With a base of moist spice cake and fluffy cream cheese frosting, these get the halloween treatment with sharp glassy candy daggers and lots of gooey splattered blood making them both a trick and treat.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Blood Splatter Cupcakes with Glass Daggers

 

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Author: The Squishy Monster

Serves: 2-3 dozen

Ingredients

Spice Cake

• 1¾ c unbleached flour
• 1 ts baking powder
• ½ ts salt
• 1 ts cinnamon*
• ½ ts nutmeg*
• ¼ ts cloves*
• ⅛ ts allspice*
• ⅛ ts ginger*
• ¾ c oil
• 1½ c brown sugar
• 3 room temperature eggs
• ¾ c room temperature whole buttermilk
• 1 ts pure vanilla extract

Frosting

• 16 oz soft cream cheese
• 2-3 c *sifted* confectioners/powdered sugar
• 1 ts pure vanilla
• 1 tb heavy cream {optional}
• ¼ ts fine salt

Glass Candy

• 1 c granulated sugar
• ½ c corn syrup

Blood

• Red jelly

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk/sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and all the spices. Set aside,
2. In a separate bowl, combine the oil and sugar.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time with the buttermilk and vanilla.
4. In thirds, slowly combine the first, dry bowl with the second, wet bowl. Do not over mix.
5. Bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes for standard sizes and 9-12 minutes for mini sizes.
6. For the frosting, break up the cream cheese and slowly cream in the sifted powdered sugar. Add the vanilla, cream, and salt and cream until fluffy. Frost cooled cupcakes.
7. Please refer to videos for making the glass candy and assembling the cupcakes.

Notes

*Freshly ground yields the best flavor

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Love,

Your Squishy Monster ^.~

The weather here is deceptively warm yet, it’s too cold to go into the water anymore which only reminds me that summer is really gone *sigh* #firstworldproblems so when my neighbor approached me this weekend with a fun halloween project, I jumped at the chance to whip up these velvet cupcakes with a spooky halloween spin but they’re still moist little cakes crowned with the glory of fluffy cream cheese frosting.  It served as a delicious token telling me that the best holidays are just around the corner and you already know I could eat this frosting by the spoon bucketful!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Black Velvet Cupcakes with Chocolate Webs

 

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

17 mins

Total time

27 mins

 

Author: The Squishy Monster

Serves: 2 dozen

Ingredients

Cake

• 1½ c unbleached flour
• 1 ts baking powder
• ¼ ts fine salt
• 2 tb black or natural cocoa
• ½ c oil
• 1 c sugar
• 2 ts lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
• 2 room temperature eggs
• ½ c room temperature buttermilk
• 1 ts vanilla extract
• Black gel color*

Frosting

• 16 oz soft cream cheese
• 2-3 c *sifted* confectioners sugar
• 1 ts pure vanilla
• 1 tb heavy cream {optional}
• ¼ ts fine salt
• Melted chocolate for webs

Instructions

1. In the first bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa together. Set aside.
2. In the second bowl, blend the oil and sugar.
3. Add the lemon/vinegar.
4. Whisk the eggs, milk, and vanilla.
5. In 3 separate but quick additions, stir in the first bowl of dry ingredients into the second bowl. Do not over mix.
6. Lastly, tin the batter to your liking.
7. Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes. Do not over bake.
8. For the frosting, break up the cream cheese and slowly blend in the sugar.
9. Add the vanilla and cream, if using} and salt. Whip until fluffy.
10. Please refer to video to recreate the chocolate webs.

Notes

Natural options: activated charcoal, black cocoa, mixing homemade primary colors.

