Inspired Ideas
Archive for the ‘Holiday Ideas’ Category
Choose Your Team Cupcake….Colts or Saints?
Friday, February 5th, 2010♥ Share the Heart-Shaped Love ♥
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010There are so many great things you can do with Reynolds Baked for You Heart-Shaped Baking Cups. Just click the images for recipes!
Heart-Shaped Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Georgeous Chocolates and Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
Heart-Shaped Cheesecakes
Sweet Baby Shower Treats
A Tower of Wedding Cupcakes
Homemade Heart Lollipops
Mini Birthday Cakes
And of course, Valentines Day cupcakes!
Look for them at Target stores this Valentine’s Day season.
Will he see his shadow?
Monday, February 1st, 2010Tomorrow, Groundhog Day, will seal our destiny.
Will it be six more weeks of snowman cupcakes, eggnog cupcakes, stay-inside-and-play-cards cupcakes, watch football and eat beer cupcakes. OR is it time to bust out some new and springy recipes?
Either way, celebrate the day and the little guy with these adorable Groundhog Cupcakes.
Doesn’t he look quite ravishing in the red foil baking cup? We think it’s because it matches his wintry nose!
Blizzards. A pain or an opportunity?
Friday, December 18th, 2009Maybe a bit of both. Because with a positive attitude, we think that winter storms can be a fun time for all.
Look at it as a chance to stay home with loved ones, watch the pretty white flakes fall, and snuggle by the fire. As a time to play cards or dreidl together (who says you can’t make Chanukah last for a few more days, right?). Or take the opportunity to bake together so that the house will smell wonderful and you’ll be surrounded by sticky smiles.
Just make sure to get to the grocery store for all of the foods you like. And don’t forget to buy the stuff to make cupcakes!
EGGNOG ORNAMENT CUPCAKES (with eggnog cream filling!).
These instructions use fondant to make a gorgeous ornament topper.
![Blog Tile[12]](http://cupcakecentralblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Blog-Tile12.png "Blog Tile[12]")
Or make the experience even more eggnog-y, by adding the Frosting below. You can finish with a cinnamon stick or tint some of the frosting and decorate to look like the ornaments above!
WHAT YOU NEED
1 package cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 1/2 Tablespoon eggnog
1/2 Tablespoon rum extract
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
INSTRUCTIONS
Beat cream cheese and butter together until well blended. Add powdered sugar. Add eggnog, extracts, & nutmeg.
Happy Chanukah!
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009This year, why not make a menorah out of cupcakes?
Delight your Chanukah party guests with a fully edible version (candle cupcake recipe with pretzel rods covered in chocolate). Or, how about setting 9 cupcakes of your batches aside to actually light them each night!
Our shamas is made using a Jumbo Foil Baking Cup. But you could create the same effect by simply placing a standard sized cupcake at a different level than the rest.
Snowman Cupcake Centerpieces
Monday, November 30th, 2009We know that by 5 am on the Friday after Thanksgiving, you’re thinking about all of the things that you need to do for the Christmas or Hannukah. Some of us love it and others despise it. Some of us put it off and others get it all done before December 1.
Well, we hope to provide you some inspiration for this time. Regardless of which camp you fall into or if you’re somewhere inbetween.
Starting off, this Snowman makes a great centerpiece (his scarf and hat shown off by our red foil cups) — which can be surrounded with Twinkling Tree Cupcakes in red or green foil cups to make a fabulously Holiday Winter wonderland.
WHAT YOU NEED (for six snowmen)
Cupcakes:
6 chocolate cupcakes baked in Reynolds® Holiday Baking Cups
1 container (16 oz.) vanilla ready-to-spread frosting
Snowmen:
1 package ready-to-use white rolled fondant
1 package toothpicks
Red food coloring or icing color gel
6 chocolate kiss candies, unwrapped
Multicolored sprinkles
Nonpareils, sprinkles and small red candies
INSTRUCTIONS
MAKE 6 SNOWMEN
DIVIDE fondant into two pieces:
- 2/3 will stay white and be used for the snowmen
- 1/3 will be tined and used for the hat and scarf
ROLL white fondant into balls 12 balls (2 per snowman)
- Six to be used for the heads, should be about 2-inches in diameter
- Six, for the bodies, should be slightly bigger
STACK the heads onto the bodies using a toothpick
TINT 1/3 of rolled fondant with food coloring or gel by placing it in a plastic bag and following package directions
MAKE SCARF AND HAT
ROLL OUT red fondant between 2 sheets of Reynolds Cut-Rite Wax Paper until it’s about 1/4-inch thick.
CUT six (6) strips of fondant using a pizza cutter — they should be 5 to 6 ½ inches each, long enough to wrap around the neck of the snowman. If desired, press small pieces of white fondant into the ends of the scarf.
CUT three (3), 1/2-inch slits on each side of the scarf to make fringe.
PLACE the scarf around the snowman’s neck. Use small dots of frosting and press to affix to snowman.
CUT 6 small triangle pieces of red fondant using the size of chocolate kiss candy as a guide.
WRAP fondant around chocolate kiss candies. Use small dots of frosting to seal fondant to chocolate kiss.
CUT 2-inch strips of red fondant for hat band.
MAKE FINISHING TOUCHES AND ASSEMBLE
DECORATE
- Hat: Coat strip with a thin layer of frosting to hold sprinkles. Press sprinkles into each fondant hat band. Cut strips of red fondant to make a tassel for the hat, if desired. Coat tassel lightly with frosting, press sprinkles into tassel, and attach to hat with frosting.
