Tagged! ...and MORE CUPCAKES!

You guys aren't sick of cupcakes yet, right? I hope not because I have oodles.

I also got tagged this week by the lovely Judy of I Cook, He Cleans. I love Judy's blog because my hub and I have the same kind of deal, so it always makes me think of him when I see her blog name. However, with all the outta control baking I have been doing lately, I think he might want to re-negotiate that deal very soon. Key word is WANT. Thanks for thinking of me, Judy...keep that hub cleaning!

So the tag rules are:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Onto the randomness, numbered at six fun items about myself.

1) My fave dream is to open a bookstore/bakery/flower shop one day. I don't care if I make any money as long as I can play around with books, flowers and baked goods all day long. :)

2) I never had malted milkshakes or malted anything until recently. Everyone else seemed to grow up with them, not me...so sad!

3) I DID grow up with boxed mix cupcakes for special occasions, and to me they meant LOVE. I can't really stomach the processed taste anymore...but I remember those days so fondly. Cupcakes rock. (Just say no to boxed mix)

4) I'm a Scorpio....which means that I am very passionate and there is no 'middle-ground' with me. It makes for a really easy way of life, there's no ambivalence about anything! It either IS or it so absolutely ISN'T.

5) I have been married 4 years to my wonderful husband, and we have been together for 8 years. That is about 1/4 of my life. He is also turning the big 4-0 in 2 weeks...though he is still a kid at heart regardless of what the sneaky grays in his temple say.

6) I secretly am hoping that by not picking up my broken KA mixer from the appliance shop, means they might keep/fix/sell it, and then I will HAVE to get a new one(instead of retrieving it and said above wonderful husband expecting he can just fix it quite easily...which is probably not the case!)...Shh don't tell!

In honor of the cupcake madness that continues to ensue in my household, the six tagees are all fave blogs of mine with cupcake in the title. Enjoy!

The Cupcakery
FifiLa Cupcakes
MadCap Cupcake
Quirky Cupcake
Cupcake, My Love
How To Eat a Cupcake

Now...it's cupcake photo time!!!! Anyone excited? MeMeMe!


Red Velvet with Coconut Cream Cheese


Vanilla Buttermilk with Malted Buttercream


Vanilla all prettied up and ready for the party


Red Velvet with flower...flowers are my new obsession

And last but sooooo not remotely least. As you guys know...I have been jonesing for some serious chocolate. So the other night I decided to try chocolate mousse cupcakes...inspired by the Paula Deen Chocolate magazine. Janna over at HH made the chocolate mousse dream cake about a month ago, and I HAVE been dreaming of it since. But a 8" square 10 layer cake just wouldn't work in our house, there are just 2 of us and I DO still want my pants to fit.

So cupcakes it was. The funniest part was I didn't even follow the PD recipes at all. I read them but then just did my own thing, and they were so absolutely amazing, I ate two of them from top to bottom frosting and all. And you know how I don't really love frosting. This was a package deal.



How did I make them? Easy...make your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe. Let cool. In the meantime, make up a quickie ganache. aka melting chocolate in the microwave and mixing it with heavy cream til you get a consistency like smooth spoonable chocolate. Taste constantly (ha!). Let cool to room temp, and cool entirely for about an hour in the fridge.

Whip the cooled ganache with a hand mixer, don't overmix or else it will get crazy granular and scare you (mine did this but somehow it ended up okay). Cut cone out of cupcake and spoon in, replace cone minus a bit of the bottom half of cake.

When you frost...I just did a light cocoa whipped buttercream. Topped with shaved chocolate. My best tasters pronounced it 'second favorite' only to Red Velvet (and a third favorite to a RV and Tiramisu lover). Another taster said it was her FAVORITE. I obviously liked it, because I ate TWO. Triple chocolate threat!