Cupcake Order: Filled

Occasionally my friends will ask for treats to be made for them to bring to an event. Most recently, Todd asked me to make some cupcakes for a little lady's birthday party. I was very excited to try out a new recipe (HERE) and make a ton of minis for this order. I, of course, forgot to take pictures of the finished product so here are some pics from the birthday girl's Mom:
The birthday girl and I with her cupcakes:

The banana cupcakes with peanut butter icing dipped in chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with banana buttercream icing:

Blowing out her candle!

Thanks for letting me be a part of the birthday celebration!

Weather is just right for chili and cornbread

The weather was cold this past weekend and I decided it was time to make the first batch of chili for the season. This is a recipe I learned from my college senior year roomie and favorite lawyer homie, Lindsey! You can read about her baking adventures on her blog: The Law of Cupcakes. Anywho, this chili is delicious and rather healthy. When Christine and I insanely decided to try the South Beach diet back in the day, we found that without the corn, this chili is South Beach approved! However, I'm certain that the amazing cornbread I made to go with it is definitely not any kind of diet approved, yum!


If the weather is getting cooler near you, try your hand at these wonderful fall recipes:

Lindsey's Chili

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 pkg chili seasoning
cumin
chili powder
cayanne pepper
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
salt and pepper

*Note: this recipe is a lot of additions to taste so feel free to alter this a lot, cooking is less of a science than baking :)

Pour about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot. Add ground turkey, chopped onions, and diced garlic. Add some cumin, chili powder, and cayanne pepper (about a teaspoon of the first 2 and a sprinkling of the last 1). Cook mixture over med-high heat until meat is fully browned. If you need more oil, add it but try to keep it to a minimum.

Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients, as well as more of the cumin, chili powder, and cayane pepper. Add more cayanne pepper for spicier chili and less for milder chili. Add an about half full can of water form the crushed tomatoes can. Simmer on medium heat until the entire chili is warm and desired thickness is achieved (the longer it simmers the thicker it will be).


Honey Cornbread (from Sugar High)

1 1/2c flour
1/2c yellow cornmeal
2/3c sugar
1/2t salt
1T baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/4c milk
2T honey
3T butter, melted
1/3c vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, honey, butter, and oil. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into a greased 8in square pan or greased puffin tins. Bake for about 35 minutes (about 25 minutes for muffins).

OMG Amazing Cupcakes!

Whoopsies, I fogot to do a Halloween cupcake montage last week. Here are my belated favorites inspired by my favorite holiday:

Witch cupcakes by Angelia of Eclectic Recipes:


Candy corn (my fave candy!!) cupcakes by Hol-Berry's Cupcakes:


Awesome Dracula cupcake you can see here: DRACULA!

Super cute ghost cupcake found here: GHOST!

And an amazing Brain Cupcake by Made with Pink:

New Tools!

So, for the most part, I have an exceptionally well stocked kitchen. Especially considering I've yet to have a bridal shower/wedding/etc full of houseware gifts. However, there is the occasional instance when I see something totally ingenious and I have to have it. That happened last weekend when I saw this pourer at JoAnn's. It is meant for pouring candy into candy molds, but it was exactly what I needed to equally fill nearly 100 mini cupcake liners for a cupcake order I filled last week. You can see it's a simple concept, just a funnel with a stopper but I love it! I also picked up a sifter, which I've been meaning to buy for pretty much ever. I highly recommend these items!

Kait is Married!

So onto the second half of my weekend: Kait's wedding! The ceremony was on Saturday at the UMD Chapel (jealous) and the ceremony was performed by Father Bill, miss him! Here is the married couple, Kait and Chris:

Everything was beautiful and since there was a bit of a lull between the ceremony and the reception, Christine and I decided to roam campus for a little while. Here is what happened:
View from the chapel:

Fall foliage self pic (yes, I look like a nut):

At the fountain on the mall:

Things went downhill from there. we stopped at the Union for refreshments and then headed back to Meredith's. Along the way we had to lose the heels and stockings, apparently we aren't quite the campus trekkers we used to be.

