Merry Christmas from Maddie Cakes!

I've had a very busy week of baking! Check out these adorable Christmas cupcakes and festive fruit snacks!

Pac-man cupcakes!

My handsome son just turned 11! He celebrated his birthday at an arcade with all original video games from the 80's! How fun was that for me…. a child of the 80's! I had a blast making these adorable pac-man cupcakes and check out the little pac-man cake! 

Spongebob Birthday Cake!

 I always look forward to my nephews birthday! He has the greatest sense of humor and therefore loves spongebob! I was so excited to bake him a simple spongebob birthday cake. He loved it and was a huge hit with all the party guests!!

coconut cupcakes!

fan or not a big fan of coconut?! these cupcakes are sure to please even if you just like coconut a tiny bit!

recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes!

may I please have s'more!

Teacher appreciation week is being celebrated this week at my daughters school. Parents were asked to bring in a dessert for the teachers luncheon. I went back and forth with what to bring in!! I finally decided on these s'more cupcakes! If you have thought about or never thought about making these… GO, NOW, RUN make them! you will not be sorry! They are my new favorite!!

a bit time consuming but that's ok! first add a graham cracker crust to the bottom of the cupcake liners and top it with some chopped chocolate.. fill the liners 3/4 full with your favorite chocolate cupcake batter and top with a sprinkle of graham cracker and chopped chocolate.

 bake for 22 minutes! you end up with these.. good enough to eat without the marshmallow frosting!

now make your marshmallow frosting and swirl!

add a piece of Hershey's chocolate and sprinkle with a tiny bit of crushed graham cracker!

package them up and send them to school for all the teachers to enjoy!

recipe inspired by: martha stewart cupcakes

strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream!

strawberry season is here!!  and what better way to use fresh sweet strawberries then to bake them in cupcakes! I've been wanting to try the recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book. Well, I did it and I'm so happy with these cupcakes! These are soft, fluffy and full of strawberry flavor! I used my own buttercream recipe and added in 1 tablespoon of fresh strawberry puree. 

cupcake recipe from: Martha Stewart Cupcakes

Birthday cakes!

My daughters birthdays are both in April and 6 days apart!  It's been a crazy cake baking week! I'm loving every minute of it! The first cake is a triple layer vanilla and chocolate cake with a layer of fudge filling and vanilla buttercream. The 2nd cake is a chocolate cake with a fluffy whipped peanut butter filling.

Easter Carrot Cake!

First time carrot cake was a huge success! I searched and searched for a good carrot cake recipe and finally decided to make the one from Joy of Baking… so glad I did! It was DELICIOUS and a huge hit with my family!

 recipe from www.joyofbaking.com

Pi Day cupcakes!

Happy Pi Day! I love that my kids get to celebrate pi day at school.. it gives me a chance to bake up these adorable mini vanilla cupcakes topped with creamy vanilla buttercream and decorated with a fondant pi symbol!

rainbow cupcakes!

Turn your funfetti cupcakes into a St. Patrick's Day fun and yummy treat!

double chocolate cake!

The heart wants what the heart wants! I get flowers and my husband gets a homemade chocolate cake. hey.. it works for me! Since we've been snowed in for days it's easy to spend a couple hours baking a cake.  I used my favorite Hershey's chocolate cake & frosting recipe decorated it with these adorable confetti hearts.  

recipe from Hershey's

frosted soft sugar cookies!

Soft jumbo sugar cookies with a cloud of pink frosting are perfect for any holiday.. I made these for my nephew's pre-school valentine party.. I'm sure there are going to be a hit!

Cookies:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks butter at room temp.
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350º.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl & set aside.

In a mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, mix in eggs one at a time and vanilla bean paste until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in slowly until well combined. Chill for at least an hour to stiffen the dough.  Form the dough into 1/4 cup balls and flatten slightly with a glass  bottom.

Bake 8-10 mins or until just the edges of cookies start to turn a little brown. 

Frosting:
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp milk
3 cups confectioners sugar

Whisk butter, vanilla and milk together. Slowly add in powdered sugar.

Enjoy! 

valentine sprinkle cookies!

Looking for a quick and easy valentine cookie?! These are super yummy and so cute! Use your favorite soft sugar cookie recipe and add in about 1/2 cup of red, pink and white sprinkles to the cookie batter. I added some heart confetti to the tops right before putting them in the oven! YUM!! 

homemade hostess cupcakes!

Oh yes I did! Super yummy chocolate cupcakes with a creamy vanilla filling topped with chocolate ganache.  Perfect delicacy to share with the ones you LOVE!

double vanilla valentine cupcakes!

a double dose of vanilla extract and vanilla bean makes this cupcake taste like a vanilla cookie.. {you know the ones you can buy in a box at the supermarket}. Dress them up with pink fondant hearts and blue fondant daisy's and they make the perfect gift to give someone special any day!