Outside In Caramel Cupcakes - Recipe

1/2 cup sweet butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 lightly beaten eggs
2 tbsp. instant coffee granules
1 tbsp. boiling water
2 2/3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup soft caramels

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs slowly. In a small bowl, dissolve the coffee in the water. Beat the coffee into the butter mixture. Add the flour and milk and beat until well combined. Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each well of a muffin tin lined with baking cups. Push 1 or 2 caramels into the center of each cupcake and place pan in the oven. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from the pan and serve warm.

Makes approximately 12 cupcakes

Peach Granola Muffins - Recipe

1 cup dried peaches, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups dried granola
2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup apple juice
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 cup honey
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350F. Mix the peaches, granola, flour, and baking powder in a medium bowl with a spoon. Set aside. Beat the orange juice, apple juice, oil, honey and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and stir until 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 pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and continue to cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes approximately 12 muffins

Maple Granola Muffins - Recipe

1 cup dried apples, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups dried granola
2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup apple juice
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350F. Mix the apples, granola, flour, and baking powder in a medium bowl with a spoon. Set aside. Beat the orange juice, apple juice, oil, maple syrup and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and stir until 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 pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and continue to cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes approximately 12 muffins

Morning Granola Muffins - Recipe

1 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups dried granola
2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup apple juice
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
3/4 cup honey
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 350F. Mix the apricots, granola, flour, and baking powder in a medium bowl with a spoon. Set aside. Beat the orange juice, apple juice, oil, honey and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and stir until 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 pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and continue to cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes approximately 12 muffins

Wild Rice Peach & Raspberry Muffins - Recipe

1/3 cup wild rice, soaked in cold water for about 2 hours
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. all-spice
1 tbsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. raspberries, gently mashed
3 tbsp. chopped almonds
4 tbsp. chopped dried peaches

Drain the wild rice. Place rice in a medium saucepan, cover with 2 cups cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 50 minutes, until the rice is tender. Drain the rice and rinse it under cold water. Set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 375F. In a medium bowl, beat the rice, eggs, milk and butter with an electric mixer until combined. In a large bowl, combine the flour, bran, sugar, baking powder and all spice. Add the cooled rice mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the raspberries, peaches and almonds 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 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and cool on a wire rack for an additional 25 minutes.

Makes approximately 12 muffins

Wild Rice Peach & Apricot Muffins - Recipe

1/3 cup wild rice, soaked in cold water for about 2 hours
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. all-spice
1 tbsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. chopped dried apricots
3 tbsp. chopped hazelnuts
4 tbsp. chopped dried peaches

Drain the wild rice. Place rice in a medium saucepan, cover with 2 cups cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 50 minutes, until the rice is tender. Drain the rice and rinse it under cold water. Set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 375F. In a medium bowl, beat the rice, eggs, milk and butter with an electric mixer until combined. In a large bowl, combine the flour, bran, sugar, baking powder and all spice. Add the cooled rice mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in the apricots, peaches and hazelnuts 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 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the pan and cool on a wire rack for an additional 25 minutes.

Makes approximately 12 muffins

Updates and Contests

Hello you little balls of wonderful, you!

I just wanted to pop by to share a few things, if you haven't been by my website or facebook page lately. So, today I'll sound like Dr. Suess, because I've got thing one and thing two.

Thing 1: Thanks to all your fabulous support I have been growing quite quickly and have begun to receive orders outside of my friends and family. In order to support this need, I'm constructing a new, bigger, brighter, (more organized) and beautiful space to bake all my yummy treats in. To keep up with demand and have room to grow, I will be raising my prices just a teensy bit as of January 1st, 2012. Each cake item will increase by 50 cents per serving and cake pops will increase by 25 cents. This means cake pops will be 1.50 to 2.00 and cupcakes will be 2.00 to 3.00 dollars each. Still amazing for the incredible taste, customized designs and tender loving care that goes into each and every thing that I bake. For existing customers, this price increase will not take effect until the new year, so stock up now (haha).

On to more exciting news, also known as...
Thing 2: Dinner party season and holiday parties are about to begin. In order to make your party planning a little easier I've got a new line of cakes. They're called 6 in 6. A 6" cake (serving 12) ready in 6 hours or less. Oh, and there are 6 of them to choose from. 5 that will look beautiful and taste fabulous any time of year, and one seasonal cake that will change each month. If you're planning a get together and want to stun your guests with an amazing dessert, but forgot to order until the day before (or even the day of) - CALL ME! - call me at 10am and your cake will be ready by 4pm (or earlier)... call me at 2pm and your cake will be ready by 8pm... you get it.

To kick off my new cake line I'm going to be raffling off 1 of each of the cakes each week for the next 6 weeks. All you have to do is stop by my facebook page (and like the page, of course) then comment on or like the cake photo for the week and you are automatically entered to win that weeks' cake for only $6! If you enter, make sure you are able to pick up the cake in Aurora, Ontario. The weekly cake will be posted each Wednesday afternoon and the winner will be announced on Friday afternoon. The winner must pick up the cake between Friday and Sunday of the same week. Pretty great right?!

Here's a picture of the cake that was raffled off this week.

Make sure you stop by next week for your chance to win another incredible cake at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heart-of-the-Batter/108837222495540

Good luck to all of you!

Until next time,
Happy baking, caking and tasting!

Love and sprinkles, xoxo