Saint Patrick’s Day Chocolate Cupcakes

Making cupcakes is so much fun and something you can include your children in that’s a fun family activity. One of the most fun holidays to make cupcakes for is Saint Patrick’s! When my kids were little, they loved helping me bake and decorate cupcakes and sugar cookies. This year I thought it would be fun to make chocolate cupcakes with Aunt Jeanies Chocolate Cake recipe and decorate them for Saint Patrick’s Day. Instead of using the ganache frosting that goes with this recipe, I used my friend Ashley’s (www.livingbeautafully.com) go-to chocolate buttercream frosting recipe. I needed a stiffer frosting that could be piped so I could top the cupcakes with the gold chocolate coins and green sprinkles.

The Decorations

I found these cute green and gold cupcake liners, green sprinkles, and gold chocolate coins at one of my favorite baking supply stores and couldn’t wait to make these cute cupcakes.

I’ve listed the cake recipe below and also here: Aunt Jeanie’s Chocolate Cake. The only thing I had to alter for the cupcakes was the baking time. Cupcakes take less time to bake. I started checking them around 12-14 minutes and just kept an eye on them until they bounded back in the middle. I overcooked the first batch so watch them closely. Oven temperatures vary so it could be a little longer in your oven.

I’ve linked the buttercream frosting (above) that I used. Aunt Jeanie’s frosting can be used to frost the cupcakes but it sets up fast so you’d have to spread it onto the cupcakes quickly. It’s more of a ganache-type frosting and doesn’t pipe well. If you want to pipe the frosting on like I’ve done here then stick to the buttercream frosting I’ve linked above.

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Aunt Jeanies Chocolate Cake

The best chocolate cake with ganache frosting ever! 

Course Dessert

Keyword baking, cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate desserts, chocolate frosting, dessert, family recipes, homecooked, homemade

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Frosting

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 5 tbsp butter
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup Marshmallows *optional
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts *optional

Instructions

• CAKE
• In a large mixing bowl, add 2 cups sugar. Then sift the 2 cups flour and 4 tbsp cocoa powder into the bowl. Sifting the flour and cocoa is an important step so don't skip it!
  
• Then add the 1/2 cup butter on top of the sifted ingredients.
  
• Put the 1 cup water and the 2/3 cup vegetable oil in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour all at once over the flour, sugar, and cocoa mixture. 
  
• Stir until well combined.
  
• Add the 2 eggs, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp vanilla and stir until smooth.
  
• Spray the baking dish with cooking spray. Pour into a 9x13 cake pan or large cookie sheet and bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes or until the cake bounces back when touched lightly in the middle. Don't overbake.
  

Frosting

• Put the 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup milk, and 5 tbsp butter into a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Do not boil for more than 20 seconds. Remove from heat and add the 2 cups milk chocolate chips. Stir until dissolved and then add the 1 tsp vanilla and stir again. If using the marshmallows and/or the chopped nuts, add those in and gently stir. Immediately pour onto the cake and spread. This sets ups fast so work quickly. 
• This is best if made the day ahead. Allow at least 6-8 hours to set up if possible. 

These cupcakes were simple to make and tasted so good!  Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

xoxo

Tap the images for the links to each item:

Photos by Lizzy Early Cox from @yourcupofcake www.yourcupofcake.com

The post Saint Patricks Day Chocolate Cupcakes appeared first on Home With Holly J.

These mini bundt cakes are so easy to make and don’t take a lot of time. I made these for Valentine’s Day and everyone loved them.

For the recipe, I took one Cherry Chip cake mix and followed the directions on the box (eggs, water, oil). I then added a small package of vanilla pudding and an extra 1/4 cup water to the mixing bowl and mixed for 1-2 minutes. I baked the cakes in a greased mini bundt pan, (I’ll link the pan below) baked them for 10-12 minutes and let them cool on a cooling rack.

For the glaze, I mixed 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 4-5 Tbsps. of the Maraschino cherry juice, 1 tsp. almond extract. It should be a little runny. If you don’t have the cherry juice from the jar of maraschino cherries you can use milk or water instead and add pink food coloring if you want the frosting pink.

