Caramel Apple Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Fall has hit, which means one thing to me. Pumpkin! Pumpkin everything. And of course new pumpkin inspired cupcakes. 

Inspiration hit one morning while I was out to breakfast at a local restaurant and since it's fall I ordered pumpkin pancakes. I mean who wouldn't. But these pancakes were different, they came with a caramel apple topping. And as in all things I started instantly thinking about how I could turn that in to a cupcake. The thinking started, then continued, and finally the idea materialized. 

The result ... a pumpkin spice cupcake, with a caramel apple filling, topped with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. 

The pumpkin spice is light and fluffy with the right balance of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and of course pumpkin. Then the filling starts with apples sauteed in cinnamon and sugar, then topped with a light caramel sauce. Finally to balance out the flavors an airy cream cheese frosting with just a hint of cinnamon. All in all, a formula for deliciousness. 


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Christmas Funfetti Cupcakes!!!

The holidays are here, and with the holidays comes holiday inspired cupcakes. In the past we've brought you Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes and Apple Pie Cupcakes, but this year I thought it would be fun to do something well ... FUN. And so Christmas Funfetti Cupcakes were created. 

As you can see the cupcake is a simple yellow cupcake filled with red and green sprinkles topped with a red and green swirled buttercream frosting. 

We all know that funfetti cupcakes are about the sprinkles, but there needs to be a delicious cake base. We chose a basic yellow cake, keeping it simple and allowing all the colorful sprinkles to come through. 

Since the batter was just that, a basic yellow cake, the cupcakes baked up easily with the hint of color peeking through in each and every cupcake. 

But a cupcake isn't complete without frosting, and nothing compliments yellow cake quite as nicely as buttercream frosting. But it's Christmas, and these cupcakes are fun and festive, so a swirl frosting was essential. Making the cupcakes more then a delicious treat for holiday guest, but also a part of the festive decor. 

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It's Time for a Break

Most of us love the combination of sweet and salty, think about it ... chocolate and peanut butter, chocolate covered peanuts, and chocolate covered pretzels. In fact there are candy bars out there now that pay homage to the sweet and salty combination. And, while there are a couple of different candy bars, I personally like the Take 5. Pretzels, chocolate, and peanut butter. With that combination how could you go wrong? The answer you can't. 


As with any amazing combination of flavors, a candy bar isn't enough, it needs to be a cupcake. So the thought of a Take 5 cupcake was born, but how to get the perfect combination of flavor ... 

To start you need a buttery pretzel crust along the bottom of a rich chocolate cupcake. Adding a hint of that salty flavor to every bite. Then you need to fill the cupcake with a chocolate pretzel ganache. Adding even more chocolate to the equation as well as a wonderful dash of crunchy salt. To top it off you need a creamy peanut butter frosting. That way every bite has a delicious sweet, salty, and rich flavor assaulting your taste buds in the best possible way. 



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Is it a Cake or Cupcake???

As a cupcake baker, I obviously think that cupcakes, well, take the cake. I like the individuality of having my own cupcake. It's mine, it's individual size. Plus there is no concern about cutting the cake. No questions about how big the slices should be, or even who is skilled enough to cut the cake. All those problems are already solved. 


But sometimes an event calls for a cake. The look of a prettily designed cake, fitting the them of the event. For us it was a baby shower. But, the need of a cake to celebrate the birth of a baby girl, could not override the love of cupcakes. So what happened, cupcakes were made, then decorated like a cake. 

The mom-to-be loved red velvet and lemon cake. And the beauty of a cupcake cake is both could be made, giving mom and all the guests the choice cake. 


So the process began, the cupcakes were made. Then the frosting. It was an easy choice, red velvet cake obviously needs cream cheese frosting. And lemon cake taste delicious with cream cheese frosting, so ... cream cheese frosting all around. The frosting was colored with pink, purple, green, and yellow to make the flowers. The cupcakes were properly arranged, and then decorated. Creating the look of a very special cake, and the convenience of cupcakes. Needless to say, it was a hit at the party. 

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Starbucks Inspired Cupcake

I was at Starbucks the other day with a friend of mine, and he wanted something with calories, something most of us avoid, but to each his own. Our barista, looked a little shocked then answered, white chocolate mocha with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle. My instant thought was, OMG I want that, then I ordered my skinny vanilla latte, but my next thought, that was the important one, my next thought was, that should be a cupcake. 


The thought went through my head, and I started planning. Once I started planning, the cupcake was made. And the taste testers confirmed that it was a good, no great idea. May of those that tried it said it was one of their favorites. Of course, some of those guys say that with every cupcake. But this one was good. 


