Gingerbread Muchacho (You Can't Catch Me!) Cupcakes

These are spicy gingerbread cupcakes dipped in semi-sweet chocolate ganache then topped with a mini-gingerbread boys. As I was baking these cupcakes my oldest daughter came into the kitchen and asked what kind of cupcakes that these were I told her that they were gingerbread and the next thing she said was " OU OU ! You should call them "You Can't Catch Me!" It's funny how now everytime I bake a cupcake the first thing that comes to my girls mind is a name for it. For them it has become one of they things that they enjoy about my baking, I guess for them it gives them a sense of belonging and part of my creations. And of course they also must take pride in picking a clever name that their Mom loves!

Feliz Cumpleanos, Bri'shauna!!

Today my oldest turned 12!!! Oh my goodness how the years fly by, well I decided to surprise her by bringing cupcakes to her school. This may not seem like a big deal but she is now in 6th grade which is the middle school and upon leaving elementary school she looked at me and said sadly " Now you won't be able to bring anymore cupcakes to my class".

She thought because there were no longer class parties and maybe because the other kids would think that it was "uncool" to have your mom make cupcakes for you on your birthday" that was going to stop Me! I don't thinks so!! I was set on making her day special "All Day" no matter where she was!

So this morning I marched right into that main office with sweet smelling cupcakes in tow, I proudly asked the secretary to please call my daughter down to the office ( I have to admit I was secretly saying to myself ...please don't let her be angry....Please don't let her be angry) But she walked through those doors and her response was PRICELESS!

When she saw her special birthday treat she exclaimed OH MOMMY, THANK YOU, AND I'M IN MR CHINERY'S CLASS! ( This is her favorite teacher who always uses her mommies cupcakebusiness as an example for the class, and in whose class I might add she received an A+!) Then she gave me a great big hug and kiss, I even heard one of the secretaries say I wish I had a mom like that!

Needless to say as I left the building I was floating on cloud nine and was happy I could make her day that much more special, and when she came home she said that all of the kids loved the cupcakes and they said that her mom was sooo cool!!

Ahhh!! Mission Accomplished!

Happy Birthday, Bri'shauna. I Love You!

They're One!!

Justin and Kyan (my little, little,cousins)

Time goes so fast, it seems like just yesterday my family and I were eagerly awaiting the arrival of these adorable twins, memories of the doctors whisking them past us in the waiting room so fast that we could barely get a glimpse of the hair on their little heads.

Well Now They're One and I couldn't be more excited to celebrate this day with them and even more excited to make their very First Birthday Cake!!

I can't forget to add that the entire idea for the theme of this cake came when my little one Bianca said "Mommy, you should make a cake with Kyan and Justin sitting next to each other in a basketball outfit and a football outfit, with candy and toys all around them" I told her that sounded perfect to me. So that is exactly what I did.....of course with Bianca right by my side making sure I create her vision the right way!

When Donut Meets Cupcake!

This cupcake is like a jelly donut within a cupcake swirled with buttercream topped with donut glaze. Well actually that's exactly what it is, Here are the details.....vanilla cupcake filled with raspberry jam swirled with coffee buttercream made with Dunkin Donuts Coffee (because we all know America runs on Dunkin!) then the cupcake is covered in warm vanilla donut glaze. mmmm.

Now for the name of this cupcake, a few ran through my mind Raspberry Rush Hour, Monday Morning Mantra..nahhh! One thing is for sure I have a fond affection for glaze donuts and Latin music and keeping with the theme of giving my cupcakes Latin inspired names the only logical name for this cupcake is ...ENRIQUE IGLAZESIAS!! I know, I know corny but cute.

Gonna Make a Pie....Or a Cupcake.

This cupcake is a direct request from my daughter Bianca who has an infacuation with marshmallows and the movie Waitress. It is a chocolate cupcake covered in homemade vanilla fluff mounded with colorful mini-marshmallows.

I call them Sirena, but she calls them Mermaid Marshmallow Mushies. I like her name better.

The Mambo-Tango

No, this is not a dance but another Brown Sugar creation that was inspired by countless summers eating orange sherbert ice cream cones dipped in chocolate sprinkles. It is a vanilla cupcake stuffed with a tangerine marmalade jelly and swirled with a tangerine vanilla buttercream. Just for fun I added a passion fruit cherry.

I have to admit it took my awhile to actually commit to eating the cherry, I think it was the whole orange color will it taste good thing. After the fear subsided I finally took a chance and found out that this cherry( or maybe I should call it orangerry) was actually pretty good and the flavor complemented the cupcake very well.

Back to School Cookies

My daughter Bianca celebrated her first day of Kindergarten on Wensday(sniff sniff). Every year on their first day of school I like to send my children with goodies to share with their class.

I think it helps ease the pain of the first day because they feel like they have something special to share with their new classmates and I hope that the children in the class would enjoy getting a special surprise treat on the first day, I know I would. So for the big day I made smiley face cookie pops. I thought cookie pops would be better for the class rather than cupcakes.

I figure if the teacher didn't want the childeren to eat them for their snack they could always take them home.

