This year I had a few Valentine’s Day ideas, and all of them, or almost all of them, reminded me of fairy tales. Or stories. All by coincidence. Months ago, maybe around Halloween, I ordered these ballerina toppers with absolutely no idea what I was going to use them for. And then, Pola (my wonderful reader, #1 commenter & all-around awesome friend!) sent me a lovely pink gift:

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It’s a pink babycakes mini-cupcake maker, and I love it. What an amazing surprise gift to get! It matches Lola and it basically the cutest thing ever. Not to mention it came before Valentine’s Day… so together with those ballerinas, it inspired me. I decided I’d make bright red cupcakes, top ‘em with some thick white frosting, some sprinkles, and then those ballerinas; if that doesn’t say Valentine’s Day, I don’t know what does. Well there are probably other things that say it, but these do too. They also reminded me of that old fairy tale about the twelve dancing princesses.

When I was a kid, I had these little mini-books, European import type things. They were all fairy tales, and one of them was Kate Crackernuts; yes- admittedly a very amusing name but a good story:

A king had a daughter named Anne, and his queen had a daughter named Kate, who was less beautiful. (Jacobs’ notes reveal that in the original story both girls were called Kate and that he had changed one’s name to Anne.) The queen was jealous of Anne, but Kate loved her. The queen consulted with a henwife to ruin Anne’s beauty, and after three tries, they enchanted Anne’s head into a sheep’s head. Kate wrapped Anne’s head in a cloth, and they went out to seek their fortunes.

They found a castle where the king had two sons, one of whom was sickening, and whoever watched him by night vanished. Kate asked for shelter for herself and her “sick” sister, and offered to watch. At midnight, the sick prince rose and rode off. Kate sneaked onto his horse and collected nuts as they rode through the woods. A green hill where the fairies were dancing opened to receive the prince, and Kate rode in with him unnoticed. The second night is passed as the first but Kate found a fairy baby in the hill. It played with a wand, and she heard fairies say that three strokes of the wand would cure Anne. So she rolled nuts to distract the baby and get the wand, then cured her sister.

The third night, Kate said she would stay only if she could marry the prince, and that night, the baby played with a bird, three bites of which would cure the sick prince. She distracted the baby with the nuts again to get it. As soon as they returned to the castle, she cooked it, and the prince was cured by eating it. Meanwhile his brother had seen Anne and fell in love with her, so they all married — the sick brother to the well sister, and the well brother to the sick sister.

Cinderella-ish, in terms of the “ugly” sister & the “pretty” sister, but it also contains pieces of the Twelve Dancing Princesses story, which is a Brother’s Grimm tale. It’s German in origin (there I go again with the German..) and has been used in various adaptations, some of which reducing the number of sisters to 6 or even 3. It’s considerably longer to sum up than the Kate Crackernuts story, but it’s available online if you’re curious. It’s an interesting, magical story & as a child in ballet class, I was a fan of any & every story that mentioned dancing, or ballet.

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I’m a sucker for teh cute, & all things retro, and these ballerina toppers fall into both those categories. They also remind me of when I was a kid & I’d get those bakery cupcakes with the thick frosting & the plastic ballerina’s painted gold or silver on top, and that feeling of nostalgia kinda fit in with the fairy tale thing too. These are my version of the twelve dancing princesses.

However, I admit- I made these just to try the cupcake maker, so my decorating job isn’t the best kinda sucks. But I’ll do better next time, I promise. That’s what happens when you decide to make cupcakes just to use your new cupcake maker & your pretty ballerina toppers.

But just wait until you see what else is going on for Valentine’s Day around here.

RED VELVET MINI-CUPCAKES (from the babycakes cupcake maker recipe book)

Supposedly akes about 16, I got 24

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• a dash of salt
• ¼ cup butter, softened
• ⅔ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 ½ teaspoons red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Beat together butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs until well blended. Beat in sour cream. Blend in dry ingredients. Blend in food coloring & vanilla.
3. Fill each cup with about 2 tablespoons batter. Bake in cupcake maker for 6-7 minutes (or in oven, for 15-20 minutes) or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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It was really easy to use, although I found one heaping tablespoon was enough to fill each liner. However my liners were a bit smaller than the indentations, so maybe if you don’t use a liner you’ll end up using around 2 tablespoons. The cupcakes baked evenly, rose really nicely (as you can see) and didn’t overflow. They cooked evenly as well. The booklet says to check each cupcake because one part might heat quicker than another, but all of mine cooked evenly. I have to say, I enjoyed using it immensely. It was fun!

There are people online reviewing this saying it’s a terrible appliance; it doesn’t work, it doesn’t bake evenly, it’s hard to clean if you don’t use liners. They’re all nuts. One, it does work. Unless the person writing the review got a lemon or a broken one, they’re crazy. These photos were all taken from the first time I used it. I’m not a genius, I’m not a pastry chef, I’m not a mechanical whiz and yet WOW. Magically, it actually baked my cupcakes! How shocking. I plugged it in and it worked, imagine that. Two, my mini-liners fit just fine, yes they were a bit smaller but what difference does it make? Just adjust the amount you put in like I said above.. it’s not rocket science people. Three, I haven’t used it without liners yet so I can’t say either way, but judging from the removal of the small amount of excess batter I had to clean off mine, it shouldn’t be as hard as they say. It’s non-stick, so basically as soon as it cools, whatever batter is on it, you can just scrape it off gently. Duh. It actually seemed as though the cleanup was far easier than when I make traditional cupcakes.

If you know someone who likes to bake, or who likes cupcakes, this might make a really cute Valentine’s Day gift for them.

Pardon my boring white liners, the only mini-ones I had were white, black with ghosts or yellow with Easter eggs.
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And the recipe was pretty good too. What is it about mini-cupcakes that makes you want to eat them all? I must have eaten 5-6 of them, unfrosted, during my little photo shoot here. Anyway, my poor self-control aside, like I said, the recipe was good. I used a regular vanilla confectioner’s sugar buttercream on top because I’m not a fan of cream cheese frosting.

Basically, now I kinda want the donut maker, pie maker & cake pop maker too. Is that bad? Do I really need all these appliances? Will it make me lazy? I don’t know the answers to these questions. All I know is, it’s the time of year when people express their love, so here I am to say: I love my babycakes mini cupcake maker. Thank you Pola!

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Sometimes I just need to make a logo, even if it’s for nothing. Sorry. Involuntary graphic-designer twitch.

Anyway I’ve been getting a lot of love from Pinterest, so I want to say hi & thanks! Tons of you have been clicking through from there- so I hope you’re liking what you see, and keep coming back. I’ve also been getting a lot of Christmas goodies via snail mail lately. I guess that means I’ve been a good girl this year? I think I have been, but I guess every naughty person says that, right? Anyway this particular gift (& inspiration) is in the form of a Christmas table runner my amazingly-talented-with-a-needle-&-thread Californian friend Yoyo made for me. A custom made table runner. How friggin’ lucky am I?

Crazy lucky. And look! It has cupcakes on it!

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A Christmas table runner with pink candy stripes & cupcakes… I can’t even deal with the cuteness. It’s just the best, and the color scheme & patterns match almost perfectly with all my grandma’s vintage Christmas stuff. The pinks & greens & lighter than usual Christmas colors just went so amazing with the white plastic trees & retro Christmas ball candle holders. And as usual, it all inspired me to make cupcakes that went with it!

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And yes, they’re little cuppy cake trees. I seem to be all about the trees this year, eh? Now that I look at them, though, they’d be great for a little girl’s birthday too. The pastel colors are so sweet. They almost melt my cold heart.

Whoops, that tree to the right is leaning a bit!

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I took purposely washed-out vintagey kind of photos of them, & used my grandma’s vintage jadeite plates for a more 1950′s-ish presentation. I think it worked, don’t you? Those salt & pepper shakers are from Santa’s Village in Jefferson, NH. If you’ve never been, you should go!

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The cupcakes are just a plain vanilla cake, with vanilla flavored pastel green-tinted buttercream. As far as the frosting on the cakes, I used a large star tip to create that look. If you make 12 cupcakes, make enough frosting for 24 cupcakes; the trees need to be frosted twice as high as normal. The color is Wilton icing color in Leaf Green (only a drop!). Candy pearls are by Wilton, pink liners, larger pink candy ‘baubles’ (candy-coated chocolate) & pink candy pearls from Sweet Cuppin Cakes Bakery & Cupcakery Supplies. Green sanding sugar was bought at Target ages ago, but you can get it anywhere. And of course- runner by Topstitch! If you’re in the market for awesomesauce handmade items, check out Yoyo’s blog & her store. She’s always updating it with new material. And I’m sure for the right price she’ll do custom items for you, too, so just ask.

Christmas is getting closer & closer. Are you all ready?

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When I was little, my Aunt Winnie bought me a book called the A Perfectly Irregular Christmas Tree. It told the story of a little tree that grew to become the tall, beautifully lit Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, and at the back of the book, it told the story of the origins of the tradition. Ever since then, I’ve been totally in love with the concept. Not that I wasn’t before that… but it wasn’t until that book that I really even thought about it. It was sort of like I just assumed the tree was always there or something. I know, silly, but come on, I was like, what, 7 years old?

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Basically there’s a very important history behind the origins of that big ol’ tree, and not many people know it.

Although the official Christmas tree tradition at Rockefeller Center began in 1933 (the year the 30 Rockefeller Plaza opened), the unofficial tradition began during the Depression-era construction of Rockefeller Center, when workers decorated a smaller 20 feet (6.1 m) balsam fir tree with “strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans” on Christmas Eve (December 24, 1931), as recounted by Daniel Okrent in his history of Rockefeller Center.^[10] Some accounts have the tree decorated with the tin foil ends of blasting caps. There was no Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in 1932.

