Cupcake Linnie

Cupcakes for Two

February 14, 2012 3 Comments

Happy [Real] Valentine’s Day! This is my all time favorite holiday and I can’t believe it is already here...Sadly, this year I am not ready at all to show how much I love my man tonight, but thankfully he loves me no matter what. Yesterday, I posted a fun cupcake decorating recipe that is a wonderful activity to do with your kids, friends or whomever. Today, I am sharing the perfect cupcake recipe for Valentine’s Day, an Anniversary and/or a special night. Ready? Cupcakes for two! During the summer I posted Cupcake in a Mug which involved a mug, a fork and a microwave. Now, those cupcakes are super fast and easy but I would not call them gourmet. But, they are perfect for a quick snack indeed. These are a little more in depth than my Cupcake in a Mug recipe, you will need one bowl, a whisk, a cupcake pan, liners, and yes the oven. But, these cupcakes will taste like what cupcakes would taste like if you made a dozen of them. I am giving the recipe for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cream Cheese, Cupcakes, Fruit, Recipe, Valentine's Day, Vanilla

Valentine’s Day Cupcakes

February 13, 2012 4 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day! Well, happy day before Valentine’s Day. I know I failed on posting a blog on the Monster cupcakes last month…To be honest I never even did them. But, I am not going to dwell on that, I am going to move forward and show off these super cute Valentine’s Day Cupcakes! These cupcakes were super easy to make beautiful and so much fun! I would defiantly recommend doing these with your kids, friends, or even your loved one if he likes that kind of thing (my man sure does). I used my favorite Red Velvet Cupcake recipe and a yummy Milk Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. But really, you can use anything you want. Who can limit imagination and creativity? Secret Valentine Cupcakes Adapted from Cupcake Calendar What you will need Your favorite Chocolate or Red Velvet cupcake mix Mini Cupcake Liners Chocolate frosting Valentine’s Day decorations Sweetheart Candies Shredded Coconut Heart Shaped Marshmallows Red, White, and Pink … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Chocolate, Cupcakes, Marshmallow, Valentine's Day Tagged With: DIY, sprinkles

Guest Post

February 2, 2012 2 Comments

I am so excited to share this with you all. I was asked a few weeks ago to write a guest post on a wonderful craft/food/thrifty blog called The Three Little Piglets! Jen, the lovely blogger asked me if she could share my Gluten Free Flour Mix Recipe on her website. And of course I said YES YES YES! Instead of just giving her what I already wrote, I re-wrote and re-tested my recipe to make it that much better! So, please check her blog out and of course my post on her page, I will re-post it on my Gluten Free Flour Mix Page, but please leave some love on her page as well. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Adventures, Gluten Free, Recipe Tagged With: Guest Post

7th Annual Portland Chocolate Fest

January 26, 2012 2 Comments

Last week I entered to win 2 tickets to Portland’s very own Chocolate Fest on a new up and coming food review website called Portland Palate. Check them out if you live in the Northwest, they are pretty accurate in their ratings and update very often! Chocolate Fest is where all these wonderful local Northwest chocolate themed companies come together to show off what they got! Well, that is the sum of it really. There were truffles, chocolate martinis, chocolate themed jewelry, caramels, wine, popcorn, cupcakes…the list is endless. I took my man to this event, for his favorite food is chocolate, yes I said food. Let’s just say I won major points with this event and he didn’t have to pay a dime (thank you Portland Palate). We went on a Sunday right when they opened thinking it would be more low key and easier to get around the convention center. Wrong. Come to find out when we got there, 20 minutes early, the first 150 people to enter received a pair of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Adventures, Chocolate Tagged With: Festival, Portland

12 Months of Cupcakes

January 18, 2012 19 Comments

For Christmas my aunt gifted me a lovely cupcake calendar. For each month they show you a fun cupcake that is themed for that month. Not only do they provide a cute picture, they give you the recipe to make it! What fun!! Now, after cheating and looking through ALL of the pictures and recipes for each month, I came up with the idea of actually baking and creating each cupcake! I know it is already the middle of January but luckily I still have time to bake up the first month. Here is a sneak peek of what the year will hold! January: Little Monsters February: Secret Valentine March: Birds of a Feather Which I would have thought they would do something with St. Patrick’s day, but they are green. April: Butterflies May (My birthday!!): Baby Bluebirds June: Lovely Ladybugs July: Red, White & Blueberry August: Wise Guys September: Black Forest October: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Adventures Tagged With: Baking, cupcakes

