Maybe the start of something..?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.