Butterfly Cupcakes!

Baby turned one this week! I've always wanted to be 'that mom' I have dreams of being the house all the kids come hang out at after school, with warm cookies waiting for them. I knew I had to do something special--it was her FIRST birthday!

Mom got me the book Hello, Cupcake! for Christmas this year. I immediately picked out the butterfly cupcakes. I HAD to make them. This turned out to be the perfect occasion!


I made two kinds of cake: Chocolate and Apple. I wanted a 'healthier' cake option for the little ones (apple), and Husband loves all things chocolate, I'm rather picky about my chocolate. (I don't like it in chip form. or ice cream form. or cake form.) Basically, I like chocolate, but not chocolate flavored things. ANYWAY, I asked my favorite blogger for her favorite chocolate cupcake recipe. These are great. I even liked them and I don't like chocolate cake. They're a bit tangy, and not too sweet. Husband thought they could be more 'chocolate-y' but everyone else raved about them! (Thanks, Alauna). They're dense and perfect. Mine fell a bit, but I do live a mile high, and haven't quite perfected the art of baking at altitude.

The apple cake was a slight adaptation from the Williams Sonoma Essentials of Baking. While they're not exactly "healthy" they DO have apples in them. That counts, right?
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp salt
3/4c unsalted butter
1 1/2c granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2c buttermilk
2c diced, peeled apples (I used two average sized apples and didn't measure this exactly)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients.
In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Fold in 1/3 the flour mixture until almost incorporated. Then, fold in 1/2 the buttermilk. Alternate with more flour, the rest of the buttermilk, and end with flour. Fold until the batter is smooth and flour is incorporated.

This recipe is actually for a 13x9 cake, but it worked just fine for cupcakes. These even rose for me! The result is cinnamon-y, and the texture is light and fluffy. These were great, and baby loved them. But, then again, she'll eat anything with cinnamon. :)

On to the fun part! Decorating them with beautiful butterflies! I didn't manage to take any pictures while I was making them. I was busy stressing about the party. I'll do my best to walk you through it, but Hello, Cupcake! really does a fantastic job.

I frosted the cupcakes first, using a technique I used for a different type of cupcake from the book. Start with a tub of store-bought frosting. Put it in the microwave for 15 second intervals until it is soft and runny, the consistency of pancake batter. Dip cupcakes in and let frosting dry. This method of frosting is so much faster than traditional frosting, AND the result is amazing, perfectly frosted cakes. So smooth looking! And the frosting dries semi-hard, great for decorating.

For the butterflies, draw wing shapes on a piece of paper, put wax paper over it, and pipe melted Wilton candy wafers onto the paper. I started with the chocolate outline, and while it was still wet, I piped the color inside the chocolate. Then, take a toothpick to 'swirl' the chocolate into the color and combine them. Each wing is made separately. Also, pipe antennae shapes on the wax paper with the chocolate wafers.
**Please note: you can NOT put food coloring into the melting wafers. I learned this from experience. You can dye them, but you must use powdered food coloring, available at a baking supply store.

When all the wings and antennae are dry, carefully peel off the wax paper. Place each wing on cupcake with a chocolate chip under each one, to help hold them in an upright position. Place antennae between wings, and pipe a body onto the cupcake. I used more chocolate wafers for this, and it worked great, as it dried quickly, and fused the wings upright and the antennae all together.

These look incredibly impressive, and make a perfect centerpiece.

New Blog!

