Pumpkin. Need I say more?

Okay, I'll tell you a little more. I've had this jar of Libby's pumpkin puree in my cupboard a long time, saving it for the perfect recipe. (Don't worry, it hasn't expired yet!) I decided the perfect recipe for it would include cupcakes. And something that tasted like pumpkin chocolate chip cookies-my favorite! So I planned my recipe and today I discovered a bonus! Libby's is having a contest through Bakespace, and the winner gets a Kitchen-Aid mixer...and gets to choose the color! YES! Since I haven't heard anything more from Ellen's peeps, I figured I'd try to win the contest. I REALLY need a new mixer.

So the pumpkin spice chocolate chip cupcake turkey with pumpkin spice mousse was born!

To decorate, I used circus peanuts, mini chocolate chips, and orange slices candy. These would make an awesome Thanksgiving dessert for the kidlets.

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cupcakes - by the doughdough herself

1 Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix

2 cups Libby's Pure Pumpkin

4 medium eggs (all I had was med., you could substitute 3 large eggs)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Pinch nutmeg

Pinch cinnamon

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup flour

2/3 cup Nestle mini chocolate chips

Add everything to a mixing bowl except the chocolate chips. Beat for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Makes 24 mouth-watering, moist, eat-so-many-you-will-gain-1o-pounds cupcakes!

Seriously. I do have a sinus infection, but these are the best things I've ever tasted. Can you see the steam rising from these warm cuppies? They are the best hot out of the oven, so feast away if you are too lazy to make frosting!

Pumpkin Mousse Frosting

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 package Jello Instant vanilla pudding

1 1/2 cups Libby's Pumpkin puree

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup whipped cream

This may be a weird way to make mousse because I made it up and have no idea how to make mousse! But it's delish, so that's all that matters, right?!

Whip 2 cups heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add 1 package vanilla pudding and beat in. (On second thought, you may want to fold it in, but I beated it in, which is probably why it started to look weird. But it comes out yummy, I promise!) Add pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and gradually beat in powdered sugar. Fold in 1 cup whipped cream.

Okay, so I was a little worried about not having the best sense of taste and smell today, so I went outside and recruited the neighborhood sixth graders to be my taste testers (none of my friends were home, sorry guys). I told them I was bringing these to a get-together and I needed their opinion. They said, "If they don't like them, they're crazy!" Score! Of course, kids like anything with sugar and whipping cream and chocolate chips...

Note to self: Blogging the recipe is SO much easier if I do it while I'm throwing it together! No more lost recipes! Speaking of lost recipes, I found my Halloween Oreo cupcake recipe scribbled on a piece of paper mixed in with my baking cups. So I'll add it in case you want to make it next year!

I'll leave you with a couple more pictures...baby doughdough helped me out in the kitchen today! Okay, so he only made messes and tried to eat my cupcakes, but don't you love the turkey apron gramma pots and pins sent him?

What's this? Cookies?

So I wanted to make cupcakes tonight, but was too lazy to make frosting, so I decided to make cookies instead. Like a true doughdough, I couldn't find my favorite cookie recipe so I had to check online to see what was in Ranger Cookies and throw something together from memory. They weren't the same, but they were yummy. Really sugary...I'm thinking my recipe didn't have brown sugar, or as much. Maybe just do 1 cup, not packed. Come to think of it, that may have been my mistake, so I'll put 1 c. brown sugar, not packed. The smart thing to do would be to put my recipe on, but I'll have to wait until it turns up!

White Chocolate Ranger Cookies

1 c. butter
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar, not packed
2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 c. flour
2 c. oatmeal
2 c. Rice Krispies
2 c. coconut

1 c. white chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, salt, baking soda, baking powder and beat. Add flour and beat. Add rest of ingredients and stir into the mixture. (If you're lazy like me, you'll just beat it in, but that may be another reason the cookies aren't as perfect as they could have been, but they are really good!) Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Made approx. 4 cookie sheets worth (I'm so technical, I know!).

Note to Self: So awhile ago I was talking to my friends about kitchen doughdough and my photography business and they asked, "What if down the line you had to choose?" I said definitely photography, since that is my real passion, this blog just gave me the courage to start a business! Who knew I'd have to choose so soon! I've been so busy with my photography business that poor kitchen doughdough has been ignored! (Well, trust me, the doughdough is still here, always doing silly things in the kitchen, just haven't had time to blog!) I'm hoping with the holidays here, I'll be baking more again and when I do, I'll be sure to share my creations. I still have a long list of cupcake ideas that I'll get to eventually, I'm sure.

Article in the Daily Herald

Just wanted to post the link to my article in the Utah County Daily Herald. It was an especially fun interview because it was with the parent of one of my third grade students from a couple years ago! She did a great job on one of her first stories in the Herald!
Click here!

Halloween Oreo Cupcakes

Here's part 1 of my post with the pictures...now I need to find the recipe! These cupcakes were SO good! I used Halloween Oreo orange filling for the frosting and it was AMAZING!! I'll try to post the rest today...




Ellen! Look at my pitiful blender! Don't you think I need a kitchen-aid?!!

So now it's after Halloween, and I still can't find the recipe I wrote down! I basically just used a chocolate cake mix and threw in blended Halloween Oreos. The frosting was made with whipped cream and I whipped in the middles of Halloween Oreos so the frosting was orange. As I'm cleaning my office over the next couple weeks, hopefully I'll come across the recipe!

Egg Nog Spice Cupcakes

If any of you live in Utah County, check out my feature in the Daily Herald tomorrow (Saturday)! I made these cuppies while they photographed me for the paper. I was pretty happy with how my creation turned out...although I would make some changes and I'll tell you what they are!

Egg Nog Spice Cupcakes - by me!

1 package Duncan Hines Spice Cake Mix (just the mix, don't add anything)

1 stick unsalted softened/melted butter (hmm...did I just make up a new term-mefted butter?? sof-elted?? I'm a nerd. Really, I just didn't melt the butter all the way, so it was half softened, half melted.)

3 eggs

Pinch cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

1/2 cup egg nog

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup applesauce

1 1/3 cup water

All I did was combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a beater for 2 minutes. Then add them to your cupcake pan, 2/3 full. FYI, they didn't rise a ton, so you can fill them that far...I put less because I never know if the recipe will rise too much! Makes 24+ cupcakes. Oh, and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

I thought they were delish-but I did want them to be more egg nog-y (I LOVE egg nog!), so next time I would try adding more egg nog, like 1 cup, and less water, like 3/4 cup. But they were great as they were-really moist! My mom of Pots and Pins approved!

Cinnamon Cider Cream Cheese Frosting - by Pots and Pins

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 T. apple cider

1/2 tsp. cinnamon (or to taste)

pinch of salt

Mix cream cheese and butter till fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar, cider, cinnamon, and salt. Beat well. Frost. Keep in refrigerator.

The frosting was really yummy! Thanks, mom!

Trophy Cupcakes...where it all started!

This was the first gourmet cupcake spot I ever visited...well, the location in Seattle anyway! I've been in Washington on vacay and I had to go to Trophy where my cupcake obsession began! They have a chic new spot in the Bravern in Bellevue. (By the new Nieman Marcus...which was fab, but I felt very out of place!) I love their colors (they are the colors I decorated my bedroom with!) and I LOVE their cupcakes! The frosting is so stinkin' delish (in a good smelling way)! Seriously, I don't like ANYTHING chocolate, and I was devouring their chocolate frosting. My favorite is of course their lemon-it made me forget ANY cupcake I'd ever had. It is the best cake- the moistest, yummiest cake ever. To the question cake or frosting, I would usually choose frosting, but this was a toss-up. Of course, I still need to try Cupcake Royale while I'm here...

My favorite cupcake

I've said a lot of cupcakes are my favorite, but this one still is. My husband brought it home from Mini's the other day! What a guy. I'm so glad they opened a store near his office! What really makes me buy a cupcake is fillings. This lemon mirengue pie cupcake is perfect. Mmmm. I want one now!

I have lots of fun cupcakes that I am ready to bake-I just need to find the time! I've been so busy with my photography biz. I still plan on learning to cook...so far, not much progress. I'm excited to go to Seattle this week and learn from my mom ! (You'd think I'd have learned growing up, but no, I was too busy socializing!)

