Adventures with SweetNess Cakes

Orgasmic Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-04-04T12:40:00.003-05:00

I had been longing for a delicious chocolate chip cookie for days.
Lack of finances always throws a kink into my cravings.
So I decided to make some of my own, only I was lacking the key ingredient: chocolate chips.
It's in times like these that I'm grateful I live next to my in laws. They indeed had chocolate chips and were happy to surrender them to my need for something sweet.
I present to you the mos scrumptious chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
(I thought as I was making them that some kind of nut would be delicious, like walnuts or pecans. If you have some throw a cup of them into the mix.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt.
Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts if you so choose. Drop by large spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes.

They were so deliciously yummy, but had kind of a cakey texture, which I actually liked.
They were sweet enough, but not tooth achingly sweet.
& they were gone within one day, although I have found 2 half eaten ones today around the house, one of which was in the kids' basket of mega blocks. Saving it for later I imagine...

I love Amy Sedaris

2008-03-24T15:44:00.002-05:00

I wanted to make something special for Easter & couldn't decide what to do. Then it hit me..my favorite bunny loving person in the world has a cupcake recipe I've been wanting to try for ages.

My love for Amy Sedaris reaches deeper than you can even imagine. Any woman who decides a great joke to play on her dad would be to wear a fat suit & convince him that she somehow gained hundreds of pounds over the course of 6 months would be a great idea is more than okay in my book. Oh..and she has gifted Martha Stewart a bong. Can you say awesome? Yep.

So I present to you the Amy Sedaris cupcake recipe.

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups of sugar

Beat well, then add:

Add 2 large eggs
2 Teaspoons of pure vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/4 cups of milk

Beat well, fill cups, and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. I think I was supposed to get 24 but I got 19, and the amount of frosting I got was just right for 19 cupcakes.

Frosting

1 stick of unsalted butter
1 box of Domino confectionary sugar
1/4 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla

Whip for a while, color if you want.

I saw her say on Martha Stewart.."Oh, Martha. I never sift. That's just more to clean." I did sift though because no one likes biting into a lump of salt or flour.

& the finished product

To be perfectly honest I found them a bit dense, but they were delicious none the less.
& they are officially the first cupcakes I've made that my husband has totally devoured.

300 teeny weeny cupcakes

2008-03-17T10:22:00.002-05:00

I blogged earlier about the potential job for a local store here.
This store, Blue 7, decided that they wanted to commission me for 300 teeny tiny bite sized vegan french toast cupcakes.

My first reaction was..oh shit there's no way I can pull that off by myself! No freakin way.
I decided I was going to call him & say thanks, but no thanks. I just don't think I can do it in my tiny kitchen with my crappy oven & my two little monkeys at my feet the entire time. Their favorite thing to do while I'm baking is dip their fingers in the batter. While that's fine when I'm baking for us or friends I didn't think the general public of Oklahoma City would appreciate snot, juice residue, or whatever other random things living on their hands in their cupcakes.
I got bullied into doing it though, being told all the things you get told when someone's trying to push you to better yourself..you'll regret it if you don't give it a shot. That kinda stuff that you know you need to hear but hate the person telling you because they're seriously inhibiting your ability to be as lazy as possible.
So, I gave in & called him telling him that he would indeed have his 300 cupcakes by 11:30am on Saturday, March 15th.

Now comes the question: How am I going to pull this off when I'm still a total amateur & have never baked more than 3 dozen at one time?
Through friends & family I was able to devise a game plan.
Wednesday was cleaning day. I put away every kitchen appliance that wasn't required for baking. I did every dish in the house, then wiped down every counter space in sight. I got out all the ingredients I would need for the next day & set them out. Every time I'd walk through the kitchen I'd prepare myself mentally & beg God for the willpower to get the job done.

Thursday was sifty mixy day. I sifted together all my dry ingredients & bagged them up in ziploc baggies.
Then I mixed together all my icing then stored the handy rubbermaid containers in my newly super clean refrigerator.

Friday was baking day. Dun dun dun...for some reason this was the day I was most apprehensive about.
But everything went remarkably well. Despite the fact that filling 300 tiny cupcake liners is a total pain in the ass & a serious strain on one's back, I got them all done.
I finished early enough to take the kids out shopping where they both scored a new pair of shoes in celebration of mommy's achievement.