The base, a delicious mocha cupcake, that's chocolate and espresso for those that don't know. Throw in some white chocolate chips, then top with a light whipped cream, and drizzle some homemade caramel sauce. A wonderful, albeit, sticky combination of rich and light, and completely sweet. 

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Super Mario Baby Shower - A New Red Velvet

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of co-hosting a baby shower for my best friend, which of course meant baking. But we needed sweets that went along with trying to maintain a semblance of health (although they are still desserts.) What this meant was reworking one of her favorite cake recipes, making a cookie inspired by fall, and then dressing it 1up style. 

So her favorite cupcake is red velvet, which has oil in it, kinda a lot of oil in it. Which if you are trying to eat healthy at all, oil may be good in small quantities, but in large, not so much. Plus it's easy to replace. Also, whole wheat, it's part of the health craze, so you gotta to try it, and whole wheat and cakes, they don't normally get along. But, that's in part what I had to work with. So I took my red velvet recipe, looked it over, and started to make the changes. Apples sauce, whole white wheat (it exists and is great for baking) and light cream cheese in the frosting. You might be thinking bleh, who would want that, and I can tell you, my guests, each and every one of them. The extras were confiscated by a guest to give to her husband who loves my cupcakes. What also helped is they actually kinda looked like the 1up mushrooms in the video game with white chocolate discs sprinkled on the top. 

But cupcakes was definitely not enough, so I made some cookies too, pumpkin spice cookies. And these were made with very little butter, a lot of pumpkin spice, and pumpkin puree instead of oil. They were soft, light, and fluffy rolled in sugar and pumpkin spice. They reminded everyone of snickerdoodles, with just a hint of pumpkin. 


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Roasted Cherry Brownie Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

The title does really say it all here. This is a brownie and a cupcake all in one. Which means the rich denseness of a brownie, in the single serving paper with nummy frosting topping it. But to make it even better, the brownie has roasted cherries in it. Who can pass up cherries and chocolate, it's like a combination made, well, made to be thoroughly enjoyed. And the individuals that had the privilege of taste testing these cupcakes definitely enjoyed that privilege. 


The brownies were a dark chocolate brownie. Rich, rich, rich. But the sweetness of the cherries lightened the flavor, making the richness of the dark chocolate something to be savoured and enjoyed, and not overpowering. 

Just in case you were wondering, a batch of brownies was also made with this recipe. Those went just as fast as the cupcakes. 

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An Actual Cake

By now you've read a lot of entries about cupcakes, but that's pretty much it. You are probably thinking that's all we do, alas it's not, but there is one dessert that I have struggled with, and finally was able to make, and that's cake. Yeah, cake, just a normal cake, not miniature or individual, but a full size decorated cake. And my struggles are in no way new, I've spent a lot of time struggling to make cakes. I've tried for birthdays, baby showers, even promotions to make a celebratory cake, and they never look pretty. They taste great, even if they are falling apart and shamefully decorated. 

But recently, very recently I finally succeeded. This is definitely a case of if at first you don't succeed try, try again. Back in September it was one of my close friend's birthday, and she loves my cupcakes, but I really wanted her to have a birthday cake. We were going out for dinner, and I thought it would be a nice treat. Her favorite cake is the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, but I had just made those, and she like most anything I bake, so I decided on another combination that involved raspberries. A lemon cake, with a lemon cream cheese and fresh raspberry filling, and raspberry buttercream frosting.


The three-layer cake was moist and lemony, as was the filling. The combination of lemon and raspberry is one of the bests, so the filling with the fresh raspberries was sweet and tangy, neither fruit being overly sweet. The frosting continued the wonderful flavor of the raspberries, tying every bite together. 

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Mmmm Mmmm Good - White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

What can I say, baking has been happening, and if you follow us on Facebook then you have still been seeing pictures of yummy treats, but if not, then you have been wondering what has happened? Where has Criminal Cakes gone? Where are all my goodies? Things have been hectic, but now I'm back, with delicious photos, of scrumptious sweets. 

The first of the comeback posts is White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake cupcakes. This cupcake is inspired by the wonderful dessert that everyone loves at the Cheesecake Factory, for me it's even better because it's a cupcake. Who doesn't love cupcakes?  Be honest, I know everyone does. So imagine a raspberry cupcake, but not just any cupcake one that's moist, with just the right combination of sweet and tart, made from fresh raspberries, with white chocolate chips mixed in. Every bite is a burst of flavor, and at the bottom of that cupcake is half of an Oreo cookie. Like a pie crust, it's there, overlooked, until you take of the paper and bite into it, the flavor fully complimenting the raspberry and white chocolate. 