Put a ziplock bag in a cup and fold the edges over the cup then scoop the frosting into the ziplock bag. Snip a tiny amount off the corner of the ziplock bag and drizzle over the cakes. (if you have piping bags, you can use those too).

Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Lizzy Early Cox @yourcupofcake and @craigrjolley

XOXO,

Shop the Look

Sources linked below. Just tap on the image. Some items may be out of stock so I’ve linked similar items.

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MINI BUNDT CAKES

The post Cherry Chip Mini Bundt Cakes appeared first on Home With Holly J.

Lazy Daisy Cake

The year before my Grandma Benson passed away, I gave her a recipe box filled with blank recipe cards as a Christmas gift.  The following Christmas, she gave the box back to me and had handwritten her favorite recipes on the recipe cards.  A month after this, she passed away. The recipes she wrote for me have become one of my most treasured possessions. Whenever I make this simple, yummy cake recipe, I think of her and the fond memories I have of her.  

One of my favorite recipes that she left for me was “Aunt Mickey’s Lazy Daisy Cake.”  It’s a sponge cake with a cooked, then broiled frosting. This is a family favorite and another one of the recipes I grew up enjoying.  We loved it when Grandma Benson (that’s her in the picture frame when she was a little girl) would come to visit because we knew she’d make us a Lazy Daisy Cake and her Chicken Cracker Casserole. I will need to share that recipe soon, too!  I haven’t been able to figure out who Aunt Mickey is, but I am sure happy she gave this recipe to my grandma! 

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do!

Holly’s Helpful Tips:

[holly_healthful_tips]*I usually double the recipe for both the cake and the frosting and bake it in a 9 x 13 pan.  If you have a smaller crowd, you can use an 8×8 or 9×9 pan.

*Don’t overcook the cake.  When it’s a light brown on the top and springs back after you touch the middle, it is done.  You can also insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake and if it comes back clean, it’s done.

*This recipe calls for scalded milk which is milk brought nearly to a boil and then slightly cooled down. Scalded milk makes sponge cakes springier. Slowly heat milk over medium-low heat. The key here is to heat the milk, but not to bring it to a boil. Boiling will burn your milk. Stir continuously to prevent milk from thickening, burning, or sticking to the bottom of the pan. Look for steam and small bubbles around the edges of your saucepan, then remove immediately from heat.[/holly_healthful_tips]

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Lazy Daisy Cake

Course Dessert

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 55 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp butter

Instructions

• Sift together 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl and set aside.
• Butter and flour an 8×8 or 9×9 cake pan, and set aside.
• With a hand or stand mixer, beat 2 eggs until creamy. Gradually add the 1 cup sugar in while still beating the eggs. Fold in the sifted ingredients. Scald the 1/2 cup milk in a small saucepan and then add 1 tbsp butter into the milk and stir until the butter is melted. Add the milk and butter into the mixing bowl all at once. Mix until incorporated. Don’t over-mix the batter. This is a thin batter.
• Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the cake is done in the middle. It will turn golden brown on top.
• When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and set it aside. Then make the frosting.

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Lazy Daisy Frosting

This is a cooked frosting made in a saucepan and then broiled in the oven after it's spread on top of the cake. 

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 3 tbsp evaporated milk

Instructions

• In a saucepan combine all the ingredients and stir.  
• Bring to a boil on medium-high heat and stir until bubbling. Remove from the heat and pour on top of the warm cake. Spread the frosting to cover the entire cake.
• Turn the oven onto broil and return the cake to the oven on the top rack just under the broiler. Leave the oven door cracked open so you can watch the cake. Don’t walk away as this happens quite fast and you don’t want to burn the frosting. When the frosting starts to bubble, take the cake out and serve it warm.

Check out some of my other dessert recipes:

Aunt Jeannie’s Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

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Simple yummy cake recipe

The post Lazy Daisy Cake appeared first on Home With Holly J.