea! Even I do! :-)