3.2.2807

Love,

Your Squishy Monster ^.~

If you enjoy cupcakes that are light, fluffy, and not too sweet, this recipe is for you.  I’ve paired a soft strawberry cupcake with an airy whipped cream topping and hope you’ll try it for Valentine’s day {or any day}

httpv://youtu.be/oUwfHoDhm6I

5.0 from 3 reviews

Strawberries & Cream Cupcakes

 

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: The Squishy Monster

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Strawberry Cake

• 1½ c cake flour
• 2½ ts baking powder
• ½ ts baking soda
• ¼ ts fine salt
• 2 egg whites + ⅛ ts cream of tartar
• ¾ c sugar
• 6 tb soft, unsalted butter
• ⅔ c strawberry puree
• ½ c whole milk
• 1 ts pure vanilla extract

Whipped Topping

• 1 ts unflavored gelatin + 4 ts water
• 1 c cold heavy cream
• 5 tb confectioners sugar
• 1 ts vanilla {or ¼ c strawberry juice}

Instructions

1. In the first bowl, sift the flour, powder, soda, and salt together. Set aside,
2. In the second bowl, whip the egg whites until they get frothy. Sprinkle in the cream of tartar and continue to whip until it achieves stiff peaks {when you lift the beater, the tip stands up and doesn’t wilt}.
3. In the third bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
4. Blend in the puree, milk, then vanilla.
5. Combine bowls one and three in three separate additions. Mix just to combine and avoid over mixing.
6. Incorporate the second bowl into the batter. Carefully fold a bit at a time until it’s mixed in. Again, don’t over mix. You don’t want to deflate the puffed up whites.
7. Fill a lined cupcake tin a little over three quarters of the way full and bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes.
8. Cool.
9. For the topping, bloom the gelatin by stirring into the water. Set aside for 1-2 minutes.
10. Slowly dissolve the gelatin over low heat {or for 20-30 seconds in the microwave}. Cool completely and stir so it doesn’t set.
11. Whip the cold cream with the sugar. Add the gelatin mixture and whip until it reaches the consistency you desire. {I stopped mine right before it reached firm peaks}.
12. Pipe onto cupcakes and serve.

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Love,

Your Squishy Monster ^.~

I was enjoying a pb&j for lunch the other day when I decided I wanted these for dessert.  I know, I’m crazy but by this craziness, I bring sweets for my sweets {and I’m corny too, didn’t you know}?  These are a hybrid peanut butter cupcake-brownie base injected with fresh jam, swirled with a creamy peanut butter buttercream.

httpv://youtu.be/fLct2WiRrYw

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes

 

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: The Squishy Monster

Serves: 1 Dozen

Ingredients

• 1 c unbleached flour
• 1 ts baking soda
• ½ ts fine salt
• 1 c sugar
• 1 c peanut butter
• ½ c canola oil
• 2 room temperature eggs
• Jam/jelly
• 8 oz peanut butter
• 8 oz softened unsalted butter
• 1 tb heavy cream
• 1½-2 c powdered sugar

Instructions

1. In the first bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In the second bowl, cream together the sugar and peanut butter.
3. Stream in the oil and drop in one egg at a time.
4. Bake in a lined cupcake tin at 350 for 17-19 minutes.
5. Cool and fill with jam/jelly (using a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip, insert into the center of the cake and fill).
6. In the third bowl, cream together the peanut butter and butter. Tip in the cream and blend for 2 minutes.
7. Sprinkle in the sifted powdered sugar and blend well.
8. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a tip of your choice. Swirl onto cooled cupcakes.

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{Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookie Recipe}

There will be a new video everyday this weekend for all you beautiful people!!

Love,

Your Squishy Monster ^.~

That’s why I think I’m always baking up cupcakes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter.

Confetti to take along to a dinner party.

The entertainment: my gf Bry doing what she does best!

A lasagna dinner made from a recipe that survived through the 50’s #VintageRecipes

Mexican food to celebrate the glutton in all of us.

Charcuterie & an éclair

My very special, bittersweet portrait done by the local artist I met last week.  As I thanked him, he confided in me that he’d been diagnosed with prostate cancer last week.  He is a very special man and I am blessed to have met him.  This means that much more to me.  Thank you.