Marble Cupcakes

January 17, 2012 2 Comments

If you all haven’t figured it out by now, I am THE worst on deadlines. It is like a disease, no joke. No matter what deadline I set for myself I am always a week or two off…but it is a new year and maybe this will change! Here is to hoping. One of my recent posts I created Martin Luther King Jr. Cupcake Toppers and I said I would later provide a recipe to make marble cupcakes to honor MLK Day and all of the work he put into creating a united world of all races. So, here it is! Marble Cupcakes Makes 12 Cupcakes Marble Batter Your favorite Vanilla Cupcake Recipe to make 12 cupcakes 1 Ounce Milk, Semi or Dark Chocolate, Melted Mix all of your ingredients for the vanilla cupcakes. Measure out 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl and stir in the melted chocolate. You can melt the chocolate in the microwave in a heat safe bowl or using a double broiler. Evenly distribute the batter into the 12 cupcake pans, half chocolate and half vanilla. Run the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buttercream, Chocolate, Cupcakes, Recipe Tagged With: Baking, Do it yourself, MLK day

NBA Blazers Cupcake Toppers {Free Printable}

January 15, 2012 3 Comments

Go Go Go Blazers!! Yup, once again I am providing all my Blazers fans with cupcakes toppers, with each player and their jersey number on the cupcake toppers. I did however; leave Greg Oden out from my cupcake toppers because he isn’t really an active team member (he has been injured for as long as he has been in the NBA). CLICK THIS LINK TO DOWNLOAD CUPCAKE TOPPERS I put these cupcake toppers on red velvet cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting and black sprinkles. If you are unaware of who the Blazers are they are the Oregon NBA basketball team whose colors are Red, White and Black. Sadly, I did not take pictures of my cupcakes because I was at a party with my friends and did not have time before everyone ate them! Enjoy these cupcake toppers and use them when we go to the playoffs :-) … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crafts, Free Printables Tagged With: basketball, cupcakes, NBA, paper

Martin Luther King Jr. Cupcake Toppers {Free Printable}

January 15, 2012 2 Comments

I have come to realize that I am on this cupcake topper fix. Seriously, I cannot get enough of them. I am putting them on top of all and any cupcakes; birthday cupcakes, holiday cupcakes, sport themed cupcakes...ANYTHING. This obsession of mine has made me realize that not all holidays or events have cupcake toppers already made, and because I need my topper fix I went about to create my own cupcake toppers! Now, they are not the best of the best and I am no pro with graphic designing (I am like a monkey with a typewriter). On Monday it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and after hours of searching the web for cupcake toppers I decided to create MLK Day Cupcake Toppers for anyone and everyone else who happens to be searching for them too. Click on the picture above or CLICK THIS LINK I put them on top of vanilla and chocolate marble cupcakes in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the work he put to make everyone equal and united. Pictures and a how to recipe … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crafts, Free Printables Tagged With: cupcake toppers, cupcakes, martin luther king jr

Oregon Ducks Football Cupcakes

January 2, 2012 4 Comments

I don’t know if you all follow college football, but today was the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Ca. Not only was it just the 98th Rose Bowl, but my team was in it! So, I am from Oregon and therefore, I root for the Oregon Ducks!! The Ducks played against the Wisconsin Badgers. To make this day even better our friends had a get together at their house in honor of the game. And what do you think I brought as my food contribution? Cupcakes of course! I made basic vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting, but what made them super special is that they were green and yellow with Oregon Ducks cupcake toppers. I made my cupcakes the “vintage” colored Oregon green and the frosting a bright yellow. To add I even lined the regular cupcakes in red to represent the Rose Bowl. I may have had a lot of fun with this one! All I did to color the cupcake and frosting was add food coloring at the end and gave it all one last mix until I got the desired color, all pretty … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Adventures, Crafts, Free Printables Tagged With: cupcakes, football, Oregon, Rose bowl

Free Printable 2012 Calendars

December 29, 2011 3 Comments

Have you found that perfect calendar for 2012 yet? If not, I have taken the work out of that awful search for you and have listed a billion (okay, maybe only 6) different types of calendars. I have found desktop size, customizable, simple yet elegant, year at a glance, perpetual, and super cute calendars. Enjoy and Have a wonderful 2012!!!! This is a great website for those Owl Lovers and to add to how cool this calender is, you can customize your months with a wide verity of owl pictures! Click the link to download My Owl Barn Calendar This is such a fun and bubbly Year at a Glance Calender from Red Stamp. Click either the Photo or This Link To Download Calendar If you go to their website you can find other fun designs too. This one was just my favorite! This lovely calendar was brought to us by Lula Louise, they have other calenders too! Now, I just love this calendar. Not only are there numbers but each month has a quote relating to the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crafts, Free Printables Tagged With: Calendar, paper