What color kitchen aid mixer would you choose?

I chose red.

In reply to ELLEN'S WEBSITE PEOPLE! Yes, they called again! It freaked my freak as Ellen would say! I can't announce that I'll be on the show, but I can say things seem to be moving along...they asked specific questions about how I baked the Ellen cupcakes and what I would do if Ellen called me. She also added that it was a one in a million chance that Ellen would call someone. Well, as Jim Carrey says in Dumb and Dumber, "You're saying I have a chance!"

Scrumptious Starburst Cake

I must admit, this is my favorite recipe so far...it was so delicious! I've had this idea in my mind for awhile, so I was thrilled when my husband signed me up to bring dessert to his work party a few months ago.

Since it was awhile ago, the doughdough is having a hard time remembering the recipes. Oops. I did figure it out though. Trust me, this cake is so good. And easy!

Lemon Cake

1 box Pillsbury Golden Butter Recipe Yellow Cake Mix

1 cup water

1/3 cup softened butter

3 eggs

1 small box lemon instant pudding

1/2 cup applesauce

Make the cake with the instructions on the box. (Or make any yellow cake.) Add 1 box of lemon instant pudding and 1/2 cup applesauce. The applesauce makes the cake super moist! Bake the cake in 2 8x8x2 square pans. I bought the pan at Orson Gygi; I only have one, I baked the cakes separately. Bake at 350 until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs attached.

Raspberry whipped cream frosting

Fresh raspberries

Junket Danish Dessert Raspberry Pudding/Pie Filling/Glaze (use the recipe on the box for fruit sauce. Any type of raspberry sauce would work great.)

Whipped Cream: 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 1 T sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix ingredients on low until sugar dissolved. Beat on high until soft peaks form. I use this recipe from America's Test Kitchen cookbook.

All I did was combine the ingredients to make a raspberry whipped cream filling to go in between the two square cakes. Make the fruit filling first, add the fresh raspberries and add extra sugar to taste. Then mix with whipped cream.

Lemon Whipped Cream Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup heavy whipped cream

1 cup softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

Rind from 1 lemon

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Beat the butter until smooth in a separate bowl. Add the whipped cream and vanilla to the butter. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar and lemon rind. You've got yourself some delicious frosting! It tastes like frosting with an aftertaste of whipped cream. Or vice versa. I can't remember which, but it was awesome! Some of my husband's friends kept sticking their fingers in the bowl after I frosted the cake at his work party!

Decorating: Frost the cake with the lemon whipped cream buttercream frosting. Then decorate the top with Starburst! It took awhile, but it was worth it! It was the talk of the party! I had originally planned on covering the whole cake, but I didn't have enough Starburst. I think it turned out super cute just having the top covered!

Note to Self: Blog about recipes right after I make them...it will make things easier on me and my readers!

Beef Cupcakes...It's What's for Dinner!

I truly did not wake up this morning and think, "I'm going to make a meatloaf cupcake today!" It was totally a whim.

I'm not a huge meatloaf fan, but my aunt Joni gave me a recipe a long time ago that I actually liked and remembered when attempting to plan meals this week. I really don't like onions in meatloaf or burgers, though, so I thought I'd change up the recipe. As I was getting out my broiler pan for the meatloaf, I saw the cupcake pan, and that was that, we were having cupcakes for dinner. Then inspiration struck as I remembered the IronCupcake: Earth July challenge was herbs! And so my basil meatloaf "cupcake" was born!

I'm a little unclear as to whether my "cupcake" will pass for IronCupcake, but it has oats and eggs in it, it looks like a cupcake, it has "frosting," and it has herbs, so why not?! I guess it isn't really cake based, it's meat based. That sounds gross...they really were delicious though! I'l admit when I think of a delicious cupcake and then think of a meatcake, it makes my stomach turn a little...

Oh, and a WARNING! You need to refrigerate these cupcakes! haha.

I now look at my pictures and laugh...I guess beefcakes are a little crazy...but hey, I get points for creativity! I should have made my french fry cupcakes for dessert!

The meatloaf cupcake is made with ground beef, oats, eggs, ketchup, and basil, plus a couple other things. The "frosting" is SO good! You glaze it on and bake it. It's made of ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar! The fam loved it.

P.S. If you think I'm crazy now, wait until you see Monday's post!!!

Meatloaf or Beefcakes... Makes 2 loaves or approx. 24 meatcakes

2 lbs. ground chuck

3/4 c uncooked quick cooking oats

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

4-5 basil leaves finely sliced into small pieces

1/2 c ketchup

1/4 c milk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Topping/ "Frosting"

1/2 c ketchup

3 T brown sugar

2 teaspoons prepared mustard

Combine ingredients in large bowl. Shape into 2 (7 1/2 x 4 in.) loaves or balls that will fit in a cupcake pan. Place loaves on a lightly greased rack in broiler pan, or in a cupcake pan. Bake loaves at 350 for 40 minutes. Bake meatcakes 25 minutes. Take them out and put in a broiler pan to cook the rest of the 40 minutes.

For either type: Combine topping ingredients and spoon over meatloaf; bake 15 more minutes or until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees.

Okay, so this picture is TOTALLY a buzzkill on your appetite! But remember, you can still use the recipe for regular meatloaf, and it's a good one! I guess there is a reason you are supposed to cook meatloaf in a broiler pan! And okay, the picture below doesn't make you say, "give me a meatcake with fat baked around the edges!" But am I at least getting some laughs?

So Cupcake

If you haven't tried So Cupcake yet, you've got to go! 3939 South Highland Drive in Salt Lake City. It is such a cute store with tons of tasty flavors to try! I bought the one below for my aunt's birthday...and forgot to drop it off. It ended up a huge melted mess in my car and I'm just realizing now I never brought anything for her birthday. Oh my. What a terrible waste of an awesome cupcake!

Below are some of the colorful selections! Visit their website at www.socupcake.com!
They also have really cute cupcake things for sale...I loved these cards!
They have a fun board with polaroids and "SO..." written on them. And a great pic of their cute daughter meeting Emeril! She's an example to me of following your dreams!
LOVE their open sign! SO clever. haha.

DJ Par-tay

It's about time I post about my husband's birthday, considering it was 2 months ago! So I threw a surprise party for him since he is the funniest person to scare. I pretty much pulled it off, although he said thinking back on it he had some hints. He used to "DJ" in college...as a matter of fact, the first time I met him he had on headphones and he couldn't hear me say hello to him. Little did he know I'd be after him. haha. So above is the turntable cake I made for him. I used a Costco cake, lots of black frosting (that looks purple-gray...does anyone know how to get frosting really black?), a twizzler rope, a black plate for the record with my husband's picture on it, and a round cake underneath the record. The other pieces are fondant covered in frosting.

Here's some of the decor that I threw together...I decided for sure like 2 days before that I was going to do the party.

Of course a party wouldn't be a party without cupcakes! I created a cupcake tower to go with the turntable cake. I used two black trays and plastic "champagne" glasses. I found the disco balls at a party store...they were keychains, I just took the keychain part off. The other cupcakes are headphones and records.

Couple of doughdough moments...I really wanted to make a disco ball cupcake. I'd seen some examples online and here's what mine turned out like. Lovely. Don't use marshmallow creme as frosting...it drips right off! And obviously the foil covered party mints did not stay close to each other. What was I thinking?!I have the hardest time in the kitchen because I don't do things in an orderly fashion! As I was making my record cupcakes, I ran out of cakesters when I knew I had lots left! I spent so much time looking through the pantry and through the mess in my kitchen over and over again. I finally gave up thinking I'd just make more of another kind. Well, the next time I threw something away, guess what I found?

Above is the headphone cupcake made from tootsie rolls.
I made the records from smashed sides of Oreo cakesters and mini marshmallows. Later I discovered something easier to make record cupcakes with-Oreo makes a new cookie and as usual, I can't remember what they are called. But you can see below I turned it upside down and plopped it on white frosting.

Contact from Ellen's Peeps!

