Streusel Cupcakes

This next cupcake is perfect for any morning breakfast along with a cup of coffee. I loved making these because it had a little different preparation then any of the other cupcakes I've made. The batter consists of flour, baking soda, coarse salt, unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Once the ingredients were mixed I made a streusel topping to put on top of the batter as it baked to create a crumb like coating. The topping has to be made ahead of time, because once mixed it needs to be refrigerated for up to half hour. The ingredients are flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, coarse salt, and unsalted butter. Once that was all mixed, I put it in the oven for twenty minutes at 350 degrees. To make it even more yummy.....I put together a milk glaze with just two ingredients. Milk (of course) and confectioners' sugar. The two combined made a sort of sticky drizzle, similar to what you'd find on top of a cinnamon bun but only thinner. The cupcake turned out to be amazing! The cinnamon combined with the milk glaze was out of this world! Imagine a coffee cake, snickerdoodle and a cinnamon roll all rolled into one! yum! Travis really liked it, as well as my mom's co-workers. I made a special delivery the other day to try out some new customers, including the UPS delivery guy! Now available for purchase at $2.00 each Please place all orders at www.CupcakesbyColey.com Photography: Travis J. Premo

Our best seller.....

Our Mom's famous chocolate on chocolate cupcake has been perfected into being our number one seller. Made with Madagascar Vanilla, C&H Sugar and Hershey's Cocoa Powder these cupcakes are available for $2.00 each. Throw in a Starbucks Coffee carrier for an additional $15. Includes 8 servings of coffee, cups, stir sticks and sugar. Please place all orders on www.CupcakesbyColey.com Photography:Travis J. Premo

Custom Butterfly Cupcakes

In addition to the Lady Bug Cupcakes, I've put together butterfly cupcakes for Kali as well. These feature an orange butterfly, but for her they will be pink. The candy molds are actually a lot of fun to make, but very time consuming. My husband Travis is a huge help in this department. There are a lot of steps and he's there 100% of the way. These are also available for $2.50 each, again the cupcake is a standard vanilla cupcake but can be ordered in many different flavors! Photography: Travis J. Premo

Custom Lady Bug Cupcakes

This next cupcake comes from a request from Val's sister, Laura. Her daughter Kali (adorable little thing) is having her first birthday party this May and wants to have a garden type thing. Complete with lady bugs, flowers and butterflies. This one in particular showcases a lady bug, made out of chocolate placed on top of a butter cream frosting, pipped to look like grass. The cupcake is a standard vanilla cupcake but can be ordered in any flavor your heart may desire. Please call (818)620-7535 to place your order Photography: Travis J. Premo

My 85th Cupcake

What better way to celebrate my 85th cupcake than a cheesecake cupcake? Better yet, a "Cookies n Cream Cheesecake cupcake". My next cupcake is inspired by a few things. First, our original cheesecake cupcake was a big hit, so I wanted to try a variation. Second, my husband loves Oreo cookies and I remembered falling upon a recipe that used a whole Oreo cookie as the crust. So why not combine the two and create "Cookies n Cream Cheesecake" The cupcake is consisted of an Oreo for the base, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and more crushed Oreos to mix. Travis, and my co-workers seemed to enjoy them and I hope you do too! These are now available for $3.00 each. Please visit www.CupcakesbyColey.com for ordering information! Photographer: Travis J. Premo

