Banana Caramel Cupcakes

HEY SAY there's a reason people from your past don't make it to your future.  I try not to dwell on the reason when it's one that causes pain.  For the past few months I've been working hard not to let the darkness define me, instead striving to become a source of light.  I have been trying to actively focus on the current moment and the positives because there is so much to smile about.

Up until recently, the personal struggles I've been grappling with have felt inescapable, consuming most of my thoughts and creeping into my subconscious.  You'd think that if you let go of something toxic that it'd be easy to move on, but then grief always catches me off guard.  

Even though there are still difficult days where I feel like I'm relapsing, most days I feel like I am making progress because I still gained a lot when I lost.  Over time, the clarity that truth provides has given me a renewed sense of self-worth and optimism.  I feel good about not taking the easy route that troubled people often do, ignoring logic and reasoning for the temporary and illusionary psychological comfort of the status quo.

In the time spent away from blogging I took greater interest in many activities that slowly helped bring me back to feeling like me.  Yoga has been and remains one of the most influential.  It teaches appreciation for the journey rather than the destination; it dissolves the ego and allows us to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us if only we took the time to look for it.

My months have been filled with lots of loyal friends, new faces, and countless fun activities: live concerts, comedy shows, parties and gatherings, poetry readings, basketball games, photography, and most recently a return to the kitchen.  I feel ready to re-immerse myself again after taking some time out to reflect and pursue other interests.

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 pureed bananas
• ½ cup sour cream
• 3 tbsp dark rum
• 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 oz. butter, room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• banana chips for garnish

CUPCAKE DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients (pureed bananas, sour cream, rum and vanilla extract) in another.
3. Beat butter until smooth and add sugars slowly until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and mix after each addition. Then alternatively add dry ingredients and wet ingredients, starting and ending with the dry mixture. Do not overbeat!
4. Fill mini cupcake pan until ¾ full. Pop into oven to bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

CARAMEL FROSTING INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup water
• 6 oz unsalted butter at room temperature
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp rum
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 16 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

FROSTING DIRECTIONS

1. Mix sugar and water in a saucepan, cooking on medium high heat until sugar dissolves. Then raise heat and let the mixture boil. Do not stir. 
2. When the sugar is a deep amber (took approximately 20 minutes for me), remove immediately and stir in butter sour cream, vanilla extract, rum, and salt. Let cool.
3. In your stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until it's smooth and beat in the caramel.
4. Place in refrigerator until firm enough to pipe. Overnight is a good choice, or freezer if you want to expedite the process.
5. Frost and garnish with banana chips. Eat immediately! :)

Banana chip on top.

Once In A Blue Moon (Cupcakes)

T FELT LIKE I hadn't made cupcakes in ages until my friend Rachel and I planned to make Blue Moon flavored cupcakes. The combination of wheat, honey and citrus-y notes that Blue Moon offers are so refreshing and make it one of the few beers I never really get sick of. I was very intrigued by the idea of a cupcake with this flavor and consequently pretty thrilled to make them.

To accomodate Nick's veganism, we opted for a cream cheese-less frosting, but if you don't have these dietary restrictions, I say use regular cream cheese!

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cups Earth Balance butter (room temp)
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp orange zest (reserve a little bit extra for garnish)
• 1 cup Blue Moon
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• orange wedges (garnish)

FROSTING INGREDIENTS

• 12 oz Tofutti vegan cream cheese
• 6 tbsp Earth Balance butter
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 5 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl: flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine milk and Blue Moon in another bowl. Beat together softened butter and sugar until fluffy. 
2. Add eggs one at a time to butter/sugar mixture and then vanilla and orange zest. Then add milk/Blue moon mixture alternating with dry ingredients to the creamed butter/sugar.
3. Fill cupcake liners 2/3rd full and bake at 375 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
4. For the frosting, first cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add orange juice, zest, and powdered sugar until smooth.
5. Apply frosting to cupcakes with a knife once cupcakes have cooled. Garnish with orange wedge and orange zest.

Needle and Thread Mother's Day Cupcakes

Just dropping in to share some Mother's Day cupcakes I whipped up:

Sew cute, right?

I chopped up peel-able Twizzlers to imitate stitches of thread and used a toothpick to look like a needle. Don't remember where I saw the idea, but it's an easy one to execute and a definite mom-pleaser. :) Enjoy your Mother's Day!