After a sweet nap and some hair repair came the reception. This was held at the UMUC Marriott. We settled into our singles table and crossed our fingers to (not) win the centerpiece Betta fish. After some rousing speeches and delicious food (crabcake=yum!!) came the dancing. Here are my pics from the wedding:











Such a great time, I was so glad I could make it to the wedding. Major thanks to Meredith for the housing this evening and for the car borrow so I could score some Bagel Place! Also major props to Steph for taking care of Baloo all weekend, he seems unfazed by my absence :)

LG Reunion Party in DC

This weekend I traveled to DC for a variety of wonderful reasons. 1) My amazing friend, Kait Baker, was getting married on the 23rd 2) Christine was going to be there and since her wedding we've been separated for the longest time since we met, a reunion was in order and 3) My favorite CRC lifeguards were having a long overdue reunion party! Obviously lots of fun to be had. I arrived at BWI around 9pm- just in time to see the Yankees blow the 5th inning (and subsequently the entire game) of their must-win ALCS game. Then Christine arrived and all was better! Wonderful Meredith picked us up from the airport and we were en route to DC. The party had already started at grace's apartment and I was super excited to see lots of long lost faces like Ron$, Liz, and Hannah Banana as well as the faithful reunion faces like Lindsey and Grace. Here are some pics from the subsequent shenanigans:





Loved seeing everyone! Thanks to Meredith for providing transportation and booze and to Grace for providing an air mattress, washer and dryer, and booze!

JP's Birthday Cupcakes: White Russian Cupcakes

Today is one of my former roomies', JP's, birthday! A few of us went to Perry's Steakhouse and Grille to celebrate last night. Since we've all been doing birthdays for about 2 years now, we've hit up most of the usual spots in Clear Lake so, in order to change it up a bit, we went fancy for this birthday celebration. Perry's was super nice and the food was amazing. Our waiter was excellent, he even took back a pork chop that had been undercooked (without us asking I might add) and brought out a fresh one and the manager offered a free dessert for the wait. Excellent service! Here is the birthday boy and his pendulum of kabob (The Symphony Kabob):


And my meal (Sesame crusted Ahi Tuna):

This was super delicious, I love pan seared tuna and the sesame crust wasn't too bad. the wonton salad that is on top of the tuna was a perfect complement and had a light and tasty sauce. Very thrilled!

JP's bday dessert (Dessert Trio: Praline cheesecake, vanilla bean crème brulée, and a Grand Marnier truffle):



We decided (and by we I mean Ryan) that we were pretty stuffed after dinner and saved the cupcakes until we reached Club Haven. I hadn't told JP what kind they were and I thought that just the scent of the Kahlua in these bad boys would be a giveaway but everyone said the Kahlua wasn't as overpowering as I had feared. They got it once they tasted a bit but not from the scent alone, phew! I had been worried that they were a little much. Enjoy your White Russian Cupcakes, JP!



Recipe (adapted from Cookies & Candids and Here):

Cupcakes (makes about 20)
1c milk
2t vinegar
1c Kahlua
2/3c oil
1 1/2c sugar
6t vanilla
2 1/2c flour
4T cornstarch
1 1/2t baking powder
1t baking soda
1t salt

Glaze/topping:
1/4c Kahlua
1/4c vanilla vodka

Icing
2c heavy whipping cream
4T powdered sugar
6T Kahlua

Preheat to 325F.

Add vinegar to milk and stir. Allow to sit for several minutes to curdle.

In a large bowl mix together Kahlua, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix in milk after siting time.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl and mix until no lumps remain. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes. Take out and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove from Pan and place on cooling rack.

Mix together the glaze/topping. Poke deep holes in the cupcakes with a toothpick. Using a basting brush apply the glaze to the tops of the cupcakes while still somewhat warm. Allow the cupcakes to cool fully before frosting.

For the icing, place mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for a minute. Remove from freezer and pour whipping cream into the bowl. Whisk on high for about 2 minutes or until the cream has thickened. Add powdered sugar and Kahlua. Continue whisking on high until stiff peaks form (at least another minute). Pipe onto cooled cupcakes. I then grated some semi-sweet chocolate to garnish the cupcakes. *I also did a Kahlua buttercream icing but I think it was too sweet for these cupcakes- you can see it in the second picture.

*I have also seen recipes that use 1/2c Kahlua and 1/2c vodka in the cake batter, this could be a good recipe alteration.