The decorated Christmas tree remains lit at Rockefeller Center until the week after New Year’s Day, when it is removed and recycled for a variety of uses. In 2007, the tree went “green,” employing LED lights.^[11] After being taken down, the tree was used to furnish lumber for Habitat for Humanity house construction.^[12]

Anyway, in addition to all that New Yorker-ish stuff about me, I also love to bake, as is evidenced by this blog. And occasionally I get an urge to do so randomly, or I get inspired by something. So it happened one night that I wanted to make some frosted (or iced?) cookies, and I got the idea that they just had to be gingerbread. I had a few recipes already, stashed in cookbooks or ripped from magazines, most of which were supposedly awesome, but I thought I’d check Twitter & see if anyone had any they really liked. Gabrielle from The Punk Housewife responded super quick with a vegan version from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero.

Now, I’m not vegan. I’ve made awesome vegan cupcakes before, and even made a dip entirely with vegan-friendly cheese & other non-dairy products (which I can’t say I’d do again, really). I have no problems with vegans or anything, but I myself can’t do it. I have a hot, dirty love affair with butter & cheese… & I like it. So I don’t usually have things like soy milk on hand, & if I’m going to bake something I’m usually going to go “whole hog” so to speak. However, by sending me that recipe she gave me a sort of kick in the pants to use that recipe as inspiration & then build on it with a few non-vegan tweaks. Sure, I could’ve just made it by substituting the soy milk with regular, but where’s the fun in that?! Basically, it forced my hand to do my own little gingerbread cookie thang. And that’s just what I did. So thank you, Gabrielle! I totally de-veganized that puppy. I made up my own little gingerbread cookie recipe as I went along, and then what did I do with that dough? I cut out little trees, as my homage to the big 74-foot guy in Rockefeller Center who just so happened to be having a little party & “lighting” in his honor last week. Of course mine weren’t lit- but they were all iced up with some royal icing & sprinkles.

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Yeah, at this time of year EVERYONE makes cookies, especially gingerbread, & everyone seems to be in on the “fancy royal icing decorating” craze now as well. But I’m not aiming to be like everyone else, so hopefully mine are not only perfectly imperfect (more on that in a bit), but unique.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES CUPCAKE REHAB-STYLE

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
• 2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg
• ½ cup molasses (I personally like Brer Rabbit full flavor, even though that & Grandma’s are now owned by the same company)

Directions:

1. Unroll a fairly large piece of plastic wrap & sprinkle lightly with flour. Set aside.
2. Cream the butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice & ginger together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Add egg & molasses one at a time to butter/sugar mixture, beating after each until combined.
4. Add flour mixture gradually, until a sticky dough forms. Form dough into a ball the best you can & place on plastic wrap, rolling it up tightly. Chill for anywhere from 1 hour to overnight (but no longer than that).
5. Remove dough from fridge & if too firm, let sit for 20-25 minutes before rolling out. The dough will be quite sticky, so have flour on hand. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F, meanwhile roll out onto lightly floured surface to about ¼ – ½” thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out shapes & using a thin spatula, carefully place onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (they will be very soft!!! BE CAREFUL HERE). Re-roll the scraps left over until you haven’t got enough left to use, then just lay the pieces on the sheet (they make for nice nibbles later while you’re decorating your cookies).
6. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Remove from oven & allow to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

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ROYAL ICING

Ingredients:

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons milk or water
• 4 tablespoons meringue powder

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. If too thick, add more liquid, if too thin, add more sugar. Add food coloring as desired. Ta-da!

There are tons of different recipes for royal icing- some include pasteurized egg whites, some using regular old egg whites, some meringue powder, some just cream of tartar. Any of them work just fine as long as they’re the right consistency for what you’re using it for; i.e. outlines, flooding, etc. This particular recipe can be halved, quartered, doubled, tripled, etc. to suit your needs.

So once these babies are 100% cool, you can decorate them all fancy-like using that royal icing there. I obviously made little trees, so I decorated them like trees (duh). You can make anything from snowflakes to bells to holly to whatever. And then just decorate them using the icing & top it with quins, jimmies, sanding sugar, dragees- anything! The icing part can be a bit tricky if you’re not used to it. I’ve been icing cookies with royal icing since my mom made gingerbread & sugar cookies when I was a kid & let me decorate them. Now, I’m far from an expert on this, my main decorating niche lies within the cupcake sphere, so I’ll leave the explanation of how to decorate/frost cookies like a pro to Marian at Sweetopia who really is the expert. She not only does it way better than I do, but her explanation of how to decorate the cookies is probably way better than I could write. Not that mine came out terrible… I mean they’re cute, fairly neat & most importantly they taste great. So they’re not perfect, they’re ‘perfectly irregular’; like the tree in the book. But thats totally cool with me. I’m not perfect either. What in the world is perfect, exactly?

Well, cookies & tea are pretty damn close.

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Amazing. There is nothing, NOTHING like a good cookie. I have to say I really, really loved these. I had like 8 of these the first night, with a cup of Licorice Spice tea. So after that one batch of trees were such a success, the next night I made some little Christmas wreaths. I used green royal icing this time, along with red tie-dyed looking marzipan for the bows, and some round pink sprinkles in different sizes that Lyns sent me back in October. I wasn’t 100% pleased with how these came out though. I think I like the trees better. Oh well. It was a cute concept, poor execution.

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It was almost disgusting how good they were. The dough is very soft. VERY. Which admittedly can make it very hard to work with. It will definitely be a tricky dough, but the flavor is so amazing & perfect, and the texture is also so amazing & perfect, it’s well worth it. Just right for a cold December night while looking at how pretty your tree looks under a blanket on the couch. The best chewy gingerbread cookie I’ve had in a while; not hard as a rock & teeth-breaking, not flavorless nor overpowering. They’re just the right amount of soft, sweet & spicy.

But at this time of year, you can’t keep ‘em all to yourself. Or rather you can… at the risk of being compared to Ebenezer Scrooge. I prefer to share the wealth (to an extent). I put them in a little box (originally a cupcake box, I just removed the insert) courtesy of Bake-A-Box that was perfect for showing them off. And how cute is that gingerbread ornament?

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As if you haven’t noticed, I’ve been including vintage postcards at the bottom of all my holiday posts. This one is just so pretty I had to share it, plus it’s eerily perfectly appropriate for this post; it’s a big, beautiful tree & the baubles on it look just like the ones on my cookie wreaths.

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I know it’s officially “Christmas time” (or at least that’s what the retailers want us to believe), but humor me with this one non-X-mas related post, & then I promise you for the rest of the month it’ll be non-stop holiday hijinks.

Last year, actually almost 2 years ago- early in 2010- my insanely talented friend Chrisie (who you may remember from my giveaway in 2009, when she donated an absolutely gorgeous Cupcake Rehab painting) contacted me with a request. I know Chrisie for a loooong time, well about 10 years. We met at F.I.T. in a Fashion Illustration class (that was so much fun) & I’m pretty sure the universe broke when they put us in a class together. Anyway, she had an idea; she wanted to make an entire series of cupcake paintings, inspired by me and Cupcake Rehab, and the next one she wanted to do was a punk cupcake. Now seriously… if anyone knows me, they know that there is probably no better person to create such a cupcake. Okay, maybe that’s not 100% true, but I’m into punk, and cupcakes, so really I am sort of an authority on a punk cupcake. I used to be a punk cupcake...

Not that you’d really know it anymore- I’ve grown up and mellowed out a lot since my days of spike bracelets & collars, pink hair (my favorite of the “not-normal” colors I’ve ever had), rebellion, anarchy, anti-authority and the ever-chic look of wearing safety pins in my ears. Now I shop at places like Anthropologie & wear ballet flats & J. Crew sweaters (but yes, underneath the sweater is a Clash t-shirt), my significant other is a cop (even if he is in a death metal band, he’s still law enforcement!) & while I do sort of have a ‘faux hawk’, or rather a side cut, I haven’t dyed my hair in months (for the first time in 13 years I see my natural color, & I dislike it just as much as I used to, except now there are strands of gray for me to dislike as well). But I still listen to the music, and believe in the ideology. Bottom line is this: I learned a long time ago it isn’t worth it arguing over what’s really punk and what’s not, or who’s really punk and who’s not, especially when it’s based on outer appearance or clothing. Just like it’s pointless to assume that someone is less “punk” than you because they don’t dye their hair/shave it into mohawk/don’t have fully tattooed biceps/etc. You shouldn’t always judge a book by it’s cover, and knocking others for listening to things besides one genre of music isn’t “punk” either; it’s pretty lame, and you’ll realize it one day. Being an individual means being yourself & NOT wearing a uniform, even if that uniform is neon Liberty spikes, a studded & patched denim jacket & piercings. I do still wear my jacket, though.

“The Jacket”

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So anyway, I’m getting way off track here. Let’s just stick with the cupcakes. Chrisie pitched me her concept: a cupcake with a pink mohawk, and I had these liners from Sweet Cuppin Cakes Bakery & Cupcakery Supplies that were black with white polka dots, and I figured they’d be perfect (I also used them on my white chocolate almond cupcakes and others, they’re awesome liners). With those things as my base ideas, I started coming up with stuff immediately. I decided to make a vanilla cake with a dollop of chocolate buttercream frosting dyed black, and then do the hot pink “mohawk” on top of that in royal icing. Then I started thinking about “props”; stuff that would add a bit more to the “punk” theme for her painting. I remembered that I was in possession of an old spike bracelet I used to wear in high school, so I thought I’d put it around the bottom of the cupcake like a spike collar. I also suggested maybe incorporating a sort of Sex Pistols kind of typography and safety pins somewhere. I took the photos on a black background so it’d look a bit more dramatic, and also so it’d be easier for her to paint in whatever background she wanted. She came up with an amazing composition! (I’ll post the recipes I used for the frosting after all the images for anyone who’s interested)

So here’s the big reveal! I have been SO EXCITED to share this with you, for so long now. I’ve been waiting patiently since January of 2010 to post this, that’s a big deal for me! This is coming from someone who can’t keep birthday presents a secret without losing it & can’t stand to wait ’til Christmas to open my own gift. That said, I’m not one to rush an artist into creating a piece of artwork, so I’ve been patient, and it’s been totally worth it. She told me about a month ago it was done & sent me the pictures of the finished product, but I wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving to blog it. Here are two pictures of my cupcakes that helped to inspire her, followed by the amazing painting Chrisie did from using my pictures as reference.