- Snowman: Use nonpareils and small red candies for eyes and nose; press into fondant. Cut mouth from red fondant with a pizza cutter; use a small dot of frosting (toothpicks work well) to attach to face.
PLACE fondant-covered candy hat on snowman’s head (seam in back), using dots of frosting to hold it in place. Wrap sprinkle covered band around hat; attach with dots of frosting.
INSERT toothpick into bottom of snowman. Center snowman on top of frosted cupcake.
Pumpkin Centerpiece of Pumpkin Cupcakes
Friday, November 6th, 2009Some people love Apple Pie. Okay, a lot of people love Apple Pie. But a lot of people also really love cupcakes. And cupcakes can be appropriate for Thanksgiving. Especially pumpkin cupcakes with maple spice frosting.
And especially pumpkin cupcakes with maple spice frosting decorated and assembled to make a three-dimensional, edible pumpkin centerpiece!
So this Thanksgiving, use our recipe — a twist on our original “bouquet” recipe — to adorn the table in an unforgettable way. And I’m sure they won’t be upset if you also serve apple pie!
Oh, and if you are inspired to make something based on this, will you send us pictures? We’d love to see them and maybe even post them to help further inspire people…with credit to you of course!!
Pumpkin Centerpiece of Pumpkin Cupcakes and Maple Spice Frosting
(using step x step photos of our Bouquet Technique)
WHAT YOU NEED
For Cake
48-52 cupcakes baked in Reynolds Orange Foil Baking Cups
2 packages (18.25 oz. each) yellow cake mix
2 cups canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Water, oil and eggs (follow package directions)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract for cake
For Frosting
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
6 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract for frosting
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 to 2 packages (16 oz.each ) powdered sugar
Neon orange food coloring
Green food coloring
Optional: orange sugar crystals
For Creating Centerpiece
1 large platter or tray (at least 12 inches wide)
1 8” Styrofoam ball (purchase at your local craft store)
1 4×4x2″ Styrofoam block (purchase at your local craft)
4 6″ wooden skewers
1 glue gun and glue sticks
48-52 wooden craft sticks
1 small paring knife
INSTRUCTIONS
PREHEAT oven to 350°F.
PLACE Reynolds Baking Cups in muffin pans; set aside.
BEAT cake mixes, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, water, oil, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on lw speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Spoon batter into baking cups. If desired, each cake mix can be beaten separately just use half of pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla in each.
BAKE 20 to 23 minutes. Cool.
MIX cream cheese, maple syrup, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add powdered sugar gradually until well blended.
DIVIDE frosting, use food coloring to dye 1/2 cup green and the remaining frosting orange.
SET aside two cupcakes for stem. PIPE or frost remaining cupcakes with orange frosting. Sprinkle with orange sugar crystals, if desired. Very Important: Let frosting stand and harden at least 1 hour.
PREPARE CENTERPIECE
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Place Styrofoam block on a platter. Use hot glue to glue block to platter. Insert 4 wooden skewers in a square center of block.
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Place Styrofoam ball on top of block, sliding ball onto skewers. Use hot glue to secure in place, if necessary.
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Starting at the bottom of the styrofoam ball, insert one wooden craft stick angled 45 degrees up. Push stick deep into ball so that about 1/2 of it remains sticking out to hold cupcake.
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Use a paring knife to make a thin slit into the bottom of the decorated cupcake.
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Slide decorated cupcake onto wooden craft stick.
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Repeat these steps, one row at a time. Work your way all the way around the bottom of the ball to the top, placing the cupcakes as close together as you can get them.
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Leave a 3-inch circle of open space at the top for the stem. Remove baking cups from the 2 cupcakes that were set aside for stem. Cut a thin slice from the top of each cupcake to create flat surfaces.
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Frost cut side of one cupcake with green frosting and press bottom of second cupcake on top of it. Prepare stem by spreading a thin coating of green frosting over all sides of both cupcakes.
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Spread a dollop of green frosting in open space at top of ball to serve as “glue” for the stem. Place frosted green cupcakes upside down on frosting so flat bottom of one of the cupcakes makes the top of the stem. Spread frosting over stem until completely covered. Use a fork to make circular lines in the top of the stem and vertical lines on the sides, if desired.
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Optional: place additional cupcakes on platter around bottom of Pumpkin.
Fall Fabulous
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009Did you buy orange & black foil or ghost-shaped baking cups this Halloween?
Turn your leftover cups from Halloween ghoulish to Fall Festive. Get inspired by our visual renditions (below) of some of the many ideas from the great followers of Cupcakes Take the Cake!
Make a Turkey or a Cornucopia using the ghost-shaped cups.
All you need is chocolate frosting, chocolate candy kisses (or marzipan vegetables for cornucopia), candy corn, and red & orange decorator frosting.
Make pumpkins and fall leaves with the orange or black foil.
Use the shell tip to make the pumpkin patch, or simply buy pumpkin candies and leaf sprinkles!
A Reynolds Halloween Retrospective
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Halloween cupcakes homemade by some of our employees (or their kids).
They did a great job, didn’t they?!
Halloween Idea #11: Flying Apple Oatmeal Muffins
Friday, October 30th, 2009You’ve done it all: bought trick-or-treat candy, made costumes, hit the pumpkin patch, carved pumpkins and roasted pumpkin seeds.
How about making the Holiday complete by starting off the day with a themed surprise?! FLYING APPLE OATMEAL MUFFINS.
They’ll FLY off the counter. Get it?!
To find out what stores in your area carry Reynolds Orange & Black Foil Baking Cups or the Baked for You Ghosts, please call our Consumer Response line at 1-800-433-2244.