Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

If you have any problems with self control, do not even bother making these cupcakes because you will be sorry. I ate three in one day! :-( I couldn't stop myself! The combination of recipes I used to make these little treasures is a bit on the Sandra Lee-esque vibe for me... but they ended up being way too delicious for me to leave out of my blog. The meshing of chocolate and coconut is a perfect match. The devil's food cake is a subtle chocolate flavor and the buttercream with the coconut is divine. I actually even now prefer this over the classic coconut cream cheese frostings. Watch out Sprinkles! Oven Philosophy is in the house!

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes via Cupcake Blog:

http://cupcakeblog.com/?p=65



7-Up Cupcakes

7-Up cake... a classic. You know I had to switch it up a little and make it into cupcakes. Never can just go by the right recipe! Plus you know my cupcake theory: helps with portion control! So I didn't change any of the ingredients, I just made the bundt cake into cupcake form. This recipe is actually pretty big. It made a dozen regular size cupcakes plus 6 more jumbo cupcakes for me, even a little extra to spare. I would up the ingredients in the glaze recipe, maybe even double it. It seemed kind of scarce. And please, please! DO NOT substitute some other lemon-lime soda for 7-Up. This is 7-Up cake folks! Cheers!

7-Up Cupcakes via Food.com:

http://www.food.com/recipe/7-up-bundt-cake-31500

Golden Crunch Cupcakes

Let's just start off with with a note to myself that not ALL cake recipes should be turned into cupcakes. I thought I could pull this one off, but it turned into the mess of all messes under the broiler in my beautiful muffin pan. It is currently soaking, but may be permanently ruined. Do not make my same mistake! I'm sure this would have been devine as a cake. The topping probably would have been nice and thick too. Some day I will learn. Despite my pan disaster, the taste was all there. The cake portion of this recipe is also near perfect, delightfully light and fluffy. Let me know how it goes as a cake!

Golden Crunch Cupcakes via Not Without Salt:

http://notwithoutsalt.com/2009/06/25/golden-crunch-cake/

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Cream Buttercream

I'm super sad that I'm not home today. This is my first St. Patrick's day away from home. This is growing up I guess. We always do a big, traditional Irish dinner: corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, green beer, shamrock cookies. I wasn't tempted to do the whole feast for myself... but I knew I had to celebrate somehow. Enter cupcake! ...ok I MIGHT have had a shot of Jameson last night. Shame on me. These turned out delicious and I feel like they are the perfect Irish cupcake culmination, definitely celebratory. I'm working tonight, hence my early holiday celebration last night... but I'm taking them into work. Hopefully they will be well received. I miss you Dad! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Irish Cream Buttercream via the Culinary Chronicles:

http://theculinarychronicles.com/2011/03/09/chocolate-stout-cupcakes-with-irish-cream-buttercream-slainte/

Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes

I didn't think I was a fan of pineapple upside-down cake... not because I tried it and didn't like it, meerly because I had NEVER tried it before because the looks of it remind me of fruit cake, which I have had some traumatizing experiences with in my childhood. So when I had a special request to make pineapple upside-down cake, I thought why not test it out, maybe it's not so bad. Turns out it's pretty tasty! Anything in cupcake form is always a favorite of mine, I like to trick myself into thinking it helps with portion control. :-) These turned out moist & just sweet enough. I am starting to learn that anything with sour cream in the batter really is great in maintaining its moisture. So cute with a cherry on top!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes via Taste of Home:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pineapple-Upside-Down-Cupcakes

Zucchini Cupcakes

I LOVE zucchini, so delicious, so versatile, just great! It's been a minute since I made any cupcakes, almost a month I think, so we were cupcake overdue. I also love that this recipe added almond extract, another one of my sentimental childhood favorites. Almost anything with almond extract I love. Don't be turned off by the idea of a vegetable in your cupcake. The zucchini itself is very subtle. If you like spice type cakes, you will like this. The caramel frosting is also a nice complement. If you're not keen on the caramel, I think a cream cheese frosting would also work well. Have you cake and veggies & eat them too!

Zucchini Cupcakes via Taste of Home:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Zucchini-Cupcakes

Vanilla Peppermint Cupcakes

These are great! Subtle and delicious! I made these today for a party we are going to tonight. Hopefully they will be a hit. Definitely festive! Let me know if anyone has any candy cane crushing tips, because I had a very difficult time! The frosting recipe makes a LOT of frosting, I would probably half everything in the frosting if I make these again. Now off to the party bus! Happy dirty 30 Monique!

Vanilla Peppermint Cupcakes via Sprinkles:

http://www.oprah.com/food/Vanilla-Peppermint-Cupcakes

Sock it to Me Cupcakes

These tasty little treats were made for my sister Amy's 20th birthday this past June by her personal request, big hit! I'd been hearing about "Sock it to Me Cake" for awhile and had to find out what all the fuss was about. They are definitely tasty. Only change I made to this one was to make them as cupcakes instead of a whole cake. (I try to convince myself that cupcakes help with my portion control.) Just bake in a muffin pan for 16-18 minutes if you also prefer this route. Same temperature.

Sock it to Me Cake via the Neely's:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/neelys/mama-neelys-sock-it-to-me-cake-recipe/index.html