My husband finished his Master's degree this Spring. He's worked really hard, juggling his school, work, and family, and I cannot be prouder of him. Bakerella's candy cup caps inspired me to make these cupcakes to celebrate his achievement.



See my Chocolate Cupcakes recipe

DECORATING

WHAT YOU'LL NEED (see pic below):

- Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares
- Dark chocolate w/ peppermint center (or Reese's peanut butter cups)
- Xtremes sweetly sour belts
- Smarties
- White frosting
- Blue sugar crystals (optional)



DECORATING INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Cut each the sweet sour belts candy into long strips of each color
2. Frost the baked cupcakes with white frosting
3. Sprinkle with blue sugar crystals
4. Place chocolate cups, topped with chocolate squares (using a little bit of frosting to "glue" them together)
5. Place the candy strip and a smarty on top (again, using the frosting as the "glue")

I bought a whole duckling to make the Duck with Beansprouts dish that I always loved at my favorite Chinese restaurant when I was in college (see previous post). Since I only used half a duckling for that recipe, I thought I'd use the rest to make a fun variety by serving it on lettuce leaves. The recipe is very similar to the Duck with Beansprouts recipe, only water chestnuts are added to this one and the beansprouts are not cooked this time. They're a little messy to eat but just like many messy finger foods, they're very good!



DUCK IN LETTUCE WRAPS RECIPE:

1/2 small duckling, remove the bones and cut the meat into bite-size strips
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1-inch length
1 cup fresh beansprouts, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 tbsp ginger powder
1 can (4oz) water chestnuts, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lettuce head or Romaine lettuce, to serve
2 small red chilles, sliced thinly (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat vegetable oil in a large wok over medium high heat
2. Stir fry the garlic until fragrant. Add the red chilles (optional)
3. Add the duck strips and ginger powder, and stir fry until the meat is almost fully cooked. Add hoisin sauce and coat evenly.
4. Add green onions and water chestnuts and cook for about 2 minutes
5. Add salt and pepper to taste and 1 tbsp sesame oil
6. Serve with fresh beansprouts and wrap in lettuce leaves

There was a great Chinese restaurant close to my apartment back when I was still in college. I always ordered their Duck with Beansprouts dish, which was one of their specialties. I miss that place so much, especially since there's no Chinese restaurant where I live now that's even half as good. I decided to put together some ingredients to imitate this dish and it surprisingly turned out really well! It tastes close to the dish that I've always loved and have been thinking about so much lately. So yay!! It is easy too. I can't believe I never thought about making it myself before.

I bought a small whole duckling but only used half for this dish and used the rest to make a different variety: Duck in lettuce wraps. I'll post the recipe next.



DUCK WITH BEANSPROUTS RECIPE:

1/2 small duckling, remove the bones and cut the meat into bite-size strips
1 bunch green onions, cut into 1-inch length
2 cups fresh beansprouts
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 tbsp ginger powder
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 small red chilles, sliced thinly (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat vegetable oil in a large wok over medium high heat
2. Stir fry the garlic until fragrant. Add the red chilles (optional)
3. Add the duck strips and ginger powder, and stir fry until the meat is almost fully cooked. Add hoisin sauce and coat evenly.
4. Add green onions and beansprouts and cook until the vegetables are soft
5. Add salt and pepper to taste and 1 tbsp sesame oil
6. Serve hot over rice

I love fajitas! When I stumbled across this recipe, I thought it looked easy enough I decided to give it a try. It really was easy! I don't have a fajita skillet so I just used a regular skillet, and it still turned out delicious! Serve with Spanish rice, refried beans, and a glass of margarita and you are fiesta-ready! (This recipe can also make Chicken Fajitas)



PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: about 25 minutes
SERVINGS: 4

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 small red or green bell peppers, cut into strips
1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb extra lean beef sirloin steak or boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-in strips
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup bottled chunky salsa
4 (6 in) flour tortillas, warmed
Light sourcream, chopped fresh cilantro, and lime wedges (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat
2. Add bell peppers, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring occassionally for 5-6 mins or until onions are slightly golden and peppers are tender
3. Stir in beef or chicken, cumin, chili powder, and salt. Cook, stirring occassionally for 7-8 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.
4. Stir in salsa, heat through
5. Serve in tortillas, top with sourcream, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice.

I can't get enough of cupcakes lately. I guess I'm just having too much fun decorating them. What do you think of this lamb on the grass cupcake? She's so cute I could just eat her up! Wait, I already did!



WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
- 1 baked cupcake, see my chocolate cupcake recipe
- White frosting (I used Betty Crocker's fluffy white frosting)
- 2 chocolate chip for the eyes
- Pink star confetti/sprinkles for the tiny nose
- large marshmallows (cut into thin slices using kitchen scissors) for the ears
- mini marshmallows for the hair
- coconut flakes
- green food coloring

MAKING THE GRASS:
Place coconut flakes in a small zip lock bag and add a drop of green food coloring. Mix well.

Nothing says Spring like blooming flowers and beautiful butterflies. These flower cupcake and butterfly cupcake are simply decorated with cut-up marshmallows, star confetti, and pretzel sticks.



WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
- 2 baked cupcakes, see my chocolate cupcake recipe
- White frosting (I used Betty Crocker's fluffy white frosting)
- pink food coloring
- 1 chocolate chip
- star confetti/sprinkles
- large marshmallows
- 2 pretzel sticks

DIRECTIONS:
Using kitchen scissors, cut marshmallows into thin slices. Assemble as shown in picture.

I love spring rolls and am glad to have found this step-by-step-video recipe at videojug.com (find the video embedded at the bottom of this post). They turned out to be really tasty and crispy! They go very well with my favorite Thai sweet chili dipping sauce and make a perfect afternoon snack or appetizer.



In case, you cannot view the video, you can find the text version of the recipe here.

Here's the video instructions:


Starters & Appetizers: How To Make Crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls

Inspired by my previous Blackforest Cake, I decided to create its mini version and make these blackforest cupcakes. It was super easy to decorate and so yum!



WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
Baked chocolate cupcakes (see my chocolate cupcake recipe)
White frosting
Chocolate shavings (simply made using a chocolate bar and a vegetable peeler)
Cherries with stems, drained

DECORATING INSTRUCTIONS:
Frost the cupcakes with the white frosting. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings and add a cherry on top.

It's that simple, I told you! :D