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

My latest cupcake is a childhood favorite. Ive turned a favorite cookie into a cupcake. This next cupcake is a cinnamon delight! Snickerdoodles are a German based cookie, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. The cupcake was pretty easy to make, and it turned out to be a favorite among my family and friends. My parents, seemed to really like them along with my husband, brother in law and my best friend Amanda =) I did some delivering, so I cant get taste testers for these =) The cupcake is a fluffy cake mixed with sugar, milk, cinnamon and vanilla among with your basic baking ingredients such as flour, cake flour and baking powder. The cupcake is topped with a seven minute frosting, better known as cream cheese frosting. Sprinkled with left over cinnamon and sugar. To pipe the frosting on, its best to use a wilton tip 1A-but that's one of the tips I don't have yet. So I used a pastry bag and cut a big enough hole to squeeze the frosting through. For those who have tasted it so far, Id love to hear from you! Please leave me a comment, to tell me how they were and if they need any improving. Snickerdoodle cupcakes are now for sale for $2.00 each. Please visit WWW.CupcakesByColey.Com for ordering information. Photography: Travis J. Premo

Strawberry Cupcakes

It's been awhile since my last blog, but Cupcakes by Coley is undergoing a lot. Changes to the website and additions to the menu. This next cupcake will be featured on Facebook, so for all those who are interested please become of fan! My friend Val's sister is throwing her baby girl Kali her first birthday party and has asked me to supply the cupcakes. One of the flavors being strawberry, the other chocolate. Well I've never really attempted to make a strawberry cupcake so this one will be one of the few recipes I will try so it's perfect for Kali's big day. This next recipe is a strawberry cupcake with strawberry frosting topped with a fresh berry on top. In short, the cake itself is similar to a plain vanilla cupcake but with fresh strawberry puree mixed in. My helper, Travis, cut up fresh strawberries for me and threw them into our food processor. The cake turned out to be surprisingly moist and sweet. As for the frosting, well, it's a butter cream frosting, also with fresh strawberry puree. The frosting is really good, and just the right consistency. It reminded me of strawberry ice cream. FRESH strawberry ice cream, none of that fake stuff. To make it pretty I threw a slice of a strawberry to go on top. The cupcake turned out to be a success. I took them to my co-workers and they all seemed to really enjoy them. But like I said, this is just attempt number one! These cupcakes are now available for purchase at $2.00 each. Please visit www.CupcakesbyColey.com for ordering information. Photography: Travis J. Premo

Happy Saint Patricks Day!

Society has green bagels so why not green frosted cupcakes? My second themed St. Patricks day cupcake is a chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting and coated with green sanding sugar. To make it a little more festive,I went back to my Hollywood cupcakes and topped it with a chocolate candy piece. This time, however I melted down green chocolate wafers that I bought at Kake Kreations, and poured a thin layer before pouring in the milk chocolate. Pretty cool huh? This was Travis' idea. =) Val ordered these for her family, she seems to really like the sanding sugar-as do I. So I'm considering making it one of my "signatures". We'll see. On the business side of things, I've gotten my DBA finally published in a newspaper, and I'm on my way to get my sellers permit. That's my short term goal of the week. Another bonus to the company, Travis thought up a great idea to add on to any cupcake order. For an additional $15 you can order a Starbucks coffee traveler, that will serve 8tall cups of coffee, and will come with the cups, sugar, and stir sticks. Please let me know at the time of ordering if your interested. Photography: Travis J. Premo

My 81st Cupcake

St. Patrick's day is March 17th, right around the corner. I wanted to do something cute and special, so this is the first of possible many cupcakes that I'll be creating for the holiday. This cupcake is a standard vanilla cupcake, which I dyed a dark green, and added chocolate chips. While they we're cooling I made a chocolate frosting, put it into a pipping bag, and pipped the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. To top it off I went out and bought green shamrock sprinkles! And if you didn't notice in the picture, I got special cupcake liners! =) Travis, really seemed to like them-he said he was "sad when he had the last bite of one" They are also for sale for $1.50 each. Please order in advance for your holiday party! Photography: Travis J. Premo

Disneylands "Tiki Room"

Special Edition Cupcakes for Disneyland's attraction, the "Tikki Room" are now available! These cupcakes were inspired by the classic attraction in Anaheim, California which opened in 1963. Kids of all ages will appreciate these delicious treats! The set of twelve are priced at $20.00 Please place orders in advance by visiting us online, www.CupcakesbyColey.com or by calling (818)620-7535 Photography: Travis J. Premo