So friggin’ cute with the little mohawks.

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And… are you ready? Seriously?

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Are you?

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Okay, drumroll please. Here’s her painting! Ta-da!

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How incredibly awesome and beautiful is that!? It’s ridiculous. I know, I cannot even fathom her talent. It’s like a friggin’ photograph. I’m telling you- she’s crazy. Chrisie is so amazingly talented, and she recently opened her own baking business, Eat Cakes. To get on the mailing list, shoot an e-mail to eatcakeorder@gmail.com. To see more of her artwork or commission her to do a painting, visit ccomis.com. There might be more collabo’s between the two of us involving cupcakes & paintings in the future. I’m excited.

So now I’m just waiting for the “punks” to come here & get on me for selling out & making such a cliched “punk cupcake” so I can stick my foot up someones’ ass… okay anyway, here’s the 411 on how to do the frosting, including food coloring & tips. The cupcake is just a plain vanilla cake so that’s easy enough for you to figure out.

“BLACK” CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Get some:

• 1 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup dark cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened dark chocolate squares, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups (approx. 1 lb) sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk
• 2-3 teaspoons black food coloring (I personally recommend Americolor Super Black for this)

Then do this:

1. Cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla.
2. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.
3. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add food coloring a little at a time, until desired shade is reached. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
4. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Re-whip before using. Also, keep in mind the longer the icing sits the darker it will get, so don’t add too much color, it’ll just wreck the consistency of your frosting. Using a large round tip, pipe a circle of frosting on each cake. The using an offset spatula, smooth it down into a flat surface for the ‘mohawk’ to sit on.

ROYAL ICING “MOHAWK”

Ingredients:

• 2 large egg whites (or substitute powdered egg whites)
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon bright pink food coloring (I used Wilton Rose icing color)

Directions:

1. Combine the egg whites and confectioners’ sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until opaque and shiny, about 5 minutes.
2. Whisk in the extract, this will thin out the icing. Beat for another couple of minutes until you reach the right spreading consistency for the cupcakes. Then add the food coloring and beat.
3. Using a large star tip (I used Wilton 1M), after the buttercream frosting on the cupcakes has “set”, pipe three to four “stars” in a row on each cupcake. Ta-da! Mohawk!

So put on some X-Ray Spex or some Sex Pistols, do your best Joe Strummer imitation, brush your bangs into your eyes like Joey Ramone and eat some mohawk cupcakes. Or don’t. I don’t care either way. Oi, oi, oi.

See here’s the deal: I don’t just bake or make edible stuff for Thanksgiving or Christmas. My mixer isn’t pulled out for the holidays then covered up again for another year; she’s in a place of honor where she belongs. I always have a variety of flours & sugars, not to mention honey, sprinkles, buttermilk and unsalted butter in the house at all times. I’ve got cookie cutters that are discolored & well-worn, not brand new & shiny. I have baking pans & cookie sheets out the ass, most of which have seen better days. I have plastic bins overflowing with muffin & cupcake liners for every day of the week let alone season. I have Mason jars & lids stashed everywhere & there’s liquid pectin in my fridge. I’m a full-on, from-scratch baker/cook/canner, 12 months out of the year. I make time to bake & make homemade food & confections every week, because it’s not only enjoyable but also because it’s important to me. It keeps me happy, well-fed and most importantly sane. So I have recipes bookmarked (both on Firefox & literally bookmarked in books), earmarked, cut-out of magazines & taped to notebooks, some even stored in the “notes” section on my iPhone. They’re everywhere. I get them in e-mails from family members, on Facebook, on Twitter (or I should say via Twitter, since fitting a recipe in 140 characters is kinda hard) and more. Both virtual copies & hard copies. They’re stashed all over my house from the bedroom to the kitchen to the living room. I have notes on the calendar about them, memos in my phone about them, and reminders on my laptop. I spend my spare moments before I fall asleep searching the internet for things like whiskey-pickle recipes or unique ways to use up dried cranberries. Insane? No. It’s entirely possible that people who don’t do that are far more insane than I am. Because of the fact that it keeps me sane.

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Anyway while I bake a lot, and make a lot of cupcakes… I wanted to make an extra special batch of cupcakes for this Thanksgiving, and I do think these fit the bill. I toasted the frosting & I think that just adds to it. Of course, I can’t have one yet because they’re all for tomorrow- but I tasted some batter & OH MY GOD. I don’t even like sweet potatoes & that’s some good shit.

Jay will be home from Texas for turkey day, too, which is an added bonus. I’m picking him up from La Guardia in a couple of hours, after a long day of baking & packing up food. Mi familia will be together tomorrow & stuff our faces full of that food, & that’s just the way it should be. This Thanksgiving is the first one I’m, or we’re, celebrating without my grandma. It’s rough, and I know Christmas will be tougher still. But she wouldn’t want me to complain or be sad. She loved the holidays, & so I’m doing my best to celebrate her memory as well as each holiday. This Thanksgiving we’ll all raise our glasses of wine & toast to Aggie, and of course Uncle Pat, and at the same time be thankful for all we do have & that includes family, and of course for me it includes these two sweet little faces…

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SWEET POTATO CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup canned whole sweet potatoes (unsweetened), mashed
• ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Line twelve 2 ½-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups; set cups aside.
2. In medium bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt; set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition until combined. Add sweet potatoes and vanilla, beating until combined. Add flour mixture; beat until combined (batter will be thick).
4. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake about 20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pan on wire rack for 1 minute. Remove from pan and cool completely.

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SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING

Makes about 4 cups, plenty of frosting for 12-18, possibly even 24 cupcakes, depending on how high you frost!

Directions:

1. Combine ¾ cup sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230° degrees.
2. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add remaining tablespoon sugar, beating to combine.
3. As soon as sugar syrup reaches 230° degrees, remove from heat. With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes. Use immediately.

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Just remember: you really do need a stand mixer for this frosting. Unless you have Incredible Hulk muscles & don’t mind standing there beating egg whites until stiff for possibly 15-20 minutes or more and then beating the hot frosting itself for 7+ minutes by hand. However, you can make a marshmallow frosting using Fluff that’s awesome too, and tastes similar (a bit sweeter) & can be toasted as well.

And of course I boxed them up in Bake-A-Box boxes. The liners are greaseproof natural, unbleached liners from Layer Cake Shop. I bought the fall leaves from Sugar Robot on Etsy. They’re paper… but they’re edible! How awesome is that?! Supposedly they taste like vanilla. We’ll see. Oh, and those other cupcakes are cinnamon-vanilla (recipe here) with a vanilla frosting in plain white liners for the finicky among us who perhaps won’t eat the sweet potato cupcakes. These have little vintage-inspired turkey toppers on ‘em.

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Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow, even those of you who don’t celebrate it for whatever reason. Enjoy your friends & families, & pets. I hope that you’ll consider a donation to help feed someone who can’t feed themselves tomorrow, or if you’re able to you’ll volunteer at a shelter or food bank or soup kitchen. But at the very, very least, please make a $5 or $10 donation to the ONE campaign, Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, or Share Our Strength. Please think about those less fortunate than you, when you’re “counting your blessings” tomorrow.

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This year for Halloween, when it came to edibles, I was 100% inspired by Martha’s Halloween issue. Literally, 100%. I found the perfect cupcakes for Halloween, not to mention other treats & ideas that I just had to make (see picture on the right). Some of them you’ve already seen (like the pumpkin cupcakes, or the candy apples with witches’ attached!), but these are the pièce de résistance, if you will. Gorgeous green pistachio eye-of-newt & toe-of-frog cupcakes, complete with chocolate frogs! As soon as I saw them I just knew they’d be absolutely amazing, not to mention they’d look perfect on my table for Halloween. I told you I was completely inspired *ahem* by Queen Martha’s Halloween issue this year, didn’t I? I know I must have. Like I said, I haven’t had an original cupcaking thought in my pretty head all season, sadly. I’ve also been nursing a wicked painful back lately, which is actually most inopportune for a lot of reasons- but such is life when you get old like me you’ve got a chronic back problem, and on top of that I’ve been fighting (and losing) a battle with a hardcore cold. Bottom line is I needed some ideas. These cupcakes jumped out at me; regardless of what plans I had for Halloween these babies were going to be on the menu. Ghastly, ghostly, sickly green cupcakes accompanied by my lovely skull (with his friend The Rat & Mr. Tarantula), not to mention some extra (kinda cute) edible ‘croaking’ friends. I usually make cupcakes frosted high with tufts of perfectly piped buttercream… but not this time.

This time I wasn’t going to be frosting the little green-ish cakes, but glazing them in two different shades of green goo. Sounds yummy, right? Haha. At Halloween, anything is acceptable! And honestly, how could I possibly name them anything other than ‘Eye of Newt & Toe of Frog‘ cupcakes? I could not. I would be doing a disservice to my literary education as well as underestimating (or rather under-using) my quick wit.

So like any good witch would do, I took a break from drinking Egyptian Licorice tea, blowing my nose & rubbing Tylenol Precise on my back (sexy, I know), took out my magical mixer, Lola, and started to create some evil, er, delicious cupcakes. Lola may be pink, but she’s pretty diabolical. Together we whipped up some rather eerie yet delicious green-tinted pistachio cakes with green glaze & little frogs. The chocolate frogs are made from frog-shaped candy molds. I used chocolate Candy Melts (and Spooky Green colored melts to make the dots on them) and then brushed them with green pearl dust when they were cooled.

