Autumn makes me think of maple for some reason…

Wow, I didn’t even notice it’s been that long since my last post!  I’ve been quite busy with something really exciting and there’s just so much behind the scenes and prep work going on.  I’ll share those news later when we’ve got everything ironed out :).

For today, I have something sweet once again.  Whenever I think of the autumn season I think of maple, as in maple syrup…is that strange?  I’m not really sure if maple syrup is even harvested during autumn, but it’s just stuck in my mind. I had to let the thought out through cupcakes, of course!  I made French Toast cupcakes with MAPLE cream cheese frosting sprinkled with MAPLE bacon bits and paired it with a card using the Don’t Worry! and Harvest Blessings sets from Our Daily Bread designs:

My baking helpers sprinkling on the maple bacon.  I had to keep an eye on them to make sure they weren’t eating the bacon.  No “a sprinkle of bacon for the cupcake and a handful of bacon for me” happenings.  Don’t feel sorry for them because I did fry some up for them to gobble up :).

These mini cupcakes are perfect for a quick breakfast on the go!  Yes, I would have thought the bacon thing was a little weird for sweet cupcakes, but I saw an episode of Cupcake Wars where a baker added bacon and strawberries for a cupcake topping and I figured why not?  Bacon and French toast sounded like a winner to me and from the looks of my sons chowing down on them they were YUMMILICIOUS!

But if I must be honest, I cheated…I doctored up a cake mix AND ready-made frosting . Here’s the super simple recipe:

French Toast Cupcakes

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 package of vanilla instant pudding mix (3.4 oz)

1 1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup oil

3 large eggs

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

*Blend all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.  Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes for standard size cupcakes.  For minis, bake at 325°F for 18 minutes.  I like minis since all you do is unwrap and pop the whole thing in your mouth!

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 can of ready-made cream cheese frosting

1 tbsp. maple syrup

*Stir in maple syrup and pipe onto cupcakes. 

Bake or fry up some maple bacon, crumble into small pieces and sprinkle over cupcakes.

===>Grab a cup of cold milk or hot latte and enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamp: ODBD Don’t Worry! and Harvest Blessings

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Basic Grey Max & Whiskers, Stampin’ Up! (Garden Green, Summer Sun), watercolor paper

Accessories: Martha Stewart Layered Arches punches (border and corner), Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder, Spellbinders (Classic Square Small, Classic Scalloped Square Small), Ranger Super Fine black detail embossing powder, rhinestones, yellow organza ribbon, Scor-Pal (to create box), acetate, watercolor markers, 1/4” Scor-Tape

 

A little sunflower treat!

I have been in a baking kind of mood lately and yesterday I decided to try my hand at making one of my all-time favorite Filipino dessert, the mocha roll…except in cupcake form!  The fall colors of my cupcake paper liner and the cupcake itself made me decide to add a little card for it using the brand new Harvest Blessings set from ODBD and a free flower template from Mirkwood Designs:

My mocha sponge cupcake with butter coffee frosting:

I have no problems making regular cupcakes from scratch, but throw in some fluffy egg whites and folding that into a batter?  Well that makes this girl nervous!  I decided to conquer my fear of the dreaded egg white beat/fold technique because I was really craving a mocha roll (without the hassle of buttering and flouring a cake pan)!  You know what?  It wasn’t scary at all! Here’s the recipe:

WARNING: My kids had a couple and they were bouncing off the walls after two cupcakes…oh, did I mention there’s coffee in this?

Mocha Cupcake

Ingredients:

2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp. fine iodized salt

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

2 tbsp. instant coffee (fine granules)

1/2 cup oil

3/4 cup hot water

8 egg yolks

8 egg whites

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line cupcake pans.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder and coffee.  Make a well in the center and pour oil and hot water.

2. With electric mixer, beat at medium-low speed for 3 minutes.  Continue to mix while adding one egg yolk at a time.  Set aside.

3. In another medium bowl, beat egg white and cream of tartar with electric mixer at medium-high speed until frothy.  Add remaining 1/2 cup of sugar slowly.  Beat until stiff and glossy.

4. Gently fold 1/4 of beaten egg whites into batter, scrapping bottom of bowl, until lightly blended.  Gently fold about 1 cup of batter into beaten egg mixture.  Repeat until all batter is incorporated into the egg mixture.  Quickly fill cupcake wells.