MARGARET

Snow Nice to Eat You

EOPLE WHO SAY "I don't eat sweets" don't make sense to me. It doesn't make me think they're better or healthier or that they have more self control. It actually makes me feel sorry for them because they don't seem like happy people. And because I love desserts. They're good when I wake up, they're good supplements to my meal, and they're especially good right before I pass out in my bed. 

The smallest nibble of a cookie or mouthful of cake can comfort me when no thought, person, event, or form of therapy can. I've seen people who seem like they would never be friends smile over a cupcake, which makes me wonder... why do people even act like peace isn't possible? And these people who allegedly do not eat sweets, do they know what they're missing?

As you might be able to guess, I had a craving one week and a perfect occasion not to gobble them up all by myself. I made some chocolate cupcakes and used festive Christmas toppers I received last year to adorn them. Dust on some powdered sugar and voila!—snow wonder they're so cute, right? It's like staring at a miniature Winter Wonderland.

Pine and dandy Christmas cupcakes.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup butter, slightly softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• powdered sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
2. Combine butter and sugar with a mixer at medium speed for 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, then alternately add dry mixture and buttermilk to sugar and butter mixture.
3. Bake at 350° for 17 minutes, then remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes. Lightly sprinkle powdered sugar (I like to use a tea strainer for this if you don't own a sugar duster) over cooled cupcakes. Yields 12 cupcakes. The "snow" may "melt" a little so it might work better if you spread some buttercream frosting on them first.

Happy Feasting!

Margaret

Turtle-ly Awesome Cupcakes

Y SWEETHEART of a sister volunteers for an ocean conservation center in San Francisco and wanted to let them eat cake on the last day together. Naturally, a wave of excitement washed over me (pardon the puns... they can't be helped today) and I remembered a Bakerella-inspired turtle cupcake I had seen in the past that would rise to the occasion.

Sea for yourself (I told you the puns were unstoppable) and read on to learn how to make your own:

Are these to 'dive' for or what?

Have fun. :) And be sure to stay tuned for a tour of my new apartment!
Margaret

Mini Golf

EFORE I MET him, I had already heard stories about Nick's uncle, one of which I had to see to believe. Appropriately nicknamed "Tiger" as in Tiger Woods, he had already proven time and time again that he was a Wii Golf champion. I was most disbelieving of the dessert fiend rumor until it was confirmed one night when he gobbled up a plate of at least 30 mini lemon drizzles.

Using this knowledge of his lemon fanaticism and unrivaled golf acumen, I decided to whip up some luxuriously rich lemon cupcakes modeled after a golf course.

The finished product was awesome—with green sanding sugar for the "grass", mini jawbreakers for golf balls, and golf flags made from yellow construction paper that I cut out and glued to toothpicks. I also used crushed graham crackers for the bunkers, but crushed vanilla wafers would work just as well.

Anyone want to play mini golf? ;-)

{Tart Lemon Cupcakes}

Difficulty Level: Easy
Time: 35 minutes preparation, 20-25 minutes baking
Yields: 15 regular-sized cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter
  
• 1 cup white sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
  
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 cup sour cream
• mini jawbreakers

DIRECTIONS

Combine slightly softened butter with sugar, and cream together. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Combine all dry ingredients. Alternately add dry ingredients and sour cream into mixture. Bake at 375° F for 25-30 minutes. Remove, cool for 10 minutes, frost, and get ready for "tea time"!

xo, margaret

New Beginnings

ECENTLY I attended a party for my old coworkers April and Nelson to celebrate their new jobs! I made some scrumptious bite-sized carrot cupcakes with maple syrup cream cheese frosting (quite a mouthful indeed), and designed some cupcake toppers for a personal touch.

Next time I make these, I may substitute half of the oil with applesauce for a healthier treat and add chopped walnuts on top. Let me know what you think would be a tasty modification!

Lots of Love,

Margaret

Welcome!

My latest venture, Cupcake & Cookie Confections, is being launched into a full scale bakery, which is awesome! I will not be able to help with the bakery, as I am moving 300 miles away in several months, which is not so awesome. I still, however, will be baking and documenting--whether noticed or not--my trials in the kitchen, which is awesome. So, that's a net gain of awesome.

In the next few weeks I will be sprucing up the site and piggybacking posts over from another blog so they are viewable here. Thanks for reading!