Tiki Set

Having a tropical themed party? These Tiki men cupcakes are the perfect addition to your party. They're for sale at $1.50 each or $18 for the set. Contact Travis or Coley at (818)620-7535 for all your cupcake needs! Photography: Travis J. Premo

Animal Print/Safari Set

Buy the complete Safari set! Tiger, Zebra, and Giraffe prints! 1 dozen = $18 Perfect for any child's birthday, office party, or just for fun! Cupcakes by Coley is a made to order bakery, so place orders in advance. Thank you! Photography: Travis J. Premo

Giraffe Print

Giraffe printed cupcakes are now available! Selling for $1.50 each! Please contact me at (818)620-7535 for ordering information! Photography: Travis J. Premo

Zebra Print

Zebra print cupcakes are for sale at $1.50 each. Please visit www.CupcakesbyColey.com for ordering information! Photography: Travis J. Premo

Tiger Print

Really? Has it been since February 16th since my last blog? Well I guess that means I need to catch up on a few things. Superbowl weekend was a huge success for Cupcakes by Coley. The NFL logos were a hit! I just hope everyone enjoyed them. They were really fun to make! Since then, I've gotten my DBA filled, and should be published in a local newspaper within the next week or so, I'm pretty excited for that. I've also got Travis and myself set up with a business account, so we have business ATM cards, and we can now start purchasing things, to write them off in next years taxes. Also buying things at whole sale will really help out with things. Well I'm blogging today due to my recent cupcake order that my brother requested. He works at Disneyland and they're having a party. Each department was in charge of bringing desserts. So he requested two dozen. 1 dozen animal print-to represent the Jungle Cruise attraction, the other one was for the Tiki Room. They we're made using our delicious chocolate cake recipe. Which is the number one seller right now! So to start off the blogs, is a tiger print cupcake. They can be purchased for $1.50 each. There made again, with chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, and hand dipped in a orange sanding sugar, topped with a butter cream frosting to decorate the black stripes. Please become a fan, via facebook! Photography: Travis J. Premo

A cupcake for the stars

So its been a few days since my last entry, but my husband and I have been working hard to make Cupcakes by Coley a reality. He's been doing a lot of work on the website, and it looks great. Feel free to check it out: www.CupcakesbyColey.com. In addition to the website, part of my Valentines Day present was that he filled out an application in my name to submit our fictitious business name. Once that's approved we can get the ball rolling to get my license, followed by my food handlers permit. He's also been looking into where we can rent out space for a commercial kitchen. Does anyone know of a place or have a place of their own I can rent? Please let me know ASAP. It needs to be approved by the health department. So my next cupcake comes as a request from my good friend Val. She ordered cupcakes to go along with a movie style themed birthday party where the guests dressed up as their favorite actor/actress. I had a lot of fun with these cupcakes. Its so awesome to go out an experiment with different things! So these cupcakes in particular are chocolate on chocolate cupcakes. (Which are my number one seller right now-yay!) I then thought of the technique back from my NFL Saints cupcakes, and went out and bought silver sanding sugar, to represent glam. Dipped each cupcake in the sugar and let it set in the fridge. My next step was I found these chocolate molds of an old style movie camera. So Travis helped me melt chocolate and pour it into each mold. The molds have to set in the fridge for about 45 minutes to make sure there nice and solid. Once they were set, Travis had the idea of taking a white fondant writer and making the camera's "pop" by coloring in the details. Very awesome idea, it made the cupcake I thought. So once the chocolate was ready to go, I just placed each camera in the center of the cupcake! They turned out super cute and Val and Shawn seemed to really like them. I've posted a picture of her sister with the cupcakes: These cupcakes are now for sale for $2.00 each. Please contact me at Nikki@cupcakesbycoley.com or by phoning me at (818)620-7535 Photography: Travis J.Premo

Love is in the air!

