Luck of the Irish!

Every year, on this day, I make my most famous cupcakes: Chocolate Stout. If I had a signature cupcake, this would be it. I make them for St. Patrick's Day, for birthdays, for weddings, for whatever! It's a rich chocolate cupcake made with stout beer, in this case, Guinness Extra Stout. They're topped with a Bailey's Irish Cream frosting. The combo of flavors is phenomenal!

I make the same recipe every year, I've had it for longer than I can remember. But I'm interested to try different versions. Nigella Lawson has a chocolate Guinness recipe, and Robicelli's has a car bomb recipe that I've wanted to try ever since I got their cookbook a few months ago.

Every time I make them, I try to present them a little differently. Green cupcake wrappers, green frosting, or even green shamrock sprinkles! This year I went with green wrappers and gold sprinkles, just like the gold at the end of the rainbow guarded by a leprechaun. Maybe these cupcakes should be at the end of the rainbow instead!

Mardi Gras King Cake

Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday. Carnival! The time of year to let loose and enjoy yourself. And, time for delicious sweet treats!

Every year I make king cake. It's a bread-like cinnamon yeasted cake topped with a sweet lemony glaze and gold, green, and purple sprinkles. There are lots of different versions of this cake, some with a pecan filling, some with a cream cheese topping, but I like this version the best. It's adapted from a recipe by John Besh, a famous New Orleans chef.

Traditionally, there's a little trinket or plastic baby inserted into the finished cake. It's said that whoever gets the piece of cake with the baby gets to buy the next cake for the next Carnival party. Many countries have their own versions of king cake, and this one is from Louisiana and the Gulf Coast area. It's a braided round cake, and the sprinkles are always the traditional Mardi Gras colors: purple for justice, gold for power, and green for faith.

Since I've made this a few times before, it was just a matter of finding the recipe and executing it. The dough was simple, kind of sticky but very elastic and rose up very well. I had a hard time rolling out the three ropes to braid them due to lack of counter space. But I managed ok. After a second rise, and a quick bake, the beautiful braid was done!

While the cake cooled, I whipped up the glaze, which is just lemon juice and powdered sugar. Getting the consistency right is the key. In fact, the first time I made the glaze it wasn't enough, so I made more to add on top after I had used the sprinkles. In fact, I've made this cake for so many years that I'm running out of gold, green, and purple sprinkles. Time for a trip to the cake decorating store!

Although I didn't have a plastic baby or fava bean to put in the cake, everyone enjoyed it anyways. It's a yearly tradition that I look forward to every year.

Happy Valentine's Day! Lemon Mousse Cupcakes

Today is the day for lovers. Or for anyone who loves sweets! After gorging myself on chocolates earlier in the week, I was ready for something a bit lighter.
With not a lot of time, I rummaged around in my fridge for inspiration. Here's what I came up with: whipped cream, meyer lemon curd, a few lemons, and a little bit of French buttercream. After a quick internet search, I found that combining whipped cream and lemon curd results in lemon mousse. So I naturally made lemon mousse cupcakes.

I used my vanilla cupcake recipe, and added about 1 tablespoon on lemon zest, which lent a slight lemon flavor to the moist and fluffy cake. After cooling, I cored each cupcake.

I mixed together the whipped cream and lemon curd. I had about 1 cup of curd and probably 1 and a half cups of whipped cream. I filled each cupcake with the lemon mousse, then with the leftover, I added the French buttercream. It gave it more stability. Then I piped the rest on top.

I felt the cupcakes needed something else, to jazz them up for Valentine's Day. I had baked them in cute red striped wrappers. I decided to melt some red candy and pipe out hearts onto wax paper. After a quick chill in the fridge, the hearts popped right off the wax paper. I made big ruffly hearts and little ones too. I gently placed them on top of each cupcake, and they looked perfect! Such a sweet treat for the holiday, or any day. So cute!

Valentine's Day chocolates

Valentine's Day. A holiday dedicated to chocolate and roses. I usually don't make a big fuss over this holiday, I just bake something chocolatey for my husband and he gets me flowers. After being together for 18 years, it's more about the little everyday things than a big splashy gift once a year. But I will take any excuse I can get to eat chocolate in any form: brownies, cookies, cakes, and especially truffles.

So pretty!

I was honored to be asked to review this box of Valentine's chocolates by Whole Foods. I shop there probably 3-4 times a week, since there's a market only a few blocks from my house. It's a nice little walk there and back, and I feel like I've earned whatever I end up getting from the salad bar. So they sent me a lovely heart shaped box of Valentine's chocolates to try.

Can't wait to dig in

There's nothing quite like receiving a heart-shaped box filled with sweet treats! Something about the shape and color make it special, and you just know it's not something you'll get any other time of year. My favorite part of opening a new box of chocolates is guessing what each piece has inside. If I'm feeling adventurous I'll just dive right in and bite into a few to find my favorite. But this box came with a handy guide, so I didn't have to guess. Even if you know what's inside, there's still a bit of a surprise when you take that first bite.

Temptation- dark chocolate with smooth raspberry center

14 different chocolates, each one unique. I wonder if the number was a deliberate nod to the holiday's date? Either way, it's a good amount for sharing. I started in order listed on the description card, but after I was halfway through I realized I should have probably worked my way from white to milk to dark chocolate. Oh well. While each and every one was delicious, I did have a few favorites. I'm not a fan of white chocolate in general. In my mind, the darker the better. And since these are Belgian chocolates, the dark was super rich and decadent.

I'm a sucker for caramel and nuts, so those earned big points with me. The two chocolates with liquid caramel were my favorite, with the dark chocolate winning out overall. I mean, whoever first thought to combine dark chocolate, caramel, and sea salt is a genius. The hazelnut filled heart was also pretty amazing. I ate those entirely, but the rest I just took a bite, saving the rest for my husband when he gets home from work today. He'll be greeted with a half-empty box of nibbled chocolates, but it's better than a completely empty box. Or maybe I'll just polish off the box myself and pick up another one next time I'm at Whole Foods, for him to enjoy by himself. Now there's a thought!

The carnage

This heart-shaped box would be a great last-minute gift for anyone who forgot or put off buying a Valentine's Day gift. Just pop in to the market, pick up some flowers, champagne, and a box of chocolates, and you're set. A Valentine anyone would love to get. Including me!

Independence Day

For the 4th of July, I made red white and blue cupcakes, of course! I arranged them like a flag and decorated them accordingly.

Here are the cupcakes before frosting. Red=raspberry, Blue=blueberry, and White=vanilla.





Then, after adding frosting and sprinkles, the final result!