Vyvacious

I’ve been putting off my first post for the longest time because well…I’m nervous. I wanted everything to be perfect for my first post and first blog really. But then I realized, it’s never going to be perfect enough for me. This food blog has been something I’ve wanted to do for the longest time and I have to thank ♥Sylvia, Julio, and Carolyn♥ for really pushing me to do this. It was their constant encouragement and long talks that made me realize just how much I want to share my cooking experiences.

Today I sit in a tent in an apartment in LA that belongs to some of my really good friends as I write my first post. Who would have thought that’s where I’d get my first true urge to whip out a computer (thanks Amy for unknowingly loaning your Mac to me :P). I figured it’d be a perfect end to a perfect day. Of course, when I woke up this morning at 8am to make some cupcakes for my friends and ran around like a maniac for 4.5 hours straight, it didn’t cross my mind how amazing this day would turn out. I made a mad dash to LA to drop off the cupcakes and frosting so it wouldn’t melt and then pretty much gunned it to the Huntington Gardens in San Marino (I am Batman you know, I can do that).

What I experienced there was the best two hours I’ve had in months. You may think I’m exaggerating but really, the food, tea, and service at the Rose Garden Tea Room was simple impeccable but what really made my day was the company (5 girls – 2 of which were birthday girls – YAY!). We NOMed on all the delicate finger sandwiches and tea so hard, it made me proud. But throughout it all, I can only remember laughing so hard that at one point I started crying. I’m not talking about just mild tears that were squeezed from my eyes in a fit of laughter, I’m talking about full on sobbing to the point that tears were streaming down my face and I couldn’t even laugh anymore because I was crying so hard. At that exact moment, I felt the freest I had felt in ages. Free to laugh, cry, eat, and truly be myself. It didn’t matter what I did, these girls would still love me, and for that, I will be ever grateful.

Now! On to happier times, I surprised the birthday girls with my Black & Yellow (Batman ♥) Oreo Truffle Stuffed Cupcakes w/ Oreo “Best I’ve Ever Had” Frosting. Dang, I really need to be more imaginative with these titles…this is a bit ridiculous. And since they both like Hello Kitty, I just HAD to buy this Hello Kitty cupcake set that came with cupcake liners, sprinkles, and little decorations. I was so excited and happy that they loved the cupcakes. It made the 4.5 hours totally worth it! I made 48 cupcakes total by the way so don’t worry :) Also, my need for perfection is no bueno for the cooking world. I must learn to become more efficient! ON TO THE RECIPE, FOLKS! :))

I must thank Love From The Oven for her great recipe of Oreo Truffle Stuffed Cupcakes. Here’s my adaptation:

Black & Yellow Oreo Truffle Stuffed Cupcakes w/ “Best I’ve Ever Had” Frosting

– Meandering pictorial recipe:

(Makes 48)

For the truffles:

• 1 box of finely crushed Oreos
• 1 (8oz) package of softened cream cheese

For the cupcakes:

• 2 boxes of cake mix (mix & match) – I used Devil’s Food Cake (DFC) and Buttermilk Yellow Cake (BYC)
• Whatever ingredients needed to make the cake
• DFC – 1 cup water, 1.25 cup vegetable oil, 3 eggs
• BYC – 1 cup water, 1/3 cup butter, 3 eggs)
• 1 box of coarsely crushed Oreos (with a food processor or thrown into a Ziploc bag and crushed with a rolling pin)

For the frosting (I doubled this):

• 5 TBS of flour
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 cup of room temperature butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1 row of Oreos (approximately 13 Oreos)

First, I made the Oreo truffles. I averaged about 1.5 tsp per truffle to come to exactly 48 truffles. I made them a few days before actually to save a little time and refrigerated it until I was ready. I found I actually liked it this way better because the mixture held it’s shape better than if I only refrigerate it for 30 mins like I usually do. Use this super simple Easy Oreo Truffle recipe but stop after forming the Oreo truffles (don’t dip them in chocolate). Refrigerate in a closed/Saran-wrapped container overnight if you can. If not, then stick them in the freezer for at least 30 mins before baking so they don’t lose their shape (you should do this even if you refrigerated the truffles overnight). They should look like this:

Then, proceed to go about your cupcake-ing. First, crush your box of Oreos using either a food processor or a Ziploc bag and a rolling pin.  I’ve done both.  Let me tell you that if you can, the food processor is the way to go because it’s so much faster and less clean up actually because I’m not wiping up crumbs of Oreos that are now seeping through holes in the Ziploc bag from over-enthusiastic crushing.  Mix both cake batters according to the directions on the box but make sure to add half the amount of crushed Oreos (half a box) to each batter for some extra Oreo goodness. Line your 12 count muffin pan with cupcake liners. Scoop one of the cake batters into the cupcake liner (I used the buttermilk cake batter for the bottom half), I did about 1 oz to less than 1/3 of the liner since I still have more to add. Then I swirled the Oreo Truffle around to help smooth out the cake batter and let it sit on top of the batter. See what I mean?

