Portable wedding cupcake tower, anyone?

(If you’re looking for the ODBD Birthday Blog Hop for Josh it’s in THIS post)

I know the cupcake tower is all the craze, from premade ones you can assemble quickly to homemade ones with all the fanfare…BUT…have you seen a PORTABLE tower?  Here’s what I made using two hat boxes, some imagination and lots of Glue Dots® products:

Of course I couldn’t complete this tower without using the 1 Corinthians stamp from Our Daily Bread designs.

Here are the fabulous Glue Dots® products I used to pull this project off:

(Glue Dots® Minis were also used).  Supplies and instructions are found at the very bottom of this post.

Aside from it being portable, I made the designer papers stain-resistant by using a gloss sealer (pictured).  The decoupage sealer in the spray bottle is awesome!

I chose the hat boxes sizes so that when I layered them there was plenty of room to hold standard size cupcakes on the bottom tier and mini cupcakes on the top tier.  I thought about a purse handle for the top, but I same across this little basket and I thought PERFECT!

I added Glue Dots® Continuous Line around the top edge of the basket for my lace trim.

I embellished with gold bows andlace flowers I made and attached them with Glue Dots® Pop-Ups and Glue Dots® Industrial High Profile.  I used Glue Dots® Minis for the rhinestone accents:

No Glue Dots® were used here…I just wanted to show you a nice close-up of the mocha cupcakes with Kahlua buttercream frosting (that’s right…KAHLUA!):

SUPPLIES:
*Glue Dots®- 1/2" High Profile/Super High Tack Adhesive, Continuous Lines,
Permanent Dot N Go dispensers

*Paper mache round hatboxes- 14", 8" and 3"
*3" paper mache basket
*Coordinating designer papers and cardstocks
*Beacon Decoupage Gloss Sealer spray (to make  the papers and cardstocks
waterproof and stain-resistant)
*Silk flowers
*Self-adhesive pearls and rhinestones
*Crocheted lace trim for lace flowers HERE
*Decorative brads
*Decorative punches
*Cuttlebug embossing folder
*Ribbon
*Wood glue
*Gold acrylic paint
*Styrofoam
*Our Daily Bread designs stamp- 1 Corinthians 13
*Cupcake baking supplies

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Remove hatbox lids and attach upside down to bottom of boxes using wood
glue.  Attaching the lids in this manner will create a nice platter for the
cupcakes to sit in without fear of sliding off from finished tower.  Allow to
dry overnight.
2. Cut enough designer papers and cardstocks to cover hatboxes.  Cut matching
solid-color cardstocks for "cake" trims. Run "cake" trims through Cuttlebug
embossing folder to add more detail.  Punch decorative border on one edge of
trims.
3. Once all your designer papers and cardstock trims are cut spray on decoupage
gloss sealer, making sure to cover pieces entirely.  They will curl a little,
but once dry just place a heavy book on top to flatten.
4. Using Glue Dots Super High Tack Adhesive and Permanent Dot N Go, attach all
treated papers and trims to hatboxes.
5. Use wood glue to attach hatboxes in a stacked fashion.  Allow to dry
overnight.
6. Paint paper mache basket with gold acrylic paint and let dry.  Glue basket
to the bottom of 3" hatbox as this will act as a pedestal for the basket on top
of the tower (lid will not be needed).   Insert small styrofoam inside basket
and attach silk flowers and embellish with punched butterflies as desired.
7. Embellish cupcake tower with pearls, rhinestones and lace flowers.
8. Bake your choice of cupcakes (standard and mini size cupcakes were used in
sample) and decorate to coordinate with tower theme.
9. Pick up tower by the handle and go!

(I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team)

Yumminess in a jar!

Time for another baked good from yours truly…this time it’s Mandarin cupcakes with pineapple whipped cream frosting (you can find lots of recipes on the web):

I didn’t want to just box these babies up, especially since the whipped frosting won’t set, so……

I cut the cupcakes in half and gently stuffed them (oxymoron?) in a canning jar and layered on the frosting.  I wasn’t looking for “pretty”, but I was looking for an easy yet fun way to give the cupcakes out.  Once they got stuffed I decorated using my trusty Glue Dots® Permanent Dot N Go­™ and ended up with this festive Halloween treat, complete with a spoon to enjoy right on the spot:

I was stoked to have had a pumpkin charm on hand!

These would make wonderful teacher gifts because after they’ve eaten the treat they could wash out the jar and store erasers, paper clips, etc. in them.  You can use smaller jars and bake up some mini cupcakes, too!  I just may have to buy up a few dozen or so :).

I’ve got a couple more Glue Dots® Halloween projects to share with you all so please visit again soon!

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team.

Cupcake in a Jar Recipe

Glue Dots®: Permanent Dot N Go™ dispenser

Paper: DCWV Fall Stack, black glitter cardstock, black cardstock

Accessories: black pipe cleaner, pumpkin brass charm, Halloween foam shapes, orange silk ribbon, gold cord, plastic spoon, plastic bag

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