As the lady I talked to told me, don't get "too, too excited!" But I did get a call from Ellen's website! It was SO EXCITING!!! It was awesome because she interviewed me and got all the details on my quest to get on Ellen! They actually didn't know anything...they had seen a submission where I sent in a picture of the ellen logo cupcakes. She said it stuck out to her, so she called to get the scoop! I heard her typing in everything I told her and she had my website up while we were on the phone! So at least I know now that someone from the show caught word of what I was doing. Now I have to wait and hope that I get another call!!! Oh, and she also found the link to Good Things Utah and was going to watch it!!!!! I know she said not to get too excited yet, but how can I not be?!! I'll keep you posted!

Lion House Lemon Bars

Before I talk about the lemon bars, I have some FUN news to share!!! Actually, one piece of news deserves its own post, so I'll save it. The other news is that my Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes were selected as one of the winners of Martha Stewart's Cutest Cupcakes 2009 contest!! They also told me that they may feature more than just that entry in the gallery of best! I'll let you know when they post the results!

I love the Lion House rolls that they sell in Utah...so I was thrilled to see a Lion House Desserts Cookbook in my gramma's kitchen! I took it (with permission, of course!), along with a book that I can't even look at because I get the craziest cravings and drool on the page. I'll be making something from that one soon...I'm drawing a blank on what it's called at the moment.

Anyway, back to the Lion House...as you've probably gathered, I love anything lemon, so my first choice was the lemon bars. They were really easy and I had all of the ingredients handy!

So, my review. Well, I have two reviews. I had in my mind what I thought they would taste like, so when I first tasted them, I wasn't crazy about them as lemon bars (but remember I am a doughdough and could easily have messed up the recipe!). I didn't think they were lemony enough and I thought there was too much crust and too little filling. If I made them again, I'd try not using all of the crust mixture. However, my guests loved them.

So the next morning, I thought I'd give them another shot and I wolfed down pretty much the whole pan of them! They really were delicious, they just weren't what I expected at first.

Lion House Lemon Bars - from the Lion House Desserts cookbook

1 1/4 cups butter
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Filling:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 T lemon juice (I used freshly squeezed)
4 T all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

To make crust: Preheat oven to 350. Put butter in mixer bowl and beat until softened. Add flour and powdered sugar and mix on low speed until just combined. Spread dough evenly in a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until the corners are light golden brown. Remove from oven and pour filling on top of crust.

To make filling: In a small mixing bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, lemon juice, flour, and baking powder with a wire whisk or on low speed of a mixer for just a few minutes. (It is important not to mix a lot of air into the filling.) Pour on top of partially baked crust and bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and dust with powdered sugar. Cut into small bars. Makes 18-24.

SLC Farmer's Market open on Tuesday evenings

It was so fun to go to the farmer's market on a Tuesday evening! It is open from 4 to 8pm. There aren't nearly as many vendors, but we were thrilled to not have to get up at the crack of dawn to make it to the market. (We don't live close to it.) The highlight for us was Bear Lake raspberries.

Beyond Glaze Doughnuts

My fam and I had some delicious doughnuts the other day from Beyond Glaze. It is located in Draper and has some awesome doughnut choices. See a full list on their website, www.beyondglaze.com. The Smores was yummy, the white chocolate mint was REALLY good and the key lime crumble was AMAZING (shown below)! I can't wait to go back and try more! I was intrigued by how the frosting glaze tasted just like a filling...I may have to start making doughnuts and figure it out! Prices are great too, only $1.49.

This post is way overdue...I'm always saying I'll post something and then forget about it! I told some of the audience of Good Things Utah that I'd post this picture I took, so here ya go!

I also wanted to post some cupcakes I made for that day and I didn't get around to taking pictures of them until after...and by then most had been eaten! I improved upon my big bird cupcake for the show and am so sad I don't have a good picture! Above you can see it, but it's a little fuzzy. I worked really hard on the fondant legs to go under the cupcake-it was so CUTE! Here's cookie modeling big bird's legs...
I also made a more user-friendly sock monkake...I didn't use all of the pieces of cake this time, I just used a cupcake! Here sock monkey is opening his lunchbox and finds a cupcake! haha.
The eyes are black frosting, the ears are brown m&m's, the mouth is cut from a raspberry fig newton, the white part of the mouth is built up with frosting, the "fur" is clear sanding sugar and brown sprinkles, and the hat is made from twizzler pull and peels! It was so much easier than the last one, and I think it still looks a lot like a sock monkey!
I set up a quick photo shoot with the monster cupcakes...they are posing with my son's 1st birthday present, the Max bobblehead (my son's name is Max)....which finally arrived: about a month and a half late! Oh well, he can make his debut at my next Wild Things party...maybe for the movie opening in Oct!

Last but not least, I told the cute girl featured in this pic that I wanted to show off her hair accessory on my blog-isn't it cute? She said her friend makes them, and now I forget her friend's name!

A Delicious Dessert from Chili's

My mouth is watering. I am so craving this. I am a die-hard white chocolate fan, so of course this was the best thing I'd ever tasted!



This is Chili's white chocolate lava cake and it is so darn good. I was dying to try it when we went to dinner there, but we don't get dessert to save money. So how thrilled was I that when the waitress found out it was our 9 year anniversary, this is what she brought!!! That is white chocolate sauce oozing out of the cake-I was in HEAVEN!!! Thanks Sarah at the American Fork Chili's for making our evening!

Traffic Sign Cupcakes

These are nothing special...but I thought these cute toys would look fun on cupcakes! I found them in the party favor section at Partyland in American Fork, UT.

It's been really hard for me to find time (or the patience) to learn to cook! I'm too busy being meal planner doughdough. For me, it is easier to just make spaghetti and cupcakes. I planned a whole 2 week menu awhile ago in hopes that I would have great recipes to add to my blog, and I don't think I've made one thing from the plan! Then the food goes bad and I have to buy things again. and again. and again. Story of my life in the kitchen. I had the hardest time planning the meals too-it took so much focus and time...anyone have any great meal planning tips that I can share with the doughdoughs of the world?! Email kitchendoughdough@gmail.com.

Coming soon: Weekly (hopefully-I need your help!) expert guest posts to teach us about food! If you are an expert in anything culinary-submit your guest post ideas to kitchendoughdough@gmail.com!

Huge Closing Sale at Habitat by Modern Materials

If you live in the Salt Lake area, check out this huge sale at an awesome store! I'm so sad that it is closing, but I wish the owners the best of luck. Their website is www.modernmaterialsdesign.com! (I took the pictures above at the store-I LOVE the pillow chains. Such a creative idea!)

Here's the details they sent me:

50% off most PILLOWS
40% off FUN, DECORATIVE CERAMICS
50% off PLACEMATS & TABLERUNNERS....GREAT SETS FOR GIFTS!!!
70-80% off all WALL ART
50-85% off SELECTED CLEARANCE LAMPS & PENDANTS
50% off ALL BEDDING
70% off our GLASS/METAL ENTERTAINMENT CENTER
75% OFF ALL OUTDOOR PLANTERS
60% off GLASS VASES
70-80% off lighting fixtures
50%-70% off lamps (floor lamps as low as $19)


1297 Miller Avenue (3130 South)
East of Harmons, TJMaxx and Wells Fargo
10-6 Mon-Fri 10-5 Sat
Visa, MC, and cash accepted no CHECKS

Bert Cupcake Pops!

I think this is my favorite creation (although it isn't the best picture!). I have been thinking about how to make Bert's head right since I made my Sesame Street tower. I noticed the other day that my Wilton silicone brownie pop pan was the perfect shape! So I used cake mix in the pan to create Bert's head.

Hair=black frosting using a hair decorating tip (any ideas on how to make it stick up higher?)

Skin=yellow frosting

Ears=yellow M&M's

Nose=orange M&M

Mouth=reddish pink frosting and half of a sour patch kid

Unibrow=black frosting with a skinny, flat tip (don't know what it's called!)

Eyes=white and black frosting using a round tip

Cure-ious Cupcakes

I've wanted to create a pretty pink cupcake for a long time! So when one of my facebook fans suggested I make a breast cancer cupcake, I thought it was a wonderful idea. She reminded me that Ellen devotes the whole month of October to raising money for a cure. Maybe I'll set up a cupcake stand outside Ellen's studio to sell these and donate my earnings to the cure...if I lived in Burbank, I would!

You can click here to donate money to Susan G. Komen for the Cure!

