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just because...

2011-07-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe online a while ago and have been wanting to make these Samoa Cupcakes (after the girl scout cookie). The only problem I had with these is the frosting...it was wayyy too sweet so I suggest backing off on the powdered sugar, and I should do that the next time I bake these. You can use any type of chocolate cake you'd like/prefer, and all that was added to the top is toasted shredded coconut and chocolate drizzle.

caramel frosting:

melt 1.5 sticks unsalted butter in a pan. once the butter is melted, add 2 cups light brown sugar and .5 teaspoon salt. let sugar dissolve then take off heat and cool for a couple minutes before adding 1/2 cup of milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. you must let this cool completely! then pour into mixer and add 4 cups of confectioners sugar and mix. (although the recipe calls for 4 cups confectioners sugar, start with 2 cups and add a little more until you get the right consistency.)

July 4th!

2011-07-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Obviously yesterday was July 4th and obviously I was going to make an Independence Day cupcake. I made a yellow buttermilk cake with a cream cheese frosting. The cake was filled with raspberry jam. The jam and cream cheese go realllly well together and the cake was extremely moist. I wish the blue frosting was darker but I just could not get it to be the color I wanted no matter how much food coloring I put in it. But you still get the idea of a red, white, and blue themed cupcake.

I hope everyone's 4th of July was great! I went into Manhattan and saw the Macy's fireworks display LIVE for the first time in about 5 years and it was amazing!!

summer plans!

2011-06-28T20:11:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited for this summer! On top of graduating from high school and getting ready for college, I'm excited to come up with new recipes and bake a lot! I won't be able to do anything while in school because I'll have no stove of course so I plan to do a lot in the next two months. I've been browsing online and there are a lot of cool easy and challenging dishes I want to try! I'm excited to share them too!!

celebration

2011-06-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

So I made these for my cousins graduation party. I get most of my cupcakes now from Martha Stewart's book so I made two types; a plain yellow buttermilk and a chocolate with peanut butter filling. The frosting was plain and kinda meringue-like so I added bits of reese's pb cups and made a sugar cookie that looked like a diploma! I probably made around 50 cupcakes and they're all gone!! Couldn't believe it but I guess 6 hours in the kitchen payed off.