Janejerously Sweet

I'm Back!

2009-09-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

I know I know...it's been seriously like a month since I've updated. This doesn't mean I stopped baking!!....Well, I did some SERIOUS baking this weekend. Good news- I was asked to audition for a FoodNetwork Cupcake challenge series. (Doesn't mean I'll be on tv but I'm shooting for it hahah) They asked me to create 1 or more than one crazy cupcake to show or bring in for my audition....SO I made 4.

These are my cheesy sketches that I came up with

So we're starting with my: Ultimate-GrandeDeluxe'-Breakfast-Cupcake

Here we have a lovely bacon infused maple base, topped with a decadent maple frosting, with butterscotch "pancakes", and complimented by a bed of bacon and blueberry accents.

Bacon is key here...The rendered fat really bring out the flavors in the cupcake.

Next up we have: Gold infused grande' espresso cupcake

Mademoiselle we have here a lovely Irish creme' and dark chocolate cake base topped with a silky espresso frosting with lovely gold accents.

"I lOvE GgGollLddD!"

Top View

Next is a little more fondant work: Meet HelloKitty

She's actually made of strawberry cake...mmM tastes cute too!

She sits on her glitter hill and white chocolate cake hill.

Next we have here a lovely - Itty-bitty-fits-in-your-hand wedding cake...

3 tiers --white chocolate filled with raspberry

Topped with Nature's own fancy jems....

There you have it---all done within 2 days...my feet and back hurt but it was all worth it

Thanks for stoppin by!

Ciao*

Vegan you say?....with a side of blueberries please!

2009-07-22T14:54:00.001-07:00

So at work I have a co-worker who is allergic to dairy products, but what do most of my cupcakes contain?...yup a LOT of dairy.

So I thought why not try to find a good recipe with no dairy...That's easy vegan recipe's are always safe! Keep in mind I never cook vegan or anything of the sort.

Ah!--side note--I found dark chocolate cocoa powder which totally made my day. It's pure amazing.....You should definitely keep your pantry stocked with this stuff...ITS GOLD!!!!

The BASE: or go HERE

*1 cup Chocolate soy milk
*1 tsp apple cider vinegar
*3/4 cup granulated sugar
*1/3 cup canola oil
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*1/2 tsp almond extract
*1 cup all-purpose flour
*1/3 cup cocoa powder
*3/4 tsp baking soda
*1/2 tsp baking powder
*1/4 tsp salt

----if you follow the link you can find out how to cook them properly...VERY simple and tasty!

Ta-Da! dark chocolate vegan cupcake...People who arn't vegans also gave great reviews : )
Frosting also doesn't contain any dairy!

A very deep, rich chocolaty flavor and color!

For the non-vegan people I baked Blueberry Pie Bars!!

Find recipe here:

Nice golden crust....I could eat it alone....It's my favorite part of a pie.

Individually wrapped for your enjoyment with a little hello kitty sticker steal

Enjoy!

Alana's B-day!

2009-07-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated birthday to Alana!

She turned a whoppin 18 years old

...okay im kidding...

Here are some of the cupcakes I made for her birthday. Her favorite cake is red velvet so I used the previous recipe for the base and topped it off with some cream cheese frosting.

Little candy pearls and glitter....very classy

Fondant flowers were fun to create. Felt like I was in art class again....

I even snuck in Hello Kittty!

It's not really Friday...but it is Friday

2009-07-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

So, to celebrate the fake friday we start the weekend off with moist red velvet cupcakes!

The color is vivid and the cake wasn't so dense and heavy as other red velvets I've had in the paste...Perfecto'!

The recipe can be found here:
Of course take note that baking times will differ. Cupcakes range from 20-25 min.

of course with decadent creme cheese frosting : )

Happy 4th everyone!

Enjoy!

Shmoooore Please!

2009-06-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend my kitchen hand torch finally made its way to my home...!!

So the first thing I did make, was a couple ramekins of creme'brule but that'll make for another blog....So I pondered and wondered what I could set on fire, and what better way to start off a Monday morning by torching some marshmallows!

So I started with a nice decadent chocolate base and a graham cracker crust

Note: you can either crush you're own or buy the already crushed graham cracker crumbs.

About a cup of graham crumbs and 2-3 tbsp of melted butter, mixed, and pressed into each cup.