I was also inspired by the AMAZING tribute to those struggling with breast cancer on So You Think You Can Dance. I think it was the most beautiful dance I've ever seen, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio. I'm sure it will win an Emmy, so if you missed it, you'll probably still get to see it! By the way, Ellen was also a guest judge on that show-she was hysterical!

I almost forgot...these are pink lemonade cupcakes and I loved them! Of course, I am addicted to lemonade. I know there are some good recipes out there, but I just dumped a package of pink lemonade kool-aid in a white cake mix and prepared it as it said on the box. I was too lazy to look for a recipe, but luckily, I thought they turned out great! I just used buttercream frosting...the recipe for the frosting is on my Wild Things post.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

I think these are my favorite cupcakes EVER!! It's just too bad I have nothing planned to do with them! Anyone having a Finding Nemo party today?

The inspiration behind this cupcake tower was ellen! Yes, I'm still making cupcakes for ellen. I need more things to submit to her show to get her attention, so I thought Dory would be perfect! (If you like my cupcake tower, click here and tell ellen about them and my website!!! THANKS!!!)

When I searched the net for Finding Nemo cupcakes, I couldn't find any besides fondant fish on top...so I thought I'd better create a whole tower! Oh, and the cupcakes are a recipe I made up with mandarin oranges in it. I'll get around to posting it sometime soon...

Seriously, this is the most FAVORITE cupcake I've ever made! I love Bruce! Everything is frosting except for the eyes are mini choco chips and the teeth are slivered almonds. Oh, I cut the fins from thin cookies that I got from Ikea.

I love Crush too! Isn't he fun? Sloppy, but fun ;) This was the last one I made and you can tell! It is all frosting except for his eyes have candy melts tucked in the frosting.

So you are probably wondering what these are supposed to be...the orange ones are Nemo's brothers and sisters that didn't make it past the beginning of the show :( The eggs are a nice tribute to them though ;) In front is the "butt" (If you haven't seen the movie, Nemo calls the boat a butt) with divers (sour patch kids) in it and one in the water.

Here's Nemo and a Marlin that doesn't look right...they are swimming next to their anenome home made from twizzler pull and peels. Nemo and Marlin are made mostly of frosting, with candy melt eyes and cut orange slices candy for their fins.

Last but certainly not least is ellen! I mean, Dory. Okay, so calling this ellen is not going to get me on the show because it is such a mess. This one was really hard. I really wanted it to look like Dory, and since she is skinny, I didn't want to just use the top of a cupcake. So I used two large, oval butter wafers and stuck them in the cupcake. That is why it is lopsided...the cupcake didn't stay together. But I fixed it with frosting and spent awhile crafting this out of frosting and a couple more wafer pieces for the fins. The eye base is white candy melts. I didn't get it quite right. Oh well, it was still fun to make!

Click here to see more ellen cupcakes!

Worm Cupcakes

We have a new Wal-Mart by us that has a good selection of baking items. Recently they started selling candy in different shapes that are all the same color. I saw these green bananas and thought there must be something fun I could do with them! This is what I came up with:

Don't the bananas make cute grass?!

Blueberry Buckle by Jersey Girl Cooks

When our big winner Carol told me she had just put a blueberry buckle in the oven, I wanted to know what exactly a blueberry buckle is. So she contacted Lisa of Jersey Girl Cooks to get permission for me to post this on my blog and I'm thrilled! This sounds delish and that is saying a lot because I am not a huge fan of blueberries! I have to admit I'll be making her Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins first...I am now craving donuts. Make sure to check out Lisa's blog Jersey Girl Cooks for some award-winning recipes! Okay, I just visited her blog again and you have to see her watermelon, feta, and arugula salad!

Blueberry Buckle by Lisa of Jersey Girl Cooks (Click on the link to see pictures and more info!)

Cake ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 pint blueberries

Topping ingredients:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup sifted all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch spring form pan. Sift together the 1 1/2 cups of flour, the baking powder and the salt. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix in the berries. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Combine ingredients for topping with a fork to make a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle this over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until cake is golden and you can test test for doneness by gently inserting a fork. If it does not come out clean, give the cake another 5 to 10 minutes to bake.

Win a Kitchen Gift Package from The Ellen Show

The Ellen DeGeneres Show: The place for Ellen tickets, celebrity photos, videos, games, giveaways and more.

Shared via AddThis

The person walking away with the prize is...

Number 70...cdziuba!

I'm so excited for you! If by some miracle I get a call from The Ellen Show, I'll try to get you a ticket!

I think what Carol emailed me is adorable...

"OMG, I'm emailing and calling everyone! I just went back to your blog,

and really can't believe all the cupcake stuff I'm getting. I love
cupcakes! I bake almost every day of my life. In fact, I JUST
finished putting a Blueberry Buckle into the oven and then I checked my
email. I'm shocked, really. Thanks for making this baker happy!!!!"

I think random.org picked a great person...from reading her blog, I found out she has a rescue cat and takes care of her parents who need help...what a great example!

Now I get to thank everyone for your AMAZING support! I was blown away reading the sweet comments you left me. I am so humbled by the messages sent to Ellen...and by people I don't even know! If I make it to The Ellen Show, it will all be because of YOU! Thank you, thank you for helping a girl with her dreams. (If you still feel inclined to help, you can tweet @TheEllenShow for me! We've still got time until the next season of Ellen starts! And you can still tell Ellen about my website here.)

And no, I didn't go out and buy an Ellen stand-up...when I walked in to the ABC studios in Salt Lake City to be on Good Things Utah, it was right there in the doorway! I couldn't resist taking pictures with it.

Last, but definitely not least, a HUGE THANK YOU to the generous, fabulous donors who helped make this such an amazing giveaway!!! I'm so grateful to these sponsors:

CakeSpy

Hello Cupcake! Book

Pots and Pins

Kara's Cupcake (onesies)

Kara's Party Ideas

Modern Materials

Deanworks

Sam's Frames

Check out their sites! They are all so talented!

Double Boiler

If you're like me, you thought this was a major skin problem...

but it turns out a double boiler is a useful item to have in the kitchen! While making my lemon mirengue cupcakes awhile back, the mirengue recipe called for a double boiler. Or maybe it was the lemon filling. Anyway, how was I supposed to know what a double boiler was? (My mother is cringing right now, I'm sure.)

Wikipedia says: " A double boiler is a stovetop apparatus used to cook delicate sauces such as beurre blanc or to melt chocolate without burning or seizing. It is a double-decker saucepan with an upper vessel that fits into a lower pot.

One fills the bottom with boiling water and places the food to be cooked in the top one. The top pot is kept above the boiling water and heated only by steam, but tight fitting of the two pots prevents steam from escaping."

A beurre WHAT-Y?

Above is Sur La Table's double boiler for $199.95. Yikes! More like double broke if you ask me. One day I'll have money to drop on a d.b. at sir la tay-ble (that's what I called it when I first saw it....) but for now, my home-made one worked great!

Hope you enjoyed my little lesson...I'm going to attempt to balance my cupcake posts with entertaining "anecdoughtes" from my kitchen! By the way, if you think my hand looks a little mannish, you're right! That hand belongs to Mr. Doughdough.

Dreamin' doughdough Part 3: My Vision Board

First of all, a funny anec"dough"te...While on my way out of Costco on Saturday, no joke, I was so wrapped up in my ellen daydreaming, that simultaneously while I heard, "Watch out for the spill, ma-am!" me and my no traction flip-flops went sliding through a huge puddle that like 3 workers were there blocking off! I barely made it without wiping out.

I first saw vision boards on Oprah and thought it sounded fun. Then while watching my fave show ELLEN, I saw her using the vision board idea from Oprah to fuel the fire of her journey to get on the cover of O! I thought it was so clever. I planned on making one, and this quote from this link to Oprah's site made me do it this second!

' "Nancy says her vision board keeps her goals constantly in her mind. "It's kind of a visual and verbal articulation of my goals," she says. "I can remind myself, 'You need to take actions if you want these goals to show up.' It's not a magic trick, really. It's about you being the person who's motivated to make that stuff show up." '

Here's my first addition:

Obviously my biggest dream at the moment is to be on the ellen show as a guest! Any guesses as to whose picture I used? She's one of my favorite actresses! Speaking of Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde is one of my favorite movies, and was a total inspiration to me anytime I was going for something big! It helped me when working to get a playground at the married housing at the University of Utah...which, by the way, is standing there today and being enjoyed by all the kidlets! Yay! That brings to mind an idea...put things you've already done on your vision board to inspire you!