At this point you might be thinking, that sounds delicious, but where, I say, where is the cheesecake? All I see is cake, and to a point you are right, but ... the flavor of cheesecake comes in with the white chocolate cream cheese frosting. Yep, you read it right, White Chocolate cream cheese, mmmmm ... it is light, but with the right amount of sweetness. Sooooo goooood. Then, just because the cupcake wasn't enough, drizzle the top with a raspberry syrup made from fresh raspberries. What you end up with is a cupcake worthy enough to be considered perfect. 

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Did somebody say pie?

Up until this point, all anyone has seen over here is cupcakes, but that's not the only thing that we can do. Another great dessert possibility is pie. And the best sort of pie, creamy fruit pie. Which exactly what was made right after a u-pick berries trip. 

A few weeks ago, the discovery was made that fairly close to Criminal Cakes location there is a berry picking farm, so a field trip ensued, and delicious raspberries were picked, super fresh, super colorful, basically just super awesome. 

But after picking the delicious berries, there was the question of what to do with all of them. Muffins, cupcakes, just enjoy them on their own, or ... yes you guessed it, PIE!!!! But what kind of pie? After much debate, mostly in my own mind, the decision was made to make a raspberry chiffon pie. 

So what goes into making a pie, well first you have to make the crust. This pie crust was a light creamy crust that used just a touch of cream cheese to give it a spectacular texture. That was baked, while the gelatin layer of the pie was made. Yes, the pie had more then one layer. The bottom layer was basically like a raspberry preserve, made with a combination of raspberry gelatin and delicious fresh raspberries. The top layer was a creamy chiffon, that used some of the gelatin from the bottom layer, and a delicious mixture of cream cheese and heavy cream. Then the pie was topped off with homemade whipped cream. 


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Salty and Sweet - Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Caramel, mmmm, caramel. It's sweet, gooey, buttery, and delicious. Add a bit of salt to it, and you have a salty and sweet wonderful concoction. Anything that good needs to a cupcake. 


This treat started with a burnt butter and brown sugar cake. The combination of these two ingredients gave the cake a caramelly flavor. Then, add a salted caramel  filling that soaks into the rest of the cake. Top off the cake with a salted caramel buttercream frosting, and a piece of caramelized sugar for decor, and you have a moist caramel treat everyone will love.

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Sweet and Tangy Refreshment

You've probably noticed, I have a weakness for lemon desserts. I'm constantly trying new recipes and new combinations of fruity flavor. 


This time I went with a classic, strawberry and lemon. I started with a swirl of lemon and strawberry cake. Then, I filled  half the cupcakes with a strawberry whipped cream, and the other half with a delicious lemon curd. And what could be better to top it off but lemon buttecream. Overall, a delicious treat for everyone to enjoy. 

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I Feel a Sin Coming On - Bonnie and Clyde Cakes

This cupcake, OMG this cupcake. It might sound a little dramatic to say it came to me in a dream, but it wouldn't be far from the truth. It started one night when I had a craving for a chocolate peanut butter combination. I had already made a chocolate peanut butter swirl cupcake, which was, of course, delicious, but I wanted something different, something creamier and with ganache. 


What I was imagining was a decadent chocolate cake, with a sweet peanut butter filling baked inside, then dipped in a rich chocolate ganache. Normally you would think that would be the end. But no, my mind wasn't done yet. it topped the cupcake off with a chocolate ganache frosting and peanut butter cream cheese frosting. 


As I'm sure you can imagine the cupcake is rich, super rich. In fact this cupcake would be a millionaire, maybe even a billionaire. In fact this cupcake is so rich it is sinful, after having one bite I couldn't decide what deadly sin I was committing just by eating it. This was the type of cupcake you savor, slowly eating it, making sure you enjoy each and every  bite. 

Imagine savoring the rich, moist chocolate cake. The kind of cake that makes your mouth water just thinking about it. In the center is a sweet and creamy peanut butter. A filling reminiscent of a Reese's peanut butter cup, but better, creamier. To get to the cake, your fork has to pierce through the shiny dark chocolate ganache, rich and not too sweet. A line of ganache frosted the outside, then in the center a creamy peanut butter frosting. 


You may be wondering, why Bonnie and Clyde cakes ... Bonnie and Clyde worked as a team, a good team, a criminal team. Peanut butter and Chocolate also work great together as a team, one of the best teams. In fact, Peanut Butter and  Chocolate together is a criminal combination. 