For the Chocolate Cake:
(note: not sure where the base recipe is from...I've seen lots of people post similar recipes, but I've altered it a bit to fit my liking)

2 cups of Flour
1 cup of cocoa powder
2 and a half cups of sugar
1 and half tsp of baking soda
1 and a half tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
3 large eggs + 1 egg white
1 cup WHOlE milk
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 and 1/2 tsp of vanilla
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tbsp of instant espresso
1 cup of hot water
bag of marshmallows
box of graham crackers
box of chocolate bars--only because you can eat the rest later....hahah : )

Chocolate Frosting
2 sticks of butter
1 cup of cocoa powder
6 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 tsp of Vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350...
sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda , salt and cinnamon...
Now whisk together all the wet ingrediants -minus the hot water
Gradually add in the dry ingrediants and mix till combined
at last add in espresso and hot water...the hot water will set the batter
As the batter sets- will still be a bit watery- bake the graham cracker crust for about five minutes
Pull them out after they've turned golden brown and fill the cups with batter 3/4 full
bake for 20-25 min...till cake springs back
FOR FROSTING: beat the butter [should be at room temp please] with the cocoa powder. (this can cause the butter to become really rich and hard to beat)
start adding in the powdered sugar and heavy cream.
then add the vanilla and beat till smooth...or to the consistency that you want.
Next----the most important part of the process-- frost and decorate any way you want.
SINCE I had my torch I just went pyro and started setting all the marshmallows on fire...(its fun this way..hehe BECAREFUL THOUGH!-I don't have a thumbprint anymore)

1st clean attempt [FRONT]--or is there even a front?

quarter turn...

It was too clean...too simple...

So I just went a little overboard and placed more marshmallow and chocolates where needed...

The fam bam...

Some cupcakes had 2 marshmallows--mind that I am using jumbo ones--and some cupcakes had extra chocolate...

This is my 'messy' version: I set the marshmallow on fire and left it burning till it was about to explode...also it was hand frosted

Good times! Happy Monday and enjoi

FULLY loAded!

2009-06-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

Nobody likes humpday....BOO!!

So it's Wednesday and what better way to start off the middle of the week with a fully loaded coffee cake. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen everyone can have a better day....Follow LINK HERE:

Any who, the cake goes very well with coffee or tea obviously but can be enjoyed during any time of the day.

A little bit of the layering action....Sugar.cinnamon.chocolate.toffee...

Not only did I add toffee and a sh*t ton of jumbo chocolate chips, I also added a cup of butterscotch chips to the middle layer---thus making this fully loaded

I ended up with a pretty big batch of about 20 LARGE pieces. ---bigger the better right?

What's great is that the cinnamon-sugar mixture allowed for a nice crunchy topping to form.---very nice*

Super simple and easy to make! Enjoi*

Zeh GehrmEns are Coming!

2009-06-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

Back in action after a week or two....

I brain-stormed with my sugarplum and we decided that I should try to make German chocolate based cupcake....

So I've been following David Lebovitz HERE :

He has an amazinggggg German Chocolate cake....so why not turn it into a cupcake!?

The chocolate base smelled like heaven...
.just the right mixture of semi sweet and unsweetened chocolate for the right taste.

Eventually the cupcakes came out super moist, light, and fluffy....Just the way German Cake was intended to be made like. The trick was to fold in some whipped egg whites and sugar. Kept the consistency of the batter to be fluffy.

An Hour later all prepped and assembled...
(cupcakes can be cooked for about 20 min)

So first I made a cavity on the top of the cupcakes then rimmed them with the chocolate frosting. (Make sure everything is at room temp or nothing will assemble properly!)

After rimming the cupcakes, I filled them with the coconut-pecan mixture.
and voi-la!----German Chocoalte Cupcakes!

LUPICIA and Matcha

2009-06-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

Today's blog will be featuring LUPICIA fresh tea: Matcha Green Tea Powder

Growing up and still to this day, I've always seen my mother drinking green tea which was an everyday thing. It's part of our cuture, but then as time has passed you have probably seen more and more venues carrying products such as "green tea lattes" "green tea smoothies" and other similar foods and drinks. I tried my first green tea latte a few years ago and it is delicious! THEN good ole Pink berry came out with a green tea frozen yogurt treat which is my favorite dessert ever......So why not bake with it? It's good for you...right? ---yup, endorphins and antioxidants!

Matcha Tea – A Nutritious Beverage

Rich in Antioxidants and Chlorophyll
Contains Catechins Only Found in Green Tea
Naturally Mood Enhancing
Zero on the Glycemic Index - will not raise insulin levels
Sugar-free, High in Fiber

Matcha Tea – For Antioxidants
Exponentially Higher in Antioxidants than Blueberries and Spinach

Green teas contain a high amount of antioxidants, chemically compounds known to forestall aging. Antioxidants are found in many fruits and vegetables – even chocolate. A testing method known as ORAC – short for oxygen radical absorbance capacity, evaluates the antioxidant levels found in food. According to research done by Tufts University, the ORAC capacity of matcha green tea is exponentially higher than other foods known for their high antioxidants levels such as blueberries and spinach.

