Mini Raspberry & Coconut Cupcakes - Recipe

3 tbsp. almond meal
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups confectioners/icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
5 eggs (whites only)
1 cup fresh, or frozen raspberries thawed
2 tbsp. shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 375F. In a large bowl, combine the almond meal, flaked coconut, icing sugar, flour and baking powder. Stir in the butter, followed by the egg whites. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into each well of a mini muffin tin lined with baking cups. Drop a raspberry and some shredded coconut on top of each cupcake. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the pan and cool on a wire rack for an additional 25 minutes.

Makes approximately 24 mini cupcakes

Gluten-free Apricot Muffins - Recipe

2 3/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
3/4 cups confectioners/icing sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
2 lightly beaten eggs
4 tbsp. butter, melted
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, butter, milk and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until nearly combined. Fold in the walnuts and apricots until evenly dispersed.  Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each well of a muffin tin lined with baking cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 30 minutes.

Makes approximately 12 muffins

*Serve these muffins warm with a cup of your favorite tea, such as an earl gray with vanilla, and enjoy this warm, fiber packed breakfast or brunch treat.*

Strawberry Muffins - Recipe

1/2 cup confectioners/icing sugar
1 tbsp. grated lime zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. lime juice
2 cup fresh or thawed frozen strawberries (quartered)

Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, stir the sugar, lime zest, flour and baking powder with a spoon or whisk. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, butter and lime juice with an electric mixer on low-medium speed for about 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients and strawberries, stir gently until the strawberries are just combined. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each well of a muffin tin lined with baking cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and cool for 30 minutes.



Makes approximately 12 muffins

Blueberry Muffins - Recipe

1/2 cup confectioners/icing sugar
1 tbsp. grated lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
2 lightly beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 cup fresh or thawed frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, stir the sugar, lemon zest, flour and baking powder with a spoon or whisk. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, butter and lemon juice with an electric mixer on low-medium speed for about 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients and blueberries, stir gently until the blueberries are just combined. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each well of a muffin tin lined with baking cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and cool for 30 minutes.

*Serve these muffins warm with a glass of lemon iced tea for a sweet treat, quick snack, or breakfast bite.*

Makes approximately 12 muffins

>>Remember to check the bottom of the page for great gluten-free and lactose free recipe substitutions to make these delicious muffins suit your dietary needs!<<

Gluten-free Molasses Muffins - Recipe

2 3/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
4 tbsp. molasses
4 tbsp. honey1 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
2 lightly beaten eggs
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped dates

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt with a whisk. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, butter, milk, molasses, honey and vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir until nearly combined. Fold in the pecans and dates. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each well of a muffin tin lined with baking cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and cool on a wire rack for an additional 25 minutes.


Makes approximately 12 muffins

Diary of a Shopaholic - May 22nd

Ok, so I missed talking to you yesterday, my dear friends... but it was for a good reason...
I was out shopping for the latest and greatest cake products!

Let me tell you, if you're a shopaholic like I am, this week you NEED to get to your local Michael's arts and crafts store. They are having a buy 2 get 1 free sale on all sprinkles, piping tubes, baking pans, AND 200 brand new products, such as the PUNCH.CUT.DECORATE! line from Wilton.

Being in Canada, I always have to wait a little longer for the new products coming out of the creative kitchens at Wilton, but this week, some great new things are finally here. If you and piping bags or tubes are not good friends, then PUNCH.CUT.DECORATE! is the thing for you. This is a brand new line of edible foldable bendable papers that melt into your frosting (like those magical photo cakes) and have a neutral sweet taste that blends well with any cookies, cupcakes, cakes or pops you might want to jazz up. To make these papers even easier to use, Wilton has created a line of punches that create single shapes, coordinating shapes and borders. Just like regular paper, they punch out super easy, and you can cut them with scissors to make your own shapes, draw on them with food color markers, to give them your own twist, or customize the color combinations with edible food color sprays...all I can say is AMAZING!

So, on my buy 2 get 1 free adventure I picked up a few of these new products to give them a try...see if they're really as amazing as they sound.
First I picked up some of the sugar sheets. Honestly, Michaels in Canada is rather pricey...so I only picked up two sugar sheets (this go around) just to try them out.

 First I picked up a basic yellow...already thinking about what I might do with it...just wait...you'll see next weekend. It was really hard to pick from all the colors and prints they had, so I ended up going with this printed sheet.

I think the big Kumon event has got my head full of stars. I thought these two papers could coordinate well, or be used for some fun things on their own. I only came home with these two, but they have about 10 colors from primary to pastels and 10 prints such as hearts, swirls, damask, zebra, stripes and polkadots! On the star theme, I picked up a set of punches. The punches come in singles, or sets of 3 shapes that go together.

This set of 3 contains 1 large star, 1 star burst (that really gives life and definition to the first star when layered) and a star border punch. I love how a lot of these products come with pictures of example projects to get you started on your creative journey.

Alright, so I'll give you a little hint about what I'm thinking of using that bright yellow sugar sheet for...

How perfect, right? Trying to make butterflies out of fondant or gumpaste can be quite tricky. Getting the shape is easy, getting the paper thin look of real butterfly wings - nearly impossible. But just look at what you can do with solid color sugar sheets, 1 punch, and some edible food color markers.

I just love these cupcakes! I think I'll have to try some out for myself!
These aren't the only things you can do with sugar sheets, oh no! You can bend them, curl them, fold them, make them into a million things, I'm so excited to start creating!
For more ideas on how to use sugar sheets and food safe punches go to:
http://www.wilton.com/pcd/?cmp=search11&icid=pcd

You didn't think that was all I got, did you?
In the grand tradition of cuppy love, I saw some sweet new cupcake accessories.

My photography: terrible. These baking cups: adorable! I'm just looking at these and thinking, "is it possible to have too many pastels?"
That's just crazy talk!

I also saw these new fun pix. You can decorate cupcakes in a really simple and basic frost and turn them into something fab with these toppers.

I thought these would be really nice for a wedding, or an engagement party, or even a birthday.

And these are definitely birthday party material. And of course, they just happen to match perfectly with the birthday cupcake stand... those wilton people, they sure know how to make things match up!

Now, I thought I was finished shopping and I turned around and saw these neat silicone moulds. You can put fondant or gumpaste in them, and pop out a complete design to create 3D pieces to pull together a whole cake. Or you can cut up small pieces and make some beautiful (and coordinating) cupcakes.

Since I have nieces, and no nephews, I'm always attracted to all the girly things. I really liked this mould for all its buttons and bows. And again, another project idea, showing you some neat ways to use the product.

I also really liked this mould. Cherry blossoms seem to be a classic style for cakes, cupcakes, and mini cakes. This mould comes complete with branches, leaves, flowers, birds, and both a leaf and flower border. So beautiful!

Last but not least, I thought of my pops. I've been looking at these foil wraps for a while. They come in silver, gold, pink and blue.

I do like to put my pops into clear bags so that their beauty can shine through, but sometimes customers like a really basic pop, in which case, these foil wraps finish off pops nicely, they protect them from being touched before being eaten, and they look pretty cute. Check out this video by wilton showing you how to dress up your pop stand, and how to coordinate these foil wraps with a sparkly stand to match!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU2fAzQZzzU&feature=player_embedded#at=25

That's all for this shopping trip. Get out to your local Michael's store and check out some of the amazing new goodies in stock! If you're looking for any ideas or tips on how to use some of these new products please email me at carina@heartofthebatter.com, or comment below :)

Until next time!
Happy baking, caking, and decorating!
Love and sprinkles, xoxo