Saturday morning I awoke at the literal ass crack of dawn to ice the cupcakes only to realize that my icing was way too thin. I miscalculated obviously. I should've known something was a-miss on Thursday when I had nearly 3 bags of powdered sugar left over even though we had calculated everything down to the last speck of flour. Instead I thought "Awesome! I have left over sugar for later!" After my poor husband talked me down from a near panic attack that would've warranted saying "step back in the window off the ledge" if we lived in a high rise apartment instead of a single wide trailer I did the super easy task of thickening the icing by just adding the missing sugar into the mix.
Then came the piping on of the icing. While I enjoy the outcome this is the part I hate the most. Filling a pastry bag is about as much fun to me as biking naked in January. But I pulled through it..
I then finished them off with a sprinkle of cinnamon & was finally finished.

I then proceeded to put on all new clothes-something I haven't done in ages. The night before I shaved my legs-gasp! & cut all my hair off.
I even smeared on a little makeup before delivering the goods.

I let Cory take the huge pastry boxes in before I went into the store. I don't know why but I didn't want to be there when they opened the boxes.
So I marched in after my husband, feeling hotter than ever, with one kid on a hip & the other holding my hand, & saw that they were all practically drooling over the cupcakes. They raved on & on about how delicious they were when I brought in the samples & how they couldn't wait to eat them all.

I collected my check then waltzed around the store, bought myself a scarf for a job well done, and left feeling more accomplished than ever. Save for the two times I pushed a human out of my vagina.

So there you have it...I am now a "professional" so to speak.
I take comfort in knowing that it couldn't possibly get worse than 300 tiny cupcakes, right?
& I've decided that in the future if I ever get ridiculously rich & famous for having the most amazing bakery in area I will hire an assistant whose only job will be to clean up after me. I'm still sweeping powdered sugar off my kitchen floor.

vegan golden vanilla cupcakes with vegan fluffy vanilla buttercream

2008-03-05T09:56:00.002-06:00

My little girl requested blue cupcakes & who am I to refuse?
I decided to try my hand at another vegan recipe so I turned to my trusty Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook. If you don't have this one yet by the way you're really not livin. It has some of the most amazing recipes in it and is so enjoyable to flip through.

I present to you one of the most amazing cupcakes that has ever passed my lips.

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup soy margarine*
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of whatever extract you choose. I opted for black walnut, but you can add in almond, caramel, lemon, more vanilla..whatever your heart desires.

*You can choose to use 1/3 cup canola oil if you don't have any margarine, just add an extra 1/2 teaspoon salt into the mix.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside for a few minutes to get good & curdled.
Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.
In a separate large bowl, use a handheld mixer at medium speed to cream the margarine and sugar for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Beat in the vanilla and other extract, if using, then alternate beating in the soy milk mixture and dry ingredients, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times.
(If you're using oil beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla, and other extracts in a large bowl. Then sift in the flour, cornstarch baking powder, baking soda, and salt then mix until no large lumps remain.)
Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way and bake for 20-22 minutes till done.
Cool for 10 minutes in pan then transfer to wire rack & cool completely.
Inhale deeply & take in the incredible aroma that's now filling your kitchen.

Vegan fluffy buttercream frosting:
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup soy margarine
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted if clumpy
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy milk or soy creamer (they say to use plain soy milk but again, I used vanilla & it turned out fine)

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy.
Add sugar and beat for about another 3 minutes.
Add the vanilla and soy milk, beat for another 5-7 minutes until fluffy.

I then colored the icing blue of course & Faith helped me top it off with pink sugar crystals, just because.

These are so vanilla-y, butter-y, fluffy and just down right perfect.
Enjoy!

Vegan French Toast Cupcakes

2008-03-04T17:56:00.003-06:00

These were by FAR my favorite of the 3 kinds I made. They were so incredibly delicious & moist. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. The other two, I just took one bite of each to make sure they were suitable & surrendered the rest to the kids or Cory. This one though, I ate the whole cupcake. It was seriously yummy.

1 cup soy milk-vanilla or plain, doesn't matter. I used vanilla though.
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 Tbs cornstarch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp maple extract
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line pans with paper liners.
Whisk soy milk and vinegar together in a large bowl and set aside to curdle. Curdle curdle curdle..what a disgusting word.
In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add oil, sugar and extracts to the soy milk mixture and beat until mixed.
Add dry mixture to soy milk mixture and beat until no large lumps remain.
Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.