Goal 2: See my photography work (and my son!) on the cover of a magazine! I'm totally seeing this picture of my Max on the cover of Parents!

Goal 3: Become a published author. I've always loved to write and dreamed about writing a book. I'm thinking it will be a kitchen doughdough cookbook! Or maybe I'll write a saga about a dodo who falls in love with a human named Isabella. Kidding.

Goal 4: Donate a large sum of money to the Humane Society! I've always wanted to adopt a pet from the humane society, but due to my allergies, I bought my dogs from a breeder. So every time I'm at Petsmart, I donate money to help homeless pets. Someday I will donate more... Another reason Ellen is awesome: she loves animals and raises money for the Humane Society!

Dreamin' doughdough Part 2: Inspiring article about ellen's quest to get on the cover of O

Ellen's Mock Up Oprah Magazine Cover
Originally uploaded by Abiola's Photo Diary

I loved this picture...too funny!

Okay, I'm freaking out after reading this article by Crystal Campbell on Financial Post...this is honestly the first time I read it! I seriously thought of the entire giveaway idea on my own! I must have missed the episodes where she asked viewers to write to Harpo. I know, I'm a bad fan. This year has been crazy with my baby and starting a photography business. But obviously her campaign to get on the cover of O was a huge inspiration to me...as was her vision board idea (see next post)!

"In case you missed it, Ellen DeGeneres has orchestrated a career coup. The TV talk show host will share the cover with Oprah Winfrey on an upcoming issue of O magazine. During the magazine's nine-year history, only First Lady Michelle Obama has appeared alongside Oprah.

At first blush, this seems standard show biz stuff and hardly a jaw-dropper against the backdrop of a battered economy. But behind the glitz associated with two TV mavens lies a stellar example of career goal-setting and execution. Ellen landed the cover by following three steps achievable by each of us: Decide it. Declare it. Share it.

After deciding to focus on the O magazine cover, Ellen declared her intention by creating a vision board and mock-up covers of her with Oprah. She dubbed her pursuit the "O, Yes I Can" campaign, shared it with her TV show audience, and asked them to write to Harpo Studios since she would need all the help she could get. She extended the reach of her pleas by telling Jay Leno and viewers about her quest for the O magazine cover on The Tonight Show. She also updated her fans with tales of her progress in calling Harpo Studios and moving her campaign forward.

The end result is that Oprah granted Ellen her wish adding:

"I believe when you dream it and conceive it, you can have it and achieve it." "

Wow!!! Awesome quote, O!! So inspiring to all of us. I'm feeling more and more like I'm going to make it to Ellen!

Messy Monday: Fondant Flop

When I made the Sesame Street cake for a friend's son's birthday, I had been excited to try fondant. It started good enough...I made a marshmallow fondant recipe that was easy and actually tasted really good! Click here to go to Peggy Weaver's tutorial.

This picture shows my result:

Looks like I succeeded, right? Wrong. I started rolling it with my pin that I thought was non-stick, and used corn starch like I was told, but I kept hitting sticky parts. Plus my counter was a huge sticky mess. I was not a fan...although the problem could be fixed with a cutting mat (that it turned out I needed anyway...keep reading!) or by patience while I was kneading...I didn't knead long enough and with enough powdered sugar. I guess I'm not the person to make fondant! So I decided to scrap using my marshmallow fondant, and use the premade fondant I had instead. This is my cake:
This is my fondant covered cake. I think it's headed to the cover of Martha Stewart! Okay, so my first attempt flopped. When I rolled it, it wasn't in the right shape I guess...I'm having a hard time remembering what my dodo brain was thinking! I think I put the cake on the fondant and tried to move it up to the top of the cake...at least I was smart enough to figure out that I was doing it backwards.
Since I am a determined person, I was not going to leave it at that! I rolled the fondant again.
You're probably thinking, "THERE you go!"
yes.......yes......it's working.......
Yay! Time to cut the excess...with my pizza cutter....
Voila!
Okay, here's another messy part of my experience...I got so into making the fondant letters, rolling my pizza cutter around to make them, that I didn't realize I had no mat underneath, and I made some cuts on my counter. Go ahead. Shake your head. I deserve it.
Got a kitchen catastrophe to share? Email kitchendoughdough@gmail.com to be featured on Messy Mondays!

Yummy summer shake

The hubby just made the best shake, which I'll call Strawberry Cupcake Shake! It's so delish and simple, too! The only thing is, he's a doughdough like me, apparently, because he didn't really know what he was doing, he just threw these ingredients in a blender!

Cake Batter ice cream

Strawberries

Milk

You get the idea. Just add more of any of the ingredients to taste. I'm pretty sure the Cake Batter ice cream was from Wal-mart. I was also thinking of using it in an ice cream cupcake (they are the latest cupcake trend), but have yet to try it!

Lost Party

I've been so excited for my turn to host the monthly movie night for a group of girls in my neighborhood! I've been collecting some really cute tropical ideas, I've been dying to make Lost cupcakes, and Lost is my favorite show (after Frasier, but it isn't on anymore), so it was a perfect theme! Above are the invites...with my personal info changed, of course...I don't really live on "john doe"-doe street. :)

This is also a perfect post to celebrate Lost's Emmy nom for Best Drama! Yay! (Even though the actors were ignored...)

So now it's time for some doughdough-ness. Make that dodo-mess.

So I've tried twice now to make a blue jello mold with swedish fish in it. You can see what a success the first one was...NOT! I thought maybe I didn't refrigerate it long enough...or maybe it was all the non-stick spray I coated on the pan...not to worry, I thought, we all have recipes that don't work the first time, I'll just do it again!

Here's attempt #2:

Oops. I'm notorious for having butterfingers.

Lovely. And I'm not just talking about the weird use of flash and the shadow in my picture!

One of my friends suggested maybe I needed to use a Jello Jiggler recipe since it makes a firmer mold. I thought I must have read the recipe wrong, but no! It just said to follow a regular jello recipe. So I give up. For today! Someday I'll have that perfect jello ring mold to create the luau centerpiece by Lori Needham that I saw in the June/July 2003 edition of Taste of Home magazine. The mold had a pineapple in the center with fruit kabobs coming out of it.

I also got the idea for this palm tree in the same article:

Isn't this fun? The palm tree "leaves" are made from green peppers, the trunk is a carrot, and the "island" base is half of a potato! It was super easy to make, as long as you are able to take your time so you don't slice your finger like I almost did! You can see my jello mold salvage...I actually think it looked more like water than the mold would have. You can also see that the Swedish fish have a major case of pruny-ness from being in the water too long!

Since this blog is supposed to show that I am learning things, I'll share my new knowledge...how to cut a melon! Okay, I won't really tell you because I'm sure you know and you are laughing at me right now. I honestly had to ask my friends how I should cut the melon and serve it. (If you're thinking that means I wasn't ready when my guests arrived, you're right! I'm always running late, which is why I could never be a party planner.)

When I went to get a bowl for the melon, I decided to put it in the melon instead! Cute, no?

Plates and napkins for the party:

Last, but not least, Lost cupcakes! I LOVE these! I got the idea for the plane and sand from myaimistrue's lost party post. (Check out her fish biscuit cookies, too!) My husband came up with the idea to put Jack on them...okay, I think he said one of the characters, I picked Jack.

Here's another tropical party idea that I saw in a magazine awhile ago, and I can't remember which one! Pirate chests made from Swiss Rolls! I thought they were cute with Rolos or gold coins. Aren't they fun? Great for a Pirates of the Carribean party!

Good Things Utah!

I had SUCH a blast on Good Things Utah today! I also learned some things:

1. I could definitely get used to being in front of the camera...even though it may not get used to being in front of me!

2. If I ever won an Oscar, I would be the one that had the music cut them off at the end, while I kept rambling!

3. I REALLLLLLY want to be on ELLEN! Okay, so I already knew that!

I only got 3 hours of sleep last night, so I'm off to dreamland...but I wanted to post the link to my pancake cupcake segment from the show today. It has the recipe (including the whipped cream buttercream frosting-you HAVE to try it!!) and a video on the top right side; just hit play!