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The irony is, my dad’s birthday is the 29th of October, so every year I try to make a big batch of cupcakes & use half for his birthday, half for Halloween. Some years it doesn’t quite work out, and I end up making two batches anyway. But it just so happens that this year he requested pistachio cupcakes weeks before Halloween, and I never mentioned the fact I had planned on making these. So killing two birds with one stone made everyone a happy camper this year. And who wouldn’t love chocolate frogs!? Even Harry Potter likes chocolate frogs! They’re clearly magical.

What an amazing looking set of cupcakes these turned out to be! And moist. And tasty. Who doesn’t love pistachio? I admittedly amped up the ‘nut’ flavor with some almond extract myself (which I included in the recipe below), but if you’re a purist you can just use a full 2 teaspoons vanilla.

EYE OF NEWT & TOE OF FROG CUPCAKES (adapted very slightly from Martha Stewart’s Halloween magazine ‘pistachio cupcakes’, 2011)

Makes 36

Ingredients:

• 14 ounces unsalted shelled pistachios (about 1 ¾ cups)
• 1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure almond extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Line 36 cups of standard muffin tins with paper liners. Coarsely chop ¾ cup pistachios, and reserve. In a food processor, grind remaining pistachios to a paste.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, cream cheese, and pistachio paste until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add sugar; beat until smooth, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until each is incorporated, and scraping sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla & almond extracts. Reduce speed to low. Add flour & salt, beating until just combined. Fold in chopped pistachios by hand.
3. Divide batter among lined cups, filling each almost ¾ full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. (Cupcakes can be stored up to 1 day at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.)
4. Place on wire racks that are over rimmed cookie sheets. Drizzle lighter glaze (see below) over each, let set until no longer tacky, 30 to 60 minutes. Drizzle with darker glaze, allowing the lighter to show around the edges, let set before decorating with chocolate frogs. Serve & enjoy.

GHASTLY GREEN GLAZE

Ingredients:

• 6 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ⅔ cup milk
• Gel-paste food coloring in Moss Green, Brown, Juniper Green and Royal Blue (all Wilton)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and milk until smooth & combined. Transfer half to another bowl.
2. For lighter green glaze (base color), add 4 drops Moss Green & 2 drops Brown food coloring to one bowl; stir to combine, adding more of each color until desired shade is reached.
3. For the darker glaze (top color), add 4 drops Juniper Green, 2 drops Royal Blue and 1 drop Brown to the second bowl; stir to combine. Adjust by adding more until desired shade is reached. Use immediately (above).

I bought my pistachios at Trader Joe’s because they’re the only place that sells unshelled pistachios (other than perhaps Whole Foods, but Trader Joe’s is closer to me). The frogs Martha uses are from Black Dinah Chocolatiers. I, however, made my own. Like I said above, I bought a frog candy mold (slightly bigger than the Black Dinah “froglets”) and used Candy Melts to create the frogs. Do as you wish in that department. I also used slightly different colors of Wilton gel-paste food coloring (just the greens) for the glazes. I couldn’t find Juniper Green & didn’t want to order it online, so I used two other Wilton greens I already had. It worked just fine.

And also I carved my jack-o-lantern! I screwed up a bit, it’s supposed to be Jack Skellington but I broke two carving saws doing it & so he’s not the best. I had further plans for it, but like I said, I broke the tools & it was around midnight, so here it is. Not perfect. I’m a perfectionist, though, so it’s disappointing. Boo (pun intended). But it came out pretty decent, either way, better than a lot I’ve seen. And I roasted the seeds with Kosher salt & olive oil. Mmm. That makes up for any mistakes, right?

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In case you aren’t aware, the phrase “eye of newt & toe of frog” is Shakespearean. It comes from the same text as “double, double, toil & trouble” and “something wicked this way comes”, also very popular terminology in modern vernacular… all of which just so happens to be from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. I’m 100% certain most people who use these terms haven’t a clue what their origins are. However I do, and it’s one of my absolute favorite literary classics. Anyway, the line about newts & frogs is from the part where the Three Witches (or “Weird Sisters”) are concocting a spell in the final scene. For those of you who slept through high school English class, here’s the full excerpt:

1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.
2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin’d.
3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time!
1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot!
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches’ mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock digg’d i the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

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Those of you familiar with Shakespeare will align the image of the skull with another of his works, Hamlet. I guess these cupcakes are just totally Shakespearean! And now you know the origin of “double, double, toil and trouble.” Go impress your friends.

that ends our Halloween fare for the year (almost- bwahahahaha). I can’t believe in just 4 short days it’ll be Halloween- where the hell did the time go!? Insane. There might just be one more trick… or treat… before this month ends..

And of course, having a blog helps. Thanks to this blog, my amazing readers & my friend Yoyo, we’ve managed to get them over $400.00 in donations in just two months alone last year! And that’s in donations that I’m aware of; people who bought from Yoyo’s shop just for this cause. I’m sure there were quite a few who’ve donated directly to them & for that I’m super grateful. They do amazing work, and they deserve all the help they can get.

Which is why I make them cupcakes!

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Yes, all these hardworking women need fuel, and I am here to provide it in the form of sugar. Two years ago, I made them chocolate cupcakes with pink striped frosting & pink ribbon toppers. Last year, I made them cupcakes with vanilla frosting dipped in a pink glaze & rolled in pink ribbon sprinkles. This year I wasn’t totally sure what I’d do, but I did know I was going to box them up in my large bakery box from Bake-A-Box. Remember last month when I wrote about them? This box was the perfect way to house & deliver my pink ribbon Adelphi Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program cupcakes. This year I went really simple: vanilla cakes, vanilla buttercream & I alternated Candy Melt-piped pink ribbons with pink sanding sugar. The ribbons were easy, I just filled a disposable bag with pink melts, popped ‘em in the microwave until they were melted, then snipped off the tip of the bag & piped lots of pink ribbons onto some parchment paper. I let them set overnight, then when the cupcakes were frosted I picked a few of the best ones to use & ate the rest. Hah. The tip I used to frost them was this one.

And what better eggs to use but Eggland’s Best eggs with pink ribbons?

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And on a lighter (& much sweeter) note than breast cancer, one of the social workers whose been with my mom from the start of her breast cancer journey, Angela, is having twins in April! So of course I had to make her a duo of cupcakes; a cupcake for each little one she’s expecting, doused in pastel sprinkles. Since we don’t know the genders, I went with all colors instead of just pink & blue. The toppers are just little plastic baby shower favors. Cuteness times 1,000.

Adorbs!

All boxed up!

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So sweet, right? Also, last Tuesday, October 18th just so happened to be the Adelphi Breast Cancer Program’s Celebration of Survivorship. The guest speakers each year are incredibly inspiring, my mother was one back in 2008. This year NBC’s Pat Battle was among the speakers, last year Lisa Lisa was one, and previous years’ speakers have included Betty Rollin, Dara Richardson-Heron, and Meredith Norton, to name just a few. I had a fun evening celebrating all the amazing survivors, including my mom!

Oh and before I forget… this year Lowe’s was (is?) selling huge pots of pink mums in a pink ribbon pot, and a portion of the price went to Susan G. Komen. So of course I bought one for my mom. If they’re still available in a Lowe’s near you, buy one. Do you really need an excuse for buying beautiful fall flowers, even if it is for breast cancer research?

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So get out there & spread the word! My website is always “in the pink” anyway but this month I want everyone to be pink; even just metaphorically. There are those (if you can believe it) who are against pink ribbons; they say it “sexualizes” breast cancer, or trivializes it, or it’s “selling out.” I disagree. First of all, I was over that whole “selling out” thing back when I was 16 & it was cool to say a punk band sold out if they made some money & didn’t live in a car. My take? Anything that raises money so that women who can’t afford it can get mammograms is a good thing. Anything that raises money for cancer research is a good thing. Anything that reminds a woman (or a man) when they see it to check for any unusual things going on is a good thing, and if that’s a pink ribbon then that’s what it is. I’m a baker & I cook a lot; let’s face it, I’m going to buy eggs anyway, why not buy the ones that donate $50,000 to a good cause that I happen to hold near & dear? Breast cancer ain’t the only cancer out there, and it does get a lot of attention, but 1 in 7 women are diagnosed with it so why the hell wouldn’t it!? Pink ribbons, purple ribbons, green ribbons, brown ribbons- I don’t care. Wear ‘em & wear ‘em proudly. Gain attention to whatever cause is close to your heart, get the word out. We’re all only here for a short time, why waste it fighting over a colored ribbon when we can use our big mouths to help? Not only that, but quibbling over a looped pink ribbon or the fact that there are organizations that brand items with a pink ribbon to raise money seems really childish to me, no matter how lofty or erudite you make it seem. There are women still dying of this disease, and you’re angry because you don’t like the color pink? Get over yourself. My mother had a mastectomy, 6 months of hardcore chemotherapy & 6 weeks of radiation, and all that helped save her life & improve her chances of living cancer-free. About 15-20 years ago I lost both my great aunt & a 35-year old second cousin to breast cancer. In the few short years between now & then the advancements are far beyond what you can imagine, trust me. If things had pink ribbons on them in 1990 or if people took it as seriously, maybe my great aunt would still be alive, and if Susan G. Komen was raising the money then that they are now perhaps my cousin would be alive too, & would have seen her three children grow up. I don’t think they’d have been against seeing a pink ribbon on a box of cookies if it would’ve maybe helped them live a little longer, do you?

Well too bad, anyway. I like pink, always have, and this is just another reason for me to use the color. Take care of yourselves, you’re valuable. Ladies, feel your boobs. Get checked (men too!) & don’t let suspicious lumps or bumps go unnoticed or freak you out: there is help! You aren’t alone & you shouldn’t be afraid: your worst fears are often never as bad as you expect them to be.