Vegan cream cheese frosting:
1/4 cup margarine softened-not all margarine you buy at the store is vegan, check your ingredients!
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream together margarine and cream cheese.
Add sugar in 1/2 cup batches to avoid a mess. Mix until smooth and creamy.
Add vanilla and beat until smooth.

I was a bit weary of vegan cream cheese but I really couldn't tell the difference. I actually almost think it was better than the cream cheese frosting I usually make. It was so much lighter & fluffier. I even ate some of the cream cheese on a bagel this morning. Delicious.

Low Fat Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

2008-03-04T17:45:00.002-06:00

I knew I wanted to do something chocolatey. This one was at the request of my husband. I was skeptical at first about the one in VCTOW so I decided to meld their recipe & Natalie's together. They turned out really delicious, but steer clear if you're not a chocolate fanatic. They were incredibly rich.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup strong brewed coffee, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
I also tossed in a couple pinches of cayenne pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cayenne pepper if you've decided to add it to the mix into a small bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, coffee, vanilla and almond extracts.
Add the flour mixture, beating until smooth. Mix in balsamic vinegar.
Stir in chocolate chips. Give a few to your toddler because it's really not fair that you'd sneak a few & he wouldn't get any.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
And about the wire rack...seriously, they cost almost nothing & are worth the investment. They keep the bottoms of your cupcakes from getting all soggy.

Cinnamon cream cheese frosting:
4 oz low-fat (or vegan) cream cheese
1/4 cup butter (or your favorite soy margarine)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Blend the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl until well combined.
Add cocoa powder, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar (you might want to add the sugar a little at a time to avoid a mess and to make sure the frosting isn’t too stiff to spread.) Increase the speed and beat until fluffy.

I'm with Natalie on the frosting..it was so crazy rich that I didn't put much on. Just enough to top them off because a cupcake without icing is..well..just a muffin after all.
I also stuck a little bar of dark chocolate in the top of each cuppycake & it was a nice touch. They turned out quite well.

Applesauce Cupcakes with Vanilla Caramel Frosting

2008-03-04T15:54:00.002-06:00

I knew I wanted to do something fruity for them to taste and this one sounded so delicious.

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbs buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 350 and line pan with paper liners.
Sift together the flour, baking power, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, allspice, nutmeg and salt into a small bowl.
In a large bowl cream the sugar and butter. Add egg, beating well. Mix in vanilla and beat until smooth. In a small bowl, mix together applesauce and buttermilk.
Alternately beat flour mixture and buttermilk mixture into butter mixture. Make two additions of applesauce and three of flour. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

I decided not to top them with buttercream because it's just way too sweet for me & it just didn't sound like a buttercreamy cupcake to me.
I used a frosting with whipping cream similar to the one I used on the oreo cookies & cream cupcakes.

for the frosting:
1 stick of butter, softened
1 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
pinch of salt
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp caramel flavoring

Mix together butter, sugar, and salt til creamy, then increase speed & beat it til it's nice & fluffy.
Add in the whipping cream & your extracts, mix it all up.

These tasted so light & delicious, not too unlike my apple banana muffins. Just without the banana of course.

I tried to color the icing a deep red but had just enough red for a nice hot pink. I decided it was destiny & went with the flow. Then I topped each one with a lovely slice of apple.

Maybe the start of something..?

2008-03-04T15:40:00.005-06:00

Okay. There's a store here in town that sells handmade goods from locals. I've been talking about taking in some cupcakes for a while & seeing if they'd be interested in taking them on.
My wonderful husband who believes in everything I do went in one day last week for me & asked them. They were beyond excited & interested so yesterday I baked up 3 batches & took them in. I haven't heard yet from them how delicious they were, but they did say that they would like me to bake 100-150 cupcakes for an event they're having on the 15th. I'm excited and terrified. That's a lot of cupcakes!
We'll see what comes of it, but I thought I would share what I made to take in yesterday with you.
All of these recipes came from Natalie of Bake and Destroy. Thanks again for sharing your baking wisdom with the rest of us.

I'm gonna split them up over the next 3 entries for you. I doubt I'll have time to post all of them today but hopefully over the next couple days they'll all be here for you to enjoy.

