Happy Birthday Sesame Street: Elmo Cupcakes

I've seen Elmo cupcakes ideas all over the internet and they are the perfect treat for a special Sesame Street day - the start of the 40th season!

There are so many variations out there, so I pulled ideas from many of them when making these.

You can make any variety of cupcake you choose - I just happened to have an extra white cake mix on hand, but I think the Funfetti would have been even better!

Here is what we started with...



I used:

Wilton Ready-to-Decorate Red Icing (fabulous!)
Regular-sized marshmallows
Chocolate-covered apricots (looked just like an orange nose so I couldn't pass it up, but in hindsight, I could have done orange peanut M & Ms)
Chocolate chips

And I had a "helper."



For Elmo's fur, I used the star tip with the icing and made it look "fuzzy."

For his eyes, we cut marshmallows in half and my helper put them on.



And the noses were the chocolate-covered apricots but save yourself a few dollars and go with the peanut M & Ms.



At this point, I had blank eyes that need some pupils...



One site had suggested using food decorating markers to draw them on but I was not pleased with this outcome...



So I went with chocolate chips. Just a dab of icing (preferably white) on the marshmallow and those chocolate chips stuck right in place. I did try turning them over to have the flat side up, but they did not stick as well.

And there you go! You could always add a mouth with some black icing but I think this effect is just as good - plus, that takes more work!

Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Can you tell by the title that this is for chocolate lovers only?

A very good friend gave me one of her extra bundt pans this weekend – that’s right, I didn’t have my own before – and I was able to use it right away!

Another of my dear friends celebrated her birthday this weekend and her thoughtful husband asked if I would make a cake to bring to our small group for her. I inquired about the type of cake she would prefer and his response was “Chocolate.”

That left it pretty wide open so off I went to the internet and my good friend Recipezaar to find the perfect chocolate cake recipe to share. And to use the bundt cake pan, of course.

And this is what I came across.

SO happy I did. It was enjoyed by all. With some vanilla ice cream on the side.

This cake is quite simple to make – very common ingredients and no fancy equipment necessary!

And the bundt cake shape and drizzled glaze makes it look gorgeous.

But what chocolate isn’t gorgeous, right?!

So go share the chocolate love. And ONLY make this when you plan to share – it is addictive!

Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients

Cake
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
1 (4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 3/4 cups water
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze
3 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons hot water


Directions

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour bundt pan, set aside.

In large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix and chocolate chips.

In another bowl, combine water, eggs, and vanilla mixing well.

Add egg mixture to dry mixture and mix with spoon until just blended. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until cake tests done when wooden pick in center comes out clean.

Cool 15 to 20 minutes before removing cake from pan. When completely cool, drizzle cake with Chocolate Glaze.

Chocolate Glaze:
Combine all ingredients in bowl. Mix with spoon until smooth. Drizzle immediately on cooled cake.

Serve cake with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.