-Pulled from here

Note: I've had other matcha powder before, but the Lupicia has the best quality of tea by far. The green color is so vibrant it's screaming antioxidants!

The Recipe

Muffin Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2tsp Lupicia Matcha Green Tea Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 egg white
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sweetened coconut
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 to 2 1/2 cups blueberries (dusted with flour)

Cinnamon Topping

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 unsalted butter

preheat the oven to 350.
Now assemble your cinnamon topping. You want to soften the butter so you can cut it into the rest of the ingrediants.
mix all the dry ingrediants together and with a fork cut in the softened butter...set aside
Now in your mixer beat the butter, sugar and 1 tsp of the matcha power till a light fluffy green powder.

5. As your butter is beating, Sift all your dry ingredients and set aside.
6. Now add each egg one at a time. I recommend them to be room temp but it's okay if they're not.
7. After all eggs are mixed in add in your extracts and sour cream. Once again mix till blended in.
8. Now add the milk and dry ingredients last. A nice vibrant green batter should appear.
9. After everything is well combined...FOLD in blueberries, coconut, and white chocolate chips.

Finally, just distribute into either 12 large muffins or 24 smaller muffins. The bigger muffins are perfect for breakfast to compliment your choice of a delicious Lupicia tea.

Then generously top them with the cinnamon topping and pop them in the oven for about 30-35 min. Let the cool completely then enjoy!

Before the oven

After!!...Also I topped them with slivered almonds, but that is just my preference : )

Inside: Still that vibrant color with a subtle taste of matcha. Not bitter at all...just a delicious blueberry muffin on matcha-roids!

I reccomend any of the Lupicia teas. At the moment I'm drinking the Banane Chocolat (which smells like a chocolate covered banana! It's delicious!)

Visit the store HERE
or if you're here in LA
Visit Charles @
The Century City Mall: Lupicia
10250 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Classique'

2009-06-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

[Back to work it is]

So started with a new team and working on some C-h-i-p-m-u-n-k-s, but what better way to end a great week with a sugar induced seizure?...kidding....
Since palettes may vary, I'm easing everyone in with a classic vanilla cupcakes with a few blueberry flavored ones to mix it up.

Started with some pre-molded muffin cups...thought they'd nice with the bigger cupcakes. Also the recipe calls for self rising cake flour....this will do
Pure Cupcakes
by Sweet Revenge Bakery

Makes 24 cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs
3 cups self-rising cake flour
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons Mexican vanilla

[Note: I didn't obviously have Mexican vanilla so regular will do.]

As for the blueberry cupcakes I added these HUGE blueberries to them!

-So you want to beat the butter till its nice and fluffy

-Next and in the sugar till well incorprated and the butter lightens in color.

-add all the eggs, yes all 5 of them, one by one please...make sure each is incorporated before adding the next.

-now alternate adding in the buttermilk with the flour....but make sure you end with flour

- then add the vanilla last....smell it...and take it all in....there you go

-I divided the batter into two different mixing bowls and just added my awesome blueberries into one batch. half and half you see ; )

Classic Pure Vanilla

Blueberry Awesomeness

A better up close shot

For the frosting I used a basic buttercream recipe: for the blueberry frosting I puree'd a cup of blueberries and added them in. More sugar will be needed for the same consistency.

Packaged and ready to go....Enjoy!

WAKE UP!!

2009-05-22T09:40:00.001-07:00

Every morning its routine for me to have my daily cup of coffee which sparked an idea for a good cupcake. I've been lazy on my vacation and knew I should be updating this after my show wrapped. Any who here it is...

and yes...it does smell like awesome...

So I grabbed the recipes from Bake and Destroy:
you can find it HERE
Note: I didn't use the italian roast they were talking about...Just a Trader Joe's brand coffee which is just as delicious, oh wait, which is BETTER than the over-roasted starbucks brand....eat that.

some of the ingrediants and garnish action...

The Plain and ordinary

....and when its all done and said

All done and ready to go!

BUT ITS A 2for1-er
"and with your espresso cupcakes you get....."

Chocolate covered twinkies or....chocodiles as some would call it

Just a simple yellow cake'd twinkie stufffffeedd with marshmallow frosting...

MMMmmm DEElish

nice and moist---oh and fluffy

Then just simply packaged and ready to take to work...

-Enjoi-

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

2009-05-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

I'd like to introduce you to the newest addition to our family.....

This is little baby Maynard!
He's kind of the reason why the posts have slowed completely down...oh and massive OT @ work...lovely I know...

BUT he's pretty much settled in the house, and has become used to the kitchen and what goes on in there....

I know I know...it's a baking blog...

