One of the two kids has a birthday.

I am one of those lucky people who has exactly one boy and one girl. It is SO MUCH FUN to have one of each - as I get to experience the joys of raising both genders.

One of their most favorite things to do is pour through my cupcake cookbook: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The bright pictures and mouth watering cupcakes are better than any Dr. Suess book we have. About a month ago, they had managed to find the book (again) and go through the pictures one-by-one. Knowing that little bit boy's birthday was coming, little bit girl told me that her brother wanted the "cookie cupcakes" for his birthday. What a nice older sister she is.

Sure enough, little bit boy agreed. However, he ALSO told me he wanted BLUE cupcakes. So, I settled on two batches: "cookie" cupcakes for the family and "blue" cupcakes for the kids where he plays during the day. Thankfully, with the most diverse and complete cupcake cookbook ever - I was covered!

All recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take over The World.

Basic Vegan Fluffy Buttercream
You'll use this for both recipes

1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons extract (usually vanilla - but GO WILD!)
1/4 cup plain soy milk or soy creamer

1. Cream butter and shortening together.

2. Add in a cup of flower, beat steadily by hand - or even better with hand or stand mixer.

3. Add in the extract, beat well.

4. Add in the rest of the sugar, slowly, mix well.

5. Add in the soy milk or creamer, and beat until smooth and fluffy.

Golden Vanilla Cupcakes
For little bit boy's "blue" cupcakes

1 cup of soy milk

1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

3/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/3 cup of canola oil

3/4 cups of granulated sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon of almond extract

1. Mix soy milk and vinegar, set aside for curdling (basically, you're making butter milk)

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tin with liners

3. Mix liquid ingredients and sugar together.

4. Place dry ingredients in sifter and sift into wet ingredients. Mix until just barely incorporated and no large clumps remain.

5. Divide into cupcake tin evenly, bake immediately for 20 - 22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Cool completely and top with butter cream. For "blue" I used cake decorator's coloring, but you can use food coloring or natural dyes (blueberry). I've made "pink" cupcakes using strawberries. I bought the Wall-E decorations at Target.


Chocolate Cookie Cupcakes

1 cup of soy milk

1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1/3 cup of canola oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon of almond extract

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/3 cup of cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup coarsly chopped chocolate sandwich cookies (like Newman-Os)

1. Whisk soy milk and vinegar together, set aside (again, buttermilk)

2. Preheat oven to 350 and line the cupcake pan.

3. Add sugar, oil, and extract to milk mixture and whisk until foamy.

4. Sift cocoa powder, soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir into batter in two batches.

5. Fold in chopped cookies, pour into cupcake liners evenly, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Toothpick should come out clean.

6. After cooling completely, frost with the vegan butter cream frosting mixed with another 1/2 cup to one cup of crushed cookies (depending on taste). These sort of go on like clouds, so you can't expect even perfection. Top with 1/2 of a cookie for garnish.

Sunshine On a Rainy Day.

Our weather (and occasionally the power) has been affected by Tropical Storm Fay the last several days. As the tail end of it left the area this morning, I found myself feeling restless. I also found myself with a dozen and a half cupcakes and no idea what to do with them.

You see, friends, I am pushing ahead with this cake decorating bit. It's mostly discouraging, as I'm finding that increasing my decorating skills takes away from other culinary pursuits that are more pressing. Like, oh I don't know...dinner perhaps?

Two afternoons ago, my daughter asked for cupcakes. I had leftover butter cream from the last experiment, so I obliged. I found a wonderful chocolate cupcake recipe from The Dummy's Guide to Cake Decorating, and got to work. As a novice baker, I know I am missing the boat somewhere because my "yield 1 dozen" always yields AT LEAST twice that. As was the case with this batch. I had enough butter cream to frost the first dozen, but not the remaining 18. So, I threw them in a plastic bag (HUGE mistake, by the way) and left them for the next day. I had bags of butter cream frozen, so I planned on thawing and finishing with that.

Nearly 24 hours later, I thawed the butter cream and got out my frosting colors. I planned on decorating in the colors of the university my husband works for - as sort of a "hurray" to the new (school) year. For a variety of reasons, this effort failed. Not the least of which being the crumbly (yet moist) mess that the cupcakes had turned into while being stored in a bag.

