Pie? Or Cupcake?

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~ Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, Pavarotti, My Own Story

This past summer my husband and I were all about the summer BBQ's with friends. And being invited to a BBQ only means one thing... bringing the hosts creative cupcakes!! I debated with myself for about 10 minutes in the aisle at the grocery store on Sunday morning. I had a bbq to go to in the afternoon. I really needed to come up with a dessert idea. I was already making  a rice dish and roasted potatoes & sweet potatoes. I thought of a variety of frozen desserts like some of these, which would be perfect for a bbq, however they needed a minimum 3-4 hours of freezer commitment- time I didn't have! So without thinking I picked up the ingredients to bake a cake and a can of pre-made frosting. I didn't know then that they would materialize into faux mini pies, I just thought i'd throw something together. So getting home, I started to make my other dishes while the cupcakes baked in the oven in little foil liners. After 20 minutes I pulled them out and set them to cool on a wire rack. I took this time to run and get changed for the party. By the time I got back to the kitchen, they were cool enough to decorate. Decorating only took 12 minutes. It was soooo simple too! However I cannot claim the idea as my own- I got the idea from a cupcake book. When the book said they were EZ I could have never imagined they would only take 12 minutes.

I chose the above picture, because as you see- I forgot to flip one of the M&M's upside down. :P Also, up close the the pies don't look that "nice" but once your done and they are all together on a serving dish, the end result is amazing!

Making them is a cinch, and I wish mine looked a little cleaner... but I was pressed for time! I guess the most difficult (creative) part is trying to adjust the color of the "crust" icing, which is simply a bit of yellow icing coloring and about a tsp. of coco powder. You can play with the amount of the cocoa powder make it look more or less cooked. once you get the icing color sorted, all you need to do is add a dollop of frosting to the top of the cupcake and spread into a very fine layer on top of the cupcake this will act as a glue to the M&M's. 

You can make all your faux pies with red M&M's or red and blue (Strawberry and blueberry) If you want to get funky with them you can try Orange (peach pie like I did above)  or mixing pink, red and purple like a wild berry pie.

Overall these were a big hit, the cupcakes flew off my serving tray less then 3 mins after I arrived! Best feeling ever!!!

             Until next time, deliver something yummy to someone you know.