Watch out, L.A.!

I wish! But if I am ever on Ellen, I'll have had practice in front of the camera! I'm going to be on Good Things Utah, which is basically Utah's version of The View! If you live in Utah, catch me on ABC 4 on Thursday between 10 and 11 am! I'll be baking my pancake cupcakes and making my newest creation: whipped cream frosting (recipe for the frosting will be on here soon.)

Dreamin' doughdough Hugemongous-Giveaway!

(The instructions for entering are located at the bottom of the post...)

I'm all about following your dreams (see quote at the bottom of post)! This website was a dream. My photography business was a dream. And now, I'm chasing after the big one...it is my dream to share my cupcakes with the world as a guest on...

That's right, I made ellen's logo with about 250 mini-cupcakes! These have to be the coolest cupcakes ever (because who is cooler than ellen?)! It was so hard to start eating them...but it did make it easier that I was sharing cupcakes with the neighbors. Nothing says 'I like being your neighbor' better than a cupcake!

I also made some awesome cupcakes just for Ellen! I know she loves cupcakes, thanks to this post from Cupcakes Take the Cake! She celebrated her birthday with cupcakes!

I really think Ellen needs to use this phrase on one of her awesome "laugh. dance. ______." shirts!!! Baking community, you know you'd want one!!

Here is the detail on the shoes my husband and I made for ellen out of fondant! They were my favorite part!

I made cupcake wrappers that said, "laugh. dance. bake. clean." Isn't that the truth! Download your own cupcake wrapper templates at Digiscrap Warehouse.

Okay, so where does the giveaway come in? A couple months ago, I was browsing ellen's website and saw a link on the "Be a Part of the Show" tab that made me wonder if I had a shot at making my dream to be on the show come true! She asks to hear about your favorite website because the internet is too big. So I started brainstorming, and the result is this awesome giveaway post! Yes, I'm trying to get ellen to see my site somehow (because the net really is too big!), but I am also trying to help some amazing people follow their dreams! All of the items listed below are donated by these wonderful people, and it is ALL up for grabs in this hugemongous giveaway!

I was also inspired by ellen's quest to be on the cover of "O" magazine! I loved how she used the inspiration board...my own inspiration board will be posted soon! I love how ellen doesn't stop until she's done what she's set out to do! I admire so much her generosity to others. She always makes my day by making me laugh.

And now, Here's the loot! (By the way...if by some miracle I get on the ellen show, all of these peeps would LOVE tickets...and is it too much to ask that I be on the same show as, say, the cast of Lost? Okay, okay, I'm just kidding! Didn't I tell you I like to daydream?!)

Cakespy Art!

If there is one thing I love as much as cupcakes, it's cupcake art! The amazing Jessie Oleson of Cakespy (one of my favorite sites!) is donating this piece of cuppie art for my giveaway! I chose this one because it reminded me of ellen...she loves dogs-she even has her own pet food line, Halo! You can view and buy Jessie's awesome art at www.jessieoleson.etsy.com. By the way, Jessie and Cakespy are HUGE! I can't tell you how much I appreciate her support!

Hello, Cupcake! Book!

"WITH JUST A HANDFUL OF CANDIES, a can of frosting, a ziplock bag, and some cupcake batter, you are on your way to having fun..."

I LOVE this book! If you haven't seen it yet, and you don't win the giveaway, you've got to get yourself a copy! It is PACKED with amazing cupcakes that are easy, and it has a section at the beginning that sparks your creativity for your own cupcakes! Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, big-time authors, were SO awesome to donate a copy to me for this giveaway!!! Visit their site here.

Pots and Pins Cupcake Apron, Stand, Doily, Tablecloth, and Tote!

My amazingly talented mother of Pots and Pins (a huge food and quilting blog!) made the most adorable cupcake things ever for my giveaway! Seriously, it's going to be hard to give them away...luckily she is making some for me! And she'll make some for you...just email nans17@hotmail.com if you are interested!

Here's me modeling the freakin' cute apron!

Here I am again modeling the bag...I told you, it's going to be hard for me to give these away!

Here's the detail of the tote-SO fun!



Shown below is a MUST-HAVE for all cupcake bakers! A cupcake doily! My mom is so creative!

And last, but not least, from Pots and Pins, is a fun cupcake stand, and an adorable tablecloth! (I better get out my thesaurus; I think I've used adorable like a million times!)

Modern Materials Tray, Placemats, and Napkins!

I'm honestly in tears writing this. One of my favorite stores is closing, and it is a heartbreaking reason why. Modern Materials is an AMAZING business started from scratch by Sheri and her husband. They had a beloved store in Salt Lake City, which closed due to Sheri's battle with cancer. About a month ago, they reopened a store in Sugarhouse called Habitat by Modern Materials, which is AWESOME!! Sheri donated these fun napkins and tablecloths for the giveaway! I added a bright orange tray I bought there, which is great to display cupcakes.

Sadly, though, Sheri emailed me to tell me she has been diagnosed with MS and is still fighting tumors, and will be closing on a permanent basis. I wanted to share that they are having a sale, effective now in Salt Lake City...more details will be in a separate post. They are located at 1297 Miller Avenue. I am hoping they will still be able to operate their online store, www.modernmaterialsdesign.com, which features "affordable modern accessories and lighting."

In the time I talked with Sheri on my visit at Habitat, I was blown away by her dedication to her dream, in spite of terrible trials. Sheri's health was not great at the time, yet she came to work every day to manage her creative store. She inspired me so much when she told me she had always wanted to go scuba diving, so she signed up for a class and she was going to do it! She is a wonderful example of a great entrepreneur...she is hoping to design work for office and corporate environments as her health will allow.

Kara's Party Ideas' Circus Party Pack!

My friend Kara is quite the party queen! Go to Kara's Party Ideas to be inspired for your next party! She threw what one website called, "the circus party of the century," and was so kind to donate a circus mini party pack for the giveaway! She also has a creative cupcake blog, Kara's Cupcakes!

Kara's Cupcake Onesie!

Is this not the CUTEST thing you have EVER seen! Kara (different than the Kara above!) is giving away this cupcake onesie! Check out her etsy store! She is offering FREE SHIPPING for the month of July! It was so hard to pick which picture to post of our little model, Taya, until I saw this one; she is totally posing for our post! Way to make the cupcake onesie look great, Taya!

Deanworks Handmade Journal!

Deanworks specializes in hand-woven, hand-bound journals like these! They are giving away one of their fab journals! Check out www.deanworks.etsy.com if you are interested in your own! By the way, the cute baby model Taya is the Deanworks baby! And since this is an ellen post, I wanted to share a funny story...ellen prank-called Mandy of Deanworks! See the video at the bottom of the post!

Sam's Handmade Frames!

Sam is giving away an awesome frame similar to this one! Isn't it adorable?!

Whoever wins this giveaway is one lucky duck!!

There are 3 ways to enter to win ALL of these fabulous prizes (make sure to leave a separate comment for each so you get each entry!):

1. Click here to go to Ellen's Be a Part of The Show site. Just take a minute to fill out the form, then tell Ellen about my website! You can mention the cupcakes I made for her, the giveaway, which cupcakes I've made that you think she should feature on her show (click on my cupcakes link to see examples), whatever you want! Paste/paraphrase what you wrote as a comment on this post, and you are entered!

2. Blog about this giveaway and post the link to your blog post as a comment on this post (or just type in your blog address).

3. Tweet about this giveaway and post the link to your tweet as a comment on this post (or just give me your twitter name).

That's all there is to it! You can enter a total of 3 times. The deadline is WEDNESDAY, JULY 22nd at NOON pacific time. Winner will be chosen using random.org's True Random Number Generator widget. Good luck, everyone! And make sure to visit each of these amazing donors' links!

One last thought: whether I make it to the ellen show or not, dreams DO come true!! Just the fact that this post, that I've daydreamed about for months, is now online, is proof of that! If there's something you've been daydreaming about, get out there and make it happen! I hope that in some small way, I can help some of these amazing people kick off their creative businesses. (Some of them are already amazing entrepreneurs, and I appreciate SO much their support!!!)

"It must be born in mind that the tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.

It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for."