As I entered the NBC studios this morning, I met the ever talented Anthony Hamilton as he spoke of all his philanthropic endeavors within our local community.  Of course my eyes are closed but it just wouldn’t have been as funny without it

Life is what you make it.  She’ll always throw you curve balls, no matter how tightly you grip your good luck charm but hopefully in that mix, you’ll always have time to sit and savor a sweet pastry or two and meet some incredible people to share them with along the way.

I love you all very much.  I’ll be at the beach until Monday and can’t wait to see y’all with a new video!

Love,

Your very grateful Squishy Monster ^.~

Tomorrow marks the arrival of Autumn which is my absolute favorite time of the year!  Needless to say, there will be a liberal use of exclamation marks in this post.  Autumn means warm and spicy liquids, toppling over with mounds of whipped cream, flushed cheeks, fuzzy mittens, and a dazzling array of bold foliage on display.  One of my favorite Autumn-y beverages is a steaming swirl of spicy chai in frothy milk so I figured why not make it into a cupcake to celebrate the arrival of Autumn?–yaaaaay!!!

Chai Cupcakes

 

Author: The Squishy Monster

Ingredients

• ½ c unbleached cake flour
• ½ ts baking soda
• ½ ts baking powder
• ¼ ts fine salt
• ½ ts ground cinnamon
• ¼ ts ground cardamom
• ¼ ts ground ginger
• ¼ ts ground nutmeg
• ¼ ts ground cloves
• 1 grind of black pepper
• ¼ c granulated sugar
• ¼ c brown sugar
• 2 tb softened butter
• 2 tb apple sauce*
• 1 room temperature egg
• ¼ c warm buttermilk
• 3 chai tea bags
• ½ ts apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Sift all of your dry ingredients into your first bowl (excluding your spices).
2. In a separate cup, steep your tea bags for at least 5 minutes. Scoot in all of your spices and let it sit.
3. In your third bowl, cream together your sugars and butter. Slowly stream in your egg.
4. Still working with your third bowl, spoon in your apple sauce (if you’re using it) and also slip in your spiced tea mixture. Next, dribble in your apple cider vinegar.
5. Lastly, you want to marry your first bowl with your third bowl–sprinkle in your dry mixture in about 3 separate additions, taking care not to over mix.
6. Bake at 350 for 17-22 minutes for standard size cupcakes.
7. Cool and frost with cream cheese frosting.

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Love & Warm & Spicy Kisses,

Your Squishy Monster ^.~

Chai Cupcakes

 

Save Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: The Squishy Monster

Ingredients

• ½ c unbleached Cake Flour
• ½ ts Baking Soda
• ½ ts Baking Powder
• ¼ ts fine Salt
• ½ ts ground Cinnamon
• ¼ ts ground Cardamom
• ¼ ts ground Ginger
• ¼ ts ground Nutmeg
• ¼ ts ground Cloves
• 1 grind of Black Pepper
• ¼ c granulated Sugar
• ¼ c Brown Sugar
• 2 tb softened Butter
• 2 tb Apple Sauce*
• 1 room temperature Egg
• ¼ c warm Buttermilk
• 3 Chai Tea Bags
• ½ ts Apple Cider Vinegar

Instructions

1. Sift all of your dry ingredients into your first bowl (excluding your spices).
2. In a separate cup, steep your tea bags for at least 5 minutes. Scoot in all of your spices and let it sit.
3. In your third bowl, cream together your Sugars and Butter. Slowly stream in your Egg.
4. Still working with your third bowl, spoon in your Apple Sauce (if you’re using it) and also slip in your spiced tea mixture. Next, dribble in your Apple Cider Vinegar.
5. Lastly, you want to marry your first bowl with your third bowl–sprinkle in your dry mixture in about 3 separate additions, taking care not to over mix.
6. Bake at 350 for 17-22 minutes for standard size Cupcakes.
7. Cool and frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Notes

*you can omit the Apple Sauce and use ¼ c soft Butter instead. Also, it’s best to grind your own, whole spices in a spice grinder (it makes for a beautifully spiced cake).