Now, add a scoop of the other batter (this time was devil’s food cake batter for me). Try not to overfill the cupcake liners. To be honest, I was not as consistent as I would have liked but I filled them between 2/3 and 3/4 full and they came out great. Should look like this (excuse my messiness):

I was in a rush so I baked 24 at once in 2 different cupcake pans (twice). I just baked it for 8 mins then swapped the two pans and baked it for another 8 mins (for consistency). They came out perfect. Sadly, I have no pictures of when it came straight out of the oven since I was rushing to make the surprise tea party. As for the frosting, I decided to go with the “Best I’ve Ever Had” frosting recipe I saw floating around Pinterest since I was intrigued. I’m going to admit, at first, I wasn’t sure if I was a fan but I did enjoy it once it was on the cupcake. I’m going to have to try it again at a later date to confirm my approval :P Follow this recipe from Tasty Kitchen. Only thing I did to tweak it was make a double batch to accommodate all 48 of my cupcakes and lessen the total amount of sugar from 2 cups (because of my double recipe) to 1.5 cups. I also added two rows of crushed Oreos. Yum. Not sure I’d like the frosting without the Oreos…we shall see. Again, I have no photos for you due to my rush, so sorry, but here’s a nice little photo shoot of what they look like as a finished product :)

If you lasted this long, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my first post ever… Just curious, have you had any surprise parties lately that went awesomely wonderful…or horribly bad? I’ve love to hear about it :)

Black & Yellow Oreo Truffle Stuffed Cupcakes w/ Oreo “Best I’ve Ever Had” Frosting

– Textual Recipe:

(Makes 48)

In order to make the Oreo truffles…

1. Make the truffles by mixing a box of finely crushed Oreos with 1 (8oz) package of softened cream cheese.  Either throw the cream cheese into the food processor once the Oreos are at the right consistency or mix everything in a large bowl with a spatula until the mixture is even.

2. Put the Oreo mixture into the fridge for at least 30 mins before forming the actual truffles.

3. Remove the mixture from the fridge and quickly (using a measuring spoon) form each truffle by allocating approximately 1.5 tsp of mixture per truffle in order to make 48.

4. Roll the measured amount in your hands until a nice sphere shape is achieved.  Try not to over roll them as the mixture will start to get goopy from the heat from your hands.

5. Place the truffles onto a piece of parchment paper placed over a baking/cookie sheet.

6. Put the truffles into the freezer for at least 30 mins before the next step (placing them in the cupcakes) so they don’t lose their shape when baking.

In order to make the cupcakes…

Ingredients:

• 2 boxes of cake mix (mix & match) – I used Devil’s Food Cake (DFC) and Buttermilk Yellow Cake (BYC)
• Whatever ingredients needed to make the cake
• DFC – 1 cup water, 1.25 cup vegetable oil, 3 eggs
• BYC – 1 cup water, 1/3 cup butter, 3 eggs)
• 1 box of coarsely crumbled Oreos (with a food processor or thrown into a Ziploc bag and crushed with a rolling pin)

1. Coarsely crumble a box of Oreos (using the food processor or Ziploc + rolling pin method).  I would also consider pre-heating your oven at this point.

2. Divide half of the coarsely chopped box of Oreos in 2 large mixing bowls then mix each batter according to the directions on the package.

3. Line a 12 count cupcake pan with cupcake liners (since I was making 48, I used 2 12 count cupcake pans).

4. Scoop one of the mixtures into all the liners.  Remember, we’re shooting for between 2/3-3/4 of the way full in terms of batter and in this case we have the Oreo truffle to consider.  I would put about 1oz or a little less than 1/3 of the first batter in.

5. Remove the truffles from the freezer.  Place one in the center of each cupcake liner so it’s lightly resting on top of the first batter.

6. Scoop the second mixture into all of the liners.  Again, I would go for about 1 oz or a little less than 1/3 of the entire cupcake liner.  The truffle should be covered in the second batter but still visibly sticking out.

7. Bake the cupcakes in the oven as directed by the package.  I did about 8 mins, swapped the two 12 count cupcake pans for even baking purposes, and then baked it for another 8 mins.

8.  Wait until the cupcake pan has cooled, then remove the cupcakes, and place it on a cooling rack.

In order to make the frosting (I doubled this recipe)…

Ingredients:

• 5 TBS of flour
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 cup of room temperature butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1 row of Oreos (approximately 13 Oreos)

1. Put 5 TBS of flour in a sauce pan/small pot.

2. Slowly pour 1 cup of whole milk in while whisking the mixture.

3. Once combined, place the pan over medium heat.  Continually whisk the mixture until the mixture is very thick.  It should have a gravy-like consistency.

4.  Cool the mixture completely.  I would randomly come over and whisk it to try and dissipate the heat.  Not sure if that actually worked…

5. Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the cooled mixture and whisk it until fully combined.

6. In a large mixing bowl, put 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of room temperature butter (since I added Oreos, I only used about 3/4 cup of sugar).

7. Whip with a hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy.  Be sure to scrape down the sides to make sure it’s all mixed well.

8. Add the cooled flour/milk mixture, coarsely chopped Oreos, and whip until it resembles whipped cream.

For the final cupcake assembly…

1. Take completely cooled cupcake and frost the cupcakes using a spatula or butter knife.

2. Add any optional garnish/decorations.  In the case of my friends’ birthdays, I added the Hello Kitty sprinkles as well as decorations to it.  My preferred personal touch would have been Batman everything of course :P

3. Take a nice big bite! :)  I would store the leftover cupcakes in a tightly sealed container out of the sunlight (but not in the fridge because it’ll make everything all hard and bleh).  Everything is baked/cooked so it’ll hold up.  I actually store the cupcakes all stacked between sheets of parchment paper in a big tug (since I made 48 of these babies) and house my frosting in a separate sealed bowl.  I frost upon request or prior to cupcake delivery :))  I find this makes for transportation of everything much simpler and people seem to like it more when I frost the cupcake right in front of them :P

ENJOY Y’ALL! :D