Te Quiero Mucho, Cupcake

This is another one of my cupcakes created last week during my baking frenzy, I didn't have a chance to post it until now. I had dulce de leche leftover from my Nuevo Banana Splits and Latin Elvis cupcakes and thought to myself what else would be great with dulce de leche ? What else? Chocolate! This is a rich and moist chocolate cake filled with creamy dulce de leche filling, I made my favorite chocolate ganache recipe but this time I mixed in Dulseda which is a creamy dulce de leche liquer that gave the ganache a rich caramel bite.

Next, I dipped the tops of my cupcakes in the ganache and let them cool. Once cooled I warmed the dulce de leche so that I could drizzle a little on top of the cupcakes.

At first bite of these cupcakes I was in love!! The chocolate cake was so rich and moist and the dulce de leche within the cupcake was so creamy and gave just the right sweetness to the cupcake. The dulce de leche chocolate ganache gave this cupcake a smooth and perfect chocolate and caramel twist.

My oldest daughter and I were sitting at the table and in between bites I was telling I her I think that this is my new favorite cupcake! I then asked her what should we call it ? And she replied, we should call it "Te Quiero Mucho, Cupcake" which in Spanish translates to I want you so much, Cupcake! I told her once again that she was brillant and that was a perfect name,and so here it is the "Te Quiero Mucho, Cupcake"!

Baking Up A Fuego!

I don't know what came over me this weekend, but I was baking like crazy! I started off by wanting to make just plain chocolate cupcakes(a special request by my little one) but then all these new cupcake flavor ideas started popping into my head and I thought to myself, who am I to deny them their exsistence. So the baking began!

This cupcake was inspired by the Choco Taco dessert bar

Choco Taco

This is a chocolate cupcake dipped in a chocolate ganache that has been infused with salted peanuts, then I crushed sugar cones and sprinkled them on top of the ganache to mimic the taco shell, a swirl of vanilla buttercream then a fudge drizzle . My oldest loved it, and said it tasted just like the ice cream bar, without the brain freeze....brrrr!

Latin Elvis

This cupcake is inspired by "The King's" favorite sandiwich but with a Latin twist. A rich banana cake filled with a creamy dulce de leche filling, topped with a smooth peanut butter butter cream, topped with a dulce de leche swirl, a fresh banana chip and a sprinkle of salted peanuts.

This cupcake was pure delicioso! It covered so many yummy bases, sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy!mmmm.....

As the ideas came, I kept my pretty pink Kitcheaid spinning and my cupcake pans full.

I wanted to make a banana split cupcake but I wanted to add a different touch, so I came up with a Nuevo Banana Split

this is a banana cake topped with strawberry buttercream that is infused with real chunks of strawberries, over the buttercream is a sprinkle of sweet coconut and walnuts, then the cupcake is drizzled with warm dulce de leche and a rich chocolate drizzle and a plump maraschino cherry.

Guavapeno Love

vanilla cake filled with a jalapeno- guava mousse filling than topped with a jalapeno-guava infused buttercream. Two flavors that you may have thought wouldn't find love but Did!! The guava gives a sweet richness while the chopped jalapenos give a spicy kick at the end which can't be denied.

These two flavors together were surprisingly soooo delicious I could hardly keep my fingers out of the bowl!! Yum!

You Got Chiles In My Cookie Dough!

mexican chocolate cupcake filled with ancho chile infused chocolate chip cookie dough, dipped in dark chocolate ganache with another ancho chile infused chocolate chip cookie topped with a spicy and sweet mexican chocolate buttercream a sprinkle of ancho chile powder and a chocolate dipped red jalapeno chile pepper!! mmm... Spicy, Chocolatey, Yummy!

Iron Cupcake Earth

These are my two entries for the Iron Cupcake Earth Challenge, I have to admit that this blog was initially set up because I came upon Mke Cupcake Queen's blog and saw the cool Iron Cupcake challenges, I thought to myself I would love to be a part of that challenge because it gives you a chance to be creative with ingredients that you may have never thought to use before in a cupcake, like Chili Peppers!! Once I set up the blog and committed myself to this challenge my cupcake juices began to flow and so many ideas started to come to mind. But before I went too far I decided to stop at just two, and here are the one's I came up with. I hope you enjoy!

Don't forget to vote for this challenge starting Aug 31

For the Love of Cake!!

I have loved cake every since I was talll enough to reach my nana's shiny silver cake plate, I would lift the top just enough so that I was able to steal the fallen crumbs from her family famous pineapple-coconut cake. As a young girl I remember sitting at her table and watching her mix and pour in various ingredients to form her yummy cake batter. I would eagerly await not just the beaters but also the Bowl!! that she would give to me after she had completely filled her cake pans. This cake ritual was seen during Thanksgiving, Christmas and many other family holidays. Unbeknownst to me these special moments spent in the kitchen with Nana would one day spark an urge to bake that would become unstoppable.

Baking became one of my weekend hobbies as a teenager and has now developed into a passion, a passion that I share with only one other thing, my love of all things related to Latin America, the language, the countries (especially Mexico), the spices and the food! When the mood strikes I may incorporate some of the flavors and spices of Latin America in my baking, especially in cupcakes because they are what I like to bake the most. I fell that they are so little and personal and they give the most room to be creative over and over again.

Well this is me and this is my blog and I hope that when you get a chance you stop by often and again and remember that I do this For the Love of Cake!!