Cupcake Flavor Spotlight: The Secret Ingredient Is Kale
Posted June 18th, 2012 by Claire — Filed under: 2012 Cupcake Ideas,Green Cupcakes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , —

Some of you might know the healthy benefits of eating kale but here’s a recap. Kale is a green vegetable form of cabbage. It is high in lutein content, which is known to prevent cancer. In addition to guarding you from cancer, kale is also great for the heart. Patients with high blood pressure and estrogen problems are also encouraged to eat kale. The benefits of kale are even useful to pregnancy and breastfeeding.

{Kale Friendly Cupcake Supplies: Green Trellis Cupcake Wrappers, Green Polka Dot Cupcake Wrappers, Green Charger Plates, Cupcake Liners, Green Tissue Paper Pom Poms, Paper Drinking Straws from Koyal Wholesale}

The easiest way to incorporate kale into your diet is by mixing into your green smoothies. Smoothies are usually about sixty percent fruit and the rest vegetable or protein powder. You won’t be able to taste the kale because of the sweet fruit cover-up. However, another popular option is to bake kale into your sweet cupcake recipes! Kale can be chopped up and added to recipes just as you would add an herb or spinach ingredient. For muffins and breakfast cupcakes, kale makes a healthy green addition.

When adding kale to your cupcakes it’s not a bad idea to chop it in the food processor first. It will give it a finer texture while still keeping the green color. When making cakes and cupcakes you mix the dry and wet ingredients respectively before introducing them to each other. The kale is adding once both parts are ready to be mixed together. Using a spatula, spoon in chopped kale along with the wet ingredients into your dry mixture, and once your mixture is combined you can then spoon the batter into your cupcake liners. We were inspired by this creative beet and kale cupcake recipe from YumUniverse.

Baking with kale doesn’t have to be a huge chore. You can incorporate diced kale into almost any recipe without having a vegetable taste. Kale cupcakes are an easy way to incorporate nutrition into your kid’s diet. And you don’t have to stop there, what other interesting cupcake ingredients do you love baking with? Which item are you most likely to avoid when baking:

  1. Beets
  2. Kale
  3. Chili Powder
  4. Meat

Tell us so we can feature them on our blog!

Secret Cupcake Ingredient: Baking With Rhubarb
Posted May 1st, 2012 by Claire — Filed under: 2012 Cupcake Ideas,Springtime Cupcakes,Themed Cupcakes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , —

When I was growing up my mother always insisted that we learn how to plant fruits and vegetables. We learned how to choose which vegetables would be sustainable and which fruit would grow during which season. Strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb became some of my favorite fruit to pick. Strawberries and raspberries were so fresh and yummy you could eat them right off the vine. Rhubarb was more time consuming but a rhubarb pie really made it worthwhile. Now, rhubarb can be a little harder to find if you don’t have your own backyard garden to grow it in. But, never fear farmers markets and fresh product sections have rhubarb in their fruit cooler! Spring and summer is a great time to step outside the box and start experimenting with fruits and vegetables. Skip the heavy chocolate cupcakes this summer and opt for a healthier fruity alternative.

{Photo Source: Tartelette, Spring Cupcake Wrappers from Dress My Cupcake, Tartelette Blog, Martha Stewart, Cake Spy }

We found plenty of ways to incorporate fresh rhubarb into cupcakes. You’ll have an easier time convincing your kids to try new things if you put them in a dessert. Wash, chop and puree rhubarb for jams, jellies and ice creams. There are plenty of ways to bake with rhubarb and other fruits. Raspberry rhubarb and apple rhubarb are some of our favorite combinations. What smart ways do you have to incorporate new fruits and vegetables into your children’s diets? And be sure to tell us what you think about rhubarb and rhubarb cupcakes on our Facebook page. These cupcakes would be great for a light healthy brunch. If you’re planning a Mother’s Day get-together, surprise her with a home cooked brunch of coffee cake, rhubarb cupcakes and fresh ice tea. How about a few spring cupcake wrappers in flower or butterfly cupcake designs? What desserts do you plan on baking for Mother’s Day?

Vegan Baking Substitutes: How to Make a Vegan Cupcake
Posted April 30th, 2012 by Claire — Filed under: 2012 Cupcake Ideas,Themed Cupcakes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , —

It’s been a while since we talked vegan cupcakes. What does vegan mean? Vegan means that your recipe doesn’t include any animal products, including eggs, dairy or meat. Healthy, nutritious and sweet vegan cupcakes are a nice binge treat without the extra guilt. You can create a vegan cupcake from practically any cupcake recipe by substituting ingredients for vegan-friendly ingredients. Eggs can be substituted with a few different thickeners to make your recipe officially vegan. Here are a few tips for how to create vegan cupcakes such as these delicious baking masterpieces.

{Photo Source: Erica’s Sweet Tooth, The Baker Chick, Plum Purple Diamonds Cupcake Wrappers, Oh She Glows, Cupcake Liners & Baking Cups}

Vegan Cupcake Substitutions:

Substituting Eggs: Using applesauce or oil is the key to substituting eggs. Both work for different cakes and cupcake recipes, but applesauce is our personal favorite. Applesauce creates a moist center especially when you combine it with fresh fruit. Applesauce is a low-fat alternative to oil.

Substituting Milk: This is one of the easiest baking substitutions: use soy milk or almond milk. Because almond and soy milks still have fat it makes it a much better substitution than rice milk. One cup of soy or almond milk is equivalent to one cup of regular milk, so measurements are simple and easy.

Substituting Sour Cream: If you find a recipe you’d like to make; try soy yogurt or vegan sour cream. For other cream substitutes, try using coconut cream or tofu.

Substituting Butter: Use a vegan butter substitute if you want to avoid using oil.

Vegan Frosting: Mix vegetable shortening and egg substitute with powdered sugar instead of using cream. Soymilk still serves as your dairy substitute. This frosting is incredibly tasty and depending on the amount of sugar, isn’t a calorie buster.

Don’t forget to substitute your boring cupcake liner for a unique striped cupcake liner. These colorful alternatives to boring muffin liners will dress up your cupcake. There’s no need to settle for drab cupcake liners when you can use these colorful striped liners instead. Dairy cupcakes shouldn’t have all the fun!