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You can top with Buttercream, or my favorite thing to top everything with!  Cream Cheese Frosting.

Dust with Pumpkin Spice or Cinnamon, take a HUGE bite!! (or 3, 6, 12…) and you’re ringing in Autumn the right way, I assure you

Love & Warm & Spicy Kisses,

Your Squishy Monster ^.~

Your wallet + your veggie friends will love you!

I don’t know about you, but in my house, I go through eggs and butter like water.  There’s nothing more satisfying than opening up a door to a fully stocked pantry, cupboard or fridge but on sadder days, I have [maybe] a 1/2 stick of butter and an empty carton of eggs.  Confession #564, I’d rather have a well stocked pantry than a Carrie Bradshaw closet.  I wish the neighborhood would allow me to keep hens I know that not everyone feels this way (for a variety of reasons), but I happen to love eggs.  I use them often when I bake and love them any which way to eat.

So, on those days that you don’t feel like running out (or you’re a vegan–kudos to you because I never could figure out how to maintain it), these are my go -to.  Quick, easy, and indulgent, these will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

 

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: The Squishy Monster

Ingredients

Vegan Chocolate Cake

• 1½ c unbleached flour
• 1 ts baking soda
• ½ ts fine salt
• 1 c warm water
• 1 c sugar
• ½ c unsweetened cocoa
• ½ tb instant coffee
• ⅓ c canola oil*
• 1 tb apple cider vinegar
• 2 ts vanilla

Peanut Butter Frosting

• 1 c creamy peanut butter
• 5 tb spectrum/earth balance shortening or butter
• ¼ ts fine salt
• 1 ts vanilla
• 1 c powdered sugar
• 2-3 tb coconut milk**

Optional

• Melted chocolate/or “ganache”***
• Chopped peanuts

Instructions

1. In your first bowl, sift in your flour, soda, and salt.
2. In your second bowl, whisk together your water, sugar, cocoa and coffee.
3. In your third bowl, beat together your oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Next, blend in your second bowl (to your third bowl) and slowly sprinkle in your first bowl (in three separate additions or so).
4. Remember not to over mix and bake at 350 for 17-22 minutes.
5. For the frosting, cream together your peanut butter and “butter/shortening.” Add in your salt and vanilla. Slowly add in your powdered sugar and alternate with your “milk.” Add in more “milk” or powdered sugar as needed.
6. Finish off by pressing chopped peanuts on top and drizzle over with chocolate.

Notes

*you can sub with the same amount of apple sauce. This will create a chewier vs softer cake. **You can use whatever dairy substitute you’d like. ***I used Trader Joe’s chocolate which is non-dairy.

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Showin’ love to my vegan peeps

Love,

Your Squishy Monster ^.^

I don’t know about you, but in my house, I go through eggs and butter like water.  There’s nothing more satisfying than opening up a door to a fully stocked pantry, cupboard or fridge but on sadder days, I have [maybe] a 1/2 stick of butter and an empty carton of eggs.  Confession #564, I’d rather have a well stocked pantry than a Carrie Bradshaw closet.  I wish the neighborhood would allow me to keep hens I know that not everyone feels this way (for a variety of reasons), but I happen to love eggs.  I use them often when I bake and love them any which way to eat.  I also found out today that I’m hypoglycemic so that instant burst of protein is always nice (per doctor recommendation but no worries, no diabetes, nor is it something that runs in my family).  We typically use Eggland’s Best.  Last week, with my coupon + sale I got an 18-carton for $2.  To give you an idea of how quickly they’re gone, I was fully stocked on Monday, out by Thursday–eek!

So, on those days that you don’t feel like running out (or you’re a vegan–kudos to you because I never could figure out how to maintain it), these are my go -to.  Quick, easy, and indulgent, these will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth.

Watch this video on YouTube Embedded with WP YouTube Lyte.

