Dear America, Vote Nasty!

To all my girls who dreamed of being the first female president, Hillary's gunna beat us to it and that's frickin' awesome. American needs nasty women. We're stronger together. Who's with me? Because I'm with her!

How-To Marble Cupcakes: The Easiest DIY Marbled Frosting Ever!

Hey there! Happy Friday. I'd love to share a quick how-to with you, if you're interested. I've been obsessing over all things marbled—like this DIY marbled table, homemade marbled clipboard, these marbled gift tags, etc—so I wanted to figure out a super-simple way to marble cakes at home. The trick: Store-bought frosting. 

Wait! Before you turn up your nose, hear me out: There are certain things incredibly processed store-bought icing can do that the homemade stuff cannot, like melt, for instance. By melting store-bougth frosting, you get a dye-able liquid that hardens into frosting again once cool. Here's how you to it...
  

DIY MARBLED FROSTING1. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt 1 tub store-bought vanilla frosting in the microwave on high, 30 seconds or until melted (separate into 2 bowls if you'd like multiple marbling colors). Add a few drops of 2 complimentary colors of food coloring.2. Swirl the food coloring together slightly using a toothpick or knife. Don't over do it or you'll lose the marbling effect! If you do, swirl in more dye (you'll just have a colored-base).3. One at a time, dip cupcake tops into the frosting (swirling slightly). Transfer to wire racks and set aside 15 minutes or until set. Reheat and/or swirl more food coloring into the frosting, as needed.

What do you think? Is this something you could see yourself doing at home? I'd love to try it in a larger format, like swirling the frosting on a large shallow plate and dipping the top of a whole angel food cake! xo Erin

Super Simple Ghost Party! Chocolate Cupcake Recipe & Crafts!

Boo! Remember when I posted about my favorite craft book, Craft-A-Day? Well, Sarah Goldschadt (the brilliant author) and I used the ghost craft template from her book to make a little spooky part post for y'all!

The original plan was to make glow-in-the-dark cupcakes and toppers but (1) I couldn't get this frosting to work without tasting like total crud (2) The glow-in-the-dark paint wasn't quite glowy enough. C'est la vie! 

Fortunately Sarah's adorable (and easy!) ghost cupcake toppers and bat straws were just as festive in daylight: You can find how-to instructions for making the ghosts in Sarah's book, Craft-A-Day, and the bat template is available on her Etsy site, here! 

Now, for the cupcakes (these ones taste fabulous AND can be made vegan!):

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH GHOSTLY WHITE FROSTING

SERVES: 12

FOR THE CUPCAKES

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup warm water (or coffee!) 

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

⅓ cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 

FOR THE FROSTING

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature 

4 tablespoons vegetable shortening 

1 1-pound box confectioners' sugar (or to taste)

1 teaspoon clear vanilla or almond extract 

1. Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350˚. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners (I used these Wilton cupcake liners).

2. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the warm water, vanilla, vegetable oil and vinegar and whisk until combined (it's okay if the batter's a little lumpy). Divide the batter between the prepared cups, filling each two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

3. Make the frosting: Beat the butter and shortening with a mixer on medium speed until combined. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Transfer to a large resealable plastic bag, snip the corner and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. 

*If you want to make these cupcakes vegan / dairy-free, replace the 1 stick unsalted butter in the frosting with 4 more tablespoons vegetable shortening—that's how a lot of grocery store make their frosting!*

[Photos by Sarah Goldschadt, author of Craft-A-Day]