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Summer S'more Fun!

There is just something about s'mores that says summer too me. Probably because when I hear s'more I think about sitting around a campfire, marshmallows toasting, Hershey bar and graham crackers ready to go, and somebody sitting with the flashlight telling some freaky ghost story. It's actually ironic that any of those thoughts enter into my head, since I have only been camping twice in my life and s'mores were never involved. 

Even with my lack of camping background,  there is something special about the combination of toasted marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate. And whenever there is something special about a flavor combination, it just has to be made into a cupcake, in this case mini cupcakes. 


So, to make the summer fun cupcake, we started with a chocolate graham cracker crust, then a moist chocolate cake, topped with a meringue frosting. Then came the fun part, a kitchen torch, like you use for creme brulee. Toasting the top of each cupcake made each one look like a toasty chocolatey treat. 


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GFCF Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Almond Butter Frosting

Everyone deserves cupcakes. Cupcakes to me are a little piece of happiness, made just for you. Sometimes that person you want to make a cupcake for, well they can't eat all the wonderful things that cupcakes are made out of. But should they be denied the happiness of a cupcake, no, the shouldn't. They deserve the yummy goodness as much as the next person, some would say even more because they are stuck denying themselves of all the delicious foods we eat on a daily basis. No one should have to deny themselves cupcakes, it's just not right. So ... a gluten casein free cupcake ... can it be done?


How to make a cupcake with delicious frosting without using flour, milk, butter, or cream cheese. It isn't easy, in fact there are those that say it can't be done. I'll be honest, I tend to be one of them. But I'm trying. Today's attempt at deliciousness met the mark. A GFCF chocolate cupcake using garbanzo bean flour and coconut milk, covered in a chocolate almond butter frosting. 


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ButterBeer and the Deathly Hallows

So I love Harry Potter. It's a slight obsession. I've read all the books, I've watched all the movies, and I wear the cool Gryffindor gear. From all that you've probably gathered that I'm a nerd, a proud one at that. 


I'm dying to go see the last (sigh, sniff, tear) Harry Potter movie. In fact I've had my tickets to a midnight showing for weeks already. A last movie in the series does deserve something special, but what? Well here's how my thought process started. 


Last winter, my parents and quite a few of my friends went to Florida. And yes, they went to Universal, visited Hogwarts and Hogsmead, rode the rides, and drank ButterBeer. My parents even had me make it off a recipe they found for our family Christmas. It's deliciously sweet, a combination of butterscotch and cream soda. Things that are deliciously sweet almost always make amazing cupcakes ... which would be so much fun to eat while waiting in line for the movie to start. 


When I thought of the idea, I was only going to need 5 cupcakes. There's 5 of us going to the movie, so, I just needed to decide what to do with the rest of them. Easy enough, give them to my students, who wouldn't quite understand how cool they are, but would appreciate the morning snack. Then I got an email from my boss, potluck on Thursday ... okay, another place to bring cupcakes, awesome. I have the opportunity to share cupcake happiness. 


That night I get a text from my mom, she's had a great idea, ButterBeer cupcakes (I'd already ordered the special ingredients in my own planning.) Guess what, she needs 5 dozen to give to her class. Awesomeness, ensues. Having a cupcake order always puts a smile on my face, and this one is Harry Potter inspired, what could be better. (Star Wars inspired, I know you were thinking it, and trust me the day will come.)

So I go to the store and buy all my ingredients ... and that's only part of what I needed to make these cupcakes. Quantity of each item, was slightly baffling. I was concerned that I was going to run out of some of the more specialized items, but alas, it all worked out. 

So, in making these cupcakes I got to try out some new techniques. One of those techniques was burning butter to give it a richer flavor. This is a little bit of a worrisome process because it is so easy to go to far from a yummy rich flavor to burnt. Luckily, there was nary a drop of nasty burnt butter. 

After that, once the cupcakes were in the oven, I got to make a butterscotch ganache. A super flavorful filling for the cupcakes, and a cute drizzle adds just the burst of flavor needed to make the cupcakes something truly special. 

It is always fun filling the cupcakes. Whether it's done by cutting out the center, or like today's cupcakes, I love the little extra kick a cupcake filling gives a cupcake. 

After that it was just up to the frosting to create the balance of flavors. The frosting itself is a Cream soda butterscotch flavored buttercream. Super tasty. 


A cute cupcake that I'm sure Harry , Hermoine and Ron would truly love. 