For my next Valentines Day cupcake, I made it a little simpler but it still gets the message across. Again, it can be your choice of cake, vanilla or chocolate. The picture portrays vanilla. It is then topped off with frosting that is pipped on and has a single conversation heart placed on the top. Place your orders today! Nikki@CupcakesbyColey.com 1(818)620-7535 Photography: Travis. J Premo

Happy Valentines Day!

Well the most romantic day of the year, for some people, is just around the corner! And to start the season off right, Cupcakes by Coley has put together Valentines Day Cupcakes. (and there will be more designs to come!) This paticular cupcake is a vanila cupcake, but you can have it chocolate if you wish. It's topped with a pink butter cream frosting, with conversation hearts to top it off. They are now for sale for $2.00 each! Please order as soon as you can, Valentines Day is just around the corner! Photography: Travis J. Premo

My 71st Cupcake

As my husband and I were putting together the website for Cupcakes by Coley, I realized never have I made, or at least posted, a classic vanilla on vanilla cupcake! The most simple cupcake, and some how it slipped by me. Nonetheless here it is, resembling the company's logo of course! A classic vanilla cupcake, with vanilla butter cream frosting topped with Coley's signature sprinkles! These little guys are now for sale for $2.00 each. Please contact me via email: Nikki@CupcakesbyColey.com or by phone 1(818)620-7535 Photography: Travis J. Premo

Hostess with the Mostest Cupcakes

This next cupcake comes from one of my cupcake books, "A Bakers field guide to cupcakes" and on page 142 Dede Wilson turned a classic childhood dessert into a cupcake. The cupcake itself is different then the one Dede suggests. I use my own chocolate cake recipe. It's then filled with a creamy vanilla filling, chocolate frosting and then decorated with white frosting swirls. It was actually a pretty easy and fun cupcake to create. Nothing to it really, but I was able to get some use out of my pipping tips, which is something I always enjoy. For this cupcake you'll need a #12 tip and a #3 tip. The #12 is used to squeeze the frosting into the center. You insert the tip right down the center of each cupcake and squeeze frosting until the cupcake begins to expand and crack.The cupcake has "now taken on as much filling as it can." The #3 tip as you might have figured out is used to create the signature swirl on top of a Hostess Cupcake. These cupcakes are now for sale for $1.50 each, please call ahead as cupcakes are made to order. Photography: Travis J. Premo

One for the boys

Well since I made Princess Cupcakes, I thought it would only be fair if I made cupcakes that the boys could appreciate. These cupcakes can come in your choice of vanilla or chocolate, and can be decorated to fit any party theme or toy of your choice. I have a wide range of toys to choose from. From cars, robots, animals, you name it. The boys in your life will enjoy the cupcake and will walk away with a party favor. A very simple cupcake, that can entertain the kids for awhile. These cupcakes are for sale for $2.00 each. Please let me know if you or anyone you may know is having a birthday party. Photographer: Travis. J Premo

NFL New Orleans Saints Cupcakes

Tonight's cupcake comes as a request from my old buddy, Alina. Her and her friend Haley wanted Saints cupcakes. For the cupcake I made white chocolate chip and macadamia nut, it was really good. Ive never made it this way. My old version was white chocolate chips on the inside and the macadamia nuts crushed on top with the frosting. I think this way was much tastier. So not only was the way I made the cupcakes new,but how I decorated it had a lot of firsts for me as well. For the frosting I made a butter cream frosting, dyed it a light brown color, and then dipped each cupcake in a gold sand sugar coating. Then, with the help of Travy, we piped on the Saints logo, in black butter cream and outlined it in white fondant icing. The crunch from the sand sugar mixed with the sweetness of the frosting was perfect. Travis really liked them, and it seems that Haley and Alina did too. In fact I just received another order from Alina, 50 more cupcakes for her uncles 40th birthday! Thank you Alina for all your support! These cupcakes are now for sale for $1.50 each! I can do any NFL logo, not just Saints so let me know! Photography: Travis. J Premo