So as the little tyke was taking a nap...I baked (finally)!

I made coconut, butterscotch bars.
Pretty much are like blondie bars but with a little added flavors and no nuts. (partially because I was out hahah)

The base...

Recipe for these bars:

-Preheat oven to 350*-
-butter your pan very well...I had some sticking issues:rookie mistake-

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups butter
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup of coconut

1) Sift your dries in a separate bowl as you prepare your wets
2) Cream your sugars and butter and after fully mixed add the rest of your wets....eggs last please
3) Then slowly add your dries till fully incorporated
4) finally add the rest of you goodies....syrup...chips...coconut mmmmmmmmm deelish

Slop into a 9x13 ...well not slop but transfer to pan and throw it in the oven...20-25 minutes later you should have some delicious bars...

With coffee its magical....

DONE: just in time for the puppy to wake ...

The shows wrapping soon...More post soon to come!

Straight SleeStaCkin....

2009-05-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

so it's been a while but I'll explain later....

So I decided to go for a more funnier approach...lol and well I made sleestak pops!
If you've seen the old TV show, Land of the Lost, there are these creepy, slow characters called Sleestaks...Oh yes they are in the new movie too ;)
All the tools needed to make silly sleestacks...

So you do the usual cake mix for the pops, mold and let them set.
In this case I let them set with the 'mouths'.

...after an hour of dipping...pasting...setting...we have:
HAHAH they're silly...a bit retarded, but I think it adds character ;)

Fred

Oldies but Goodies

2009-04-22T23:01:00.001-07:00

So just to whip up something quick, I brought back my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and white chocolate chip coconut cookies....

The recipe is as follow:

1 cup sweet unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sweet creamy peanut butter (do not use reduced fat versions - I use Jiff or Peter Pan brands)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar packed
2 large eggs
1 table spoon honey
1 tsp vanilla extract --we need that flava
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips...I usually use more...

So like most common cookie recipes
- Start by pre-heating the oven to 325*
- Sift the dry ingredients first and set aside
- Start by creaming the butter
- Then slowly add sugars and once incorporated add each egg...one...by...one....(take it easy, its just a cookie)
- Whats left...ah yes...The vanilla,honey, and cinnamon next
- Once combined, add in the dry and mix until incorporated.
- add chocolate chips by hand.....

* Cooke for about 15 or until the edges are a golden brown*

now...help yourself ;)

You can make them whatever size you'd like, but bigga is betta!

The oatmeal cookies....

*This recipe was mentioned before and its super easy to make!

Crisp on the outside...soft inside...mmmMM

* If you ever want to know more specifics or anything else please feel free to comment or email me! Thanks!

OooO WeeEe...It's hot out there...

2009-04-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

So yesterday another weather record was broke or something like that....all I knew was that it was way to hot for me....(I don't do well in heat)

Anyways, on any hot summer day its usually nice to just sit on the porch...drink a beer or lemonade....and just relax. Unfortunately I've been at my desk for the past however long it's been :( It's not just me, but the whole Land of the Lost crew that has been stuck inside not being able to enjoy the weather. Ohhh yah BTW thanks to all you FB people who like to spam us with updates telling us how nice the beach is and how awesomely tan you're getting...we hate you. (only because we're jealous) ;)
There is some good that comes out of this story...I swear....

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes!

Since I don't have much time I used a quick and simple recipe that take just minutes to prepare

Ingredients

1 white cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package strawberry Jell-O gelatin dessert
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1 (10 ounce) package frozen strawberries, thawed

Directions

Combine cake mix, jello, and eggs.
Mix well.
Add oil, water, and 1/2 the strawberries [Note:for the strawberries its better if you puree' ahead of time].
Beat mix in mixer or hand mix for about 2 or 3 minutes.
Pour into your designated cupcake cups.
Bake at 350* for 25-30 min...flipping pans halfway through
Spread on cooled cake.

Sometimes it's not worth the lemon juice in cuts you never knew you had in your hands....

So you cook...etc etc...let it cool bla bla bla....

So then we ice....with lemon glaze which gives the cupcakes a little tart flavor!
Note: lemon glaze is just powdered sugar and lemon juice...

So here comes my favorite part.....FROSTINGG GOODNESS

Here we have a combination of strawberry and lemon frosting. The lemon frosting (obviously the yellow stuff) didn't com out as sour as I expected...but thats okay it'll do for now...definitlly a CBB

Lemon DROPS!!
Growing up you could always find these things in grandma's candy jar or some random jar at an office...If there was no chocolate...this would have to do. Hey it's still sugar :)

I ended up just using them as extra garnish along with funky white chocolate candies.

...and boomshaka...we've got a strawberry lemonade cupcake for you to enjoy...