Now, being the conservationist I am, I couldn't just throw these cakes away. They were FAR too good and I'd put FAR too much effort into them. Then, in an epiphany, I remembered a blog I had visited recently. It's as if that blog was a divine intervention, foretelling my cupcake disaster to come.

Bakerella is a wonderful goodies site that I encourage you to visit. I think I had seen it before, but just rediscovered it. These little cake pops really caught my eye, and I noticed that the base was just frosting and crumbled cake. Well, I sure had that, so I gave it a whirl.

Now, my first piece of advice would be to follow the directions explicitly. Like the whole dipping the stick FIRST and inserting into the cake would have made my life a LOT easier. As would have freezing the darn things. Just like the stereotypical lost man, I just didn't want to get directions and insisted on making my own way.

I also used what I had on hand, and not what Bakerella called for, as a grocery run in the middle of Fay was not in the cards. I used my crumbled cupcakes, my own butter cream, and white candy bark I had in the pantry. As I thought about the project, I got a bit curious about flavors and enhancements in the candy shell (as the cake and frosting were set). Out of my pantry I pulled flaked coconut, raw (brown) sugar, peppermint extract, coconut extract, and Christmas sprinkles. I found some hard peppermint candies too.

I mixed my cupcakes and frosting until I got a workable mixture. Then I got right to work. I should have used Bakerella's ideas and dipped the pop (or Kabob Skewer stick in my case) in melted candy, then the cake ball, and then frozen the whole thing. Instead, I tried to get right into dipping which turned into a big fat mess. However, I did manage. And I think I got some pretty results. These were the chocolate cake and frosting balls dipped in melted white bark flavored with coconut extract. I topped them with raw sugar and flaked coconut. In my case, I took each ball in my fingers and topped it with melted bark. Then I placed it on a plate (candy side up) and sprinkled it with sugar and coconut. When dry, I inserted a stick and then used a knife and my fingers to cover the underside of the ball. I was very careful to really douse the stick area with extra candy to sort of hold it in place - almost like a calking.
I sort of liked the snowball effect, which made me think of Christmas in September.
I topped two of these with sprinkles, and the third with crushed candy pieces. Also, the bark was flavored with peppermint extract - and this (in my opinion) was the superior of the two flavors.

I have to tell you, these turned out SWEET. I would use a less intense cake, softer flavored frosting (if that's possible), and save the sweetness for the candy shell. I also think that a lime cake and frosting pair would be wonderful - as the tartness of the citrus would cut down the sugar a bit. Regardless, they are BEAUTIFUL, and look really intense and different. I would also certainly buy more appropriate sticks and a better quality candy melt too. It likely would have made my dipping easier.

Oh, and follow the directions too. That's always good.

Put some icing on that funny bone.

I've been really into cakes lately. I find myself wanting to create masterpieces, but since I'm working on flowers I can just drool for now.

Well, because of this new interest - I was dawn to a Food Network show called Ace of Cakes. Have you SEEN this show? It's a bunch of people, with personalities that I find insanely comfortable (like, I have been friends with these sorts of people my whole lives), that run and operate a cake company. I love their sarcastic, and sometimes morbid, creativity. I also love their passion for creation.

And really, I'm sorry I can't go work for them.

Kidding.

Sort of.

Anyhow, my husband just sent me here and I just can't stop laughing.

Really, there are no words.

Pretty cupcakes and summer review.

As the summer comes to a close, I am reminded of a post I made in the early moments. In it, I made some summer vows. Now, I knew I was taking a serious risk when posting that - I knew I held a solid chance of not being able to keep most (if any) promises.

The summer proved to be busier than most. In addition to my culinary goals, I made a few household ones as well. Another one of my passions (along with cooking, teaching, and greenification) is scrapbooking. The whole summer, I accomplished just one page. One. I am so far behind at this point, I fear I may never catch up! I was doing a few online courses for my job - one in teaching students of limited English proficiency and the other to boost my knowledge in reading education. Between those courses, chasing my kids around, and you all...well...that was pretty much my entire summer.

My comments in black, the goals in lavender.

(1) I am going to feed my family homemade bread. I am also going to find sustainable, go to recipes that will allow me to feed my family homemade bread all year long.