Keep baking! Or if you haven't, start. There's nothing quite like the euphoria & happiness that comes from the sound of a handmixer.

Hummingbird cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

2008-01-10T10:05:00.000-06:00

I remember watching Paula Deen make a hummingbird cake while pregnant with my son. My mouth would not stop watering and it was definitely one of those moments you wished a remote that could send food through the television at the click of a button.

I attended a potluck dinner last night and knew I wanted to make red velvet cupcakes but I wanted to take two kinds so I decided to give hummingbird cupcakes a whirl.
This was the best I could improvise the recipe into cupcake form.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line your muffin pans with cupcake liners. This recipe got me about 15 cupcakes.

Here's what you'll need:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup crushed canned pineapple, with the juice
1 mashed over ripe banana
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt then mix it all up.
Add oil and vanilla to the flour mixture.
Mash bananas then add in the pineapple, bananas & pecans
Beat the 2 eggs
Mix everything together, there you have your batter.
Fill each liner 2/3 way and stick em on the oven.

Bake for about 25 minutes, then cool in pans for 10 minutes, finish cooling on a wire rack.

I had cream cheese icing left over from my red velvet cupcakes so I put a thin layer on top of these and decided to make little fondant hearts to place on top.

They were so moist and delicious. As my friend Jodi said, "These are the jam."

Billy's Vanilla Vanilla cupcake with browned butter frosting

2008-01-02T14:18:00.000-06:00

I was in a baking mood and searching for something to make. Cory's favorite cakes are yellow cake and vanilla. I decided to go on the hunt for something in the vanilla family. And I found the perfect one posted on Natalie's blog-once again.

1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 tablespoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners; set aside. (This recipe made 24 beautiful cupcakes for me.) Mix together flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Then add butter and mix until just coated with flour. (The recipe calls for a standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment but I only have a hand mixer so I used my trusty right hand and a wooden spoon to mix it all together.)

whisker together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Even though the recipe called for 1 teaspoon of vanilla I put in two because Cory really loves vanilla and they turned out so perfect. Mix together wet ingredients with the dry stopping to scrape down side of the bowl as the mood hits you. Beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but don't overbeat.

Divide batter among liners, filling about two-thirds full.

Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean. (being Asian, I use chopsticks. They're perfect for cake testing.) Guesstimated baking time is 17-20 minutes.

Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Browned Butter Frosting-I found this recipe in my father in law's new Better Homes & Gardens cookbook and it was truly delicious. A touch too sweet for me, but everyone else seemed to love it. My nephew told me it was one of the best cupcakes he'd ever had and I think it was mostly because of this frosting really.

This recipe makes about 3 cups of icing by the way..

3/4 cup butter
6 cups powdered sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons vanilla

In a small saucepan heat butter over low heat until melted. Continue heating until butter turns a light golden brown. Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl combine powdered sugar, 4 tablespoons of milk, and the vanilla. Then add the browned butter.

Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed. You can add extra milk to reach the consistency you like. For me though 4 tablespoons was perfect.

I already had some adorable flower confetti sprinkles so I thought tinting the frosting pink would be a nice touch. I took some to my tattoo artist & she assured me she would be eating them all on the way home in her car.

Red Velvet cupcakes

2008-01-02T13:58:00.000-06:00

I decided I wanted to take some kind of cupcake to my parents house for Christmas. None of my family had ever really tried my cupcakes and most of them seemed to snicker when I told them my goal was to open my own bakery. So I wanted to make the most mind blowing cupcakes I'd ever made and show them that I can kick ass in the kitchen despite what most of them think. I could go into a long giant rant about how incredibly unsupportive most of my family has been about any decision I've made in my life, but I'll spare you the vomitous venting session and get right to the nitty gritty of the cake.

I wanted to try the Paula Deen recipe that Natalie had posted on her Bake & Destroy blog because they looked so delicious and so..well..Christmas-y, being red and all.

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1/2 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*A side note: I purchased an oven thermometer..finally..and discovered that when just turned to about 250 degrees my oven heats up to an incredible 375. I told you-cantankerous bitch. No wonder I'd been having trouble achieving the perfect cupcake.
Line your muffin pan with your cupcake liners. (I made a double recipe & got 23 cupcakes I believe)
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, egg, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined. (I was so delighted to see the beautiful rich dark red color appear. This is the point in this recipe when I reached baking euphoria..it's a different moment with each one.)