Thanks for stoppin by!

Tired eyes....

2009-04-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

So as we keep working longer hours at work it's getting harder for me to update the blog, but no worries it doesn't completely stop me from baking :)

Anyways, I've had to use my glasses more often lately... staring at the computer all day long can do it to you.
The SOLUTION:

CARROTS!!!

The carrot gets its characteristic and bright orange colour from β-carotene, which is metabolised into vitamin A in humans when bile salts are present in the intestines.^[3]Carrots are also rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and minerals.

Lack of Vitamin A can cause poor vision, including night vision, and vision can be restored by adding Vitamin A back into the diet.

-Wiki

Since the whole teams here for the long haul...why not replenish some Vitamin A nutrients with some ....Carrot Cupcakes!!!

Instead of shredding the carrots I pulsed them through my little mini blender...it's the same as grating them, but i feel like there's more flavor when they're grated...plus there's no stringy carrots to freak people out. HA!
The recipe comes from Martha Stewarts Favorite Cupcakes collection.

I left out nuts and raisins just to be careful (people's nut allergies and what not...)Next time I'll have to put them in because it does take away from the flavor. : (

They did turn out very moist though...
mmMMmm...my eyes feel better already hahaha

Finished product: CarrotCupcakes with CreamCheese Frosting and Cocunut Garnish

Moist with Rich carrot flavor

Next time I won't skip out on nuts and raisin....

...and we're off for another long friday at work...Go Team!

Until next time....

Quick Saturday morning Baking...

2009-04-13T10:07:00.001-07:00

Here's just a few things made over the weekend....nothing too special...

Lemon Bread with glase compliments of Dozen Flours:

Started with fresh lemons and lemon zest:

I guess the trick to this recipe was to really incorporate the zest with the sugar so the flavor has something to bind with.

Eventually you end up with this :

Then a simple lemon juice and powdered sugar glaze is added...

Next was the larger maple chocolate chip cupcakes for Adam who came to visit for the weekend.....

This recipe is still in the works....

Simple maple frosting....

Not too eventful...but still some of my favorite recipes!

Thanks for stopping by...I swear the next post will be a bit more interesting....

Inspired by a late night snack...

2009-04-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

Banana Split Cupcakes!! hoo-raa

So I bought some neopolitan ice cream from the store last week....and I can't stop eating this ice cream...I mean c'mon..Vanilla--classic, Strawberry--classic, Chocolate--just damn good....

...then I thought...Why not turn it into a :cupcake: *sigh*

Where it all begins...

So I had to make 3 different types of batter...then I noticed this is going to be apainintheass but hey...its always worth it in the end!

This to there....

Note: make sure the base is all covered with the chocolate batter....

Next layer....made with actual strawberry puree' yay!

Last but not least...

I tried to make sure each layer was touch the edged....I smoothed these out by just using a spoon because shaking them did absolutely nothing....

So uhh I went for a more artful approach on this project...but it does fit!

I'm glad they did spill over a bit ...it goes with that whole "messy Sundae" look...mm yum!

They even come in Bite size!

....what to expect inside....

BUT I'm NOT DONE!

A sundae isn't complete without the nut topping and....

The Most important garnish ever....well to this cupcake at least: The Banana!

VOi'La!
Complete with frosting,Banana, Nuts, and chocolate' Syrup!

No matter what shape or size...they all get the same treatment of awesomeness...

All up in there...uh*yah!

Final presentation

I know it need's a nice maraschino cherry, but I thought it'd be super over-kill with everything thats going up top there....Plus I forgot to buy them : / maybe next time?

Once again sorry for the delay...I won't wait a week next time... :(

till next time...

OH BTW!!!: the bacon cupcakes for you sceptics turned out fabulous...I'll make them more large and in charge for the next batch!! ---reviews on them were awesome :)

My Classic Favorite...

2009-04-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

SOOOOoo soooo sorry....

So overtime started at work so I've been slacking on the updates....

Anywho, for a rough Saturday morning I prepared one of my favorite recipes...

Banana Bread with Cinnamon Swirl

I usually put chopped up pecans in this recipe, but i'm always careful of who is allergic to what....especially nuts so I went with a cinnamon swirl instead

This is the batter layered with my brown sugar cinnamon mix....

Then just to get a little fancy I just swirled the mixture with my chopstick...

MMmm...Super ripe bananas and brown sugar.... :)!

The key to this recipe is to make sure your bananas are really ripe. I usually store them in a brown bag and leave them on top of my fridge where it's a little warmer.

....one hour later....

The kitchen is now basking in the smell of fresh banana bread...it doesn't get better than this...

Note: this bread always turns out super moist and delicious. It's really hard to mess up: recipe coming up soon.

