Belizean Cupcake Queen (Lauren)

The Belizean Cupcake Queen

Mama Bear Cookbooks, are a series of cookbooks, that will touch your heart. They are not only a collection of fabulous recipes (to be handed down), they are a celebration to life. Mama Bear Cookbooks, have been designed with the busy mom in mind. You will find that most of the recipes in our books, are simple to make and use (for the most part), local ingredients. It is our sincere desire, that these cookbooks, become your favorite books in the kitchen.

Book Description

The Belizean Cupcake Queen is a wonderful collection of cupcake recipes, ranging from basic core cake recipes to fabulous decorative cupcakes using nothing more than frosting and candy. Included is Lauren's signature chocolate cake recipe.

Lauren has broken down the decorating process, making it easy for stay-home mom's and kids, to create their own wonderful "bake shop" versions right at home. There is a section on how to create eyes, noses, mouths, and hair, all by using various "store bought" candy. The many charts in the book, give you creative ideas on how to use marshmallows, pretzels, chocolate covered candies in creating monsters, insects, clown faces, and many other fun and exciting alternatives.

Included in this book, is a collections of family favorite recipes, as well as a enhanced cupcake recipes simply using box cake. Amidst the many wonderful recipes, are pictures near and dear to Lauren's heart. Pictures with her and her family, growing up in Belize and living on an island in the middle of no-where (as she calls it).

We think you will really enjoy this book, everyone who has seen this book loves it. Young adults (especially girls), will go crazy for a copy. This is a great mother and daughter cookbook, for projects you can do at home together. If you're looking for a Belizean souvenir (something to take back home to your kids), this most definitely will be one everyone will treasure.

We presently do not have these books listed on Amazon.com yet, but that will be coming soon (for those who can be patient).

Cookbook Dedication

Lauren is the youngest of five children. She is my shining star. She is bright, talented and full of energy. From the moment she was born, our family lived in Belize, “on an island, in the middle of no-where” (as she put it). She often wanted to pull out a map, trying to locate the island where we lived. To her surprise, many maps, didn’t even show it. “Does that mean I don’t exist,” she would gasp in laughter.
Living and growing up in Belize, Lauren was surrounded by a multi-cultural environment. A real melting pot of languages, people, customs, and foods. Lauren’s favorite thing to eat, is stewed chicken, rice & beans, with fried plantains and a tortilla. She can speak both Kriol and Spanish, better than anyone in our family. We often found it humorous (to sit around at night), and listen to Lauren speak Kriol. She can roll Kriol off her tongue, better than even some locals.

Lauren would often come home from school, looking for something to do. She started taking some of my cookbooks off the shelf and trying out recipes. Everyone loved what she was making. Then people started asking to buy what she was making. One restaurant (even asked), if she would be willing to make their dessert entrees. As Lauren continue to bake, it inspired her into wanting (all her favorite recipes), in one book. Her favorite thing to bake, was cupcakes. She loved the creativity it took to make, design and build each one from scratch. Every time I turned around, Lauren was baking cupcakes. Soon, we started calling her, “The Cupcake Queen.” A title that she has retained to this day.

This book is a collection of Lauren’s favorite recipes. Before this cookbook was published, she would often text me and ask, “Can you text me my recipe?” I was forever taking screen shots of various recipes hand written on paper (to send to her), so she could bake for friends and family. With much time and effort, we are pleased to present to you, Lauren’s first cookbook, "The Belizean Cupcake Queen”. It is designed with the beginner in mind. Most of the cupcakes in this book, do not require a lot of technical skill. They’re designed for the busy mom, looking to do something quick, easy and fun with her kids. We hope you enjoy this cookbook, as much as we do. Look for Lauren’s sequel on Pies & Pastries (coming soon).

Thanks for all the happy memories together “Baby Bear”. As grandma would say, “You know what makes me happy? Doing things together.” So let’s do something together, let’s cook something.

ALL MY LOVE..........Mama Bear

Baking w/ Lauren

Grandma's Rolling Pin

This is my mom's rolling pin (when she was alive). As Lauren gets older, I'm going to pass this on to her. It has alot of sentimental value. I remember making a lot of wonderful recipes with my mom, using this rolling pin. Lauren, it's in your memory box.

Hi, my name is Lauren Mya Turley (I’m 12 years old), and my mom calls me, “The Cupcake Queen”. Baking has always been a favorite thing for me to do. When I feel bored, I just pull out the baking sheets and I bake something. Everyone usually loves what I make (and this), causes me to bake more. The thing I love about cupcakes, is they are manageable, fun to decorate, easy to transport, convenient to serve (you don’t need a plate, fork or knife), and they are usually delicious. People who don’t want a huge piece of cake, usually enjoy a cupcake.

I remember cupcakes (years back), when mom would make them for parties. They were usually rich, dense, moist (if done correctly), with mounds of fluffy, lush, frosting and decorations.

With the passing of time, things have changed. People no longer have huge blocks of time to create and bake from scratch. Finding a good recipe is becoming harder and harder, because we have so many choices to pick from. Often, our best recipes come from friends and family.

My goal was to combine all my good recipes into one cookbook, and share it with others. I can’t tell you how many cupcake recipes I tried and failed. I found that all-purpose flour is the best. I tried cake flour and pastry flour, but they were too fine, and too hard to find. I tried sifting my flour, but all these variations made the cupcake to light. My best recommendation, is to stick to plain ole’ all-purpose flour, and don’t sift it. It makes for the best cupcake, and the results are a dense, satisfying cake-like texture, that everyone will enjoy.

I use whole eggs and milk in all my recipes, to get the best results. When a recipe calls for butter, I use butter (not margarine). Don’t melt your butter and then add it to your batter, just place the butter room temperature in your batter, for the best results. When it comes to sugar, make sure you add enough sugar, otherwise all you’re making is just a muffin. The difference between a muffin and a cupcake, is the amount of sugar you use. I found that at least one cup of sugar is needed (for most recipes), to achieve a rich, sweet, cake like texture.

I’ve tried all kinds of mixing methods (to achieve the best results), and the one that works the best - is just the plain old “kitchen sink” method. Just dump everything into one bowl, and mix it all together. I hope you love my cookbook and recommend it to friends and family.

Yours Truly, The Cupcake Queen