Benjamin E. Mays

Below is the video of Mandy of Deanworks being prank called by Ellen!

Cutest Invitations I have ever seen!

Since I'm still on a Dr. Seuss kick, I wanted to share these adorable invites my friend Kara of Kara's Party Ideas made for a Dr.Seuss baby shower! I LOVE the poem!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 Cupcakes! And Dr. Seuss stuff at Target!

My favorite thing about Dr. Seuss is Thing 1 and Thing 2! I love the wild blue hair, so naturally I had to create Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes!

All you need to do is bake red velvet cupcakes in red liners, frost with white frosting, and add cotton candy for their hair!

To make the cotton candy hair, I pulled off long strips and gently pulled it apart from the sides. It is really easy to work with because it is so sticky (although it does build up on your fingers. I had to wash my hands a couple times). I pushed the piece I was working with into the frosting and kept making pulled apart pieces until the cupcake was filled. I filled in little pieces where it needed it. Then I pulled off another long strip of cotton candy and wrapped it around the bottom, pushing it into the pieces that were already there in spots so that it blended in.

The final touch was the two circles. I just typed up Thing 1 and Thing 2 on my computer, printed it out, drew circles in black permanent marker, cut out and stuck on the cupcake liners!

There is one drawback to the cupcakes...if you don't serve them soon, you'll end up with this:

At this point you might as well dump blue sugar on your cupcake...haha. This was after several hours, they don't sink too quickly...but they don't look as good after about an hour, so if you are having a Dr. Seuss party, don't decorate with cotton candy until right before!

Speaking of Dr. Seuss parties, I was thrilled to find a TON of Dr. Seuss stuff in Target's dollar section last night! I think Thing 1 and Thing 2 are the new sock monkey for me! I'm loving these things I bought...a magnet sheet, magnetic notepad (all Thing 1 and 2-LOVE IT!), and adorable badges! Perfect for your Dr. Seuss party, along with the Thing 1 and 2 cupcakes, of course!

Completely edible Cupcakebabs!

Cupcake kebabs are all the rage right now on Cupcakes Take the Cake. Awesome baker Nora started it all (is she the next Bakerella?!), and I just had to create my own version! I am thrilled that they are now featured on Cupcakes Take the Cake too!

Mine are a little different...I tried to make them look like actual grilled kebabs!

I took these to my friend Kara's July 4th BBQ and they were a hit! Thanks Nora for the fabulous idea! Everyone was very impressed!

Here are the basics:

Pineapple slices aka Cut-up Lemon Wafer Cookies
Cherry tomatoes aka Red Velvet Cupcakes
Steak pieces aka Cut-up Brownie pieces

The look is completed with skewers aka chocolate pocky sticks which make the whole thing totally edible!!! (I know, I'm obsessed with Pocky lately!)

Detailed How-to:

1. Bake brownies in a 13x9 or similar pan. I used dark chocolate fudge-like brownie mix from Betty Crocker...they turned out great! Let the brownies cool. Cut out squares to mimic steak pieces. I was going to draw lines with frosting to make the "steak" look grilled, but I didn't get around to it.

2. Bake Red Velvet mini-cupcakes in Wilton's Brownie Pop Pan. Only fill a little so it comes out looking round like cherry tomatoes! I haven't solidified a baking time yet...just watch them and check with a toothpick. It took at least 20 minutes. I found the longer I baked them, the easier it was for them to pop out. I only have one pan so I had to keep refilling it while I was doing other things. (By the way, I made some other cupcakes with the mix...I am LOVING the red color! Not jazzed on the flavor, but I just used a mix for these.)

3. While things are cooling/baking, get your lemon wafers ready. Cut them carefully into squares. Prepare them to go on the Pocky sticks by gently rotating a real skewer into the middle of the cookie piece. I made one hole, then made it wider on all sides with the skewer. (The pocky sticks are the right size on the end, but you'll need bigger holes to fit around the part with the chocolate cream.)

4. You are ready to make the cupcakebabs! Just stick the pieces on the pocky stick! It worked pretty easily for me; I just had to make sure the brownies were cooled off a little so the chocolate cream didn't melt off.

We ran out of kebabs at the BBQ, so I made some more using real skewers...

Messy Monday!

If you aren't familiar with Becky of Project Domestication and Utah Loves Cupcakes, let me fill you in...

She loves Utah and she loves cupcakes! I love to read Utah Loves Cupcakes to keep up on all of the Utah cupcake gossip.

Becky shared this with me:

"Okay, I have a total mess up every once in a while."

That doesn't sound too bad...

"My favorite tasting cupcake recipe is the Salted Caramel Cupcake by Shelly Kaldunski in her cookbook "Cupcakes. It's a fabulous recipe but like every other time I make it I have this:

happen!!!

I'm not sure if it sinks because I overfill the cups or if it is an altitude problem. To my knowledge all my leavening/rising ingredients are up to par."

Anyone have any advice for Becky and her yummy volcano cupcakes? (hehe. Sorry Becky...the picture just reminded me of lava!)

It sounds like she's made these cuppys a lot, so I'm sure she's not filling them too much. My thought is that it may be the altitude...a lot of recipes that I get excited about don't turn out tasting the best...but don't ask me, I'm a doughdough!

I love hearing about your mishaps! Keep the submissions coming to kitchendoughdough@gmail.com!

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

This is my IronCupcake:Earth entry for June's Summer Berries challenge! These turned out to be one of my FAVORITES!!! This was also the first recipe I completely made up and just gave it a try...although I have become pretty knowledgeable about what/how much goes in a cake recipe, so it wasn't too daring! What I loved about the recipe is I tried it by just combining ingredients and not really paying attention to any steps...if you are like me, you don't like having to pay too much attention to recipes! The dense, coconut-y cupcake went perfectly with whipped cream and strawberry glaze! I was SO excited with the results. I am just loving how cupcakes turn out when you add coconut milk.

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Dry ingredients

2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar

Whisk!

Wet ingredients

1 14 fl. oz. can full fat coconut milk (or 1 2/3 c.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites

Whisk!

Combine and beat the mixture. Put in cupcake liners or grease pan. Bake at 350 until a toothpick comes out clean. Easy, huh?!

Whipped Cream

I'm pretty sure everyone knows how to make whipped cream! Just beat heavy whipping cream until it forms soft peaks, add sugar to taste, beating after each addition!

Strawberry Glaze

I used a package of Junket Danish Dessert Strawberry Pudding/Pie filling/Glaze. (Anything similar would work great!) Then I put strawberries in a food processor and added them to the glaze. I made cuts in the top of the cupcakes so the glaze would soak into the cupcake. (The cupcakes are so dense that just poking holes with a toothpick wasn't enough!



The final touch was my favorite: strawberry pocky sticks!!! I am now addicted to them! They are Japanese biscuit sticks with strawberry cream on them. (See top picture.)

One last thing...any idea what I tried adding to some of the cupcakes?

I thought I was SO clever when I thought of adding gum to a cupcake...yeah, not so much. They sunk to the bottom while baking, and of COURSE they melted. What was I thinking? (Well, I was thinking strawberry gum might be a creative addition to my entry...)

4th place at i heart faces!

This has nothing to do with food, but I just had to share some exciting news! My adults entry in this week's contest at i heart faces was picked for 4th place! These are my cute boys on their first carousel ride! My husband absolutely adores our son, and I love how this picture captures their bond. Let's hear it for my boys!! (That was this week's theme!) I'm even more thrilled that this was picked by a guest photographer judge, Lori Nordstrom!

You can see more of my pictures at seenbox photography. I'm almost done with my official website, but for now it links to my blog (that also needs updating! Blogland sure keeps me busy!)

P.S. Email seenboxphotography@gmail.com if you are in the greater SLC/Provo area and you are looking for a creative photographer! I specialize in all types of portraiture at an affordable price!

Totally spaced it on Messy Monday!

It is barely Tuesday, so hopefully you'll forgive me. I'll tell you what I was doing all day on Thursday's post...

But for now I do have a funny story to share! I laughed out loud at this submission from Frieda of friedalovesbread.blogspot.com! Perfect for a messy Tuesday...