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Resources or places on the web to donate or get educated:

Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program

Look Good, Feel Better

Army of Women

American Cancer Society

Young Survival Coalition

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I was also clearly beyond inspired by the Martha Stewart Halloween magazine this year, as evidenced by my post at the beginning of October, and this is another something I took directly from it. Caramel apples with witches & “broomsticks”! They made me think of both that movie & also the Wicked Witch of the West. How cool are they?!

First Martha’s…

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And then mine.

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I know. Crazy easy & very adorable. But more importantly- easy. It’s just a little more than a few days before Halloween and I know that there are still some people thinking about last minute ideas. Here’s one.

The other day, I told you about my sort of failed but happy accident caramel apple syrup that I messed up making (but ended up with something awesome anyway). That was a more complex recipe, though, by far. This time I promise- there is no way you could EVER mess this up. First of all, caramel apples are so easy a trained monkey could make them. Second, by just adding a little witch cut out from cardstock & a skewer, you make them into a snack worthy of being a centerpiece, instead of just a sticky, boring little old-fashioned treat. Perfect for kids at a Halloween party.

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WICKED CANDY APPLES

Ingredients:

• 6 small apples, stems removed
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup dark corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Thoroughly wash & rinse all apples. Dry and insert sturdy wooden craft stick or skewer in each. Prepare an ice water bath in a fairly large bowl, and line a baking sheet with waxed paper or parchment.
2. Boil cream, sugar, corn syrup, and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan. Clip candy thermometer to the side of pan and continue to cook until mixture reaches 245 degrees, about 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately place pan in ice water bath to stop the cooking.
3. Dip the bottom of each apple in the caramel rotating it and using a spoon to coat apple halfway to three-quarters of the way up the sides. Transfer to baking sheet, and refrigerate until set, about 15 minutes (or overnight) before serving.
4. Print witches out on cardstock. Cut-out, and using a small hole punch, punch holes on either sides of hands. Slide sticks in and poke them into the top of apples, replacing skewers.

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The apples I used were little ones called Ginger Gold. I thought they were the perfect size, and I got a ½ peck of them for about 5 bucks. I only made 6 of them into caramel apples, the rest were baked & eaten up in other ways. When pecks or ½ pecks are on sale, if you can’t go & pick your own, take advantage of it. Apples are crazy versatile & you’ll definitely use them up. Ginger Gold’s in particular are excellent for just about any use: snacking (they’re very slow to brown when cut), pie making (they hold their shape when cooked/baked), etc. However they don’t store well… so refrigerate ‘em & use ‘em ASAP.

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Other apples that are good for this are Lady apples, or any small-sized apple, really.

I used wooden shish kebob sticks/skewers for mine. You can use whatever you like. Fancy twigs, etc. As far as the caramel goes, I’d personally stick with just caramel, or maybe with a swirl of chocolate. If you want to roll it in chopped walnuts or something that’s up to you- I’d just advise you not to go too crazy. Maybe it’s just me but those candy apples with 5 different kinds of chocolate/caramel/nuts never look appealing to me, just messy. But again, it’s a personal thing. And like I said last time I used a Martha idea, I can’t give you the actual witch template, like I said before it’s only available in the magazine & I don’t want to violate her copyrights. I mean, Martha’s been to prison; I don’t wanna fuck with her. But if you don’t want to buy the magazine, with a little creativity & internet saavy, you can do-it-yourself. The internet is chock full of awesome vintage Halloween clip-art.

So put on Hocus Pocus or Bedknobs & Broomsticks, maybe even watch Once Upon A Time this Sunday night & cast a spell of your own to make some witchy caramel apples.

Have you ever heard the Irish legend of “Carman”, the Celtic witch?

Carman is the Celtic goddess of evil magic. She is a destructive witch who roamed ireland with her three evil sons: Dub (“darkness” in Irish), Dother (“evil”) and Dain (“violence”), destroying anything or anyone in their path. Carman put a blight on Ireland’s crops and terrorized the Irish until the Tuatha De Danann, the “peoples of the goddess Danu,” used their magic to fight and defeat her, and drove her sons across the sea. Just another Irish folklore to worry about while “Trick or Treating” this Halloween.

-source: The Irish Jewelry Company

Halloween is a big holiday for me. It’s not only my favorite, it’s just an all-around great holiday to decorate & bake for. I know I’ve mentioned that before. I’ve also mentioned before that I just love Martha Stewart’s specialty holiday magazines. Each year for Halloween & Christmas I’m like a crackhead feenin’ for her fix- I have to buy her Halloween magazine & Holiday magazine. Sure, her regular magazine is cool too but I’m all about the holidays. And of course the covers always pull me in when I’m on line at the supermarket anyway. “Ooh look, Martha’s dressed up as a moth-woman! It’s a must buy issue!” That and I’m pretty much a boring chick. Really. Yes, I have this “glamorous” blog that is world-renowned, this art-school slash fashion background, yes I’m the significant other of a police officer slash death metal bassist, yes I have a sidecut & nose ring & listen to some interesting music. But the highlight of my week last week was buying pumpkins on sale (that weren’t gross & motley because of Hurricane Irene) & getting spiffy new glasses. No, seriously. I got new glasses & I’m that psyched about it. As if I wasn’t already a nerd! You’d think my life would be a bit more exciting, but this is it. I get giggly over new spectacles & holiday craft magazines. So yes. I enjoy reading all of Queen Martha’s magazines & I’m that sucker who’ll buy one each freakin’ year season holiday..

This particular year, well since July anyway, has been a bit off for me; I’ve been dealing with a lot of shit & basically didn’t have a clue as to what I was going to do for any of the holidays. So I basically used Martha’s ideas. For Halloween, I should say, since that’s the only holiday that’s relevant so far. Yeah, it’s not the most imaginative, but really… is anything new? Everything has really been done before anyway. All we do is just recycle old ideas & implement them in slightly different ways, or “freshen” them up for the current social climate. At least that’s what I keep telling myself when I feel bad about not coming up with something amazing myself this year & I end up using an old idea or one of someone else’s.

But even though I felt guilty about not doing something ingenious & unique, had to do something holiday-appropriate. This is my favorite holiday, for goodness sakes! And let’s face it, being that I’m related (albeit by marriage) to the famous Van Tassel’s of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow fame, anything spooky & creepy & bizarre is an event I must participate in. Only if I were related to Mary Shelley or Bram Stoker or Washington Irving himself would it make me more of a Halloween-head. Seriously. Headless Horsemen, scarecrows, zombies, jack-o-lanterns, vampires, witches, black cats; bring it on. I’m not only ready for ‘em, I welcome ‘em!

So these cupcakes, regardless of how simple, are pretty awesome looking, I gotta say. Simple, but fun. Retro.

It sorta looks like they’re running away from the jack-o-lantern, doesn’t it?

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I just fell in love with the vintage cat clip-art/cupcake toppers she had in her magazine this year. It reminded me of some of the cardboard cut-outs my grandmother used to hang every Halloween, some of which were her mother’s. Aren’t they awesome? Both the cut-outs and the cupcake toppers. Oh- and that cake plate, which rocks my socks so hardcore because it came with a pink satin ribbon, but I can change the ribbon for every holiday and IT ALWAYS LOOKS AWESOME. Plus it gives me a really good reason to buy cute ribbon for every single holiday.

So yes, I made cupcakes & I had no idea what to do to decorate them. Turns out, the little cupcakes I made looked pretty close to exact to the ones Ms. Stewart had in her magazine; cupcakes in orange liners with these vintage-y cat faces. So that’s what I decided to do. On half of the cupcakes I put those cat face toppers, and on the other half, I went with marzipan pumpkins.

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Marzipan pumpkins that I made, myself. However I didn’t make the marzipan (I’m not insane)- I bought it. It was golden colored Dr. Oetker marzipan that I bought at an import market (where I buy my English chocolate & Irish tea). So no I didn’t totally make them. But I divided it, colored it, I rolled it up, sculpted it and painted it. Or one, anyway.

Yep, that little jack-o-lantern dude there. Here’s a better view, in natural light.

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You could obviously use fondant for the same effect, however I find that marzipan is tastier, so people don’t mind it as much. Sure, fondant looks pretty… but it tastes like an old diaper. Marzipan tastes like almonds & isn’t at all tough or rubbery, it has a really nice soft texture. It was also perfect because it was already a golden color, so I didn’t have to add much color to it to achieve a nice pumpkin color, and the green took to it really well too. It would be much easier to make faces if you get a black edible pen. I used black food coloring & a toothpick, which is why I stopped at one. I always have to make things harder on myself.

The cupcake recipe is a modified Martha recipe in & of itself, the frosting is a stabilized whipped cream one via Wilton that I felt was perfect with cupcakes that taste like pumpkin pie. Speaking of, the recipe supposedly makes 18 but I got closer to 24. The frosting recipe should frost that much, unless you pile it on super high.

PUMPKIN PIE CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

Those vintage black ruffle candle holders were my grandma’s too… she had some awesome stuff

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And this is not the last time you’ll be seeing Martha-inspired content this season. Trust me when I say my entire Halloween tableau & menu this year is almost entirely from her. I’m not even kidding when I say I didn’t have an original thought in my head this season. Well, in the aspect of treats, anyway. As far as other things, i.e. decorating, I held my own pretty well, as usual. Here’s my annual Halloween “tree” & hanging lanterns:

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I don’t know if I mentioned it lately, but it’s really awesome having a blog/website. I can look up previous years’ holiday cupcakes, etc. with the click of a mouse, & each recipe & post is archived for me chronologically. Its like a virtual online cookbook or ‘idea book’ that I can access anytime I want to. It’s pretty effin’ spectacular. I hope it’s just as spectacular for you, too, to access all of that. There may be many blogs out there: lots of them are great, some may be nothing more than clones of others, but I hope either way you all come here because mine gives you a little something different. Or because I’m crazy. Whatever. I’ll take what I can get. You’re all amazing too!