Every bite has a nice hint of my cinnamon swirl ;)

Pair with your favorite coffee or even vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Did somebody say Bacon?

2009-03-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

So here's how this began...
One day at work a whole discussion began when someone mentioned bacon and chocolate..."BACON AND CHOCOLATE EWW....!" So a few emails flew around, but they were requests for bacon chocolate chip cookies. I was really close to trying it, but I really didn't want to taint my chocolate chip cookies....Finally, I came across something interesting. Bacon*and*Cupcakes. Now this makes more sense...pancakes, syrup, and bacon. What more could you ask for, for breakfast?

I was really iffy with this experiment too...but I did it anyways, and oh was I right about this one. SERIOUSLY...OMG ---soo good.

Before and After
note:these are mini cupcakes, I figured people would have to start small then work their way up to a normal cupcake...

So this is the secret to the cupcake....The nice maple flavor comes from maple syrup AND maple extract!

Our little friends....yum-o

So to ensure that every bite contains bacon....the base of the frosting is well...bAcOn!

It smells like full on breakfast at this point...BTW the batter tasted like pancakes..

baconated....mmmMMm

BUT WAIT!...this isn't the end! Every cupcake needs their designer hat...

Perfection but wait....we're still not done. We need bacon bling or else this experiment isn't complete.

Perfect: Outfit complete, bacontastic!

So now everyone joins in......

So far this is the best breakfast cupcake/muffin I've ever had in my life....Mcgriddles got nothing on these babies!

Now tommorow we'll see what everyone else has to say....yay!

KEEP IT FROSTYY!

-Martha in a Can-

2009-03-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Here we have Martha Stewart's Classic White cupcake mix.

So I received this as an awesome Christmas gift from Karen (thank you!), but could never find a good time to actually make it. Luckily Bill and Karen came for the weekend to check out our Apartment and have a nice little dinner with us. So what perfect timing to be able to share a great gift (and write a review)!

So the directions are a bit confusing....

It starts asking you to cream the butter (standard) then mix with the egg mix??....Well let me clarify or give you my interpretation of the directions.

- First just cream the butter than add your sugar....Let this become nice and fluffy

Note: the sugar had been pre-packaged for your convenience ;)

- Second, as the butter and sugar are creaming add the batter mix and a half a cup of milk in 3 increments. Make sure you start with the batter mix, then some milk, and then you should end with adding the rest of the mix to your new creamy batter.
-Third, set this aside and clean your mixing bowl. Attach your whisk attachment and whip up 3 egg whites. Whip for 4 minutes until you have stiff peaks.
-Fourth, add a little of the egg mix into the creamy batter. Now start to fold in the rest of the batter into the egg mix until fully corporated.
-Fifth, continue with the rest of the directions on the can....It's finally clear from here...FINALLY.

Then you get some of these !!

They look like sugar cookies on top...yes, nice and sweet ;)

Yes, I know you've seen these wraps before, I was in a hurry!! Get off my back! jk

Conveniently the canister comes with directions to some nice frosting.

Yay! Cupcakes got a hat!
Classic Vanilla Frosting

But at the end of the day we all enjoy a little extra something...America's favorite dunking cookie!

Oreos

PLUS +

Cupcake

=

Easy, Convenient, Fast, and Delicious
**I give it 2 thumbs up for sure!**

ENJOY!

There's only one cure for the overtime blues...

2009-03-25T23:45:00.000-07:00

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies.....ZING!

So at work our entire crew for Land of the Lost has officially gone on overtime, and my buddy Tim who sits next to me has been sharing these magical beans he found at the Marina Produce Market on Centinela. [Magical beans= chocolate covered espresso beans] Trader Joe's has extra large ones and they are delicious and addictive. I've had this recipe forever now, and have always pulled it out during crunch time.

These are soooo good....Seriously I'm glad I made this recipe or else I'd be ill with a caffeine overdose....mmmmMMM

It's a great recipe: It includes whole wheat flour (usually very unusual for cookies) and instant esspresso powder.

The smell is glorious....

Now don't you forget, these ARE chocolate chip cookies too so don't skip out on the chococlate chips. Like I told my co-worker Sean, " You can never have TOO many chocolate chips!!"

oH snAp!...ghiradelli chocolate chips...can't get any more decadent

So it started out a very light brown dough (wheat flour) , and then the cocoa powder was added and become a rich chocolate color...mmmm yum!!

Boom-shaka....the magic is added in

As a safety precaution...the baking sheets were buttered and dusted with cocoa and not flour so that the cookies wouldn't stick and no flour was left on the goods.

getting close and personal with le dough

BING BANG BOOM....10 min later....

Warning: Rich cookies!!!