Princess Cupcakes

My friend from high school, Val, opened up her own business this past season. It's an indoor playground in Woodland Hills, CA for little tykes. I'm very proud of her and at the same time I'm looking at it as a business opportunity for myself. Val and I discussed the possibility of me posting Cupcakes by Coley flyer's and business cards for her clients. Since the facility is open for birthday parties, I want to focus on little kid cupcakes, and get that angel going for me. These cupcakes are inspired by Barbie. I wanted something girly and cute for all the little girls out there. These are vanilla cupcakes, dyed pink with a butter cream frosting and pink sparkles on top. Very easy to make, very simple, and kid friendly =) Please contact me if you or anyone you may know is having a birthday party. These cupcakes are now for sale for $1.50 each. Nikki@cupcakesbycoley.com Please stay tuned for a more boy-ish birthday cupcakes! Photography: Travis J.Premo

Chocolate Drizzle Cupcake

This next cupcake is the perfect dessert for any adult birthday, anniversary, or just to veg out! This is a chocolate drizzle cupcake. It was actually one of the more difficult cupcakes I've had to make thus far. The cake itself is a chocolate cake, a no brainer to make there. But what was different was a didn't make them with a cupcake liner. I just sprayed some Pam into the cups, baked for their usual twenty minutes and wa-la! They looked really different when I pulled them out, they were completely flat, which was a good thing. I need a flat surface to work with. Then when the cupcakes have cooled I made a whipped cream frosting, which just consists of heavy cream, vanilla, and confectioner's sugar. The longest part of the process was trying to frost these suckers. They are so small, and I had to frost the top and the sides of it. I got very discouraged, but Travy gave me a pep talk and I went right back to it. It just takes time and patience. After they were frosting I put them in the fridge to chill for one hour. Meanwhile I made a chocolate ganache glaze and frosting. The ganache is pretty hard to work with as well for this type of thing. It had to be in just the right state, and at just the right temperature to create a drizzle look. If it's too thick it wont spread and will just be a pile of goo. So you have to use a tablespoon to aim the ganache straight down on top center of the cupcake and use the back of the spoon to help the drizzle along. When that's done....I placed a fresh raspberry a mint leaf on top. They have to chill until just before serving time. In the words of Travy,"These are stupid good!" haha what a silly silly man. But yes they are stupid good! I'm anxiously awaiting Mason and Brittany to come home. Mason just may pass out. The ganache is very sweet, the whip cream is light and the cake is fluffy, what more could you ask for? I mean, really? These are now for sale for $2.50 each. Please contact me direct at (818)620-7535 or please visit our website at www.cupcakesbycoley.com for ordering information. And don't forget 10% off all proceeds until the end of the month will go to Haiti to help rebuild their community. Photographer: Travis J. Premo

Hands Like Glass

Today I wanted to do something a little closer to home and something special for my brother in-law Mason, and his band mates. For those of you who don't know, Mason is a singer in a band called Hands Like Glass. He's been in several bands, but this one is by far the best and he actually had a meeting with a producer tonight, so I'm wishing them the best of luck. To celebrate them becoming big one day, because I know they will, I made them Hands Like Glass cupcakes, a special edition by Cupcakes by Coley. The cupcake is a chocolate cake with butter cream frosting. I used orange and black frosting to pipe on the letter G, which is the bands logo. The boys loved them! They were so polite and very grateful. =)In the words of Mason, "Sick!" Calling all Hands Like Glass fans, get your special edition cupcakes for $1.50 each. (10% of the proceeds from these cupcakes will go to support the band) Please visit their website and have a listen! http://www.myspace.com/handslikeglass Do you have something to say? Say it with a cupcake! Whether you're trying to promote your business, band, or just wanted to say I love you, Cupcakes by Coley will send out the message. Please contact me direct for ordering. (818)620-7535 or visit us at www.CupcakesbyColey.com follow us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Reseda-CA/Cupcakes-by-Coley/143205672827?ref=ts Photography: Travis J. Premo

Football season is almost over......