Anyway like I mentioned before, with each post this year I’ll be posting a brief story on a Halloween tradition that has it’s origins in Celtic myths/legends. Here’s another for you…

There is an old Irish legend about an Irishman named Jack who liked to drink a little too much.

Long ago on a cold, lonely Halloween night, as Jack staggered home from another night of over indulging, the devil appeared to take his soul. But Jack was a cunning Irishman. He tricked the devil into climbing a nearby tree to pick him a lovely apple for his final meal. While the devil was picking his fruit Jack carved a Celtic cross on the tree trunk. The devil couldn’t cross such a sacred symbol and was trapped in the tree. Jack only let the Devil pass when he promised never again try to claim his soul. Well eventually Jack finally died from the drink. But poor Jack was denied entrance into heaven because of his drunken ways on earth. So Jack then tried to enter the gates of hell, but the devil, remembered his promise and denied Jack entry into hell. But the Devil was so impressed with his shrewdness he threw him a glowing hot coal to light his eternal wanderings. So Jack placed the red hot coal in a hollowed out turnip to form a make-shift “Lantern”.

You see there were no pumpkins in Ireland. Some legends say you can still see the fire of “Jack’s Lantern” as his spirit wanders the earth with nowhere to go. Years later all across Ireland people began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” or simply “Jack O’ Lantern.” So the next time you look down the dark road and see that glowing light in the distance, be careful. Because it just might be Jack, Jack of the Lantern!

- source The Irish Jewelry Company

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Part of the charm & intrigue of Halloween is the fright factor. That things-that-go-bump-in-the-night-”what-was-that-sound” factor that gives you the chills- but you love it. The reason why people go on scary roller coasters or watch horror movies. That same feeling, that’s the best part of Halloween. I try to make that a part of everything I make around this time of year, not to mention I try to include the fall flavors that everyone loves. Of course, I’m biased. Like I said, this is my favorite holiday. I think some of my favorite things about it, in addition to the “scary” aspect, are all the traditions & symbols. It has such strong Celtic roots, I find the origins of the things we do today to be really interesting. Some of which I’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks in detail… for now:

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. For instance, the carving of jack-o’-lanterns springs from the souling custom of carving turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory.^[5] The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween,^[6][7] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips.^[6] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837^[8] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.^[9]

The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula), and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy).^[10] Among the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne in 1780, who made note of pranks at Halloween; “What fearfu’ pranks ensue!”, as well as the supernatural associated with the night, “Bogies” (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns‘ Halloween 1785.^[11] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.

Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult, or mythical monsters.^[12] Black and orange are the holiday’s traditional colors.

I’m aware not everyone enjoys this day as much as I do, and I guess my personal opinion that they’re a bunch of boring, humorless stick-in-the-mud’s is irrelevant, but either way I think it’s fun & harmless. What could be more fun than dressing up as something you aren’t & getting free candy? I don’t know. It sounds pretty friggin’ amazing to me. So being it’s my favorite holiday, I have lots of treats for you to choose from for your spooky fall baking needs. I’ve done compilation posts before, as a matter of fact this past year, 2010-2011, I did one for every holiday, Halloween being the first. But being I did it early on each season, I excluded all the new ideas I had & implemented afterward. So this year it’s a truer compilation: all (or most) of my muffins, cupcakes & other treats; all with a Halloween or fall theme. Some are slightly more complex than others, but all of them are pretty simple when you get down to it & they really don’t take a lot of time or effort (or money, or experience really) to execute.

If you have any questions about where I bought supplies, etc, or just about the cupcakes/treats in general, feel free to comment or e-mail me.

CHOCOLATE STOUT CUPCAKES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE BONES TRUE BLOOD ORANGE CUPCAKES WITH CANDIED BLOOD ORANGES

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DEVIL’S FOOD CUPCAKES WITH CINNAMON RED-HOTS FROSTING DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

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CHOCOLATE MALT CUPCAKES WITH FUDGE FILLING EERIE MONSTER CUPCAKES WITH SWEETMELT EYES

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TRUE BLOOD VELVET CUPCAKES & CREAM CHEESE FROSTING BLACK LICORICE CUPCAKES & ORANGE MARSHMALLOW FROSTING

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JACK-O-LANTERN PUMPKIN MUFFINS PUMPKIN STREUSEL MUFFINS WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

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MARSHMALLOW BONES APPLE MUFFINS

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CINNAMON VANILLA CUPCAKES & MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE FROSTING TRES LECHES COCONUT CUPCAKES

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S’MORES CUPCAKES WITH MARSHMALLOW BUTTERCREAM SPICE CUPCAKES WITH BROWN SUGAR FROSTING

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And of course, if you’re looking for something in particular, you can always go through the archives, specifically the seasonal ones, like the pumpkin or apple categories. Another particular favorite of mine not pictured are the infamous apple cider donuts, they’re perfect for Halloween shenanigans. You could go bobbing for apple cider donuts! And if you’re into pumpkin seeds, I have two recipes, both plain & brown sugar/spice versions. And the two recipes second to last on the list, the cinnamon/vanilla & tres leches coconut, would both be perfect for Dia de los Muertos as well (which is what I used the latter for myself).

Almost any cupcake recipe or cookie recipe can be altered or decorated to fit in with Halloween. Use your imagination… you never know what you may come up with. If worse comes to worse, and you’re stuck for ideas, ask a kid! Kids have the best imaginations and come up with the best stuff, especially for Halloween. A kid’s brain works on a totally different level, they’re practically un-offended by everything, which is perfect.

And stay tuned this month for many more creepy (& not so creepy) fall-appropriate recipes & ideas.

Remember last week when I said nowadays I take my whiskey in the form of marmalade… or cupcakes? Heh. Did you know then what was coming with this post? Anyway, I decided before the Halloween treats get into full swing, I’d do a little something different. Those of you who are Facebook fans of CR saw a preview of these the other day, but sadly the way Facebook compresses photos, even when they say they’re “hi-res” leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully these photos look a bit better… if not, at least there’s some semi-interesting storytelling coming your way.

One of my absolute most beloved shows on television is Boardwalk Empire. Thank you, HBO, for having some of the best shows on television, ALWAYS. It just so happens that not only am I a big Steve Buscemi fan (Valley Stream represent! Okay so I’m not from Valley Stream, but I’m close enough), but that time in history, particularly in American history, is one of my favorites. I always say I was born 81 years too late; I should’ve been born in 1900 and been a suffragette & a flapper in the roaring ’20′s. Yes, it’s highly romanticized, and in reality it wasn’t a very easy time to be alive, but still. I’m an old soul & I think I was definitely meant to be around then… or perhaps I was, in another life. In that same vein, a new documentary by Ken Burns premiered on Sunday, called Prohibition, and it too is fantastic.

My great-grandfather Tom Rooney was a rum-runner during Prohibition, starting when my grandmother & her brother were babies (my grandmother was born in 1918, her brother 1919). As Prohibition wore on, it got a bit more dangerous & by the mid-to-late 1920′s he had quite a few children & it wasn’t much worth the risk any more. On the other side, as a child my grandfather used to go & get/bring home the disguised beer in an aluminum can (called “rushing the duck”) in exchange for some bakery buns (you can see where I get my priorities from) or a quarter from his uncle. Not to mention the fact that my aforementioned great-grandfather owned a bar. We’re a big liquor lovin’ family. On those sides alone, we’re Irish, German, Prussian, Austrian, etc… so what else do you expect? Not to give in to a stereotype or anything but I mean, last week I posted lemon-orange whiskey marmalade. This week it’s whiskey cupcakes. Forget about the many reasons why, it’s clear I might as well have a Tommy gun under my arm, a cigarette hanging from my mouth & a stolen case full of Pimm’s next to my bathtub full of homemade gin.

Obviously, the inspiration from these cupcakes came from both HBO’s Boardwalk Empire as well as the Ken Burns’ documentary Prohibition, not to mention some old photos of my grandparents, and first & foremost Jay. The photos of my grandparents, while from 1937, aren’t from the exact same era, but they’re so ‘Bonnie & Clyde‘ looking that they just reminded me of Prohibition… & guns & liquor, too, haha. Not that there’s any of that in the pictures!

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How awesome are those photos? I love them. I have two photos of both my great-grandmothers that actually are from 1919/1920, one can be found at this post, but somehow the feel of the above pictures seem to capture the essence & style I was looking for better.

As far as Jay’s part in all this, he was really the main catalyst. A while back, he was out with his friends at a bar & tasted something new: Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey. He immediately thought of me baking with it, and bought some. How cute is he? Very. So I was thinking of what I’d make with it, perhaps a rum cake, except without the rum but with the JD… and maybe a honey glaze? Then I tasted it. Okay, well, I’m not a whiskey connoisseur nor am I a fan of Jack Daniel’s. I much prefer the sweeter, smoother taste of Jameson (and preferably in coffee if anything), so this new blend of Jack with honey liqueur was not really that different to me than regular Jack. Sure, I got the honey smell, however I tasted good ol’ Jack more than the honey. But I could tell that when added to some sugar, it’d be really delicious. So I decided to just go with cupcakes! I didn’t get the idea for the theme until the season 2 premiere of Boardwalk Empire, and of course the first night of Prohibition. What a better way to enjoy these TV shows than with some cupcakes filled with whiskey!?

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And boy, did I ever make cupcakes. I made honey whiskey cupcakes with some delicious Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey whiskey in both the cake & the frosting, topping them off with sugar pearls, gold chunky crystal sugar & teeny little liquor bottles (courtesy of Primp My Cupcake at Etsy) on them… frosted with a jumbo closed star tip from The Cupcake Social, black liners are from Wilton. Keepin’ it classy!

