Cupcakes!!!

Last night I had the opportunity to learn from a very talented woman in my ward. She did a little cupcake tutorial for some young women in our ward that had earned a place in the "one a month club" A little extra prize for those young women who get a personal progress value experience done in the month. (It has worked great as a little extra incentive to get some girls going on personal progress). Anyhow - this months special treat was learning a few tips on cupcakes. I learned a LOT... I was so excited to be able to go and learn from this amazing leader!

She taught us how to make these 5 cupcakes, and I was surprised at how simple and yet beautiful they were. I brought them home, and everyone wanted one!! It was hard for everyone to choose, that's for sure. Well, this morning, Andrew and I shared the little spider cupcake...and to my dismay...Eric later came in and announced that he had chosen that one. Whoops... I didn't think he'd choose the smallest one - but I guess he wanted the spider. So - I made a deal with him - we'd make more!!! :)
So - I'll take this opportunity to pass on some amazing cupcake making tips I learned. First- the right tools! To make nice looking cupcakes, it's essential that they are all the same size. That takes a little practice. Unless you own this awesome Pampered Chef cupcake measuring spoon! It measures out the batter and makes it so slick to put in the pan. I love it! I recommend it!
It nicely measures, and then scoops out the batter, so you aren't left with a mess everywhere. You should try one if you don't have one! This is only for the regular size cupcakes. I am unaware if they carry one for the small size cupcakes?
But I learned a new trick for the small cupcakes last night too! So, we are in luck! I hate using my little cupcake pan because it gets so messy...but NOT ANYMORE! I was taught that you put your cake batter in a ziplock baggie. Close the top - and cut a tiny corner out of the bag... and there you have your own pouring bag! It is so slick and so clean. Cut the hole small, you can always cut it bigger if it's not coming out fast enough.
See how nice and evenly distributed these babies are? Wahoo...love these tricks already!
The next trick is having the right decorating tip and coupler. I have always tried to do my cupcakes with a regular size tip - oh not anymore! I was taught to use the gigantic tips - and they do look so much better! A money saving tip - don't buy the frosting bags - buy freezer ziplock baggies. If you have a lot of frosting go with a gallon size. I used 1 pound of frosting and it all fit in a Quart size Ziplock baggie. You will need a large coupler - you can find it at any craft store.
And you will also need the big tip - 1M is what I used.
Cut a little hole in the end of your baggie. Remember to cut a SMALL hole at first - and make it bigger if it doesn't fit.
Slide one end of the coupler in your bag and push a little ways into the hole in the bag.
Place the tip and screw of the coupler on the outside of the bag! Now you have a homemade piping bag.
Fill with your frosting.. You can make your own butter cream frosting, or be lazy like me and buy it from your local bakery. Before frosting your cupcakes, press the air out of the baggie and seal it shut...make sure it's sealed or you get a big mess to clean up! Believe me...big mess :)
Next you just push it out of your bag, and make a circle on your cupcakes. Not sure how to describe this - go in a circle like you were making a soft serve ice cream :) You don't need to cover the entire cupcake edges, it looks great without it being perfectly covered. (I used to always try to cover every inch - something else I learned last night)
Eric's creations! He had a great time helping me make cupcakes today. It was nice to have the oven on warming up the kitchen on this cold, rainy day!
We bought little bat rings at Walmart because we couldn't find spiders. Eric said these would do. We added a few orange and black sprinkles, and we tinted the frosting purple.
I think they turned out so cute...and with the right tools - these are INCREDIBLY easy!!!!!!
Now you are going to want to make these... I just know it!!! :)

I made 1 box of cake mix
It made 12 regular cupcakes and 30 mini cupcakes
I used 1 pound of frosting, and I was left with four big cupcakes un-frosted


When I make another batch of cupcakes, I'll teach you some of the other tricks I learned and how to make the other cupcakes in the first picture!