cupcake punks

i were in a gang or a band.. i'd want to be known as the cupcake punks.  but really, this post is about peanut butter steampunk sprinkled cupcakes.  6 of one, half dozen of another, eh?

in $1 spot michael's cupcake liners.  theyre cute and floral and yellow...which blends weirdly with the yellow cake and tan frosting.  its the thought that counts, no?

green stuff for st pats

sally hansen xtreme wear "going green" with ulta matte tips

lemon vodka cupcakes with green dye and key lime curd filling

sooo good.  srsly.

aaand my $4 plant was absurdly ridiculously rootbound and pretty much suffocating itself.  2 bags of potting soil, a trashbag full of roots, and another pot later... i cut apart the plant with a butter knife and repotted.  there was a tiny bit extra that fit in a 3" pot so i technically now have 3 plants.  but i'll probably forget about 2 and they'll die...and i'll be back to one.  until then they are seemingly healthy and survived the night in my 75 degree apartment

hello kitty recital

sorry about your nose kitty.  though you look pretty good for almost 40.

it bothers me that 5 are upside down and one is missing right whiskers.  but theres nothing to be done about that now.

cupcakes for doctor leah!

did you know there is a hello kitty pig named pippo?  FRIKKIN ADORABLE

balloons!  the "congrats" balloon is conveniently hiding

roses!

the cupcake tree makes yet another party debut

the most hello kittiest table ever prepared for a doctorate of musical arts reception

happy bday leah!

this page came up on my google reader and inspired a batch of birthday cupcakes for my favorite/bestest sister ever

doodles

looking a little creepy and powdered sugar crack-y

faces!  btw.  what the hell do real bakers use for black lines?  i bought these in the hope they would ...work.  but to no avail.  mostly the markers have dried out [they need to be refrigerated???] and smoosh the fondant around, even after it has dried for an hour.  i ended up with my fall back.. cheap black gel icing from the grocery store that leaves blobs and drips like no one's business and is sticky as shit.  do i need to learn how to do chocolate piping?  cos that seems like a pain in the ass. 

but they turned out ok in the end.

babo

uglyworm

ox

note to self-do not attempt to make colored underlays for letters again.  pain. in. the. arse.

the ugly doll cupcakes ready for transport [on butter-chocolate cake with dark cocoa and peanut butter frosting]

lone ox.  cos i cant add.  and i am a math/sciences grad student.  umm.

the best frosting ever:
1 stick butter [room temp not melted]
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teas vanilla
2 tablespoons milk or soy milk
1/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
powdered sugar [around 2/3 pound]
yield: 24 cupcakes [and 2 snacky roommates]

cream butter and peanut butter until well mixed.  add vanilla, soy milk, cocoa, and several cups of powdered sugar.  mix on low until powered sugar is combined [to avoid horrific explosion].  mix on high until color lightens slightly.  add more powdered sugar as needed until frosting is fluffy and able to form peaks

eat with spoon.  i mean..

2 years and counting

welp i missed my 2 year "blog-a-versary" by a few days.  damn.  good thing my mom still reads this.

since florida, i have shoveled a declared shitload of snow  [unofficially 20" in my neighborhood] and searched fruitlessly for a part time job.  doing ANYTHING.

see the antennae?  thats my car.

after some help from neighbors.  note, i had to shovel a path thru the yard just to get across the street to my car.  unpictured-helping elderly neighbor shovel out his 2 cars, my roommate's car and our driveway, and a further car-shaped spot next to our driveway for another roommate's car.  and back pain. 

i also attended a housewarming party with a bunch of particle physicists.  and of course i made cupcakes.

yes that is a radiation symbol.  i was going to make the house look like an atom with electrons circling it.. but my fondant decorating pens were a bit dodgy.

 

neatly arranged in my birthday cupcake tree! needless to say, the radiation cupcakes were readily consumed over the house cupcakes.  and it was explained to me how to actually make a cupcake radioactive using only household materials.  much wine was consumed but the gist was... cannibalize the smoke detector and therein lies some radioactive isotope/element/part.  then schmear it on the cupcake.  voila. 

fun-fetti + dark cocoa = ...

AWESOMENESS.  obviously. 

how does one make funfetti cupcakes, one might ask.  weeeeell if you want the demento one like the back right, that takes special talent.  i mean who can fuck up a boxed cake mix.  seriously.  i can.  so mix said cake mix, add 3 tablespoons of cheap ass sprinkles, and bake as per usual. 

mix up dark chocolate buttercream frosting and use birthday decorating set as gifted by roommate

voila!  share with fellow angry students in 6 hour class accordingly. 

zhen's bday cupcakes

its a leaf.  cos were environmental people...

and a happy sun

cupcake toppers!

cupcakes getting ready to go party

halloween cupcakes part deux

raaawwrrr vampire fondant topppers!

rocky horror lips

generic happy face + fangs

for once i only had a teeny tiny bit of fondant left over instead of...shitloads like usual

lemon cupcakes with dark chocolate buttercream and vampire tops

and just for good measure... our pumpkins

halloween cupcakes!

why are there not more red velvet cupcakes around halloween?  when else are blood red cake products more apropos??!

 super close up of chocolate sour cream frosting in all its shiny smooth glory.  too bad once the chocolate cools more it is a bitch to decorate with.

unfortunately.. black foil liners burn cupcakes easier than orange.  or maybe it was the pan.  ...

ghetto cupcake season

the "worst ny summer ever" has broken.  thank god.  it was officially cool enough to use the oven yesterday.  keep in mind, we have possibly the most uninsulated oven in existence.  and the thermostat runs about 25 degrees hot.  but i digress.  I MADE CUPCAKES! 

but as it turned out, the mental picture i had was... about what i created.  not. so. great.

back to school!  ummm its a school house that reads "PS 71" and an apple.  in case you couldnt tell.  PS as in..public school.  and 71 is our house number.  which a former resident of the house ::ahem:: didnt seem to realize when she picked up her cupcakes-to-go. 

frank cupcakes.  noone likes black fondant and... i dont think i even know how to make black with food coloring.  and in these pictures it only is sort of apparent the cookie cutter was a cat... but whatever.  plus one cupcake is missing as a current roommate enjoys cupcakes without frosting.  too much sugar.  even though he eats half a box of children's cereal daily...

a closeup of a particuarly good looking apple.  it was a heart cookie cutter with the bottom cut off.  and yes with a layer of power sugar crack. 

a crack kitty close up

and just for good measure since my purchase of discount disposable [recyclable] cupcake containers has "creme filled" stickers... theyre your mom filled instead.  yep.  went there.