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Aren’t they the cat’s pajamas?

JACK DANIEL’S HONEY WHISKEY PROHIBITION CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. sea salt
• ½ cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey whiskey liqueur
• 3 tablespoons sour cream or yogurt
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup honey
• 2 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix yogurt/sour cream, vanilla, whiskey; set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Add honey and sugar; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time.
4. Add half of the reserved dry ingredients to the butter mixture; mix on low until just combined. With mixer running on low, slowly add the whiskey mixture.
5. Add remaining dry ingredients until just combined.
6. Fill cupcake liners ⅔ full and bake 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

JACK DANIEL’S TENNESSEE HONEY (ITALIAN MERINGUE) BUTTERCREAM

Ingredients:

• ½ cup sugar plus 4 tablespoons
• 2 large egg whites
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• ⅓ cup water
• ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
• ¼ teaspoon honey
• ¼-½ teaspoon Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey whiskey liqueur

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and ⅓ cup water to a boil. Continue boiling until syrup reaches 238° degrees on a candy thermometer (soft-ball stage).
2. Meanwhile, place egg whites in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat on low speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and beat on medium-high speed until stiff but not dry; do not overbeat.
3. With mixer running, add syrup to whites in a stream, beating on high speed until no longer steaming, about 3 minutes. Add butter bit by bit, beating until spreadable, 3 to 5 minutes; beat in honey, then the whiskey. If icing curdles, keep beating until smooth. Don’t be alarmed if the frosting gets “slippery” in the bowl; that’s from the alcohol. It’ll pipe just fine.

What a perfect way to sneak your alcohol- put it in a cupcake! As I was making these I came up with another amazing idea: make a whiskey custard, then fill honey cupcakes with it, and top them off with a whiskey/honey buttercream. I bet a whiskey custard would knock ‘em dead. And they’d also be great for New Year’s cupcakes. Although I have to make a confession: I didn’t make the above buttercream. I just made a confectioner’s sugar buttercream and added some whiskey & honey (similar to this recipe). Only because it was late, I had eaten a big meal, I was tired, and the thought of the boiling sugar & the whipping of egg whites into meringue made me want to crawl into bed. Either way, they’re amazeballs. Whiskey makes a great frosting!

Another confession? I’d much prefer this frosting on a plain vanilla cake as opposed to the modified honey-cake I used. It was good, don’t get me wrong. However I must say it felt a bit like overkill… I think it’d be better with just a cupcake made with pure vanilla topped with the whiskey-based frosting. I’m a bit boring like that.

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Like anything else, creating them/decorating them is only half the presentation. You have to dress the part. So I wore my brand new wingtip brogues. Nucky Thompson ain’t got nothin’ on me!

The consensus was that these cupcakes (and the shoes) were super cute & super good. Try ‘em. Preferably while listening to Sophie Tucker.

Whiskey is an extremely fall/winter-ish addition to any baked good or food (or drink). It’s warming by it’s very nature. So this recipe will work excellently all winter, substituting bourbon or scotch or any kind of good quality whiskey for the Jack Daniel’s I used; I’d just remove the honey, especially in the cupcakes (& in turn up the sugar content) unless you’re really looking for that particular flavor. Honey can be kinda obvious in some recipes, it’s not always subtle, so just keep that in mind.

Happy No-More-Prohibition (even though it was actually repealed on December 5th, 1933, you can still celebrate now)!

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“Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits. Fanatics will never learn that, though it be written in letters of gold across the sky. It is the prohibition that makes anything precious.” ❦ Mark Twain

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I first saw this concept done by Retro Bakery in Las Vegas. I can’t say for sure what they use for their paint splatters, but they come out amazing (view some here & some here). I’ve wanted to do it for a while, but I was putting it off for a few reasons: 1) I wasn’t sure what they used as “paint”, 2) It seemed messy & I was always dreading the clean-up, and 3) Everytime I remembered it, something else was going on… too hot out, I had to bake something else, etc. But I finally had the right conditions & frame of mind to do it, and went for it. And let me tell you- the clean-up was nothing. So I decided, after Googling, that Retro Bakery probably used something with a similar texture to Candy Melts, and also that using Royal Icing wasn’t for me. Some people do seem to use that, and some even use thinned-out buttercream, but I definitely wanted to use the melts for my “paint.” It just seemed like that would make a better consistency “paint” than anything else, and also be more pleasant to eat. Royal Icing isn’t always nice when you’re not expecting the slight crunch, and who would expect that when eating a cupcake? So I used 4 colors of Wilton Candy Melts; blue, red, yellow and green. Typical “paint” colors, right?

Before…

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After!

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I decided I wanted to try it one night during a relative cool spell (68º degrees & breezy at 11 p.m. in New York in June! It’s a miracle! … but one that didn’t last very long, haha), and I think they came out spectacular. I also tried out a new vanilla cupcake recipe, one from Crumbs Bake Shop. I got the recipe online but it’s actually from this little boxed set. Not bad, I must say. Very moist and “bouncy” with a nice texture. However… I halved the following recipe and ended up with 18 cupcakes. Don’t ask. No idea. That always happens to me!

CRUMBS BAKE SHOP VANILLA CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla and almond extracts.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a small bowl. Then, with the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the flour.
4. Fill each cup ¾ full with batter. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the center of the cupcakes spring back when touched. Cool completely before frosting.

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HEAVY CREAM BUTTERCREAM

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 ½ – 2 pounds powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream (perhaps more)

Directions:

1. Place the butter and shortening in a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Slowly add the first pound and a half of powdered sugar, a cup at a time until all is incorporated. Turn off the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl very well. Add the vanilla and mix again.
2. Slowly add half of the heavy cream while the mixer is on, and beat for one minute.
3. Add more cream or sugar as needed to achieve a frosting consistency that’s suitable to piping.

For the paint effect; bake the cupcakes and allow them to cool completely. Frost them as desired (I used a plain vanilla so the paint was more obvious, with this tip) and let the frosting “set” in a cool area for 10-15 minutes, or pop them in the fridge for a bit. Meanwhile, melt the Candy Melts according to the package and cover your work space with parchment paper. Set up your cupcakes on the paper and using a spoon and fork, “splatter” the melts on the cupcakes. You may need to “thin” the melts out a bit with some vegetable oil before you use it to splatter. Do a test run on the parchment, and if it’s too thick, add vegetable oil by the ¼ teaspoon, making sure to incorporate it thoroughly, until you reach the right consistency.

These are perfect for a kid’s party, or even for the 4th of July! Just use red & blue melts, and red & blue solid liners with a vanilla cake & vanilla frosting; you’ve got yourself a perfect “firework” cupcake. Or, how about an 80′s party? Use 80′s colors and alternate the frosting color with different color melts. You could adapt it for any holiday, really. But I think it’s really an idea that was just made for a little kid’s birthday party. I had no particular reason for making them, so I dubbed them “Jackson Pollock cupcakes.”

Oh- and if you don’t know who Jackson Pollock is, he was a painter, and here’s an example of his work called Convergence (click to see larger):

Anyway, season 4 of True Blood starts June 26th, and it just so happens to be that my favorite book (or one of ‘em) in the series was book 4, or Dead To The World. So while that may be almost a month away, I felt the need to come up with some cupcake-y way to celebrate this, and also use some of the fresh fruit that’s available now that the weather is warmer. Back in October, I made some True Blood Velvet cupcakes and they went over so big, the official Tru Beverage website actually wrote an entire post about them and linked to me! In case you missed all that, here’s my little blurb about it from back then:

Before I get started on this post, I want to say how awesome it is that on October 13th the official Tru Blood Beverage website wrote a post about my True Blood Velvet cupcakes on their news page! So exciting, especially for me, I’m a huge fan of the show True Blood & the Sookie Stackhouse books. It was really spiffy that they noticed me & my lil’ ol cupcakes. I really geeked out over it for a while, truth be told (and still am, kinda). If you missed the post, and can’t find it, don’t worry. If you check out my press page, you’ll see a screenshot of what was written.

So using that as inspiration, I decided to go with blood oranges for my cupcakes. The True Blood Tru beverage is flavored blood orange, so I thought that would be absolutely perfect! Of course, finding the blood oranges weren’t as easy as I thought, but I managed to find ‘em!

Blood oranges, in case you’re wondering, are:

a variety of orange (Citrus sinensis) with crimson, blood-colored flesh. The fruit is smaller than an average orange; its skin is usually pitted, but can be smooth. The distinctive dark flesh color is due to the presence of anthocyanins, a family of pigments common to many flowers and fruit, but uncommon in citrus fruits.^[1] The flesh develops its characteristic maroon color when the fruit develops with low temperatures during the night.^[2] Sometimes there is dark coloring on the exterior of the rind as well, depending on the variety of blood orange. The skin can also be tougher, and harder to peel than other oranges.

While all oranges are likely of hybrid origin between the pomelo and the tangerine,^[3] blood oranges originated as a mutation of the sweet orange.^[4]

Within Europe, the Arancia Rossa di Sicilia (Red Orange of Sicily) has Protected Geographical Status.^[5]

They’re gorgeous. They look just like oranges, but when you slice them, the inside is a deep blood-red color, and so is the juice. How appropriate, right? It looks normal on the outside, but inside… muahaha.

I decided to do a blood orange cupcake, and frost it with some very lightly flavored vanilla buttercream, and then top them with a candied slice of blood orange. The slices became almost stained-glass like, which gave a lovely look.  Black liners are from Bake It Pretty (but I can’t seem to find them on their site now, so they might be sold out).