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake in oven for about 20 to 22 minutes, turning the pans once, half way through. Cupcakes are done when top springs back when lightly touched with finger. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes.

By far my favorite part of the recipe..the cream cheese frosting. I seriously wanted to get a big ass spoon and sit myself down in my papasan chair then partake in one final gluttonous act for the year 2007. (2008 will be the year of a smaller Vanessa, fingers crossed.)

1- 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Then you:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.

Despite the fact that I had to nearly force feed the two people in my family that did eat one they both said it was delicious. My husband loved them though and I think they're probably my favorite recipe so far. They were so light, fluffy, and delicious. Mmmm....I'm thinking of baking them once a month now to celebrate just being a woman. Which means I should go whip some up today. Better go to the store for some buttermilk.

vegan apple banana muffins

2007-12-21T09:00:00.000-06:00

After the sugar cookies and getting the tiny terrors to bed I started on my next baking adventure: vegan apple banana muffins.
These were made for Cory's Christmas breakfast at work, so I only got the privilege of eating half a muffin. (Cory ate the other half)
I'm not a vegan. I'm so not a vegan. There was one month year or so ago when I didn't eat meat for a whole month. (with the exception of that one bowl from KFC. It was asking to be eaten and I've never been the kinda girl that could say no when it comes to food) That's the closest I've ever come. But if everything vegan were this simple to make and tasted this delicious I'd jump on the vegan bandwagon.

2 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups apple juice
1 apple, diced
2 ripe bananas, smashed

Just toss everything together, put in muffin tins or liners, and bake at 325 for 35-45 minutes. Don't be afraid to fill the liners to near the top. These muffins were pretty dense so you won't get that nice muffin top. But the taste definitely makes up for its lack in beauty.

There's no need for butter, eggs, or milk because the moisture from the apple juice & fruit makes them so moist & perfect.

I made a double recipe because I knew there would be a lot of people at Cory's work this morning, and managed to fill all the liners I had left, which was 24, and I have enough batter left over for..ehh..probably 10 more or so. So I'm thinking this recipe should get you about 15-20 muffins give or take.

Sugar cookies

2007-12-21T08:39:00.000-06:00

My mom brought me her old Christmas cookie cutters the other day because she doesn't use them any more. I don't know that she ever did come to think of it.
So even though I despise Christmas and everything about it, I've come to the conclusion that I owe it to my kids to try & have the most kick ass Christmas's in the history of everything that has a history. I put up a tree this year-the first time in years-and have been burning the midnight oil trying to get their gifts ready. (I'm attempting to make them each a doll. This is laughable because I have no sewing skills whatsoever) So in honor of my least favorite holiday, I present to you...sugar cookies.

I found this recipe in an old copy of Kraft Food & Family. It was stuffed in with my cookbooks and is from the year 2004. I have no clue where it came from. Such is my life.

1 package cream cheese, softened (They say to use Philadelphia cream cheese. I despise product placement by the way and used some generic cream cheese)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl on medium speed until well blended. Then add flour and baking soda; mix well.

Roll out the dough to your desired thickness. They say 1/8 inch, but I don't like wussy thin sugar cookies, so I rolled mine out thicker. They we cut into shapes and placed in a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes

I used the same icing recipe from the oreo cupcakes, sans the oreos.
I let Faith pick the colors and requested pink and "lellow". But I had no "lellow", so we decided blue would be an okay alternative. Then I used Wilson color to beautify the icing.

They're quite delicious cookies, and we had tons of fun making them. Faith was most helpful in cutting out the shapes, and we ended up with some mutant looking snowmen.
Faith agrees that they're good...especially if you just lick the icing off the top of the cookie.

Cutting out the cookies

Cupcakes happen to be my favorite

2007-12-18T09:42:00.000-06:00

So for my first posting I will share a recipe from howtoeatacupcake.
She seems to be a fairly nice young lady so I'm sure she wouldn't mind me sharing the recipe here as well.
I used a friend's birthday as an excuse to bake a massive number of Oreo cookies & cream cupcakes.
See, my husband doesn't exactly share my love for all things tooth achingly sweet so I don't really have a guinea pig to try recipes out on. I especially can't give them to my kids seeing as how they automatically turn into tiny tornadoes of terror at the slightest hint of sugar.
Therefore my friends have become subject to my baking.

