Category Archives: Birthday

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

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We had a crazy busy weekend.  How we manage to fit so many things between the hours of 4 pm Friday and 7 am Monday is always a mystery to me — but some how we do — and have fun doing it!

Mike and I spent the night in Chicago on Saturday and followed it up on Sunday with two birthday celebrations with the kids.  The first was a birthday party that we attended and the second was a family dinner with the Cetwinski family at our house to make up for Riley’s 6th birthday party we missed the previous weekend when the trio was sick.  I took some short-cuts with our meal and our dessert — mostly because we arrived home only 2 hours before our guests were set to arrive.

Instead of making a meal, we ordered pizza, and instead of making homemade cupcakes, I just fancied up a box mix.  However, the resulting cupcakes were amazing!  I loosely based this on the idea behind the Oreo Cupcakes I made previously.  These were quick to throw together and truly tasted fancy — as we discussed that evening, they were much better than some of the local cupcake shops we’ve tried.  They are definitely worth a bake!

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Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
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Serves: 24
 
Ingredients
  • 2 bags individual peanut butter cups
  • 1 box chocolate cake mix
  • ½ cup canola oil
  • ¾ cup water
  • 3 eggs
  • ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
  • 5 Tbsp. butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 bag miniature peanut butter cups (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Place a peanut butter cup (regular size) in the bottom of each tin. Prepare cake mix according to package instructions. Fill each cupcake liner ¾ full. Bake for 18-22 minutes.
  2. Once the cupcakes have cooled, prepare the frosting. Cream together the peanut butter and butter. Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until well combined. Add the milk to reach the desired creaminess and texture for the frosting. I used a Ziplock bag to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
  3. To garnish, cut miniature peanut butter cups in half and place on top of each cupcake.

 

OREO Cupcakes

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Last Friday, we celebrated the Kilmartin trio’s birthday’s with bowling and pizza.  I volunteered to make the cupcakes — any excuse to bake some sweet sugary goodness!

That morning, I settled on OREO cupcakes.  These cupcakes spice up a traditional boxed cake mix, but could easily be made completely from scratch as well.  If you’re a cookies-n-cream fan, you’ll love these.  They smell and taste delicious!

All of the kids enjoyed these cupcakes.  And so did the grown-ups too!  I sent the leftovers home with Laura so I wouldn’t devour all of them myself!

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OREO Cupcakes
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Serves: 24
 
Ingredients
  • 1 bag OREO cookies
  • 1 Devil's Food cake mix
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 - 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1 stick butter, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • mini OREO to garnish (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake cups with liners and place one OREO in the bottom of each cup. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions. Mine called for 3 eggs, ½ cup vegetable oil, and ½ cup water. Once the mix is prepared, chop half of the remaining OREOs into bite sized pieces and fold into the cake mix. Using an ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner until it is ¾ full. Bake according to package directions.
  2. Allow the cupcakes to cool and then prepare the frosting. Using a blender or food processor, puree the remaining OREOs into crumbs. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until well combined. Add the vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Fold in the OREO crumbs. Scoop the frosting mixture into a large Ziploc bag. Cut the end off one side of the bag to pipe the frosting on to each cupcake. Garnish with a mini OREO if desired.

 

Triple Lemon Cake {& Mike’s 36th Birthday}

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Mike turned 36 on 12-12-12.  This was his 11th birthday we’ve spent together!  Unfortunately, the trio was sick that day (Bo had strep and they treated our whole family) but it did mean that Mike took the afternoon off and was home with us to spend part of the day.

Mike requested a lemon cake for his birthday, so I turned to Pinterest and found one to make from scratch.  I tackled this in the morning and it was challenging keeping sick little kiddos out of my cake batter — but for the most part I succeeded.

I make the ugliest cakes known to man.  I have zero cake decorating skills.  However, the cake did taste delicious.  I’d probably make the cake a bit differently if I had to do it again — it was slightly heavy — but the filling and icing for this cake were absolutely amazing!  The filling I could (and did) eat with a spoon.  Delicious!

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Lemon Curd Filling
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Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (about 1-2 lemons)
  • 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1. Combine all ingredients in a double boiler (or in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water, like I did).
  • 2. Heat while stirring constantly with a whisk.
  • 3. It is done when it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. You will be able to tell it has thickened, but I wouldn’t say that it’s “thick.”
  • 4. Refrigerate until cool and thick.
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat while stirring constantly until just boiling. Refrigerate until cool and thick.