Free Printable: Holidays Tags & Cupcake Toppers

December 23, 2011 2 Comments

Merry Christmas Eve EVE!! Yes, only someone really excited about something would go as far as celebrating the eve of the eve of something, and you know what? I am pretty excited. As I am writing this, I am sitting in the airport waiting to board an airplane bound for lovely San Jose! Well, I don't know if San Jose is really most people's ideal vacation spot, but it is for me. Not only is it warmer than Portland but I also get to see all of my family for the holidays. In light of my excitement for my [much needed] vacation and for the simple fact that it's the holidays, I am sharing few wonderful FREE Printables for you all to use for any last minute decorating or what nots. Holiday Tags Holiday Tags The first PDF are these wonderful holiday tags that can be used for pretty much whatever. Seriously, you can print them out and use them as gift tags on a present or seal some homemade cookies with them to make your gift look extra special. I found these on a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christmas, Crafts, Free Printables Tagged With: cupcakes, Holiday, paper

Eggnog Cupcakes

December 22, 2011 4 Comments

Today I did three very productive things today; the first is that I finished my holiday shopping (no one would know that I started yesterday). The second is that I finally made headway with my holiday cards (ok, so most people will not be getting their holiday cards until AFTER Christmas but come on, whose counting, right?). And the third and most exciting activity I accomplished was…..I baked Eggnog Cupcakes! Yup, that’s right I surely did bake some lovely light and fluffy holiday cupcakes up. Now, to be honest, I don’t like eggnog too much, but my boyfriend just loves it! I mean, he starts counting down to the day of when eggnog is sold in the stores the day they stop selling it. It is an addiction, but we are working through it. So, he provoked this idea by just having the darn thing in the house since December 1st! Today I had some time and I thought it would be a great surprise for him to come home with the house filled with his favorite smell and not only have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Christmas, Cream Cheese, Cupcakes, Recipe Tagged With: Blogging, Eggnog, free recipe, Holiday

A Cupcake Reflection

November 30, 2011 1 Comment

Thanksgiving has come and gone, can you believe it? I am speechless on how fast this year has gone by. I mean, I have made so many life changes in this past year (which all I am very happy with) that I can’t even believe I am still trucking along. This post is not really about one particular cupcake, nor is it a recipe. It is more of a reflection of everything I have done in 2011. I know most people would do this in late December or early January but I figure the holidays are about family so I know I will have even a second to sit down and do any kind of reflection. January 2011 I just quit my job at a French bakery to discover my true talents in cupcake baking. I was not perfect or even close at this time. But, I was baking 2-3 different kinds of cupcakes a day which I am so thankful to have been able to do that! I randomly decided to move to another state to see if I could open a cupcake shop, FAIL! Not only was my experience level too low, I also did not … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Adventures Tagged With: Baking, Blogging, life, love, reflection

Free Thanksgiving Cupcake Toppers

November 8, 2011 1 Comment

Hello Everyone! Once again (and I think I will be saying this a lot for the next year or so) I am so sorry for my lack of communication. I just started a new job to help pay for my exciting adventures in cupcake land, but sadly it seems that I was further behind in paying for the basics in life than I thought so I have had to slow my cupcake love affair waaaaaay down. It makes me very sad, but I am hoping this little blog post is what will get me going again! Have you noticed that ever since Halloween has ended the stores are full of Christmas ornaments, Christmas lights, and Christmas music? Okay, really Christmas everything! But it is only November 8th! My question is...Where in the world has Thanksgiving gone?!!? Now, I understand Thanksgiving is not the most profitable holiday, but don't you agree that in the United States it is a very important holiday that should not be overlooked? What Thanksgiving Means to Me Thanksgiving is formed by all those moments … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crafts, Free Printables, Thanksgiving Tagged With: Cupcake Topper, cupcakes, Holiday

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cupcakes: Day 4 National Cupcake Week 2011

September 15, 2011 10 Comments

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cupcake mixture

I have come to realize something during National Cupcake Week…it is really hard to keep up with baking 12-24 cupcakes a day when they are not an order! I am starting to lose my motivation and keep jumping around with my ideas. Did I mention it gets expensive too? But, I am still having oodles of fun! Cupcakes do make me the most happy in life (besides my puppy, of course) and I am grateful to be able to have the time and space to create yummy goodies as often as I want. Ok, enough of me complaining and more about cupcakes. Today is day 4 of National Cupcake Week! So far I have baked up, Sweet Potato Cupcakes, Peach Bellini Cupcakes, and Beer and Cheddar Cupcakes. To me, that is a wide variety of cupcakes and that was and still is my goal with this week. Given, I am totally not going off of what I said I was going to bake, but I forgive myself and I hope you all do too. For today, I have baked up…. Day 4: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cupcakes with White Chocolate … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Buttercream, National Cupcake Week, Nuts, Recipe, White Chocolate Tagged With: cupcake week, free recipe, Frosting, macadamia nut, white chocolate