Banana Nutella Cupcakes

So it turns out that just about every day is a National Food Holiday!!  I randomly decided to google this and found out lots of interesting facts!!  Turns out today is National Trail Mix Day, September 3rd is Welsh Rarebit Day and September 9th is Weinerschnitzel Day!!  While these days are amusing... they weren't as inspiring to me as National Banana Lovers Day last week on August 27th.  While I had all the best intentions to have these cupcakes to share on the actual holiday, I got completely sidetracked celebrating the departure of The Colonel aka my boss.  So here we are a few days later and it was well worth the wait!!  The fresh bananas create a soft but dense cake and the creamy nuttiness of the Nutella on top are a perfect combination.  If you want a rounded top on the cupcake, make sure you fill them up almost all the way... I filled mine about 2/3 full and most of them didn't clear the top of the cupcake liner.  Look forward to two birthday cakes that I'll be making later this week!!  My mind is already wandering to the possibilities :)

Banana Nutella Cupcakes
2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 sticks butter, softened
1 c sugar
1/2 c sour cream
3 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
5 ripe bananas
2 c Nutella

Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.  Add the sour cream and vanilla extract, followed by the eggs one at a time.  Slowly mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and nutmeg.  After everything is well mixed, peel and chop the bananas and beat them into the batter being careful not to over mix.  Fill each cupcake liner and bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top.  To frost, smooth about a tablespoon of nutella over the top of the cupcake and ENJOY!!

Black Forest Cupcakes

So I figured out the trick!!  You don't need a party or a wedding or any celebration reason to bake... you just have to work in a department with hundreds of people!!  Two weeks ago, we celebrated "National Cupcake Day" and I decided to test out a stuffed cupcake.  I had seen them stuff cupcakes a billion times on Cupcake Wars but didn't feel like cutting out the core, so I stuffed them prior to baking!!  I HIGHLY recommend these... the inside is sweet and creamy... and as one coworker told me... "It tastes like heaven!"  Tested and approved!!

Black Forest Stuffed Cupcakes
1 pkg chocolate cake mix
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
3 tbs sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
20 oz cherry pie filling
chocolate frosting

Prepare cake batter as directed on package.  Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla until soft and fluffy.  In cupcake liners, place a spoonful of cake batter, followed by a spoonful of cream cheese mixture and a spoonful of cherry pie filling.  Cover with more cake batter.   Bake about 25 minutes at 350 degrees and ENJOY!!

Dymer Cupcakes (Aka Cherry Lemonade)

Donna and Kristy love lemonade mixed with cherry vodka, so I came up with these refreshing cupcakes to match their signature wedding drink!!

Cupcakes
1 box lemon cake mix & necessary additions
1 lemon
Icing
5 1/2 c powdered sugar
3/4 c butter, softened
6 tbs Maraschino cherry juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c chopped Maraschino cherries

Prepare lemon cake mix as directed on box, adding the zest of one lemon.  Distribute batter into cupcake liners until about 2/3 filled.  Bake as directed.  Remove from pan and let cool.  To prepare the frosting, combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.  To make thinner, add a bit more of cherry juice, to make thicker add powdered sugar.  Fill large food container zip bag with icing and cut tip off of corner to create an even flow of icing.  Once cupcakes are cool, simply squeeze icing onto fresh cupcakes and enjoy the Dymer cupcakes care of Donna and Kristy!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

This recipe is great for tiered cakes... it came out thick and the chocolate chips added such a sweet touch!!

1 c softened butter
2 c sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
2 c sour cream
2 c chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar... once creamy add the eggs one at a time.  Beat in vanilla, while combining dry ingredients in a separate bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda).  Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the sour cream, beating throroughly before adding more.  Once everything is creamy smooth and well mixed, fold in the chocolate chips.  Fill two 9 inch round baking pans and bake approximately one hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes and remove from pans. 

*I put a layer of milk chocolate frosting all over the cake and in between the layers before adding a layer of fondant to make the clean lines.  It added a nice sweet touch.

Dymer Wedding Cake

Dymer Cupcakes :)

Donna and Kristy's Wedding Cake

A few months ago, two of my besties, Donna and Kristy, told me they were having a backyard wedding and I quickly jumped at the opportunity to give them an awesome present... aka a cake!!  I literally had about a month and a half to obsess over cakes... watch more shows, google pictures, recipes, peruse magazines... you name it I was trying to work it out in my head!  Being the extreme procrastinator that I am, I waited until the week of the celebration to try anything out!  I took the day before the wedding off and baked/decorated for a good solid 10 hours.  I decided to go with a pound cake because I was mildly terrified that the cake would cave in upon itself if I used a soft recipe.  I added chocolate chips as per the girls request and it came out rich, thick and delicious.  I'll paste the recipe below!!  In between making one and a half batches of this recipe, I started making my fondant hibiscus flowers.  I was super nervous because I had NEVER worked with fondant before... I had only seen it a thousand times on television.  i started by dying my fondant (and fingers) a dark creamy shade of pink.  I rolled out little bits of fondant until they were pretty thin and used a 5 petal flower cutter to start.  PS IF YOU'RE ROLLING OUT FONDANT... INVEST IN A SILICONE MAT!!  It's so much easier and cleaner than using little handfuls of powdered sugar to keep it from sticking... definitely one of my favorite tricks learned!!  Since I didn't have any of the fancy tools for fondant, I had to improvise!!  Once I had the flower cut out, I used the rounded end of a paint brush to press lightly around the edges to give them that scalloped look.  I used a toothpick to drag along each petal to give them a look of natural veining.  Once that was all done, I put a small dot of fondant in the middle and inserted a Wilton flower stamen.  I then just cupped them into a mini cupcake pan to give them the rounded shape and let them dry!!  A little luster dust and they were all set!!  All in all I ended up making over 50 tiny hibiscus flowers in both pink and teal, 48 lemonade cupcakes with cherry frosting and one and a half recipes of chocolate chip pound cake.  Hence the 10 hours of crazy!!  I'll also post the recipe for the Dymer Cupcakes below... they're sweet, fruity and refreshing!!  ENJOY!! 

Welcome to Katie's PudgeMuffin Page!!

For  the past year or so, I have slowly but surely found myself mildly addicted to every cake show on television.  My fiance Patrick would walk in the door at the end of the day and ask the default questions of "How are you?" and "What are you watching?"  I was usually doing pretty well since work was over and the second answer was always either Ace of Cakes, Cupcake Wars, Fabulous Cakes, Food Network Challenge, etc.  Being the loving girl that I am, I would let him flip over to the Phillies game every night because I would know the second it ended, I would have control of the television back. :)

Cooking and baking have always been an interest of mine and I love finding recipes and trying out new things.  I love taking a new recipe to any sort of get together and seeing what sort of reaction I get from everyone... I know if I go home with leftovers, it's probably not a keeper!!  However, on most occasions I find myself walking home with a dish that looks like it's been licked clean by a puppy!!

A few months ago, I found out two of my best friends were going to have a backyard wedding.  I jumped at the chance to give them the best present I could... a special wedding cake just for the two of them :)  I spent countless hours pouring over pictures, recipes, tips and techniques.  I guess it was this endeavor that threw me full force into the love of baking... so here we are :)  I figure I might as well publish my journey as I try out new flavors and decorations and hopefully end up helping someone else along the way!!