5. Bake for 15 minutes and let cool.

Butter Coffee Frosting:

1 cup of butter, cut into large chunks (room temperature)

1 tbsp. instant coffee (fine granules)---I put mine in a Magic Bullet to get a fine grain

1 cup of whipping cream (chilled)

1 cup powder sugar (sifted)

Beat butter at low speed until fluffy.  Add instant coffee and beat for 1 minute.  Add whipping cream 1 tbsp. at a time until mixture is light and fluffy.  Add powdered sugar little by little.  Continue to beat until very smooth (it takes some time to completely incorporate…just be patient).

ENJOY!

Card Recipe

Stamp: ODBD Harvest Blessings

Ink: Tim Holtz Tea Dye distress

Paper: Me & My Big Ideas Harvest pad, Stampin’ Up! (Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Basic Brown), Canson watercolor paper

Accessories: Martha Stewart Fence border punch, yellow craft buttons, watercolor markers, Karen Foster tan Scrapper’s Floss, 3M foam adhesive, Glue Dots Permanent Dot N Go

Baby Keepsake Flower Ornament and instructions!

I was asked by several people for instructions on how I made the Harvest Blessings flower ball ornament.  The flower ornament is known as a “kusudama ball”.  Although the idea is not mine, I decided to create step-by-step photo instructions because I myself had to search quite a bit on the web for instructions (some were clear on certain aspects while not-so-clear on others).  I had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to glue the whole thing together so it is my hope that my instructions will be clear enough for anyone to create their own kusudama ball.
Here is another finished project using a different fold, this time a baby keepsake ornament using an adorable digital image from *Wink*Wink Ink called Special Delivery.  I made this for the *Wink*Wink Ink August Challenge #2 of using metal (I added silver bead caps to the origami flower centers) :

 

I created these instructions so that you may print them out and practice putting a kusudama ball together.  The first set of instructions show how to create the flower from the Harvest Blessings ornament. The second set shows how to create the flower from the baby keepsake ornament.  The third shows how to put the whole thing together.  I use 3” square sheets, but you may use larger pieces for an even bigger kusudama!  Don’t let the amount of square sheets scare you.  Do what I do and fold throughout the day, especially during commercial breaks of your favorite shows!  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding my instructions.

NOTE: You will not be able to read the directions embedded in some of the images even if you click to enlarge photos. 

You can find downloadable pdf files by clicking HERE.

 

 

Baby Keepsake Ornament Recipe

Digital Stamp: *Wink*Wink Ink Special Delivery

Paper: My Minds Eye

Accessories: Glue Dots Continuous Glue Lines, silver cording, beads, bead end caps, pink rhinestones

ODBD August Blog Hop Time!!

Hello everyone and welcome to Our Daily Bread design's Aug 1 release blog hop!

If you came from Connie’s blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened to have stumbled upon my blog or if you get lost along the way or any links are broken, just return to the ODBD Blog for the full list of links! We hope you enjoy this months sets as much as we do!!!
This month Kelley is giving away THREE Gift Certificates of $15.00 toward stamps at the ODBD Store! To make it a little more fun ... the prizes are hidden on three different blogs and you won't know which ones, so be sure to leave a comment on each DT blog, because three blog owners will be choosing a winner from their commenters now through Aug 2, 8pm Eastern! So grab your favorite beverage and enjoy the hop! Be sure to return to the ODBD Blog and leave a comment there that you completed the hop and left comments for everyone, noting there if there were any you could not comment on. The hop will close at 8pm eastern tomorrow night (Aug 2). The winners will be announced Tues. on the ODBD Blog!
Today, I’d like to share with you the art of origami.  I created this flower ball using the new sets Don’t Worry! and Harvest Blessings:

Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoyed my project today. From here, hop over to Randi’s blog to see what loveliness she has created!

Here are more pictures from different angles (please click to enlarge):

 

This is the back:

Although the project took me a whole day to complete (60 square pieces had to be folded and to each petal had to be glued to each other!) it was well worth the effort! 

Origami Harvest Recipe

Stamps: ODBD Don’t Worry! and Harvest Blessings

Ink: Versamark

Paper: unknown

Accessories: Ranger Super Fine Detail gold embossing powder, gold cording, jewelry beads, Spellbinders Petite Ovals Large