Cupcakes for Charity - August

Monday 16th of August is Australia's RSPCA Cupcake Day. Lots of people get involved and it is a great fund-raiser for the well known animal charity. This year I sold chocolate mint cupcakes at work, and raised $105, it was a big success. I had help with baking and decorating from my beautiful friend Elise, it's so much more fun to bake cupcakes with a friend!

The idea for the round cat and dog faces was inspired by the wonderful Lindsay from Coco Cake Cupcakes, her cute animal cupcakes never fail to make me smile!

It's not too late to contribute, if you would like to, you can donate here.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup boiling water

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 1/2 cups Self Raising flour

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 block of Cadbury Chocolate Bubbly or Nestle Aero Mint, chopped finely
  

Method

• In a mixing bowl, combine boiling water, shortening, sugar, cocoa and hot chocolate powder. Beat until sugar is dissolved.

• Add sifted flour alternately with the beaten egg, sour cream, and vanilla, gently stir in mint chocolate.

• Fill cupcake cups about half full.

• Bake at 350°F or 180°C for 20 -25 minutes. Frost with your favourite frosting. Enjoy!

Oreo Cupcakes & Cute Stuff!

Look what recently arrived in the mail! Oh my goodness, a handbag couldn't possibly be any more perfect for me! I have been carrying around the same blue handbag for years and I decided enough was enough I wanted, no NEEDED a new one! I was browsing Sick for Cute (the cutest online store!) and saw this bag. My heart stopped, it had to be MINE!

And so now it is! And such an awesome price for a new bag really! Also, as there was a 'back to school' sale on, I nabbed this very cool T-shirt for $8! Bargain! I unicorns about as much as I love cupcakes! Really, you should go check out Sick for Cute, the prices are great and shipping is very reasonable and speedy too!

This week I had my friend Kim over, she recently got home from China and was dying to have one of my cupcakes! At work there was a charity bake sale put on by the ward next to mine, and I said I would love to contribute. So Kim and I got our 'bake on' and whipped up these very yummy Oreo cookie cupcakes!

I was dying to try the 'often mentioned on the internets' method of putting half an Oreo on the bottom of the cupcake liners. Worked out great, the extra surprise at the bottom of the cupcake pleased everyone! The cupcakes had crushed Oreos in the batter, plus an extra on top of the cream cheese frosting. Tasty!


Oreo Cookies & Cream Cupcakes - adapted from 'Crazy About Cupcakes'
(the original recipe had a misprint in the method which I have corrected)
Makes about 20 cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
about 2/3 cup Oreo cookies, lightly crushed (roughly 6-7 cookies)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan, then place 1/2 an Oreo cookie in the base of each liner.
2. In a large bowl cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix until integrated. Stir in the milk. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat for 30 sec­onds. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add the egg whites. Beat for 2 more minutes. Carefully fold in the crushed Oreo cookies, don't over mix.
5. Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for about 20 min­utes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan. Top with desired frosting and half an Oreo!

Last week when going through my iphone pictures, I found this awfully cute one of our kitty cat Týr stuck inside a cardboard box. He has the cutest innocent expression on his face!

Baw! What a cutie!
Hope you are all having a good week peeps!

P.s: Next week is our national RSPCA Cupcake Day, if anyone has any cupcake flavours to suggest I try, I am all ears for ideas!

A couple of things I've done recently!

Not having access to my sisters beautiful SLR camera since moving house has been a real sad thing for me. I loved that camera, I am really looking forward to being in a financial position to by myself one one day. In the move I also misplaced my point & shoot camera momentarily, but have recently found it again!

I took a few photos on my iphone of things I had been doing:

My first completed crochet project, which I forgot to photograph until after I'd wrapped it oops!! I began this baby blanket back in April, for a girl at work, I didn't manage to finish it until recently and the baby was well and truely born! I chose the colour scheme to match her nursery. I really enjoyed crocheting this blanket, one giant granny square is so easy and fun to do! (Underneath the present, you can see the tops of a brown paper perpetual calendar I decorated one night not long ago at Brown Owls. )

Last month, a lady at work approached me to make her some cupcakes for her mothers 70th high tea party. She wanted pretty cupcakes with flowers on top, with a pink and pale green colour scheme. I had free reign on what flavours to bake!

I used my favourite Lemon Blueberry recipe for these cupcakes, with cream cheese frosting, and topped with a royal icing flower and leaves.

These cupcakes were the very popular Lemon 'Diva' Cupcakes, injected with lemon curd, frosted with cream cheese frosting, and topped with tiny rosettes and leaves. The lady at work said the cupcakes went down very well, one lady even asked if they were ok to eat, as she thought they were fake!

My sister and I love going to the Brighton Car Boot sale on Sunday mornings. We hadn't been in a long time due to the weather being to miserable, but luckily enough last Sunday we had a beautiful sunny day for it! We both got some awesome loot (and cheap vegetables too!), but my favourites of the day had to be these pretty triplets:

I am also chuffed to report that I was able to buy 88 cans of cat food for the Hahndorf animal shelter with the cupcake money I raised, and my boyfriend helped me take them up yesterday. As a thank you, we got a tour of the cattery, and we were able to pat lots and lots of happy cats. We thought it might make us sad, but in fact it was good knowing that these people cared for these cats, and despite needing homes, they were all happy and content and well provided for!