Okay...I didn't think ahead enough to take pictures of all my ingredients & the whole process of putting these little wonders together, but on the original recipe I stole from she does all that for you.

and the recipe is as follows...

30 Oreo cookies
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
1 cup sour cream-she states in her blog that she lets her sour cream sit til it reaches room temperature so I did the same.
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract-I'm a lucky girl who has managed to obtain pure vanilla from Mexico. I like to open the bottle and smell it at random times throughout the day.

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.
2. Count out 12 Oreos and separate the top and bottom wafers. Make sure each has some of the icing on it. Place one wafer, icing side up, in the bottom of each paper liner. Set them aside. Place the remaining 18 Oreos between sheets of waxed paper or in a large, closed zipper-lock bag and crush them by rolling over them with a rolling pin. Set these crumbs aside.
(Okay...I got confused here because..and follow my train of thought here...this recipe was supposed to make 24 cupcakes, but she's only saying to use 12 oreos for the bottom of the cupcakes. Then the light went on and I realized that if you separate the 12 Oreos you will, in fact, have 24 cookies to place in the liners. Hello. My name is Vanessa and I'm a college dropout. )
3. Place the cake mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 1 1/2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the crushed Oreos and fold these into the batter until well incorporated. Set aside the remaining crushed Oreos for the frosting. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans in the oven.
4. Bake the cupcakes until they are lightly golden and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.
(I left mine in the liners. I have this obsession with cupcake liners, even if they're just the boring green and pink paper ones. I find them adorable and have considered stitching a dress together made of cupcake liners just for the hell of it.)

I also used her icing recipe, who she apparently got from Natalie of Bake and Destroy-who I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with. I mean..could she BE any cuter?

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
a pinch of salt
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
remaining crushed Oreos

Mix together butter, confectioners sugar, and a pinch of salt until it’s creamy. Increase your mixer speed to high and beat until its light and fluffy. Add whipping cream and vanilla. Beat until its smooth. Fold in crushed Oreos. Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes.

(I thought the butter, sugar, and salt was going to turn into this creamy like substance, but no...I realized that light & fluffy meant a light & fluffy texture. It isn't going to look anything like icing yet, not until you put in the whipping cream. I told you, I'm a beginner, and I'd never made ice cream without the use of crisco before. Not only am I a college dropout, but I barely passed high school, okay)

Okay. Pictures of the finished product...

Now, you'll notice that they're a bit too brown.
This is due to the fact that my oven is a cantankerous bitch run off propane. I love cooking propane but I've found that baking with propane is a serious pain in the ass. I checked them at one point & they didn't seem quite done yet so I set my internal timer for a minute. ONE minute. Then I take the out to discover they've attained an ever so silghtly browned outer layer.

No one seemed to mind seeing as how the wonderful cavity inducing inside & frosting over powered the taste of the outside.

They were a hit and I am now a goddess. I believe the word "amazing" was mentioned once or twice.

So there you have it.

Oreo cookies & cream cupcakes=deliciousness.

and just who are you?

2007-12-18T09:03:00.001-06:00

Name's Vanessa Kim.
I'm new to this blogger business. I blog obsessively on myspace, but I wanted to have a different place to share my baking and other life adventures.
This is mostly for my benefit. If you happen to trip over someone else's site and land in mine, let me e-shake your hand and welcome you. If you find me boring don't worry, a lot of people do-it's not just your imagination.

Okay...the "stats"
Height-5'7"
Weight-I got junk in my trunk and I like it that way
I've been married to a wonderful man for 4 & 1/2 years now.
We have done our part in overpopulating the earth by having two children.
Faith Elizabeth Melinda is 3 and Elliott Django Stephen A. is 19 months old.
No, Django is not because of Star Wars. Yes, we like long names.
I've been baking since I was old enough to open the oven. Granted up until recently it's been mostly cake mixes, but baking none the less.
Within the last few month it's become almost an obsession with me though, and thank God because my life is relatively boring with the diaper changes and Yo Gabba Gabba routine.

So I'm going to push publish post now & pop this blogger cherry. Let's get this party started...