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TRUE “BLOOD – ORANGE” CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cup cake flour, sifted
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ teaspoons salt
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 2 large eggs, separated and whites beaten until stiff
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup blood orange juice
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• dash of orange food coloring
• dash of red coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins with liners.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside. Cream butter, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla in a mixing bowl until fluffy.
3. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together in a separate mixing bowl, and do a quick sift with a whisk. Add dry ingredients to creamed ingredients a little at a time alternating with adding portions of the orange juice to the creamed mixture. Add two dashes of food coloring until the batter is desired color (remember, it’ll get lighter once the egg whites are folded in!)
4. Fold in beaten egg whites gently, one half at a time. Spoon batter into cupcake liners.
5. Bake  for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For those of you who aren’t True Blood fans (THE HORROR!) or if you want to make them for a summer party or picnic, you can make ‘em plain blood orange cupcakes too. The orange liners are also from Bake It Pretty.

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CANDIED BLOOD ORANGE SLICES (thanks to 52kitchenadventures.com)

Ingredients:

• 1 blood orange, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Slice the blood orange as thinly as you can manage. Bring water and sugar to a simmer in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add blood orange slices and keep on a low simmer, turning them over after 30 minutes. Simmer for a total of 45-60 minutes, or until the peel on the slices starts to become translucent.
2. If you want to make more oranges, simply increase the amount of water and sugar (such as 1 ½ cups of each for 3-4 oranges).

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So all you Trubies out there… make these on June 26th, crack open some Tru Blood’s and GET PSYCHED.

I decided to make a few different things for him, this being a pretty big birthday. And since he loves anything involving chocolate & peanut butter, I made this awesomely easy chocolate peanut butter fudge from the Food Network magazine. He isn’t a fudge fan by any means, but I knew I couldn’t go wrong with a PB/chocolate combo. I also made him some cupcakes (of course). I asked him about 4 times what kind he wanted, and each time I got a different answer. He said chocolate stout cupcakes, then he said chocolate cheesecake cupcakes, then he said a Guinness/chocolate stout cupcake again, and the fourth time he got overwhelmed and said he didn’t know. Pfft. In all fairness, I did ask about a month in advance. Well I asked a fifth time and this time I got an answer: Maple Irish Whiskey-frosted white velvet butter cupcakes, topped with crumbled bacon. Oh yes.

These aren’t a new concept for me. I’ve actually made them two other times in the past 2 months; both for St. Patrick’s Day & then later on that month for our friend Melanie’s 30th birthday. However neither of those times were they topped with bacon, and I didn’t use a white velvet cupcake recipe for ‘em, just plain vanilla. But in all honesty, this frosting is so amazing that it’s worth repeating & making over & over again. Add bacon it just takes it over the top. Jameson & bacon, together with maple in a cupcake? Insanity. And very manly, now that I think about it. Jameson & bacon could practically be a men’s cologne. And Jay loves his Jameson. Jack too, but really, Jameson is way better.

The funny thing is, that in past years I’ve ordered supplies, namely toppers, with plenty of time to spare & yet still didn’t get them in time. So I had these toppers waiting here for almost 2 years, begging to be used. I thought it’d be funny to get some camouflage liners and combine ‘em with the fish toppers for his cupcakes. Jay loves fishing, and there’s a sort of ongoing joke about his camo BDU’s he used to wear a lot, so the two things together make almost a perfect “Jay cupcake.” If you add some mini-death metal CD’s & mini-handcuffs, it’d be really perfect. I cannot for the life of me remember where I bought the toppers, but I will say that the Etsy shop littlemonsterhugs (which is awesome!) saved my ass by being the only shop to have the camo liners in stock as of a week & a half ago, and then on top of that, getting them to me in plenty of time when I ordered them late! Thank cupcakes for littlemonsterhugs! I’ll definitely be a returning customer. And the best part is they didn’t lose their color after baking- they stayed just as bright. LOVE THEM.

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Alright, so those are pretty fucking awesome. I smelled like bacon & whiskey for a half hour after making them, I finally just had to shower again, haha. The recipes for the cupcakes and frosting are linked to up there in that paragraph. And here are some photos of the delicious fudge. That recipe to follow.

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CHOCOLATE-PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

Ingredients:

• Unsalted butter, softened, for brushing
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 pinches salt
• 2 cups peanut butter chips

Directions:

1. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, pressing it into the corners and up the sides; leave an overhang on 2 sides. Brush the foil with butter.
2. Combine 3/4 cup condensed milk, the chocolate chips, and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Combine the remaining condensed milk, the peanut butter chips, and the last pinch salt in a separate saucepan. Put both pans over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chips are melted & smooth.
3. Spoon the chocolate mixture into the prepared pan, leaving spaces in between the spoonfuls. Spoon the peanut mixture in between the gaps. Brush an 8-inch square parchment paper with butter and lay it directly on top of the fudge; press to flatten evenly & fill-in the gaps. Refrigerate until firm, about 45 minutes. Lift the foil to remove the fudge from the pan and cut into 1-inch squares. Store up to 1-week in an airtight container.

You may notice that my fudge isn’t necessarily “two-tone.” That’s because the supermarket I went to didn’t have peanut butter chips (*gasp* I know!), they only had these two mixes from Nestle.

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So I figured, it’s technically the same thing. It made it easier because I just made it all in one saucepan as opposed to two. But it didn’t have a two-tone or swirled effect. *shrugs* It was to die for, and tasted like chocolate-peanut butter, so there! Basically, in all honesty, it was the same. It comes out fantastic this way, so if you don’t have peanut butter chips on hand either, these will work.

So my best friend turned 30. I really can’t believe it; I remember his silly ass at 19 calling me ‘whitehead’ because of my white bandanna & how I wanted to kick his ass. But he turned out to be the best thing to ever cross my path. We’ve been through a lot, both together & separately, over these past 11 years, and most especially during the almost 8 that we’ve been “a couple.” When I say he’s my best friend, I’m not exaggerating by any means. In him I have a confidante, a fellow “foodie” (that is a terrible word), someone who can help me fix almost anything- computers, plumbing, construction, ANYTHING… and most importantly someone whose personality fits so perfectly with mine it’s like we were made for one another. I love you, Jay, happy birthday. Now finish eating the cupcakes & fudge so we can go back to Angelo’s for dinner & Chip Shop for dessert.

This Easter had a sad spin on it, given the events of last week. But I tried my hardest to make it as nice & happy as possible, complete with pretty little cupcakes & desserts. The cake pops I made for Valentine’s Day were such a big hit I decided I needed to make some for Easter. I went with the easiest concept- eggs. Although I was going to attempt chicks, stylized chicks in a kind of “Peeps” look I didn’t get around to it. I ended up making tons of cake pops (and a few little egg-shaped cake balls) instead. Adorable! This time, instead of using white cake mix & frosting, I used chocolate fudge.

I’m sure you all know how to make these by now, but in case you don’t, I’ll leave it to the queen to explain; Bakerella‘s tutorial on cake pops can be found here. You can also make them without the lollipop sticks (look for the ‘cake balls’ tutorial on Bakerella.com). Just a word to the wise: chocolate cake mix is moister than vanilla or white, so use a bit less frosting when making the pops, or else they won’t firm up properly and they’ll collapse on ya. Is ‘moister’ even a word?

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I’m still no expert at cake pops, but the more you make them the easier they get. I’m starting to get a little technique down. I’m sorry I don’t have pictures of the “chocolate egg” cake balls, but they were just the chocolate fudge egg-shaped cake balls dipped in light cocoa and blue candy melts, then I just used the opposite color to do drizzles on top. I wrapped those up in the little baggies with bunny ribbons too. I know it’s juvenile, but I have to stop writing ‘cake balls.’ It’s making me laugh too much. Cake balls. Bwahaha!

I also made cupcakes, and I topped them with a green buttercream “grass” and some pink and purple sugar flower posies (courtesy of Wilton). You could certainly make your own icing flowers, though, if you’re a bit more ambitious than I was. I had a shit week, you’ll have to forgive me. I made a cupcake recipe I made a few Easter’s ago which is one of my favorites for spring. I like to call them “Lemony Snicket’s” cupcakes because they’re a very light lemony-vanilla flavored cake (& frosting). The tulip cupcake liners are just the cutest thing ever, and I’ve been saving them for a while now. I knew I’d use ‘em for either Easter or Mother’s Day! You can get them at Cupcake Social or get them at sweet estelle’s baking supply, or even at Bake It Pretty. Look at that- choices galore. God Bless America!

I used my super jumbo star tip for these… it’s my new favorite tip, sorry Wilton!

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LEMONY SNICKET’S CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 large lemon (organic)
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup  milk

LEMONY SNICKET’S BUTTERCREAM

Ingredients:

• 2 cups confectioners sugar (or icing or powdered sugar), sifted
• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• Zest of 1 large lemon (again, preferably organic since you’re using the zest)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk or light cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° degrees F and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

For the Cupcakes:

1. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
2. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter and egg mixture, along with the milk, and beat until combined.
3. Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing.

For the Frosting:

1. In an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little more milk or sugar, if needed.
4. Tint the frosting with desired food color (I use the Wilton icing colors in the little tubs, this color is ‘Leaf Green’).

If you have the tip that makes the frosting look like actual grass (Wilton tip #233), then that would be super cute too. I like to pipe my frosting a little on the high side (in case you haven’t noticed), so I always make a little bit more frosting than the recipe calls for. Oh, and obviously, I baked the cakes in plain white liners, then just stuck them in the tulip ones. It seemed as though the tulip liners were a bit short, so I used them as an accent. I think they’re really pretty though, don’t you?

In this one you can really see how cute the liners are…

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I should also probably mention I always get 14 cupcakes out of this recipe. It’s supposed to make 12, but I never get less than 14.

Well, Happy Easter! If you’re still stumped for ideas for tomorrow, check out my Easter category & this little compilation of my favorite Easter-y cupcake ideas. On that note, I’ll leave you with pictures of my Easter eggs this year. I did a few different kinds, my favorite one being the pink one in the second picture with the gold sequins. Guess why.

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