This is where Andy was trying to explain how these went well with beer... "COOh-KeeY...*Nom Nom Nom Nom*

ENJOY! and Beware!!!
--side effects include: screaming at your monitor, running out the building, laughing uncontrollably, answering to only yourself in the third person, discovering a new sense of smell, eating overtime catering, and oh so much more.......

Oooeey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls (Part UN!)

2009-03-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

So recently I've been going back to old recipes I've found and trying to perfect them. For instance...I can make baked coconut shrimp with apricot marmalade sauce with my eyes closed now, and yes it taste decent. So the last time I tried cinnamon rolls they were pretty much weak sauce. The frosting was way too runny, and the rolls were....well dried out biscuits.

So this first try wasn't too bad...I enjoyed the frosting (cream cheese base) and the rolls weren't to crisp or undercooked.

What's great about this recipe is that you don't have to have a bread maker in order to set your dough. Which probably 90% of the recipes out there for cinnamon rolls require a couple steps in a bread maker (boo).

So we start out with a little yeast in your milk and flour...that brings you to here:

[This dough has been sitting for an hour and has doubled in size]

Here we rolled out the dough and then topped it off with our delicious filling.
note: this is where I made my mistake. I shouldn't have rolled it out so thin. For thicker rolls I'd go with a little less than half an inch.

The filling primarily just consisted of cinnamon and brown sugar...it's like peanut butter and jelly ;)

Of course I made sure that the brown sugar clumps were all smoothed out once it had been distributed....

Now we're rollinnnn.....

20 minutes and a cinnamon scented kitchen....

Perdy....but not exactly where I wanted them to be....This is why I call this Part 1!!

2 batches of frosting later.............

Do you ever get the store bought kinds and think "hey this would be great....with more frosting!!"....So the first batch didn't hack it so I made it and doubled the fun.

Then off to dailies I go to feed Team Chakafeel woot woot!

:When I have a good recipe I will post it for you guys, but for now this is experimente' part Un :

Until next time...keep it frosty

Sweet Sunday Santa Maria Style BBQ

2009-03-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

So we just finally got most of the furniture in our apartment...well enough to have a sweet bbq and have some friends over to break it all in.

So like most Santa Marian's, why not have a traditiona tri-tip bbq on a windy Sunday. On the menu was SM-style Tri Tip along with baked beans and garlic-french bread. To start out we had artichoke spinache dip with sourdough bread, coconut shrimp with a sweet and tangy apricot marmalade, and the basic chips and salsa. Now where can you go in one trip and get the best quality for it all?

Nothing like fighting the elderly with your cart and bumping children with your knees on a Saturday afternoon...totally kidding, or am I? lol
Any who, the seafood was extra fresh so I decided to grab some jumbo shrimp and scallops for the grill. To my suprise there were the finest cuts of tri-tip in the meat section waiting for me as if they knew my plans... but leave it to the boys to bbq (i'm more of the in kitchen-kinda lady) After getting the essentials I turn the corner only to see a palet of strawberries calling my name. They weren't Santa Maria's finest but they'd do, and there is definitly a difference. Not suprised at all, I found some from Santa Maria at the local Santa Monica Farmer's Market.

So I decided to try out Sprinkle's Strawberry Cupcake Recipe.

So I started out by making my puree' and
blending these badboys into liquid candy.

 From here I tried to strain out most of the seeds then mixed it in with the room-temp milk so that it was ready for my batter.   :The recipe is fairly easy, and it makes exactly a dozen cupcakes:  I figured the cakes would turn out a nice pink color, but they turned out a lot lighter than I expected....It's something I can work on in the future.

[Even though they didn't come out the color I wanted them to be, they sure smelled like strawberries!]

NOW FOR THE GOOD PART

[Strawberry Cream Frosting]
Made with fresh strawberry purree' (which is left over from the cake recipe)
It turned out perfect---creamy and just plain delicious!

So now....easy cake toppers

So here are some white and pink candy chips, melted, and swirled!

So then we frost and decorate...All cupcakes were hand frosted, one by one.....

A little topping didn't hurt no one...

...or keepin it freesshhh*

OR a little bit of both...

but then some like it simple...

THEN THERE WAS ONE....

  : WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COCONUT COOKIES:
so good, yet soo easy

 - Just start out with your favorite plain oatmeal recipe or even a pre-packaged oatmeal mix.

- Then add some sweetened coconut flakes and  white chocolate chips....boo-bam you're ready to roll....

Make them whatever size you'd like them....just watch them edges!

They turn out soft, chewy , and absolutely scrumptious.

So in conclusion, the bbq was a success...The cookies were all gone, and by the end of the night most of the cupcakes were dusted along with some missing strawberries....hmmm

The Day O' GreenCupcakes

2009-03-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

so first of all...