For all you football fans out there, the big game is coming up February 7th, so if you or anyone you know is having a Superbowl party, please keep me in mind. I've designed "yard line cupcakes" I can make them in any flavor with a buttercream frosting. They will be selling for a $1 each. Also stay tuned, I'll be making cupcakes with your favorite teams logo on them, such as the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, and more! (Did that sound too "infomercial like??") Please let me know if you'd like to place those as well. Contact: (818)620-7535 or by email Nikki@Cupcakesbycoley.com Photography: Travis J. Premo

Cupcake Heaven

Yesterday I tried something that wasn't in a book, but rather something I've wanted to try.

One of my favorite desserts has always been Cheesecake, so I thought why not make a smaller version, and put it in a cupcake liner? It's the perfect size, (smaller means less calories for those who are watching their figure!) it's a few bites of heaven really.

The bottom, is a Graham cracker crust, that Travis had a hand in, made of graham crackers, butter, and sugar.

After the crust is laid in place, at the bottom of the cupcake liner, I combined sugar, vanilla, cream cheese and eggs and poured it on top. I then baked them for half hour at 300 degrees and removed from the oven for five minutes.

For the topping, I combined sour cream, sugar and vanilla and poured it on top of the warm cheesecake, and put them BACK in the oven for another five minutes. After that they were finally done, and I put them in the fridge to cool down.

Dessert time had finally arrived. Mason and his girlfriend Brittany loved them and Travis and his friend Frank who was over for margaritas and tacos each had two! I must say-they are a problem and they may ruin my diet.

The good news is that they are now availble for ordering for $2 each. Please contact me directly for ordering. (818)620-7535

Photography: Travis J. Premo

My 62nd Cupcake

Tonight I made my 62nd cupcake, a little short of my goal-but I'm trying. I got really behind when I didn't make a single cupcake in the month of November. But that's the past, so let's focus on 2010 shall we?

This cupcake is a pound cake cupcake with a chocolate Italian meringue butter cream topped with Minnie's Bake Shop Sprinkles! (Provided by my Mommy & Daddy)--makes sense to have these sprinkles because January is Disney month, well according to AAA it is.

I've never made pound cake but it was pretty darn easy, with the help of Travis of course. He's my "Can you whisk the dry ingredients" man.

Pound cake is consisted of flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs. I noticed this particular cake is a little different then the rest. It doesn't consist of milk, probably because the amount of eggs that are in it. (6 eggs)

Pound cake has a tendency to form a peak while baking-to decorate cupcakes afterwards you can always slice and level them off. Or leave it, it isn't a huge deal especially if you'll be piping the frosting on.

All in all turned out to pretty well, a little on the dry side. But practice makes perfect!

Photography: Travis J. Premo

Chocolate Covered Cherry Day

For everyone who didn't know, like me this morning, today-January 3rd is national Chocolate Covered Cherry Day!

So in celebration Ive decided to make Chocolate Covered Cherry Cupcakes. You know I think there's a conspiracy that has been started by the supermarkets to artificially increase prices of cherries in the off season, who ever came up with National Chocolate Covered Cherry day in the beginning of January should be fired. A bag of fresh cherries were $7.99 a pound! Since cherries are out of season right now, I had to dip the cherries myself into the chocolate. Well Travis did that part for me. He's so good, he pitted all the cherries himself, then dipped them in chocolate. They look delicious!

The cake itself is made of the chocolate cake recipe Ive been using for the past couple of cupcakes.