I mostly managed this one, but not entirely. I never completely mastered the sandwich bread. I realized, after just the first loaf, that my pans weren't big enough. So, I purchased some larger ones. Then I realized my bread knife wasn't sharp enough to really cut the smaller slices suitable for PB&J's, so I bought another one of those too. Then we went on vacation.

Now, on my defense, I almost always have a loaf of this stuff sitting around. Which, incidentally, makes wonderful toasts, sides, and even "grown up" sandwiches. While the kids LOVE it plain, it's not so good for their lunches, which is why I tend to stick to Nature's Own Organic bread for them. At least until I can master the sandwich bread.

(2) I am going to see how cheaply we can eat, while still eating well and organically wherever possible.

I did that this week, but the rest of the summer just seemed like such a drain. I'm not sure if it's because of the rising food prices or what - but we just can't seem to get our grocery budget under control without giving in and eating some processed foods that I just refuse to by. I think "well, maybe ONE week wouldn't hurt.." But then I think about how good we eat, and how good it makes me feel, and I just can't even do it. This week, I spent $56. And that included some water for the hurricane sitting out in the gulf. Now, we have a well stocked pantry, so all I really needed was produce and dairy. Still, I was quite proud of myself for that. And yes, there will be a lot of beans this week.

(3) I am going to learn to make homemade tortillas. Low fat homemade tortillas.

Did this, but I was less than impressed. I should try different recipes, including the full fat ones. I also want to learn how to make pita bread, as the stuff I buy in the store is terrible.

(4) I will master the balsamic reduction. We had that at a restaurant lately, and LOVED it.

I tried it, but was not impressed. The problem was that it tasted burnt, as the balsamic reduction has to be done at a relatively low heat to avoid scorching. It was okay, but I didn't love it. I found precious little information about this process, so I was flying pretty blind. However, while this wasn't great, I found a wonderful way to make a thick balsamic dressing with my mortar and pestle that I will share as soon as I get the proportions down. I think it was about as good as the reduction, with much less work. It made AMAZING bruschetta.

(5) I will master the Panna Cotta recipe.

This was way too easy. It's milk jello. Boring. Now, there were some chocolate Panna Cotta recipes and interesting flavors that I want to try...

(6) We will be making a family trip out to Portland, Oregon - to see more family, and determine the steps necessary to make it our new home. While in Portland, we will be taking a tour that I am VERY excited about. I will be sure to post a review.

Okay, I managed this with gusto...if I do say so myself. If you want to see, click on the "vacation" link above. Or, go to the left where my other tags are, and click on "Oregon."

(7) This is the one that bears most on you, my reader - I will be posting daily. Even if it's a "the kids are sick, I can't think of anything to post, so here is a good article..." I will post daily. I promise! From now until my vacation - I will post daily. So, if you would like to reciprocate my devotion - please feel free to share this blog with friends and family. I hope to have more of what I've already put here, just MORE of it .

I made a pretty good dent in this in June, not so much in July. Although, I'm finding that most of the food blogs I read aren't so good about posting every day, which makes me feel better! I also know that I write about more than just FOOD in here, but how to tend to a kitchen, how to serve your food, product reviews, and even restaurant reviews.

I also managed to do a few unexpected things this summer. Like, I began my quest in cake decorating.

These were my first attempts at decorating cakes. I decided to "start small" - small meaning cupcakes.

The cakes themselves weren't great. The first batch, chocolate, were terrible. These vanilla cakes left much to be desired. Now, I am not a cake fan exactly. I much prefer a good pie or cobbler, or even cheesecake. I'm just really tired of paying someone else to decorate a cake for my kids. I have a lot of mixed emotions over this as well, as I really hate the number of chemicals that go into the decorating bit. Which leaves me with a quandary: to decorate means more chemicals. To get good I need to practice, which means more decorating. What to do? I guess more research to see if there are organic ways to do it. I have a friend who uses fruits to create the butter cream colors, and even homemade marshmallows to create fondant. That might be a direction I have to go as I learn some of the techniques. Oh, and I must mention that this is all self taught - the cake decorating class in my area is from 12-2. Thanks, Michaels.

So, all in all - I think I get a B. I met a good number of my goals, exceeded expectations in other areas, but didn't quite do all that I said I was going to. I did increase my blog readership, which is a huge deal for me - so for all you faithful readers...thanks. I really enjoy knowing that you come here to read about my kitchen adventures.