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! CHEERS!!

I kept double guessing myself..."Is it the 14th or the 17th?" --I'm a tard...

Anywho...

Every year I make a different version of Guinness Cupcakes. Last year it turned out to be a bland chocolate cupcake with lame chocolate frosting...Therefore I had to makeup for last years sad trial.

I GIVE YOU:
Guiness Cupcakes with Green Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting!!

So we start here, the frosting ( so I can lick the spatula and wait while my cups are baking duh!)

Mmmmmm cream cheesee....

I let this sit in the fridge while I prepared my batter.
NOTE: make sure you sift your confectioners sugar before you add it in, and not enough sugar results in slimy frosting, bleh.

I sifted all my dry ingrediants first, then gradually added in the wet. I LOVE the smell of Guinness and chocolate, and that's probably why this recipe worked so well.

THE wet.....

NOTE: make sure you evenly distribute your batter so that you have even looking cakes...

To the dry...but not dried out ;)

(I use a Wilton silicone based cupcake sheet--it's easy to clean and works just like any other cupcake sheet. Actually it works a bit better in the way that it's easier to pop these suckers right out to cool and FROST!!)

"mmMMM Guinness......cupcake"

But we're not finished yet!!! He's naked!!! *Gasp*

So I use disposable piping bags (I know, I know...I'll get the real bag) with reusable tips, and today I went for just a plain round tip. It was a large bag so I ended up filling most of it with my green frosting......

NOTE: Let the frosting come back to room temperature before you start loading and piping away. You might pull something trying push that deliciousness through that nozzle....

At this point of my baking sesh I do have a stomach ache...frosting for breakfast is not the way you should start your day....BTW I baked the cakes at night and frosted in the morning that way they were fresh and ready for the real world...

"Eh bowl of cereal....or frosting........FROSTING!"

Oooo yahh lookin frosty... ;)

:Packaged for your convenience:

Go Team ChakaFeel!!!!!

Moist...like all cakes should be, and no its not green doody!!!!

You can't beat cream cheese frosting....

1....2...3........3*!!

...enough cupcake talk....now off to the land of carbombs.

Toodles!!!

....and it starts with the cake pops

2009-03-16T23:01:00.001-07:00

So finally I was able to sit down, upload, bla bla bla, and do all the boring stuff...

Now here comes the fun stuff.

So during my um, 'downtime' , I'm constantly flipping through books, magazines,watching foodnetwork, (and my favorite) web surfing other bakerblogs such as Bakerella, The Pioneer Woman, Cupcakes take the Cake, and so on....So then I thought HEY! why don't I try this and share with my friends and family.

I kept running across this one post which happend to be these CUTE little Hello Kitty cakepops, and if you know me I LOVE herro kitty ;)
Then I began my planning...

Sur La Table, Surface, Gloria's Cakes and Supplies, and Micheal's pretty much has everything you need in order to start this project...

Le Creuset---so Awesome, highly recommended!

Just a few tools in order to make the base of your cake pops.

Then some of the ingredients...YUM

Oh....but before I really get into the mix, I just wanted to show these AWESOME measuring spoons Andy's mom got me for Christmas (Thanks Karen!!!)

okay....let's begin the adventure
(but here are the actual directions)

We've got our lovely chocolate cake mix with frosting
Warning: do not use any cakes with little candy chips, chocolate, coconut...you get the idea, basically no extra crap in your cake mix
(and yes I made this mistake...but no biggie tho)

from this....we get THESE!!!
* it does get messy so um make sure your work area is clean....oh and your hands too hehe

for projects such as the:

HELLO KITTY HEADS!

.........or

Little Cake Bites!!

So there was a lot of chocolate/ candy chip melting after this....white, chocolate, and pink....The counters were a painted mess.

The coating was a bit tricky along with inserting the sticks and molding the butts of the cakes...BUT it all turned out fine. (there is definitely room for improvement..bleh)

(Here are some blank kitty heads, and some finished cake pops! mmm yum!)

Decorating note: these candy chips or chocolated covered candies...were probably the hardest thing in the world to find. Finally at Sur La Table they were mixed in with some ice cream toppers....not even your normal candy shop had them.

So...an hour later, I finally arrived with these...

( I have to work on my dip, pull, and drip method....melting kitties arn't so cute)

Why hello....Kitty

But in the end, after a *nom nom* later....
Success!--Taste Test: Good yayee!

size:definitly BiTe size

They make great gifts. Just package them in a little candy box and bam!--you're awesome

woot woot!

ahhhh Finally...

2009-03-13T17:57:00.001-07:00

I'm all setup now...
Thank you Todd for your help!

blog you later...