"I love my Kitchen Aid mixer. My boys gave it to me for my birthday several years ago, knowing that they would be the beneficiaries of home baked goodies. 51 weeks later, I was making some wheat bread dough, which takes quite a bit longer to knead than the traditional white dough. I decided to leave the kitchen "just for a moment." The smoke alarm came on. I went back into my kitchen and my Kitchen Aid was on FIRE! Flames were spouting out of the sides of the on/off and lock switches! The flames were only centimeters away from the underside of my cabinets...I yanked the cord out, pulled the mixer away from the cabinets and waited for the flames to die down.

I called Kitchen Aid and they said, "What?! Your mixer caught on fire? What were you doing?" After giving them the details, they reminded me that I still had one week left on my original first year warranty. They sent me a brand spanking new mixer, complete with a shipping label to return the fried one.

I am happy to say this mixer has served me well over the 15 years, though I still watch it closely..."

Too funny! Who knew a mixer could go up in flames...and not just any mixer, the famed Kitchen Aid! Thank goodness it happened on week 51, and thank goodness for Frieda's story to give us a laugh!

Submit your messy kitchen stories and/or pictures to kitchendoughdough@gmail.com!

Sesame Street Birthday Party

I had so much fun making two cupcake towers and a cake for my friend's son's first birthday party! My friend and I looked on the internet and saw a TON of darling examples, so these are definitely nothing new! I used the examples we saw as inspiration to create the cake and cupcakes.

The birthday boy who turned 1!

Big Bird cupcake on a cake! I LOVE his legs! I was in a rush, so I didn't have time to make them look as good as they could have. They are made from mango laffy taffy sticks and fruit loops. I made the feet with fondant. Eyes are melted white chocolate, frosting, and mini choc chips. I made the beak from fondant. The feathers are made with a #61 decorating tip. I think a leaf tip may have worked well too.

Another view of the cake. My friend loved the sign she saw on the adorable cake by The Little Cupcakery. Click here to see the cake on flickr! Can I just give a shoutout to Australians?! So many of the cutest cakes and cupcakes I've seen were made by bakers in Australia! I made the sign with fondant...which was not my favorite thing to use for letters, I'm too impatient! I'll be posting about my fondant experience soon. (Get ready for a disaster averted!)

Mouths are made from Oreos, eyes are upside down white candy melts, blacks of eyes are made with a round tip and black frosting. Oscars eyebrows were my FAVORITE!! I used a basketweave tip and brown frosting. I also liked my idea to turn the cookie upside down for Oscar's mouth. Elmo's nose is a peanut m&m. Grover is seen in the top picture, made with a red m&m and a piece of red twizzler cherry pull-aparts.

Detail of cookie and big bird. Cookie Monster was SO easy! I just used a grass/hair decorating tip and stuck a cookie in his mouth! Below are a bunch of the Elmos! My friend and I's inspiration for the Elmo cupcakes came from Kara's Cupcakes. Be sure to hop over to her site to see her creations!

Check out this cute cupcake!

Now check out the onesie! LOVE it! My friend's darling baby modeled this fun cupcake onesie made by her sister-in-law. I told her she needs to sell these! Too cute! Maybe I can get one for my upcoming giveaway...

i heart faces kodak printer giveaway!

Can I first just mention that I am working on a great giveaway! You're probably thinking, 'Your blogaversary is not even close...why would you be having a giveaway?' It's a surprise, but it's going to be awesome! (in my humble opinion, anyway!)

Okay, the awesome Kodak printer giveaway! It's worth 300 bucks, so it's totally worth your time to enter! And I'm sure you'll enjoy the i heart faces site while you're there! The site is so fun...they host weekly photo contests and anyone can enter. I entered this picture of my son for this week's sepia contest:

Messy Monday!

Thanks to Jen at Delightful Delicacies, we have a Messy Monday!

I laughed out loud when I saw this picture:

I only laugh because it looks like something I would do! And I had no CLUE what it was! Any guesses?

Jen tried a recipe for a Daring Bakers challenge, and says on her blog, "I'm sure you're wondering 'what in blue blazes does this picture of tar have anything to do with a Daring Bakers challenge?'"

Did anyone guess lavash? If you're a doughdough like me, you don't even know what lavash is! (and is it la VASH? or la VOSH? lay-vush?)

This is what Wikipedia had to say:

Lavash (also known as crackerbread) is a soft, thin flatbread made with water, flour, and salt. (Click here to see the full article!)

You'll learn even more at delightful delicacies! Go there to get some more laughs and some fabulous recipes. You'll see that this was truly a fluke, for she is an awesome cook!

I don't think I've ever looked forward to the next Monday on a Monday! Keep the submissions coming to kitchendoughdough@gmail.com!

Messy Mondays

Be a guest blogger on kitchen doughdough: I want to hear about your messes!

Last night after baking strawberry shortcake cupcakes (they were delicious...post coming soon!), my kitchen was again a disaster. Every time I bake I have the hardest time keeping things clean and organized. Scroll down to the end of this previous post to see an example. (Shameful, I know.)

So, I thought, why not give the world's kitchen doughdoughs a chance to show off their kitchen disasters?! Please email kitchendoughdough@gmail.com with your kitchen catastrophes and include pictures if you can! You can submit pictures of the aftermath of your culinary experiences, a story of a good meal gone bad, accidents in the kitchen-anything you think is an entertaining mishap! I am SO excited to hear from you. I will feature your submissions each week on Messy Mondays! (My Mondays are always messy whether I'm in the kitchen or not!)

Monkey See, Monkey Do

My son's "lair," as my mom called it, is being featured on Project Nursery today! Click here to go to the "Real Rooms" section; the rooms are absolutely amazing! I am really embarrassed about the photos on my feature...they were taken before I got my new camera! It's funny how my eye has changed since I've been looking through the lens of my Canon EOS 50D. (Had to put in a plug for it, I LOVE my camera!)

Would you like fries with that?

I LOVE the different examples of hamburger cupcakes that I've seen on the net...except how can you have a burger without fries?! 


The idea for these cupcakes actually came to me at church! The speaker made an analogy using McDonald's french fries, so naturally I was craving them...then later in our meetings, a child received a Kit-Kat for their birthday, and inspiration struck! Cupcakes in a french fry box with Kit-Kat fries! 

I loved making these because it was really easy...if you don't mind dealing with chocolate. (I hate cleaning up the mess after it hardens!) Even if you are a doughdough like me, you can make these for the dessert at your next BBQ!

French Fry Cupcakes How-to:

Step one: Make whatever kind of cupcake mix you desire! I went for a plain yellow in the spirit of french fries. 

Step two: Get out your french fry boxes! Burger King was happy to give me some for free. I LOVE BK fries! Their boxes work perfectly with large nut cups. You just stick the cups down in the box, and you are ready to add the cupcake mix! (I would have just filled the boxes, but they had holes on the sides.)

Step 3: Put the cupcake boxes on a baking sheet. Bake your cupcakes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. I had to bake mine for about 25-30 minutes. 

Step 4: Frost your cupcakes. I just used basic vanilla buttercream. Like the Star Trek boxes? At first I was bummed they didn't have ones with the BK logo on them, but then I figured Star Trek is popular right now, so kidlets would probably enjoy the box. 

Now you are ready to make the fries! You'll need mini Kit-Kats (they come wrapped in twos in a big bag in the candy section), white chocolate chips, and yellow icing color (or food coloring). 


Step 1: Prepare the kit-kats by opening the packages and breaking them apart. Put out some parchment or wax paper out on your counter to put the fries. 

Step 2: Melt the white chocolate in 20 second increments in your microwave. Stir after each time until it is smooth. 

Step 3: Add lemon yellow icing color or yellow food coloring to the chocolate and stir until it is the color of fries! 

Step 4: Put each kit-kat piece in the white chocolate individually. Use a fork to turn it around to the other side, lift it out of the chocolate, and place it on the parchment paper. Don't worry if traces of brown show from the Kit-Kat chocolate; it makes it look like they are toasted a little!

Step 5: After the chocolate has hardened, use a knife to saw off the excess chocolate. 

Step 6: Gently push the fries down into the cupcake, and voila, you have  french fry cupcakes! 

Another thing I tried was to add the cupcake mix directly into a McDonald's fry box that I had on hand. I used the reject fries in this one, but I like the pic! 

Note to Self: Don't bake with fry boxes that have had fries in them; the whole house reeked of burning grease!