With Sprinkles on Top

I am a big, big believer in showing failures as well as successes. Well here’s a failure for you. Kind of. I wanted to make these beautiful cupcakes. I followed directions, cut into them, and, well, they just didn’t look great. *sad trombone* The inside of the cupcake looked more like a yellow, orange, and white blob than a piece of candy corn. So rather than write out directions, if you want to try these (and you’ll likely have more luck than me!), visit the Sugar Turntable!

It’s a FrankenCake! I’ll be posting a lot of Halloween treats this week and I’m starting with this cake. I saw it on Pinterest and knew that I had to give it a try. I mean, really. How adorable, right? And the cake turned out to be pretty easy, which is always a plus.

FrankenCake
Inspired by: Bird on a Cake
Print Recipe

You will need:
Two 8-inch cakes [I made chocolate cake from a box mix]
A batch of buttercream icing
Green food coloring [I used AmeriColor’s electric green]
2 tubs of store-bought chocolate frosting [I never have cocoa on hand to make chocolate buttercream!]
A green M&M for the nose
2 white candy melts for the eyes
2 brown M&Ms for the eyes
2 chocolate wafer cookies for the bolts
Wilton tip #47 for the hair, and a small round tip for the scar and smile

1. Bake your 8-inch cakes according to box directions and allow them to cool completely.
2. Make a batch of buttercream icing and dye it green.
3. Assemble and frost the cake with the green icing.
4. Fit a pastry bag with the #47 tip and fill with chocolate icing. Pipe strips of “hair” onto the head of Frankenstein’s monster. No need to be perfect with this — the hair is supposed to look messy!
5. Stick the chocolate wafer cookies into the side of his head, the green M&M on the face, and the white candy melts/brown M&Ms for the eyes. I “glued” the brown M&Ms to the white candy melts using icing.
6. Pipe a scar and smile using a small round pastry tip.

That’s it!

I decided recently that I want to try more bakeries. Really, this is just a justification to eat more baked goods. But I want to see more of what Milwaukee (or wherever I am at the moment) has to offer in terms of sugary treats. I made a big list of Milwaukee bakeries that I’d like to try, so I hope to get to them all slowly but surely.

I started a few weeks ago with Classy Girl Cupcakes here in Milwaukee. Here are my thoughts:

• Great location right downtown — Jefferson Street right on Cathedral Square Park
• The varieties that I tried: birthday cake, grasshopper, pina colada, cookies ‘n’ cream, peanut butter, and caramel delight.
• My favorites were the grasshopper and caramel delight — mainly because they were damn good, and I’m a sucker for anything mint or caramel!
• The peanut butter cupcake was my least favorite — the frosting tasted greasier than the rest and the peanut butter flavor seemed artificial.
• Problems with Classy Girl Cupcakes? Like all cupcake shops, they are expensive. $3 for a cupcake is nuts — but hey, I bought into it hook, line, and sinker just like everyone else!
• Overall, I really liked this shop. Clean, light and airy, and the cupcakes were good.

Note: I am not being paid to review this bakery. I am not affiliated with this bakery. I am just a girl who really likes baked goods and enjoys a good distraction from school!

Oh look, another pumpkin recipe! My parents and I were at Target a few weeks ago. My Dad grabbed a bag of pumpkin M&Ms and said, “I bet these would be good in a cookie.” That was his sort of subtle way of telling me to make him a batch! I will admit, I didn’t try these cookies. I made them and handed them off to my Dad in a tupperware container. But I’m guessing they were good? Ha! Have you all tried the pumpkin M&Ms? What do you think? I’ve heard mixed reviews [though not as overwhelmingly negative as the reviews for the candy corn flavored M&Ms!].

Pumpkin M&M Cookies
Recipe source: Cookies & Cups
Print Recipe

1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips
+ a bag of pumpkin M&Ms

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In bowl of stand mixer beat the butter and pumpkin together until evenly combined, 2-3 minutes.
4. Add both sugars and beat another minute.
5. Add eggs, vanilla, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Beat until smooth.
6. Turn mixer to low and add in flour.
7. Finally stir in chocolate chips.
8. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto lined baking sheet and place a few M&Ms on the top of each cookie. Bake for 9-11 minutes until centers are just set and edges are golden.
9. Allow to cool for 3-4 minutes on baking sheet and then transfer to wire rack to continue cooling.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

OK, so I know that I have mentioned again and again that I’m not a huge fan of pumpking. HOWEVER, when enough chocolate is involved, I can get on board with just about anything. This bread has mini chocolate chips baked into it — and the top of the loaf is coated in chocolate. What’s not to like – even for me, the pumpkin hater?! The other fun thing about this recipe is that you can be create with how you decorate the top of the loaf. After the layer of chocolate sets, you can use white chocolate or white icing to make a fun design. I went with polka dots.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
Recipe source: Inside BruCrew Life
Print Recipe

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup milk
1 cup miniature chocolate chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 1/2 teaspoons shortening

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a mixing bowl beat the sugars, oil, and eggs until creamy. Add the pumpkin and beat again.
3. Sift together the baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and flour. Add to the pumpkin mixture alternately with the milk.
4. Stir in the mini chocolate chips by hand.
5. Spread the batter in a greased 9×5 loaf pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Place the chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon shortening in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 30 seconds. Stir and heat again for 15-20 seconds.
7. Set aside and repeat with the white chips and remaining shortening. Spoon the melted white chips into a plastic baggie with one tip cut off.
8. Decorate the top of the loaf however you’d like. Make dots — or drizzle the white chocolate over the top.