Showin’ love to my Vegan Peeps

Love,

Your Squishy Monster ^.^

My baby brother did his entire dorm room in patriotic red, white and blues.  We all celebrated with an American feast when mom and dad got their citizenship.  We’re a family that’s proud to be American.  Though, the bittersweet irony of this post in relation to my last post can be pointed out. 

Le sigh, I digress.

In the South, we take our BBQ pretty seriously so while everyone else focuses on the coming carnivorous feast (sorry veggies), I’m always the designated dessert-bringer.  I’ve always thought that sugar cookies encrusted with hardened “frosting,” embedded with miscellaneous shards of pointy triangles that were once part of a star were blasé, so I took to bringing cakes to celebrate.  Confession #765, I’ve never had a birthday cake, but in my mind, cake = celebration.

Now, of course you can enlist the help of fondant to create a neater presentation but golly do I hate fondant (oh, was I not suppose to admit that)?  Admittedly, it looks great but I’m more interested in how something tastes.  A good friend of mine who now lives  upstate works in a bakery and churns out fondant cakes regularly for clients weddings, showers, etc but for her own wedding, she scrapped the play-doh and slathered her tiers in good, old fashioned buttercream.  If y’all completely disagree, just let me know and I will consider doing a fondant tutorial.

For the past 3 years, I’ve done a variation of this cake whether it be in cake or cupcake form so if you’re not looking to wait around for its assembly, be my guest to take the individualized portion route instead.

Red White & Blue Cake

 

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: The Squishy Monster

Serves: One 8″ 3 Layer Cake

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 2 sticks + 2 tb soft, unsalted butter
• 2 c sugar
• 2 ts pure vanilla extract
• 9 room temperature egg whites
• 3 c unbleached flour
• 4½ ts baking powder
• 1½ ts salt
• 1½ c room temperature whole milk

For the Buttercream:

• 4 sticks soft, unsalted butter
• 6-8 c sifted powdered sugar*
• 2 ts pure vanilla extract
• 1/s ts fine salt
• 2-4 tb cream

Instructions

1. In your first bowl, cream together your butter and sugar. You want to cream for at least 5 minutes and reach a pale, fluffy blonde color.
2. Tip in your vanilla and slowly stream in your eggs.
3. In your second bowl, sift in all of your dry ingredients. Slowly add this to your first, “wet” bowl.
4. Alternate with milk but begin and end with your dry bowl.
5. Evenly pour into three well greased and parchment lined 8″ tins. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes.
6. Cool completely and meanwhile, work on your buttercream.
7. Break up all 5 sticks of butter with your mixer and slowly add in your sugar (1/2 c-1 c at a time). Add in your vanilla and salt and cream as needed.
8. Assemble as demonstrated in the video.

Notes

*6-8 c depending on how sweet you like your buttercream (pay attention to consistency as well). Remember to measure it out after you sift it, not before.

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Now for those of you that are concerned about food colors, here are a few alternatives to consider:

Natural Food Dyes: the only downside to these are that I found them to be a bit pricy and I went through mine in a couple months.

Homemade colors can be extracted from natural sources.  The only cons for me: sometimes, it takes more to attain a brighter depth of color but this can possibly be taken care of with produce that is naturally richer in pigment and “stain” effortlessly (like beets) and sometimes this can impact the consistency of my batter/frostings not to mention, I always get paranoid about the taste bleeding in.  This can sometimes be combated by utilizing a juicer to expel it’s liquid instead of blitzing them in a processor.

Red/Pink Options: Currants/Cranberries, Pomegranates, Cherries, Raspberries, Beets, Hibiscus Flowers/Tea, Red Wine

Blue/Purple: Blueberries, Blackberries, Acai, Grape Juice

Green: Kale, Spinach

Orange/Yellow: Carrots, Turmeric Powder, Saffron

There are other options, but these are just what I’ve experimented with before.  Additionally, crumbled, freeze dried fruits are nice to work with but again, can be expensive.

I realize that it’s a bit early to be thinking about the 4th of July but what am I if not a bit of an overzealous Squishy Monster?

Love Always,

Your Squishy Monster