Popcorn Cupcakes

Hi!  My name is Heather and I am addicted to Pinterest.  "Hi Heather!"

Umm...it all started one morning when my baby woke up at 4AM.  And by the time I fed him and got him back to bed, I was wide awake.  I turned on the computer and decided to see what all the commotion was about...this Pinterest that everyone on Facebook was raving about.

I thought "what the heck" and signed up.

I must confess.  I am weak.  I now visit Pinterest at least three times a day.

(gasp)

"Oh bless her heart"

If you are familiar with Pinterest, you might have seen these cupcakes pop up here and there.  I have so many ideas floating around in my head thanks to this site.  I see rainbow cakes, and ruffled fondant, and gumpaste dinosaurs in my future.

But back to these cupcakes for the moment.  They were super simple and I think they would be adorable for a slumber party.  I just used boxed cake mix and ready to use frosting.  The most time consuming part was pinching and twisting marshmallows.

           and           

I was able to do half a bag of mini marshmallows by the time the cupcakes were done.

All you have to do is take your frosted cupcakes and start piling on the marshmallows.  I started around the edge and then you can fill in the middle.

I added a little food coloring for the "buttered" effect.  I think luster dust might work out a little better though. 

Have fun with these cupcakes.  

That is ALL that matters.  

I wanted to start this post off with apologizing to you.  It's been almost 3 weeks and there have been no new cookies or brownies or peanut butter anything.  Then I realized I didn't need to apologize.

Most of you have had a time or two in your lives when things get pushed to the side.  And that is what is happening to me right now.  Flour has been pushed aside to make way for bottles.  Chocolate chips have been moved to make way for Spike the Dinosaur.  And instead of reading recipes, I am reading Green Eggs and Ham 3 days a week. 

I have my moments that I want to scream and I do not feel guilty for saying sometimes I wish I had my old life back.  But then my baby squeals with a little laugh or I catch him trying to eat his bunny rattle, both ears and all.

And then I realize that's more satisfying than eating any dessert I can make.

Fondant Molds and Neapolitan Cupcakes

I found this easy and cute cupcake idea here through Pinterest.  If you haven't been to Pinterest, don't go. You heard me.  Take my word for it.  You will spend ALL DAY on this site. Not...that...I...did that or anything.

So.  What were we talking about?

Oh, cute cupcakes and my new fondant mold.  I found a fondant mold online the other day and proceeded to weep because it cost 40 dollars.  40 DOLLARS!!!  As my mom would say, it better do the dishes too for that price.   If it could vacuum for me, I might think about it.

So I proceeded to JoAnns craft store with my 40% off coupon in hand and found this.

With the coupon, it was $5.99.  Go me! 

So I made up a quick batch of marshmallow fondant and left it white.  

I put a little bit of cornstarch on the mold so the fondant wouldn't stick.  

Placed the fondant over the mold like this

You can either press it into the mold or take a small rolling pin and run over the top.

Carefully pull the fondant off the mold and ta-da!  I took an old biscuit cutter to get the round shape I needed for the cupcakes.

For a little added color, I took lemon extract and a small amount of gel food coloring and mixed it together in a small bowl.  I heard you can use vodka with the food coloring too. The alcohol evaporates off so you don't have to worry about making drunken cupcakes.  But since we are not a vodka drinking household, I went for the lemon extract.

Carefully apply it to the fondant to pick up some of the detail.  Let them dry completely before moving them around.

When the cupcakes are done cooling, apply a thin layer of frosting and place the fondant right on top.  Keep the cupcakes in the fridge in an airtight container.  Just pull the cupcakes out about 20 minutes before you want to eat them!