The frosting is something I have never made before. Italian meringue butter cream, with 7 oz of bittersweet chocolate added. You can add any favor really, or just leave it plain. I suggest adding some sort of flavoring, the butter cream has a ton of butter, 3 sticks to be exact, so it tastes very buttery. There were several steps into making the frosting, first you have to boil sugar and water together, dipping a pastry brush in cold water and washing the sides of the pan down every once and a while. Then you mix egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a bowl, mixing until a stiff glossy peak is formed. Now for the interesting part...after bringing the sugar water to a rapid boil I had to let the temperature get up to 248-250 degrees. "As the syrup cooks, look for visual clues to assess temperature. It starts out thin with many small bubbles over the surface. The water will begin to evaporate and the mixture will become thicker. The bubbles will get larger and sticky and pop more slowly. At this point the syrup looks thickened, but has not begun to color. If you drop a bit of the syrup into a glass of cold water it will form into a ball. This is the firm-ball stage, and the syrup is ready" This was the coolest part of making it. The syrup really did turn into a crystal ball shape in my water glass, very cool scientifically speaking. Once that is all done, which will take about 5 or 6 minutes, I poured the sugar mixture over the meringue mixture. I had to do this slowly because you don't want any of it to get on the whisk or the bowl, it could potentially ruin them. Once its all added together, add the butter-slowly. Then it's ready! (told you it was a long process!)

Once I poured the batter into the cupcake liners I took a chocolate covered cherry and placed one in the center of each cupcake, and then smoothed out the batter with an offset spatula to cover them back up. These needed to bake also a little longer then the usual twenty minutes. I stuck these in the oven for 22 minutes at 350 degrees. They need to cool about 5 minutes before transferring them over to cooling rack. (They came out perfect! I've been struggling with the amounts for each liner, these didn't create a "hat" as I like to call them at all. I say hat because when I fill the liner up to much, the batter will rise above the liner, making it look like the cupcake is wearing a hat. =)

These turned out SOOOO yummy, in the words of Mason: "Hey Mason, are they good?" "Um, hell ya there good! they're unreal!"

Travis: "mmm there amazing! The frosting on those things are ridiculous!"

These are available for sale for $2 each. (sorry they were really expensive and really time consuming to make-but well worth it!) It's for sure going on the future Cupcakes by Coley menu!

Photography: Travis. J Premo

Peanutty Chocolate Cupcakes

Travis made a prototype of my business card, we'll be printing them soon! What do you think? I'm so excited!

So I thought I would try my hand at the peanut butter/chocolate combination. My last cupcake with this combination wasn't the greatest, I had even commented on them reminding me of the commercial with the dog eating peanut butter, the "Got Milk" commercial.

These are a little different, the peanut butter isn't directly stirred into the batter nor is it in the frosting this time. Instead, I made a chocolate batter (not my usual one) filled the cupcake liners about one quarter of the way, and then I placed 1 teaspoon of the peanut butter mixture, which consisted of peanut butter, confectioners sugar and salt, into the center and then filled the wells with the remaining batter.

The cupcakes themselves were baked a couple minutes longer then usual. 22 minutes. I'm guessing its because of the peanut butter but who knows.

The frosting is fudge frosting that I have never made before but turned out to be very yummy! Travis liked it but liked my Mommy's chocolate frosting better =) He said it wasn't very "fudge" like but still very smooth.

Notes to myself: 2 cups of frosting with make about 10 piped cupcakes using the large star tip.

This recipe originally had salted dry-roasted peanuts, chopped, on top of the cupcake but because I was a little on the lazy side, mine don't have any. It's sad when I can literally walk to the grocery store but I just didn't have it in me to go buy peanuts. Oh well, perhaps next time.

My brother in law, Mason, seemed to like these cupcakes pretty well. He said they are ruining his figure and will cost him more gym time. =) Sorry Mason. I also have a request from him to come up with an orange/cranberry mixture cupcake. I've already begun researching. So that will be coming up soon.

hint about my next cupcake: January 3rd.

Photography: Travis J. Premo