Chocolate Caramel Surprise

I was sitting on the couch today, bored, watching a movie that I've seen 20 times thinking, "I should be blogging." What should I blog about? I had so many ideas but nothing was really standing out. So I went to my cabinet and sighed. Then, there it was, staring at me, yelling, "Pick me! Pick me!" It was bag of Ghirardelli caramel chocolates, and they wanted in. I had just come across an article last week about stuffing things in cupcakes.  So I thought, I'm going to stuff these in a cupcake and go from there. I had a box of chocolate cake mix, and a recipe for caramel frosting. This was going to be good, I could feel it. Here is what you need.

For the cupcakes I used;
Ghiradelli caramel squares
Betty Crocker supermoist chocolate mix
veggie oil
eggs
cupcake liners

For the frosting;
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
whisk
sifter

For the cupcakes, follow all the instructions on the back of the box. Easy as that, mix it all in one bowl, then put it in your cupcake liners.

 I cut my squares in half.

 I placed each half in a cupcake.

 They don't half to be perfectly broken since they are going to melt.

 Then I pushed each piece down a little into the chocolate mix. You want it right in the middle, not the bottom.

Here are your finished cupcakes.

 Now, get all of your ingredients together for your frosting.

 In a large saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar. Bring your mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. You'll want to use your whisk to keep it light.

 Boil for one minute until thickened, then remove from the heat, and add your milk. Whisk, then add your vanilla, whisk again.

The recipe calls for 3-4 cups of powdered sugar. I used 3. I will take you through the steps below.

This is what you should have when your done.

Be prepared, this will be your kitchen after mixing the frosting.

 Yummy in my tummy!

Enjoy!
Emily

Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes

Hello to all, and a big Happy Bunny Day too! Okay, raise your hand if you feel like I have been slacking with the blog posts lately. Mine is up too! What is the dealio? Well, as dorky as this may be, I have to say it. I have been Geocaching my booty off.  I've been knee deep in trees, spiderwebs, and dirt. We've been making our own, and  hiding them all over town too! So, I'm so sorry for the slackage! I will be back to baking in no time, don't worry your little tail off. Speaking of tails, I found this recipe for cupcakes featuring my fave Easter candy, Cadbury eggs. I don't think that I need to go into detail about how yummy that this is going to be. I will just get down to it. Here is what you need.

 Devil's food cupcakes
9 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self rising)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
4 ounce unsalted butter at room temp
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs (at room temp)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk

For the frosting
20 Cadbury creme eggs (scooped out, saving shells for decor and filling)
1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
6-8 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
milk to thin frosting (if needed)

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners.
Sift together cocoa powder, salt, cake flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.

 This is what it looked like after being sifted.

 In a electric mixer bowl, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar for 5 minutes, or until smooth and creamy.

Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides to make sure all is mixed. This was the closest I got to smooth and creamy.

 Mix together the water and milk.

Stir half of the dry mixture into the butter mixture.

 Add your milk/water to the mix also.

 Add the rest of your dry mix.

 This is your finished product.

 Fill your cupcake liners 2/3 full. The directions say bake for 20-22 minutes. Mine came out a little dry, so I would start with 17 minutes, and check them.

 Start cutting your cadbury eggs in half. We ended up cutting ours wide, because cutting them down the actual line that they have broke them. You will see what I mean when you try to do it. Scoop all of your inside creme into a bowl.

 Here are the eggs in half.

 Get all of your frosting materials together. Place the butter in your large mixer bowl. Add 4 cups of powdered sugar and the vanilla.

 Place on medium speed mix until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time. Beat well after each addition (about two minutes) until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. We used about 5 cups, and that was plenty of sugar! If it is to thin, you can add some of your milk.

 Add the creme centers and beat until well mixed. If you need to, add some milk to thin it out.

 Finished frosting.

 All ready to go.

 This is the finished product with an egg on top of each.

 Next time I will add some more pizazz to them. 
Happy Easter to all!!!

Courtesy of with sprinkles on top!
Emily

April Showers bring may flowers.

I found this cute little flower key holder the other day while surfing the net. It looked easy to make, and I already had a lot of the supplies around. A friend of mine just moved into a new place, and I thought it would be cute for the walls. Also, she loves books, so it was fitting. Here is what you need to make this flower bloom.

One book (one that you wouldn't mind cutting up.)
Mod Podge -or- Krylon Clear coat
Green paint
One wire hanger
Cardboard
Scissors
Paintbrush
Hot Glue
Pliers (something to bend the wire with.)

 First, you want to cut out a small circle to glue everything too. I just happened to have bought some Arizona Iced Tea, and it came in a little cardboard container with circles in the bottom. Any cardboard will do though.

Take your pliers and cut your wire to the desired length that you would like it.

The picture from the site had it twisted like this. The top circle is where you will hang it from.  (I started with this shape, then bent it out after I painted it. see below)

After cutting my wire, I took my dark green paint, and painted the stem.

 I ended up pulling it apart to look like this. The next time, I'll cut the wire longer, or make them in multiple lengths to group the flowers together. Hot glue your wire to the middle of the circle.

I then drew a flower, free hand, on one of the pages of the book. Then made 5 more like it. I mod podged all of them and waited for them to dry.

 Once dry, I placed them on top of each other, and spun each one a little bit, so that the flower was full.

 Staple your flower directly in the middle. This "center spot" is where you will fold your flowers into.

 Begin to fold up into the center. Your flower should start to take place.

 Silly side note: I didn't have any clear cote spray, I had hair spray, it worked well! :)

 This is your finished product.

 I think next time, I'll do different color paper to add some flare to it. Also, I will make the stem a little longer. Overall I love the look of it, super cute!

Enjoy!
Courtesy of Mark Montano

You'll want to sample this Giveaway!

Good Morning Bloggerland! How are all my friends and followers doing today?  I'm hoping I can brighten your day a little by telling you about my new mini giveaway. Mini? Yes, that's right, mini.  I'm going to let you in on a little secret that I have. It's called Target...what...you've heard of it? I figured that you have. Did you know that they have a page on their website called "The Sample Spot." No?  I didn't either until a few months ago. What's on this sample page you ask? Well, samples, of all kinds of stuff. To be honest, sometimes it's just junky stuff, stuff that you really don't need. However, on occasion, a diamond in the rough appears for your enjoyment. Last month they had a cosmetic sampler. It contained the following products;

Nivea Express Hydration Lotion

Pantene Color Preserve Shampoo

Fekkai Shea Butter Shampoo

Fekkai Shea Butter Conditioner

Revlon Color Burst Lip Gloss in Hot Pink

Neutrogena Naturals Lip Balm

Beautiful Bucks Coupons

I added in

Aveda Caribbean Therapy Body Creme

Burt's Bees Milk and Honey Body Lotion

Best of all, it came in a Sonia Kashuk mini cosmetic bag.

Interested? The contest starts....NOW! How do you enter? Tell me all about your favorite Target Cosmetic products. Which ones do you like? What works best, and what products you can not live without. You have until April 13th. Post your comments here, or on Connor's Corner on FaceBook.
While you're here..or there..become a friend and follower! I love to see who's out there and what you're all about! Good luck everyone!!
Emily