Just a quick note to let you all know that my reviews have moved to a new home:
mamatested.blogspot.com

Please, check it out! :)

This blog will continue, but will stick to the 'craftingmaven' side of things....soon to come, butterfly cupcakes! Stay tuned.

being green

Its been a bit since my last post. Two things contribute to this: 1. I was on vacation. 2. I was fretting over content. I was inspired by my friend's itty bitty impact blog. I wanted to write about being green! But, thats not a review OR something I made. So, I have made the executive decision that I will be starting a separate blog for my reviews. (More on that to come!) And this one can be things I make. And whatever else I want. Ok, moral dilemma solved! Moving on...
Back to itty bitty impact. Have you gone to it yet? Do it. Go click on the link above. You will leave inspired. I recently read Cheri's list and thought, wow, I should make a list of what we're doing. Most of what we do to be green is easy. And, a lot of it is cheaper. (Have I mentioned I'm a cheapskate?) Here it goes:
• we carpool. everyday. (husband and I work together, so this is easier) Less gas=less money.
• we pack our lunches. almost every day. we use reuseable bags to bring our lunch in. We use recycled plastic containers to bring it in. (Think Noodles to-go containers!) I wash ziplog bags. I RARELY have to buy ziploc bags. Baby's lunch is packed in re-useable containers. Money saved=less ziploc bags, containers, etc.
• we made our own babyfood. not only is this better for baby since we knew exactly what was in her food, but we didn't buy excessive amounts of glass/plastic jars. We used ice cube trays to freeze small portions. This is exorbitantly cheaper than pre-made babyfoods. I can buy a whole POUND of sweet potatoes for the cost of just one jar of babyfood.
• we recently got rid of all our dandelions sans-pesticides/chemicals. this involved half a day with a trowel and digging them up by the roots, but it worked. and lawn is safe for puppy and baby. Cheaper because pesticides cost money.
• we use only reuseable grocery bags. this is 'cheaper' too, since most of them were free to begin with, and the stores we shop at give us a credit for re-using!
• I buy all of the dirty dozen organic only. Sometimes this isn't cheaper, but since baby was born, this has become more and more important to me. For the cheapskate's guide to organic, check out this site. Be sure to also check out the clean foods.
• Now that baby is starting to drink milk, we're going to have our milk delivered. In re-useable glass bottles. No more plastic! AND they have cheese. and eggs. I can't wait.
• We use a programmable thermostat. I am always cold, but I'm too cheap to turn on the heat. We keep our house cool in the winter and warm in the summer. Ceiling fans that reverse for winter help.
• We cook mostly from scratch. This reduces waste from packaged foods, and we know exactly whats in our food. Also, again, its cheaper, for the most part.
• We recycle. Which, believe it or not, is not required here. In fact, we'd have to PAY to have it picked up separately. We drive our recycleables to the recycling center, where it is free to drop them off. I can't get over the fact that recycling isn't required here. But, I digress.
• We use metal water bottles. We bring them everywhere. No buying bottled water! Ever. Husband also travels with a re-useable coffee mug. No styrofoam or paper cups, and refills are usually cheaper in your own mug.
• We use only CFL bulbs. They last forever and when bought on sale, they're similarly priced.

And the ever-expanding list of things we need to start doing
• Stop buying cleaning products and make my own. think less chemicals, less bottles. I think I will start with Cheri's great recipe!
• Get rid of my swiffer and get a steam mop. more expensive at first, no cost after initial investment. and, clean floors with just water!! WATER.
• Cloth diapers. While the difference between landfill v. water usage is a debatable one, especially when living where water is scarce, I still just can't get past the landfill filling the diapers cause. Since baby is fulltime in daycare, I can't fully switch, but I could be doing something.
• Gardening. I used to have a veggie garden, but being gone for much of my summer has stopped that. Perhaps I can plant fall vegetables?
• Stop using those pesky plastic produce bags. I bring my own grocery bags, but can't figure out what to do for produce. I usually resort to putting my items loose in my cart, much to the chagrin of the check-out people.
• Compost. In the suburbs with a postage stamp sized yard, and a doggie that quite likes smelly things, this is challenging. But, not impossible.

I'm sure there's millions of things I could be doing, and probably a few that I am doing that I've failed to mention. But trust me, the things we're already doing are painless. And, often cheaper than the alternatives. I challenge you to pick up one new 'green' habit by the end of next month. In turn, I will pick up a new habit too.

What are you currently doing? What can I add to my list?