Baking Supplies

This place has some awesome baking supplies: Bake it Pretty.

cupcake berlin

cupcake berlin, originally uploaded by hello naomi.

Do you think they serve beer with their cupcakes in Berlin?

red owl and bird cupcake box

red owl and bird cupcake box, originally uploaded by hello naomi.

Big sigh of how cute these are!

Owlies!

Owl Cake and Cupcakes, originally uploaded by jdesmeules (Blue Cupcake).

Love these little buttercream roses

Peter Rabbit cupcakes, originally uploaded by kylie lambert (Le Cupcake).

Dreamy daisies on a mountain of chocolate frosting

THE Chocolate Gluten Free Cupcakes, originally uploaded by Bev (Sugarbloom Cupcakes).

Big hearts!

Garden Party Birthday Cupcakes, originally uploaded by Bev (Sugarbloom Cupcakes).

A Grover Cupcake!

grover hangs out with a goofy cupcake version of himself
Originally uploaded by Rakka

I know it's not Christmas yet, but it will be!

Peppermint Twist Cupcake ICE Challenge December,
originally uploaded by Fields of Cake.

Cinammon Roll Cupcakes?

Look at what the Beantown Baker made! mmmmm.....

Cupcakes and a teardrop trailer

Wacky Cake Recipe for Cupcakes

Must have ingredients:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (USE DARK COCOA-Hershey's makes one that will work)

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon vinegar

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup cold water

Possible additions that I have used (not all at the same time, pick one)

½ teaspoon of chipotle chili powder (or ancho works really well too)

1 cup cold coffee instead of water

1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder

1 teaspoon of orange oil

1 tablespoon of Kahlua or Grand Marnier

In a mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Make three wells in the dry ingredients, one small, one medium sized, and one larger. In smallest hole put vanilla (or other addition from the list). In the middle size hole add the vinegar, and in the third the oil. Pour the cold water over the mixture and stir until moistened. Bake at 350°F preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. I have taken to using a ¼ cup measuring cup for transferring the mix to the cupcake liners. A scant ¼ cup will give you about 18 cupcakes. Sometimes a few more.

Other important cupcake tips-- when you remove them from the oven, use a baking rack to cool for just a few minutes in the pan. Remove from pan and then let them cool completely on the racks. Easy.

Boston Banana Cream Cupcakes

Finished cupcakes with caramelized banana on top.




Chocolate ganache awaiting final banana!


Kim working on the assembly line.


Naked cupcakes.

Cupcakes for ye wedding

I would like to make several different types of cupcakes for ye old gay wedding. I think that for sure, Chockylit's lavender cream filled vanilla cupcakes with citrus frosting.

I was also thinking about Cupcake Royale's salted caramel chocolate cupcakes. I freaking love salted caramel. I couldn't get enough of Trader Joe's version at the holidays. DELICIOUS!!!

Meanwhile, I meet someone today who knows the owner of Cupcake Royale today. It was a big thrill. I am such a cupcake geek!

Rosie is thinking lemon, but I don't really have a favorite. Would 5 dozen cupcakes be enough for 50 people? I just don't know.

Part 2 of Recipes

Here's the other things that I made:

Lavender cream filled cupcakes with a citrus cream cheese frosting-- a recipe from the now defunct Chockylit's cupcake blog.


Potato salad from the Salt Lick (although I added 4 strips bacon to mine and cut the mayo by 1/2). The key is truly brining the onions in pickle juice overnight.

Corn avocado salad from the Food Network. I subbed sundried tomatoes for the grape tomatoes.

And finally, I made hamburger and hot dog buns from scratch. The recipe is in this month's edition of Gourmet Magazine. More pictures are available on my facebook page-- see the album titled "Baked things."

99 cent jr. bacon cheeseburger cucpake

99 cent jr. bacon cheeseburger cucpake,
originally uploaded by the weichbrodts.

Why haven't I made these?!?

Bowling for Cupcakes

We went candle-pin bowling for the first time. Very difficult. In honor of the birthday girl, we made bowling cupcakes from Hello Cupcake. Let me say these were very hard. VERY hard.

Cupcakes!

Chocolate Lab cakes and Schlitter cakes with tubes and sharks

Hello Cupcake!

The book Hello Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson is a wonderful gem. My sister, Karla, sent it to me. So far, I have made the owls and the sunflowers.

Owls (very easy!)

My niece, Lauren, made these butteflies.

My sunflowers for Katie's birthday.

Making Vanilla Cupcakes

I have tried a lot of different recipes in the last 2 years of cupcake baking. I think that the best vanilla cupcake (for me) is Amy Sedaris's which you can double check if you are so inclinded in her book I Like You, off of her blog, or off of Chockylit's blog which is an excellent cupcake baking blog with some of the best recipes I have ever made. I have copied it from Chockylit's blog with a few additional notes.

Of all the cupcakes I make this one consistently is an adult-crowd pleaser. It is moist, not too dense, vanilla-y, and yummy.

Vanilla Cupcakes from Amy Sedaris This always makes 24 for me.


1½ sticks unsalted butter
1¾ cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla Do not use imitation vanilla! If you are that person, then you should really just not be baking and get it from a bakery instead.
½ teaspoon salt
2½ teaspoons baking powder
2½ cups flour
1¼ cups milk

Best when all ingredients are at room temperature! This is a key!

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.

2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

3. Beat in eggs, vanilla, salt and baking powder.

4. Add flour in 3 batches, alternating with milk. I like to start on a flour and end on a milk. If you have a stand mixer you never need to stop the machine, just add in small batches flour-milk-flour-milk-flour-milk.

5. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds or until mixture is smooth and satiny.

6. Divide batter evenly among cups. I use an ice cream scoop about 2/3rds full.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean.

7. Cool on wire rack for 45 minutes or until at room temperature. If you don't have a wire rack, you should still take them out of the muffin pan to cool on the counter.


Note: This recipe makes more than 12 cupcakes. Be careful to fill only 2/3s to 3/4s full so they don’t overflow.