Graduation Cupcakes

Using the same vanilla cupcake and cream cheese frosting recipe as I did here, I made these graduation cupcakes for my daughter's Pre-K class! 

The hats are made from 2 Oreos stacked with a graham cracker on top, all dipped in baking chocolate.  The tassle is made from 2 Red Vines, cut to an appropriate length and the button is an M&M!  These were a big hit (and very filling!)

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I got the urge to learn how to make my own vanilla cupcakes.  Billy Reese, owner of Billy's Bakery NYC, has a fantastic recipe that I used!  The recipe is as follows:

Billy's Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes
Ingredients:

Makes about 30 cupcakes
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.

2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract.

For the "W," I melted down some Hershey's Kisses in a double boiler and piped them onto a piece of wax paper.  I put the warm chocolate in a ziploc bag, pushed all the chocolate into one of the bottom corners of the bag and then cut a tiny bit of that corner off.  I made many "W's" and put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  I then, picked the best ones to put on the cupcakes!

Wheels!

Wheels and Transportation were discussed in this unit, each child was supposed to pick a number of wheels and draw a picture of something with that number of wheels.  We, then, made a train in the hallway of all of the pictures!

Classroom Door- Christmas/Winter

Snowman Door!

Halloween Bulletin Board

Feet were painted with white paint and a footprint was made.  After the paint dried, the students made a face and arms holding something healthy to eat.  We discussed making good choices and eating healthy foods to make sure we had healthy teeth!

Thanksgiving Bulletin Board

Recipe for Thanksgiving Bulletin Board

Word Wall

Word Wall with words coded by long/short vowel sounds, sight words, and color words!