Punch, Drunk, Love- Corona, Fruit Punch Cocktail

Punch, Drunk .......what is it exactly?! 

When pondering the idea, one may have an image of an overtired young chico who is running around the house haphazardly ripping out toys and leaving them in tripping hazard trails behind him. Shrills of half-joy half-tears beaming  from this little chico echoes along the walls of the house. 

These irrational shrieks are coming from a place unknown to the overtired, unwilling to surrender sweet muchacho.  Until a knowing mother piers on and says to herself " he is punch drunk"!

She then makes her way to retire her weary little boy, lulling him into la la land...peace and quiet resounds the home once again.

Now me.....when I think of "punch drunk"....it brings me to a very different scene, una noche loca ( one crazy night) that I spent with( out of all the people with my very own ma-ma.)  This noche loca consisted of : a throng of eager woman, obnoxiously loud music, a stage and an extra fine group of respectable half-dressed men. 

Oh yeah, and multiple glasses of these fruity red drinks that tasted more like innocent cups of Kool-Aid than the mind-numbing, ogling enhancing, judgment altering libations that they were.

Now this Valentine's day whether your dealing with an overtired, irritated muchacho or experiencing what I now like to call " Magic Mike Moments" ending the night with a nice glass of "Punch, Drunk, Love will make it all go down a little easier!

                                                            Ingredients

1 bottle of Corona

1 oz. of Sky Cherry Vodka

1 bottle of Hawaiian Punch


                                                         Directions

1. Place grapes, oranges, cherries and a few apple slices at the bottom of your Mason Jar or Beer Mug.

2. Pour into your Mason Jar or Beer Mug 1/2 bottle of Corona, 1 oz. of cherry Sky Vodka and fill the rest with Hawaiian Punch.

3. Place in a pretty paper straw slip on a super jumbo marshmallow heart and enjoy the punch! Just don't get so drunk that you punch the one you love!

 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                 

Red Velvet Twinkies

Red is my absolute favorite color, and chocolate is my numero uno.........

so the moment I found Red Velvet I was totally in love! 

Some may describe red velvet cake as just chocolate cake in a red dress, but to me it's so much more. The taste is not so much a chocolate, but more of a cocoa.

It's a moist cake that's not really sweet at all, but slathered with cream cheese frosting that's tangy and sweet enough to keep you licking every mordita (bite) from your plump little fingers.

In honor of Valentine's Day and the untimely passing of the Hostess Twinkie, I decided to transform this southern classic cake into an conveniently portable iconic snack food. 

With a white chocolate drizzle, deep red sprinkles and a sweet gummy heart an American classic is brought back a la vida ( to life) in the warm comforts of your very own kitchen!

Obviously you'll need a Twinkie pan to bake in, if you don't already have one you can purchase them here.

Because I was super excited to just get to the good stuff, I decided to use a Duncan Hines Box Mix.  I was actually pretty happy with the results, the cake came out nice and moist yet firm enough to hold the filling inside.  If you must have a scratch cake recipe here is one to try courtesy of the
Food Network.

Although I occasionally use a box mix, I rarely if ever use a canned frosting.  I am a frosting chica and I love a little cake with my frosting if you know what I mean.  I could do frosting shots all day if it wouldn't send me into sugar shock!

                          


                                                               Cream Cheese Filling Recipe
 
 
                                                                       Ingredients
 

4 tablespoons butter, softened

 

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

 

4 cups confectioners' sugar

 

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

 

                                                                       Directions

 

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until blended. With electric

 

mixer on low, beat in the powdered sugar a little at a time until well blended. Beat on high speed until

 

smooth and creamy.

 

                                                           Red Velvet Twinkie

                                               Directions

                                                                     
1.Follow the directions on the box of your cake mix or scratch cake recipe. Add your cake batter to the Twinkie mold filling the cake wells 1/2 way. 
 
2.Once your Twinkies are completely cooled, fill an icing bag with a tip and on the underside of the Twinkie insert the tip and squeeze in the filling.
 
3. Melt 1/2 cup of white melting chocolates then with a spoon quickly drizzle the white chocolate back and forth over each Twinkie.
 