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Perfection in a Cupcake

Every now and then a person just wants chocolate chip cookies, well actually they just want cookie dough. Right? Every time I bake cookies, I eat the dough, I just can't seem to help myself. I've been doing since I was a kid, and now, well, now I have no intentions of stopping. It's part of the fun, it's what makes chocolate chip cookies so delicious. 


So one day I was thinking about baking cookies (or at least making cookie dough) when I was knocked off my feet by the idea of chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. Since cupcakes are, by far, one of my favorite desserts, with chocolate chip cookies a close second, I knew it would be perfection. And in the end, it was perfection. Imagine a yellow cake, tasty in its simplicity with mini chocolate morsels sprinkled throughout, then an eggless cookie dough filling, a cookie dough frosting, and a mini chocolate chip cookie as decoration. 

Biting in to this cupcake was truly an experience. Looking at it, you don't know what to expect. So when you taste the frosting, it is a surprise to find your self thinking of chocolate chip cookies. Then, there is the gooey center of doughy goodness, and finally a brilliant cake. 

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How Do You Say Decadence

... Chocolate Strawberry Cream. Just imagine a chocolate cupcake, which on it's own is a delicious treat, but even something that good can be improved upon. But how ... then the thought hit me, strawberries. Yummy, chocolate and strawberries. 


What came together was a chocolate cake, with a strawberry whipped cream filling, and a strawberry swiss meringue frosting. The strawberry whipped cream filling, OMG, it was difficult to save it to fill the cupcakes. It's so amazing you really just want to eat it all up, then lick the bowl clean. Then there is the frosting, pretty much tastes like melty strawberry ice cream. All complimented with chocolate. In one word ... DECADENCE!!!


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ManCakes

While everyone loves cupcakes, they do tend to have a fun but girly vibe to them most of the time. Individual cakes wrapped in pretty paper (often times pink or pastel of some sort.) And the flavors, they just aren't something you would want to serve at your next Superbowl party (or for the gamers out there, your next LAN party.) 

Could there be a solution to this dilemma, is there a cake out there that screams, "I'm manly!" The answer my friends, is yes there is, and I have baked it. 


This cupcake has all the flavors a man could want. Beer, bacon, and cheese. You heard right, a cupcake made with three of your favorite things. The cupcake itself is a fluffy white cake with beer, cheddar cheese, and bacon baked directly into the cupcake. My kitchen smelled like a delicious fondue as I prepared the ingredients. Not quite the normal cupcake scent. Then take that cupcake and top it with a cream cheese frosting, that has delicious chunks of cheddar mixed in, and you have a cupcake that any man would be proud to serve at his Superbowl party. 




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For the love of Cupcake!!!

Last night was the first time my partner in crime and I were able to get together and bake for quite a long time. While my kitchen has been overflowing with cupcakes, hers, well it hasn't been quite as busy. But what do you expect when a stand mixer goes kaput. That's right, lack of baking. So I gathered up my stuff, including my stand mixer, packed it in my car, and headed out there after work. The goodies menu ... Snickers' cupcakes and lemon (yes I said lemon again, because I'm in love with this cupcake.) We were also going to try our hand at fondant, making it, and decorating with it. But the first recipe I found, wasn't going to work for figures, and the one we tried was still to soft ... but that's a story for another day. 

You may be wondering what is a Snickers' cupcake ...  Thinking, how do you get all the wonderful flavors of a Snickers into a single cupcake. Just imagine the combination of a chocolate cupcake, filled with chopped Snickers tossed in a homemade caramel sauce, and frosted with a caramel buttercream frosting. The frosting, OMG the frosting. Creamy, buttery, sugary, and salty. Not to mention how the filling was like a Snickers bar, but so much better, with the extra coating of caramel bliss. The result, a mind boggling experience of the ultimate deliciousness. 

Then we got to work on my favorite lemon cupcake. I know most people want chocolate, but me, I love lemon desserts. While I would never turn down chocolate, there is something so amazing about the combination of tartness and sweetness. It's a perfect summer dessert because it's light and fluffy in both flavor and texture. Really I don't see how anyone could turn down one of these amazing cupcakes. 

Last night we made up a batch of lemon cream cheese frosting, but I was too tired to frost my half of the cupcakes, and needed to drive home. All the way home, I had this thought that strawberry cream cheese frosting would be divine on these ultimate lemon cupcakes. So that;s what I did to my unfrosted cupcakes, I made them shine with a delicious frosting made with fresh strawberries and cream cheese. Yum. I then topped them of with strawberry slices. Not only do they taste of summer, they look super summery with the dash of fresh fruit and the light colors.