Tiger Cupcakes--They're Grrreat!

Looking through my Google Photos, I found some cupcakes I hadn't shared anywhere except Instagram!  I figured it's a good time to post these, since America seems to be hypnotized by a certain Netflix show to which I still haven't succumbed... 

I made these last year because the newly-built school where I'd be teaching Kindergarten had a tiger mascot, so I made tiger cupcakes for the orientation potluck!  Here's a little step-by-step, and I was thrilled with how they came out!  (You know when you have an idea for something and then you do it, and it matches with exactly what you'd pictured?  That's the feeling I got.  I DO NOT get this perfect match-up of expectation vs. reality all the time, which is why I was so pumped!)

Here's a photo of all the stuff I had ready (ended up not needing the yellow candy melts):

I started with a box mix (because sometimes you just want to decorate) of devil's food cake, and put some vanilla frosting as a base on top of the cupcakes. 

I then added a ring of orange frosting from a pouch, and smoothed it out/blended it with an offset spatula, leaving some white in the middle for the snout:

Next, I stuck on 2 orange Froot Loops for the eyes, black sprinkles for whiskers, 2 spots of black gel icing for eyes, and a big pink heart for the nose!

I then used the same black gel icing for one little, curved stripe along the sides, and 2 on the forehead:

And that's it!  I just had to do the same thing over and over a couple times to make my full set, and then pray the hot, humid weather wouldn't make the gel turn streaky!  But everything worked out just fine!  There were so many desserts, only a few people had my tigers, so I was able to share them with my local Starbucks baristas, since I was going there ALL THE TIME over the summer to make sure I got out of my apartment!  The best part of making cupcakes is sharing them with people!

Finding Dory Cupcakes!

Not only have I been super excited for the release of Finding Dory--it also happens to coincide with my last day at my current job!  I'm moving from New York to Florida for a Kindergarten teaching position at the same school where my brother teaches 1st grade!  So, to celebrate, I decided to make Finding Dory cupcakes (which are basically just Finding Nemo cupcakes... but with an emphasis on Dory)!

Lemon cake--YUM!

                                   

I had to use a lot more blue food dye than I thought to make this cream cheese icing blue!

As is my custom, I went shopping at Fuzziwigs Candy Company for all my candy decorations!

I started with a mix of blue raspberry Pop Rocks and chocolate chip rocks!

I crushed graham crackers (in a bag, on the floor, with my foot) as sand!

Then came 4 batches of melting chocolates (my least favorite part).  I mean, what came from them is my favorite part, but the process of melting them and then the cleanup is what I can do without!  This color reminded me of the Yankees!

I put it in a Zipoc bag and had WAY more than I needed to make all the Dorys so I had fun and made some E's (for Elyse) just to see if they would work sitting on a cupcake, too!

I had drawn my shape idea on the back of this parchment paper, then started doing it freehand.  I was really excited for the Nemos and Marlins!

Then came yellow!  (I'm glad I had just done my nails!)

Dory!

Nemo, Marlin (you decide which is which), Bubbles, waves, starfish...

Then I put these in the fridge on a cookie sheet and went to bed!  Sometimes cupcake baking and decorating is just plain exhausting.  I'm glad I gave this project 2 days--it was so much easier and quicker the next night (I was doing this all after work, which lets me out at 5).

                             

The graham cracker sand just wasn't as colorful as the pebbles!

Yes, so all I had to do that night was just stick in all my decorations!

Various gummies

Edible pearls and white M&Ms

   

                              

There you have it!  Blue icing, Pop Rocks and chocolate rocks, melting chocolate, and some gummies!  (They were delicious by the way!)  

Try the Grey Stuff--It's Delicious!

Last night, Jim and I tried the grey stuff.  Making it, that is!  We had tasted it at Be Our Guest Restaurant in Disney World on "The Master's Cupcake" (a chocolate cupcake with the grey stuff on top and inside) and were in love.  We found the recipe from Doctor Disney, and used the Hollywood Studios 25th Anniversary Cupcake (from the previous post) as the cake.

I don't know... None of the food on Lumiere's platter looks that appetizing...  I'm glad the grey stuff turned out to be a dessert!

Our first taste of The Grey Stuff!

What makes it "grey" (I spell it "gray" so this is hard for me) is the Oreo component.

Doctor Disney's recipe calls for 15 Oreos put through the food processor (this is the main reason I have a food processor.  Oreo balls are some of the best tasting sweets on the planet, and you need Oreos to be superfine for them!  I was making healthy and "green" smoothies in this, too, but the main reason is always Oreos).

Looking super fine, Oreos!

In addition to Oreos, the recipe calls for vanilla and chocolate pudding mix, Cool Whip, and milk.  

After the pudding becomes pudding, you mix in the Oreos:

Already looking grey and delicious!  Jim "folded in" the tub of Cool Whip:

It looks very white under the lights, but in a close-up it looks more brown:

Even more so when you add in the 3 tablespoons of chocolate pudding mix.  In fact, I think it tasted more like the real grey stuff without the extra chocolate, but it's still delicious!

I skipped the photos of the cupcake-baking process because that was my last post (and this was our second time making them since), so here are the cupcakes, and I injected them with the grey stuff as they do in The Master's Cupcake:

When it came time to frost them, I ran into some trouble.  I couldn't find any of the bigger tips or couplers for the icing gun, and it started coming out all lumpy.  Jim interrupted my frustration by making this Mickey:

It helped me calm down a little.

Then I switched to a new tip that didn't fit perfectly but it worked like a charm!

Of course all the pretty silver wrappers were the ones that had the gloppy ugly frosting on them, so just ignore the oily Halloween wrappers here...

I do want to try them next time without chocolate pudding.  I think they look more like the real deal without.  But they are just so delicious...

And I did have edible pearl sprinkles like they use in Disney, but mine threaten to break teeth, unlike the magical soft ones at Be Our Guest.  Maybe I'll find those one day!  If you can't get enough of the grey stuff, check out this adorable necklace from Spiffing Jewelry that I found on my Google image search while looking for the Lumiere picture at the beginning of my post!