4. Shake sprinkles over the white chocolate and immediately place your gummy heart in the middle of your Twinkie.

5. Sit down, enjoy them and wonder how Hostess could ever let anything so wonderful slip out of their pretty little fingers!

Marry Me, Cupcake- Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes

Although for some, the idea of packing up their last silver bell and unhanging their stockings and packing them away with care is a somber event.

For me it's a sign that my absolute favorite holiday is on it's way. I've had a "love affair" with Valentine's Day since?!.........

Well actually I have no idea when my infactuation with the national day of love began, but I do know that everything that it entails leaves me feeling warm inside and a smile on my face.   It's not so much the romantical idea ( I know this is not a real word, but I think I heard Snooki use it and I liked it!) of it all.








The whole having "El Hombre" of your dreams show up at your doorstep, whisking you off to an extravagant restaurant showering you with red roses and lavish presents like 25 karat diamond rings. Nope! that's not the reason for my obsession with Valentine's Day. It's more along the lines of almost all the store shelves blanketed with varying hues of red and pink which are my absolute favorite colors.

Hearts and sweet words of love on everything! Not to mention the chocolate! Ohhh yes the sweet, dulce, milk, dark, semi-sweet bites and boxes of caramel filled ways to show your love! LO AMO! ( I love it!). With those boxes of chocolate love come even more sugared-up dessert possibilities.  Like these Marry Me, Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes,  which are fluffy vanilla cupcakes swirled with a layer of vanilla buttercream, then a twist of pink cherry buttercream, drizzled with chocolate syrup, colorful sprinkles and a plump red cherry. Stuffed inside the cupcake is a strawberry ring pop.......... 

Well actually 5 minutes after I placed the ring pop filled cupcakes in the oven, I realized that what I would pull out the oven would be filled with an ooey gooey mess.  Ten minutes later.......Yup! I was right......the realization that the thin layer of cake batter wouldn't be enough to shield the candy coated ring pop from the molten hot temps within the oven!

Uhhh Duhh!  Anyway I still think that these can be super cute Valentine's cupcakes to give to your sweetie as gift or to bring to a school class.  Imagine their surprise when they take a bite and inside is an authentic sugared diamond, a Valentine's symbol of true love.

I assure you it will work this time, instead of baking the cupcake with the ring pop, just wait until they are out the oven and cooled.  Then you can just dunk the ring pop right in the middle of the cake and swirl your buttercream all around it.  Believe me this time it will work like a charm!

                                                                    
Adapted from Magnolia Bakery Recipe


                                                        Buttercream Ingredients

                                           

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

 

6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar

 

1/2 cup milk

 

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

 

1 jar of maraschino cherries

 

 1 jar of chocolate syrup-  I used Hershey's

 

  1 container of red or pink sprinkles

 

  Ring pops- as many as needed

                                                                    Directions    

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, 4 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 3 to 5 minutes.

 

      2. Gradually add remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating for about 2 minutes after each addition, until icing reaches desired consistency; you may not need to add all the sugar.

 

     3. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.        

 

     4. To make the cherry buttercream, separate a cup or more of white buttercream, add in 2 drops of pink food coloring. Pour in 1/4 cup of maraschino cherry juice and whip for 3-4 minutes until well mixed adding more juice to reach desired cherry taste.

                                                                  

 

                                                               

                                     Cupcake Ingredients                  

3/4 cup butter

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla (add more for a super-vanilla taste)

1 1/4 cups milk

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

 

                                                                    Directions                                           

1. Stir together the salt, baking powder, flour

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter in an electric mixer on high for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until combined. Continue to beat and add the eggs. Beat well and add vanilla.

3. Add part of the flour mixture then part of the milk, then beat on low. Repeat until all of the milk and flour mixture have been added. Combine and spread batter into cupcake pans. Be sure not to over mix your batter.

4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the cupcakes are golden brown and toothpick comes out clean from the center. Cool for at least 15 minutes.

5. Once the cupcakes are completely cooled it's time to stick in your ring pops, 

6. Next, grab two piping bags and fill with vanilla and cherry buttercream. Alternately swirl each flavor onto your cupcake.

 

 7.Drizzle cupcake with chocolate syrup, colorful sprinkles and plump cherry. You can package these up in pretty red or pink boxes and serve them with MUCHO AMOR!